a new beginning, wavier

32. if you're not here

xavier and enid ran to their hurt friend. wednesday tried to sit up but ultimately failed, because she was still tied to the chair.

enid quickly stuck out her claws and slashed the ropes, freeing her best friend.

but as soon as wednesday stood up, it was all wrong. the word slowly began fading away and everything grew darker and darker and darker. her vision went out and she slammed into the ground, nearly unconscious.

"hey, wednesday, no, no, no!" xavier said, squatting down and wrapping his arms around her waist. "come on, get back up! we have to go! you have to stay awake!"

the girl slowly turned her head to see the boy's eyes flickering with panic. "xavier, it's too late. my wound won't be able to heal. go on and kill the sheriff. he..." her words began to slur. "he's evil," wednesday commented before her eyes fluttered shut.

enid's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! CHECK HER FUCKING PULSE, XAVIER!"

the boy did so and a wave of relief crashed over him. "she's— she's okay. just unconscious. we need to get back to the school and get her to the infirmary as soon as possible. i can't— i don't know how to—" his voice. "let's just get her back. i can't stand seeing her like this."

xavier carefully cradled wednesday into his arms, holding her face exceptionally close to his own. "please get better, wednesday. you have to. i can't do this without you," he whispered into her ear.

the car ride back to nevermore was uncomfortably silent.
xavier sat in the back and cradled wednesday, watching her breathe in and out, making sure nothing would go wrong.
enid called shotgun and sat next to ajax. tears silently rolled down her cheeks as if she were in a dismal movie.
as for ajax, he just kept driving and kept his eyes on the road, trying his absolute hardest not to focus on the dying girl in the backseat.

wednesday was taken into the infirmary immediately and the nurses began shooing her friends away. "out! out! she must undergo surgery and classmates are not allowed!"

xavier stepped forward with piercing fear in his eyes. "i'm her boyfriend, i'm staying," he lied.

enid raised her eyebrows in shock. she didn't know something that big had happened between them in the few days wednesday hadn't had her memory. ajax hesitantly took her hand and they walked away.

the head doctor, malachi, glared at xavier. "you, sit. you can stay, but you aren't allowed to watch while your girlfriend is in surgery. however, i suggest you leave and we can have someone come to you once the surgery is over."

xavier's eyes flickered to wednesday and then back to malachi. he wanted to stay more than anything, but there was too much to take care of. "tell someone to come to dorm 308 and let me know," he said, reluctantly heading towards the door.

malachi rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "of course, that's our job. send nurses to a famous psychic's son that their girlfriend's surgery is over."

just as malachi had promised, a little over two hours later, xavier was informed that wednesday's surgery had been performed and was successful. unfortunately, they said she was still unconscious because they had to stick her with an iv to make sure she didn't wake up, even though she was already unconscious.

after dinner, xavier went and sat by wednesday's hospital bed and watched her like a hawk. he'd been forced to leave her side once already, and he wasn't going to again.

later on in the night, xavier's eyes grew weary and he quickly fell asleep. but when woke up the next morning, he was back in his dorm. he sat up immediately and saw ajax scurrying around the room like a raccoon to find clean clothes. "what the- who brought me back here last night?!"

ajax turned around to see his disheveled and tired-looking roommate. "oh, hey man. i'm glad you're awake. i was just gonna go grab some breakfast. you coming?"
xavier's eyes darkened. "who brought me here last night?"

ajax shrugged. "one of the doctors. said you fell asleep in the infirmary and brought you up around 11:30. they didn't want you to creep wednesday out if she woke up and hallucinated or something."

xavier slowly blinked, trying to wake up. "is she awake yet?" ajax shook his head. "nah, the doc who brought you up said he'd let you know when she did. hasn't come yet."

xavier frowned. "i'm gonna go visit her. can you bring me something from the buffet after you're done?" ajax noddes. "of course, man." xavier nodded with the world's smallest smile. "thanks, ajax." the gorgon nodded. "yeah, no problem. can i ask you something?"

xavier nodded. "yeah, what's up?" ajax looked directly at his roommate. "are you and wednesday... like together together?" a silly grin lit up the artist's face as he shook his head. "it's uhh- complicated." ajax let out a huffy laugh and nodded. "yeah, i figured. enid just kinda went ballistic when you told the doctor you were her boyfriend." xavier shrugged with a smile. "you gotta do what you gotta do."

after ajax left, xavier quickly changed and ran back down to the infirmary to visit wednesday. the woman at the main desk looked up at him suspiciously. "name, please. and who you're visiting." xavier stared and quickly spat out his response. "xavier thorpe. i- i'm here to see my girlfriend, wednesday addams."

the woman crossed her arms. "you don't sound so sure of yourself, mister thorpe." xavier shook his head as he inched closer to the desk, beginning to show some sass. "no, i'm sure. i'm here to see my girlfriend. she's in there. got a bullet to the arm. and since i'm her significant other, i get to see her no questions asked. now, if you'll excuse me, my girlfriend is waiting."

the woman looked him up and down. "no, she's not. she's not awake yet. you can wait here." xavier ignored her and walked straight through the doors and jogged over to his friend's side. he sat down on the bed next to hers with a small, sad smile on his face.

"you have to get better, darling. you're my everything. i can't live without you. life isn't worth living if you're not here."