In Cold Blood | Apply Fic

Chapter Ten: Silent Screams

"Hey? Rory? Can you open your eyes for me?" Roselyn asks, her voice slightly raised.

Rory lets his eyes crack open just enough to meet eyes with Roselyn before they shut again. Roselyn sighs and climbs onto the couch by Rory's feet. Milo takes her hands off of Rory and gets up, moving next to Roselyn.

"Ro, what do we do?" Milo asks. "There needs to be more that we can do for him."

"There's a lot more that we can do, but not while he's barely conscious. Once he's more awake, we can do more but this process can't be rushed or we could shock his heart and make him have a heart attack," Roselyn sighs. "Plus, most of the shit I'm taught about dealing with hypothermia isn't the first aid, it's the 'Once you're in a hospital.' I don't have the stuff I need here to get him set up with warm, humidified air and warmed IV fluids. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here."

"If this is you flying by the seat of your pants, you really should consider ER instead of forensic nursing. You're doing way better than we would be without you. We both know our people well enough to say that if we tried to save his hypothermic ass without you, he'd be dead of our stupidity."

"Please never get rid of Ro," Rory groans. "Okay. Maybe I wasn't as hot as I thought I was in that shed. My temperature feels like it completely dropped off."

Roselyn turns her full attention back to Rory. She moves off the couch to sit on the ground where Rory can see her.

"Believe it or not, that's a good thing. It means your mind is clearing up. We need you to be physically warm, not just your mind saying you are," she says.

"Is this-" Rory cuts himself off with a scoff, turning his face into the couch.

"Face needs to be uncovered," Roselyn orders as she stands up.

Rory sighs but turns his face back out. Roselyn walks over to entry of the lounge, looking down the hall. She shakes her head before returning to her spot next to Milo.

"I'm worried," Roselyn sighs. "Sara and Rosie, and now Flynn and Ethan are off on their own. What if they get hurt? Fuck."

"Ro, no one's alone. We all have someone with us. The guys will bring the girls back up and we're going to be fine."

"Milo, can I ask you a serious question?"

"Of course. Always."

Roselyn turns her whole body towards Milo, the other girl doing the same. Roselyn closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. It takes her a moment before she can face Milo.

"Please just tell me how you still believe that no one is up here and after us. That everything that's happened to us has been an accident. Rory couldn't have locked himself in that shed. Flynn's the only person who knows where the keys are but he was with me, Ethan, Rosie, and Sara when you and Rory got attacked. Just, please. Please please please tell me how you're still clinging to your denial. And I don't want this coming off as an attack. I'm genuinely confused and want to know what's going on in your head."

Milo sighs, shaking her head. She leans her head back before meeting Roselyn's eyes.

"Ro, if you look at it from my perspective. I saw how drunk Eli was when he walked off. I've seen Noah in his absolute highest state. I know Rory here is slightly alcoholic," Milo says, lowering her voice when she starts talking about Rory. "I just- Our boys can be messes. They can get sloppy. It was only a matter of time before something happened."

"But Milo, you saw the state Noah was in. I know you didn't go look at Abe but you saw Noah. There was no way he put himself in that situation. And Rory, he was locked in the shed from the outside. This is not an accusation but the only person who had the opportunity to go after him was you. I know you didn't but-"