concordia

twenty six

word count: 2.5k

date written: 9.8.19

verse: canon-divergence; fix-it

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when she'd left, elle hadn't planned on coming back. she'd been frustrated and determined and stupid, although that one had taken a few days for her to realize. when she'd been upset and exhausted, thinking rationally had been harder to do. if it had been any day other than her last, she might've known better than to take connie's words at face value, or push her to breaking point to begin with. but after weeks of being given the cold shoulder and helplessly watching connie struggle in silence, her words had hit harder than either of them likely expected. 

they'd only stung for a day. 

drowning her sorrows in cheap wine had done nothing to weaken the regret that had hit elle the morning after. if anything, it had done the opposite. there was no counting how many times she'd picked up the phone to call connie since then only to change her mind right before she could, too ashamed of her own behavior to go through with it. what was she supposed to say? she'd known something was wrong, and yet she'd still abandoned connie right when she'd needed her most. there was only one bad friend between them, and elle couldn't stand that it was her. 

so she'd decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and do something about it, unintentionally leading herself right back to the ED. interventions with connie were never easy. it was like trying to get an angry cat into its carrier before a vet appointment. a phone call would never do. she'd only ignore it and, even if she didn't, was more than capable of lying through her teeth to protect her pride. elle would have to spring it on her, without warning, when there was nowhere for her to run from it. fortunately, she was well acquainted with the element of surprise. 

walking into reception, she felt like she'd never left. the chaos greeted her like an old friend and she had to resist the urge to stand there and savor the environment. to say she hadn't missed the place would be a blatant lie, but she wasn't there to reminisce. 

elle dodged a young couple as she slipped through the double doors, trying her best to evade being spotted. awkward conversations had never been her favorite thing and that was hardly going to change now. she almost made it to connie's office undetected, about to grab the door handle, when a familiar voice from the neighboring corridor stopped her dead. 

"pancake?" 

elle winced, slowly turning on her heel to face jacob. he'd only just been leaving the staffroom, but her wild curls had always been unmissable and he'd noticed them in a heartbeat. elle cast a wary glance over her shoulder to make sure nobody else had heard him before she hurried down the corridor to where he was still standing, staring at her in bemusement. it might have been a long shift, but not long enough to make him hallucinate. 

"what are you doing here?" he asked, turning on the spot when elle stepped behind him to hide herself from view. he hadn't seen her since she'd left but not for lack of trying. his schedule was crammed with work. 

"i came to see connie," elle said offhandedly, peering around his figure to see the end of the corridor. jacob frowned slightly.

"you sure that's a good idea?" he asked, and elle immediately jerked back to look up at him in faint concern. "she's been a bit off lately." her chest tightened slightly. that was the last thing she'd wanted to hear.