Lorcan had advised her to wait for the others arrive before she started pursuit. But Evandria was too stubborn. She was convinced that they would lost the man if they waited any longer. They had been tailing this lead for more than a week ever since a wick had blabbed about a gunsmith roaming the city in exchange for a lesser sentence after being found dealing drugs in the back alleys of the Dives. Guns were a rare, illegal commodity and inexplicably connected to the Resistance.
Evandria had jumped onto the chance to investigate, which got them to follow around the man named Warlow. One thing led to another and the sergeant found herself chasing after him until they reached the rooftop of a rowdy inn. He was cornered and they both knew it.
What happened next was her responsibility.
With a strangled cry, their suspect pulled out a gun and aimed at her. There was no hesitation in his eyes and his finger was already on the trigger. There was no doubt in her mind that she was about to get shot. Never did it cross her mind that Lorcan would run and tackle the man. She didn’t even realize that he had followed her. The gun went off with a deafening noise and Evandria instinctively dove to the ground, even when she couldn’t see where the bullet when. Lorcan’s momentum threw the two men to the edge of the building. There was a scuffle. It was dark and she wasn’t sure what was happening as she started to rise to her feet.
As her eyes focused, the realization hit her too late. Warlow shoved Lorcan off the building with a breathless grunt. It felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest.
All Evandria could do was scream as she watched him fall. Everything happened too fast and too slow all together. There was no time to begin a spell, not nearly enough time to grab him. Evandria scrambled towards the edge of the building and looked down at her friend’s sprawled figure. On the corner of her eyes, she saw the human escape, leaping onto the roof of the building next door.
She didn’t care.
The sergeant began murmuring in monite, her voice the slightest bit shaky as the magic began to loosen gravity’s grip upon her. She threw herself of the side of the building, her body descending safely. A crowd was already gathered around Lorcan, but the colors of his uniform was more than enough to keep him at bay. Once her feet hit the ground, Evandria ran to the constable’s side – not before yelling at the stunned crowd to find some help. She knelt down by his side, too afraid to touch him as she took everything in.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m fine,” he said giving her a tight smile. With a grunt, the stubborn bastard tried to sit himself up, propped on his elbows. Even at a time like this, the man was trying not to worry her. Still, relief flooded through her. If he could still talk… That was a good sign, right?
Warm tears burnt on the back of her eyes, but the young woman was well trained in holding them back. She rested a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move. You are going to make it worse.” She finally let herself to look at his injury. His left thigh was bent into an unnatural angle, protruding outwards and breaking through his skin. Blood was seeping out of the wound, slowly forming a pool beneath him. The sergeant was no Living conversationalist, but every Seventen had learned the spell to lessen blood loss at some point of their training. As she casted, the bleeding began to slow, but not by much. “You’re an idiot, Lorcan, you know that?”
He laughed weakly, gripping her hand with his bloodied fingers. As if she was the one who needed comforting. “Is that how you talk to the man who saved your life?”
After taking a shaky breath, she returned his smile – with great effort. “Yes, if the man foolishly dies after saving me.” She looked at the crowd surrounding them. Still no one dared to approach. When she turned back to Lorcan, his eyes had started to droop. “Open your eyes, alright? Hold on. Help is coming soon.”
This was not the first time the two of them entered hospital in a less than pleasant situation. Sometimes it was her on the gurney, sometimes it was him, other times it was both of them. Blood and pain were part of the job – she always knew that – but no one told how much harder it would be to be the one watching your friend writhe in pain. She would much rather be the one on the gurney.
Evandria kept holding on to Lorcan’s hand as they were led through the emergency unit and then a more private room. Men and women whizzed past them, checking his pulses, blood pressure, everything. They kept asking him how he fell, whether he passed out or not. They said a lot of things to each other. Things she do not entirely understand, but from the looks on their faces told her enough.
Gods, she could not lose Lorcan. Not now. Not ever. It was difficult to remember the time where he wasn’t by her side. He had always been there, when she needed him the most. Flashes of their past ran through her mind as she met his gaze. His back turned to her as he told off fifth year students who mocked her accent. His arms wrapped around her as she watched His hand helping her up every time she was knocked out on the training ring. His proud smile when she was finally awarded with her fourth snap.
Lorcan saw the fear in her eyes far too easily. “I am not going anywhere. You wouldn’t be able to get away from me so easily. I promised, didn’t I?” His voice faded off slowly as his grip around her hand loosened. Her breathing hitched as his eyes fluttered close. For a moment, the young woman felt her heart drop into the ground. Even though she could see the rise and fall of his chest, it was impossible to keep the fear from creeping into her mind.
The sergeant had entirely forgotten that they were surrounded by others and she nearly leapt out of her skin when an old nurse with a firm scowl laid a hand on her. “The constable will be getting the very best care we have to offer. A doctor would see him soon and it is better if you wait out–”
“I am staying right here,” Evandria said simply, daring the nurse to challenge her. She yanked her arm away from her. “I won’t get in the way but I’m not going anywhere.”