Winter Chaos

Losses Discovered

"Yeah, I'm with her right now." Silence. "They said soon, but she hasn't been-"

A pained groan.

"Wait, I think she's waking up." A pause. "No, you stay right there. We'll Facetime you soon." Another pause. "Yeah, alright, bye."

The woman in the hospital bed groaned again, forcing her eyes to flutter open. She swallowed once, wincing at the dryness of her mouth and throat before finally speaking. "X-... Xavier?" She rasped out, "What the hell are you doing here? Where am-?"

"You're at the hospital, Artemis," Xavier interrupted gently, "Do you remember what ha-?"

"Oh, God, the party," Artemis gasped weakly, "There was shooting and... and-"

"Artemis, you need to calm-" Xavier tried.

"Why aren't you with Kori?" Artemis asked suddenly, "You should be with her, you're always with her, why aren't you with-"

"Artemis," Xavier called.

"Oh, my God," Artemis choked, "Oh, my God she's dead, isn't she? Kori's dead, Kori's-"

"No, no, no, don't say that," Xavier said quickly, shooting forward to take Artemis' hand into his, "Kori's not dead, okay? She's in surgery, it's gonna be fi-"

"For h-how long?" Artemis hiccuped, "How long have I been out?"

"Party was earlier tonight," Xavier answered, "Technically yesterday, now. Your arm was grazed by a bullet and you were-"

"Thrown to the ground," Artemis finished quietly, wincing as her head throbbed, "Yeah, I remember."

She reached up to cup the back of her head, wincing as she did so, but Xavier stopped her and brought her hand back down.

"I wouldn't," he warned gently, "Your ribs are bruised and one is fractured. What you don't remember is that one of the men kicked you when you hit the ground and went unconscious. And it only happened, like, five hours ago. You need your rest."

"Kicked me?" Artemis groaned, "Why the fuck were they even there?"

"Cashmere's down at the police station trying to figure that out, now," Xavier replied, "But, you-"

"And, I still don't understand why you're here at my bedside," Artemis continued, "Even if Cashmere's not here, which also makes no sense, you're closer with Cole than you are with me. Where is Cole, anyway?" When Xavier stayed quiet for too long, Artemis grew suspicious. "Xavier... where is my brother?"

"He's... well, he's alive, first of all," Xavier answered with a sigh, "He was shot in the leg. Bullet nicked his femoral artery, from what I remember, but he's doing f-... well, he could be better."

"And why is that?" Artemis pressed on, "What's wrong with him?"

Xavier winced for a long moment before speaking. "They... they killed Kiara."

Artemis covered her mouth with both of her hands, letting her eyes slowly slide shut. "Oh no..." She murmured in sorrowful horror.

She hadn't even known Kiara that well. But Cole had cared deeply for her and that was all she needed to accept her.

"Yeah," Xavier sighed, "He's pretty banged up about it. And, with Kori in surgery, he-"

"He's losing it", Artemis mumbled, "They feel things too strongly. Especially if it involves one of them being hurt. It's not fair."

Xavier offered her a small, apologetic smile. He knew it wasn't much, but... he was struggling with his own personal demons.

Apparently, Artemis could see as much. "I'm sorry, X, I know how much Kori means to-" She began.

"Artemis, maybe we shouldn't have this conversation," Xavier interrupted, though there was no malice in his tone, "I haven't seen her in five years, I have no right to feel anything for her. Besides, I'm bound to Carmen now..." 'Regrettably.' "So, there's no room to entertain any thoughts like that, anyway."

"Yeah...", Artemis mumbled.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"So, you said Cashmere was at the police station?" She inquired.

Xavier cleared his throat, thankful for the change in subject. "Yeah," He answered, "All of the shooters were caught, so thank God for quick police response time in rich neighborhoods, I guess. And, so, Cashmere's at the station trying to figure out what happened. He'd be here with you and Cole if not for the fact that they put him out of the hospital."

Artemis choked at that. "They, what?" She questioned.

"He was snapping at people..." Xavier explained, "Like, a lot. He was making people nervous and the police needed someone to talk to, so that's just the way it worked out."

Artemis nodded in understanding, but she had a faraway look in her eyes. "Kori always told him about his temper," She mumbled. She was quiet for a moment, internally commanding herself not to get emotional. "Was anyone else hurt?" She asked finally.

The question Xavier was dreading.

He opened his mouth to formulate some sort of half truth when his phone rang,

Cole.

'Oh, gracias a Dios', Xavier breathed, handing his phone over to Artemis. "It's Cole," He told her, "He wants to talk to you. I'm gonna step outside and try to breathe for a minute, okay? Talk to your brother. You can even call Cash, if you want."

Before Artemis could say anything, Xavier was gone.