Work Text:
I fall to my knees when the silence announces victory, my body does it involuntarily. I'm not aware of what's happening around me… who fell and who didn't.
My body collapses on the ground and a wave of pain runs through me because now I allow myself to feel everything I was containing. A scream fills the air and it takes me a few seconds to realize it's my own voice. I don't stop until my throat starts burning, but it's not a cry for help, it's a cry for liberation.
I feel dizzy, numb. A trembling hand rises to the height of my face, my hand. I reach for my left eye, but all I find is something warm spilling down that side of my face, falling down my cheek and chin: blood. I don't despair, I don't ask for help, I just stay in my place and try not to put so much pressure on the wound.
"Oh God, Caitlyn. You have to see a doctor," Mel's desperate voice appears, trying to get me up, but I resist.
"Vi," is the first word I say, "I need to find Vi."
"You need a doctor and I don't think you want that wound to get infected. Please don't be stubborn," she demands, feeling my resistance.
"But... I must find her… I need to know that she's alright."
"Look at me," she puts her hand on my chin and forces me to address her eyes, although my vision is still blurry. "I'll send someone to look for her and give her our location but now, I insist, we must check your eye before it gets infected and worse. Do you understand?”
I nod, staring blankly, and she helps me stand. Another person rushes over to help her hold me up and a man lifts me off the ground to carries me in his arms, I don't have the strength to shout at him to let go of me –or to protest– because I feel a tug and I look down at my abdomen, observing the sharp object that I have buried in it.
I take a deep breath, closing my eyes until we reach the improved medical tent we set up before everything began, and I try to calm down.
They help me to stand on a table and my body relaxes, although I can't help but notice how everyone around me is looking at me scared, running from one place to another in search of a first aid kit and other items.
How did I end up in this situation?
"This is going to hurt a little but we have to disinfect the wound so we can cover it later," a woman's voice appears and I nod. In her hands she has a cotton ball and a bottle of saline solution. Shit.
My hands grip the sides of the gurney so tightly that I imagine my knuckles turning white. I take a few deep breaths, expecting the worst.
The burning shoots through me like a bullet and I cling to every ounce of self-control not to scream again, although the overstimulation is so much that after a few seconds I feel as if I were anesthetized. At the same time as they place gauze on my lost eye, another nurse comes over to begin healing the wound in my abdomen and when I think I'm on the verge of fainting, a familiar voice brings me back to the scene.
"Cait!" Vi's scream makes me look towards the entrance. She's covered in blood and sweat, looking tired, but she's fighting the four people who are trying to block her way. "Let me in, she's my girlfriend."
"Lower your voice and please step outside," a nurse asks. "The lady needs to rest. Once we're finished here, you'll be able to see her."
"Let her stay… please," I manage to formulate, ignoring how dry my throat still is.
Vi pushes everyone until she reaches me and takes my hand, caressing it gently and watching me with tears in her eyes.
"It's going to be okay, Cait," is the first thing she says, although I don't know if she does it to calm me down or to remind herself. "What happened?"
"Ambessa," I reply repulsedly. "I had to do it… I had to give Mel more time and... My eye suffered the consequences," I explain, under her watchful eye, as a nurse places the gauze to secure the wound in my abdomen too.
Vi stroke my hair with a trembling hand, then she goes down to my face and makes a gesture to go to where my left eye was, but she retracts and quickly pushes it away. Instead, she positions her palm on my right arm and strokes me carefully. I can't help but smile weakly.
And when everyone finally leaves the place, she resumes the conversation.
"If I had been there I would’ve killed her with my bare hands," Vi spits angrily and shakes her head repeatedly.
"Don't worry. I guess I asked for it," I answer in search of reassurance and I reach up and gently caress her cheek. She leans on feeling the touch. "Where's Jinx?"
Her expression changes, I can see how she pales a little and a strange sensation lodges in my stomach. Like I'm being crushed.
"She... she's..."
I don't need her to finish the sentence, as soon as her voice breaks I understand everything. I pull Vi's arms closer and instantly she surrounds me, as best she can, to join us in a hug.
I feel a couple of her tears fall on my shoulder and I try not to break down. One of us has to stay strong right now.
I let her vent as much as she needs while I stroke her back, quietly grieving for Jinx, leaving behind that desperate search for revenge, the grudges and my opinions towards her, because I know how important she was for Vi and because I know how heartbreaking it is to lose someone you love in an instant.
"When one of the guards found me and told me what had happened to you I thought I was dying," a sob interrupts her sentence. "I thought... I thought I had lost everyone."
My heart breaks when she utters that last sentence and a tear slides down my right cheek. I can't help but imagine her reaction and it hurts. She's the strongest person I know, but I also know how much everything she's lost along the way has shattered her.
As soon as we met, our bond was immediate, we became inseparable... and over time, we also became family. Now we are the only thing we have, the only thing we can cling to so we don't get lost in the pain.
"You'll never lose me," I promise firmly. Vi's eyes are watching me, reflecting hope.
She tries to answer, but we fall silent when we see that Mel has re-entered the tent. The woman approaches us with a shy smile and offers me a bottle of water that I accept and almost empty in record time, then I hand it to Vi.
"The nurses say the wound isn't that bad," Mel says, after being silent for a few seconds. "But your eye… I'm so sorry, Caitlyn. I..."
"You don't need to apologize," I interrupt her, seeing in her eyes the guilt she feels for her mother's actions. "It's not your fault. Besides, you have saved me many times today."
"Yes, but I can't help but think that I could have done more. I know how much you loved shooting and now..."
"Now I'll just have to adapt, but I'll never give up my passion. Don't worry."
The truth is, I don't have the time or the desire to think about how this accident might change my future. I just want to rest for hours and hours without having to worry about anything.
I want to have Vi by my side and enjoy every moment together, look for my father to tell him that I'm okay and go home, those three things are at the top of my priority list.
Mel nods, still embarrassed, and then says goodbye to leave us alone again.
Vi helps me sit up when a sharp pain runs through my neck and I shift slightly to make room for her beside me. She puts her arm around me and rests her head on my shoulder.
Being like this –together, at peace– makes me appreciate everything more. I don't know what I was thinking when I left her in Zaun because of my stupid pride, but after this moment I know nothing will ever tear us apart.
I'll take care of her, just like she takes care of me, and we'll move forward no matter how hard things get.
"Now I'll have to wear an eyepatch," I reflect a few minutes later. "Do you think I'll look good?"
Now Vi studies my face from top to bottom with her gray eyes, taking her time as her expression slowly grows more serious.
"You'll look very sexy, Cupcake. Believe me," she finally replies. It makes me laugh and soon she's laughing too.
And so, with the sound of her laughter in my ear, I relax against her and let myself rest, knowing she'll still be by my side when I wake up.