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"That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. And you've come up with multiple stupid ideas since I’ve known you." Lonnie crossed her arms.
"I thought you've always wanted to do this." Catra's voice echoed through the stairway from where she stood, at the top.
"Well yeah, but it's different when you're asking me to do it. Takes the fun out of it."
"Push me down the stairs, Lonnie."
"No, you psycho."
"I'll pay you."
"You won't."
Catra made a 'tsk' noise. Then, she sighed.
"Please." That caught Lonnie's attention. She looked up at Catra with more seriousness. "I need a break. You know they won't let me have one. It's either you help me sprain my ankle, or I die of heart disease. Do you want me to die of heart disease, Lonnie? Do you?"
"For the love of God…" Lonnie grumbled and started climbing up the stairs.
Catra did need a break. Badly. She'd be able to bail out of half the things that she'd been roped into because of an injury.
Catra smiled while Lonnie climbed the stairs, grumbling. "You're clinically insane."
"Yet you're still here." Catra grinned over her shoulder as Lonnie passed her. She felt Lonnie's palms on her shoulder blades.
"Are you ready?"
Catra nodded.
"Okay." Shit, maybe this was a bad idea.
"3." Maybe heart disease isn't that bad?
"2." Oh my god what if it doesn't just sprain but breaks and the bone sticks out and there's blood-
"1." Fuck it.
Catra took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
She couldn't feel Lonnie's palms on her back anymore. She braced herself.
"I CAN'T."
Catra opened her eyes just to roll them at Lonnie.
"What the fuck, dude! Just do it!"
"You don't get it! It's like trying to breathe water into your nostrils, or- or like walking off an edge. My body won't let me."
"Yes, it will." Catra put her hands on Lonnie's shoulders. "You can do this. Push me. Down. The stairs."
Lonnie nodded. "Turn back around."
A couple of minutes passed and they looked like two dumbasses standing at the top of the stairs.
"Lonnie, I swear to fuck if you keep being a pussy, we're gonna be here till we're 70 and then I'm actually gonna get fucking heart disease and-"
Lonnie pushed her.
I've never fallen down stairs so I'm not gonna describe it but I will say that it hurt like a bitch.
Who knew falling down stairs could take that long. It was probably only a few seconds. But Catra had tumbled down to the bottom.
It was like it all happened in slow motion, with that stupid orchestral music in the background. Catra cursed and swore like there was no tomorrow, clutching her ankle.
"Oh my god are you okay?!" Lonnie called.
Catra groaned. "Did you seriously just ask me that?"
Lonnie hopped onto the railing next to the stairs and slid down quickly.
Catra winced on the ground again. "My ankle's definitely not right. Okay call the ambulance, cuz I'm sure as hell not moving- fuck!"
Somehow, within 5 minutes of Lonnie dialing for the ambulance they heard the sirens of it arriving. Well, that was quick. It was a small town anyway.
The road was just around the corner from the stairs. Strategically planned by Catra. Do people even call the ambulance for a sprained ankle? Whatever.
By then, Lonnie had managed to get Catra to elevate her left ankle. Catra was now lying on the ground with her ankle on the second step of the flight of stairs.
It was a miracle that no one else was using these stairs.
Catra was counting sheep in her head. Her ankle was hot. It felt like it was on fire but it was pulsing at the same time. She didn't dare move it anymore.
For a moment Catra thought she'd died. The world was spinning, she was slightly giddy. The brightness from the noon sun wasn't helping but she squinted and squinted and… a woman was hovering over her, upside-down because well, Catra was on the fucking floor.
It wasn't Lonnie. This girl was blonde. Her hair was basically glowing as it blocked the sunlight. Blinding, but Catra couldn't stop staring.
Catra blinked, wondering how the hell her stupid ass made it into heaven.
"What happened?" So that's what angels sounded like. Huh.
Suddenly the blonde girl disappeared from view. No. Nonono. Where did she go? Oh, maybe she was in hell and this was her hell loop. Satan, you little shit.
She felt a hand on her ankle. Catra lifted her head to have a look. Lonnie was talking but Catra could tune her voice out like it was her superpower.
The girl was sitting on the stairs, inspecting her ankle. She was in dark green. Cargo pants? Catra didn't know. Whatever those pants were, they had loads of pockets on them. Those ones. She was pretty sure they were cargo pants. But holy fuck did they fit her perfectly.
