CHAPTER SONG: "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" by Muse
TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter describes references to suicide. Read at your own risk!
William Schofield stared in agonizing silence at the newly awakened woman, blinking back tears of concern and relief as he fought to refrain from speaking first, not wanting to frighten Emmanuelle as she absorbed her surroundings of the tent and all the decorative flowers near her.
He cautiously sat on the edge of the bed near the opposite side of where she laid, wanting to give her plenty of space and not overwhelm her with his presence.
How desperately he wanted to know what was going through that brilliant mind of hers, watching her sit up from the pillows, staring for a long minute at the chocolate waterfall braid of hair cascading down over her shoulder and flowing a few inches past her waist.
His heart began to palpitate painfully in his ribcage as the worry for his beloved increased, his mind racing at the scenario assaulting the forefront of his mind, something he was foolish enough to not consider after all the time waiting at her bedside vigil.
What if Emmy's memory was affected by the coma? Did she remember him at all? What if she remembered nothing of anyone she had met during her time here in his era?
Will swallowed back a sob at the notion of the woman he loved not knowing him. He wasn't sure if he would be able to cope with that, seeing such confusion and terror in her eyes at seeing a strange man she no longer recognized, especially after everything she had endured already with Erik Baumer...
He held his breath as he blinked back tears, seeing if she would begin screaming and demanding to know who he was and what had caused her to be here.
Whatever came next, he would do all he could to help her and let her know that he would protect her.
Please don't be afraid, my Emmy. Please know how much I love you...
She inhaled a soft gasp of breath as she met Will's eyes, her focused pupils widening with electrifying intensity as she studied the entranced man sitting before her.
Emmy scooted several inches toward him as Will did the same forward to her, like they were magnets drawn to each other through an unspoken phenomenon of chemistry and fate.
The lance corporal gulped with reserved anxiety as he rasped out her name with longing and love, hoping against all odds that she recognized him. "Em...Emmanuelle... do you know me?"
His scarred hand twitched as he clenched his fist at his side, desiring to reach out for her and touch his fingers to her warm blushing cheek. He had to stop himself from verbally saying one of his affectionate nicknames for her, not wanting to her to be taken aback and scare her away... his heart would break in pieces if he ever caused her to be afraid of him.
Emmy's petite hand raised up to him, her small fingers reaching out as Will sat unmoving, astonished and cautious with anticipation at what she was about to do. His eyes never left her face as he watched her facial expressions, seeing her lovely features present to him a display of her showing no sign of apprehension or accusation.
She reached up to his forehead and gently brushed away his waves of brown hair hanging down his forehead. Her fingertips traveled down to stroke his temple and to his cheek, feeling the various spots of acne littering the skin by his ear.
He dared to wrap his fingers around her wrist, a small smile of adoration forming on his lips as his thumb felt the radiance of her pulse, stronger than he had remembered feeling to the acceleration of the hot blood in her veins.
So many things he wanted to say in that moment as he reveled in her contact; just seeing her evergreen eyes open with curiosity and feeling the aura of life shining from her.
She was more beautiful than ever...
God help him, he loved her so bloody much...
Her fingertips made their way along the lining of his jaw where she petted the light bronze fuzz sprouting at the tip of his chin in a small patch of facial hair. She smiled in slight amusement; her eyes alight with surprise as she looked fully into the face of the stoically featured, yet still handsome Englishman sitting before her.
She traced along the other side of his jaw-line past the bearded patch of his chin, studying him as her own heart began to beat with adrenaline and amazement.
Everything was a thick grey fog before her as she had woken up, but then her vision became clear with the illumination of the man's blue eyes. And she looked into them, her hand still upon his chilled cheek.
Blue like the sky during a springtime afternoon.
These were the eyes she could look into and know that nothing could ever hurt her whilst he was in her presence. Even without him speaking, she could see he possessed nothing but patience and kindness and devotion for her as he waited for what she would say, never pressuring her to ease his own needs of reassurance.
She was looking into the virtuous soul of the man she loved.
She opened her mouth to talk for the first time since before she had been revived, her voice husky as the icy breath exhaled from her lips.
"I do know you. My Will..." She smiled widely with a laugh, both of her hands cradling his cheeks.
William himself released a long held sigh of elation, a rare smile widening his lips as his forehead pressed to hers.
"Emmy... my love. You've come home." Freezing tears began to trickle down his cheeks as he was nearly knocked backwards off the bed as she flung her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
His arms enfolded around her ever so gently, holding her close as her fingers played with his slightly thickened hair at the back of his head, stroking the softness at his nape. Their lips joined in a joyful yet sensual lock, everything vanishing around the couple as they became lost in one another's arms.
All the misery of the last several months of missing her and watching his sweetheart waste away in purgatorial limbo faded into a dreamlike blur like they had never existed in their moments of physically romantic reunion.
