Chapter Text
Mira felt like hell as she sank into a chair in the ER. Carefully balancing the clipboard on her knee, she struggled as she tried to fill it out with her left hand. Her right was still held tightly against her stomach, heavily bruised. She hadn't even bothered to try to get it through the sleeve of her coat.
Carefully she stretched out her right foot, which was about as bruised. The space between the two was also probably bruised in places.
A little voice in her mind reminded her that it was her fault, if she'd just—
She sighed, glancing up and looking around.
The ER was packed, but she hadn't expected anything else. Everything from sniffles to bloody noses and in between. Her eyes caught on a pair of women. They were both astonishingly beautiful. The smaller one had hair the kind of black that shone like raven feathers, a bemused expression on her pretty, freckled face. She was wearing a turtle bucket hat of all things and for a brief moment Mira felt something like whimsy.
The taller woman had shoulder length soft-looking hair dyed a rich purple, brown eyes squinted slightly as she inhaled and exhaled sharp, pained breathes. Mira wanted to cup her pretty symmetrical cheeks and tell her it would be okay.
Mira had forgotten what being tender for someone felt like. And that would probably be bad, for multiple reasons related to her wrist and foot.
She supposed Pretty in Purple's pain made sense with an arrow sticking out of her left shoulder.
There was an arrow sticking out of her left shoulder.
Mira actually did a double take as that registered.
The shorter one turned her head to look at her friend, murmuring something to her, a sheepish expression on her face as her hands worried at the bow she was gripping.
Mira snorted, grimacing as the motion wrenched her arm and she clenched her hand around the pen for a moment. Carefully, she flexed the fingers on her right hand—it hurt enough to make her feel a little nauseous, but she could move them.
She squinted down at her paperwork, realizing she still had a ways to go. Against her will, her eyes drifted up to look at the two gorgeous women again, only to realize they were both walking towards her. The Raven-beauty dropped into the seat on Mira's right, her Pretty in Purple friend taking the seat on her left and for several seconds Mira's mind struggled to process anything. They were so pretty, so close, why did she feel like she was in danger.
You know why.
"Do you need some help?" Pretty in Purple asked.
"I'm not a victim of bad aim," Mira replied, glancing at her. Up close, she was even more beautiful and Mira had to look back down at her paperwork lest she stare for too long.
"In my defense," the other woman said, hands flailing like she was trying to describe the scene with them. "I got startled."
Pretty in Purple laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound Mira had ever heard until Raven-beauty giggled. Obviously, the pain was getting to her.
"It doesn't hurt that badly." Pretty in Purple leaned over, shoulder brushing Mira's as she inspected the paperwork, "Mira, is it? I'm Rumi, and the one banned from archery practice is Zoey."
Mira could only nod, especially as she felt Zoey's chest against her arm, somehow still careful of her wrist. Zoey asked, "What happened?"
"Took a tumble, landed hard," Mira explained, skimming through the various check boxes on the form and trying not to flush under their gazes. "Dance practice."
The excuse sounded flimsy to her own ears as she tapped the pen against the clipboard for a moment, before trying to fill out another field. Her hand trembled as she hovered over the the emergency contact before leaving it blank.
"We can help," Rumi said, fingers brushing the side of Mira's hand. "I'm told I have very neat handwriting."
Mira was handing her the pen before she realized she was doing it.
Rumi smiled as she took it and the clipboard as if she didn't have an arrow in her shoulder, "Thanks. I need the distraction anyway."
Zoey rolled her eyes, "I'd offer but if Rumi wants to jostle her shoulder that's on her."
Adjusting her glasses, Mira quietly mumbled answers to the questions, too hazy to argue the point. She leaned back, closing her eyes when she was done if only so she didn't have to look at either of them. She didn't know them, didn't know if they were safe, but she felt like they were anyway. It was disconcerting, not the least because admitting they made her feel safe meant she had to admit she needed to feel safe. And that was an incredibly difficult admission for her to make even in the relative safety of her own head.
"I'll take it up for you." Zoey said. Mira felt her stand, Zoey's hand brushing along the top of her head before her footsteps moved away.
Everything felt a little like it was swimming. Her wrist and ankle in particular continued to complain about their condition and she could feel the blossoming aches as points on her side and hip starting to send angry signals.
Strangely, she felt paper under her palm.
"Rumi?" A nurse called out. Mira opened her eyes as Rumi got up. She saw two numbers with initials written on a fragment of paper.
Zoey returned, exchanging a look with Rumi as they passed each other. Mira slipped the paper into the sleeve of her coat like the dangerous secret it was as Zoey plopped down on her left.
"Shouldn't you go with her?" Mira asked.
"Nah she'll be fine, they don't need me hovering and Rumi doesn't like people seeing when she's in pain." Zoey leaned in with a big smile, her hand resting on top of Mira's.
Mira barked a laugh, "Same."
She only jerked her hand away when she realized Zoey was still touching it, heart pounding. Her eyes darted around the ER before settling back on Zoey's face.
