6 His Mortality

Sora paced the hospital room, she was chewing at her nails as she tried to calm herself but she couldn't. It all started off when she had received the initial call at work.

The news shocked that her little brother was in the hospital, making her drop everything to rush over! It was only after arriving that she realized she had left all of her things at work, including her wallet.

Sora left again, only momentarily after viewing him. The doctors insisted he'd wake up soon but didn't have a direct knowledge of time. With haste, Sora ran back to catch a taxi to her work; however, by the time she came back to work to retrieve the items she was nearly in shambles.

She'd tried her best to keep it all together, but knowing her brother was in the hospital and catching a glimpse of his bandaging had her hands shaking violently.

If it weren't for the director seeing her on her return back... She wasn't sure she would have remembered to ask him to give her time off to take care of him. She tentatively collected her belongings into her purse, shoving them together in her back in a mess before running back out of the office. Her actions didn't go unnoticed however, alerting her co-workers of her urgency.

Now she was here with him again.

Sora looked at Shouji. She'd finally sat down and the doctors reviewed his medical notes and the plan with her. She couldn't untangle her mind from the constant stress and worry of seeing him like this.

He was all bandaged up, almost like the way their mother was after the car accident. Their father, died instantly, but the bandaging was a harsh reminder that he could or could not survive from his sustained injuries. The first tear started as her chin quivered before she leaned over her knees while sitting in the chair as tears streamed down her face. "Shou... Can't you not get into so much trouble?" She asked, her voice a tremored wheeze, especially knowing he couldn't answer. His silence made her heart squeeze and she could only sob in the silence.

"Was it not enough watching mom die? Shou I can't lose you." she cried, pushing her palms up against her eyes as she tried to wipe the tears away.

He looked like he'd been in a bad accident, the way he was wrapped up in bandages. Shouji was wrapped practically from head to toe. They had even placed his head in a brace to keep his jaw in place. Deep purples and reds poking out between the wrapping revealed his bruised and swollen face. The oxygen mask only completed the eerie display, pressed against his cheeks as it pushed air into his lungs.

His eyes finally opened a little as he heard his sister. "So-" he tried, but it hurt so bad to talk. His voice sounded so hoarse too. The drugs were heavy though, leaving him without much pain but it didn't stop the heaviness he felt in his body.

He could feel the empty spaces in his earlobes and when he felt his eyebrows crease together, he felt the strange emptiness that washed over his body. They had taken out all of his piercings and his contacts. It was amazing what a difference that made not to just him but in his image was well. Like this, his eyes were a light brown instead of that usual red. His pale face matched them well as his hair was slicked back out of the way, giving him a more normal appearance that made him look plain.

Hearing him also startled her. Within moments, she was turning to look back into his direction. Her head snapped center left when she realized he was awake before she trembled while standing up. Sora gasped, her heart leaping nearly from her chest as she hopped up from the chair to run to his side. "Shou, how did this happen?" she asked quickly, crying tears of joy he was awake.

"-" he tried, but his voice wasn't there. He didn't really remember anyway. It must have been timed just right, because before he could continue the doctor walked in.

"Good you're awake." He said walking over, peeking in as the nurse disappeared off into the hall. The doctor pulled out his pocket light and held his finger up as he came to sit down on the rolling stool. Sora was stiff, watching him as he rolled closer with a warm smile on his face.

"Look here." he said as he shined the flashlight in his eyes. He switched to check the other eye as well. "Well, you're left eye is bruised pretty bad, but it'll heal. You may have a little bit of a hard time focusing for a while. He moved down to check the bandages around his over his ribs. "We're going to keep you for a few days to make sure there aren't anymore complications with your lungs. How's your pain?" he asked.

"Ten," he breathed raspy.

"Let's see if we can fix that." He said as he told the nurse to get such and such medicine and in so many mL. "You won't be able to do a whole lot, that includes eating. You'll have a soft almost liquid diet until you leave." he told him. "Might as well get some rest."

Shouji sighed. This was not where he imagined he'd be after the rave. He wondered if Megura was okay.

The day was pretty uneventful other than the doctor visiting him. After having some time to relax with his new medication, Shouji started to pass out. Sora must have told him bye as he slipped from consciousness but it only made sense when he some again.

He started to open his eyes in the dark of the room. His body felt like deadwood from the medication but at least there wasn't any pain.

