Never Give Up

[brandon emmett larkin]

He had hung back at the hospital and waited until the relatives had all found the time to get over the shock of that phone call and were slowly leaving the hospital for changes of clothes and he suspected to bring Ember some of her own things so that she didn’t have to lay in bed with a hospital gown and a ripped shirt in a bag with dirty white jeans. A doctor had caught him out on his false claim earlier, but had let it slide after seeing the look on Brandon’s face and the worry in his eyes. Since then he had been waiting patiently on a chair outside of the room where Ember was being kept, nurses often asking him if he was alright; did he need a coffee or anything to eat. Each time, he politely declined their offers, his mind focused on the blonde who had scared the life out of him earlier that night.

One of the nurses went in to check the vital stats of the young woman just before sunrise and came out with a small smile on her face. “She’s coming to, now. Maybe you should take a shower or change before you see her? We don’t want to give her another scare.” Brandon glanced down at his clothes and saw the grime that covered him from where the rainwater had mixed with the gutters and left imprints on the fabric his body was contained it. Reluctantly agreeing, he had returned home and quickly showered before downing some strong coffee and changing into cleaner clothes. Back at the hospital within two hours of leaving it, he approached the nurses to check if anyone was visiting Ember or if she was even awake still. “She’s awake, but heavily medicated. I wouldn’t be surprised if she fell asleep again soon. Her brother left not too long ago to collect some things for her.” It was long gone visiting hours and Brandon was no relative, but the nurses seemed to have their private little giggle whenever they looked at him and they seemed extremely sympathetic for the twenty nine year old who thanked them and then slipped into the private room.

Inside, there were machines monitoring Ember’s heart, but everything looked surprisingly strong right now. Well, this was Ember Grant after all, and there weren’t many left quite like her in the world. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her laying in the bed, slightly paler than normal but very much alive. She was going to be alright and that meant more to him than he ever thought it possible. This was the girl who had caused him so much trouble for years and now he couldn’t be happier that she was going to be around to cause even more. There was still a level of guilt lingering in the back of his mind though; if he hadn’t pushed Ember for answers, would she have collapsed the way that she did? He still didn’t know what had happened, but he didn’t care right now. All he wanted was for Ember to be alright and make a full recovery from this. He smiled at the figure in the bed and moved to the plastic chair near the bed. “Hey.” What else could he say to the girl he had nearly killed and then saved?

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Word count of 594
Written for Ember
Listening to Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble
Outfit to come later.

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[Ember Thistle Grant]

When Ember had come to everything was groggy and she was in a state she could only relate to the last time she had awoken in a hospital and that was after the car accident at eighteen when Robert had been killed. This time, things were different though. This time, the last thing she remembered was pleading with Brandon, gripping his hand as he tried to support her in the final moments before her heart gave out. She tried to lift her head but she still felt so unbelievably weak and the oxygen mask covering her face was more irksome than helpful now that she had regained consciousness. She was about to lift her hand to remove it when a doctor came in and shook his head at the young blonde. “I’d leave that on if I were you. You’re still a little weaker than I’d like.” She narrowed her eyes at him and pulled the mask carefully away from her face in defiance. Even in moments of death, Ember refused to be the obedient patient.

Andrew was there before she would’ve like and she was still angry at her brother, so feigned exhaustion so that she wouldn’t have to speak to him. Soon he left with the promise of bringing her some of her things from the apartment. If anything, Ember was eager to get into a pair of her own pyjamas and out of the uncomfortably hospital gown that was more itchy than she would have liked. Without the mask, breathing was a little harder, but nothing that she couldn’t handle. The doctor shook his head and told her to put it back on if she needed it. Ember wouldn’t need it though. She hadn’t needed it the last time and she wouldn’t need it this time either. “What’s the damage, doc?”

