Escalation
DISCLAIMER: INFORMATION IN THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ENTIRELY MEDICALLY ACCURATE FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORYLINE. PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH CONCERNING HEALTH CONDITIONS AND WHAT TO DO WHEN THEY HAPPEN.
After lunch, the girls dropped you off at home. You saw Sam and Thor's cars parked on the street in front of the house. You came through the front door and could hear the rumble of the sound system for the big screen TV downstairs. It sounded like they were all watching an action movie.
You headed for the bathroom to look at the lump on your face. It hadn't gone down yet and was darker. Awesome. "I look like Quasimodo.", you muttered to yourself. You then went down to the basement to let the guys know that you were home.
You walked into the family room, dim from the heavy black curtains on the high windows the over the TV. You saw that Bruce was also there. You approached the back of L shaped sectional couch and Sebastian was sitting at the end farthest from you. He saw your movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey, doll." He hitched his head to one side to motion for you to come to him. Luckily, the movie wasn't at a loud scene so he didn't have to speak up.
You continued along the couch towards him as everyone else turned to greet you, Thor and Sam's faces look surprised at what they saw on your face.
As you approached Sebastian, he reached a hand up, you took it and he guided you behind him and around the arm of the couch. You stepped in front of him as he sat up and put his hands on your hips and lowered you down onto his lap.
As you sat, Sam spoke up, "Girl, what happened?" He circled a finger toward his face in the same place as your injury, looking concerned.
"Oh, I got accidentally elbowed.", you chuckled.
Thor and Sam looked suspiciously between you, Sebastian and Chris, eyes narrow. They knew that Chris and Seb were good men and would never hit a woman, but these kind of things happen under people's noses all the time, so they weren't going to take the chance of ignoring the question. Looking towards Sebastian and then Chris, Thor asked, "Did one of you hit her?"
Sebastian exclaimed, "Oh my God! No!"
At the same time Chris shook his head in a slow, wide gesture, hoping this wouldn't end badly, "No. No. Never."
You chimed in confidently, "No."
Bruce spoke up, "Guys, Nat told me about this and she already interrogated her. It really was an accident."
Everyone knew how that Nat was flawless with lie detecting. Thor sighed and Sam relaxed and said, "Damn good thing. If either of you were to ever hit her, I'd be the first in line to kick your ass."
"As you should, bro.", Chris nodded.
Sebastian shook his head, "I could never."
Sam addressed you, "Damn, baby. I'm sorry. It looks pretty nasty."
Sebastian interjected, looking at you, "And she's still as beautiful as ever." He winked at you.
You smiled sweetly at him, "Aw, thank you." You shifted yourself in Sebastian's lap so you could lay your head against the crook of his neck.
Sam agreed, "No doubt, no doubt." And flashed you a huge smile.
You returned his smile, "Thanks."
Sebastian lowered his voice as to not talk over the movie, "Let me see.", he touched one side of your jaw. You lifted your head and turned it. Even in the low light, he could tell it was darker. He sucked in a quiet breath through his teeth, "Jesus, it looks worse. Does it feel worse?"
"No,", you answered quietly, "it feels better."
"Good." He hugged you. "I'm so sorry, babe."
"It's okay. Stop fretting."
"I can't help it."
You laid your head back down and he tickled your back lightly with one hand, the other resting on your thigh.
Chris swigged the last swallow from his beer and stood from the other end of the sectional, "Beer run. Who needs one?"
You all raised a hand.
You chuckled, "I'll help you."
Chris nodded, "Awesome, thanks." He started for the stairs and you began to get up, when Sebastian spoke softly, "Hey,", he pulled you back to him and kissed your cheek, "Hurry back. I missed you."
You got up and rounded the couch, "Seb, I was only gone two hours."
"I know.", he called after you.
Once you meet up with Chris at the fridge, you asked quietly, "Is he ever gonna let up? He's fawning all over me and won't stop apologizing." The TV speakers were booming with violent sounds again.
He chuckled and started taking out bottles and handed one to you, "Not for a while, hon. He feels really terrible and I don't blame him. I'd be the same way."
You took another out of his hand, "I wish he'd just chill out though. I hate that he feels so awful about something that's really not a big deal."
He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, "That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. It is a big deal. I'm not sure you realize just how much we care about you and hurting you, accident or not... I get why he's so upset over it."
You sighed.
"He'll chill out about it, just give him a little time." He placed a hand at the back of your head and gave you a quick kiss on the forehead, then picked the last beer out of the fridge. He was certain he was losing you now. He knew that not all of the extra attention Sebastian was giving you lately was out of guilt for hurting you.
Why did he decide to date? Why didn't he give it more time to see if there was anything between you? Why hadn't he been just a bit more forward with you? Why hadn't he just... talked to you about how he felt? That would've been the most sensible way to find out how you felt, but fear of you not feeling the same had stopped him. He took a deep breath to disguise a sigh as he followed you back down the stairs, "Chris, you're a fuckin' meatball.", he thought to himself.