"You're awake." His eyes widened as he tried to look to his left quickly but a hand covered his eyes quickly.

Amari had found her way into the hospital. She was occupying the chair next to him while she waited for him to stir.

Despite the time, she was will aware visiting hours had long ended and the nurses station was a ways down the hall. It was convenient for her that the lights were off; leaving his room barely lit. "I apologise. My intention was not to abandoned you," she said quietly, watching him. She reached over, placing a tiny bundle of flowers over his chest. Sprinkles of broken dried sage chipped off the small bouquet.

The smell from the herbs should have been helpful with his breathing. She had hopes it would take the fight of his body to take remain rigid in the cold steel and plastic ridden room.

"May your gods entreat you to a merciful recovery." Amari told him, tapping her finger on her cheek as she paused then after her words. She furrowed a brow at him, but he couldn't see the expression as her hand blocked his gaze. "But before I go... Poor boy... I must ask... What got you in such a hurry? Who were you looking for?" She asked quietly, she had always been soft for humans.

He breathed in and sighed with a little more comfort. He heard her and woke a little more. "Megura," he breathed. It was painful to talk to loud and he couldn't move his mouth much. The 'r' in her name tightened his jaw and he winced. He looked at her finally able to see her. Well at least mostly out of one eye between her fingers

Amari frowned, "There's no such person here." She frowned, "Maybe she got away safely." She told him, in attempt to ease his worries. Maybe he would stay away from her but the tarot cards said otherwise. "I'm sure she'll be looking for you." She touched the bouquet and plucked a flower from it before setting it over on the windowsill. "You must be careful. The things in this world aren't the same in the next." She breathed, trying to smile a little for him. As she walked back to the doorway, she glanced back, "I'm sure she'll find you, though." She assured him before walking out. There was probably no use is warning him to stay away.

He relaxed more knowing that she wasn't in the hospital, but that didn't mean she was okay. He did see her get stabbed didn't he? Who was this woman though? He didn't mind her, in fact her presence actually calmed him a little. When Amari left he took as deep of a breath as he could without it being to painful.

Hopefully Megura was okay.

This night was so strange and had been going so well in comparison to that night. He couldn't help but still feel like things took a dramatic turn for the worst. Sora's disappointment and fear cut him a little bit. He couldn't explain to her that he hadn't planned for this to happen. He honestly wasn't being reckless, people were just assholes. That guy was an asshole.

His mind continued on, trailing over the sequence of events. Now, he had more things to deal with. The doctor had explained that he'd have to take it extremely easy for a while. So he guessed that meant he'd be slowly getting back to his hobbies. Which probably included seeing her again or at least any time soon.

Knowing they had to put screws and other medical things he didn't understand made him feel like patch work. The screws were meant to keep his ribs together. They had to reconstruct the left side of his rib cage nearly completely. He was lucky his lung hadn't been punctured or anything else really. Blood vessels were the only other problem since his body cavity was filling with blood and air.

Thankfully the paramedics knew what they were doing. It was all a little too much to understand. The doctor was surprised he didn't have to reconstruct his face as well. Just realign his jaw. Which hurt like hell still. Despite the adjustment, Shouji couldn't really move his jaw at all. At the least, he knew the meds they gave him helped him relax.

Another few day passed after. There wasn't a sign of her, but his sister at least came down to visit him and check in with him. Shouji was becoming accustomed to it all, but only the sixth day he had stayed in, was he finally mentally preparing himself to leave.

Megura was up as well. She'd completely awoken with a screaming hunger and a nightmare clouding her vision.

The room was empty, but she knew someone wasn't far away. She remembered everything a lot more clearly and then it finally clicked in her head. The boy. She looked over at her phone on the nightstand, picking it up quickly to unlock it. She swiped to the left, seeing a flood of texts in her phone but none from him.

Guilt pressed against her throat hard and she wondered if maybe he thought she abandoned him. The phone felt like warm against her icy cold skin. "Daichi," she remembered then, flicking open her SMS to type into it.

When the door opened up, her heart gave a startle and she looked up to the doorway.

"You're awake." Asami looked at her a bit startled. She looked back behind her. "Hey, Daichi. Look."

Daichi stepped in but stopped, hearing his phone. He looked at the message, noticing it was from her before he looked at Megura and he hung his arm over his head as he leaned against the entrance. "You're actually up."

"I've been tired." She told them slowly.

