LOG: Axel/Sarah, post-movie.

[axel_palmer]

When you're sheriff in a little town like Harmony, visits to the hospital are second only to the police station itself. Third is home if you're lucky, or if it's been an exceptionally slow day busting small-time crooks and the odd wife beater. Unless you get a slug in the chest, you'd never even entertain the notion that one day you'd be the one

Comments

[sarah_mercer]

Sarah had spent most of the day in the waiting room. It was partly because her home was still a crime scene, and she wasn't allowed in most of the rooms. It was partly because she knew she couldn't be a strong support for her son at the moment (that's what grandma was for right now). It was partly because she wanted to be there in case bad news surfaced about Axel. But mostly, she sat in the air-conditioned cold, empty waiting room of the hospital because it was quiet, and it gave her the space to think. About her marriage. About Tom. About everything.

She wasn't sure why she kept thinking about it, though. No matter what she focused on, it didn't matter. The numbness never faded. It was like the events of the last few days had only just happened in a movie she saw, as opposed to them actually happening to her, herself.

Muffled voices from the other side of Axel's door caught her attention. If there was talking, then that meant he was awake. Finally. The doctors were afraid of him falling comatose; at least that was one less terrible thing that Sarah would have to face. The nurse that she'd come to know pretty well, who had been mostly in charge of taking care of Axel, emerged from his room and confirmed her suspicions. Not only was he awake, but he was asking for her.

Still feeling mostly detached, Sarah rose from her chair and headed for the man she'd married.

He looked awful-- just a pathetic decrepit little lump in a big white room. She wasn't entirely sure why she expected anything different. Maybe it was just because Axel always tried to be this larger than life kind of person. But now, being as he was, it was evidence that even the mightiest of men could fall.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Sarah headed slowly towards the direction of his bed, pursing her lips and trying to think of something to say. It was funny. After all the thinking she'd done all the previous hours of the day, it all seemed to die away completely at the sight of something real and horrible in front of her.

"Hey," she offered weakly, licking her lips. She felt like she should say something more, but nothing else came.

[axel_palmer]

Relief and an immense sense of gratitude lanced through him and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. She looked drawn, her hair was stringy and stuck to her cheeks in clumps and she had yet to swap out that dirty flannel shirt for something cleaner, but Sarah nonetheless looked the most beautiful Axel had ever seen if only because she was there. She hadn't abandoned him, hadn't absconded to God knows where with their son and she didn't come right out and say she hated him. Or maybe she was simply better at hiding things than he was, but none of that mattered now. The only thing Axel cared about in that moment was that she chose to stay.

“Hey,” he shot back in a bright, somewhat cocky tone, sounding a little more like himself. He twisted slightly to rearrange the pillows behind him, muttering a quiet ‘fuck’ as the wound in his belly throbbed. When that was done, he took a minute to appraise her, his smile softening but never leaving his face. “I’m glad you’re here, Sarah.”