A New York Secret

Chapter Eighty-Two

Dinner went by in a flash. Mary and Steve's engagement was met with approval and joy from everyone. When it came to Emily and James strengthening their relationship, Tony was the only one who did not seem thrilled, but he was decent enough to not directly say anything. Overall, it was a nice evening.

Upon returning home, James had managed to talk Emily into showing him some of her older yearbook pictures, so he could see her childhood pictures. When she was digging in the closet to find them, she came across the engagement ring Loki had given her, bringing all of her forcefully repressed memories to the surface.

James handled the situation with all of the patience and understanding he had promised from the beginning, holding Emily and letting her get it all out. He even listened to everything she wanted to say about Loki. He even encouraged her to share some good memories as well, never once bothered by the fact that they spent most of the night talking about her ex.

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Loki gave every ounce of energy to focusing on calling the dark energy. He had little experience working with the dark energy, but in this area of the realms where enchantments stopped all teleportation, it was the only chance he had. He could feel himself fading in and out, shifting between the two locations. He ignored the pain he was in, feeling Midgard growing closer. He was almost there, almost back to Emily.

With one final, massive effort, the corridor that the apartment was on came into view below him. He didn't care that he was about to fall from ceiling height. All that mattered was that he was back, back to Emily. As he hit the floor, he heard an alarm start to blare. As he danced with consciousness, the alarm brought him comfort. That meant his friends would be the ones to find him, and soon. I'm home Emily was the last thought to cross his mind as the darkness took hold.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he regained consciousness, but he saw he was in a medical room when he finally opened his eyes. He could feel bandages on him, as well as the lower temperature, leading him to believe Mary had been tending to him. As he glanced down at his hands, he realized he was also restrained. He then realized he could hear voices from outside of the room.

From the little he could make out; it sounded like they were trying to decide what to do with some prisoner they now had. Surely that couldn't be him though. "Em... Emily?" He tried to call out, hearing how scratchy his voice was.

Emily stood in the hallway; her arms crossed over her chest as tears streaked down her face. She could feel James' arm around her waist as Mary talked to her about his wellbeing. She couldn't help that a sliver of her still cared about his wellbeing.

"You don't have to go in there. Everyone else suggested that we not even tell you he was here, but I didn't think it was right to lie to you." Mary sighed, hoping she had made the right choice. "Say the word and I will tell him you've moved on." She offered as she hugged her best friend.

"No... I... I need to tell him myself. I don't like that he's hurt, but I could slap him into next week right now," she sniffled.

"Just know we are all right here for you." Mary promised, letting go of Emily.

"Do you want me to wait here or go with you?" James asked, wanting to make sure Emily felt no pressure from him.

Emily shook her head as she looked at the hospital door. "I can't do this without you, James."

"I will not leave your side then." James promised.

"He is restrained, so you don't need to worry about anything." Mary assured Emily.

She took a deep breath and nodded as she steeled herself before opening the hospital door and walked through, knowing James was behind her.

James stayed close as they walked into the room, seeing that Loki was focused on trying to figure out how to free himself of his restraints.