"You've been barely awake for the last six days."

"Yeah." Megura looked down at her phone, seeing the screen light up as she stared at the date. "I realized."

"At least you can eat this time." Daichi told her.

Asami lifted the lunch pail and set it on the nightstand. She opened it up to pull out a glass bottle with dark liquid. Setting it on the table, she glanced at Megura. "There's two to start."

"Sure." She lifted her hand weakly, feeling her stomach turn as she grabbed the lukewarm bottle from the table. She glanced into the pail at the other bottle between the white warming packs. "Did you have any marshmallow bites?"

"No." Asami answered quickly. "Would you like some?"

"Yeah." She unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to her lips. She felt her stomach churn tightly as she tipped the bottle to her lips and the taste of her saliva washed away with the hardy taste of the deep red. A light metallic taste followed as she tipped her head back, downing it all before the last drop touched her lips.

"Haaa." Megura pulled her head back to the upright position before setting it on the table. She figured this would help a lot since her body was still trying to mend itself. She looked at her arms to see the barely visible scars. She supposed her body was on its last reserves attempting to recover.

"Daichi. Do you have the information?"

He looked at her a moment before sighing. "Yeah. I think so." He looked away. "The kid you brought with you on the limo ride?"

"Yeah."

"I reviewed the security footage and tried to find a match. I got one guy in the police's system. He's pretty infamous."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "A criminal?"

"Yeah," he looked away. "Not some kid you wanna get mixed up with."

"Still. Where is he? Do you know his whereabouts?"

He pushed his hair back from his face, frustrated and he tried to keep his cool about it but it was evident he was against this. "Yes," he addressed her formally, "he resides currently at the General Hospital on XXX Avenue."

"Why?" He wasn't hurt when she left. She felt a pang of anxiety and she started to stand up quickly. "I need to go see him then."

"Just wait-"

She felt her stomach churn from standing up to quickly and something came up from her throat, harsh and vile. Blood. Blood poured out of her mouth, like a fountain of red down her chin. Megura coughed, groaning as she coughed again and more came up.

"See." Daichi walked over quickly, grabbing her wrist to lead her to the bathroom quickly.

"Shut up." She growled as the light flicked on. She winced, turning her head away from the brightness before stopping. She caught a glimpse of herself and she quickly looked back to stare.

"Lycan venom." Daichi told her, seeing her surprise as he flicked on the water.

Megura tried her best to keep her composure as she stared at herself and she felt the damp cloth against her chin. "Lycan?"

"Yes. Those two that attacked were lycans."

She felt her legs go weak at the knees at his words and she leaned over the counter, teetering. Daichi caught her around the waist, holding her up as she lifted her head. "Damn."

"I thought-" she felt her body grow weak from vomiting as the room started to spin and she groaned.

"Relax. We'll get some medicine. The doctors only gave you a little since you weren't awake and your blood count was low."

"I-I can't..."

Asami crossed her arms, watching them before she finally flicked out of her own cell phone.

"I want to see him. I don't care. Just get me my meds."

"Megura, your father gave strict orders-" Asami started.

"Fuck that." She seethed, shoving herself upright as she grabbed the counter. She coughed, more blood pouring down her face as tears started to pour down her face. "I don't care anymore. I already know what it takes. Just get the meds and give me that second drink. I want to go see him in the hospital."

"Just wait-"

Megura felt the counter crack under her nails before she looked up at him. That red ring around her eyes. She looked so beautiful in her rage, even with blood staining the front of her shirt. "Now!"

Daichi frowned, "But you've barely recovered."

"Like I care!" She screamed, "You want to do me right! Fucking let me see him! I don't care how I feel right now!" He was the only one who treated her differently. The only one. How could she let go of the sweet addiction of his strange nature?

"You can't. The hospital.. The smell. You'll go in a frenzy, you've got no control over yourself right now."

She shoved Daichi back, standing up but she dipped back down to a near crouch. "Ugh," she grabbed her head. One eye open as she glared up at Daichi and she snarled at the two of them. "Give me him."

Daichi could see her wavering between consciousness and hunger. If her hunger took over there wouldn't be much reasoning left. "Of course," he told her, turning to Asami.

"I've got the medication on the way. Hold on."

"Dachi, stay the fuck out of my way. I asked you to find him, not tell me how to live my life."

"I understand that."