[/color] She croaked, her eyes still heavy from the drugs circulating around her recovering body.
“You had a cardiac arrest. Rare for someone of your age but with your condition, it’s surprising you made it. If it hadn’t been for that man performing CPR you wouldn’t be here.” He looked at the chart and then back at Ember. “Since this is the second near fatal incident within five years for you, we’re considering surgical procedures, but one of the cardiac specialists will be in during the morning to talk about that.” Ember sighed, rolling her eyes as best as she could. This would only make Andrew freak out more and spend more time at the hospital; where she didn’t want him.

What she wanted was Brandon. She figured he must be elsewhere by now, but she wanted to see him. Of all people, she figured he was the one she owed the explanations to. She had used him without telling him what he ought to know about her. Surprisingly, for the first time in a long time, that thought overwhelmed her with guilt. Brandon was and always had been one of the good guys, even when she was a teenager she kind of knew that, deep down. Ember just wasn’t a girl who spoke about her feelings or thoughts a lot, but now she wanted to tell her story, for the first time ever, to someone who wasn’t family. She owed him that, at least. The door opened and her lips twitched upwards into a small smile as Brandon’s familiar frame appeared in the room. “Hey.”[/color] Her voice was still a little dry and croaky, but she could cope with it for a little longer. Once he was seated in the chair, Ember reached her fingers across the bed sheet for his hand. “Thank you.”[/color] She whispered, her expression and her words genuine for the first time in a while.
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• • •

TAGGED! Brandon <3
WORDS! 663
OUTFIT! Walking Tragedy
LYRICS! Iris- - - Goo Goo Dolls
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[brandon emmett larkin]

He didn’t know what he felt for Ember anymore. Obviously, he cared; why else would he have stuck around the hospital like he did? It was the extent of his caring that had him confused now. He had saved her life and with that there was adrenaline coursing through him that he wasn’t used to along with panic that something would happen to snatch the life from Ember once more. They had been friends with benefits, but he knew that it wasn’t how he felt for a short while now. Sure, Ember was hard work and she could be more than a handful at times, but he still found himself feeling happy whenever she showed up at his door. He felt even happier if he woke up in the morning and she was still there, usually curled up next to him in the bed, fast asleep. That was not how a guy was supposed to feel about some girl.

It was Ember Grant though and he knew the trouble she could cause was only the tip of the iceberg and you didn’t fall into something with her unless you liked playing with fire. Oh, the cops back in the day had many jokes about the young teenager who could give some of the best a run for their money. Smart and quick when she needed to be, Brandon found it hard to understand how she could let this happen to herself. “Why won’t you leave me be? I just want to be alone.” One of the last things Ember had said to him before she collapsed and it had stuck with him since then. Things were making vague sense, though there were still hundreds of questions left unanswered. She wanted to be alone so pushed everyone away who got close to her; including him. Then, she had begged with him to stay, but why? He shook his head and sighed. These were not questions that ought to be answered now. They were what they discussed when Ember was better, if she would let him in at all again.

He smiled at her in the bed, though she looked so fragile beneath the sheets. He wasn’t used to seeing Ember without her fight, but it was coming back; he could sense it in her eyes as she greeted him. His eyes were fixed on her pale features, make up still smudged around her sapphire eyes from the incident. He wanted to make sure that there was no visible damage to the pretty blonde; if he could see an injury, he would want to make it all better for her. He knew what kind of life she had come from and this, all of this, just seemed so unfair right now. The small movement of her hand caught his attention and without hesitation he reached out and laced his fingers with hers, wondering if she felt the same shivers that he did from the innocent touch. “For what?” He asked quietly with a tender smile. He didn’t know what she had to thank him for when the last thing she probably remembered was them both fighting in the middle of the street. “I’m glad you’re awake. I’m glad you’re okay, but what happened, Em?” He asked softly, promising himself that if she didn’t answer him then he wouldn’t push it. It was neither the time nor the place for an interrogation with her and, truthfully, it really wasn’t any of his business. He just wished she could open up to him. He had seen her grow up, change who she was and he knew her ways better than most, even if she wasn’t ready to admit that.

[/justify]

Word count of 618
Written for Ember
Listening to Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble
Outfit to come later.