Emmy couldn't help but smile to herself as her lips pulled away from the lusciously tender kiss of her corporal, feeling his prickly chin hairs tickling her skin. Part of her wanted to make a joke about how the facial hair wasn't exactly flattering compared to his usual clean shaven smoothness, but she was so ecstatic being with her hero again that she instead buried her face in the crook of his neck, kissing the side of his throat as she inhaled the comforting masculine musk of her Will.
The soldier himself just sat on the bed for several minutes, cradling her close as she was practically in his lap, reveling in the returned warmth and life of his Emmanuelle.
He heard her voice say something indiscernible and muffled against the flesh of his neck as she talked softly. His hands carefully grasped onto her shoulders to pull her away so he could understand what she was saying.
"What was that, my darling?" He asked her, his scarred hand stroking through her beautifully unkempt brunette hair, catching some of the flowers that had fallen loose from her tresses.
"It's winter. How long have I been out?" Emmy asked, her fingers playing with the worn fabric collar of his aged brown coat. She shivered from the frigid chill, goose-bumps riddling her arms underneath her thick white Christmas angel nightgown.
Will immediately removed his coat and wrapped it around Emmy's shoulders, clasping the buttons together to secure the warmer clothing around her slim body. His fingers gently arranged her hair away from her rosy cheeks as her arms drowned in the coat's overly lengthy sleeves.
"It's the New Year, the bells just rung. It's the first day of 1918." He lifted up both of her hands to his lips and blew some of his breath on her fingers to warm them. "You arrived here where Joe found you in his yard back in September."
"I've been unconscious for over three months?" Emmy pressed a hand to her forehead as she tried to take in his words, Will's St Christopher medallion still tangled around her palm. "Where's Joe... and Molly and the girls?"
"They're inside, but Joe left for the church awhile ago." He took her hand that held his medallion and kissed her knuckles. "We oughta get you inside and sit you by the fire."
Emmy nodded, turning around and setting her stocking clad feet on the dirt hardened ground. She could feel Will's vigilant eyes on her as she tried to work up the strength to stand up. Her arms wobbled in the effort to support herself and she attempted to remain upright.
Will placed one of his arms around her upper back to aid in her balance. "My Emmy... it'll take some time for your body to recover from your being asleep so long. The ground outside is buried in snow, so I may have to carry you to the house."
Emmy glanced at her soldier's worried gaze as he took her hands and helped her stand up. Immediately, a wave of dizziness handicapped her equilibrium, her vision blurring for a few seconds as she felt herself almost collapsing. Before she could feel the helplessness of plummeting to the cold hard ground, she was swept up into Will's arms, secure and safe against his chest.
Her arms locked around his neck, like she was hanging onto the edge of a cliff to keep from falling into an abyss. "I'm sorry, Will. I hate being so dependent on everyone around me. I should be able to walk on my own two feet."
"It's alright, sweetheart. You need to heal from your body being so still this long. Don't apologize for needing help. It has never made me love you any less. I'll take care of you however long you need me." Will held her close, his arms supporting the underside of her knees and the middle of her back, his hands feeling the decrease of her normal healthy weight from her malnourishment.
He walked through the tent flap and out into the freezing environment of the Blake orchard. Snowflakes floated down, landing on both of their heads. Emmy looked up at the bare branches of the towering cherry trees, deadened from the frost of January. She listened to the crunching of the snow under Will's boots as he carried her through the orchard and toward the back porch of the house, leaning up to brush her lips to the side of his jaw.
In response, she heard the growling deep sigh of pleasure in Will's chest at her gesture of affection as her cheeks heated with internal satisfaction that his yearning for her remained within his primal instincts as a man.
As they came closer to the porch steps, Emmy kissed the visible flesh at the column of his throat, her voice a mewling whisper. "I love you, Will... my prince."
Will briefly stopped in his tracks, looking down to see the unmistakable affection in her bewitching green eyes... his magic girl revived by one single kiss from his grieving for her. A tear flowed down his cheek as his bottom lip quivered with a silently thrilled disbelief at hearing those words from her. All he could say in reciprocation was the same phrase, his cracked voice dripping with adoration for the woman in his arms.
"And I love you... my glorious Emmy. My angel..." He leant down to meet her touch, their foreheads pressing together in binding exchanges of old fashioned romance, all the while as he held her up to protect her dainty shoeless feet from the snowy ground.
A sudden breeze of chilling wind interrupted their moment and Will forced himself to turn away from her lovely flushed face, so full of life as compared to the stoically cold pallor of the "sleeping death" so long holding her consciousness captive.
Will made his way up the aging wooden steps of the porch, still holding his love close to his torso as he kissed her forehead, feeling the dewy gleaming remnants of melting flakes on her glittering skin. As he stepped onto the porch before the back door leading to the kitchen, Emmy placed her hand on his cheek to stop him in his tracks.
