Beep. Beep. Beep.
That's what Aphrodite first hears when she starts to come to. She groans lowly tilting her head side to side feeling the burn of light hit her closed eyelids. The room smells absolutely revolting. But she knows that smell. It's antiseptic, a little bitter, with undertones of the artificial fragrance contained in soaps and cleaners.
Slowly she flutters her eyes open looking around the room. She's weary of the white room feeling like she's been put into a psychiatric hospital. She hears the annoying beeping of the vitals monitor and looks up. Of course she is hooked up to the machine and now it's normal.
She's about to shift her body into a more comfortable position but she freezes when she can't move her arms. Her eyes widen as she looks down not noticing two passed out bodies holding and sleeping on her hands.
She pinched her lips together when she looks to the pretty blonde. She expected that. Then she looks to the man with messy brown hair. She did not expect that.
She attempts to move her hand Amanda is sleeping on trying to shake her awake as gently as possible. Feeling her hands twitch she sits up looking questionably around her before landing on Aphrodite. If looks could kill, Aphrodite would be dead right now.
She's about to start yelling but Aphrodite pulls a finger to her lips shushing her. She points to the blissfully sleeping man opposite of her. "How long?" She croaks out in a whisper.
Amanda sighs shoving down her anger. "Two days."
"Two days!" She whisper shouts. The man moves slightly frightening her. To her relief he doesn't wake up. "Two days," she repeats more calmly.
"You scared the living daylights out of us. Why haven't you told anyone about the nightmares? Let alone that you haven't been sleeping?"
"I just-"
"Wanted to handle it on your own? I've done that, Alfie, plenty of times."
Alfie raises a curious brow. "Why ask if y'knew the answer already?"
Amanda, not taking any of her shit slapped her hand. She shook slightly at the contact holding back a shout. "What the hell was that for!"
"For God's sake, Alfie, you scared us! We ran you to the hospital, you've been out for two days, you're clearly not in the right mindset. Can you please take this more seriously?"
She shrugs, "not when you give me the harmless puppy eyes, no. Look, I'm thankful you guys care but I'm seriously fine."
"The hell you are! You passed out right before the ambulance arrived. Scans showed your wounds aren't healing properly because you won't settle and rest. Tests showed you're malnourished and sleep deprived. We could have lost you, Alfie. I could have lost you. You knows how long you would have been in here unconscious."
Alfie looks down. She felt weird, stupid, disgusted with herself. The sickens by feeling in her stomach riling up into her throat as she thinks about it. She feels the dire need to want to cry. She feels a tingle in her body as the hair on her arms stand up. She didn't know she was causing them pain like that. She doesn't understand why they care so much about her.
"I'm sorry," she says hardly visible.
"Well I am too. You need to talk to somebody. You can't keep going like this. It will tear you apart. You were there to see what I was like after that case."
Alfie stares blankly at Amanda not knowing what exactly to say.
"If you won't see a therapist then at least talk to one of us. Each of us have been into similar situations as you. We can help, you just have to ask."
She nods. She peers down to the man still sleeping on her arm. "What is he doing here?"
Amanda smirks looking over to him, "when you arrived here the doctors asked if you had any family they could call. We said you didn't so they looked up your medical records and found your emergency contact. You didn't change it."
He looks too peaceful to be pissed at him. She forgot to change her emergency contact after she left New York. A part of her regrets it but at the same time she doesn't. It's Sonny.
"When you passed out you weren't really in Nick's arms. You tried balancing on your own. When you started to fall Sonny catches you. He picked you up and carried you to the ambulance. He rode with you all the way here."
"Has he been here this entire time?"
"He's left a couple of times to go home but he's always come back. He and I have traded off looking after you. When I came to trade with him earlier he refused to leave. Looks like we ended up falling asleep on you."
Sonny stirs in his spot starting to wake up. She looks to Amanda who smiles softly. "Talk to him. I'll go get a doctor and tell the others you're awake."
She stands up quietly leaving the room. She swallows hard as he slowly looks up to her. "Uh, hi. You're awake."
"Have been for a little while. Didn't want to wake you."
"Sonny, why did you come to D.C that day?"
"I wanted to see you. I already said that."
She shakes her head. "Everyone at SVU including Cragen knew I was flying to New York to see them. You would have found out too."
He leans back in his chair not saying a word. She observes his body language and his behavior. His body shows that he's tired but his eyes tell a story. A story that tells a lie.
She laughs in disbelief. "Jesus, you didn't come for closure. You ran away so you didn't have to see me."
"Aphrodite, no."
"Then tell me!"
She zips his mouth shut turning away. He doesn't deny it now, he doesn't explain himself. "I did want closure, I did want to move on. If you didn't know when I found out you were coming it was very sudden."
"And let me guess, you freaked because you were dating Rollins without my knowledge. You didn't want to face me because of that? Running away from your problems doesn't fix anything."
"Maybe you should remind yourself of that," he remarks.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He scoffs, "you ran, Aphrodite. You ran after the fight. For three whole days you had me worried something other than that fight happened. I was told you left, I wasn't told where. You must have blocked me because I couldn't talk to you. You left without a single goodbye. Do you know how that felt?"
"Of course I do, I had to leave everything behind-"
"Like that night at the bar in D.C? Leaving everything behind. You shunned me."
She holds her hands up in surrender. "You told me it would be best to move forward and let go of the past so I did that."
"And who did that benefit? You?"
"I shut you guys out because I thought I was doing what was best for you two. You were happy Sonny, with Amanda. I saw the way you were thinking and I knew it wasn't about me. You were thinking of her. I may have been upset that your relationship was hidden from me but I wasn't going to get in the way of that!"
"And cutting everyone out from here was your best solution!"
Aphrodite licks her lips taking a deep breath. Their voices are both raised and she knew she needed to calm down. She huffs out a aggravated breath. "I love Amanda, Sonny. She's my best friend. But do you know how awkward it would have been if I was hanging out with my best friend and her boyfriend who was basically my ex? That never send well."
"You still left. That broke me and I don't break easily."
He stands up exiting the room.
Why me?