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[Ember Thistle Grant]

She never thought that any harm could come from the harmless fun and shameless flirting that she had with Brandon. It was a casual thing that would probably be over in a few weeks or months, but somewhere along the way she had allowed him a glimpse of her cards and it had been all the ex-detective needed to push her as though she was another suspect on another case. The worrying part of it all was that it hadn’t been enough to chase her away and whenever she had a fight with Andrew or needed an escape of any kind, she went to Larkin. It should have set the warning bells off long before it actually did, but now everything seemed so blurry and messed up – and it wasn’t just the drugs that the doctors were pumping her with to keep her heart rate down and her body relaxed.

What she appreciated most about this…thing…with Brandon was that he knew about the life she had once lived. He had been on the streets back in the day and the only real difference was that he had took the path that led to changing things whilst Ember had learnt how to survive out there until the day came when her father took her in, though seventeen years’ worth of damage had already been done by that point; the effects irreversible, even with all the money she came into. Ember had never forgotten her roots and Brandon didn’t seem to have either. They were two of a kind and with the life Ember lived now it was strange to find someone with a past loosely similar to her own who she could honestly trust. However, when Ember realised that she was starting to trust Brandon, she ran.

The second his fingers laced with hers she felt as though she could relax again, but this time without the powerful meds. Her lips twitched upwards and her eyes fluttered shut for a second. Back outside the club, she honestly thought that her final grasp of Brandon would be her last. She had been on the brink of giving up, her final words still baffling her now. Did she not want to be alone when she died? Did she want Brandon to stay with her and fight to keep her from the clutches of the reaper? She didn’t know and she was too tired to figure out the answer, but she had to tell him something. No one could die in the arms of another and then leave them in the dark. “For saving my life. The doc said that if it wasn’t for you then I’d be dead.”

[/color] The thought sent a shiver down her spine and she bit her lip hard. Despite her reckless living it was hardly the way she wanted to go.

She let out a soft breath and then lifted her head so that her sapphire eyes could meet his. She owed him this answer before anything else, but hell, she owed him so much more too. “I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”[/color] She began, reaching for the plastic cup of water to dampen her cotton wool mouth. “HCM in other words. The muscle of my heart is thickened with no explanation as to why. My cardiologist reckons it’s a mutation of a chromosome or something. It’s a dangerous disease that can kill people before they’re even diagnosed with it.”[/color] She paused again and tried to think of the best way to deliver the next bit of news to him. “What happened outside the club tonight was my second cardiac arrest in five years. I’m an anomaly on the statistics now because no one should survive that.”[/color] She looked down at the sheets, knowing that Brandon would find out the truth sooner or later and the best thing would be to tell him it all now. “I’m supposed to be on medication to keep it under control, but I haven’t been taking it lately. It just…I hate it. I hate how it controlled my life. Even when I took them, it never made anything better for me. I was still Ember; the girl from the wrong side of the tracks and Andrew didn’t treat me like an equal. He just patronised me time and time again. I needed to be free of that.”[/color] Her voice was barely a whisper as she finally confessed what it was that she carried on her shoulders. She met his eyes again shyly this time, worried he was going to lecture her, scream at her, or walk out and never come back.
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• • •

TAGGED! Brandon <3
WORDS! 771
OUTFIT! Walking Tragedy
LYRICS! Iris- - - Goo Goo Dolls
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[brandon emmett larkin]

He didn’t think that he had done anything great or wondrous. He liked to think that anyone in his position would have made the same attempt to save Ember the second she had collapsed, but people kept congratulating him and praising his actions. Maybe he was too much of a good Samaritan like his mother had always said, but Brandon refused to believe that anyone would leave her in the gutter that night. That was why, when she thanked him, he shook his head and waved away her words. “I couldn’t let you die like that.” He replied sincerely, meeting her tired eyes and noticing for the first time that there was no coldness in them; no attempt to defend herself from those around her. Had he finally won his way in? That wasn’t important now though. He didn’t want Ember to feel as though she owed him now, just because some guy with a med school degree said she owed him her life.