"Wait, Will. Put me down, please." She asked him, meeting his concerned azure eyes.
"What is it, my love?" Will softly interrogated her, setting down her legs for her to stand on her feet. She placed her hands on his shoulders to keep herself balanced. "Do you feel unwell?"
"No, I mostly feel fine. I... I just wanna walk inside myself. I need to get the blood going in my legs again." She looked up at her soldier, a flare of confidence in her eyes that caused a flame of warmth to ignite within his veins.
He hesitated for a second, looking toward the door before gazing down at her again, nodding his head in agreement. "If that's what you want, Emmy. If you feel faint at all, just let me know and I'll help you."
She smiled in gratitude, glad that he understood her desire to not completely depend on him for every step as she wanted to recover from this coma that left her immobile and powerless... and for Cici and Elle's sake, she wanted to present herself as a strong woman for them, not as a fragile damsel who passed out at every instance of stress or weakness.
"Thank you, Will." She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him on his lips... his mouth she had missed the touch of on so many parts of her face and throat and hair...
As she pulled away from him, Will reached out to open the door so she could walk through. Emmy held her hands on the edges of the doorway to keep herself upright as he patiently waited behind her to cross the threshold.
Maybe one day, he would carry her over the threshold of their own home, with her in a divine bridal gown, laughing and smiling in his arms as he kissed her...
Dare he hope one day...?
Will jolted himself out of his thoughts as he followed her into the house, his eyes staring in wonder at her lusciously plaited hair, some of the ribbons and flowers hanging limp among her silken strands. Rapunzel had nothing to compare with his Emmanuelle's chocolate waterfall spilling to her waist...
As he closed the door behind him, the light turned on, illuminating the kitchen with a welcoming golden beam. Emmy squinted her eyes in adjustment to the sudden brightness after being outside in the dark as she felt Will take ahold of her scarred hand and kiss her ring finger and pinky, assuring her that there was no danger present.
They both looked to see who had entered the kitchen, and Molly came into view. The older woman stared at the figures who had emerged from the orchard and she froze where she stood, her large blue eyes focused on the woman whom her brother and herself had tended to for weeks upon weeks of vigilant worry.
She was grateful not to have been holding anything in her hands, since she would've dropped the hypothetical object to crash to the wooden floor. The Englishwoman at first met Will's eyes as he stood supportively by Emmy's side and he silently urged his love to go to his sister.
Molly didn't need to be told twice as Emmy freed her hand from Will's and reached out for the embrace of the generous woman who had taken her in and provided a roof over the American girl's head and approved of her brother's affection for her when she had every right to be skeptical upon their first meeting.
But anything in the past seemed so insignificant now in the moment. The two most important women in William Schofield's life held one another in a familial and tearful hold. Molly's being a few inches taller than Emmy allowed the younger woman to rest her chin on the formidable lady's shoulder, feeling both their bodies to quiver and shake with emotion.
"Oh, sweet sister! Thank the heavens above, you've woken." Molly sobbed aloud, sniffling with a cry of happiness. She drew back from Emmy's arms, ruffling her curly chestnut hair with fondness as her braid was slowly coming undone. "A New Year miracle! I was so afraid we had lost you."
She kissed Emmy's forehead, and Will went to both women and placed a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder, his other hand reaching out to hold that of his beloved again, the yearning to keep close to her enflaming his bloodstream and marrow.
"No... I'm here to stay... And you can't get rid of me." Emmy laughed half-jokingly as she felt Will stroke her wild hair with his gentle long fingers.
"Come, let's get you by the fireside and some food to eat, you're both freezing. It's well past midnight, so the girls are out until probably the morning. They'll be so happy to see their Aunt Emmy again." Molly began to lead them toward the parlor.
But before they could exit the kitchen, Emmy stopped in her tracks, leaving Will and Molly confused and alarmed. The lance corporal took her hands into his, caressing her knuckles with his thumbs. "Emmy, what is it? Tell us, beloved."
Emmy looked up at him, blinking back tears of uncertainty. "You said Joe is at the church? If it's New Year, why isn't he here with you?"
She trailed off, her voice fading as the worst scenario ran through her mind. If she had been gone for many months through the summer of 1917, not returning until September... Joe had found her unconscious in his front yard... no doubt hardly healed from grieving his mother and brother, sick with loneliness and had seen her in a haunting comatose state for weeks when he had expressed so much care for her...
Will sensed her burgeoning worry, immediately explaining to vanquish any ominous thoughts from her mind. "My love... he hasn't been taking your condition that well lately. He... didn't think that you would wake up ever again. As we tried not to believe so either... We tried to keep faith that you would pull through."
Molly came forward, wringing her hands on the wrinkled skirt of her dress. "He wrote Will to get him to come home and be with you, Emmy. He was by your side every moment unless absolutely necessary or if Will was present to sit with you."
