I closed my eyes, the water crashed furiously against the rocky cliffs as the sky began to morph, changing colour and becoming dark. The sweet smell of the flowers behind me collided with the salt of the sea, creating a sweet and salty mix. It relaxed me even more into peace. I opened my eyes to find a few birds flying high in front of me. They called out to one another, their inner peace showing only by the proud beating of their wings. Their glossy feathers were pure white, and their beaks were a bright colourful orange. It reminded me of…him.
I closed my eyes again the sound of his voice filling my ears. His laughter, his loud yells, his gentle whisper. Then a picture of his face filled behind my eyes, almost like looking into a picture. My vision filled up to him, and I noticed his high cheeks, his spirited smile, his six whisker-like scars, and his eyes. His soft, baby blue eyes, filled with a spark of bliss. He was happy, and that made me happy.
A strange sound awoke me from my dream-like state. I looked up; the birds were fine. Then that strange sound again. I turned around. The source of the noise was a low growl coming from a bush, a bright green, shaking bush. My pulse shot up, my adrenaline coursed throughout my veins. My hands began to shake, and to stop this, I clenched them, which ultimately failed.
I backed slowly away, reaching the end of the cliff. Is this it then? Is this going to be the end of my life? Am I going to be killed by a bear, or am I going to get so scared that I'm going to fall off the cliff? Slowly, and laughing, his friend, Kiba, came out of the bush. My face suddenly turns to anger, and he laughs even harder. I put my hand up to my frantic heart and began yelling.
"What the hell were you thinking? You could have killed me!"
"How?" He wipes a tear away. "A heart attack?"
"No, you idiot. I could have fallen from the cliff!"
"Oh, sorry 'bout that, it was-" Suddenly, a figure came into my view, and as I took that fatal step backward, the last thing I heard was my name being called out before a sudden light feeling and a whoosh of air. I felt a sudden splurge of pain before nothing, as I passed out under the rocky waters.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
An intense but steady pain rings through me. I only see darkness. I feel like I am floating, drifting away into a sufferable place full of demons eating away at me. I feel a faint tingling at my legs. Or is it my arms? Or is it my inner being? I can't tell up from down. All I see is darkness. And that steady beep; what is it? Then, voices. At first, they are faint. Then muttering. Then I can hear what they are saying.
"Will he be okay?" "Is he going to die?" "I'm so sorry." Sorry? What's to be sorry about? I don't understand. I'm the one who should be sorry. I fell into oblivion, into nothing. I'm still falling. There's nothing. Not even water. But I fell like I'm drowning. There's something in my throat, but it won't come out. I'm scratching at my arm; it won't stop itching. My feet feel funny, I can't move them. What is happening? Why am I in hell? Then, nothing.
Another steady beep. And a small drip. Like a drop pf blood constantly hitting the ground, hitting a puddle of blood. Then, more voices.
"I'm so sorry. Please, wake up…" Then, nothing.
Unexpectedly, I feel an immense pain, souring through my body, from my feet to my head. All I feel is pain, all I feel is hurting me. Make it stop…please, make it stop…
I don't want to die. I haven't lived a fulfilling life. Going to college, having a family, kids, grandchildren, living…with him of course. I don't want to die and never see him again. I want to see his cheerful expression, his warm eyes, his carefree attitude. I want him to know that I love him, how much I clearly love him. I want to hold him, I want to kiss him, I want to make love to him. I want to hold hands; I want to sleep in the same bed as him, holding one another in content bliss.
I feel like crying, but no tears will come out. I feel like screaming, but no voice will come out. I feel like hitting, but no strength will come out. All I want are the simple things, the things that a normal person can do. Human things that I cannot achieve. It hurts even more, knowing this. I don't want to die, but it would end my suffering. And then, nothing.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
There it is again. Annoying but calming. I know it's there. And it relaxes me. It brings me back to a sense of reality, wherever that may be. I still feel like I'm floating. But now, the drowning sense is dull, just a quiet buzz. And then, pain. Surprised, I open my eyes, slowly, but steadily. And what I see surprises me even more. It's a white wall, not black emptiness. The light hurts, so I snap shut my eyes. I hear shuffling next to me, and I feel something warm against my hand.
I open my eyes again, and I look down. Someone has grabbed my hand. My gaze flickers upward, to his face. His face. I feel the heat rising to my cheeks, but he doesn't notice. All he is doing is smiling brightly, the joy unfading. I can't help but smile back, but a question poses itself at me. What happened? So I ask.
"W…what's going on? Where am I?" His smile suddenly turns to guilt. Confused, I prod further.
"What happened? What did you do?" I realize then that my voice is hoarse; I don't sound like myself at all.
