Not Ready to Die

Why…

How many times has he been bound to a hospital bed over the years now? Dozens? Hundreds? The times when he was perfectly healthy were long gone, his better days nothing more than a memory. The young pinkette had been forced to take online classes since high school, his healthy continuously failing him since puberty.

How did one fix such weak lungs and a poor immune system? No doctor had even expected him to survive childhood begin with, but was now once again told to expect the worse as he came down with a fatal case of pneumonia. He could only lay there in bed, still struggling to breath even with the respirator mask provided to him. No one said it to his face, but Page doubted he would survive the night. Family had all come and gone earlier, staying as long as they could, but leaving with sorrowful expressions.

I'm not ready to die!

Silently tears started to roll down his cheeks, tempted to yank the mask off so he could roll over and sob into his pillow. Sick and dying before he was twenty two, what a sad tale indeed. Wasn't this when life was really just beginning? With his online coursework he was able to attend college and earn his degrees, but what was the point of all that work and effort if he wouldn't live to use them? He knew that this day was coming, but at least wanted to leave some memorable mark on the world first to prove that he lived in it!

After his eyes dried from all the tears he calmed down a bit, finding himself looking back on his first love…Avery was his name, a sweet young boy that he had fallen for right before high school, finding that the feelings were actual mutual. It was a brief and innocent relationship due to their age, but cut short due to his beloved suddenly passing away. Turns out that Avery health could be far more fragile than his own at times, had been the poor boy's downfall.

I guess this is how you felt in your last moments…

He breathed a deep sigh at that thought, doing his best to ignore how painful such a simple action was. A few more moments and he was bound to start coughing again, but for now he just wanted to close his eyes…Even if for a moment…

"I don't want to die…"

Surprisingly he actually started to drift off to sleep rather quickly, though started to come back to the world of the living when he heard a pair of soft footsteps enter the room.

Little did he know at the moment but his late night visitor held his salvation…Though with time it would also lead to his downfall.

Author's Notes:

Another short little oneshot about Page Estheim, one that was just wrote just because. However whenever I sit down and write his full story out this certainly hints at important backstory. For anyone wondering who saves him, all I will say is she's a cannon female character to Lightning Returns.