"He doesn't know I've woken up yet. I...I need to see him." Emmy placed her hands on Will's shoulders, leaning most of her weight on him to keep from falling as a wave of vertigo threatened to take her down to the floor. "I have a feeling something bad will happen. I need to get to the church if he's still there."
"Darling, you must rest. Your body needs to not overexert itself so soon." Will placed an arm worriedly around her waist as he saw her vivid green eyes water with tears. "I'll go to the church and bring him here to you, I promise. I'll go saddle up Satine."
"I'm coming with you." Emmy grabbed his hand and began to pull him toward the parlor.
However, Will stopped her by taking her other hand in his grasp, his boots not moving another inch on the floor. "Emmanuelle, please. For your health, I ask you to please remain here where it's warm and not risk making yourself sick. You're pale as a sheet already."
He placed his scarred hand to her cheek, seeing a hint of blushing pink returning to bloom on her face.
Will saw the look of bitterness and disappointment in her eyes, the silent anger in her countenance.... How he loathed seeing her unhappy...
And deep inside himself, he knew there was no stopping his Emmy whenever she wanted to do something. She would never allow anyone, not even him, to tell her that she couldn't do what she desired.
He knew how much she cared for their friend Joseph Blake, and she wanted to accompany him not as an act of rebellion, but for the welfare of the bereaved lieutenant who loved her enough to not display jealousy or resentment for her being with Will instead of him.
And now they were wasting time arguing. With a deep sigh, Will lifted Emmy's hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "Very well. You can borrow Molly's shoes to go outside and keep my coat on. We'll ride together to the church. But if you show any signs of illness, I'm turning around and bringing you back here."
His voice was firm and authoritative, reminding Emmy of how he would speak in front of his fellow soldiers back in France. And she knew he used such a tone not out of domination over her, but to let her know that he didn't take the matter of her wellbeing lightly, not after so many weeks of seeing her lying still as though she were prepared for a burial.
Emmy nodded her head, placing her hand thankfully on his pimpled cheek, her thumb petting the bristly hairs growing on the curve of his chin. She had an idea in the back of her mind to ask if she could shave it off for him soon.
Her heart broke at the notion that he had neglected taking care of himself while he sat at her bedside, watching her fight for her life...
She watched Molly remove her boots, allowing Emmy to slide her own smaller feet into them. They felt slightly loose, but not enough to slip off. She retied the strings double knotted before grabbing Will's hand again.
"Let's go." Emmy led the way out of the kitchen, glancing with a small worried smile at Molly.
They walked with careful steps through the parlor, seeing the tiny forms of Cecelia and Giselle tucked under a blanket on the chaise. Emmy wanted to sit by them until they woke up, but they had something else to take care of with Joseph.
Myrtle and a smaller dog of similarly colored fur laid by the fireplace, warmed by its heat... Without asking, Emmy guessed the other dog was one of Myrtle's puppies, seeing as the female canine no longer bore the roundness of midterm pregnancy.
After saddling up the beautiful mare and securing her bridle, Will assisted Emmy up onto Satine's back, making sure she was balanced safely with her hands grasping the saddle's horn. Her legs draped over one side of the mare so she was sitting sidesaddle to accommodate the skirt of her nightgown. He pulled himself to sit behind her, taking the reins into his hands so that his arms were around Emmy.
She momentarily looked down at her clasped hands and saw the chain of Will's medallion still wound around her palm. She used her fingers to encircle the jewelry around her throat, with her love's own tender fingers helping to lock both ends of the chain together so the St Christopher rested properly on her bosom above her rhythmic heartbeat.
Will couldn't resist the temptation to place a sensual kiss on the side of her neck, causing Emmy to sigh in external euphoria, her blood infusing a scarlet blush in her cheeks.
Her arm wound around his neck as he whistled for the horse to go forward into a gentle trot. Satine nickered while adjusting to the weight of two people on her back.
Emmy herself hadn't ridden on a horse since she was a child, when she had taken lessons in middle school because her mother was eager to get her distracted and out of the house during the summer.
But, doing it again in the arms of the man she loved was like re-learning to ride a bike. She knew he would never let her fall off as he enfolded one of his strong arms around her waist, his fingers lightly tickling her abdomen, his other hand holding tight on the reins.
She leant her head on his shoulder and she took a deep breath as Will kicked Satine's sides so her speed would increase into a canter, but not quite a gallop. Since it was past midnight, the streets were mostly empty with the occasional straggler, the store lights distinguished and the whole ground covered in snow as the flakes continued to rain down like confetti.
After a few minutes of racing through the Surrey streets, the familiar chapel came into view. Emmy felt a wave of relief flow through her. And while she herself hadn't been inside the holy building of sanctuary, she was grateful to see they had arrived in such a short amount of time.
