Chapter 31 - "This will sound mean but you look awful."

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

The pungent odor of sour grapefruit hit Taylor as she landed in the alley. The reek of it spurred her out into the fresh air faster than she would have gone on her own free will.

She felt worn out. She had made it through her afternoon classes but remembered nothing of what had happened in them. If it hadn't been for the bell ringing, she imagined she would have remained in the same classroom for the whole day.

As she stepped into the gym, Tori glanced up from her computer and smiled. The look froze then dropped away as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I like your dedication to training but I'm not letting my brother work with you today. This will sound mean but you look awful."

Taylor blinked at the blunt declaration but wasn't all that surprised. The reflection of the gym doors had shown her that she looked only slightly better than the walking dead. When she opened her mouth to respond, someone else's voice filled the air.

"Don't worry, Tori," Clint said, walking up to the front desk. "Taylor isn't training today."

"Good," Tori said. "Otherwise," she gave her brother a stern look, "we would be having words."

Not at all phased by this, Clint nodded for Taylor to follow him. The pair headed in the opposite direction of the training room.

"Why'd you ask me to come today?" Taylor asked.

Clint pushed open a door leading to a short corridor and gestured her through. "Naomi wanted to check up on you."

On either side of the hallway were doorways and Clint guided Taylor into one of the left. Beyond was a wide room that contained an examine table, a sink off to one side, lavender painted cabinets, watercolor paintings and a bowl filled with potpourri. It was an odd mix of doctor's examining room and massage parlor. Naomi sat in a corner, working on her phone. She stood as Clint shut the door.

"Hi, Taylor," Naomi said, in a far calmer voice than she had held two nights ago. "How are you feeling?" Before Taylor could even answer, Naomi went on. "And I want an answer that isn't 'fine' since you were shot and that would not be an adequate description."

Taylor wished people would stop mentioning the fact that she was shot. She was well aware of this fact, she had an aching limb that was already acting as her constant reminder. But she knew in their defense being shot was not a common occurrence and they had a right to respond as they did.

"I'm tired and my arm hurts, but it's tolerable," she said.

"Understandable. How did you sleep?"

Taylor shrugged. "As well as can be expected."

Naomi nodded and motioned to the examine table. "If you'll sit down I can see how the wound is doing."

Dropping her backpack onto the floor, Taylor settled onto the table where she unzipped her jacket and tugged it off. She had opted for a short-sleeve shirt despite the cold, not wanting to deal with the pain of trying to put on a top that rubbed continuously against her injury.

Clint held his position beside the door while Naomi washed her hands and removed the bandage on Taylor's arm. For her part, Taylor stared straight again, she didn't feel like seeing the evidence of her stupidity as the two lectures she had received were already enough.

When Naomi gently rotated Taylor's arm one way and the other, closely inspecting the stitches, Clint put his fist to his mouth as if trying to keep his emotions inside. Taylor watched him and he met her gaze. Her heart sank, she had a bad feeling of what was going to follow this checkup.

"It's looking good," Naomi said. Letting go of Taylor's arm, she stepped back, hands on hips. Again Taylor had a bad feeling about this. "Taylor, I'm not your doctor," she said. "I'm only the person that patched you up in the middle of the night when you showed up in my brother's room bleeding on his carpet without an explanation. So you don't have to listen to anything I say but I highly suggest that you do."

Taylor sighed, at least she could see where Clint got his forceful nature from if this was one of his main role models.

"I'm listening."

"Good. You're going to need to rest and eat well and often. Your body is trying to heal and you need to give it all the support you can. That means not overtaxing it or getting yourself into situations that would result in further injuries. In two weeks come back here and I'll take out the stitches. I have some natural ointment that you can put on it to help it not scar and prevent it from getting infected. Put it on twice a day, is that clear?"

Taylor had to wonder if the entire Rivera family was this intimidating.

"Yeah, that's clear."

Relaxing, Naomi smiled. "Good. Now I'm going to give you something to eat because you look like you're going to fall over." She spun to Clint, who dropped his fist. "Drive her home. I don't know how she got here but she shouldn't be on her own or driving." She turned back on Taylor. "You could be a danger to others and yourself."

