Love & Reason Keep Little Company (Freen x Becky)

Chapter 23

The ambulance doors slammed shut as the paramedic who had been seeing to Becky joined the driver upfront, leaving her and Freen alone in the back of the rig.

Becky lay on the stretcher, a cannula in the back of her hand where the paramedic had inserted a line to deliver morphine. Her skin held a grey pallor under the harsh strip lighting of the ambulance.

The left side of her face was painted black and blue with rapidly developing bruises from where Seng had shoved her to the ground. Her eye was almost swollen shut and there was a gash above her eyebrow that the paramedic had temporarily closed with butterfly stitches. It had bled profusely, along with her popped lip, covering her lacrosse jersey in blood.

Becky was still wheezing with each breath, a sure sign she'd broken a rib or two. The paramedic had given her oxygen, but Becky pushed the mask down to her chin as she gave Freen a dopey smile, the painkillers kicking in.

"I-I don't think I'll be playing lacrosse anytime soon... Coach is going to kick my ass."

"Probably." Freen agreed with a choked laugh that quickly dissolved into sobbing as Becky coughed and winced. Leaning forward, she carefully cupped the right side of Becky's face, running her thumb over her cheek. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have dragged you into my mess."

"It's not your fault." Said Becky. She reached up, with great effort, to cover Freen's hand with her own. "It's on P'Seng... he got what h-he deserved."

"And you got a lot more than you bargained for." Freen managed a wry smile as she moved Becky's arm to rest at her side. "Dating me should come with a health warning, huh?"

"I wouldn't change a thing... you're worth it. All of it."

"How high are you right now?" Freen asked, amused at the way Becky's eyes tried and failed to focus on her.

"On a scale of one t-to ten?" Becky scrunched up her face to consider her answer, regretting it as it pulled on her split lip. "Triangle?"

"Dork." Freen rolled her eyes affectionately at her girlfriend. Still leaning forward, she stroked Becky's hair, whisking it back from her face. "I'm going to take care of you na, nurse you back to health with lots of long days in bed."

"I like the sound of that." Said Becky , her eyes closing over for a moment as she fought the sheer exhaustion threatening to overcome her. "I-I should get my ass kicked more often."

"Just don't go throwing yourself off anymore cliffs." Freen scolded teasingly.

"For y-you? Any time, babe..." Becky mumbled, her eyes closing again.

The morphine flooding through her system had taken away the pain, but it was also making it hard for her to stay awake. Freen placed the oxygen mask back over Becky's nose and mouth. She didn't fight it, instead letting herself slip into the sweet release of sleep.

//

Across town, Engfa parked the Charlotte's family car outside their house with a heavy sigh. She'd insisted on driving. Charlotte's arms were all scraped up from diving to the ground to help catch Freen. One of the attending paramedics at the scene had cleaned them up and bandaged both her arms to keep them from getting infected.

They'd wanted her to go to the hospital, along with Seng and Becky, but Charlotte refused. She was tired and dirty and maybe in some kind of shock at seeing one of her teammates step off a cliff, and she just wanted to go home to her own bed, after a warm shower, of course.

She'd been quiet the whole ride back. Charlotte hadn't even tried to object when Engfa insisted on driving her, she'd slipped silently into the front passenger seat and waited for her to say goodbye to her mom.