Chapter Text
Emily.
As Emily slips out of consciousness, her only thought is, Am I dying?
---
Somewhere far off is a steady beeping, getting closer and closer until Emily's eyelids flutter open and, a moment later, the scene swims into focus. The place is unfamiliar, but Emily immediately recognises it for what it is: a hospital. The beeping increases ever so slightly and she realises that it's her heartbeat on a monitor, and that means something bad happened.
Right, the crash.
It was stupid, really, and all Emily's own fault. Naomi had pointed out that Emily could barely even balance on a push bike, she didn't trust her with a moped, and of course Emily hadn't fucking listened and hopped on as soon as Naomi had her back turned, and now--
Well, now she's lying in a hospital bed, and she hurts all over.
She turns her head when she realises her mother's talking to her, but it hurts her neck and she lets her head fall back onto the pillow. Her mum's fussing, but Emily pays no attention to her exact words; it takes too much effort to listen. She lets her mum plump her pillow and make worried faces at her while she looks around, and that's when Emily sees Katie, sitting on a chair and looking tiny and pale. Emily manages a small smile and Katie visibly relaxes, looking relieved now that she knows Emily's going to be okay.
Their mum stops nattering on and looks suddenly serious, her jaw set.
"What is it?" Emily says, her voice coming out stronger than she expected.
"Now, Emily, I hate to start up on this again," she says in this kindly voice that always means trouble, "especially when you're like this, but I really hope that after this incident we can be on the same page."
"What page is that?"
"Look what she's done to you now." There's no need to ask who 'she' is; there's only one person in Emily's life that her mother refuses to name. "I've been trying, you know I have, but obviously my first impression was right. She's bad for you, Emily. I hope you can see that now."
The sudden pain in Emily's head has nothing to do with the crash. "I nearly died, and all you care about is who I'm seeing? Fuck's sake--"
Katie stands up then and before Emily can start raising her voice, Katie says, "Hey, Mum, it's been a long day, yeah? You should go and rest, I'll stay with Ems."
Emily thinks she sees them share a look like they're some sort of team, like once their mum's gone Katie's going to start up in her place, finding a new angle to attack Naomi, but it's not like that. Their mum leaves and Katie settles back in her chair, giving Emily a small smile.
"Suppose you're going to miss the first day of college, then," Katie says. "Lucky."
"I think I'd rather not be in this state, actually," Emily says, and Katie smiles again.
"You know if we keep showing up to college all beaten up, people are going to think our parents are like, abusive or something."
"Yeah, well, they fucking are sometimes."
Katie shrugs. "She's just scared. Seeing you like this, you know."
"Is it bad?" Emily realises for the first time that she doesn't actually know exactly what's wrong with her, and apparently there aren't any doctors around to fucking tell her.
"You'll live," Katie says. "I think they just want to keep you in for observation in case you have a concussion or something. Broken leg, though. You'd better make sure James doesn't nick your crutches."
Emily pulls the edge of the covers off to see her right leg in plaster, suddenly noticing how itchy it is. "Suppose it could be worse," she says, and Katie nods.
"Yeah. I'm glad you're still in one piece."
A nurse bustles in and, seeing that Emily's awake, starts explaining the extent of her injuries, including the cracked rib and punctured lung that Katie had neglected to mention. Emily tries to take it all in, but then the nurse gives her some pain medication and it all becomes a bit hazy.
The nurse leaves again, busy with all his rounds, and Emily turns back to Katie.
"Where's Naomi?" She must have brought Emily here, and Emily knows there's no way Naomi would leave voluntarily.
All Katie does is shrug, and when Emily glares at her she says, "Mum told her to fuck off. Said she'd done enough damage already."
"Great."
"Yeah, well, maybe Mum has a point."
"Katie--"
"I mean, it's kind of her fault you're in the hospital, isn't it? Maybe you should stick to dating people who don't nearly get you killed." Katie folds her arms. "It's not a gay thing, it's a Naomi thing."
Emily sighs. She knows that she'd hate it if her family had started treating her like a delicate flower just because she's in hospital, but this is too much.
"Look, I want to see her," she says, and Katie starts to protest. "Just fucking bring her in, all right?"
"You think Mum's going to allow that?"
"I don't care, I want to see her. Katie, please do this for me." She looks at her imploringly and eventually Katie rolls her eyes.
"Fine. I still don't like her, but I'll see what I can do."
---
Emily dozes on and off while her family--now joined by her dad and James--sit around and look at her like they're scared she might break any minute (more than she already has). Every now and then Emily glances at Katie, who shrugs her shoulders as if to say that there's no way she can possibly bring Naomi to her while everyone is hanging around and fussing over her.
Still, she doesn't seem to be putting in a whole lot of effort.
It's not until the next day--the day before their second year at college starts--that Katie manages to clear everyone out while it's still visiting hours. Emily doesn't know how she managed it, she probably shouted at everyone that Emily needed rest, but they slink off and a few moments later, Naomi's head emerges round the door.
"Hi," she says, and Emily feels her heart rate quicken--fucking hears it too, on the stupid monitor--and she can't stop the smile from spreading across her face.
"Hi yourself," she says, and smiles even more broadly as Naomi approaches the bed, a little bit tentatively like she's shy or something. Emily doesn't know why she would be, unless maybe whatever her mum said to her really jangled her.
"I'm glad you're okay," Naomi says. "And, you know, I'm sorry I wasn't here. I mean, I was, but then your mum..."
"I thought she was getting better about the whole us thing," Emily says. "But I guess not. I'm sorry."
"She can be quite scary, you know," Naomi says conversationally, and she perches on the side of Emily's bed, taking her hand with both of hers and squeezing tight. She doesn't let go.
"She'll come around, I'm sure of it," Emily says. "I think she's just scared, especially with all this." She gestures down at her cast and sees something in Naomi's expression, something like a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry," Emily says again. "You told me not to ride that stupid thing."
"I think you need to promise to never get onto any sort of moving vehicle ever again," Naomi says. "Or at least one that you're steering."
Emily smiles. "Okay, I promise. You can ferry me around everywhere."
Naomi's grip on Emily's hand loosens a little, and she shrugs, smiling slightly. "You know I'm happy to do that." She laughs a little. "God, you've turned me into such a fucking sap."
"Am I meant to apologise for that? Because I'm not going to."
Sighing a little, Naomi shifts where she's sitting until she's lying down next to Emily, squished together on the too-small bed. She takes Emily's hand again and starts stroking light circles on her palm; it tickles a little, but Emily doesn't want her to stop.
"When are you going to get out of here?" Naomi asks. "I don't much fancy having to sneak around your bloody family every time I want to see you."
"A few days, I think," Emily says. "Maybe less. You'll have to, I don't know, collect my homework for me for the first few days of college."
"We only take one subject together."
"Well, whatever. I don't really care."
They lie in silence for a while, and it's nice, just being like this. No pressure to be someone she's not, like there is whenever her family's around. Not that she's started pretending, but every time she so much as mentions Naomi's name she has to endure her mother's stormy looks. She's stopped actually saying anything--her version of "trying"--but the displeasure on her face is evident for all to see.
And now, it's all going to be so much worse, and just because Emily thought it might be fun to try riding Naomi's moped herself.
"I'm such a fucking idiot," she says with a sigh, and Naomi leans over and kisses her lightly.
"You really are," she says, smiling, and then her expression gets suddenly serious. "I'm just glad you're okay. It was scary, you know, watching you..." She shrugs, and continues in a whisper, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Emily kisses her, the touch lingering. "You don't ever have to worry about that."