Not having any argument to this point, Taylor slumped against the wall. Naomi handed her two power bars and instructed her not to move until she had eaten both. Taylor thanked her and Naomi left, leaving Taylor alone with Clint in the third silence of the day. He took the chair Naomi had sat on and placed it before the table, sitting down and leaning over his knees. As Taylor ate, Clint contemplated his hands.

"Are you going to lecture me too?" Taylor asked.

Clint raised his head. "If I was I feel I have the right to, you did stain my carpet."

Weary, Taylor dropped her head back and closed her eyes. All he could say to her she had heard that day.

"I'm guessing our training is over?" she said.

"For now, yes. You need to rest and take care of yourself."

Taylor broke off a piece of the power bar and ate it not having a reply. Clearly, she needed to take care of herself; when she sat she never wanted to get up and when she tried to think it took effort.

"Taylor," Clint said, his voice soft. "What you can do is amazing..."

"But..."

"You're still human."

Taylor gave a sardonic snort. "I hadn't notice."

When Clint scooted the chair forward, Taylor opened her eyes.

"You joke but I don't think you do."

"Clint, I was shot, I noticed I'm human."

He shook his head. "That is a factor that has made you realize there are situations that can end badly but on the whole, I don't think you realize just how vulnerable you are." Taylor leaned forward but Clint held up his hand halting her. "Bear with me. The first time I met you, you had a black eye. In our first training session, you passed out. Another instance you fell asleep on the training room floor. Normal people don't fall asleep everywhere. That means you must have been pushed to the point of exhaustion that your body had to interfere and shut your mind down. You got sick. You sprained your wrist. You were shot and blacked out from blood loss."

He stared at her with an intensity of a microscope.

"Taylor, you are human. You are a stubborn human refusing to see that you can't do everything."

Taylor buried her face in her hands. Somehow dealing with Weston's hurt and Dominic's anger was easier to face than Clint's unemotional rationality. You couldn't yell at someone who was so calm. Clint cocked his head, trying to catch her gaze.

"Why don't you take care of yourself, Taylor?"

Annoyed, Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I feel like I'm in a therapist's office."

"Does that mean you don't know the answer or you don't want to answer?"

Again Taylor wished he had stuck with a heated lecture, at least when he spoke the words wouldn't be new. What he said now wouldn't be prodding at her to think, to reflect on why it felt impossible to stop herself from responding to every Pull no matter how big or small.

People needed help. She could help. It seemed logical. But so was Dominic's logic of killing herself over someone she didn't know while there were others she knew and needed her. So was Weston's logic of how going in alone, not having the training would never work in the long run.

The thought of Weston tightened Taylor's gut. He had seen her die and she had put him through seeing her bleed. Taylor stared at her hands and the faint veins she could see beneath her skin, the blood that raced from her fingers back to her heart.

"My brother talks about how God gave him a heart to help people." She sighed. "God gave me a second chance. How many people get that? So...how could I waste it and not do that same to help others?"

Clint nodded, taking in her statement.

"You want to know the difference between you and your brother?"

"He's has training and I don't."

Considering, Clint bobbed his head from side to side. "True. But at the end of the day, he also goes home and sleeps. Do you think he is wasting his ability to help others when he takes care of himself."

"But I know when someone is in danger."

"It might not be as physical, but you don't think he feels the weight of everyone in this city?"

Taylor stared at her fingers, tired of people making valid points. But grateful as well.

"I know this will be hard to hear," Clint said. "Because you care a lot for people hurting, but you can't save everyone. And you need to consider the people in your life that take care of you when you don't take care of yourself."

Taylor thought of her mother caring for her when she was sick. Her father showing more concern for her school than she did. Weston trying to protect her from the darker side of life. Dominic giving her the space to sleep or work. Clint helping her defend herself. Even Bailey who sat with her when she was alone.

Groaning, Taylor dropped her head back into her hands. "I think it's clear I make a crappy human."

