Sorry about how short this update is, the chapter simply didn’t have much more content it needed
-N.G. Brier
Hawke hurt her.
The man she saw as a brother, the man who despite being a Harken she trusted with her life time and time again, hurt her. Indra knew he hadn’t meant to, he was trying to kill someone else, something else. She’d been there. She knew what it was like to experience the ghost of someone feared, someone hated. But for Hawke, with how fresh it was, with how much damage and not only physical but psychological trauma he’d experienced, it was worse. So much worse. Or at least, Indra’s connection to her trauma had dulled in time, making it mild in comparison.
I shouldn’t have left, Hawke. I shouldn’t have left you. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t. You’d be okay, we’d all be okay.
Tears leaked through the corners of Indra’s eyes, sliding down her face in silence. This was her fault. She abandoned him to die. All for what? A Se’li she had started dating a year ago?
A pang of guilt and hurt churned inside, creating an undefinable mess of emotions. She missed Akio, she knew she hurt her deeply, even if Hawke would always come first. For the briefest of moments, Indra wanted to hug Akio, she wanted to be held and told the lie that everything was going to be okay. That they were going to work things out, Hawke would get better, the vigilantes stood a chance.
Lies. Sweet lies. Far too sweet to ever be a reality. Indra inhaled sharply. Reality was a starshitted hell controlled by a sadistic overlord. It was about time she stopped hoping for anything better.
Laying on a bed, Indra was unable to move her torso. Her fingers twitched, with her arms still accessible, but beyond that, there wasn’t much she could do. A brace supported her bandaged head, the uncomfortable pressure a reminder that she was lucky to be alive. Hawke had almost killed her. Indra reached up her hand, attempting to touch her injuries to assess the damage.
Two hands, one fuzzy and one scaled grabbed her gently and put her hand back down. “You should be resting, Indra, so that you can recover and get well.” Hao’s gentle voice broke through the haze that started to make it difficult to think.
Starshitted bitch. She sedated me.
What would they do to Hawke in her absence? Decide he was a danger and kill him? Had they already done that? Would this drug in Indra’s system cause her to go to sleep and never wake up?
“I need you to trust me, Indra,” Hao said, her voice echoing in Indra’s mind. The soft hand grasped hers as the sounds of machines faded to a distant murmur. ‘“Trust me.”’
“I can’t. I don’t trust anyone, I’ll never be able to trust anyone,” Indra said as the last of the world slipped into a haze of nothingness, quieter than the loneliest grave.
