Rating: T
Characters: Artemis/Wally
Prompt: AU || "Just staring at the white wall across from her bed is all she can handle. There's a picture of Wally and her when they went to the beach last summer taped to it. And she just stares. Like staring will bring him back. But it doesn't. It never does."

A/N: Based on a scene from Grey's Anatomy.

Artemis gets the call around 11 PM. She knows she should be sleeping (because honestly, getting up at 5:30 for school requires more than 5 hours of sleep) but she can't seem to put her book down. And it's not even a good book. It's her chemistry textbook. Yeah, totally dorky, but really, she needs a good grade on this test. It's not like she doesn't study or doesn't pay attention. She does, but she still has to study her brains out just to keep up.

Gotham Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the country. And she's totally grateful that Bruce Wayne was kind enough to give her a full scholarship but honestly, she wish he hadn't. She was doing fine in her old school. But she supposes that this is good for her. College is a big deal and to get into law school, that takes a lot of studying. So she's basically just practicing for the future.

Anyway, she's studying when she gets the call from Wally's mom. They've been going out for a while now so they've all exchanged numbers and met each others parents and it's just like having a second family. Honestly, she loves it more than she'd like to admit. Paula is more than a wonderful mother, but with everything in her past, it's nice to spend time with Wally and his family and just pretend that this happy, normal family is hers. There's no shame in it.

When her phone vibrates with Mary's number across the screen, she debates picking it up or not. Reading about elements and compounds is making her even more tired than she expects. And she knows that Wally's mother would understand if she let the call go until the next day (Wally has the same exact classes so she knows how busy they are). But she remembers that Wally said his mom wanted to get together for lunch sometime with her and Paula, so she picks it up. "Hi, Mrs. West," She says a little too cheerily. She's trying to hide her tired voice and somehow, she's doing a better job than expected.

"Artemis-"

Artemis doesn't here her name being said on the other line because it's loud in the background and it sounds really hectic. "Wally told me that you want to get together some time for lunch and I was wondering when-"

"Artemis."

This time she hears it. It's not just her name that she hears. The woman's voice is different. It's strained and kind of cracked. It sounds like she's been crying. Artemis suddenly tenses up and shifts uncomfortably on her bed. "Mrs. West? What's wrong?"

"I-It's Wally," she barely makes out before her voice cracks and she lets out a small cry.

Artemis's heart stops. It honest to God stops right then and there. She feels like she's falling and she grabs her headboard tightly but somehow it doesn't stop the feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What is it? What's wrong?" She asks again, hearing her own voice falter towards the end of the question. She feels almost sick and is really glad that she arranged her room last week, putting her garbage can right next to her bed.

"He has stage four Leukemia," she answers quietly. "He's in the hospital right now. We think...we think this is it," towards the end of the sentence she lets out a sob. Artemis can feel the sting of tears behind her eyes but somehow she manages not to let them overflow and spill onto her cheeks. Then she hears Rudy's voice on the phone. She figures that he takes over because Mary just isn't up to talking about it. But even in the father's voice, she can tell how tired he is. Tired of waiting for answers, tired of waiting for a cure. Tired of wondering just how long he'll have with Wally today. He's just tired. "Artemis," he says quietly. "He has stage four Leukemia." And she's kind of furious at him for saying it again. She heard Mary. But repeating it just makes it harder to forget.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asks, her voice cracking throughout.

"His body stopped responding to treatments months ago," he answers.

Is it possible to feel like Artemis does right now? Probably not. It's like there's a one-thousand pound weight on her chest, making it impossible for her to breathe. To think. To act. To do anything. "C-Can I see him?" She doesn't stop the cry from coming out of her mouth. She just lets it fall.

"He's resting now. But I know he'd love to see you. Come by tomorrow around noon, okay?"

"Okay," She barely makes out before hitting the end button on the touch screen. And she doesn't know what to do now. At first, she contemplates going back to studying. But Wally's...dying. She can't concentrate even if she wants to. It's not possible. So she crawls into a ball on her bed, staring at the wall. A few tears trail across the bridge of her nose and fall onto her comforter but no sound comes out. None at all.

For hours, she's been staring at that wall. Hours. She can't move. She can't think. she can't breathe. It's just too hard. All she can think about is what she's going to do without Wally. What she's going to do without his obnoxious jokes and awkward pick up lines he tells her. What she's going to do without seeing his red hair fall into his eyes when it rains and his smile. What is she going to do without seeing that smile that makes her knees go weak and make her mind go fuzzy? What's going to do without all of that?

