After a horrific accident, Gray is left in a coma for a long period of time. When he wakes up, he realizes he has lost something precious to him, more precious than his own life.
| 4 |
Three days later Gray laid on his couch after a long day at work. Natsu and him had been on patrol. It was usually boring, all they had to do was park at the side of a specific road and wait for any speeders, but then everything went to shit. Some stupid teenage kids had decided to go car racing; right in front of them. What kind of idiot went street racing right in front of a cop?
Gray and Natsu ended up having to chase after them for a good thirty minutes before they called for backup and they were able to block their way and detain them. The only problem was that after they stopped the two cars full of teenagers and their hormones, they realized that they had all ben intoxicated and underage, and they had all different types of drugs in their backseat. One of them had tried to escape. They had punched Gray in the face, catching him by surprise because he had been attendant to some other matter and then he had brought out a pocket knife and tried to stab Natsu in the stomach area. Thankfully, he only managed to graze the pink haired man, before he was taking down once more.
Gray sighed. It had been a long night and long reports with literally everything on it: DUI, underage drinking, assault and aggression, and possession. If it wasn't bad enough, Natsu was sent home, even if his injury wasn't as bad, Lucy had come in spewing fire out of her mouth over her husband. Until, the sheriff ended up letting him go. Even he didn't want to mess with Lucy. She could be scary many times, especially if it had to do with her husband, but that meant that Gray had been stock writing out all the report and taking care of the paper work by himself.
Looking over at the clock he had hanging above his flat screen TV in the living room, he saw it read 3: 43 am. He groaned as he got up. He had to be up by five am in the morning––that morning––he wasn't going back to sleep. Reaching for the remote control, he switched on the TV and the Magnolia News came on. One of his friends from back in college, Erza, worked as a news anchor and she was on. It looked it had been a re run from the news earlier in the day. Erza was smiling brightly into the camera with a sparkle in her eye. She wore a nice dress that he knew would make any of the guys watching the news go crazy, but Erza was like a sister to him, so to make sure she was alright, he made sure he watched the news. Her job, like his, occupied a lot of her time and didn't have much time to hang out with their friends. She had come and seen him after he was released from the hospital and almost put him back in it with her bear crushing hug.
Gray felt his eyes wonder around his apartment. He never remembered moving into it, but it did suit him. First, when he had walked in, it had been way below 60 degrees, which he knew he was the only one that ever did that. His walls were a black color all over the halls and corridors. His living room was also a dark grey color, along with his room and the guest room. The only two places that were a bit odd had been the kitchen and the bathroom. The kitchen had more cookware than he had ever remembered owning, and the walls had been a soft green with light blue flowers decorating it. The bathroom was along the same, only the walls had been a light blue, and it was decorated by light pink jellyfish. Even his shower curtain had been a light blue with more jellyfish. He was sure one of the girls had pestered him in the past until he had caved in. He was sure that Lucy and––
The flashback hit him so suddenly, that he almost fell over. He was sitting on his couch, shirtless. He had been watching one of his favorite detective movies, when the door to his apartment flew open. He looked over only to see all of his friends walk in with buckets of paint and bags full of stencils.
"What the hell?" he said.
"We're here for some renovations!" Lucy was bouncing on her feet, her hair up in a bun.
"Don't worry, Gray. You'll be content after we are done with your place." Erza had a winning smile on her face and a mischievous look on her face. Her hair was down, and she was wearing an apron over her clothes.
"Why do I have to be dragged into this?" Natsu groaned, looking over in desperation at Gray for help. Gray was looking at them incredulously, even though he felt like he shouldn't be surprised, he was used to his friends barging in all the time.
"Well, it's the least we could do for you, Gray." Levy said. She was one of the girls int their group during college and she was one of the smartest people there. She was petite with blue hair and brown eyes. She also had a bucket of paint in both of her hands.
"I brought the booze!" Gray groaned at Cana's comment. He had to work early the next day and it would be a shitty day if he had to go in with a hangover. Cana wasn't carrying anymore supplies, just the beer. Her brown hair was down, and she was wearing her usual flimsy get up: Shorts and the tiniest shirt ever.
"Remind me," Natsu said as he sat down next to Gray on the couch as the girls made their way into he kitchen. "Why do we have so many friends that are girls?"
