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 Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:42 pm
Even the waiting room smelled abnormally sterile. There were a few bleary-eyed mothers, a worried man here for what Liberty presumed to be his girlfriend. Liberty did her best to pass them a smile. Exhausted to the point she was nodding off in her chair, the redhead made a very crucial mistake.
There were only three A names in her contact list.
One, Amanda, she lived with. Two, Andrew, who she had worked on a group project with the previous semester and had forgotten to delete the number of, and Avery.
Her finger had fumbled, pressed the "Up" key on the old phone as opposed to the "Options", and fuzzy-eyed, she'd grumpily hit the options button more intensely when the next list had failed to come up.
Consequently, it was the phone of Avery Hollister that Liberty Marie Reever was ringing at 4:33 in the morning and for the moment she had not a clue.
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:49 pm
Avery had been home for a little while, now. It had been hard to resist the urge to lurk around the hospital, like some sort of weirdo, and so she'd quickly headed toward her vehicle, powered down, and sped the playful little Golf back to her flat.
She'd bathed. Changed into comfortable clothes. Stared mindlessly at her email when she was avoiding looking at the screen of her smartphone. <******** was four-thirty in the morning, and there was no reason for her to be awake and sitting at the desk in her living room right now.
Avery dragged her eyes away from the dark screen, settling them on the wine rack so lovingly displayed on her kitchen counter.
When it did buzz, it startled her from weighing the pros and cons of opening a new bottle.
Liberty would have only a half-ring to realize her mistake before concerned, accented tones filled her ears.
"Hullo?" A too brief pause. "Libby?"
Should she have pretended to be groggy?
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:56 pm
Liberty Marie was so tired, she hardly noticed the lack of tired inflection in Avery's voice.
What she did notice was that it was most certainly not her roommates voice. The redheaded shifted, blinking her eyes, shaking her head.
She took the phone away from her ear, glanced at the screen.
//Avery Hollister 00:07//
Tired as she was, Liberty wasn't sure whether to say a polite hello, apologize for calling or press end and throw her phone across the room as far as she could, pretending she'd never made the mistake at all.
Instead, a word gargled from the back of her throat and it cracked, dry and utterly worthless.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:05 am
Silence.
"Libby, are you okay?"
Avery's teeth worried her bottom lip as she strained to hear something. Anything. Faintly, she heard the telltale sounds of the Emergency Room, and knew that the stubborn girl hadn't crawled off down the street somewhere to die.
But still, nothing but the beep of electronics, an echo, the scrape of a chair.
"Oh my god, you're not okay." The brunette forced herself to loosen the murderous grip she had on her phone.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:10 am
Darn it!
The attempted words were swallowed away.
The adrenaline was starting now, and Liberty's brain was starting to work.
"Hang on, Avery," the redhead tried to quell her. There was a nervous tone in her voice, as the guilt began to set in. Had she woken Avery up?
Already, she was worrying Avery more than necessary. "It's okay." If she could just wean Avery away from the phone, hang up, she could make the proper call.
Liberty fought the urge to apologize profusely over and over.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:15 am
What the bloody hell kind of response was that?
"Why didn't you say so?" Her voice was a bit sharper than she'd intended, heart thudding from the build up of apprehension. She hadn't gotten the best look at Liberty's wounds, earlier, and who knew what had bitten her.
Avery took a half breath, "Where are you?"
She knew where the redhead was. Avery grabbed her keys from the counter, sparing the wine another look before slipping her feet into shoes. Sure, she was only in a hoodie and yoga pants, but it was a short drive.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:22 am
Liberty's mind went dumb. Of all questions, why that?
"I, uh," was her brilliant opening line. Tongue rolling around in her mouth, she finally confessed.
"The hospital."
It sounded even more awful coming off her tongue, slurred and heavy with exhaustion.
"Please don't freak out." The redhead tucked a strand of loose, frayed braid behind her ear. "I meant to call my roommate."
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:27 am
"Oh my god, Liberty!" It wasn't a surprise that she was at the hospital, but it provided an outlet for all the emotions that had been flooding her for the past two hours. They burst out of her lips as she leaned back against her door, torn between exasperation and concern.
Then she was being told to calm down, or rather, not be a freak. Did she sound like a freak? It was automatic, the "Don't tell me what to-" She stopped short. "Oh." It was a soft, strange sound.
Disappointment? No, that would be weird. Freak. Of couse she meant to call her roommate. Someone who it would make sense to call.
"Well, then." Her lips pursed. "I'll let you go, and try not to answer the next time you call me from the hospital at four-thirty in the morning."
Was that too harsh? She sucked in a breath from between clenched breath.
Maybe she was freaking out.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:35 am
In the empty waiting room, everyone would be able to see the way Liberty's body tensed and she closed her eyes at the shout coming from the phone.
What could possibly be worse than that?
A voice filled with pain and worry, disguised under sarcasm fit the bill nicely. Liberty calmed her own nerves, letting Avery's words die down. The breath on the other side of the phone was audible, and Liberty carefully shifted, adjusting the phone as though she were holding Avery herself.
"No, I'm sorry." It was much quieter, full of the sincerity of a Reever girl. "I hope I didn't wake you up."
As she studied the floor of the waiting room, Liberty couldn't help but notice the tiles were awfully white. She couldn't wait to leave.
"Avery." Liberty spoke it calmly, asking her classmate (friend?) (crush?) to speak again, this time composed.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:39 am
"I'm sorry," Avery instantly offered, a balm to soothe her own formerly acidic tone. She was embarrassed now, raising her voice at someone injured, tired, who had called her on accident. Way to make her regret the mistake.
