Running

14

Fourteen

Eponine awoke with a start, sitting straight up with a gasp. She had no idea where she was. All she knew what that the room was so bright it was blinding and an incessant beeping filled her ears. She couldn't make out any of her surroundings because her vision had yet to focus. She jumped when she felt a hand gently pushing on her shoulder, but when the voice attached the hand started speaking to her, she felt relieved. It was familiar and warm. Grantaire. 

"Hey, it's alright. Relax," he said softly. 

She squinted at him, the lights still too bright for her eyes, "The lights. Turn them off," she croaked. 

Grantaire moved across the room and a few seconds later, Eponine could see much more clearly. He had dimmed the lights so that they were just at a light glow in the hospital room. 

"What do you remember?" he asked when he sat back down beside her. 

"Too much," she groaned. 

Grantaire took her hand, stroking his thumb across her wrist, "Everything's alright now."

"But did they get him? Did they get Marius?"

"Ep...Marius is dead," he said quietly. 

Suddenly, a tremor started through her body. She was certain even her insides were shaking. 

"I...I killed him," she whispered. 

"You did what you had to do to protect yourself, Ep. And the police know that. Everything is going to be fine."

Eponine's mind was going a million miles an hour, and she tried to focus on something else. When she tried to move to a more comfortable position, pain shot up her leg. 

"Ah! My leg, Grant!" 

"It's going to take a while to heal. Marius used the mirror shard to slice your Achilles' tendon. They told me you passed out in the ambulance. I wasn't allowed to go with you because they took me in a separate ambulance for my head. They rushed you into surgery as soon as they got here. You're going to have some rehab to go through," he explained. 

Eponine nodded. Marius had left his final scar on her. 

"How's you're head?" she asked, reaching up and brushing the hair off of his forehead. 

"I'm alright. I have a concussion, but I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Ep," he smiled. 

Eponine smiled back. 

"You need rest, Ep."

She nodded, her eyelids agreeing with him as they slowly closed. 

"I love you," she whispered as she drifted to sleep. 

****

When Eponine opened her eyes again, she frantically searched for Grantaire, but not finding him. But she immediately felt relived when her eyes focused on Enjolras sitting in a chair in the corner with a book. 

"Enjolras?" she asked. 

He put his book down and smiled at her, "You're awake."

"Where's Grant?"

"He went down to get some food and asked me to sit with you."

"Oh, well thank you," she said quietly. 

They sat there in silence for a moment before Enjolras spoke again. 

"Congratulations."

She looked at him curiously, "What for?"

"On being free," he explained. 

Eponine huffed, "I don't feel free. I feel like I just killed a man."

Enjolras leaned forward and looked at her seriously, "Eponine, you did what was necessary to protect yourself. It was self-defense. If that isn't enough to convince you, then think of it this way. Marius was not going to leave Grantaire alive to come find you or him or send the authorities after him. He wouldn't have wanted any witnesses, so while he might have kept you alive and taken you back to his home, he would've killed Grantaire. You saved Grantaire's life."

Eponine let that sink in for a moment, and tears welled in her eyes. 

"How is it that you always know what to say?" she asked, her voice trembling. 

"It's my super power," he grinned. 

Just then, Grantaire walked through the door with takeout containers of food in his hands. When he noticed Eponine's tears, he stopped at stared at Enjolras. 

"What did you do to her?"

Eponine laughed, "He didn't do anything bad, Grant. Calm down."

"That's right! Give me some more credit," Enjolras chuckled. 

"Oh. I apologize. I brought you some food. And you too, Ep, to spare you from the bland hospital food."

"You're the best," she smiled. 

So the three of them ate their meal together, with Eponine feeling much better about everything that had transpired.

****

It wasn't long before Eponine was able to go home from the hospital, with appointments scheduled for her to begin rehabilitation. It was slow going at first. The doctors told her she would never run or jump again, but she wasn't concerned about that. She was just glad that both she and Grantaire were alive. Grantaire's friends had gone over to her cottage while she was in the hospital and cleaned everything up, making it seem like the incident never occurred. She was happy to be back home again, but she still found herself to be extremely jumpy and on edge. Grantaire now had a key to her home, so he could come check on here whenever. The hardest part of the recovery was definitely the nightmares. They started only a week after she returned home. 

Eponine sat straight up in her bed with a scream, the room pitch dark. She had just snapped out of a terrible nightmare, one replaying the events of the attack. She gasped for breath as tears poured down her face. She knew she wouldn't be able to spend the rest of the night alone, so she she reached over and grabbed her phone. 

"Grant," she cried when he picked up on only the third ring. 

"Ep, are you okay?"

"It was a nightmare. No, I'm not okay. I need you."

"I'll be over in a second."

Eponine sat her phone down and flipped her lamp on before drawing her knees to her chest, clutching them tightly and sobbing. In a matter of no time, she heard Grantaire's heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. 

She could see the sadness in his eyes when he came into the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed in front of her and brushed some of her hair back. 

"It's okay. Everything's going to be fine. He's gone," he whispered. 

He pulled her into his arms, and Eponine buried her face in the curve of his neck, crying. The feeling of his strong arms around her was comforting, and she finally calmed down. 

"What time is it?" she rasped. 

"3:20 in the morning. We both need more sleep," he answered. 

Eponine nodded against his shoulder before drawing back, "Stay, please."

He simply nodded and kicked off his shoes. They slid back up the bed and nestled under the covers. Grantaire pulled her close to him, and Eponine sighed in contentment. 

"Try and get some sleep, Ep. I'm right here," he assured her. 

Grantaire stayed awake long enough to make sure Eponine had drifted off to sleep. He kissed her forehead before closing his eyes. 

A lot of their nights ended up in this fashion with Eponine suffering from a nightmare, and Grantaire coming over to comfort her. Eventually, the nightmares began to fade and things returned to normal.  Marius was finally out of her life for good.