"M...Miles?" Darkness surrounded Aven, but not a bad darkness; it was comfortable, heating her whole body like a woolen blanket. "Miles?" She asked, her voice cracking as she became more lucid. She opened her eyes to a splitting headache and a dark room. She immediately squeezed them shut again. Despite the darkness, the light from a pale beam of moonlight coming through the window was enough to send a sharp pain through her eyes and skull.
"Miss?" Dr. Carson asked, appearing by her side. "Can you hear me?"
"Miles?"
"No, my name is Dr. Emmett Carson. You're coming down from a very bad fever and you've been in bed for a few days but you're safe and we're gonna take care of you, okay?" She moaned again when he flipped the light on, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes.
"No light," she groaned, her voice raspy. "My head." Dr. Carson quickly complied before turning on a lamp on the other side of the room so he could tend to her. He called out to Dwight who came through the door a moment later. "Go get Negan." Dwight nodded and was gone before Aven could even register that a third person had been there.
Dr. Carson hurried back to the bedside to see the girl struggling to keep her eyes open. "Hey, stay with me, okay? Try to stay awake so we can figure out what you need." She nodded slightly but didn't seem to be very present. "Can you tell me your name?" Before she could answer, the door swung open and Negan strode in with Lucille resting on his shoulder. Dwight had just so happened to find him hanging out right around the corner from where Aven was being kept, doing nothing in particular.
"How is she?" Negan asked gruffly, looking directly to the girl without acknowleding Dr. Carson.
"I'm not sure, she's awake but is still coming to," the doctor answered.
"She say anything?"
"'Miles,' I think? Sounds like it's someone she's asking for, although she seemed to be talking to him at some point. I'm not sure how lucid she is right now." Negan rested Lucille against a wall and pulled up a stool to sit near the girl's head, trying to make eye contact with her.
"Hey doll, can you hear me?" he asked firmly but softly. With her arm still over her eyes, shielding her headache from the light, she nodded and gave an affirmative grunt.
"Where am..." she began without finishing the question. "I...where'd he go?"
"Come on, babe. Snap out of it." He reached out to tap her face lightly, her arm immediately coming off of her eyes to slap him away like their first interaction. "Well that's a good sign," he mumbled. At his intrusive touch, Aven began to come more into consciousness.
"Wh...where am I? What happened?" She looked around groggily. It was an unfamiliar room and she was surrounded by unfamiliar men. What had happened? She was with Miles and...no, Miles was dead. That wasn't new information; why did she think she saw him? She blinked hard trying to orient herself. She'd been in the woods...why wasn't she in the woods anymore? Slowly, her memory came back to her. She'd been cooling off in a river...and then she was tied up with a strange man forcing his mouth on hers. Running. She was running. And then she was on the ground, and then...
Aven's eyes widened suddenly and she sprung up to get away from the man attacking her now that she wasn't being held down. She whinced as she noticed the IV in her arm and tore it out before pushing herself out of bed, but no sooner than her bare feet hit the floor and the room started spinning, she was pinned back to the side of the bed. Negan locked her against it with his body, a hand on either side as she shook controllably, staring at the ground, mind racing a mile a minute over how to escape. The man had tried to rape her and she knew it wasn't over. After a moment of stillness, Aven tried again to run but only struggled in place as Negan kept her trapped.
"Hey, listen to me!" Negan barked, bringing a hand to her chin to force her face up towards him. She kept her eyes shut tight, trying not to let the tears escape. "Look at me," he said, trying to soften his tone. After another moment, she opened her light hazel eyes to meet his. Only then did he see the expectant fear. "Oh," his face fell guilty as he immediately backed off of her, taking her wrists in his hands instead to keep her in place at an arm's length away. "No, hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. Those assholes won't hurt you again either."
Aven untensed slightly as more of her memory came back. This wasn't the man.
"Who are you?" was all Aven could utter.
"I'm your lord and fuckin' savior, doll!" Negan grinned widely, his mirth only confusing the girl more. "My name is Negan. And yours?" he asked cordially.
"A...Aven."
"Aven," he hummed, leaning back and testing the name on his tongue. "Aven."
"Aven, I have you on fluids," Dr. Carson interjected, coming around the bed to her side. "Well, had you on fluids. If you'll lie back down, I'll get you hooked back up and then we'll find you some food." Aven nodded, allowing Negan and Dr. Carson to help her back up onto the bed. "Your fever has come down some but not all the way." Carson took the melted ice pack next to her bed and went to the other side of the room to switch it out for a new one, while Negan watched Aven's tired eyes as she pieced together the events that led to her being there. As a thought hit her, her eyes grew wide again and her breaths became visibly shallow, her chest heaving.
