Haphephobia

Chapter 33

I sat next to Ava, my breath coming out in a steady stream of white puffs in front of me. It was cold. Damn cold.

Together we'd waited, and waited, for over an hour. Before William and Stevie had left to bring Folkvar to the hospital, they'd taken the time to drag me back to the tree where Ava was sitting, leaving me breathless in pain but upright nonetheless. 

I can't believe we didn't question it, Ben. Ava touched my mind, ever so softly.

Question what? I replied weakly, thankful for the mind link. As my strength faded further and further I wasn't sure I could even trust myself to keep talking normally. I hoped Stevie and William were going to return soon.

Stevie and William. Why didn't we even question them? We'd never seen them before- not even I had, I've been at the facility so long that I should have recognized them. I just can't believe we got ourselves into this mess. Ava finished.

I thought that he did it on purpose. Like how agents get paired up with people they don't know so well; and they can build their own relationships and their own trust, without preconceived ideas about each other that would be difficult to overcome. Plus... Anna's pregnant. I can't believe Jensen would send Anna. I sighed, then continued.

Besides... maybe it's better this way; now that we know. Maybe it's better we discovered everything that we did so we could review each position and choose our own side. If we'd questioned William and Stevie they could've gotten into trouble- a lot of it. We can't guarantee they'd even still be alive, assuming that they would have let US live had we questioned them. Everything happens for a reason, Ava. I finished heavily. I turned my head over to look at her face, and I watched in desolate silence as a few tears rolled down her cheek from her eyes that she wore cast downward. 

"I love you, Ava," I mumbled, slowly. She turned her head to look up at me with her big wet eyes, and cracked the smallest smile. I returned it. My dry lips split painfully as I did so.

"Ow." I mumbled, reaching my fingers up to gingerly touch my mouth. I noticed blood on my fingers. Ava chuckled slightly.

"I love you too, Ben." She said. 

Just then, the snap sound of twigs being broken resounded from the forest brush behind me. I craned my neck as far as it would go, watching silently with bated breath to catch who it was.

"It's us, guys." Stevie's voice reached my ears. My tense muscles relaxed, just slightly. No matter what had occurred; no matter that they'd agreed to take Folkvar to the hospital and that we'd chosen their side willingly... there was still a lot not to trust about them. And I wasn't about to start acting as comfortably around them as if we were best friends. 

"We brought stuff. Pain meds; we stole them at the hospital. Vicodin." Stevie said. My eyes widened.

"How? That stuff is under careful observation, there's no way you could just walk in and-" I got cut off.

"William used his powers, stupid." Stevie said, matter-of-factly. I sighed. If this was the stronger stuff... We might not have been able to move, not easily; and not by ourselves.

William pulled out a small orange bottle from the pocket of his large trench coat, popping off the top and shaking out four small white, round pills. He also removed from the pocket a regular-sized bottle of cold water. 

"Here." William said, handing us the Vicodin and the water in turn. I stared down at the pills in my hands.

"How is Folkvar?" I asked, looking pointedly at William.