“She must have pissed you off.” More scribbling on his clipboard.
“It was a he. And yeah, he pissed me off. I don’t go punching people for fun. Especially if it fraking hurts this much. You’re going to send me up for x-rays, aren’t you?” I ask, resigned. I’m looking at another three hours waiting – at least. I look at both Hunt and Matty, who gives me a tiny smile and worries his bottom lip. Whatever form of vulnerability I saw at Alex’s house from Hunter is now gone, like it never was. It’s like he’s the Peter Bishop from our universe and he’s completely wiped himself out from both universes.
I frown at him, turn back to the intern.
“Afraid so. That level of blue usually indicates that something’s broken. We’re just going to make sure that’s the case. You’ll have to go up to radiology as soon as I get the go ahead.”
“Alright, thanks.” I nod, hopping off the examination table and moving with my boys to go sit in the almost empty waiting room. As it’s only nine-thirty, I don’t expect the weekend drunks in the forms of teenagers and people my age who should know better by now until at least midnight or later. I’m hoping I won’t have to stay here all night.
I check my phone one more time before having to turn it off – Loki stares back at me and tells me that no, no one has decided to call or text me to see if I’m okay. Assholes!
“Sera, why did you get in a fight?” Matty asks, patting my thigh, a silent question if he can sit on my lap. I use my left hand to drag him up onto my leg awkwardly, and after two tries, he’s sitting on me, both hands in his lap. His blue eyes stare at me, like he’s confused, but in awe at the same time. I feel stronger than the Hulk, more powerful than the Phoenix with that one look. I’d do crazy things to make Matty keep looking at me like that – like I’m the most amazing person to ever grace this Earth.
I curl my left arm around his body, pulling him close enough that his head rests in the crook of my shoulder. I keep my right hand turned up, forearm resting on my other thigh, wishing the Tylenol they gave me would hurry up and work already. I clear my throat – this is important, and I have to choose my next words carefully.
“She did it for me, buddy,” Hunter says. I turn to look at him, arms splayed over the back of my chair and the chair next to him, legs open and knees cocked. His knee bumps into mine, warming me through my jeans.
Matty lets out a yawn. “You told me I’m not s’posed to get into fights, Daddy. You said so.” His head settles more deeply onto the side of my neck, and he snuggles closer to my body. I relax my shoulders to give Matty’s head a better pillow, I curve my spine so my chest doesn’t mess up his posture, and allows him to use me as a bed.
“You fight to protect the ones you love, Matty, and you fight to protect yourself.” I lean my cheek on his forehead, and settle more deeply into my chair. I’m going to ruin my vertebrae but as long as the kid’s comfortable, I don’t matter anymore. “You fight to protect, little buddy, not to hurt another person because it’s fun, or because they really deserve it. It’s important you remember that,” I say.
Matty lets out another yawn. “You can sleep, little man. I’ll be here when you wake up,” I say with a grin.
His body stiffens up like I’ve poured cement into his bones, or forged them in adamantium like Wolverine’s. He palms both sides of my face, lifts his head to look at me – like he’s trying to see the truth without hearing it. His gaze travels all over my face, nose, mouth, chin, back up, forehead, eyebrows and eyes – like he’s memorizing me, like I’m going to become a memory sometime soon.
The pain in my throat waves hello again, and I can just feel my nose starting to turn red.
“Okay, Sera,” Matty says, settling back into a more comfortable position. His hands go to the hem of my t-shirt, twisting them in tight so I can’t go anywhere without them moving.
Warmth settles into my back and across my shoulders, and I follow the pressure to move to my right as Hunter curls us both closer to him. To get more comfortable, I swing Matty’s legs onto my lap with my elbow, his feet going through the gap the armrests create between adjacent chairs. I lean more of my weight onto my right ass cheek, elbow getting all of the armrest, the cool metal poking into my ribs. My head hits Hunter’s shoulder, and I let myself settle in.
“Did you have a good time, barring my friend being a giant jerkwad?” I whisper, stifling a yawn. The pain in my hand has become background noise; only there when I really look for it.