Gray shook his head. "Who came up with this ridiculous idea?"
Natsu chuckled. "They all had a sleep over yesterday. You know who was exited to spend the whole day together for your twenty second birthday today. They came up with this genius idea."
Gray threw his head back and covered his eyes in annoyance, but he couldn't help it as a small smile made its way on to his mouth. She always had something under her sleeve, she––
Gray was breathing hard once the flashback ended. Had he really remembered something? He ran his hands over his already dishelved hair. The back of his neck was covered in cold sweat, and he felt like a bucket of icy water had just been dumped all over his head. He reached into his pocket for his phone and unlocked it to start running through the names in his contacts, until he found the name he wanted: Dr. Lockser.
He hesitated as he looked at the time once more. It was almost 4 am and she could've been sleeping. Could he really disturb her? Later on, in the day he did have an appointment with her, it was already Tuesday after all. A wave of panic washed over his body. What if he didn't remember by then? His memories disappeared once, so they could disappear again. He hit the call button before he even realized what he was doing.
"Yes?" Gray was surprised when Juvia answered the phone, not even sounding as if she had been asleep. If it had been him, he would've been pissed, and his voice would've been more than groggy.
"Juvia." Her name sounded foreign coming out of his lips. He felt as if he didn't have a right to call her by her first name. "It's Gray. Gray Fullbuster."
"Oh, Gray-sama. How can I help you?" she asked.
Gray told her about his flashback in the most detail as he could. Not once did Juvia stop him, not even to complain about him calling her at 4 am. He wondered if she had really been sleeping, because he heard rummaging on the other side of the line and then he heard steady typing. Had she been home? Or at her office? Had she even been sleeping?
When he finished talking, Juvia stayed silent on the other side of the line for the longest time. He was sure she had hung up on him for sure, but then he heard the clinking of a pen and a small 'hmm.'
"This is really good, Gray-sama." Gray couldn't help but hold his breath. "I will have something for Gray-sama tomorrow that will help him. You remembering is good, especially if it has to do with your friends. If it continues like this then it looks like a good outcome. We also have to talk about visiting your doctor and having more brain scans done." Juvia explained. "If you do get flashbacks, there can be many factors with it and what can happen."
Gray found himself nodding and surprisingly hanging on every word she said. Gray was impatient. He wanted more; he needed more of his memories. "Do you think I could have more? Get them all back now?"
"Juvia doesn't want to give Gray-sama false hope," Gray wanted to grasp on the bit of hope he had received. "But if Juvia talks to some of Gray-sama's friends and they say the memory is real, then the chances are higher and Gray-sama might remember."
Gray nodded and then realizing that she could see him, he voiced out his thoughts. "Ok. Thanks for answering me, even if it was so late in the night."
Juvia chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm your therapist. Juvia is here whenever Gray-sama needs her. He can call her whenever and forever. Juvia is here for Gray-sama."
Gray wasn't sure how to answer her, so he simply agreed. He wasn't used to anyone laying out things so well for him, so he bid his goodbye and promised her he would show up on time later on and hung-up. His face was warm. He wondered if he was catching a cold.
"So," Natsu said as he munched on a donut while they were on patrol. Gray was driving; like always. "How'd it go with Juvia?"
Gray glanced over at is pink haired friend. "It went rather well. Thanks for recommending her to me." Remembering that Juvia had said she would call one of his friends to ask about his memory, he said: "Oh, by the way. Juvia said she would call either you or Erza sometime today." He explained about what happened earlier that morning and how he had also given Juvia his and Erza's contact in order for her to check if his memories were real or not. He even shared the flashback he had gotten. He expected for Natsu to be happy for him, but instead his friends gave him a weird expression when he finished telling him.
"Is that all you remembered?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah," Gray said. "So, was it real? Or…?"
Natsu shook his head. "We should wait for Juvia to ask either me or Erza. It's better for her to decide." He kept staring at Gray. "Are you sure that's where that flashback ended?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you forgetting that anything can help me?" Gray countered. "It's not my fault that I got stuck with this stupid amnesia that I can't do anything about it!"
His jib didn't seem to affect Natsu at all. Instead he rolled his eyes and continued stuffing his face with donuts. Gray looked at his friend. "So," he stared, keeping his eyes on the road. "How did you and Juvia meet? You said you guys dated?"