"Like hell you do!" She snarled, stepping forward as he stepped back. She grabbed the doorway, squeezing the frame as it cracked under the pressure of her hand.

"Between caring for you and protecting you. I know this." He answered, "And I'm doing this for your care."

"No! You're not!" She huffed, completely spent on what little energy she had. Being angry did take a toll out of her body but she wasn't going to be trifled with, let alone treated like a child in regards to her health. "If you truly meant it- No matter what!" She told him, sucking in deep hard breathes, "You would do exactly as I ask. If you truly actually cared about me and served me like you were supposed to-"

"We serve your father first, young mistress." Asami told her, looking up from her phone. She shut the flip phone after finishing her last message.

Megura felt her eyes turn to Asami and she lunged forward but Daichi caught her wrist mid-air, stopping her. He twisted her other hand away from grabbing him and becoming her next victim before pulling her close.

A scream rattled out from her throat, almost animal-like as he wrapped his arm around her waist and she dug her nails into his side till red bled through the white fabric of his button up.

"Fuck you!"

Asami was used to this. She looked at Megura coldly, watching her. She knew she did well with her job.

Daichi cringed, fighting to hold her back as he held her other hand and tried to tuck it between his chest and hers. He picked her up then and she thrashed, freeing herself even still in the weakened state and he wrapped his arms around her again. "Calm down."

"No! I'm the one who decides whether I leave or go! I won't be told what I can and cannot do by either one of you. Especially-" She shoved him off and he stumbled back over a soft cushion chair as she turned on Asami quickly. "You!"

She advanced for her quickly but Daichi was back up in a moment, jumping to grab her and the two hit the ground hard. He pinned her down, sitting on her back as she screamed at Asami.

"You had to fucking rile her up?" He growled, looking up at her.

"She's in a hunger-induced rage. It'll subside." Asami said coldly. She looked down at her phone.

"Naturally," he laughed, but the humor wasn't there with his laugh. "You're the worst partner, you know that?"

"The best. Actually." Asami told him coldly, staring down at him. "The medicine will be here soon. Get her something to eat. When she's done, the Benz will be out front waiting to take her to the hospital. As long as she's fed and the nurse clears her, let her go. I see no problem with it."

So she was just provoking her? Daichi glared at Asami.

Asami smiled down at him. She knew he struggled the most with this, over his affliction for her. "I am, afterall, motivated by what gives me the best ranking. Don't get me wrong. My intent wasn't to rile her, but since she's so resolute. I'll take the proper precautions. Don't worry." She smirked, walking back out to the hall.

Megura didn't move from where she sat, only staring down. Daichi felt her finally relax enough but her hands were still shaking.

"I swear... If he died.... If he died. I'm going to kill you both, Daichi." She told him, through grit teeth. She lifted her head, glaring straight ahead at her bed. Even despite their work, she could remember now as the rage subsided that neither of them had an obligation to Shouji, let alone did they even know him.

Daichi closed his eyes, sighing. "I know." He swallowed the saliva in his throat. "I assure you, he's not going to die though." He didn't understand it. How she cared so much for some person he'd never heard of.

Unbeknownst to her, Shouji was a tough kid. The fright of death wouldn't get to him that easily. Even for the short time he spent in the hospital, he was recovering quite well.

On his fourth day they were comfortable with him trying solid foods. When he was able to keep his food down, they started feeding him a little more. The best part of his recovery was the oxygen mask being more of an on and off thing.

At times he'd get short of breath really easy. So, he'd have to have it on for a couple hours a day and off the rest. Having Sora was there every day for all of the visiting hours had become a little more comfortable after the first few days, but it didn't slow his recovery at all. A part of it was comforting at first, but the remaining three days she'd become too overbearing.

After Shouji finally snapped at her for yelling at him she finally stopped visiting as much, giving him a bit more time to himself. Instead, when she visited she started helping him with the oxygen mask. Then every now again, helping him get out of bed to go to the bathroom.

"I can't wait to go home." he groaned. The hospital food sucked and he hated being trapped in a bed all the time. Not being aloud to do anything was starting to get to him and he was ready to resume his regular activities.

On top of being out of his element, he felt naked without his piercings though his eyes could use a break - he guessed - from the contacts. As much as Shouji appreciated Sora's help, he honestly didn't really want to be around other people.

It was one day away from him being here a week. He was beginning to become seriously depressed about the whole experience. What was worse about it was that no one knew anything of a young woman by the name of Megura at all.

