A Parent Worrying For Their Child - Tumblr Posts

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY’RE INJURED

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | “It’s not my blood.”

OC Whump

Hi, here is my contribution no.6 for Whumptober !

A bit of lore : All the children here are between 14 and 20 years old. Justine is the same Justine of day 3, but four years older. Will probably made it more clear when i’m not dissolving from exhaustion anymore.

If you have any questions, I'd obviously be more than happy to answer! Also, English isn't my first language, so i apologize for any mistake. This one is not very graphic, but check the tags for TW and enjoy !

Aaron didn't take the time to question the caregivers further when he overheard one of them talking about “Silver Shein's kids”, which for anyone who knows anything about Silver is a way of referring to the small band of various children, teenagers and young adults who gravitate around the guild.

It's entirely by chance that he's here to hear this. He has a magically-reinforced radius to check and the splint removed, and since one of Api's healers took care of it, the easiest thing to do is to come back to the clinic.

But last night, he learned from Aurore that most of the gang had planned to spend the day together. They're pretty reckless and impulsive, unsurprising for kids who've flirted with death and suffered enough for a lifetime, most of them long before puberty. They get into impossible situations and end up injured more often than normal kids.

It's probably not serious. They're reckless, but it's often benign stuff.

He ignores the little voice reminding him that Lucien is a healer himself, that he could easily handle minor injuries.

Then again, maybe they've just come to say hello to Api or look for Justine. The healer and his daughter are close of the children (of Lucien and Loan, especially, unsurprisingly. What they've all been through at the hands of Helios has brought them terribly close). Justine is as much a part of the gang as any of the other kids.

Aaron strides up the stairs, concerned but not really worried. It's probably nothing. He'll just check it out as a precaution. He has to admit, the little gang has certainly risen in his esteem with their exploits. Besides, his daughter is with them anyway, so he can say hi.

The corridors of the clinic are busy, and as he glances down each corridor and open room he passes, people linger on his face before looking away sheepishly. The gnarled scar that disfigures him tends to create a morbid fascination, even more so in places of care where the frequency of such terrible injuries dissipates the modesty of upbringing.

He has learned not to care, and even less so when he's in the midst of such an important task as finding the children.

He wanders for another 10 minutes without finding or hearing anything, and he's beginning to think he's understand wrong when he turns the corner of a hallway and comes upon them.

He recognizes Jonah first, standing off to the side, partially blocking the other’s view, in profile. The teenager's clothes are stained with dirt and dust, and rust-colored streaks down his back.

Lea is the first to see him, her green eyes widening as she rises from the bench where she's sitting. Her features are tense and the right side of her hair is plastered to her head with clotted blood.

Lucien, sitting next to the bench leaning against the wall, is startled and follows his friend's gaze. He looks haggard, but the sight of Aaron seems to bring him back to consciousness. A gleam passes through his eyes. Aaron has seen enough fear to recognize it in a flash.

Halsyl, who spotted him at the same time as Lea, stands back beside Loan, his eyes reddened and lips trembling.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, precisely because Loan is at the end of the corridor, sitting on another bench, pale and silent. He's wearing a vermillion tinted of brown tunic, half up, while a healer is bent over his abdomen, hands glowing with magic.

Aaron rushes into the corridor, all remaining calm evaporating to give way to cold, cutting fear.

-Aaron...!  begins Lea, but he ignores her, because parts of Loan's tunic are an off-white color that clashes with the rest, and his brain has already made the connection, has already come to the logical conclusion: that Loan is covered in blood, probably seriously injured, because life can't leave this kid alone.

The unmistakable metallic smell that catches his nose as he stumbles up beside them seems to point to this theory and Aaron hopes, really hopes, that maybe it's not so bad. That Loan will be fine and that he won't have to contact Silver in a hurry to get someone to pull Nathaniel out of whatever place he's practicing his talents at the moment.

-Loan, Aaron said, his voice steady but urgent. Loan, kid, where are you hurt ? Hey, he scolds the healer without waiting for the boy's response, what happened ? Where's he hurt ? Why is he being treated in the corridor ?