He could sense that she was gathering her thoughts, preparing to give him answers. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. If she wasn’t ready to tell him anything then he wasn’t ready to hear it either. Brandon wanted Ember to be comfortable, at ease and relaxed right now. There was no sense in putting more strain on her heart when it was already fragile and now that she was going to live it was hardly like she needed to rush to tell him her life story. When she spoke, he listened intently, processing each bit of information she gave him. The condition was one he had never heard of before, but cardiac arrest was something he did know about; there had been drug suspects and dealers who had suffered from it after an overdose. Squeezing her hand again he leaned closer to brush the messy blonde curls from her face. “You’re not an anomaly. You’re a fighter, Em. Any old idiot can tell you that.” He reassured her with a soft smile. She was incredibly strong considering what he did know about her life, but to survive that twice in five years? She was freaking Wonder Woman. He could help but worry that it might happen again though at some point and if third time was the charm then how long did Ember have left on the clock? No, he wasn’t going to think like that, not when she was okay now and fighting to get better.

He frowned at her final confession and then moved from the chair to perch on the edge of the bed, leaning closer but careful not to rip out any wires or hurt her. “That is such a typical Ember idea.” He told her. He was angry that she had pushed herself to this, but he knew about her need to be free and not be locked up by anything. It didn’t make full sense, but he could understand partly why she did what she had done. “Just, don’t let it happen again, please. I can help you find freedom beyond the pills, but I don’t want to have to see you in the gutter again.” He trailed his hand down her cheek tenderly and smiled sweetly at her. “And despite everything, that girl from the wrong side of the tracks? I like her. I think she can be a pain in the ass, but she’s a good person, even if she refuses to show anyone else that.” He smiled and then shook his head before throwing Ember a knowing look. “I’ve seen you grow into a formidable woman, but your strength and loyalty have never changed. It’s admirable.” He confessed, wanting to make Ember see that she wasn’t quite the mess she felt like.

[/justify]

Word count of 630
Written for Ember
Listening to Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble
Outfit to come later.

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[Ember Thistle Grant]

It was rare for Ember to blush, but a red hue crept up her cheeks at Brandon’s words. It may not have been a big thing for him, but she had been in dangerous situations throughout her life and not one person had stuck around to make sure that she was alright. She had learnt to take care of herself, fight away those who could hurt her and survive, but when it mattered most of all, despite the harsh things she had yelled at him, Brandon had been there and fought for her when she couldn’t fight any more. It meant more to a girl like her than she could ever say; it was one of those things that she couldn’t quite explain, because it was so obscure a need in life that not many people had to experience in the same way that she had done. “Why are you here? I yelled at you like you were the worst person alive.”

[/color] She couldn’t fathom why anyone, least of all him, would stick around after that.

At the touch of his rough fingers on her face, she jumped slightly but smiled, hesitating before leaning into his touch. This wasn’t like her at all, but Brandon knew her better than most and they had spent more time together recently. Add all of that to the fact that he had saved her life and Ember’s respect and affection for him had increased tenfold, which was terrifying, but she was too weak and medicated now to really think about it and the implications such a simple move may have later. “Yeah well, you know that girls like me don’t have many other choices but to fight.”[/color] No one in this new life of money and riches wanted to hear about a life of crime on the streets and how slumming it really went. She knew more than most twenty one year olds ought to know and Brandon was the only other person in her life who had seen just as much of the world that people tried to turn a blind eye to.

She blinked in confusion when she felt the weight on the edge of her bed and then furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to work out what he meant, by ‘typically Ember’. How could he help her find freedom? Besides, it didn’t matter; the pills weren’t going to be in her life any longer. “They’re taking me off the pills this week. I’m getting a different kind of treatment so that I will be free. It won’t be able to control me anymore.”[/color] She told him with a soft, but happy smile. It was yet to be confirmed, but she had read her file at the foot of the bed and the surgical procedure the doctor had briefly mentioned was listed inside, providing her with enough information to roughly understand it. “But you’re not gonna go anywhere, are you? I think you might be the only friendly face I’m going to see for a while.”[/color] She was assuming that he wasn’t mad, but she still didn’t expect him to stay. The medication in the IV was acting near enough like a damn truth serum and those words were out of her mouth before she could realise how eager for him to stay she sounded.

