Athena and Cooper stress as Amelia begins Charlotte's stitches.

"You can't take anything for this pain?" Cooper asked for the thousandth time into his hand, looking away from the open wound.

"She's allergic to local anesthetics," Amelia looked up between Cooper and Athena—who was bouncing her leg up and down nervously. "And she's in N.A."

"I'm fine," Charlotte assured, Cooper looking back at her. "Just do it."

As Amelia begins Charlotte muffled a scream, Cooper looking away from Charlotte and to Athena, the brunette grabs Cooper's hand for support, as Charlotte continues to hold back her cries.

One of Cooper's hands go into the blonde's hair to comfort her.

"How many more?" Cooper inhaled sharply.

"You're doing great Charlotte," Amelia ignored the question.

"How many more?" Cooper repeated, more stern this time.

"It's a guess, but.." Amelia looked to Charlotte. "Maybe fifty."

Charlotte breathes deeply, telling Amelia to continue so they could get it done.

Charlotte continues to groan in pain, and Cooper now rests his arm behind Charlotte's back. Athena lets go of Cooper's hand, biting her cheek, trying not to cry. It's been hard this whole time, but she's managed to only cry once or twice.

"So now how many more?" Cooper asks when Amelia stops for a second to let Charlotte breathe.

Amelia lifts her head, "Athena? Can you take him to go get a cup of coffee?"

"No. I'm not leaving her," Cooper talked before Athena could.

"Cooper.." Charlotte sighed. "I could use some coffee."

"I—" Cooper looks down.

"Really. I could," Charlotte breathes heavily. "Look at me Cooper. It's okay. You go. Come back with coffee. A latte, please."

Amelia watches as Athena's eyes tear up again. The raven haired woman felt for her and Cooper. She really did. It wasn't easy seeing someone you loved in the hospital. Especially from something as terrible as this.

Cooper pressed a kiss on the side of Charlotte's head, and he hurries away. Athena looked back at Charlotte who smiled at her with appreciation. But it's the least Athena could do. She walks out the door, following after Cooper.

🪷

"Pete said there's no nuero damage," Athena bit the inside of her cheek nervously again, the two standing in the waiting room before they grab coffee.

"Good. That's good," Cooper exhales. "I called the cops. There's no news. But I'm gonna stay on top of 'em. Call 'em every day. And I checked our home security system. We have a doorman. But I'm gonna hire somebody to— to watch the apartment. 'Cause, you know, maybe that will make her feel safer. People never feel safe after an attack. I mean, right?"

"Well, Cooper—" Athena began to cut off Cooper but he wasn't done talking yet.

"I mean, Violet hid in the closet when the doorbell rang. So I'm thinking that an armed man outside our apartment door would give her some piece of mind. Right? What do you think that costs, like, fifty, sixty bucks an hour? 'Cause I can cover that. Maybe she'll need a body guard. Like a, you know, like a twenty-four-hour-a-day person to go with her everywhere for a while—"

"Cooper," Athena walked towards him.

"I'm supposed to protect her," Cooper shook his head. "I know it's the twenty-first century. And you women have all surpassed us in lifespan, academic achievement, intelligence. And.. you know, well, everything else, but.. look, when I was a kid, my dad taught me one thing. He said, 'You find a woman, you marry her, you get her pregnant, you spend the rest of your life taking care of her.' Maybe that's cro-magnon or something, but.. I mean, I am her man. I'm supposed to keep her safe."

"Well, I can tell you that.. you don't have to be tough. You just have to be there for her. I'm her best friend and I know her best. She needs you by her side at all times, but not pestering like you were about her stitches. Okay?"

"Okay," Cooper nods.

"Now come here," She jerks her hand towards herself, pulling Cooper into a hug. Cooper sighs deeply at the hug, feeling comfort. "You know, and for the record, cro-magnon is a relief sometimes. And sometimes cro-magnon is really hot," Athena joked.

"Right," Cooper said into the Knotts girls shoulder.

🪷

"Pete helped her with her pain," Athena sat beside her sister. "Cooper's in there with her now."

"You should see if she'll talk to someone," Addison looked over. "A psychiatrist."

"Mm. I gotta be honest," Athena slouches. "I know how it makes me sound, but, I don't want to go back in there. It's so hard. I'm struggling to believe that this even happened. I talked to her mere seconds before it happened. Can you believe this happened, to some we know.. again? Maybe we're cursed or something."

"When I became a doctor, I thought.. it would be all fat babies and happy moms. I thought I was gonna be able to help people. Not this. Not any of this. We help people. Yeah. But what's the point when we can't even help ourselves?" The redhead asked.

"Hey," Amelia smiled at her girlfriend? No one knew where they stood. And now was most definitely not the time to figure it out. "There you guys are."

Her and Sam sat in the chairs angled to the right from the sisters.

"Do either of you guys want a bag of over processed partially dehydrogenated crap?" One side of Amelia's lips turned.

"I'm good," Athena lays her head back on the waiting room chair.

"No thanks," Addison pressed her lips together. "What time is it?"

"Four a.m.," Athena studied the ceiling.

"I've got surgery tomorrow morning," Sam leans up. "Do you think—is it rude if I leave and go home? What's the etiquette?"

"What?" Addison furrowed her brows on disbelief.

"I want to stay, but I mean, I don't think anybody would mind if I went home.."

"Oh, you— you want to go home, Sam?" Addison lifted her brows. "Fine. Go. Go. Go rest your head on a pillow, sleep the sleep of angels."

"He's saying he's tired, Addison," Amelia piped up, Athena sitting up straight. "He's not—"

"I know what he's saying, Amelia." Addison stood. "He's saying it doesn't matter what happened to someone else because it didn't happen to him, so he's good. He's out."

"What's going on with you?" Sam asked completely calm.

"Sit down," Athena put her hand on the woman's arm, "You're tired."

Addison looked at Amelia and Sam giving into Athena and sitting, "Nothing. I.. you're right. I'm tired. We're all.. tired."

Athena's arm drops off of Addison's back as she stands right back up.

"I'll go," Amelia volunteered.

"No. I will," Sam places the chips from the vending machine on Amelia's lap, following after his girlfriend.

Athena takes in what just happened, and sighs. She grabs a bag of cheese puffs off Amelia's lap, but sighs in disgust. She grabs a bag of pretzels instead, leaning forward on her knees as she opens the blue bag.

"Thanks," Athena swallows, trying her best to form a real smile.

Amelia leans forward, grabbing Athena's hand, squeezing it gently—saying so much without talking at all. She caresses Athena's knuckles with her thumb.

"I'm not going to be okay during this," Athena squeezes her eyes shut.

Amelia stays quiet, eyeing the cardio surgeon carefully.

"I don't have many people, and.. she's one of the only ones," Athena teared up again. "I tell her everything, and I can't do that right now, because it will only stress her out more. And she's been through hell and back in the past day."

"I am here for you. I'm going to be by yours and Charlotte's side the entire time."

And Athena appreciated that.

the ending is not
athena being self
centered.

proofread this during
class so there might
be some errors.

lmk what to update
next 😽