"You scared me," she admitted with a quiet sigh, her hand on her knob her door. "I'm dressed," she paused. "Do you need a ride home?"
Please say yes.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:47 am
Liberty fell into quiet whispers with her, gradually becoming more at ease when Avery's tone remained even.
"I--" she began to apologize again, but Avery's voice was silencing her once more.
The redhead listened intently, a refusal already on her tongue.
"Darn, you're perceptive." Maybe she wouldn't have said it if censoring was still a capable part of her brain.
"Yeah. I do." Who could deny a beautiful girl, jumping to rush you home from the hospital? Maybe she'd be asked all sorts of questions, or perhaps Avery would just take her home in silence.
As much as she felt bad--Avery shouldn't be up at all!--Liberty was excited for the prospect.
"It's late. You're sure you want to? You don't have to."
Please say yes.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:54 am
"Liberty," Avery paused long enough to sigh, shutting and locking her door behind herself. "Shut up." She didn't point out that it was, at this point, early rather than late, or that she would be a terrible person not to come get her. Liberty had given her the green-light, and Avery's lead foot would have her there shortly.
By 5am, the brunette had entered through the 'swoosh' of the automated doors, without the familiar clack of heels. Instead, her sneakers and casual attire, curly hair secured in a bun, said she hadn't exactly planned on going out.
A freckled face, sans makeup, showed concern, concentration as she scanned the immediate vicinity, and quickly located the younger girl.
"Libby," She resisted the urge to jog, gaze scouring the redhead for any signs of permanent damage. "Are you ready? Can you walk? Did they give you a prescription? Do you want to stop for food?" She took a deep breath, and bent to squeeze the sitting girl. "Hi."
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:10 am
Liberty Marie Shut Up.
By the time Avery was indoors, Liberty had rested her head on her hand and drearily nodded off. No amount of sneaker-squishing could rise her from that slumber, chest coming in full.
That was, until the word Libby--she sat bolt upright, looking past Avery before her eyes focused. The redhead's eyes traveled from the wrinkled edges of hazel eyes to the bottom of yoga pants (they looked soft). They paused at lips on their way up and Liberty quickly disposed of the groggy idea that it would be a wonderful, fabulous, absolutely brilliant idea to kiss Avery Hollister and curl up into those toned arms.
Thankfully, a barage of thinking saved her from this fate.
"Hi," Liberty's smile was bright, pulled long across her teeth by Avery's quick, worried sentences.
"I can walk, but not too fast. Still a little dizzy." Blood loss had a habit of doing that, though in this case Liberty thought it was more the memory of having her side ripped into than the actual physical effects. "No prescriptions. Just extra bandages and a warning not to take pain medication with alcohol."
Liberty took a deep breath, before finishing the barrage of questions as she gathered the things they'd given her and moved towards Avery. "And no food, thank you." Besides, there wouldn't be anything open but fast food at this hour. "I'm ready to get out of here."
Instinctively, she reached out an arm for the other girl's waist, leaning just enough weight into her to keep from flexing the wound on her side as she walked. Liberty couldn't figure out what was more amazing--the fact that Avery was in sweatpants and sneakers or that she seemed utterly and completely balanced while walking Liberty to the white Golf.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:15 am
"You're right. I'm sorry - I can grill you later." There was no misgivings in Liberty's green eyes, now, only a weary friendliness that only encouraged Avery to follow-through with slipping an arm around the redhead's stockier, usually stronger, frame. "Let's get you home, love." They were both eager to leave the medicinal brightness of the white washed emergency room.
Liberty found herself eased into the passenger seat of the car [though Avery had briefly been tempted to have her lay down in the back, it was only a ten minute drive, and it seemed like it would be more uncomfortable in the long run to have to sit back up], the brunette leaning over her injured torso to buckle her in without any sense of shame.
Any and all of the redhead's protests were meant with stern looks and pursed lips, before Avery promptly ignored her, determined to take care of Liberty for the short time they were together.
She drove in relative silence, beyond the occasional murmurs back and forth to make sure she was pulling up to the right spot. Rather than heading to the real parking lot, Avery just pulled up right in front of the dorm's entrance.
It was five in the morning. Who gave a ******** flinging her seatbelt from her body, she got out and jogged around the front of the vehicle before Liberty could open the door for her [stupid] self, opening it and unbuckling her belt.
"I'll walk you up to your place." Her bright stare entertained no arguments.
It didn't take them long, with the assistance of an elevator, and soon Avery was taking Libby's keys, opening the door, and quietly helping her into the dorm. They headed for her room, and then the sweatshirt clad girl lingered a moment, before:
"Do you need help?" A pause, and the manicured fingers of one hand fluttered, indicating Liberty's clothing. "You know."
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:24 am
Liberty begrudgingly allowed the doting. This hour of the day, Avery was not only more stubborn, but much meaner than Liberty. After hearing her voice earlier, Liberty had no desire to deny Avery anything she wished.
If that meant she had to feel incapable when Avery wouldn't even let her open the door, well, Liberty could pretend her arms were painted in place.
"Thanks."
Liberty dug deep into her pockets, keys jangling as the bolt was undone. She stepped inside, door partly open, hanging onto it as she watched Avery linger.
"Huh?"
A look down, at her own clothing. "Oh." The color crept up her cheeks and her jaw clenched just slightly.
"I'll be alright," she concluded, not willing to admit stretching the wound would be painful. It would still be easier for her heart to handle than being bare before Avery Hollister.
Instead, she stepped forwards, sliding an arm back around Avery in a hug that was more chest than abdomen (for good reason). But it was firm, and she finished with, "Thank you," as she drew back.
"Drive safe, alright? Goodnight."
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