Invisible String (Elizabeth Olsen x Fem Reader)

Never Letting Go

(AN: Trigger warning! Mentions of violence and weapons and panic attacks in this chapter! Read at your discretion!)

Lizzie POV:

I don't know how long the car ride to the hospital takes. It feels like seconds, but I know the studio I was interviewing at is a good thirty-minutes out. All I know is that it feels like my entire world is crashing around me, Scarlett's words echoing around my mind as I practically sprint through the emergency department doors, frantically looking around for someone in scrubs to get some answers.

"Y/N...hurt...hospital..."

When I finally spot someone behind the front desk I hurry over, Liam close behind as my heels click loudly in the otherwise empty lobby, forcing myself to take a few calming breaths. My anxiety is sky high, and probably will be for the rest of my life after this, but I know that overreacting isn't going to get me any information about Y/N. "Hi, excuse me. I'm looking for my girlfriend, or information. She was supposed to be brought here. Her, uh, her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She was attacked or something."

The nurse, or at least I assume she's a nurse, stares up at me with wide eyes. "Holy shit! You're-."

Whatever little patience I had before leaves my body, and I angrily slap my hand down on the desktop, the sound echoing around the lobby and successfully forcing the nurse to pause in saying whatever she'd been ready to say. "Please just tell me where I can find my girlfriend."

The unnamed nurse, because at this point I could honestly care less about figuring out her name, nods quickly as she hurries to glance at her computer screen. After a few moments she glances back up at me, this time looking a little terrified. "Right. Sorry, ma'am. Uh, it looks like she's currently in surgery. I can't say anything other than that, but there's a private room that has already been set aside for others who are waiting if you'd like to head up there."

"You can't tell me how she is? What her injuries are, or...?"

I trail off, my heart clenching as the nurse shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I can't release any information to anyone who isn't directly related to her."

Thankfully my phone ringing prevents me from saying whatever choice words I wanted to respond to the hospitals' stupid fucking policy, and I step away from the desk when I see it's Scarlett calling me. "Please tell me you're already here."

"Fifth floor. Turn left when you get off the elevator. There's a security guard waiting outside the private room."

Without responding I hang up the phone, having already started towards the elevators as soon as the floor number had been said. As soon as the elevator doors close and I know I have a few moments to myself, well aside from Liam- who has been extremely quiet this entire time, I find myself gasping the handrails, leaning my entire weight as I attempt to control myself. I'm not surprised it doesn't work, because soon enough I feel the start of a panic attack eating away at the edges of my being. Being in a confined space doesn't help, because it suddenly feels like there's not enough air.

It's only the feeling of a heavy hand settling on my shoulder that brings me out of it just long enough to take in a chestful of oxygen, and I lift my head to see Liam staring down at me with an unreadable look on his face. "Breathe, Miss Olsen."

I attempt to recall everything I've learned, resigning to counting the rise and fall of my chest with every breath until the elevator doors ding open and my feet are already carrying me down the hall. Just as Scarlett said, there's a uniformed security guard standing beside a door, the plaque next to him reading 'Private.' He doesn't say anything when I approach, just nods once and opens the door. I barely have time to blink before someone is enveloping me in a hug, and it takes me a moment to realize that it's Scarlett, but when I do it's like the damn breaks. I hug my friend back just as tightly, letting myself fall apart in her arms.