Days had passed with no verbal exchange between Lin nor Pippa. Who am I kidding, there wasn't even an exchange of eye contact, or texts even. There was no communication between either party. At the same time, classes had resumed, and on the first day back, Lin requested to have his seat moved two seats back, and he got his wish. Also at the same time all that was going on, Matt had...visited...Pippa quite a few times. Results of those episodes included Pippa missing three days of classes because there was no way she could move nor was there any way that any amount of makeup could even kind of cover her bruises. She was in too much pain. That also meant she was three days behind in every class, and as a double major at the most prestigious art school in the country, that was disastrous.
It was late the third night Pippa had skipped class when Lin showed up at her dorm. He tightly gripped the yellow envelope in his hand; it contained the work he'd collected for her over the days, so that she wouldn't have to face the wrath of their teachers. Lin had double and triple checked that Matt wasn't there when he showed up, he couldn't stand Pippa getting hurt. He'd actually overheard that Matt was leaving to go home for a week, his departure being in effect as of that afternoon. Lin took the key from his pocket, the key Pippa had given him, and turned the lock. "Phillipa?" Lin called. All he heard in response were shallow breaths and quiet sobs from the other side of the dorm. "Pippa?!" Lin exclaimed, running towards the noise. "Are you alright?!" He gasped at the sight in front of him when he had reached his destination. There she was, laying on her carpet, knees glued to her chest. Lin threw the envelope down and knelt beside her. "Oh my goodness, Pippa, what happened?" Tears surfaced in Lin's eyes, but he blinked them away. He had to be strong for her.
"It hurts! It hurts!" Her breaths were more like gasps for air, as she winced in pain. It seemed to almost cause her pain as she drew in choppy breath after choppy breath.
"Talk to me, Love, what hurts?" Lin tenderly brushed her hair away from her face, revealing a few more cuts and bruises. He cringed at the sight; she deserved none of this.
"M-My ribs." Pippa panted a few more times before giving up entirely and just taking in as small of breaths as she could. Lin knew that he couldn't be able to help her at all from this position, so he went with his only logical choice.
"Pip, can you hear me?" He made sure to use the nickname only he really called her, so she'd be able to mentally differentiate who was speaking to her. Pippa nodded. "Okay, may I pick you up?" Lin awaited an answer. After a moment, Pippa hesitantly nodded. "Alright. I'm going to lift you now, okay?" A broken, 'okay' passed through Pippa's lips. Lin periodically whispered that it was him who was carrying her, as he felt her begin to panic every now and again. He couldn't even start to imagine what had to have been going on in her head right then. Lin set her down on her comfortable mattress and turned her bedroom lights on. "Hi." He said quietly, making sure she was still in the moment with him.
"H-Hi." Pippa choked, still gasping for air. Her ribs had hurt so bad that breathing was immensely painful.
"Pip, is it only your ribs that hurt?" Lin asked her.
"W-Waist, too." The word fell past her lips in pieces almost. Anytime she spoke, it was choppy.
"Okay." Lin nodded and looked down at the hem of her oversized t-shirt. He knew about her love for this shirt in particular. She told him how she got it at a music festival her freshman year, and how she got it in a really large size so that it was "cozy" and "like a wearable blanket". Lin personally thought that story was the most adorable thing ever. Lin's fingers lightly danced over the bottom seam of the shirt. "Pip, I'm going to need you to listen to me carefully, okay?"
"Okay." Her voice was now a whisper.
"Are you okay with me taking off your shirt? I just want to make sure your rib isn't swollen, or broken, or anything. It is more than okay for you to say no." Lin coaxed. Pippa's breath picked up and she frantically looked around the room for an answer. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Pip. You can say no." He could tell she was starting to get a little nervous, but still, she responded.
"Yes, you can."
Lin was surprised he even got that far. He made sure that she was one hundred percent sure about it, and she gave him the okay. Lin slowly slid the fabric up and over her head, and as he did, he noticed her chest start to rise and fall a little quicker, a little too quickly. "Shh, Pip, it's just me. It's just Lin, I'm not going to hurt you." Soon enough, the shirt was off of her, and her eyes had screwed shut in fear of what would happen next. This broke Lin's heart even more. "Pippa," Lin very tenderly grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from her chest. Pippa's eyes shut once more, and she winced in pain. "If you're not okay with this, I'll give you your shirt back. You don't have to let me do anything you don't want me to." Pippa shook her head. Lin nodded. "Can you move this arm all the way up for me?" Lin guided her arm up, and only an inch or two up, Pippa started to gasp.
"No, no, it hurts. Stop." A few tears fell onto Pippa's cheeks.
"I'll stop. You're okay." Lin let go of her arm. His eyes traveled down to her waistline, the other place she said was hurt. Along it, was a series of bruises, and an angry, red handprint tattooed across the left side. Lin closed his eyes and took a deep breath for a moment. "You're okay. Here, put your shirt back on, and I'll go get you some water. Okay?" Pippa nodded, having been rendered mute by the amount of tears she was currently crying. Lin nodded in response and kissed the back of her hand. He went from her room to get a bottle of water from her kitchen. He couldn't have been gone for more than a minute, and when he came back, Pippa was already starting to worry.
"L-Lin?"
"Hi, I'm back. Here, I just went to get you water." He handed her the plastic bottle. "Slow sips, there you go." The two sat there in momentary silence as Pippa finished her water. When she was done, she laid down, and Lin followed suit. "Are you okay with this? With me being here?"
Pippa moved her hand over to lay atop of Lin's. "Please don't go anywhere else."