She prayed Joseph was still inside.
Will had barely commanded Satine to a stop when Emmy disentangled herself from his arms and she slid out of the saddle, landing in the ankle deep snow. She could feel Will's eyes watching her as she patted the ivory furred equine on her nose, feeling the large creature's gentle presence. Will tied the bridle's reins to a nearby post to ensure the horse wouldn't wander off.
Emmy could see through the reflective windows of the church building that the lights were still on, so that must have meant people were still inside. She was too anxious to wait for Will to join her as she half-stumbled through the snow and toward the door.
"Darling, wait!" Will called for her as he made sure Satine's reins were tied tightly enough to ensure her staying put. But she was already opening the doors, panting with lost breaths as frigid air was exhaled from her paled lips.
The young woman clasped Will's large coat snuggly around her body, her smaller form sinking into the warm fabric as she closed the doors behind her and absorbed the magnificent interior of the expansive nave.
Something inside Emmy told her that she may have been here before... in a dream... or a dream within a dream.
Candelabras of golden luminosity provided her with a path leading toward the main podium, and to the front of the first few pews. She looked to both sides of the huge space and didn't see any figures that she could ask for the individual she sought out.
Before she could ask herself where she had seen this place before, her question was answered by the voice in her subconscious... the voice of sweet Tom.
Joe had a dream about you... in this church, Emmy. It was your funeral wake, like a scene straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy. He knelt by your side as your body was laid to rest on a bier... And he wept and wept for you out of love...
Heated tears streamed down Emmy's cheeks as she looked ahead to the pews closest to the front and saw a single figure bowing to the large statue of Jesus on the wooden cross looming over the entire atmosphere, complimented by the stained glass window behind it.
A strong, broad shouldered figure with dark ebony hair that she could pick anywhere from a crowd even with his back turned to her...
Emmy focused intently on the man who had yet to even hear the doors once again closing as she sensed Will walking behind to join her, placing a large hand on her shoulder as his fingers comfortingly stroked her brown tangled curls.
She looked up to meet her soldier's blue eyes, silently communicating with him that she needed to help Joe however she was able. Will nodded, leaning down to kiss her cold cheek and acknowledging that he trusted her to know what she was doing.
Before Emmy could step forward, the listening couple heard the deeply low thunder of Joe's voice, a welcome sound to her ears, the voice of her best friend.
"God, please. I beg of you... I can't endure this pain anymore. I've lost my mum... and Tom. And now the woman I love is most likely dead. She's joined you now with the angels where she belongs. I fell for her whilst she was with another who loved her as well with equal faithfulness. But she should not have faced punishment for my sin of covetousness. I've sat by her side all these weeks and now I'm too much of a coward to see Emmanuelle take her final breaths. I know I don't deserve it, but please let me be with my family when my time comes. With my mother, my brother... and my love. Just let the world be done with me."
Will inhaled a shaking gasp as he looked to Emmy, gauging her reaction to Joe's plea.
He saw her focused on the kneeling lieutenant, her neck rigid as she carefully pulled away from his arms and stepped forward, her boot heels echoing throughout the spacious room. Will fought the urge to follow, knowing she would want to alert their friend that she was revived from the spell.
"Happy New Year, lieutenant." Emmy called to Joseph, her voice emanating in the air like a singing choir to the older man's ears as his senses picked up the presence of the two other people in the room with him. "You need to work on a better resolution."
She couldn't help make a joke, wanting to lighten the room and prove that she was definitely not a hallucination. Joseph turned around swiftly, standing up and making his way to the end of the aisle prior to being at a stunned standstill as he saw her almost gliding toward him, like she was floating on invisible wings...
The brown coat wrapped around her failed to undermine her beauty, the skirt of her Holy Angel nightdress flowing down to her feet from beneath the coat's hem, her untamed hair flowing around her flushed face and shoulders, longer than he had ever seen it, the green in her eyes alight with fire.
Joe stared at her with his mouth agape, tears spilling from his stormy-sea eyes and down his stubble roughened face. His legs were almost buckling and his lungs ached as he held his breath.
His larynx struggled to produce a sound in order to say her name, his throat dry as a sandy desert. His feet took guarded steps down the aisle toward the woman his mind wanted to convince him that this was another damned fantasy, a dying dream to prevent him from having second thoughts as he would soon see her again on the other side.
The white gowned angel before him seemed to sense his awestruck silence as she strode on graceful steps even though the boots she wore seemed to be a half size too long for her small feet.
"Joseph." She half sobbed and laughed his name as she wrapped her arms around his neck in an unbreakable embrace. Her fingers played with his raven hair curling at the back of his head, thicker and dark as coal than she remembered his hair being before.
