She honestly hadn't thought that his skin could get any paler than it usually was. She'd been terribly wrong. And yet he was so much more colorful than he usually was. His paper-colored skin was stained blue and purple and, worst of all, red.

When Sakura had entered the procedure room, she'd frozen as she saw who was lying on the table. Even as she barked out orders and started to work on his broken body, every time that she looked at his face, she had to remind herself to breathe. When she had to restart his heart, her own had stopped, just for a split second.

Each time she checked on him in the following days, she desperately wanted him to wake up. She wanted to see his ink-colored eyes. She wanted to see that fake smile that he always gave. And once she had, she wanted to hit him for scaring her so badly.

::

It was decided that Sakura would escort him back to his apartment. The reason was simple: he had flatly refused anyone else's help. He had also refused a wheelchair and Sakura's threatened fists seemed to be the only way to get him to cooperate.

When they arrived at his apartment building, the stairs had proved a challenge. Sakura had assisted him in scaling them, though it took far longer than it ever had and he leant against a wall to rest more than a few times.

Once inside his apartment, she grabbed a pair of his pajamas and made sure that he wobbled his way to the bathroom safely.

While he was in the bathroom, she set to the task of clearing all of the paper and art supplies off of his bed. She sighed, already feeling exhausted and wondering if he would have slept on them if she hadn't been here to clean them up. After removing the brushes and pencils that littered his bed, she stooped to gather the papers. Sakura had always loved his drawings and had never hesitated to tell him so. Stopping to look at a few, she noticed a common theme: they were all of her… and she never thought she had ever looked so beautiful.

::

She didn't notice that Sai had come out of the bathroom, clad only in pajama pants and bandages, until he was standing beside her. She didn't notice that she was crying until his hand reached up to brush away a tear. And she didn't notice that her weakly held dam had broken until she was in his arms, weeping onto his chest, pictures forgotten and fluttering to the floor.

She knew his body was still healing, that he should be sitting down or, better yet, sleeping. But she couldn't let him go. She needed to feel him, to know she hadn't lost him.

She let out all of the tears that she'd held in while healing him, all of the tears she'd held in while watching him sleep in the hospital bed. She cried out her fear at seeing him so injured. She cried out her anger, her pain. And Sai simply held her, staying silent.

Neither was sure how long they stood there, propping each other up.

::

After she'd finished crying, Sai brushed her hair out of her face and wiped away the leftover tears. Noticing how shaky his legs felt after standing for so long, he allowed Sakura to help him walk to his bed and sit down. As she turned to leave, Sai gripped her wrist. Pulling her back to stand between his knees, he wrapped his arms around her. One arm around her hips, one hand splayed against her back, he pressed his face against her abdomen, whispering one word:

Stay.

He knew she hadn't gotten much sleep while he'd been in the hospital. She should be home in her own bed, sleeping away her exhaustion. But, he couldn't let her go. He needed to touch her, to know that he was still with her.

::

She stripped off her outer layers and they climbed into his bed. He immediately pulled her to him, back against chest, connecting them from head to toe. Sai buried his face in pink hair, the most beautiful color he'd ever seen, and breathed her in, a perfume more perfect than the sweetest flower.

Secure in his embrace, her body locked to his, as she felt him kiss her bare shoulder, she only had one thought:

There's no where else I'd rather be.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this. It's just the start of an entire Affirmation of Life series of one-shots.

The rest of them can be accessed on my profile. There will be various pairings, both romantic and platonic.

I hope you like reading them as much as I liked writing them.

As always, feedback is always appreciated.