He was starting to feel like he'd imagined her the whole time. She was pretty unbelievable after all.

Sora had finally left for the afternoon. She had to return to work starting tomorrow in the early morning to which Shouji told her he'd 'be fine'. He wasn't used to seeing her so much.

Finally getting some peace and quiet, he laid back in his bed. The nurse had just come and taken his food tray away. He was back to eating like a bird again, though the hospital food didn't help much.

As the nurse pursed the tray cart further down the hallway a group of people clustered down at the nurse's station of the sixth floor. Shotaru leaned against the counter as Asami, who had been locked into her typical business-attire, leaned over the counter and tapped on a picture of Shouji on her phone. It looked more like a mug shot than a regular photo.

The nurse cast a nervous gaze to her as she looked at Daichi who nodded for the room to be approved. A couple other faces filed in the background and nurses nervously tried to tell them they couldn't all go in.

Daichi obliged, "That's fine, it's just the two of us anyways." He interrupted. "We won't be long."

"O-Okay," she told them. "Visiting hours end soon, so please be quick."

"Of course," Asami smiled to her as she stood up and walked from the counter to hand Daichi a clipboard. He filled it out slowly, looking back up to the nurse before handing it back to Asami. After a few short exchanges of words, she give them a number and Daichi led her down the hall to him.

"He's down the hall, to the right. Second to last room." Daichi informed Megura, letting her leave his side.

It still surprised him a little how she seemed to almost spring to action, picking up her pace before running down the hall towards the tray cart. The smell of sickness and blood was overwhelming, but despite it all she still came to his room without fail.

The glass was a dead giveaway as to who was in what room and she opened the door quickly, walking in. "Shouji." Her voice cracked, seeing him in bed. She came over to him, a glint of excitement and happiness in her features but the more she noticed the bandaging and his smell, the more the excitement faded into fear "God, what happened to you?" She cried, rushing over to him.

He looked at the door when she practically busted in. He smiled to himself, as best he could anyway, realizing she was okay and she was actually worried about him. "I'm okay." he said pretty breathy. He had a two tubes pushing air into his nose but his piercings were still gone.

Shouji could only be happy at her surprise appearance. It was good seeing her. She looked paler than usual, but over all just fine.

He winced sitting up and grabbed his side. "What happened?" he asked.

"Sh!" She breathed, not really wanting him to answer. She knelt down by his bedside. "It doesn't matter. I'm fine." She told him, disregarding herself. "I'm more concerned about who hurt you, though. Who did this?" And why?! She asked, her anger seeping in now as she noticed more bandages from under his gown.

Her eyes started to burn with anger and she shook, "I'll fucking murder them." She growled, ready to rip someone apart.

He breathed a laugh and winced. "I don't remember what happened. I just remember looking for you." his voice was so soft as it took almost all his breath to speak. He was so glad to see her that he didn't care about the pain really. Though, he did look a lot worse than he really was.

The real problems couldn't be seen though.

Deep bruises had just started darkening, signifying the healing taking place on his abdomen. It would be a while before they were going to start going away.

He wondered if he should tell her, but then again it was better to just enjoy her. His jaw would only take about a month to heal completely and then he'd be fine. So, it wasn't too much to fret about.

Shouji breathed in, hearing her continue to frantically check him over as if she was only barely listening. Just like Sora, only a little more fierce and less directed at him. He started to laugh, despite the pain of his concussion that left his left eye dilated still. It was going away and would return to normal when the swelling completely went down.

"I saw you get stabbed." he said quietly, not fully understanding. His smile dimmed.

That shut her up.

Megura cringed at the statement before shaking her head, "It was just a little cut." She breathed, trying to push it off, "Someone cut me with their pocket knife and took off with my wallet." She told him. It was an utter lie, but it was better he didn't know. She stood up, turning to show the thin sliver of a mending cut. "Honestly," she cringed, "Stop worrying about me. It was you who got hurt. I'm more concerned who hurt you. When you remember, tell me."

He saw the cut and frowned. He didn't know why it bothered him so badly. Her perfect skin with such a cut. He felt like she was lying, but didn't want to press it. She was okay. "Why?" he breathed laying back more. It hurt to sit up. He didn't know why it upset her so badly.

She shook her head, "That doesn't matter anymore." She told him, trying to press again for his well being.

