Milo Axel

14

Sue's POV
"Come on, stay with me Charlie!"

My head whips towards the voice, coming from an EMT who is rushing a gurney with a young girl on it towards an awaiting ambulance. I detach myself from the hug I'm currently in with Milo and Megan, making my way towards the ambulance trying to see if it is my daughter, my Charlie, on that gurney. Before I can make it to the ambulance, an officer stops me, saying, "Ma'am, you cannot enter this area."

I send the man a glare, "I need to know if that's my daughter they're taking to the hospital!"

My outburst has garnered the attention of the EMTs moving the gurney. "Ma'am, what's your daughter's name? For identification purposes," she asks.

"Charlie! Charlie Rapinoe-Bird," I quickly reply.

The EMT nods her head letting me pass the barricade and onto the ambulance with Charlie. I see Charlie laying on a gurney, clothes soaked with blood, her leg sits in a very unnatural position, oxygen mask on her face, her eyes barely open. The EMT is holding what appears to be gauze on her left shoulder and abdomen. "Mommy," Charlie mumbles, her words muffled by the oxygen mask, "I love you mommy."

"I love you too, honey," I reply, grabbing ahold of her hand, tears falling from my eyes. I fully knew that Charlie, and Milo for that matter, would never call me 'Mommy' under normal circumstances, but she was clearly in a lot of pain and very distraught, making this very abnormal circumstances. "And Mama and Milo love you too, Charlie." All I receive is a small smile before she falls unconscious. "Charlie!"

"Ma'am,-" the EMT begins before I interrupt her.

"Please stop calling me 'ma'am'," I snap. "Just call me Sue."

"Sorry, Sue, Charlie has fallen unconscious again-"

"Again?! What do you mean "again"?"

"When we first started treating her she was unconscious but we woke her up to get a better idea of what we needed to treat," she calmly explained. "Charlie was shot in the shoulder and abdomen and appears to have broken her leg."
I nodded in understanding.

The rest of the ride to the hospital is relatively calm- well as calm as an ambulance ride to the hospital can be. When we get to the hospital, Charlie is very quickly taken into surgery to remove the bullets and reset her leg. I pull my phone out to call Megan and realize just how badly my hands are shaking.

Pulling up Megan's contact, I quickly call her. "Hello?"

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Hey babe," I begin, "Ch- Charlie's in surgery," I stumble out before letting out a sob.

"Oh my god- babe, I- are you okay? What can I do to help?"

"I- I'm not even sure- I just want her to be okay."

Milo's POV
I feel Sloane clinging to me, her head tucked into my neck, her arms wrapped around my torso, her tears rolling down her cheeks onto my shirt. I can feel the gentle squeeze of her arms as sobs rack through her body, lightly shaking us both with each sob. My arms wrap around her shoulders as my head gently lays on top of hers. I carefully whisper sweet nothings into her ear in an attempt to calm her down, knowing it won't do much but trying nonetheless.

I gently maneuver us over to a bench so we can sit down. Once I sit down Sloane sits on my lap, essentially straddling me, before wrapping her arms around me once again and putting her face into the crook of my neck. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tightly, releasing a few tears of my own to be soaked up by her shirt.

"I love you, Sloane. I know I said it earlier but I want you to know that I really do love you," I softly tell her.

"I love you too, Milo. We've been best friends for so long and in that time I can't help but to have fallen for you," she quietly states. "You mean the world to me Milo Axel Rapinoe-Bird."

"You mean the world to me too Sloane Megan Kreiger-Harris," I say looking at her with a smile.

Hearing footsteps approaching, I look up and see Aunt Ali walking up to us with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Hey guys," she murmurs, calmly sitting down on the other end of the bench before slowly reaching her hand out and placing it on her daughter's back to help
continue to sooth her.

"Hey Aunt Ali," I respond, sending her the best smile I can (though its probably more of a grimace).

"Hey momma," is faintly heard from Sloane as she slowly lifts and turns her head to face her mother.

"How're you doing, bug?" Aunt Ali probes, carefully reaching out her other hand for Sloane to hold onto.

"I'm tired momma," she sleepily replies, grabbing onto the offered hand, "and Milo is comfy. Think I'm gonna fall asleep right here," she mumbles.

Aunt Ali looks at me, eyebrows raised, with an amused smirk on her face. "Is that right?"

"Mhmm... love him," Sloane sleepily mumbles before beginning to softly snore.

I feel my face gently flush as I make eye contact with Aunt Ali, a sheepish smile on my face. "So..." she trails off, smirk in place.

"So?"

"So, she loves you," she says.

"Yeah, I- I know, she told me; I love her too, y'know?" I admit, "And she knows that I do. I told her."

"Yeah? I'm glad. You're good for her kid," she comments. "Milo, don't hurt her, okay?"

"I won't hurt her, I promise; hell, I'd let you kill me if anything happened to her."

"Good."

hey y'all, sorry that it's been a while since the last update- got busy with school etc. rly gonna try to be more frequent with my updates but no promises. -rowan