"Hey, hey, what's going on in there?" Negan asked, trying to search her expression for what was going through her mind.
"He...he..." Aven stuttered, getting lost in a memory before shaking it away. "How did you find me?"
"Well, shit...heard you scream out in the woods, found that slimy fucking cocksucker on top of you. No fuckin' clue how we didn't hear anything until we were right up on you." Aven didn't look at him. They didn't hear anything because she didn't scream for help if she thought no one would hear her. "You're welcome, by the way. Saved your life, taught that fuckwad and his buddies a lesson before he could do anything." Aven didn't say anything, still trying to make sense of the moment, and Negan leaned in closer. "I don't hear a thank you."
"Before he could do anything..." Aven repeated his account, deep in thought. Was she remembering incorrectly? Maybe Negan had gotten there just in time. No, she began to shake her head, finally pulling together a clear picture of her last conscious memory before waking up there, the memory that made her think she was waking up under attack. Negan saw the wheels turning in her head and his face fell as he realized what her expression meant: he hadn't gotten to her in time.
"Oh...shit. I, uh...he didn't...did he?" He looked at the floor, running a hand over his short, rough beard, for once acknowledging the foot he'd stuck in his own mouth. Even for the big, bad Savior, finding this woman the way he did shook him and he told himself he saved her before any real bodily harm was done. But apparently that wasn't the case. After a deep breath, his head shot back up, expression completely changed and once again almost jovial.
"You have a group, darling? Were you with those fucks?" She shook her head again. "You don't say much, do you?" No reply; she only shrugged without looking at him. He brought his hand up to cup her chin and lift her gaze, grabbing firmly, knowing her first instinct would be to pull away (which she tried to do). "I know you've been through the fuckin' wringer here but I'm gonna need you to look at me when I'm speaking to you."
"Negan, sir," Dr. Carson interrupted, handing Aven a small cup of water and a plate of crackers, which she placed in her lap. Although she was starving, she nibbled at them slowly. "Can I talk to you in the other room?" Negan was about to argue, not appreciating being pulled away from his business, but instead he grabbed Lucille, swinging her back over his shoulder, and followed the doctor.
"What's wrong?" Negan asked, his sudden concern again taking Carson aback.
"Nothing more than we already know, I just thought we should talk in here away from her...she needs rest, we probably shouldn't bombard her with questions right now." Negan's eyes narrowed, looking for the real meaning behind Carson's words.
"And by 'we,' you mean me," Negan confirmed with a veiled smirk. "I get it, Doc, you're just doing your fuckin' job. But what do you wanna say?
"Well, um, I don't mean to...step out of line, sir-" Carson began timidly.
"Then don't. Spit it out."
"You have a very...hands-on approach, sir, a very direct approach. And don't get me wrong, most of the time direct is the way to go, I know you have reasons for conducting business the way you do-" Carson saw Negan roll his eyes, growing impatient. "You said he tried to...assault her, but...well, if she's been feverish and unconscious for two days she doesn't know up from down right now. Probably the last thing she remembers before waking up here is being attacked, it looks like she may as well still be in that moment."
"Why are you telling me shit I can figure out on my own?"
"Well...as I said, you're very hands-on. I don't think that's the best thing to get her to settle down right now." Seeing Negan was about to retort, Carson quickly held up a hand cutting him off. "Just, uh, maybe give her some space...physically. Maybe you can sit with us and talk to her, help get her acclimated?"
"Well thanks for the fuckin' permission, Doc." Negan turned on his heel and stalked back into the medical room, dropping himself heavily into a chair across the room from Aven. Carson followed him out, unsure what his boss wanted him to do. He went to Aven's bedside and then glanced back over his shoulder at Negan, waiting for his input.
"Don't mind me, Doc. Do your fuckin' job," Negan said, leaning back with his arms crossed. "I'll jump in when I need to."
Aven was still awake but was staring into the distance, lost in thought. "Miss...uh, Aven?" Carson tried gently to get her attention but his voice startled her out of her thoughts anyway. "Sorry, I, uh...let me catch you up on what's going on. I'm sure you're very confused." He sat on the stool Negan had pulled up, pushing away from the bed slightly so that he wasn't crowding her. "My name is Dr. Carson. Negan here- he runs this place- he and some of our people found you in the woods. You had a very bad fever and you've been in and out of consciousness, I'm not sure how much you remember..." he trailed off giving her a chance to jump in, but she said nothing so he continued. "I want you to know you're in good hands here and you're safe now. We're gonna get you back on your feet, and I want you to try and relax until then, let us help you."