Over the next week, the bump on your head had gone down to normal and was just a greenish yellow bruise now; almost healed. You still hadn't found a job and you were really starting to get stressed about it. Try as you might, it was proving hard to get under control that week. On Thursday evening, you and Sebastian were home while Chris was at Sharon's; by now, they had officially become an item.
Sebastian was reading in his room and you were on your laptop on your bed, sitting against the headboard , trying to find articles that you thought would help your job search. You scooted to the edge of the bed, stood and put your laptop on your desk to use the bathroom. You were starting to feel antsy. By the time you got back to your room, you had been thinking way too much. The wave of panic and dread came fast and you started pacing, but only for a few steps. Suddenly, you felt sweaty, dizzy and nauseous and stopped at your desk chair, putting a hand on it to steady yourself. It was now that you thought to yourself that you should have let Seb know as soon as your thoughts started racing-- and then everything went black.
Sebastian's room was directly below yours. The loud thud startled him. He immediately jumped off his bed and hurried upstairs calling your name when he reached the top of the stairs, but he didn't get an answer. He increased his pace and went to your room to find you on the floor of your room and his heart started pounding in his chest, "Oh God!", he rushed to you and kneeled on the floor next to you, "No. No, no, no, no. (Y/N)!" He laid a hand on your shoulder and bent over you, putting his ear near your mouth; he could hear you breathing and felt your breath against his ear. You were still alive, thank God. He didn't know what had actually happened, so he didn't want to move you. He just gently rubbed your arm and stroked your hair lightly as he fished his phone out of his pocket, "It's okay, baby doll, Seb's here." He dialed 911.
When you regained consciousness you saw Sebastian's face above you. He was on the phone, staring down at you, "She's awake.", he said into the phone. He paused, looking like he was listening. "Okay... Okay... Yes, it is." He was stroking your hair when he addressed you, the phone still to his ear, "Hey, gorgeous. Just lay still. I've got paramedics coming to check you out, okay?" He seemed so calm, but what you didn't know is that inside, he was terrified. You were really scared too. What just happened?...and why?
"Okay.", you replied quietly.
The paramedics arrived a few minutes later and Sebastian sneaked a quick kiss on your head before moving out of their way. They checked your vitals and asked you what happened, also asking about the bruise on your face. You explained the bruise and what happened before you passed out. They also asked Sebastian some questions. They asked if you could stand so you could sit on your bed and you did, slowly, with the help of one of the paramedics. You felt so exhausted, you just wanted to sleep. They said they concluded that you had just fainted, though they couldn't diagnose why and they offered to take you to the hospital. You sighed, staring at the floor, thinking.
Sebastian knew exactly what was going through your mind, so he reassured you, "I'll pay the bill, babe."
The tears came in a flash and you covered one side of your face, which was twisting up in regret and embarrassment as you started sobbing.
He moved to you as the paramedics stood back, waiting for an answer. He crouched down next to you on the floor and gently removed your hand and held it so he could see your face. He put his other hand at the small of your back, his face sympathetic, "Doll, it's okay, please don't cry." You finally managed to look at him. The hand he had at your back moved to your face and he wiped the tears from your cheek with his thumb. "Let me take care of you. Anything you need. I want to... I need to."
His eyes were searching yours, waiting for something to click; for you to finally stop worrying about fucking money. He and Chris couldn't just let you fend for yourself with nothing and they sure as hell weren't going to neglect getting you medical attention. He wished you would just accept it and let them help you... Simply because they cared and money would never be more important than you.
After a moment, you nodded and whispered, "Okay." You looked to the paramedics and spoke up, "Yes, I think I should go."
Sebastian had walked you to the ambulance with an arm around your shoulders and his other hand under your elbow closest to him. He wanted to go with you in the ambulance, but they wouldn't let him. He pleaded with one of them for a moment, "Please, I need to make sure she's okay... She might need me."
"We have all the means to make sure she stays safe until she gets to the hospital should something happen along the way, but I honestly don't see that happening. She's completely stable right now. You can drive her if she agrees. Otherwise, you'll need to drive there yourself."
Sebastian thought it best that you be with medical professionals should anything more happen with you, so he reluctantly agreed to drive there by himself.
He hugged you tighter than ever and kissed your forehead twice, "I'll see you soon, doll. It's gonna be okay.", he wasn't even sure of that himself, so he forced a smile. The paramedics helped you into the back of the ambulance, you didn't need a stretcher.
Sebastian called Chris before he left the house, who left Sharon's immediately to go to the hospital.
While you rode in the ambulance, the paramedic in the back talked with you. He flashed you a friendly smile, "You're a lucky girl; you're boyfriend seems to take really good care of you."
"Oh. He's my friend, not my boyfriend.", you half smiled.
His eyebrows raised, "Well, he should be your boyfriend. Watching him with you, anyone could see you're the apple of his eye."
You smiled slightly, looking at the floor and nodded.