voyager // max mayfield

TWENTY FIVE: IT WASN'T REAL

"Okay," Max nodded, leading Eve into the bathroom. She sat her down on the small counter, turning to leave to go grab a t-shirt, but Eve grabbed her arm with a shaking hand.

Max turned to look at the girl, seeing her shaking her head softly, "don't go," Eve whispered.

"I'll be back in a second, Eve, I promise," Max responded, moving Eve's arm off of her, "I'm just grabbing you a shirt, so you don't have to wear something dirty.

Eve nodded her head, letting Max leave as she sighed out.

She didn't know why, but a heaviness surrounded her heart - the only thing she could relate the feeling to was grief, a darkness inside.

"I'm back," Max returned, closing and locking the door behind her as she lay a clean shirt on the closed toilet seat. She turned to Eve, seeing the girl messing with her hands.

Whatever she had seen had really messed her up.

"Do you mind if I remove your shirt?" Max asked her, now standing in front of her a she kept her eyes solely on Eve's. Eve looked up at her, thinking for a moment, before slowly lifting her arms above her head.

Max got the memo, and moved her hands to the bottom of Eve's shirt, lifting it slowly to reveal the mess that lived underneath.

There was a clear gash on her side, long and claw shaped - the wound hadn't had enough time to heal, and therefore was stuck to the shirt, making Eve hiss as the fabric began to move.

Max apologised quietly, moving to remove the shirt in that area slowly, not wanting to hurt Eve any more than she already was. Eve stayed silent, but appreciated it.

The shirt was lifted over her head and discarded on the shower floor - Max couldn't help but stare at what was in front of her.

Eve was once again battered and bruised, bleeding at the hands of the monsters from the upside down. She looked up for a moment, her eyes catching the mirror behind Eve, seeing the reflection of the girls back. Long grazes adorned her back and shoulder blades. Making Max hiss - that had to hurt.

"It looks worse than it feels," Eve says to her quietly, seeing the look on her face, "I can't really feel them."

"You're numb, Eve," Max says to her quietly, reaching into the cabinet by Eve's legs to grab the little first aid kit she kept in there for her skateboarding wounds, "I need to clean them, so they don't get infected."

Eve nodded, as Max handed her a wipe to get rid of the dirt on her hands and arms. As she did that, Max slowly and carefully moved a wet towel over the wound to clean and get rid of the dried blood. It was painful, and made Eve flinch as Max apologised once again.

"Don't apologise," Eve whispered to her, making Max look up from where she was tending to the wound.

"You're hurting, and me dressing it makes the pain worse, I'll apologise if I think you deserve one," Max told her simply, before grabbing a little saline solution of a cotton pad, pressing it against the wound again.

The girls were silent for a couple of minutes, Eve hiding her pain in deep breaths, and Max being as careful as possible.

"I saw my therapist," Eve said to Max quietly, making Max pause for a second, "from the clinic in Florida. He was there in the upside down."