Her top was the same colour as her pants. A buttoned top that was tucked in. It hugged her around all the areas that Catra wanted to-
"Hi." They made eye contact and Catra blinked again. "Tell me if it hurts when I touch you." Oh, certainly. Though she was sure this woman could never hurt-
"Ah!"
That hurt.
Catra shot up, her elbows braced on each of her sides. The blonde ambulance girl pulled her hand away like she'd touched a searing pan.
"I'm so sorry." She looked genuinely apologetic. Catra smiled serenely. In hindsight, she probably looked high smiling like that.
"It's okay."
Catra felt Lonnie staring at her so she looked over. She was staring at her. With narrowed eyes. Are you seriously flirting right now? She mouthed.
Can you blame me? Catra responded.
"This was an accident?" Ambulance Girl looked from Lonnie, then to Catra.
"Mmhm."
"Yep. They… happen." Catra said smartly.
"It's pretty bad…" She continued looking at it. "You can't walk, can you?" Catra shook her head. "Do you mind if I carry you?" Lonnie rolled her eyes as Catra's eyebrows raised.
"Yes."
"Oh okay-" Ambulance Girl looked disheartened.
"I mean no!" Catra yelled, "I meant yes, you can carry me. I don’t mind."
"Okay." She smiled. Catra smiled back.
Lonnie rolled her eyes... again.
"Do you need help?" Another soothing voice was heard. Catra turned and saw he was wearing the same thing as Ambulance Girl. There was an Ambulance Boy now. He was muscular too. Tall. Dark skinned.
"I'll handle it." Ambulance Girl stood up and prepared to crouch next to Catra's torso. Wow. This angle was really something. Suddenly her entire body was as hot as her ankle. Do people blush when they sprain their ankle?
Catra laid there and decided that getting Lonnie to help her sprain her ankle was undoubtedly the best decision she’d made in her entire life.
“I’m gonna carry you now, okay?” Ambulance Girl - Catra squinted at her nametag - Adora, asked cautiously. She was crouched next to Catra with her arm on her knee that was up.
“Yes, ma’am.” Adora blinked dumbly.
Adora shoved her already rolled sleeves up. She needed the space to bend her arms. Catra just watched happily. One of Adora’s arms glided past the back of Catra’s thighs and Catra didn’t know if she’d have survived the feeling of Adora's skin against her bare thighs so she was glad she was in jeans today. Adora’s other arm slid under Catra’s back and gripped her shoulder, not tightly but not loosely. It felt secure. Like she weighed nothing, she felt herself get scooped up from the ground. She turned to looked at Adora, who was already looking at her.
Catra just looked at her. From this close, she could see every little detail of Adora’s face. Within seconds she was lost in her eyes. They were this calming shade of light blue. She wanted to say her eyes were blue like the sky, but she thought it’d do more justice if she said the sky was blue like her eyes instead. There were specks of black. Hell, there were specks of white too. It’s like she was made to be alluring. Even if she tried, and she definitely wouldn’t, Catra couldn’t look away.
Adora gulped as Catra continued looking into her eyes like she’d never seen human eyes before in her life. Catra had caught her stealing a glance. Not only did she say nothing about that, but she also openly took in every bit of Adora right in front of her.
Catra had beautiful eyes. Adora definitely hadn’t seen eyes like these before. If Catra could see her own eyes the way Adora saw them, she’d never feel bad about herself ever again.
What the hell is going on? Bow thought and he almost chuckled to himself as he not so discreetly took his phone out and took a picture of them. It’s not like they’d realise anyway.
God, they’ve been staring at each other for like 15 seconds now… Lonnie cleared her throat loudly.
Catra immediately turned to glare at Lonnie but Adora took a second to stop looking at Catra.
“I’m going home because I can’t watch this anymore.” Lonnie pointed her finger from Catra to Adora and took her leave.
“Wow,” Catra put a hand on her chest, “You don’t care about me at all.”
“Yeah, yeah. Text me when you’re there. You’re obviously in very capable hands.”
Catra smiled and Adora raised an eyebrow as she walked away. “Bye, Lonnie.” She sing-songed. Lonnie flipped her off.
“Uh,” Adora looked at Catra sheepishly, “Shall we?”
“We shall.”
Adora began walking back to the ambulance and had to deal with a very amused looking Bow. After he felt like his face and his wiggly eyebrows had teased her enough, he walked in front of them since he had to help Adora with the doors anyway.
Catra was awkward with her hands dangling in the air because she didn’t think Adora would be too comfortable with a complete stranger wrapping her arms around her neck.
“Are you okay?” Adora asked.
