Make My World Go Black

Chapter Fifteen

When Matilda first woke up, she was still in Alice's house. She watched the patterns in the woodwork of the ceiling for some time before she decided to move. She barely could work herself into sitting up before grasping her side and groaning in pain. 

"Easy, Miss Crawford," a hand came to steady her by the shoulder once she was sitting up on the edge of the bed and her feet were planted on the ground. She gradually checks her side where the bullet wound should be and feels the bandage. Looking up to see who was at her bedside, her smile was hesitant and eyes darting up and down the figure in disbelief. 

"Goody."

"Hello, Matilda," Robicheaux smiled softly while sitting back down in his chair, "It's been a while. Welcome back to the land of the living."

"So..." she bites her lip, trying to force down the hope rising in her chest, "So I... wasn't dreaming? That was all real?"

"Which part?" He quirks his eyebrow with interest while folding his arms and legs.

"I know for sure I'm in La Belle... but during the battle, I raced after Frank Griffin. Nessie--" she bites her lip harder, a strong part of her praying that part wasn't real and it was just a cruel dream, "And Faraday... the rest of you... I could've easily hit my head and blacked out, could I? I could still be dreaming, or in another case, dead."

"You seem alright with that," Goodnight sighs while untangling his limbs and goes to lean on his knees, "You seem alright with the fact that you could be dead."

"Death wouldn't be so bad if you're here," she winks to try and lighten the mood and succeeds for however long as Goody snorts in amusement.

"Well, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, my dear, but you're not dead. That was all real. I'm real. What happened was that you got shot and Red and some elder woman healed you up in a nice and quick but painful procedure. You screamed and the whole house nearly fell to the ground. By the time we got out here to the farm to see how you were doing, a few of us had to hold Faraday back from picking a fight somewhere he shouldn't. He was yelling something about damn Red setting you on fire?" 

Matilda snorts, "Don't ask," while also looking around before giving Goody a questionable look, "Then Nessie...?"

Goody shakes his head, "That was real... I'm sorry, Matilda."

She sucks in a sharp breath, wincing slightly as her lungs expanded. She must have bruised a rib as well as she tries taking more smaller breaths while trying to distract herself from her pain and grief, "How are you alive?"

"Faraday said he'd tell you."

"He's not exactly here right now," Tilda tried ignoring the pain in her chest as she said it, "You are. And you're a much better story-teller."

Goody snorts again, "You have technically only known me for two weeks before the Rose Creek battle."

"Doesn't matter. I mourned over the loss of men I felt as though I knew for years. Forgive me if I'm curious to know why it had been for nothing."

He eyes her cautiously, and Matilda decided that she hated that look as it was one of pity or perhaps worry. Goodnight looked at her like someone would a glass vase if a child accidentally bumped it and it was slowly rolling off the table. She inwardly decided to never mention what she was like when her friends were gone again.

"I'll try to tell you as much as I can remember," Goodnight starts off slowly after some moments of silence, stretching over his chair, "And I suppose it'll keep you company anyway, since I was instructed that if you were to wake, I was to keep you on that bed."