She dipped her head again and smiled softly. “Well, I have interfering cops like you to thank for testing that loyalty over the years.”[/color] She answered with a smirk as she looked back up at him. “I mean, you’re even interfering now trying to look out for me.”[/color] A small twinkle appeared in her eyes as she hinted at remembering their argument. “Though, I think my brother may beg to differ about everything you just said. He’s being a royal ass lately and acting like he knows everything about me and who I am.”[/color] She shook her head and sighed, leaning back against the pillows. “Damn meds are cancelling out my verbal filter.”[/color] She groaned, realising just how much she was easily sharing with Brandon; it was easier to blame the medication than her feelings.
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• • •

TAGGED! Brandon <3
WORDS! 697
OUTFIT! Walking Tragedy
LYRICS! Iris- - - Goo Goo Dolls
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[brandon emmett larkin]

He chuckled as he noticed the small blush, but quickly covered it with a cough. Even if Ember was medicated, weaker than normal and recovering from a dance with death, he knew better than to piss her off. He felt sort of privileged to be able to see Ember like this in the first place, though it was hardly like she had a choice in the matter. Still, she could have kept quiet, acted bitchy or told him to leave, but she never and it was sort of like the time they spent in his apartment when she hadn’t been drinking or in the mornings when they had breakfast. She may not have realised it, but they had certainly been bonding and forming a friendship during those moments and Brandon loved getting glimpses of the woman behind the stony exterior. “Because I needed to make sure that you were alright. I don’t care that we had a screaming match in the street. I just care about you getting better.” He told her, never breaking his eyes away from hers as he confessed the truth.

He couldn’t hide the smile as Ember leaned into his touch. In all of his life he never expected to be here, with her of all people and in this position. Granted, the last few weeks with her in them had been almost surreal and he caught himself chuckling about the irony of it all whenever he was alone; his co-workers had asked him once or twice if he was alright. They wouldn’t see the humour in his developing feelings, but his old friends and those still with the NYPD would spent eternity making jokes about it if he ever dared tell them about which girl he had been taking home most nights and cooking breakfast for the next morning. He looked at her and sighed softly. “Well, for now, you don’t have to fight. Even the great Amazonian Warriors like yourself needed to rest at some point.” He said, keeping his voice gentle; the last thing he wanted was to upset Ember and hurt her more.

Brandon listened to what she said, but he felt confused. They were taking her off her pills? How would that help her at all? She seemed happy though, really happy, unlike the false mask she put on at the Marquee. It was nice to see a smile that wasn’t forced and Brandon noticed the difference between the real and the fake almost immediately. “What’s this new treatment then?” He asked, curious now as to how fragile Ember may remain after her recovery. To change her treatment meant that something wasn’t right, either the meds were not working or her heart was too damaged for them to work now, right? They wouldn’t change it for no reason. He was a little taken aback by her request, but his heart softened as he looked at her. “You’ll have to chase me away, Miss Grant.” He said, silently promising to stick around with another squeeze of her hand.

Another chuckle escaped his throat and he nodded his head in understanding. “Is it my turn to do the explaining?” He asked, arching a thick eyebrow at the pretty blonde, who was still pale and sickly in the bed, but who seemed to be doing better still. “Because, I don’t really have an answer worthy of you, other than I didn’t want to see you hurt.” His smile faded when she mentioned her brother again. The last few weeks he had overheard tidbits about the man and he was growing to dislike him more now. What on earth was he doing to push Ember so far? “Forget Andrew for now. He’s not here and all you need to think about is getting better and how you’re going to get the dirt off of those white jeans.” He said with a wink, trying to lighten the heavy mood that was falling over the gunslinger.

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Word count of 666
Written for Ember
Listening to Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble
Outfit to come later.

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