@slashesotron hey I'm the anon who caved! You said you wanted to read the fic when it was done, so here it is. Hope you like it 🤞
It's around 3am when it happens.
Harper is sitting at her bus stop, all alone, when a man in a hoodie comes up to her. He strikes up small talk, and shes so tired (for once) that she doesn't notice the flash of metal in his hand until its pointed at her. Hes demanding her wallet and phone, arm shaking and voice nervous.
"Hey now, buddy," she starts, intending to talk him down, but then he steps forward and theres a sharp pain in her stomach. In momentary shock, she looks down and sees the knife plunged deep before he pulls it out, hand bloody. Her lungs give a short exhale and then her body drops to the concrete. Panic almost sets in before her rationale takes over, pushing fear to the back burner as her hands press against her wound to try and stem the bleeding.
Her attacker is rifling through her backpack while she does this, ignoring her in favor of strewing her things across the sidewalk; scrubs and personal effects shoved aside until he finds her wallet and bolts. Waiting a moment to make sure hes far enough away, Harper pulls her phone from her back pocket (thank God it wasn't in her bag for once) and dials 911. She does her best to remain coherent with dispatch while they confirm that help is on the way. The person on the other end is still talking when everything gets kind of fuzzy. Her consciousness is fading in and out when she hears the sirens.
Doing her best to uncurl from the fetal position (how did she manage that?), Harper hears the vehicle pull up, doors slamming open. She hears the clatter of a gurney and footsteps getting closer. Eventually, someone is leaning over her, trying to get her attention.
"Hello there. Mind opening your eyes for me?" a soft brogue asks, and she struggles to comply (when did she close them?). When she manages to open them, she sees quite possibly the prettiest man she's ever met. Gingery blond, angular features (are those freckles?). His smile is gentle and warm, and his eyes... it seems as if theres something unsettling there. But then she blinks and its gone. A trick of the streetlights, perhaps. Clearing her throat the best she can, Harper asks, "What's your name?" He lifts her bloodstained shirt slightly to press gauze against her injury as he answers. "Avery. My name is Avery. And yours?" She hisses at the pressure before giving him a shaky grin. "Harper."
Avery's smile gets brighter. "Well Harper, my friend and I are going to get you to the hospital. You'll be fine in no time." She gives a laugh that's cut short as he tapes down the gauze. "Katys gonna be so mad. She just managed to convince me to go home." While she's speaking, Avery shifts behind her, sliding his arms underneath hers while his partner takes her legs. He huffs out '1, 2, 3' against her ear and then she's laid out on the gurney. He covers her in a blanket before strapping her in and sliding her into the back of the ambulance. Avery is handed her bag (the other guy must've collected her stuff while he took care of her) and settles into seat next to her as the vehicle starts to move, sirens wailing.
"Do you need anything for the pain?" Harper shakes her head. Concern crosses his face before he decides to change the subject. "So your friend convinced you to go home? You work at the hospital? I've never seen you around." She nods before blowing some hair out of her face. " We're short staffed, so I've been on rotation in other departments. I usually work the trauma unit, though. Guess we just kept missing each other." He begins to reply just as they hit a bump, jostling her wound. The intensity of the pain wrings a cry out of her and Avery reaches for her, gripping her hand in his. She grits her teeth, fighting back tears as he brushes her hair back, trying to soothe her. She's breathing harder, vision blurring at the edges (oh. Its shock. She's going into shock).
As her consciousness fades in and out, she feels Avery lift her hand, feels him press something to it, and mumbles something she doesn't catch before she blacks out.
You're going to be alright, a mhuirín.
Harper wakes in a hospital bed, stitched up and exhausted. Her phone is plugged in to charge, her bag in a chair beside her. Theres a small bouquet of daisies and a 'Get Well' card on the side table (probably from her coworkers), along with a note from Katy (who's probably apologizing for something that wasn't her fault). Leaning over carefully so as not to aggravate her sutures, she picks up the card. She was right. There are signatures from Katy, Dr. Bertrand, Javier from triage, Duncan (the ambulance driver, apparently) and... Avery. She flushes slightly, remembering how tightly he held her hand, how softly he stroked her hair, before she passed out. She shakes her head and tells herself to get a grip. She was in pain and it was his job to help her. She can understand that, being a nurse. She herself has done some similar stuff to comfort patients before. That's all it was (but theres a niggling feeling in her gut, instincts telling her that something is off about him). At this point, Katy pokes her head in the door and her face lights up when she sees Harper is awake. Eager to talk to her friend, Harper pushes her previous thoughts from her mind.
Avery is harmless. She has nothing to worry about.
