Nobody's Hero

The next afternoon, Phoenix's eyes finally slid open while Andy watched her intently.

"Scar?" she asked, groggy.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" he asked her, and she did her best to sit up a little bit, without much success. "Don't move too much," he told her, moving to her side and reaching for her.

"What happened?" she asked, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. Her entire head felt cloudy, like she'd just woken up from a middle-of-the-day nap completely disoriented and couldn't remember anything about her life.

"What do you remember?" he asked her, and she thought hard about it.

"I remember... getting really drunk, and I remember pain. That's honestly about it," she said and he nodded like he figured that's about what she was going to say.

"Well, you called me at about four this morning crying and barely able to talk. You told me to come get you, and obviously I did. You sounded like you were dying, Nix. So I get there and there's broken glass all over the place, shit thrown all over. I finally find you in the bedroom closet where you're hiding, drunk, shaking and terrified, covered in blood. You were barely able to form words, but you told me that Pat hit you. You didn't want me to take you to the hospital, and then you told me how pretty my eyes are," Andy told her, his hand lingering on hers the whole time.

"I... no. No, he didn't hit me. No way. He wasn't even home last night," she told him, surprising him. He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, someone hit you. You didn't break your own nose and three of your own ribs," Andy said, and she could tell he was trying to keep his tone steady even though he didn't really want to. He'd never liked Patrick, from the day he and Phoenix had started dating. He'd always said Pat seemed like the kind of guy that was going to snap and kill everyone one day. Phoenix herself even admitted that he did have a temper.

"I must've... fallen or something. I don't know. I was drunk. You said so yourself," she said, and he was shaking his head before she even finished speaking.

"No fuckin' way. No. Someone beat on you, Phoenix. I've known you for sixteen fucking years and I've never seen you so scared. I've never seen you so out of it. I've seen you drunker than probably anyone and I've never seen you like that. I've never seen anyone like that," he said, and she could tell he was getting angry.

"Andy, he didn't hit me. I swear," she told him calmly, and before he could say anything else, Pat himself walked into the room, looking casual. As soon as he saw Andy, he suddenly became concerned.

"Phoenix, I got here as fast as I could. I'm so sorry I was out of town last night," Pat said, pushing past Andy lightly and moving to her side.

"Scar, thank you so much for looking after me, but I'm okay now. Promise," she told him, looking at him over Patrick's shoulder. He stared at her for a good moment longer before turning and leaving the room reluctantly. He watched the two of them through the window in the door for a bit longer before actually turning and setting off down the hall.

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Patrick asked Phoenix as soon as he was sure Andy was really gone.

"I kind of did last night while I was still drunk, but I made sure he doesn't still think anything happened," Phoenix told him, moving a hand to a pain in her rib area.

"He better not," Pat said, looking at her with murder in his eyes. "He didn't tell anyone here what happened, did he?" he asked and she shook her head.

"No. He would have waited until I woke up and asked me before saying anything. He wouldn't have wanted to make a false accusation in case nothing happened," she confirmed and he made a satisfied noise in the back of his throat.

"What the fuck did you call him for, anyway?" Pat asked, and she couldn't quite tell if he was calmed down or not. Actually, she wasn't sure if Pat was ever calmed down all the way.

"I don't know. I'm sorry. I was so drunk and in a lot of pain. I must've just done it without thinking. You know he's always been my first phone call, even if it's not consciously," she told him and he smiled at her in a way that made her ridiculously uncomfortable.

"You think you were in a lot of pain last night? I can't even tell you how much pain you'll be in if you keep running your mouth to your little boyfriend," he said in a strained tone and she was almost positive that he wanted to hit her right there and then.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, instantly frightened. For a moment she was sure he was going to hit her. Either that or actually eat her alive.

"Good," he said, turning and leaving the room without another word. She didn't move for a long time after that, just sitting there silently sobbing to herself and wishing Andy was still there.