Negan examined Aven's face closely from his seat. She'd been easy to read in her moments of panic, but now that she'd had time to process, her face was neutral and her eyes were calm and attentive, though sad. He shifted impatiently in his seat, eager to go into his spiel and find out more about her.
"Try to stay calm, we want to help," continued Carson. "Your fever has broken but you've been in bed for four days and you're malnourished. Do you think you can tell us a little bit about what happened? Where you were before this, how you ended up like this..." Aven slowly raised her eyes to Dr. Carson's, feeling confident after a moment that he was safe. Then her eyes shifted past him to Negan, who gazed back into them intently. She cocked her head slightly and furrowed her brow, unsure what to think of him. He looked and acted threatening, but she didn't feel unsafe.
"Doctor Carson and Negan," Aven stated, reinforcing the facts in her mind. It had been a long time since she'd actually spoken with anyone, which only made the situation that much more disoriented. She sighed as she forced her train of thought to stay on track so she could figure out if, despite their medical care, these men meant trouble. "Um, okay...where am I?"
"You're at the Sanctuary," Negan chimed in with a grin, opening his arms in a grand gesture.
"The Sanctuary," she repeated skeptically. The word itself felt comforting, but she had to wonder how safe it could be if the guy in charge ran around with a spiked baseball bat. Aven nodded, finally settling fully into the moment. She cast her stare back towards Negan, and then to Lucille, leaned upright in a chair next to him. The face of the man who attacked her in the woods flashed through her mind. "You killed him," she realized.
"Yes I did." Negan beamed down at her as she continued going over the memory in her mind and grimaced at the taste of the man's blood splattering into her mouth when Negan hit him.
"Thank you," she murmered.
"You are very fuckin' welcome, doll."
"That man, your attacker," Carson began. "Can you tell us about him?"
"Nope," Aven stated flatly and finally, as if not to say anymore. She looked up and realized they were waiting for her to say more. "I mean, not really. I don't know who he was, who they were. I was just...I don't know, I was resting- no, I was hiding, I think? I was hiding in the woods and they found me. They tied me up and...I don't know, it's all really fuzzy. I think I knew I was getting a fever, I was kind of losing it." Aven glanced at Dr. Carson and then down at her hands. She didn't want to talk about it.
"I know this is all probably confusing and difficult to talk about but did they hurt you? I mean...more than the bruising and cuts?" Unbeknownst to her or Negan, the doctor had already done an internal exam and found no tearing or trauma, but based on her first few words exchanged with Negan,
"They, um..." Aven's words got stuck in her throat, her voice almost cracking as she felt tears pricking her eyes again. She scowled, annoyed with herself for all the crying. She'd never been one to struggle much to pull herself together, but this was the most fragile (and the least numb) she'd been since escaping from her kidnapper. "Yeah, he uh...yes, they hurt me," she finished finally, unable to make eye contact. Negan grew uncomfortable watching her struggle, deflating when a tear fell from her eye and she quickly wiped it away like she was hoping no one had seen.
"I think that's enough for now," Negan began, strolling to Aven's bedside. Watching the girl suffer made him tense but he forcibly relaxed his body language. "Carson, you have a very direct approach and she needs to rest." Carson, well-practiced in tolerating Negan, repressed a glare and nodded, picking up the empty cup Aven had set next to her to go refill it. With Lucille back up on his shoulder, Negan made his way to the door before turning back and looking at Aven for a long moment. She had already plunged deep back into her thoughts but looked up to see him staring. Aven cocked her head to the side as they held eye contact silently, curious about the way he'd been looking at her.
Negan felt a dangerous tug at his heart that he hadn't felt in a decade as he let himself fall deeper into her golden-brown eyes than he meant. His face went hard, his eyes suddenly empty, and he turned suddenly to open the door. He didn't have time or energy to spend worrying about this girl. On his way out, he barked back at Carson. "She needs anything, call Dwight."
The door slammed shut behind Negan and Aven stared after him a moment, deep in thought. She tried to settle into place, accepting she was out of commission and was going to have to stay there and let them tend to her. She was glad Negan had arrived when he did, but she wasn't crazy about being incapacitated in a strange place with an even stranger man. She felt a tug to let things be and to trust him, but she wasn't sure she could afford it.