Online Connections
Chapter 14
IMPORTANT: For those who would like a multimedia experience for this chapter, please listen to "Just Decide" by I Fight Dragons. I'm not an author that will make a reader read lyrics within a story. Personally, I feel like it's a shortcut that takes away from the story. This song was a big reason I wrote the story at all. Just a suggestion.
Thanks to the glorious reviewers: princess apollo, ashash1996800, Sr. Jack of randomness, CheesyyBeans, FelynxTiger, black rose-raven angel, acosta perez jose ramiro, Lord Black Wolf, I'm a Lover not a Hater, The Cretin, Nicole Murray, pugluv24, and Amaya.
"Make sure you keep track of her pulse," stated Cyborg as he began dodging traffic. They had left the warehouse less than five minutes to go.
Beast Boy was sitting in the back row with Raven laying across his lap unconscious. High adrenaline was making it hard for him to monitor her. His heart was pumping so fast that he lost count as their beats mixed together. "Um, 60 beats per minute." Just then, Raven let out an involuntary cough and a drop of blood could be seen at the corner of her mouth. "Cy, she just coughed up some blood! What do I do!" pleaded Beast Boy.
"Crap, she must have some internal bleeding," observed Cyborg. "Just keep calm BB. We're almost home." He could see the anguish in Beast Boy's eyes and he felt the need to comfort his best friend. "Don't worry. She'll be fine."
Cyborg finally got to the tower and opened up the garage door. Beast Boy was already carrying Raven up the stairs before Cyborg stopped the car. Starfire flew through the garage doors and immediately followed up.
Beast Boy raced into the infirmary and placed Raven on one of the beds. He began to pace around the room waiting for Cyborg. Both Starfire and Cyborg entered the room hurrying towards Raven. Cyborg immediately began checking Raven's vitals to evaluate her condition. After a moment or so, he began to hook up an IV. When finished, he turned to Starfire and Beast Boy before speaking, "Alright, from what I can tell, she has some bruising and minor internal bleeding. Other than that, she may have just used up too much of her power at once. Right now, all I feel comfortable doing is keeping her stable until her powers take over and start healing herself."
Raven's Mind
Emerald. That was the color streaming through Raven's consciousness. The color of Beast Boy's eyes before she felt herself slipping away.
"They really are dreamy," cooed Affection.
Raven was surrounded by most of her emotions: Happy, Timid, Brave, Intelligence, and of course Affection. Raven was slightly annoyed that she was now getting bombarded by her emotions. "Are we back to this conversation already? I'm not the kind of person that can have these emotions"
Intelligence spoke up, "Now's the perfect time to talk about Beast Boy."
"It's not like you're going anywhere anytime soon," commented Brave.
Raven finally succumbed, "Alright, I'll give each of you an opportunity to convince me to approach Beast Boy. He may like me, but it will take some convincing to get me to take a leap of faith."
The five emotions conversed with each other before facing Raven once again.
Naturally, Brave spoke up first, "Alright then, he gave us the hope and courage to confront our destiny with Trigon. It may have seemed like a small token at the time, but his "lucky" penny gave you hope. We all know that you carried it until the very end. You even went as far to go back to the scene and retrieve it. You find that coin more special than any other object you have."
Raven's eyes were wide in shock. It was true, she felt connected to Beast Boy every time she looked at it in her dresser. No one but herself knew of it's existence.
Timid decided to add in, "He was the only one to comfort us when... when Malchior broke our heart."
Raven nodded solemnly at the statement. Raven was more torn up from that incident than any other time with the Titans. He was there to comfort her when she started locking herself in her room. That was the first time she hugged him.
Infirmary
Beast Boy was sitting patiently at Raven's bedside waiting for her to stir. She had been unconscious for five hours so far. Thankfully, she was now floating slightly in her hospital bed, so that meant she was in the process of healing herself. That relief, coupled with the fact that Robin had returned informing them that the Hive 5 were back in jail made Beast Boy optimistic.
He had been worried about never seeing her again. Her beautiful eyes piercing through his heart and making him feel whole. The last time he was waiting for her to wake up in the infirmary was back when Adonis attacked. Back then, he believed that he had put her into a coma. He wasn't able to defend her from harm then, just like right now. He had failed her twice now. 'Not anymore,' he thought to himself. 'I'll be there for you, even if you never realize how important you are to me.'
Beast Boy looked up when he heard Cyborg open the door with a clipboard. "BB, it's 3:30 in the morning. You should get some sleep before you pass out."
"No, I can't do that, knowing she still in here fighting to get better," answered Beast Boy slowly. "I can't stop thinking about how I almost lost her without getting a chance to tell her how I feel."
"Don't worry so much BB. Raven's a tough girl; she'll pull though in no time," comforted Cyborg. "And don't worry, I think she may want to speak to you about something too."
Beast Boy didn't really respond to the comment, he only looked back towards Raven, the girl he loved.
Raven's Mind
"I got a good one for you Rae," spoke Affection. She seemed to be going a different direction than her usual bubbly self, "He was super protective of us when Adonis was attacking. He was so distraught when he believed that he might have done it. Beast Boy would do anything to make sure we were safe. He loves us."
Raven remembered comforting him by the water's edge that night. He was truly depressed until she showed him that he was a great person and friend. And then of course he ruined the moment by calling himself "Beast Man". She chuckled at the memory.
Happy spoke up next, "He is such a great person to be around. His happiness around us makes you feel like you belong by his side. Sure, you may not show it to him, but as we're your our emotions, we know that you truly love to be around him."
Raven had tried hard to suppress happiness for so long during her life. She wasn't used to having such great friends and enjoying life. Raven finally turned towards Intelligence in expectation.
Intelligence paused for a moment before talking, "I only want to urge you to see the facts presented to you. After the fall of Trigon, you have been granted a new chance at life that you choose to keep dormant. You fear rejection and loneliness if you begin to act on your emotions. It is time for you to live life to the fullest with no more regrets."
With her final words, Raven could feel her emotional barriers come crashing down. She began to feel a warmth rising up from within her. She felt great! The colors of her emotions began to glow brighter as she accepted her feelings for Beast Boy.
Raven felt herself slipping back to consciousness so she took one last look back towards her gathered emotions. She began to see another fazing in front of the others. It was an emotion that Raven had never seen before. The newcomer was smiling at Raven softly. The color of her cloak was emerald.
Hope you liked the chapter. I told you it would be Monday. Raven's finally accepted her feelings. What happens when she wakes up? Dun dun dah.
As usual, if you liked it, review and comment. If you hated it, review and comment. I will take your comments into consideration. I appreciate all help. Thanks to thesoral for proofreading.
-BB