The lieutenant raised his arms to circle around her, yet he was afraid to touch her as though she would vanish into thin air and his increasing madness would reach its limit. But, his twitching fingers felt the rough fabric of the coat shielding her from the winter chill and he succumbed to the safety of her arms... and he met the eyes of William Schofield, whose own wordless hopeful gaze confirmed what he tried to deny.
Joe's own trembling arms were around Emmy, here before him in real flesh and blood. Holding her upper back as his skin felt the disordered splendor of her chestnut hair. He had never held a woman so beautiful in all his life...
Not a dream or mirage or unholy vision.
It was just her...
His whole body shook with overwhelmed happiness and all the gloom that had built up in the many weeks of seeing her so lifeless and pale and cold.
His nose buried into her shoulder, reveling in her tenderness and vibrancy. How terribly he wanted to lift her up into the air and spin her in rapturous elation. His nose brushed her mermaid tresses, glittering with melted snow and he swallowed as he found the fortitude to pull away from her arms, nearly forgetting that William Schofield was nearby and watching with relieved fondness at their reunion.
Joe was able to get a closer look at Emmy's face, noting the magenta blossom of her cheeks and rosebud petal lips. His fingers playfully tousled her hair at the crown of her head, adoring the disorganization of her curls every which way with her ever unraveling braid.
The ivory brightness of her smile and springtime forest of her eyes gave the older soldier the power to speak once more. "You're alive. My dearest one, I was a fool to not have faith that you would open your eyes again."
"I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere, Joe. I'll be here to irritate you and piss you off more than ever." She teased, not catching her use of a rude phrase before it had already exited her mouth, briefly forgetting where they were. She giggled in his ear. "I hope you let your stubble grow into a beard. I think it's a good look for you, my brooding Rochester."
She self-consciously pressed her fingers to her lips, cringing to herself as Joe chuckled along with Will who was listening behind them.
Joseph looked down at her, tickling the bottom of her chin with his fingertips. "You... you heard me reading Jane Eyre to you?"
Emmy nodded in response, reaching up to touch the darkened scruff along his jaw. "I heard only fragments of either you or Will speaking. It came in and out, like static from a telephone."
She blinked back tears as she tried to explain her mental experience of being trapped in an abyss of oblivion in the simplest terms so as not to worry the two men. She could especially feel Will's concerned stare at her profile as she stood securely in Joseph's grip.
The lance corporal was becoming anxious to get them all home and make sure Emmy began her recovery safely while making sure their mutual friend was in a psychologically stable condition. He also wanted to ask Emmy eventually if Erik had harmed her in any way whilst she was held captive...
Joe finally couldn't resist the chance he had in the moment as he placed his hands underneath her arms, bracing himself with his knees as he raised her high up like she was a ballerina. Emmy held back a squeal of childlike glee as she placed her hands on Joe's shoulders, seeing the slight fading of sparkle in his eyes as he seemed to remember that she had lost so much body mass and remembered that she hadn't been able to consume proper sustenance while in her coma.
A diet of only broth and soup could only give the human body so much nutrition.
Joseph carefully placed Emmy back onto her feet, feeling the slight weight of her form even as she wore the heavier coat around herself. "We ought to get you home, Emmy. Get you by the warm fire and a full meal in your system."
Will met his eyes, nodding his head in silent agreement as he stepped forward to place a hand comfortingly on Joe's shoulder, relieved to see his comrade freed from his cloud of misery.
He looked to Emmy and held out his hand toward her for them to leave the church together, planning to let her ride Satine and the two men would walk. It wouldn't do to allow a lady to walk such a way at night in this freezing weather while she needed to regain her full health.
As both soldiers looked at the woman they loved, Will noticed Emmy's expression had changed from overly joyful at seeing Joe to a concerned and angry grimace, her lips turned into a firm frown as her enflamed green eyes focused on the ebony haired lieutenant.
Her hand was reaching into his jacket, within the concealed internal pocket. Will and Joe stood still as statues as Emmy's pale color of illness invaded her aura and she kept her eyes on the older man's face, who seemed about to fall to his knees before her with guilt.
When Emmy next pulled her hand out of the jacket, inside her small, yet sturdy grasp was Joseph's British Army issued pistol.
Joe inhaled a shaking breath as he stared at Emmy's features, watching her as she absorbed the sight of the weapon in her hands. Thankfully, the color in her cheeks slowly resurfaced, and Will placed his scarred hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was here with her.
She was the first to speak as Joe gulped; his throat dry as he dreaded her and Will's reactions to what he had initially planned to do. "How in the hell do you open this? How many bullets are in here, Joe?"
"Love..." Will began concernedly, wanting to protect her from exposure to the possibility of a fellow soldier wanting to take their own life. But, he knew she wasn't some delicate girl who couldn't cope with such a heavy subject, not after everything she had endured already.
"Don't!" She snapped, her voice sharply echoing throughout the acoustics of the room, angelic yet foreboding in her growing anger. Her hands held out the gun toward Joe as it laid flat in her palms. "Open it and remove all the rounds inside."
