Grinded

chapter XV.

The elevator Freddie anxiously stood in shook lightly as it ascended, the numbers indicating which floor he was on changing every couple of seconds. He shifted on his feet, his throat constricting slightly as he thought about the harrowing call he'd gotten from Lily half an hour ago. The journey upwards felt like an unforgiving eternity, the walls around him bearing down over him with claustrophobia that was slowly starting to claw its way under his skin.

His foot tapped as Freddie gulped. Each second that passed only made his anxiety stronger, building it up like an almost impenetrable fortress. And yet, he hadn't felt like this an hour ago. He didn't feel anchored down by the seemingly inescapable grasps of the horror that plagued the Ridge.

He'd only just gotten home when his phone started blowing up, having already missed a call from Sophie beforehand. Freddie knew something was up from the frantically misspelled texts Lily had bombarded him with. When he answered, his entire stomach dropped and his heart skipped a beat as he listened to Lily's cries, rushing to tell him Thomas was attacked. He didn't waste a single second in turning around and heading straight for the hospital, overcome with worry and panic.

That was the last time he ever wanted to have such a phone call. Hearing that a close friend had been viciously hurt was terrifying. And to make matters worse, this had happened not too long after news broke that Deputy Erica Rhodes had been found dead downtown. Freddie had tried to hold off from getting wrapped up in the chaos that had flooded through Sunset Ridge, but it all seemed futile now that one of his own had been targetted.

Freddie glanced up again and saw that he was about to reach the floor Thomas had been admitted to. With a soft ding, the elevator doors slid open, the grating sound of metal creaking making him wince.

As soon as he stepped out, his eyes landed on Lily; she was sat in one of the waiting room chairs, wiping away at her tear-stained cheeks with a sniffle. Freddie hadn't seen her in a state like this before. Normally, Lily was composed, brimming with life and exuding positivity. But looking at her now only made his heart ache.

He started over to her with an urgency in his step, smoothly passing by the few doctors lingering around a cart filled with medical supplies.

"Lily," Freddie said softly.

He watched her closely as she looked up to him. Her eyes were more dilated than usual, and Freddie could tell that if he had've come sooner, her eyes would've been a lot more puffy and bloodshot. 

"How're you doing?"

Lily sniffed, and Freddie just observed her with a heavy heart. He knew exactly how she felt; a flood of worry and dread running through their veins, posoining everything in its acidic path. 

Before she could answer, a distant shout of a panicked doctor startled them. In the blink of an eye, two doctors ran past frantically, one of them shouting out orders to the other. Freddie could tell from the strong sense of chaotic urgency that someone was going to end up with a broken heart in a few minutes. Yet another reason why he hated hospitals - too much emotional trauma that unfolded within them.

That, and the smell that was always lingering around the corridors.

"I'm fine," Lily replied softly with a heavy breath. "I never thought this would happen, not to any of us. When his parents called, I thought the of the worse. Hence the tears," she then added with an attemped laugh, but Freddie caught the slight hitch in her voice. Clearly this ordeal had gotten too her more than she'd like to admit.

Lily had a tendency to sought out the worst in not-so-great situations. Freddie couldn't even recall the amount of times he and their friends had to tell her 'when you hear hooves, don't assume zebras.'