"Why won't you tell me what happened to you? Obviously it's clearly worse for you otherwise you wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be standing here! I wasn't in a hospital for the last few days, unlike you."

"I really don't remember." he breathed. "Really, I'm going to be okay." He reassured her.

His gaze lifted to her face as he leaned back against the pillows that propped him up. He was admiring her again. Even through all the things that went on that night, he remember her dancing the best. She was completely enchanting.

The best part of it was that he remembered her about to kiss him. Right before things got blurry.

He took a deep breath then. He hated the feeling of always being short of breath.

"You damn well better be!" She growled, snapping his attention back to her. She pressed her hand to her forehead, groaning before she let loose a breathy sigh. Her whole body fell as if she'd been stiff and rigid for hours. Clearly, she was tired.

Megura rubbed the bridge of her nose, letting her fingers press against her cheeks before coming down to her chin. With a second glance at her it was clear by the red marks left behind around her eyes, she had lacked sleep. It was debatable that she was stressed in the first place, but it was clear she lacked a general peace of mind.

"How long?" She asked, her voice less angry and more tired. It was hard to be thoughtful when she was at her peak after being so upset. Had she not screamed it out before she came with Daichi, her anxiety would have probably sent her through the roof, probably resulting in someone getting hurt.

Shouji still noticed how tired she was, making him frown. He moved over in the bed even though it hurt like hell, but the bed was big enough that it could fit two small people conformably. "Come here." He told her. He did not understand the stress she'd had on her body and mind the last week, but he wanted to comfort her.

Daichi waited outside, listening to them. Everything in his body screamed that it was wrong to bring her here, but he knew it was only out of his own selfish reasoning. He did his best to squash down his own jealousy, but he couldn't hide his anger. Taking in a sharp breath, he released his fists and looked down at the floor.

Megura's eyes gazed up at him. She traced his movements, watching him carefully but she shook her head to him, unable to form a comprehensive response. Even still, despite shaking her head, she moved to sit next to him. She wasn't sure whether or not she even liked him or whether or not she felt this was the closest thing to a real friendship she ever had, but something in her moved against her efforts.

She closed her eyes as she let her head slowly fall to the pillow. This was nice was about the only words she could form into a complete thought. Still, words wouldn't come out that could properly describe a thought she wanted to express out loud.

She paused again for a moment then shifted to press her face into the pillow. Her shoulders slumped and she sluggishly let her weight drop into the bed. Nothing had felt like this all week. Nothing came close.

She had felt stripped of her defenses and had tried to compensate more than she could exhaust. It was hard and it had hurt her mentally more so than physically, but she was to vain to admit this. As her mind drifted further into the unknown, she stopped moving all together. Like a restful corpse, her hair fell over her face, one hand lightly cupping the air in front of her right cheek as her lips loosely moved in utterance of some form of sentence incoherent to the land of reality. And she was gone. All together in moments by his side.

Daichi turned, seeing her curled up next to him, stirred a sort of fire in him he couldn't quite squash. The feeling of resent left a bitter taste in his mouth. Asami was standing next to him, watching as he chewed - hard - at the inner lining of his lips before walking away. He had too, or his anger would consume him and he'd do something regretable.

"It's like watching a child coddling a small puppy," Asami said to herself. She leaned against the wall, staring into the room quietly as she watched Megura in place of Daichi. She shook her head, watching him exit the hall.

Shotaru came up beside her quietly, watching Asami gaze into the room.

"It's funny. It's almost like she's a child." Asami spoke softly.

"Really?" He whispered back to her. He wouldn't know. He hadn't been so close to her.

"Could be. I don't understand how vampire's age." Asami told him, but she turned her head towards him. Her gaze was sharp but direct. "You'd think they'd grow up in the first fifty years. I guess it's only just a mind game of what maturity really is for them." She leaned against the wall, listening in on them.

Even in the room's quiet, Shouji watched her. He moved her hair from her face and just observed her sleeping face. She was so mesmerizing. What's more was that she was even more beautiful when she slept. Her expressions were so carefree. He couldn't believe she would cry over him.

He laid his head down and lightly grabbed his side. He was hurting, but it was worth it. Taking in a few shallow breaths, he couldn't help but feel relieved over the constant supply of oxygen. His eyes slowly closed as his body tiredly begged him to go back to sleep. As his eyes closed, he glimpsed her a moment longer before everything went dark.