"W…well," his voice is shaken, which means that he did do something, "Me 'n' Kiba thought it would be funny…and…well, we decided to, umm, scare you?" Having no recollection of this, I wait for him to continue, not looking me in the eyes, playing with the string of his signature orange sweatpants. "Umm…you were on the cliff by yourself, and…" I raise an eyebrow, "you fell off." I blink. Then blink again. I have no memory of this. He must be lying. It can't be true. But as doubtful as I am, I ask him more.
"H…how fa…far?" My voice is shaking, so he probably thinks I believe him.
"Umm…I think it was…fifty feet?" He blinks. "More or less." I look down at myself for the first time. There's a large bulge where my left leg should be, and I figure, it's casted. My other leg looks fine, but it's painful. I take my hand, which is also very painful and casted, and feel it. There is pain wherever I touch, so I figure that it's been cut up pretty gruesomely. I look at my left hand and all there is, is some bruises and scratches. I look at Naruto, and he tells me it all.
"Well, you broke some ribs, and your back is pretty messed up. And your face…well, you have a huge scar running across your cheek, as well as other things…"I reach my hand up to my face, and sure enough, there is a painful, gaping wound stitched up on my right cheek. My eyes slightly widen, and he notices. We look at each other, a slight tension in the room. I search his eyes, looking for something, but all I see is the truth; a guilty and apologetic gaze. But it's soon replaced by the pure joy I saw when I woke up. His smile returns, and he grabs my hand again.
Then, a knock on the door makes him let go of my hand, and he turns away. This gives me the chance to look around. My room is a dull light green, and the furniture is all white. The bed is white, the couch, which has obviously been used, is a soft light white, and the table next to me, which I presume is for eating, is also white. I'm hooked up to several monitors, and they're all making noise. A drip or a beep or a breath…a voice snaps me from my thought.
"Sasuke? Are you there?" I glance up, and standing next to Naruto is a man wearing light blue scrubs and a white doctor's coat. "Sasuke?"
"Yeah…I…I'm here."
"Okay, well, would you like to hear what happened, or would you rather wait?"
"I'll hear it."
"Okay, so I believe Naruto's told you what happened?"
"Up to the point of falling…"
"Okay. So after you fell, the medical team sent a helicopter down to get you, and then they transported you here, to Konoha Medical Center." I sat silently, waiting for him to continue, which he did, with a look of, 'I have bad news.' "When you arrived, you were in critical condition. You had internal bleeding, both your legs were broken; you had three broken ribs, two fractured, and several wide open wounds. But on a side of good news, no neck or spinal injury. We took you directly into surgery to stop the bleeding, and to fix up your left leg. The bone in your leg was penetrating through the skin." He stops as a look of disgust runs across my face, but continues on.
"Then, when all was said and done, we took you to the ICU, where you've been in a coma-like state for two weeks." His words hits me like a wall. I look up at him in shock, and he answers my un-asked question. "Yes, two weeks. We've been keeping you stable, but now that you're awake, you're going to be just fine." He walked over to the foot of my bed to look at some sort of binder, which I figured to be my chart. He then mutters to himself, about vitals, and then bids us farewell and leaves. Naruto looks at me and smiles again. I could never get used to that smile…
"Well, you're gonna be just fine!" He closes his eyes, with that smile still plastered to his face. I can't help but weakly smile back, but then the thoughts of him rush back to my head, and I blush madly. He opens his eyes and notices immediately. He then laughs whole-heartedly. I join in shortly, and we laugh for a few moments. Once we calm down, though, he asks the dreaded question.
"Why were you blushing?" He wipes a tear, a goofy grin still held to his face, his beautiful face. Having no answer, I look away. I can't see his face, so I don't see his reaction, but I figure now that he knows. I feel like crying. My crush was exposed. No. It is more than a crush; it's more along the lines of love. And now he knows. My world might as well come crashing down; he's going to reject me.
I can just see it. He's going to tell me that I'm not worth enough for him, and he's going to hit me hard. I want to cry, I really do. A single tear rolls down my cheek. I look down. I can't look at his face. Then, to my surprise, I feel something warm drape over my shoulders. Next, I feel something fall next to me. This something pulls me closer to it, and I can't help but to begin to sob. A few minutes of sobbing later, I relax into the touch, and he pulls me closer. My crying continues, silently, but still. He begins rubbing my arm. Up and down. Shoulder to elbow. It calms me. I have to fight the urge to smile; my dream is coming true! He's actually touching me, holding me. I feel so at peace, I feel so…happy. Almost having a complete life, I close my eyes, rest even closer to him, and fall fast asleep within seconds. I could just die happy now…