“Yes I am, Adora. Thanks for asking.”
“Do I get to know your name?”
“You’ll find out eventually. I’m sure you’ll get all kinds of information on me at the hospital.” Catra grinned.
“But, you know my name.” Adora pouted.
“Tough luck.”
“I wouldn’t be this cocky if I were you. I could drop you.”
Catra chuckled. “Sure you could.”
Adora scoffed. “Who was the girl with the cornrows?” Adora guessed they were friends but life taught her that assuming never really brought you the right answer.
“Why do you wanna know?”
“Just, you know, because.”
Adora blinked her blush away as she felt Catra’s warm breath on her neck from her giggle.
“She’s one of my closest friends.”
“Oh okay,” Adora tried her hardest not to sound too happy about that. “How come she didn’t come with you?”
“She knows I’ll be fine.”
“She’s right though, you are in very capable hands.”
Adora smirked at her and Catra wanted to throw her arms around her neck right then and there and pull her in to-
“What the hell?”
“Oh, hi Glimmer.” Adora greeted.
Glimmer was leaning against the ambulance with her arms crossed in front of her. “What is… this?” She gestured vaguely at them.
“I’m doing my job.” Adora answered.
“I’m sure you’d love to do a lot more than that to make this patient feel better.” Glimmer continued.
Adora coughed as Bow snickered. He was already opening the backdoor. Adora hadn’t even realised he’d walked so far ahead of them.
“I’d give her 5 stars on yelp,” Catra confirmed.
“Oh thanks.” Adora said with an award-winning smile.
Glimmer gave Adora her ‘we’re talking about this later’ look before climbing into the driver’s seat.
“She drives this thing?” Catra questioned in disbelief. “Now I’m actually scared for my life.”
“Please just drop her.” Glimmer quipped back.
Adora walked to the back of the ambulance where Bow was already waiting for them. He was sitting inside with everything prepared so Catra could lay with her ankle elevated. Adora gingerly climbed in and laid Catra down onto the wheeled stretcher. She tried her best not to invade Catra’s personal space too much as she did so. She got a whiff of her perfume from the close proximity and really hoped she’d get the chance to be in this situation with Catra again but on an actual bed.
“I’m gonna sit in the front with Glimmer.” Bow said quickly, and made his grand escape.
Adora and Catra were both glad he did that. They stayed there in silence for a few moments and could hear Bow and Glimmer’s muffled voices from the front saying words like “lesbian” and “useless”.
“So… how’d you fall down the stairs?”
“I didn’t.”
“What?” Adora leaned closer to Catra from her chair.
“Well... I did, but I asked Lonnie to push me.”
“What?” Adora pulled her chair closer to the wheeled stretcher. She crossed her arms in front of her on the stretcher and rested her chin on them. “Why?”
Catra sighed. She’d only ever opened up to two people in her life and she was about to make it three, because this girl she’d just met would probably never hear ‘no’ from her.
“I’m afraid of the unknown.” Catra started. “I like having everything planned out. But it gets suffocating when you’re living your life how someone else planned it out to be.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m doing a lot of things that I don't want to do. I’m the leader of this, the captain of that… but I’m doing it because my family wants me to. They’ve always had all these expectations of me. At first I thought it was nice, having a purpose. It became draining and I wasn’t happy when I realised this isn’t really what I wanted. So, I decided to get a break, without having to actually explain myself. Thus,” Catra gestures at her ankle, “I asked Lonnie to do that.”
Adora hummed understandingly. “I get that. I dropped everything to be where I am. This wasn’t what my family wanted me to pursue. But, it’s my life. I’m the one dealing with everything in the end. I wanted to do something that made people feel safe. I wanted to be able to make people feel good.”
“Yeah. You’re good at that.”
Adora smiles warmly. She feels her heartbeat quicken. She hoped Catra meant that. She wanted Catra to mean that.
Adora was quiet for a few minutes. Then, her head perked up from her arms in realisation.
“Did you just open up to me after refusing to tell me your name?”
Catra frowned at her. “What?” No- That’s not what that was-”
“You did.” Adora smiled at her widely like an absolute asshole.
Catra flicked her arm and Adora laughed. “Shut up. You’re irritating.”
“Yet you let me carry you here.”
“I was just letting you do your job.”
“Sure you were.”
They were quiet for a few minutes until Adora started talking again.
“You know, you pretty much fell for me, in a way.”
Catra threw one of the little pillows at her.
