Chapter Text
They’d finally made Jimmy arrange a meeting time and spot with that girl he won’t stop talking about, Gabrielle. God help him Jimmy was a rambler, Eddie knew, but his patience was running thin. He’d noticed Susie was even more exasperated than he was, so he’d resorted to physical intimidation, towering over the man as he answered their questions. In the end, they were going to have to wait 2 days.
When Eddie first saw Susie sitting in his study earlier, he was happily surprised. She’d never sat on his desk chair before, but he’d welcomed her presence, nonetheless. She was finally back to work, it seemed, and he was ready to go back to their usual dynamic. But his delight turned to deep worry when she told him why she was there. Collins was on the prowl, hunting her. And, unfortunately for him, she was not shying away from being angry at him.
“Right.” He’d clipped. “I can help with that.”
That’s when they’d gone to the dairy. Jimmy was going to be the death of them, he’d resignedly thought. Susie hadn’t said a word to him on the way there and didn’t seem inclined to say anything now on their way back to the manor. It was dark, but he took a moment to observe her while they walked. She was sporting a rigid spine, squared shoulders, raised chin, and tight lips. It made him think of a cat with a ruffled tail.
It's now or never, he took a deep breath. “I want you to stay here while we sort this.” She paused her stride for an almost imperceptible fraction of time.
“I’ve found a place to stay already. I’ve no need for your charity.” She said bitingly.
He halted mid-stride then, reaching for her forearm “Susan”, and she stopped too, facing him defiantly. “You know that’s not my intent.”
She crossed her arms and shot him a withering glare.
If he were a smarter man, he’d let it go. But he wasn’t feeling particularly clever today, and instead took a deep breath to say, “It may be my fault they know where you live, so let me do something to fix it. I can’t help your brother now, but I can help you. You must agree it’s safer to stay here in the estate, surrounded by people you’ve already vetted.”
She’d furrowed her brow and was now shifting her weight to her other leg, considering. “Mm. Your brother is a liability at best. Your mother doesn’t agree with my business.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Freddie’s away for the time being. Mother will be fine with it. Do stay.” He urged.
“I don’t trust you.” She declared fiercely, meeting his gaze.
“You broke my trust too Susie, but we are where we are. I still don’t wish you or your family any harm.” He stated firmly.
She took a moment to examine him carefully, tilting her head, and then gave him one short nod. That’s all he needed. “Good.” He voiced, turning towards the path again and resuming their walk.
They arrived at the manor in a calmer mood than when they’d left it. The night walk took some of the fight out of them both, but specially from Susie, who now appeared outright weary.
“I’ll show you to your room, dinner’s past, but I’ll have something sent up. There’s alcohol in the cabinet next to the bed, if you feel the need for a nighttime snack.” He noted the faint hint of a smile on her lips at that.
“I’ll need to get my things from the car.” She said, gaze drifting to where she’d parked.
“I’ll have that sent up too.” Eddie assured as he directed them further into the foyer and up the stairs.
He’d briefly shown her one of the rooms that was set up for guests while they waited for her things and the fire to take. It was evident she was tired, and with her usually upright posture starting to droop and the defiance from minutes ago abandoning her, he sensed she would prefer to be alone.
Before leaving her, he said, “you’re safe here, Susie. Get some sleep, I’ll see you in the morning.” To which she silently nodded, watching the fire from where she stood by it.
Eddie had put Susie two rooms down from his in the same corridor. The manor was safe, things happened, and if they did, he wanted to be able to get there as fast as possible. Additionally, there was never any assurance that the staff wouldn’t take extra money for information about the goings on in the house. Better to be sure, he thought, and retired to his study.
After he’d sorted a bit of paperwork, he’d quickly showered and gone to bed, where he’d drifted asleep in seconds.
He eyes snapped open with what he thought sounded like a heavy thump. Sitting up in bed, he checked the time. 12AM. Did I imagine it?, he thought, then he heard glass shattering.
Eddie swiftly grabbed his gun and ran to Susie’s room. He heard her gasp when he opened the door, she was sitting on the edge of the bed. He scanned the room as he’d been trained to do, pointing his gun in front of him, opening the wardrobe, parting the curtains, and going into the bathroom as he asked “What’s happened? What is it? Are you alright?”
“Nothing. I’m alright” she said, eyes wide, as he came out of the bathroom lowering his gun. “The room is clear.” He announced.
Eddie walked around the bed to stand in front of her. “I heard a crashing sound. Loud enough to wake me up. It came from here.”
“It was nothing to worry about.” She said looking down briefly.
“Tell me what happened” he demanded as he began to move closer.
“Don’t!” Susie exclaimed, extending one of her arms in front of her. “There’s glass on the floor. I was getting a nighttime snack, as you call it, and the bottle slipped from my hand. That startled me so the glass went down next.”
Eddie shifted his eyes down, and although the room was only illuminated by the fire and bedside lamp, he detected the glinting shards of broken glass littering the floor. “I see. Did the bottle shatter too, or just the glass?”
