"Shit! I must have left it at home!" Gray groaned after he frantically checked his pocket trying to locate his ring. No. Her engagement ring. He planned to propose Juvia tonight after he picked her up from school. But then, he realized that he had left it at home. He had promised her a romantic date, and he knew he had been late for almost two hours now. Gray was a surgeon in a busy small hospital, and sometimes he had to stay late when they did not have enough surgeon on that day. Why did he have to be late on this special day, he cursed. He knew Juvia would not be mad. She got used to his unsteady work schedule, and it made him feel like he was a terrible man for her. Hence, he needed to prove himself that he was wrong, that he could be a man that she deserved.
Annoyed, he made a dangerous U-turn. The car careened back and forth across two lanes until he got it firmly set in the other direction, but he failed to notice a big truck heading straight at his side of car. Before he knew it, his side of car was violently crammed, and he saw blood trickling down his cheek. His vision is slightly blurred when he saw a group of men running towards his car, and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was… "Juvia," he murmured softly before he closed his eyes.
##
The moment Gray woke up, it was all light. "Where am I?" he asked himself when he saw nobody, but a young man with spiky blond hair sat casually few inches away from him.
"Like I know," he scoffed.
Gray glanced down at his hands, trying to remember what happened earlier. "I had a car accident," he murmured.
"Oh," the blond man replied.
"This is not hospital. Where could we be?" Gray urged him for an answer.
"I have no idea. I also just woke up," he answered as he glanced down at his right wrist, and Gray's eyes widened when saw big, deep cut on the blond man's right wrist. "D-did you—"
"Welcome Sting Eucliffe, Gray Fullbuster," said a little girl with long, wavy hair. "My name is Mavis and I am an angel who is going to take you to another world."
There was deep panic in Gray's eyes, and he cleared his tone before he asked, "W-wait. What's going on here?"
Sting rolled his eyes. "We're dead, dumbass," he then continued as he walked towards Mavis. "Ok, let's go. I'm ready to go. Anywhere is better than on earth."
Yet, Mavis stopped him. "No, you still need to go back to earth. I am here to pick up Gray."
"What? I just want to die and why do you make it so difficult?!" Sting groaned in frustration.
"B-but I am not ready to leave, I still need to see Juvia!" His voice pleaded and his tone held denial and refusal of acceptance. He couldn't believe he died the night he was going to propose.
"Truth is, nobody ready to die. But it's time for you to go," Mavis said as she held Gray's hand.
Gray then kneeled down before her. "Please, let me stay, even one more day. I— I have never told her that I loved her. She needs to know that before I die. Please, I beg you!" he cried desperately.
"Yea, let him live and let me die. He still wants to live, and I don't want to live. Simple like that, isn't it?" Sting said sarcastically.
Mavis then turned and looked at Sting sharply.
"You're still alive, and you will go back to earth," she said sternly.
Sting raised his brow, and he replied nonchalantly, "There is no use to send me back there. I will still kill myself," and Gray thought he just caught a tinge of bitterness in his tone.
"Alright then, you will stay here for 72 hours," Mavis said to Sting before she turned to see Gray, and held his cheek that was wet from his tears, "Gray, I will give you a chance, 72 hours to live in Sting's body, and then you will be back here."
"Wait, why must it be in his body—"
Before he could finish his question, Mavis snapped her finger, and the next thing Gray knew was that he woke up in a hospital. He remembered vividly he saw a very young woman named Mavis who gave her a chance to live for 72 hours? He must be dreaming. He must have worked so hard, that even a dream seemed to be so real. Maybe it's time to use his vacation day.
"Doctor, he is awake!" he heard an unfamiliar woman's voice. Must be a nurse, he thought, and he saw the doctor with spiky pink colored hair. That must be— "Oi, flame breath. How long have I been here?"
He saw Natsu's eyes widened in shock. "Mr. Eucliffe, I am Dr. Dragneel."
Huh— Eucliffe? Gray felt that he heard that name before, but he couldn't remember when.
"What are you talking about Natsu, I am Gray," Gray said as he scratched his hair with his left hand, then his eyes widened as he noticed big, deep cut on his right wrist.
Then he turned to see Natsu, and from his eyes, there gleamed a look of inexpressible sadness, of intense despair. "Mr. Eucliffe, the nurse here, Ms. Bisca will give you an update. Please excuse me for a second, I'll— I'll be back," and everyone in that room could hear an ounce of sadness in his tone, even though Natsu tried hard to hide it.
Gray put his head down and rubbed a frustrated hand over his forehead. So it wasn't a dream. He was dead, and he lived in a stranger's body, for 72 hours.
In a low voice, barely more than a whisper, he asked, "Nurse Bisca, am I Sting Eucliffe?"
The nurse smiled awkwardly at him, "Y-yes, Mr. Eucliffe. That's your name."
He looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He was dead, as much as he still couldn't accept the fact that he died, he only got 72 hours to meet Juvia.
"What time is it now?"
Nurse Bisca glanced at her watch before she replied, "It's six in the morning."
"I need to walk," Gray murmured as he tried to get off the bed.
"I will help you—"
"I appreciate your help, but I need to be alone now," he cut her off and began to exit the room. He just needed fresh air, and her. It seemed that Sting also lived in Magnolia and Gray knew there were just very few of small hospitals in Magnolia. There might be a chance that his body was also in this hospital, and if that were true, he could have found Juvia here.
His instinct was right. He saw Juvia and Cana in the lobby with Natsu. The woman he loved fell to the floor on her knees and cried aloud through the walls of the hospital, and she screamed, "No, not my Gray! No!"
She must have just heard the news that he was dead.
Natsu tried to choke back the lump that had formed in his throat, and he fought against the tears that threatened to cascade over his eyelids. "I am so sorry Juvia, we've tried everything to save him."
Then Juvia turned to see Natsu with tears overflowing her cheeks, "Natsu-san, it's just a prank, right? He still lives, doesn't he?"
The vulnerability in her tone slicing at Gray. He curled his fists into balls and bit his lips, tried to fight the tears from flowing down. She looked so pale, seemed she didn't even rest since she learnt that he got into an accident. Her eyes were read and all swollen.
It just broke his heart to see her suffering because of him.
If only he had not made a dangerous U-turn.
If only he was not prioritizing work over her.
If only he was not two hours late to pick her up.
If only he didn't leave the ring at home.
If only he tried every day to show her that she was the only one for him.
If only he said he loved her.
Maybe she didn't have to suffer like this.
"I am sorry, Juvia. I need to go now," Natsu said, bowing his head before he left, and Gray thought he saw Natsu wiping away his tears. Natsu didn't cry, and Gray didn't even remember the last time he saw Natsu crying, and Gray just turned away. He couldn't stand seeing his best friend shed his tears. He then just stood there for a moment, before he decided to approach Juvia. I only have 71 hours left.
"Come on Juvia," Cana said sympathetically while helping her to sit on a chair.
Cana then hugged Juvia, and when Cana saw a familiar blond man approaching her, her eyes widened.
Noticing her expression changed when she saw him, suddenly a flashback came into his mind, and Gray felt gross at that moment— Did he just see Cana naked and moaned Sting's name?
"Sting, what are you doing here?" Cana asked carefully.
That's when Gray realized that Sting was not completely a stranger, at least to one of his best friends.
A/N: writer's block made me start a new short story. Hope you enjoy it!