With Every Sin

Chapter Three

TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT
*Andy's POV*
Emberly sleeps all day and night. I wake up to her cries.

"Emberly, what's wrong?" I leap up and go to her, caressing her face.

"It hurts." She cries. I hit the nurse call button. Soon two nurses appear at the door.

"Can we get her some painkillers?" I ask. They nod and leave.

"How long until I'm better?" She whimpers. I stroke her hair.

"You should be healed in about two and a half months." I tell her. "It'll be a long road to recovery, but I'll be right here the whole time." The nurse returns and attaches the morphine drip to Emberly's IV. I see her eyes start to droop, and I kiss her forehead. She looks so broken and frail. My blood boils knowing who did this. The cops may not be able to find them but I will. I promise myself I will kill Pearce. Juliet too if I have to.

I head home to shower and change, before coming back to the hospital.

*Emberly's POV*
Andy is gone when I wake up. My body aches and I struggle to sit up. A figure walks in my door.

"Whoa, Em. Let me help you." CC rushes over to me. He helps me sit up, then he adjusts my bed so I don't have to hold myself up. I smile at him gratefully.

"Thank you." I say.

"How are you doing?" He asks me gently.

"I'm ok. I have nightmares." He nods.

"I'm here for you." He promises. I pause, unsure. "What is it, Emberly?"

"Andy would be better off if he hadn't met me. I don't want to live with everyone looking at me like I'm a victim. I don't want to live with the pain. Mine or Andy's." I admit, tears threatening to spill.

"Emberly, no. You need to stay alive." CC orders. I shake my head.

"I have a plan. It'll be quick and painless. Then, Andy will be able to move on." I say. "Emberly, I think you need to tell someone about how you're feeling." CC tells me.

"No. And you won't tell anyone else either." I say harshly. He holds his hands up.

"Hey beautiful." Andy appears at the door. "I picked up your pain meds." He approaches me, setting the bag on the table.

"Thanks." I say, smiling. He returns the smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow, dear." CC kisses my head and takes his leave. Andy sits on the edge of my bed.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" He asks. I shake my head and plaster a smile on my face.

"No. I missed you though." I say. He doesn't look convinced.

"Don't lie to me Emberly." Andy's getting mad.

"I'm not." I insist.

"I was outside the door. I heard everything. You will not hurt yourself in any way, do you understand?" He seethes. The tears start pouring.

"It's for you. Everything will be better when I'm dead." I snap. He doesn't say anything. He storms out and I take the opportunity to grab the bag containing my pills. I know this is my only option. I open the bottle and down them, just as Andy returns.

"EMBERLY!" He rushes to me. "What did you do?! I NEED HELP IN HERE!" He screams. He lowers my bed.

"No! Just let me die!" I yell as he pins me to the bed. Doctors and nurses rush in.

"She just took an entire bottle of painkillers. We need to pump her stomach." Andy says. I scream and struggle as they get the supplies. Someone sticks me with a needle and I feel myself losing any clarity.

They roll me so I'm on my left side and insert a tube down my throat. I feel it scrape as it goes down. My body is weighed down by the drugs so I can't struggle. My tears are uninhibited and flow freely down my face. As the contents of my stomach are dealt with, Andy strokes my hair and comforts me lowly. When the doctor and nurses finish, the tube is removed and I feel a second prick. This one sends me into a deep sleep.

I wake up sometime later, restrained to the bed. My throat is raw and I hurt more than I did earlier. I look for Andy but I'm alone in the room. I stare at the ceiling, wishing for sleep. There's a light knock on the door. I look over to see Dr. Purdy with Andy behind him.

"Emberly, can I talk to you?" Dr. Purdy wants to know.

"Go away." I growl. The two men enter anyways.

"You're being admitted to the psych ward when you're deemed ok to move." Dr. Purdy says.

"Whatever." I say. Andy comes over to me.

"Emberly, when will you realize that I love you and that I need you alive?" He caresses my face, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry. Please don't make me go back to the ward." I beg.

"It's for your own good." Dr. Purdy reminds me kindly.

"Besides, I'll be there every day. I decided to start back to work next week." Andy informs me. I hiccup and nod. Dr. Purdy says goodbye and Andy curls up on the bed with me. "I swear I'll never let you die." He whispers in my hair.

"Please, Andy. Don't make me go back." I cry.

"Emberly, you tried to kill yourself earlier. You are strapped down because the doctors think you're a danger to yourself." He says.

"What do you think?" I ask timidly.

"What do you mean?" He wants to know.

"Do you think I'm a danger to myself?" I clarify. He thinks for a minute before answering.

"I think you suffered a significant, life changing trauma and you're coping as best you can." His words insight rage in me.

"That's just another way to say I'm self destructive." I snap. "Get off my bed." He does as I say.

"Em, you're beautiful and strong. I love you. I don't think your're self destructive." He promises.

"I need some painkillers." Is all I say. He presses the call button by my head. A nurse appears a few moments later.

"Miss Vace is in pain. Can she have something to help?" Andy asks her. She smiles and nods, disappearing into the hall. When she returns, she carries an injection. She pushes the drugs into my IV line and leaves. I turn my head so I don't have to look at Andy. I'm not actually in pain, but the drugs make me sleep and that's all I want right now.

Andy caresses my hair once.
"Sleep well, Em." He says.