“Only the glass, I think. The bottle must’ve fallen on the rug and rolled under the bed.” She was intentionally holding her feet up just above the bedframe.
“Here. There’s slippers on the wardrobe.” He retrieved a pair for himself and set another before her.
When he straightened up, Eddie noticed Susie’s face was flushed and her eyes red-rimmed. Had she been crying?
“Go back to bed. I can manage.” She said, slipping her feet into the slippers.
“No. I’ll help you. There’re cleaning supplies in the corridor.” Eddie placed his gun in the side table and went out to get a broom and dustpan. When he came back, he found Susie had gone under the bed.
“That’s a bad idea.” He said peering under the bedframe from the shard-less bed side.
She answered with a yelp, followed by a few nasty expletives.
Eddie signed impatiently, reaching his hand, and helping her slide out.
“I’ve got it.” She declared, bottle in hand.
“Where’d you cut yourself?”
“It’s fine. I can take care of it.”
Eddie tightened his lips in exasperation, “Fine.”, and took the bottle from her hand. He straightened up and went to scoop the shards away.
He noticed her going into the bathroom and coming back out to sit near the fire.
That’ll do for now, I’ll tell the staff to hoover the rug tomorrow. “You’ll need to wear your slippers until the rug is cleaned properly.” He said turning her way.
She was in one of the wingback chairs, looking strained and holding a hand towel to her knee. Eddie walked over to her.
“Let me see.” He demanded.
She raised her eyes to his but kept the towel in place. “It’s not bad, but I think I’ve got a bit of glass left in there. I just need to pull it out, that’s all.”
Eddie gave her a stern look, kneeled, and took the hand pressing the towel away. Blood began trickling down her leg and she leaned back in the chair, averting her eyes.
“We’ve seen plenty of blood together Susie, are you afraid of your own?”
“It’s not the blood. I don’t like things embedded in skin.”
“You do have some glass in there. I’ll take it out.”
“I told you. Just… wait moment longer.” She took a deep breath, and squished her eyes closed.
He must’ve stared at her a bit too long because she next said, “Be quick about it then.”
He huffed a laugh. “I’ll be as thorough as is needed”. He grabbed forceps from the emergency kit and used the towel to blot some of the blood on her leg.
“Right, you’ve got two pieces there, one of them deeper than the other, but not by much.”
“I don’t need the commentary, get on with it.”
He placed a hand on the top of her knee to keep it still, and with the other, he took hold of the first shard. Then the second. She didn’t make a sound, but her jaw had clenched. He examined the wound closely, which was, as she’d said, not all that bad, poured saline over it and pressed a clean piece of gauze on it.
“You can go back to breathing now. I’m done.” She exhaled markedly, and cautiously peered at her knee. She’d gone a bit pale.
“I’ll keep pressing for a few more seconds, and then I’ll put glue on it. It’s not going to scar.”
“Thanks” she muttered as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and burying her face in her hands.
It filled him with unease to see her take this demeanor, and he felt a pang of concern in his gut. “Susie, are you really alright?” He asked as he encircled one of her forearms in his hand. “Have you been sleeping?”
She didn’t say anything, but shook her head, face still pressed into her hands.
He rubbed his thumb against her skin, “I am very much sorry about your brother. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
“I am so tired.” She mumbled into her hands. “I wish I could sleep. I wish it was me in that coma, then I wouldn’t have to think about everything.”
Eddie let go of her forearm to smear glue on her cut and put a plaster over it. “Let’s do one thing at a time, Susie.” He rose to fetch her a glass of water, then gently rubber her arm from shoulder to elbow “water will help.”
She lowered her hands from her face and took the glass with one hand, wiping the wetness on her cheeks with the other. “Are there painkillers in there? My head feels like it’s going to explode.”
“Yes.” He passed her two pills, she swallowed them with more water, closing her eyes and leaning back on the chair.
“Better?” He asked after a few moments, hoping that she would be, hoping that his gut would stop gnawing at him. Instead, her chin wobbled, and she again shook her head, tears glistening on her lashes.
“Alright.” He stood up and placed his hands on each side of her face. Her skin was warm, and her hair was damp near her neck. She blinked her eyes open. “You don’t have to be right away.”
“I’m cold” she said, and he could see the goosebumps now forming on her skin.
“Let’s get you in bed, you’ll feel better once you get some sleep.”
A nod from her. Good.
She rose from her seat, Eddie trailing closely behind, and sank into the bed with a sigh. He draped the blankets over her, gently cupped her cheek in his hand for a brief moment and walked away.
Taking a chair from the fireside, he dragged it next to her bed. She’d been staring at him intently.
“I’m not going anywhere, Susie.” He assured her, settling on it. She hadn’t dared voice what she’d wanted but admitted it when she closed her eyes and withdrew her hand from under the blanket. He took it in both of his, offering a reassuring squeeze. “Sleep, tomorrow will be better.”