"Sorry," Zoey said, eyes sharp and knowing, a sheepish smile on her face.
"It's… it's okay. It's fine." Mira kept her voice terse, pulling away slightly.
She was saved by someone calling her name. Standing was painful, but she managed it without any help and hobbled towards the nurse. Mira glanced back, once. Zoey looked worried, but her smile was genuine.
Tearing her gaze away, Mira followed the nurse to an examination room.
It took too long. She thought she'd be relieved to at least be alone while waiting, but found she missed the presence of those two women. Mira didn't usually feel at ease around strangers, but thought those two could easily become friends.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd had real friends. Some of her students came close but that had proven painful.
Several x-rays, a crutch, pair of braces and a bill she'd freak out about later, Mira limped back into the waiting room with papers and a prescription for extra strength tylenol.
Mira saw Rumi first, her arm in a sling. She was probably bandaged under her coat, at least Mira hoped so. Zoey spotted her and turned Rumi around as she dragged her over to Mira, "I don't see a cast so no breaks?"
"Badly sprained, guess I got lucky," Mira confirmed. She waved the paperwork, "Tylenol not withstanding."
"I know, right?" Rumi shook her head, "I take stronger shit on my period."
"Do you need a ride?" Zoey asked. "Home?"
"Or… elsewhere?" Rumi suggested.
What? Confused, Mira looked between them, realizing they must have waited for her. No one ever waited for her. In fact, the contrast to—
"Mira!" A woman's voice called out from near the exit. Mira's spine went rigid and her eyes widened just slightly as she spotted the voice's owner; nearly as tall as she was, dark blue eyes, pale skin and brown hair.
Mira didn't dare look at either of the other two women in front of her, abruptly turning away from them and trying to move with as much grace and dignity as a sprained ankle and a crutch would allow her.
She met the dark blue eyes of her partner, "You didn't have to come all this way, Angelica. I'd have taken the bus. Besides, I thought that we—"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Angelica grabbed her sprained wrist and pulled her along.
The pain was instant and immediate and Mira gasped, nearly tumbling forward. But Angelica caught her, "Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Did they give you something?"
"Just some fucking tylenol," Mira replied through gritted teeth. She blinked dampness away from her eyes and straightened, fighting the urge to look behind her. The scrap of paper inside her left sleeve felt like it weighed a ton. Her right hand was screaming.
Angelica eyed her in that way that left Mira wondering how much of her concern was even real as she held the door, "Lets get you home."
"Yeah, home." Mira made her way to Angelica's car, shoving the crutch into the back seat, before forcing herself to get into the front, adjusting the seat as far back as she could.
When she looked up, she saw Rumi and Zoey standing at another car, doors open. They both got in without any lingering gazes and Mira started to breathe again, though her eyes could see Rumi's tense face in the side mirror.
"I saw them talking to you. Who were they?" Angelica's voice was warm, curious, inviting Mira to share.
Her wrist throbbed like an alarm, and Mira replied, "Don't know. Helped me fill out the paperwork. Didn't get their names."
"How kind of them." Honey in her voice. It made the scrap of paper hidden in Mira's sleeve itch her skin.
The car rumbled to a start and Mira leaned her head against the window as they drove off.
"Jealous?" She asked after a few minutes—terrified—teasing. Trying to make things feel light again in an atmosphere that had been tense for longer than she cared to think about.
"No." Angelica's fingers reached over and brushed possessively along Mira's shoulder, "I know you're mine."
The turn signal seemed to blink in time to the throbbing in her hand as they waited at a light. Mira looked at her, searching for… she wasn't sure. An apology? Her jaw tightened and she looked away. Pulling out her phone she swiped away missed texts and voicemails and pulled up her calendar.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to cancel my classes for the next month at least," Mira replied.
"Don't bother, I already handled it. And you won't be teaching that slut anymore either."
Mira's thumb stilled on her phone and she raised her eyes to Angelica's face, "Seriously? It's a dance class, Angelica. I have to touch people. Is that what it's about? Is that why—"
She bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood. Schooling her face into a study in blank calmness, she muttered, "Never mind. Thank you. It won't happen again."
That 'slut' was one of her favorite students. It hadn't meant anything.
You could stay with me for awhile, she'd offered a few days ago.
For the first time Mira was considering that offer.
"No, it won't." Angelica smiled, "Lessons learned!"
Slipping the phone into her coat pocket, Mira could feel the paper again. She wished she'd stared at the numbers longer. Memorized them. If Angelica found out she had two numbers from other women she wasn't sure what would happen with that volatile temper.
But it had never escalated this far before.
Mira had no one left to talk to and she sure as shit wasn't going back to her family. They wouldn't take her back anyway nor did she deserve it.
Mira took one of the good gummies as soon as she got home and up the stairs to their apartment. It helped to dull both the pain and the impotent anger that was filling her. Then she laid on the couch on her good side, facing the cushion. This way, at least, she could hide her pain. And very carefully shove the incriminating phone numbers between the arm of the couch and the cushion.