Astray

10 / Repercussions

Felix was not particularly looking forward to his venture down to the lab.

He didn't enjoy feeling emotional, and the past two days had been unbearably full of way too many emotions. He wanted his head to be clear before he talked to Emerson, but there just wasn't time for that. She was awake, and he needed to act.

His mother was heading up the stairs when Felix finally started making his way down to the lab, and she stopped him in the doorway.

"Hi honey," she said, placing a hand lightly on his face to check his stitches. "How are you?"

Felix smiled, but only slightly. "Fine. Nursing a bit of a headache. How is she?" he asked, gesturing downstairs, as his mother gently turned his head to the side to look at his healing scratches.

"Oh, she's... well, her vitals are great. Physically, she's just dandy," Eliza said, sighing, as she took in her son's appearance. She knew how stressed he had been for the past few days.

"And emotionally?" Felix asked, frowning.

"Just wait a few minutes before you go in, will you?" Eliza suggested. "I think that's best for both of you."

She gave him an encouraging smile and left, shutting the door to the basement behind her.

Felix sat down on the bottom stair and massaged his temple. His headache was growing steadily worse, and he knew a yelling match with Emerson wouldn't help. He was anxious to see her, but angry, so angry still, though less so than he had been before she'd gotten sick.

He was angry at himself, too. Injecting her with that sedative so impulsively—when she had been already unconscious, for that matter—had been dumb; but then again, how could he have known she was allergic to the methocarbamol? He also felt angry at his father, for not catching that detail when they were reviewing her medical history.

But feeling angry isn't helpful, Felix reminded himself. He couldn't change the fact that she had stabbed him and tried to run away, and he couldn't change how he had handled it, either. All he could do now was decide what to do moving forward.

"I'm still in control," he said, out loud. His voice echoed through the the empty concrete hallway. "She's still here."

After ten or fifteen minutes, Felix stood up, deciding that however calm Emerson was would have to be good enough. If nothing else, he would be able to snag some pain medicine for his headache while he was down there.

He reached the double doors that led to the lab and took a deep breath as he typed in the code; as he did so, he heard a faint clinking of metal from inside, and knew that Emerson had been startled to see him through the window.

Take control.

He was relieved to find Emerson quite subdued in her bed; as he entered the room and made his way towards her, she watched him fearfully, but remained still. He noticed that her cheeks were tear-stained and her breathing was shaky, but nonetheless she was not yelling or screaming.

Felix maintained silence as he approached the hospital bed, observing Emerson carefully, who watched him with equal intensity. He pulled a chair over so he could sit next to her, and nearly winced as he remembered sitting there a day or two ago, overwhelmed with stress, watching his mother try to figure out what was wrong with Emerson and whether or not she was going to be okay.

Emerson didn't know this, of course; and Felix hoped that his mother hadn't said anything to her about how worried he had been. He wanted Emerson to feel loved by him, but there was a difference between that and showing weakness. Right now, he couldn't afford to show any weakness. She had taken advantage of his vulnerability after that kiss, and he wouldn't forget that soon.