I.
(so boycott love, detox just to retox, I promise you anything, for another shot at life)
They say hospitals can either be a blessing or a curse. Sometimes the line blurred. It even became home to some.
One certain individual was recognized among the hospital staff as such. There was often somber talk of the beautiful blonde who never spoke. She never left the hospital bed for more then a few minutes. Her hip was practically glued to the tragic body stationed there, yet she never shed any tears.
The woman must have been waiting for thousands of hours. Every waking minute she spent her precious time with him.
Day and night she sat there, memorizing his features over and over; the small freckles lodged on his nose, the curved line of his fingernails. Her dainty fingers followed the protruding veins in his arms; her eyes watched the hair on his chin grow longer and darker. She watched the rise and fall of his troubled breathing and caught each slight tremor with her eyes.
Time passed and the frozen blonde knew every blemish on his body.
She rarely left her spot, except to accept visitors at the door or take a bathroom break. The chair beside his bed was claimed as hers. The food brought to her lay solemnly untouched at the table across the room. Her eyes were swollen in their sockets after going so long without an iota of sleep.
She barely noticed, but that didn't stop anyone else from seeing.
"Lu, you need to get out. You need to see the outside world. When was the last time you even showered?"
Unaccustomed to speaking after so long, she avoided the use of her voice. The blonde feared that an onslaught of tears would destroy her if she dared utter a syllable. How long had it been since she last spoke? Weeks? Months?
A shrug was all her lovely azure-haired friend received; a promise that the woman who had spent too much time stuck in that hollow shell wasn't permitted by her own hand to come up with a solid response. She didn't know the answer, nor did she care to.
The fingers of the friend behind her curled into dangerous fists, the nails chewing on the flesh of her palms. She couldn't let her beloved friend fade away to nothingness caught in the web of impatience, hopefulness and a dreadful longing.
Agitated tears bordered the rim of her eyelids. If Lucy wouldn't cry, Levy would gladly do it for her. The millions of tears she had shed somehow reflected the blondes continual torment.
Forgetting his presence, the petite woman jumped in surprise when thick, pierced arms caged her body. His rough hands stroked through her hair in a repetitive motion. The sky-colored hair had grown exponentially longer since the incident; his arms grew tired at the effort.
He pulled her trembling form away from the motionless woman who crouched in the metal chair, and out into the hallway. Quiet sobs echoed in the wide space.
Lucy was somewhat glad for the silence. After becoming so used to the company of the sleeping man before her, she gradually dreaded intruding visitors.
Didn't they know she was fine? Didn't they realize she wanted to be left alone?
Eventually the couple outside the door vanished, and the only sound Lucy took comfort in was the steady beep of the monitor and the labored breathing escaping his chapped lips.
Yet that blissful silence was deemed only temporary.
Without knocking, a new person came into the room. She didn't turn her head in fear that if her chocolate orbs left his form, he would disappear into thin air.
Lucy remembered the myth that doctors and nurses never wore white so that when blood would stain their clothing it was a dull brown compared to the bursting scarlet. It was to keep the patients from panicking.
The nurse clad in blue spoke in cheerfully high tones.
"Oh hello. I didn't know he had a visitor."
How could she not, Lucy was never away from his side?
"I'm his new nurse, I just started work here."
The cheery attitude would soon be lost in the staggering piles of sick and dying. Lucy's eyes never reached the nurse.
"I can't believe he actually has pink hair. I heard some of my co-workers talking about it, but I didn't believe them."
The only thing Lucy thought was that his hair wasn't pink, it was salmon. If he had been awake he would've been adamant about it.
The nurse checked the clipboard in her arms, studying something printed on it. "Natsu Dragneel huh. Says here he has no living familial relations, so I'm guessing you're his girlfriend, right?"
The blonde stiffened in response, a sudden flash of anger choking her windpipe. She could feel the bile rising from her stomach. For a flicker of a moment, her eyes bore into the pretty smile of the woman opposite her. If she could've, her body would've lunged towards her to rip the emotion from the nurses face.
"I'm sorry for your loss. It's not everyday a man is announced brain dead at such a young age. It really is a tragedy to witness a car accident victim come to these terms with such a beautiful girlfriend here to take care of him."
How could this woman be so ignorant? How could she not see that her words were driving the opposite effect she wanted into the blondes brain?
Girlfriend? She was his wife damnit. Didn't she understand that all she wanted, all she longed for anymore, was the dark irises lying next to her to finally peer into her own?
All she wanted was his voice to call her name, him hands to caress her body. She wanted to watch his lean back as the muscles rippled in the sun after work. She wanted to watch as the muscles in his leg stretched and flexed as he ran.
She loved the way he would mess with his hair in embarrassment. She loved how his hair was a natural shade of her favorite color and her hands could be lost in their deceiving softness.
She remembered his warm smell and how his scent of burnt wood would cling to his clothing.
She loved the way his calloused hands would caress her body like she was fragile, like she meant the whole world to him.
His wide smile would make her melt in that familiar way she loved.
She remembered all those times when his scaly scarf seemed to be useful when they joined their bodies as one.
Each scar on his tan, sculpted body begged her lips to caress them in a gentle rapture.
All she needed was his warm embrace and gentle touches. She needed his deep voice to whisper in her ear that everything was going to be fine.
She longed for his eyes to open. His compelling dark green eyes to shine with life and the promise of an ongoing adventure.
It took her awhile to realize the tears drenching her cheeks. Tears long missed. Large hiccups encompassed her body as she released every pent up ounce of despair in her exhausted body. Wails escaped her clogged throat in pained, scratchy wetness.
She barely noticed when the nurse slipped quietly from the room.
She cried. Every fiber in her being cried until there was no strength left in her to do so. Hours passed and the moon soon peeked through the clouds onto the white sheets and the sleeping blonde head on top of them.
For the first time in ages, she felt comfortable enough to welcome sleep.
In the stillness between late night and early morning, the stirring of the body beneath her made her involuntarily smile in her slumber. The first one in forever.
A breathless chuckle shook the bed as warm hands caressed the strands of her hair.
"I promised you I'd never leave you."
For the first time in her little forever, a small whisper told her everything was alright.
She decided to believe that.
Ahem.
Here is my contribution to this lovely Nalu week.
Happy Birthday Lucy!
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~Brannasaurus Rex