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“Will, she"s fine,” Auggie said with a firmness she hoped that Will would buy. The last few minutes had been spent discouraging him from coming over to the safe house - never mind that she didn’t even have an address herself.
Jin rested under thick blankets on the sofa and occasional fits and starts betrayed nightmares. Auggie glanced over to check she was still sleeping.
“Look Auggie, I definitely heard someone say something about her being shot at right before she hung up,” Will’s voice was steady, but Auggie knew him well enough to catch the smallest tremble. “I know I wasn"t imagining it.”
Ah. Well, she couldn"t really blame Jin for glossing over that fact. After a decade of friendship, she was sure Jin knew how Will would react.
In fairness, when Jin showed up past midnight, dazed, face bleeding, and clutching a heavy bandage on her forehead, Auggie immediately launched into a barrage of threats to the guards on grounds of negligence to the moon and back. So there was that.
But lying to Will point blank wasn"t an option. She resigned herself to the task and walked towards the kitchen. “Yes, a bullet grazed her. But she"s okay, I swear.”
“Fuck.” his voice broke.
Auggie winced. “The medic’s been checking on her. They told me she"d make a quick recovery. Trust me, I"m keeping an eye on it.”
“That’s … good.” He took a moment, and then sounded like he could breathe again. “God, this is all so fucking crazy.”
“Tell me about it.” Auggie looked through the windows and saw their security detail change. The fact they needed this many guards and that her best friend could have easily died last night … she turned away from the scene and sat down.
“I just can"t believe I was out for two days and then this all happened. I wish I could do something to help you.”
“Will, you’re fighting your own battles. I’ll … get her to call you back, okay?”
Will made a quiet sound of assent, and Auggie relaxed in her chair. At least it seemed like he was listening to reason again. Maybe she could gently change the subject. “So anyway, did you already tell Jin about what you told me?”
“You mean about my cancer? No.” Will hesitated. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to worry her about that now. She’s got enough on her mind as it is.”
Auggie really didn’t want to continue being the bearer of bad news between two of her best friends. But sometimes, convincing Will to do something that involved Jin was almost as hard as getting Jin to stop working and sleep.
“You know she"d want to know, right?” Auggie tried. “Just like how you want to know if she"s okay.”
“Yeah I … well then I guess she maybe didn"t want to worry me earlier.” Will chuckled weakly.
Auggie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Will.”
“Maybe when she"s better. Doesn"t make sense to drop that on her now.”
“Okay, but don"t wait too long, okay?” Auggie lowered her voice. “I won’t say anything you don’t want me to, but if she asks, it"s going to be hard to -”
“Auggie?” Jin’s drowsy voice ambled from the couch.
“Hold on.” Auggie cupped her cell and strode back towards the living room. Jin was stirring under the blankets.
“You okay?”
“Is that Jin?”
“Who"re you talking to?” Jin rubbed her eyes.
Auggie hesitated. “Before I answer that, were you awake this whole time?”
Jin squinted at her. “What? No. Why, is it Saul?”
Auggie gave her a flat look. “It"s Will. Here, I"m getting your meds.” She tossed the phone into Jin’s hands before Jin could say anything else.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Will,” Jin settled back down onto the sofa. “Auggie dropped her phone on me and ran.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t worry, I didn"t hear whatever secrets you two were muttering about,” Jin glanced around, but Auggie was already heading up the stairs.
“Actually, I called because I wanted to check on you.”
Jin bit her lip and feigned bravado. “Yeah? What, you worried about me?”
“Jin, I know you were shot at. And how could I not be worried when …” He paused. “Anyway, Auggie assured me you have a medic checking in.”
Jin’s eyes softened and she curled up in her blankets. “I"m doing okay. I um… didn’t really want to think about that part when you called.” Besides she didn"t want Will to worry even more that night.
“No, it’s alright. It must have been terrifying.”
Jin swallowed. Those memories were all of darkness and death. “Don’t think I can talk about it right now either.”
“Right. Um, if you need some rest, I can go and - ”
“No, no,” Jin breathed out. “Just … tell me more about that cottage. The one near France, right?”
“Okay. Sure.”
They spoke about the location, the ocean view and the types of birds that would be around. Will didn"t say too much about why he had quit his job, so Jin opted not to push. Even on a normal day, Will didn’t always open up - being patient worked best and she was sure he’d explain in time.
Auggie rejoined them, and they put Will on speakerphone. The sound of Will’s voice felt safe, and so did Auggie’s presence beside her in this strange house. Jin was lulled into sleep again and Auggie gently pried her cell phone back to say goodbye to Will.
In the end, it was still Auggie who ended up having to tell Jin about Will"s cancer.