She spoke softer now as she remembered they were in a sacred place of religion and she had to still be respectful as she saw the white robe draped priest enter from one of the back rooms, moving around the candelabras to extinguish each flame.
"Let's go into the vestibule, for some privacy." Joe took the gun from Emmy's hands, taking it by the barrel as Will clenched his jaw in a silent glare, placing his arm around the flustered woman's waist as the lieutenant led them through the center of the pews and the wooden doors leading out of the church.
As they walked, Will looked down worriedly to Emmy, and she met his eyes in a quiet responding stare, slowly shaking her head as her lower lip trembled. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, knowing it probably wouldn't give her much comfort in the moment, but he wanted her to know that he was beside her no matter what.
The double doors closed behind them, ensuring they wouldn't cause any disturbance as Joe balanced himself against the wall. Emmy walked to him as he stood straight, several inches towering above her, but she caused the fear of God to be put into him with the unmerciful look in her fiery green eyes.
Will stood behind her, his arms folded across his chest as bore the expression of stoic calmness. He exhaled a deep breath, never taking his eyes off the two people he cared deeply for, one as the woman he loved and the other as a superior officer and brother of his departed army comrade.
"Empty the gun, Lieutenant Blake." Will referred to him by his military rank, keeping his voice mild with simmering disappointment.
Joseph met the corporal's hard stare, feeling the whole time Emmy's fierce look of impatience as she held out her hand. The raven haired man knew there was no purpose in arguing with her... Whatever she wanted, she would obtain it one way or another and God help anyone who got in her way.
And if there was any weakness for Lt. Joseph Blake now, it had taken the form of Emmanuelle Julia Hunterson. There was nothing he could refuse her when she asked something of him.
Joe pulled back the slide and loosened the magazine from the well. A small metal object fell into his open hand, his fingers closing around it as he placed a tiny bullet into Emmy's much smaller hand.
She stared, holding her breath as she looked at the single pellet intended to take her best friend away from her. Something so tiny and seemingly harmless by itself had the power to kill so many people when expelled from the barrels of numerous weapons.
Emmy turned to Will behind her, and he held out his hand to take the bullet from her palm in his larger fingers.
Similar to when he had placed Tom's rings in Joseph's own unsteady hand so long ago back in Flanders, Will held his hand uselessly open, tears of internal fury welling in his eyes as he watched the older soldier and their beloved stare each other down.
Joe reached out for one of Emmy's hands, his voice husky as he pleaded with her. "Forgive me, dearest one. Please..."
She pulled away before he could touch her fingers, instead raising her hand up to his face. Her palm met his rough-skinned cheek in a sharp, cracking slap.
Will took a step forward, stopping in his spot when Joe held up his own hand, letting the corporal know there was no intervention needed.
Emmy's whole body shook as her bones rattled with rage, her hand stinging red from the impact on Joseph's face as his now empty gun was dropped to the floor. She wanted to slap him again on the opposite cheek, but the adrenaline that had powered her through the last hour or so since awakening was draining from her body.
Her fair features contorted with the emotions boiling inside her with sadness, exhaustion and shock as she firmly pressed herself to Joseph's midsection, her arms around his waist to keep him close to her body as she sobbed into his chest, her head resting on his collarbone. Joe held her close as humanly possible, lifting her up many inches off the floor with her arms moving to encircle his neck.
"How could you, Lieutenant? What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Will found himself seething, saying the words before he could reel them back, his anger burning within his veins, meeting Joe's thunderstorm indigo eyes as Emmy buried her face into his shoulder, sobs heaving through her small body. "What would your mother or Thomas think if they saw what you planned to do tonight?"
Joseph closed his eyes in shame, setting Emmy back down onto her feet and allowing her to grab his hands within her steely grip in spite of the ebony haired man's own hands dwarfing hers. He inhaled a shaking breath before exhaling, his torso rattling with the aching of his lungs at what he was about to say.
He looked in between Will and Emmy, his eyes filling up at the sight of the girl's reddened face from her tears for him. "I'd heard whispers from my men back at the front... their screams and cries, like children begging for their mothers. Some of them had taken their lives while they were at home on leave. They'd seen too much, and lost everything."
Emmy reached up to touch the same cheek of her friend's that she had just struck in her temper, seeing the handprint mark she had left and regretted her outburst toward him while he was in so much torment. She looked up at him with what she hoped was compassion rather than pity as her fingers stroked his cheekbone, feeling his tickly stubble.
Her touch was a soothing balm along with William Schofield's empathetic and protective stare radiating over both Emmy and Joe in a shielding bubble from the corporal's quietly peaceful presence when anyone else's staring would have been intrusive or distracting. The strength of the two now most important people in his life provided Joseph with the resilience to continue.