And finally, it takes her a few minutes, but she gets up and goes on her computer. She knows that she won't find it, but somehow she finds enough hope to research it anyway. And she spends hours without sleep or caffeine before she finally finds something that can help. Something that gives her hope.

She wakes up the next morning around 11. Obviously she didn't go to school; Wally is more important than the world ending, let alone school. It takes a few minutes and a very red arm from pinching herself, trying to wake up from this nightmare. But it's all real. It's all too real. Too fast.

She pulls her hair into a messy ponytail (Wally always says how that's his favorite hairstyle of hers) and throws on a pair of skinny jeans and a green v-neck that she knows he likes. "Don't cry," she murmurs to herself as she drives to the hospital. "Don't cry."

Artemis has the papers in her purse and she's so sure that he'll go along with it that she doesn't even think about anything after that. She asks the receptionist what room he's in and she rushes to it. But when she gets in there, she instantly regrets coming.

Wally is laying on the bed. Wires are poking him and needles are prodding him and he just looks so different that she has to double check that she's in the right room. He's pale, really pale, which makes her gulp. There's an oxygen tube connected to his nose and she her legs quiver when he looks over and smiles weakly at her. "Hey babe," he breathes softly.

"H-Hi," she answers quietly, walking forward slowly, glancing at his parents who are sitting in the chairs next to his bed.

"We'll let you have some time alone," Rudy says, squeezing Mary's hand and giving Artemis a quick hug before closing the door behind him.

"I knew you'd come," he laughs quietly to himself before coughing and taking a few deep breaths. "What's wrong?"

And she laughs kind of bitterly and motions to the weak body he's stuck in. "What's wrong? Wally, you're...you're sick. That's what's wrong."

"I know," he sighs, his eyes softening slightly.

Artemis almost forgets about the papers in her purse until she moves her arm and hears the crinkle of the pages against the weight. "I-I found this," she says quickly. Her hands are shaking but she manages to unfold the papers and hand them to him.

He takes them and his brow furrows in confusion. And when he finally understands, he sighs and looks at her with sad eyes. "There's a doctor in Tanzania," she says kind of excitedly. "He think he found a cure for Leukemia. And I know it's a long shot and there are still a lot of tests but he can cure you. He can make you better."

"Artemis, stop." Her knees almost give out right then and there but she supports herself on the edge of the bed. "I'm dying. I know that. I've known that for a while. I'd had time to process it. I'll be okay."

"But Wally, he can fix this-"

"I don't want to spend my last days doing medical experiments, Artemis. I want to spend it with you and my friends. I'll be okay."

And now Artemis is full on crying but she doesn't care. The tears are just streaming down her cheeks before she can even stop it. "Okay! Okay, I know that you'll be okay! But what about me? When you die, what about me?"

Wally's eyes are watering and he looks like someone just kicked his puppy in front of him. Which is completely understandable because in circumstances like these, how else can you feel? But he looks at her with those sad puppy eyes and just lets out a shaky breath.

"So please," Artemis goes on, trying to hold back the sobs from her throat but succeeding miserably. "Please, do this. Please for me. For me. You have to do this for me." Wally scoots over on his bed and holds his arms out just as she's crawling into them and curling up beside him on the bed, soaking his blankets with held in tears. They had to come out sooner or later.

And he presses his lips against her hair and murmurs something like 'I'm sorry' into it but she can't make out the words. She just latches onto his hospital gown, determined not to let go. His arms are tight around her like he's determined not to either.

After a few more minutes, exhaustion catches up with her and she's slowly falling asleep. When she wakes up, his eyes are closed and the familiar rise and fall of his chest is gone. It only takes her a few minutes to realize. And when she does, she doesn't cry. She wants to. God, she wants to so badly, but she'd cried herself dry. There's nothing more to come out.

She lays on her bed for days. Skipping school, missing meals, ignoring phone calls. It's all nothing to her. Just muted noise in the background. Just staring at the white wall across from her bed is all she can handle. There's a picture of Wally and her when they went to the beach last summer taped to it. And she just stares. Like staring will bring him back. But it doesn't. It never does.

So she takes a deep breath and rolls onto her back and stares at the black ceiling. She painted it with Wally the summer before. He'd grown tired of her complaining that her room was too white. So he bought some black paint and painted the ceiling. But he took it to the next level. He added white dots and gray mists that look like clouds. He painted her the night sky. And she closes her eyes, exhaling shakily, letting the perfect painted sky fade to black against her eyelids.

"It was all for me," she whispers to herself. And after a minute, she rolls back onto her side and stares at the picture. "For me."