Chapter Text
“What are you doing here?” he heard Syd ask someone, and he immediately looked up. Sydney looked uncharacteristically nervous so he stopped looking at the workpaper, and paid attention to the exchange.
The man was standing on the door while they were planning for the opening. They were there also with Tina, Sugar and Fak, but in the front there was only Richie, Sydney and him.
“You keep ignoring me, so I was forced to come here. We need to talk,” the man said. He looked like just a regular dude, but his tone of voice and wording of choice made alarms ring inside of him.
Sydney glanced at Richie and him, both of them had stopped what they were doing to pay attention to the situation.
“Everything okay?” Richie asked, asserting himself. His cousin had clearly heard the same thing and found it weird.
“Yeah, I’ll just-” Sydney’s demeanor was different, and worry started to spread inside of him.
“We’ll talk outside,” Syd said to the man. Carmy’s mind kept telling him that Sydney shouldn’t be alone with that person.
“Fine,” the man said, and stared at both Richie and him with murderous eyes.
“You sure? Who is that?” he asked, touching Sydney’s forearm.
Sydney’s eyes showed anxiousness, and she was breathing a little more rapidly than normal. She was looking outside, lost in thought, then she snapped out of it and forced an awkward smile at him.
“It’s fine, I’ll be back in a second,” Sydney said, and stepped outside. He followed her outside by instinct; there was something wrong about that situation.
In less than a minute Sydney and that man started to have an exchange that made both Richie and him get outside right away.
“Is it to fucking hard to pick up your phone? To write back? To actually read my fucking messages?” The man asked full of anger, but in a low menacing tone.
“You have to calm down right now,” Syd said, her voice shaking.
“Do you forget that I know where you live? Where you work? Why are you making me do this? You have no right to ignore me. What’s the matter with you?”
He got outside and the man was towering over Sydney, and grabbing her wrist in a painful grip. Sydney’s eyes were big and fearful while looking up.
“Stop, stop, you have to stop.”
Something took over him, he was consumed in a second by the mission of getting that fucker away from Syd.
The man was gripping Sydney’s wrist and she was contorting from the pain, trying to break free from his hold.
“Hey, get the fuck away from her,” he barked while forcefully removing the man’s hand. He then pushed the guy on the chest, and put himself in between Sydney and the man.
“You better leave if you know what’s good for you, tough guy,” Richie said, imitating him.
He was seeing red. That man had put his hands on Sydney, and came there to intimidate and scare her? He wanted to murder whoever that asshole was.
“This is none of your fucking business,” the man said, pushing him. Carmy’s hand acted before he could stop himself. His fist landed on the man’s face, and the guy quickly gripped his shirt and hit back.
“Stop, stop, stop,” he heard Sydney around them. Everything erupted into chaos and punches kept being thrown. The man was huge and Richie’s height; his cousin and him were controlling the situation, but it was harder than expected because the man had clearly some rage bottled up that was letting it out.
He felt his jaw scream in pain when the guy landed another punch on his face. While Richie was trying to immobilize the man, Sydney got in between the guy and him and she got caught in the crossfire.
“I’ll fucking kill you, which one of you is Carmen?” the guy yelled while he was getting up from the floor, and Richie was behind the man trying to get a hold of his arms.
“Stop! Adam, stop!” Sydney yelled, and before he could do anything the man’s fist connected with Syd’s nose.
He felt frozen in place, staring with wide eyes how Sydney landed on the floor, blood bursting out her face and quickly staining everything. That punch was supposed to hit his face, not Syd’s.
He jumped the guy right there, and got him to the floor, beating the shit out of him. He was blinded by the rage; his fists kept connecting with the man’s face mercilessly.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” he said, and Richie grabbed him by his torso, removing him from the unconscious man and he spitted on the bleeding man on the floor.
“Cousin, stop,” Richie told him while glancing at Sydney who was on the floor staring while violently shaking.
“Syd, Syd,” he quickly got next to her. Nat and Tina were trying to talk to her but Sydney wasn’t responding to them.
He didn’t realize everyone was outside at that moment. His ears were ringing; his jaw and hands stinging from the pain, but all he could focus on was Sydney.
He gently cupped Sydney’s face, looking at her bleeding nose and her unfocussed eyes.
“Syd, Syd, look at me baby,” he said, the endearment term slipping from his mouth.
Sydney’s eyes connected with him, and he felt his own hands shaking from what had happened. Sydney was fucking bleeding, he had let someone come to their restaurant and actually harm his friend and partner.
In that moment Sydney coughed some blood that showed on her inner lips and everyone got into action quickly.
“You have to lean forward honey,” Nat told Sydney while gently forcing her to lean forward so her head was tilted.
Tina was rubbing Syd’s back. “Don’t swallow the blood, breathe through your mouth.”
In the corner of his eye he saw Richie and Fak tie the guy’s wrists while the man was barely waking up.