"After losing Tom... and then our mother... it'd be so quiet in the house and no life in the orchard. And then... I found you lying in my front yard, my dearest one." Joe wiped away a tear from her own cheek, a small smile rising to his lips at the look of pure friendship and empathy in her lovely eyes. "And with each day you didn't wake up, I was more convinced your heart would cease beating and you would die as well...and my decision was made for if you never opened your eyes again. With you gone as well, Emmy... I had nothing else to live for. Why should I evade death when so many men younger than me hadn't? When my own brother whom I loved from the moment I first heard his cries echo through the very same house that our mother birthed us in?"
"Joe, you know there is no viable solution in blowing your brains out or hurting yourself in any way. I'm here now. But Tom and Catherine wouldn't want to see you throw your life away. I never had siblings and my mom merely just put up with me until I was old enough to start over for myself. Even if I didn't make it tonight, you would still need to be there for Molly and the girls and Will if I had died." Emmy reached up run her fingers through the silver grey streak in his black hair, a new physical trait she hadn't recalled him having before.
"Even though..." Joe gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he gathered up his courage to finally declare his feelings to her now that she was aware and alive before him. He saw Will stiffen out of the corner of his eye, like the corporal was reading his mind. "Even though, I'm in love with you, Emmanuelle. If you were mine, I would be ever faithfully yours. I would care for you and cherish you unconditionally until the end of my days on this earth... But I know your heart lies with a truly good man, one of the best I've known and I will stand to remain a friend to you both."
The woman was quiet as she stood before the two men, both so different, yet similar in many ways. Will turned away toward the doors as though to give them a moment alone, his heart squeezing out any toxic remnants of envy or insecurity he rightfully should have possessed as a man of his time.
Emmanuelle was a woman borne literally a century ahead of him, and she had a right to have any type of relationship with anyone she wanted. Even with another man confessing his love for her whilst he was in earshot, it didn't deter him as he had already had the conversation with Joe regarding their feelings for Emmy and their agreement that they would both respect her choice in whatever she decided.
He didn't blame Joseph for also falling in love with her... What man wouldn't in his sane mind?
Will couldn't help but still hold his breath as he anticipated Emmy's response to Joe telling her the whole truth.
"I know you love me, Joseph...but like you said, my heart belongs with Will. I'll always care about you as your friend, as our souls are bound together." Emmy stood on her tiptoes and imprinted a kiss in the center of his forehead. The lieutenant sighed in relief at her answer, satisfied that she wasn't just going to completely sever ties with him. However, she still had one more catch to add as she looked him square in the eye, taking his roughened face within her tiny hands. "But, don't you ever try something like this again, Joseph Blake. I won't speak another word to you as long as I live. Do you understand?"
She knew this was overly harsh, but she had to make herself clear on her stance with him trying to needlessly harm himself if anything happened to her.
She could feel Will's intense stare toward her as Joe nodded his head profusely as he comprehended her words, a saddened smile forming on his lips as he stroked her pink cheek with his fingers. "I understand crystal clear, dearest one. I'm a fortunate fool to have met a friend in the most wonderful woman."
He noticed then, her eyes became slightly clouded and glazed over as she began to sway on her feet. Joe caught her to lean against his chest as Will stepped quickly toward them. Emmy groaned as a wave of fatigue pushed over her consciousness.
"Emmy, darling? Look at me, what's wrong?" Will asked anxiously, reaching out for her as Joe held her close.
She placed a slightly clammy hand to her forehead. "I...I suddenly felt drained, like the blood rushed from my head to my feet."
"Let's get you home, Emmanuelle. We need to get some real food in you and let you rest properly." Joe met Will's eyes as he pulled Emmy nearer, bending down so he could scoop her up into his arms. His brow furrowed sadly as her weight loss became more noticeable as he held her underneath the middle of her back and her knees, his hands clutching her firmly to his body.
Neither man argued about who was carrying her, knowing they had get her near a warm fire as she began to shiver and she laid her head against Joseph's shoulder, her body beginning to slump in his arms. Joe watched her struggle to keep her eyes open, guilt waving through him that she was using her regained energy to confront him about what he had almost done.
Will opened the door for Joe to whisk the semiconscious woman outside and toward the waiting horse. As they walked across the crunching snow, the corporal met the green eyes of their mutual love as she enfolded her arms around Joseph's neck to let both of them know she was still awake.
The younger man gave her a loving yet worried smile barely reaching his eyes as Joseph carried her with a steadfast gait. The lieutenant whispered consoling nothings in her ear, to keep her from falling asleep again.
Whatever happened next, both men's priority would be seeing to her recuperation.
Will hoped while abating his concern that she could see herself sharing a future with him at her side and he would watch his Emmanuelle thrive in her new life... maybe even with his mother's heirloom diamond engagement ring adorning her lovely blemished finger.