"It's complicated man," he said. "Juvia is too nice."
Gray managed to glance at him and he was surprised to find Natsu with a solemn look on his face. "She is a great person. I see her more as a sister." Natsu continued. He gave Gray a serious face. "Please don't tell Lucy about this. She'd have a fit."
Gray nodded. He wanted to press Natsu more about his ex-relationship with Juvia, but he seemed very evasive about it. "Wait, don't tell me you have a crush?" Natsu teased.
Gray almost slammed on the breaks. "Are you an idiot? I'm only asking because of curiosity!" Gray felt heat on the back of his neck.
Natsu laughed. "Whatever you say! Juvia is good looking; wouldn't blame you if you were smitten by her. She has many admirers."
Gray felt piqued. He wasn't sure why, but the thought of men chasing after Juvia made him irritated. He tried to clear his thoughts about the matter. She was simply his therapist. Sure, she had killer looks, and a pair of killer legs, but he wasn't there for any relationships. His life was too screwed up at the moment to think of anything else.
It wasn't long before it was time for him and Natsu to head back to work and drop of the patrol car they had been cruising in. Gray had gotten permission to leave for a few hour for his session with Juvia, but he would have to come back afterwards. There had been many recent violent crimes in the area and he had to stay late to help his boss piece the clues together.
Juvia was sitting at her desk like she had last time when he walked in. instantly, feeling the cool air from the room hit him. He noticed her room smelled like lavender as he walked over to take a seat. Juvia had her hair up in a bun with many pencils sticking up from various ends. She wore another dark blue dress and this one expose less skin, but it felt as if Gray was looking at more.
"Gray-sama," she smiled at him. "You're just on time." She grabbed something from under her desk from a cabinet and handed it to him. It was a black journal. The hard cover kind. It had a gold strap keeping it closed. He looked at her with a questioning expression.
"Open it," she said. Gray did as he was told. The first page was blank, but the second one was full of perfectly cursive writing in blue ink. It dated to that same date. As he started reading, he realized two things. He had never thought he was able to read cursive; he must've picked it up at some point. Maybe during the time, he had forgotten and somehow still kept the skill. The second thing was that Juvia had written down his flashback in great details. Almost word for word from what he had said the night before.
"This is…?"
"It will be an asset for Gray-sama to keep this journal close to him." Juvia explained. "If he were to get another flashback, it would be very helpful for him to write it down as soon as possible. That way he doesn't forget anything." Juvia stood from her seat and walked around her desk to his side. "Juvia wrote down the one from last night, but it is Gray-sama's job from now on to keep up with it."
Gray stared at the perfectly scribbled wiring on the page before he nodded and closed it with the golden strap. "I understand."
Juvia watched him for a few seconds. It was as she were analyzing every single thing he did. Which wasn't much, he was just sitting awkwardly there. "So," he said. "It was a real memory, tight?"
"Yes," she said. "Juvia spoke with Erza-san this morning. She confirmed it." Her expression was that of delight. "It seems that Gray-sama is really starting to remember."
Gray felt the ball of anxiety he had been carrying in him since early in the morning disappears and he felt a wave of relief hit him almost instantly. He had been scared –– He wasn't one to admit that –– he had been appalled at the thought that he had fabricated that memory out of nowhere. He was desperate to get back everything he lost, the he could see his brain doing that. He had heard people with memory had a tendency to do that.
"Gray-sama," Juvia was looking at him with a hot intensity that it made him want to stand up to. "Follow Juvia."
Juvia didn't wait for his response as she stride purposefully toward the back of the room, by the piano and a bunch of seats. Gray noticed that even her walk was very lithe. She stopped to turn back at him. "Please lay down on the seat." She pointed at a brown leathered reclining chair that sat on the opposite side of the black piano. Gray scrutinized Juvia's solemn expression for a second. He was trying to see if she was joking or at least try to get a clue on what she was going about. "Are you telling me to nap?"
Juvia smiled. "Of some sort. Please do as Juvia says Gray-sama. She is only testing a theory."
"A theory?" he questioned.
Juvia gave him a serious look. "Yes. She believes that she has found an easier way to return Gray-sama's memories."
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A/N: All rights to Hiro Mashima
-Annabethlove