“Is he fucking alive?” Nat asked, and he thought how Sydney’s eyes grew more panicked.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, he is not dead,” he reassured Syd.
“You have to pinch your nose, Syd; above the nostrils,” he said while guiding her trembling hand to her nose. “I can help you, breathe, you are okay.” He adjusted Syd’s fingers pitching her nose, making her wince.
“I know, but you have to put pressure,” He said, barely blinking while trying to calm himself down.
“Is it broken?” Tina asked, trying to look at Sydney’s nose.
“I’m not sure,” he answered; his hand still helping Syd’s.
“If it crunches or crackles it’s broken,” Richie said, crouching next to them too and grimacing when getting a full look of the damage on Syd’s face.
Sydney was staring at the floor and she kept blinking while blood poured out of her nose. Tina and Nat were each on one of Syd’s side, and they were helping her lean forward without falling.
“It’s most probably broken,” Richie murmured to them, and he nodded. “Sweetheart, you okay? Are you dizzy?”
Sydney looked up at Richie, still without saying a world and sitting on the same spot.
Her eyes then focussed on him and he felt his heart skip a beat.
“You okay?” Sydney asked him, looking at his jaw. It was already swelling and it was painful, but he was barely feeling it. He couldn’t care less about his own being; all he cared about was Sydney at that moment.
“I’m fine, I’m okay.” He quickly reassured her, and winced when Sydney choked on some blood and spit it on the floor.
He quickly guided her fingers again on Syd’s nose, but her hand was more uncooperative than before.
“Syd you okay? Are you light-headed?” he asked. At that moment Sydney nodded slightly, and her head completely gave out followed by her entire body.
He instantly caught her by the forehead and rearranged himself so Syd’s forehead was resting on his shoulder, and her head was still leaning forward to let the blood pour so Sydney wouldn't choke on it.
Nat and Tina helped him secure Sydney, and he felt the blood soaking up his shirt and pants. He gently held the base of Syd’s neck in place while holding her back with his other hand.
“She may have a concussion too,” Richie said looking worriedly at the unconscious Syd in his arms.
He nodded again and kept breathing deeply, trying not to freak out that Sydney was hit so hard on the face that she ended up fainting from it while also bleeding profusely.
“The ER, she has to go to the ER, we have to take her,” he said, and Sugar nodded while rubbing Sydney’s back and trying to look at her face that was hidden in his chest.
“Yeah, did someone call the police?” Nat asked, and no one had called the police. So, they decided that Richie, Fak would stay to deal with the guy, who was waking up, and wait for the police. Sugar, Tina and him would take Sydney to the hospital.
“Syd, hey, do you hear me?” he tried, but Sydney was still unconscious.
“Can you lift her up from the ground?” Sugar asked him and in the position he was he couldn’t, so Richie took Sydney in his arms.
He quickly adjusted Sydney’s head on Richie’s shoulder so blood wouldn’t run down her throat while Sugar started the car.
“I’ll go get her bag,” Tina said and went back inside.
“Go inside the car I’ll put her on you,” Richie said, and he felt terrified seeing Sydney unconscious. He knew it was the punch in the face that she received, but he still found it so unsettling. He needed Syd to wake up.
Richie was also getting blood all over his shirt, it was insane how much Sydney’s nose was bleeding.
He sat down on the back seat and Richie left Sydney in his arms. They adjusted Sydney’s head to be on his shoulder again so blood would pour from her nose. Nat climbed to the driver's seat and Tina to the passenger’s seat with Syd’s bag and his cellphone.
“Go, Sugar,” he said while not taking his eyes from Sydney. Her face was already swelling and bruising; he felt his heart hammering against his chest.
The drive was quick and he kept trying to wake Sydney up without any success. Some minutes later she came out of it while coughing.
“Hey, hey, don’t move. It’s okay, we are taking you to the ER,” he soothed, trying to make Syd move as little as possible.
He was holding her head and back. Sydney tried to look up, and choked on blood at that moment.
“Keep your head leaning forward,” he said, and worried when Sydney kept coughing. They had tried their best to keep blood from getting into her stomach, but it was inevitable that some got in. Sydney started to gag and she threw up some of the blood onto his lap.
“M sorry,” she whined, and he quickly shushed her.
“No, no it’s okay. You're okay, let it out.”
Sydney spitted some more blood and then she was too dizzy to hold her head up so she rested against his chest again.
“Syd, honey, can you hear us?” Sugar asked Syd while looking at her in the mirror. “We are almost there.”
They got there and Tina helped Syd stay upright while he got out of the car to be able to carry Sydney inside.
“Can you hold onto my neck Syd? Wrap your arms there,” he said while Tina helped Sydney’s arms circle around his neck.
He then grabbed her by her back and behind her knees, taking Sydney in his arms.
“Can’t use my nose,” Sydney whispered, and he guessed she meant that she couldn’t breathe out of it.
“I think it’s broken, Syd,” he said while carrying her inside.