Julia lay on a bed in the corner of the room. Her eyes were closed, darting beneath her lids and her chest rose and fell in slow, steady breaths. At her side, an IV was taped to her arm with the bag half full on a stand beside her. It was the most peaceful I'd ever seen her.
The wall opposite was lined with shelves of medical supplies, neatly organised into their plastic boxes, and labelled with handwritten tags. Bandages, plasters, tweezers, some of them even overflowed into two boxes.
"What brings you in here?" a quiet voice spoke behind me.
I turned to where Julia now lay awake, watching me. I smiled and stepped over to her, gently squeezing her hand. "I came to see how you were doing."
Her lashes flickered as she blinked sleep from her eyes. "I should be asking the same about you," she said.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, avoiding her statement.
"A lot better," she said, adjusting herself on the pillow. "You'd be surprised what proper bandages and painkillers can do.
"You look better," I agreed. "You don't look like you're dying anymore."
She laughed and then winced, slowly sitting up. "I'm glad you didn't say that to me a few days ago."
"I didn't think you would've taken it too well."
"They did tell me it would've been a lot worse if you hadn't got the bullet out."
I pressed a hand to my chest. "You're telling me I really did save your life?"
She smirked. "Don't look too proud of yourself."
I rolled my eyes with a laugh. "Have they said anything about when you'll be allowed out of here?"
She shook her head. "They said I'm making good progress, so I'm hoping tomorrow if I take it easy. I feel like I'm missing out on all the fun in here."
I raised a brow, casting a gaze across her makeshift hospital room. "Yeah, the gathering at the bonfire last night was definitely something."
I poked the lid of one of the boxes in the corner of the room, peeking inside at its contents. A full, clear bag of freshly packed syringes sat at the bottom.
Julia cocked her head, watching my investigation from a distance as I closed the lid of the box. "Speaking of gatherings," she said, bringing my attention back. "Where's Ben? I thought he'd be here too."
"So did I," I shrugged, moving to straighten her blankets at the foot of the bed. "He left at breakfast saying he had an idea about how to find Will and this Doctor, and I haven't seen him since." When the blankets had been smoothed to perfection, I sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Oh, Em," she exhaled. "What about everything else? Did you take your serum?"
I nodded, rubbing my thumb against her hand. "Yeah," I replied. "Ben sorted my dose last night."
She shifted her head and kept her eyes set on me. They wandered my face and the way my fingers began to pick at the loose threads of the sheets beneath her. "Is something else bothering you?" she asked.
"This place," I whispered. "It's a lot of people to hide it from. More than I've ever been around, even before I was this... I can't help but feel like it's all going to go wrong."
"I know," she murmured. "But if there's anyone who can pull this off, it's you. You're the toughest person I've met. Inside and out..." Her voice lowered further. "These people are all scared of the same thing, Em. The same thing you've beaten and have no reason to fear anymore. We're all with you."
I exhaled. "I know. Thank you."
"We'll find this Doctor. We're already one step closer than we were before," she said. "We've still got time so try and enjoy this place at least a little. You of all people deserve a break."
*
A short distance from Land's End's designated medical building, Ben was walking by himself. I'd only just stepped outside when I spotted his back turned. The sharp wind caught his hair and blew his curls in all directions like a dancing festival crowd. He turned his head and lifted his hand to push the strands from his face. Beneath them, his jaw was clenched, and his brows pressed together as he looked across the field.
"Ben!" a woman shouted to my right.
Lucy had her hand in the air to catch his attention and was jogging over to him. Before either of them had the chance to spot me, I ducked behind a bush in the nearby flowerbed at the side of the building. I steadied myself amongst the foliage, holding a thick branch to peer through the leaves.
"Yeah?" Ben replied casually, slowing to a stop. "What do you need?"
Lucy hesitated, her hand lingering in mid-air. "I wanted to see how you were getting on. Where are you headed?"
"I was trying to find Em and Julia." His head turned to the flowerbed and back to Lucy. "Where's the medical building?"
"It's this one, right here," she replied. I ducked my head further into the leaves as she pointed to the building I'd come from. "What's going on?" she asked. "You look stressed out."
"Huh? Me?" Ben said. "I'm fine. Adjusting to this place is just taking some getting used to." I peered back through the branches to see him fold his arms across his body.
"You're not the first," she said. "We've tried to create some normality here. Sometimes, it makes people feel a little uneasy given what's happening outside."
Ben cocked a brow. "Yeah, you could say that... What about you?" he asked. "How are you handling all this?"
"Handling is a strong word," she laughed. "I'm trying to deal with each day as it comes."
"You're telling me," he scoffed. "Who put you in charge, anyway?"
"I'm not in charge," she defended. "Mum runs this place, so I help... I'm terrified that one day it's just going to be me left with this place to look after."
"Well, you always were good at telling people what to do," he sighed.
"Ben," she muttered, annoyance coating her words. "Can we not take it there?"
"All right," he agreed. "Whatever."
Lucy looked toward the medical building. "How's Em doing?"
"Yeah," Ben nodded. "She's doing fine. As good as the rest of us."
Lucy smiled. "You two look good together. I saw you both at the bonfire."
"Luce," he sighed. "The last thing I want is for things to be awkward-"
"Ben," Lucy cut him off. "We ended a long time ago. I wouldn't have invited you here if I didn't want to help. Anyway, I broke up with you. Remember?"
Ben scowled and his brows pressed together. "I think you're remembering it differently than I do."
"No, I remember perfectly fine."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm glad that you're okay... And alive."
"You too," she replied. "You're welcome for saving your asses back there."
"Hey," he scowled, seeming offended. "We were handling the situation."
"If you say so..."
"Speaking of situation," he began. "Was there a reason you-"
"Hey," Chris whispered beside me.
"Shit," I inhaled sharply, feeling my heart rate jump.
Ben and Lucy's head turned to the direction of the bush at my gasp, and I ducked further into the branches, pressing my hand over my mouth. Beside me, Chris was trying to hold back laughter with his hands pushed against the grass.
"Where the fuck did you come from?" I asked in a low voice when I heard Ben begin speaking again.
Keeping his head ducked, he pointed to the rear of the medical building behind us.
"What do you want?"
He shrugged. "Nothing. I came to see why you were waist-deep in the plants..." His gaze shifted between the leaves, to the two people who stood on the other side. "Why are you spying on Ben?" he whispered.
"I'm not spying," I argued, narrowing my eyes.
He raised a brow. "You're hiding where they can't see you."
"Shh." I waved my hand for him to be quiet. "You're telling me that if Pilot's ex was here, you wouldn't be a little bit curious?"
He failed to hide the smirk that crossed his lips. "A fair point... What are they talking about?"
"Nothing interesting," I said. "She seems nice."
"Well..." Chris exhaled. "That makes this all incredibly underwhelming."
I took another glance at the pair who still stood talking. Even I could admit, I might have been a little dramatic. Chris's stare was still on me, and I could feel it lingering there.
"You're on edge, Em," he began. "You out of all of us have been through the most but, trust me when I say this, Ben gave up in EDIN because he thought you were dead. There was no emotion left in him. He walked around that facility the most depressed I've ever seen him... This is different. For him, it's only you."
I moved my weight. "Really?"
He nodded, a solemn look crossing his expression. "And you should believe me because he told me himself at the bonfire."
"He did?"
"He said this is the best second chance he's ever had."
I shifted my stare to the ground. "Everything feels like we're at breaking point, and something's about to snap." Ahead of us, Ben and Lucy parted ways with a final hug.
"Talk to him," Chris said, nodding his head towards Ben. "Eavesdropping behind plants isn't a good look for you."