-
“It’s good that you came to the hospital,” The doctor, Ms Spinerella, said as she flipped through the papers on her clipboard. “You should stay the night and we’ll discharge you tomorrow, with crutches if they’re necessary.”
“Thanks Doctor.” Catra nodded. She dropped a text to Lonnie, who had already told her to “shoot her shot” because she “looked like she had heart eyes just now”. Catra reached to put her phone onto the bedside table.
As soon as the doctor walked out, Adora walked in. Catra’s eyes, face and her entire body lit up. Adora had taken her dark green paramedic uniform off. She was just in a black tank top that was tucked into the same uniform pants.
Catra was glad she was in a hospital. In case of cardiac arrest, it would be wonderfully convenient.
“Hey Adora.”
“Hi Catra.” Adora took a seat next to the bed.
“Oh, you figured it out. How smart. Did you do a little background check on me?”
“I’m a paramedic, not a detective. You really need to learn more about what different jobs entail.”
“Teach me then.”
Adora’s gaze dropped to the floor and she cleared her throat. Her stupid red cheeks were giving her away and she knew it.
“I only looked at your name. I don’t know anything else about you. That’s private.” Adora admitted. God, why did she have to be this thoughtful to a fucking stranger.
“I know. You wouldn’t do that. You’re not the type.”
“Well what type am I?”
My type.
“The nice, caring, endearing, thoughtful type.” Adora smiled at her. Catra wanted to memorise that. How her eyes had those little crinkles at their sides. How her lips curled up, showing her pearly white teeth. How she wanted to be the reason Adora smiled.
Her smile could rival the sun.
“Really?” Adora asked, cockily.
“Yeah, yeah don’t be an asshole about it.”
“No promises." Adora put her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands. "It sounds like you like me.”
Catra could play this two ways. Continue being completely transparent or flip the switch and be insufferable. But she really didn’t want to mess this up.
“Are you going to do something about that?” She asked.
She almost laughed at how she could see Adora’s brain visibly short circuit in front of her.
“You like me?” Adora sounded exasperated. Catra likes me? Adora couldn’t believe it. She almost didn’t want to because then she wouldn’t get her hopes shattered. Catra was cool and calming, like the moon. And for her moon, Adora would burn like a thousand suns.
“Something like that.” Catra responded. She let her gaze drop to her lips. They looked soft and warm. So annoyingly inviting.
“I ‘something like that’ you too.”
Catra laughed at her. Adora just looked at her, relishing the sound. Her short hair looked fluffy and tousled on the bed. Maybe if she played this right she could have the chance to feel it between her fingers.
“I heard you were being discharged tomorrow.” Adora said, a little sad.
“Yeah.”
“I think you’re really interesting and beautiful.” Catra raised her eyebrows, taken aback by how forward Adora was being. “Could I get your number?”
“Of course.” They both smiled at each other. It was actually stupid how much Catra liked Adora. It was even more stupid how soft she was feeling right now. Catra started to get up to get her phone but Adora stopped her by putting a hand on her arm.
“My phone’s in the break room but I can help you get yours, you shouldn’t have to move too much.”
“Okay Miss ‘I want to make people feel good’.”
Now. You would think Adora would get up from her chair, walk around the bed to the table, get Catra’s phone and hand it to her. At least that was what Catra thought. That was absolutely not what happened.
Adora stood up and leaned across the bed. Her hand gripped the sheets next to Catra’s head and her breath hitched. Adora’s arm flexed and she was quite literally, on top of Catra. She grabbed Catra’s phone and handed it to her. “Here.”
Catra was completely still underneath her, wide eyed. She had never felt this flustered before.
“Are you doing this on purpose?” If Adora moved a little lower, their lips would be where Catra had wanted them to be for the past few hours.
Adora smirked at her. “If I say yes would that be weird?”
“Questions aren’t meant to be answered with more questions.”
“Yes, I am. I love Dr. Spinnerella, but I’ve been waiting to come in here for hours now.”
Catra bunched the front of Adora’s stupid tank top in her fist and pulled her closer so their lips could meet. Adora’s eyes widened and then closed, having felt the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Catra kissed her like she was angry at the fates for not letting them meet earlier. She kissed her like every kiss she hoped to give her in the future. Everything, all at once. Adora kissed her with the same energy.
It was a charged, short kiss. They both broke apart, panting a little, not because of how long the kiss was (it was only a few seconds) but because of how adrenaline-inducing it was.
“Wow.” Adora stared at her in awe.
Catra smiled at her. “I’ve been waiting for you to come in here for hours.”