Ultraviolet

Chapter 13

June 6, 33 AE

The ride to Elsie's was almost completely silent. Normally, Mack would try to fill it with conversation, but not this time. For one, neither of them seemed to be in a talking mood. Second, Mack's mind was too preoccupied about finally reuniting with Jordan to think up topics for small talk.

Unfortunately, they drove for nearly an hour thanks to the numerous blocked roads and security checkpoints. By the time the building's gaudy neon light came into view, Mack was exhausted, and he wordlessly texted Elsie for access to the parking structure. Thankfully, she must have been waiting for him and replied immediately, allowing them to pull into a guest spot a minute later.

"My god, that was probably the worst traffic I've ever seen here," Mack grumbled as he turned off the ignition. "What d'you think?"

When Camilla didn't answer immediately, Mack turned, expecting to either see her glaring for trying to be friendly again, or she was passed out again. What he didn't expect was seeing her staring blankly at the glove compartment, her eyes glazed over and her posture limp.

"Camilla?" Mack asked tentatively. "You alright?"

But she didn't answer, nor did she react in any way.

"Camilla, can you hear me?" Mack tried again.

Camilla merely blinked slowly, not moving otherwise.

Mack reached out to grab her shoulder, but stopped just inches away and retracted his hand. He had no idea what was going through Camilla's head just then. But whatever it was, he didn't want to make it worse with unwanted physical contact.

"We're at Elsie's," he tried. "We're going to see her now."

When Camilla still didn't respond, Mack changed tactics. He got out of the car and rounded it to the passenger's side, then slowly opened the door.

No reaction.

He reached down and carefully unbuckled her seatbelt.

Nothing.

He held out his hand to her, offering his assistance.

At first, Camilla still didn't move, her gaze unfocused on the dashboard. But eventually, her head slowly turned to Mack's hand; several seconds later, she actually took it and allowed him to help her up.

As they made their way out of the garage and up to Elsie's floor, Mack kept an arm around Camilla's shoulders to steer her in the right direction and keep her upright. He felt like he was helping a drunk friend find their way home, except their night had been nowhere near as fun. (Plus, he didn't have many drinking buddies that were as tiny as Camilla was.)

Elsie answered the door immediately after Mack rang the bell, and she looked almost as bad as Camilla did. Her hair was tied up in a disheveled bun, as if she tried and failed to keep herself from taking her stress out in it. She had a soft, cream blanket bundled around her shoulders, and when it fell to the floor, it revealed her wrinkled light blue tank top and baggy gray sweatpants.

"Oh my god," Elsie gasped, and she rushed towards Camilla, arms extended.

But before Mack could advise her to wait, that Camilla probably wasn't in the best state of mind, Elsie stopped on her own, hesitant. Mack's surprise was quickly replaced by reason; after spending several weeks together, it was understandable that the two women knew each other better than he expected.

His surprise ultimately returned when, after a pause, Camilla closed the distance between herself and Elsie all on her own. Without a word, she rested her forehead against Elsie's shoulder, as if she trusted Elsie to carry her weight. A beat later, Elsie responded, wrapping her arms around Camilla and holding her tight.