Clint laughed. "Yeah, but do you know what that makes you?" She peered at him through her fingers and he shrugged. "Human."

The edge of Taylor's mouth curled upward and she let out a breath, dropping her hands. Somehow she'd slowly lost sight of that in the last six months, which felt unbelievable.

"Thanks," she said. "For not yelling at me during this lecture."

Smiling, Clint leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Who yelled at you?"

Taylor tore of a piece of the second power bar. "A friend who cares and...my brother."

Clint winced as Taylor started eating again.

"I can't imagine that was pleasant. I had one car ride with him when I drove you both home and that was more tense than anything I've faced."

"What happened?" Taylor asked, happy to move on.

Staring at nothing, Clint ran a hand through his hair as if reliving the drive.

"Well, most of the time he just watched you, looking sad and angry. Then he asked me if I'd always known about you."

It was Taylor's turn to wince.
"I told him I found out by accident. I don't know if that made it better or worse for him."

Taylor didn't know either. Weston had been furious that morning, she couldn't imagine it being any worse.

As she finished off the power bar, Clint stood and held out his hand. Though she really didn't need help getting off the examining table, Taylor accept his hand. His fingers curled around hers, warm and comforting.

"Come on, I'll drive you home," he said.

Taylor gazed up at him, skeptical. "You understand I can teleport, right?"

"Yeah, but if my sisters don't see me driving you home then I'll never hear the end of it."

"Well, as someone whose been on the receiving end of your sister's intensity, I'll accept your offer."

"Thanks. Car or motorcycle?"

Without thinking, Taylor answered, "motorcycle."

She decided to blame it on fatigue of why she didn't want to analyze her reasoning for wanting to wrap her arms around Clint at that moment.

Clint lead the way back into the gym and passed the front desk, where both Naomi and Tori talked.

"You're driving her home, right?" Naomi said.

Clint shared a look with Taylor, silently saying 'see what I mean'.

"Yes, I'm driving her home."

"Good," Tori said. "And Taylor, don't come back until you look less like death, okay?"

Taylor nodded, amused yet again by the Rivera siblings and their concern and bluntness.

As Clint drove through them city, Taylor didn't pay attention to the world around them. Instead, she held onto Clint and rested her helmeted head on his back. He felt steady and right then that's all she wanted, someone to lean on.

When Clint pulled up at the curb outside of Taylor's house, she reluctantly let go of him and climbed off the bike. She handed him the helmet and Clint removed his own.

"Get some rest, Taylor," he said.

Taylor gave a weary salute and took a step towards her front gate.

"Taylor." She spun around. "I know that you're the one with the ability, but..." Clint slid his eyes away from her, fiddling with the helmet she'd handed to him. "You don't have to be alone. People care about you. They want to help."

When his eyes met Taylor's, she felt her heart hiccup at the gentleness in them.

"They are only a phone call away," he said.

She offered a soft smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

Clint tugged on his helmet, almost looking bashful, which struck Taylor as endearing, considering she knew the intense person he usually was.

As he drove off, Taylor watched him, his words ringing in her ears, "You don't have to be alone. People care about you."

**********************************************************************

"So you're telling me Back to the Future was a bunch of BS?"

(One of my favorite lines from that movie, also we needed the comedic relief because it's been intense the last few chapters)

Checking in supers, what is your status? Emotionally? Mentally? Ship-ly? 🦸🏻‍♂️🦸🏿‍♀️🦹🏽

Well at least Clint didn't yell at Taylor so I say this is definitely a positive!

Some of you asked the previous chapter how there could only be five chapters (now four) left in the book.

To that, here is my answer. Strap in because it's going to be a roller coaster of a final ending!

But don't lose heart, I have extra stuff planned for you after the book!

I'm sorry this author's note it complete lacking in anything of interest, Sunshine Girl is currently trying to recover from a big epic battle that lasted the previous two and a half months! Don't worry, she won but like Taylor, she's working on taking care of herself.

amüsant Fakt (German): It was Tom Holland's Instagram account that the vlog-like beginning of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Vote, comment, follow, but only if you stand for roller coaster endings!


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net