The healer, looking very calm, doesn't even look up from his task as he answers.

-He’s fine, sir, don’t panic. Just a broken rib and a few others cracks, it repairs very well, and considerating of the flow of patients we have, I prefer to do it quickly in the hallway.

Aaron opens his mouth, then closes it. That’s... good. That’s good, but...

-Broken ribs wouldn’t bleed like that, he whistles. Where did it come from ? What’s all this blood ? Loan ?

-Sir, relax, he’s fine, it’s the most important, declares firmly the caregiver.

-Aaron, it’s okay, I... I can explain...

Lea’s tone is cautious and hesitant. She is Silver’s sister, who turned the Ensorceleur and made Helios so mad that he hates her even more than his brother. She is never hesitant, she is too impulsive and hot-headed for thar. He would knows, he has fought beside her countless times. This girl is not afraid of anything.

-Explain what ? The reason why Loan is in this state ? What did you all do ?!

-It’s not my blood, mumbles a faint voice.

-What ?! barks the mercenary as he turns around to glare at Loan. Halsyl flinches.

He feels an old fear begin to rise, a terror from his deepest nightmares.

Aurore is not with the group. She must be in the bathroom. Or out for coffee. Or somewhere else, in top form.

-It’s not my blood, the young man repeats half hidden behind his black hair, and he closes his eyes.

-I’m sorry.

-Where is Aurore ?

Aaron’s pulse is racing as a parent’s worst nightmare comes to life right before his eyes. They just left for a day out together in the city. In a relatively safe environment. What could have happened ? How ? Aurore must be somewhere else. It can’t be her blood on Loan’s tunic. That’s too much, right ? So at least not just her blood, maybe also from others people ?

-Where...where the fuck…

-In the operating room.

The caregiver is the one responding. He stood up at one point and faced Aaron, his posture open and deliberately non-threatening, as if trying to calm a beast. He has come between him and Loan, apparently unimpressed by the mountain of muscles with a deformed face that threatens to lose his composure. -She had lost a lot of blood and presented impressive injuries, but was treated immediately. It was the chief healer Api d'Estreya who took care of it.

The mercenary feels like he is underwater. Words are distant and muffled. His daughter is in the operating room with serious injuries. She has lost a lot of blood. This information is bouncing back and forth in his mind. From far away, he vaguely hears Lea trying to explain what happened. She talks about a street fight that went wrong, about stabbing.

Aurore was stabbed. Several times.

-Where is the room ?

-Right next door. Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you not to rush inside so you don’t put her in more danger.

Does he think he’s an idiot ? He knows that. He thinks about telling him, but the thought immediately dissipates as it sounds useless. Aurore is in danger. His duty as a father is not to put her in more danger, right ? If he can’t protect her, then at least he has to minimize the damage, right ?

The violent dizziness of the news passes a little while years of military training finally kick in and he suddenly grabs the doctor by the shoulders. The man tenses but doesn’t make a single move to escapes.

-I want every detail on her condition.

-Very well, the man nods. I’ll just ask you to sit down before you get sick.

He makes him put his head between his knees for a while, brings him a glass of water and explains that the quick reaction (Loan slowed the bleeding while Lucien teleported all three of them over a remarkable distance for his power. The others joined them on foot) had greatly improved her chances. The injury itself is impressive, but not complicated to heal. She should survive. Aaron still feels strangely detached from everything that’s going on, but he’s not about to get sick at least.

After the healer is done, they all sit in silence in this corridor. Someone takes Loan to get cleaned up and change. Aaron cannot put into words the relief he feels when his daughter’s blood-soaked garment disappears from his field of vision. He can’t put into words how he feels about the gang of teenagers at his side. They saved Aurore. They saved her... and maybe they put her in danger too. But these are thoughts he will have plenty of time to explore later.

It’s still half an hour before Api joins them in the corridor, looking tired but serene. This is the longest half-hour of Aaron’s life.

When the healer appears at the intersection, Aaron gets up fast enough for butterflies to burst into his vision. It doesn’t matter, because even through them he can distinguish the raised thumb from the healer and his reassuring smile, and the metal around his chest finally relaxes.