The bright, early-morning sunshine did absolutely nothing to lift Blake's spirits as it blared arrogantly in through large windows on opposite wall. To her, it was only a reminder of what she was missing, what was currently lying, unconscious on the bed next to her. Blake didn't care how cliché it sounded, because it was true. Without Yang, her world felt cold, dark and empty
Upon glancing over at the girl, her heart fluttered as she noticed that some of the colour had returned to Yang's face. She reached out and gently stroked her girlfriend's cheek, smiling slightly when she was no longer met with the alarmingly cold flesh of the night before.
Yang would probably have several "sunrise" jokes saved up for a moment like this...And they'd all be just awful. Blake smiled sadly. She would give anything to hear one of Yang's stupid cracks right now, anything to dispel the emptiness in her heart at the blonde's absence.
But there was nothing but silence. Agonizing, all-consuming silence.
At least, until the door burst open and Ruby rushed in, carrying what looked to be tray of food. "Look, I know what you're gonna say..." The younger girl began, holding her hands up defensively once she'd set the tray down and noticed the expression on Blake's face. "But you have to eat, end of story."
The Faunus shook her head slowly, body answering before her brain had even decided whether she wanted to eat or not. "I'm not hungry." She said robotically.
"Blake." The Faunus's heart broke at the sadness in Ruby's voice, her resolve crumbling rapidly. "Starving yourself isn't going to make Yang better any faster. Please, just eat." She took the tray and placed it across the arms of Blake's wheelchair with a small smile, before pulling up a chair of her own and plopping down next to the bed.
Blake let out a long sigh and picked up her fork, before digging into the tuna that Ruby had so thoughtfully brought to her. Talk about stereotypes. The cat-Faunus smirked. Though, she's not wrong...
They sat in silence for a few minutes as Blake devoured her meal, the Faunus now extremely grateful for Ruby's insistence as her body made it very apparent that she hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours.
"Do you think she's dreaming?" Blake looked up from her fish at the girl who'd just broken their silence and was now staring wistfully at her sister.
Blake studied the far-away look in Ruby's eyes, feeling a surge of empathy for her teammate. Yang is like a mother to Ruby, so no matter how hard this is for me, it has to be ten times worse for her...
Blake wheeled herself to Ruby's side and placed a hand comfortingly on the girl's shoulder. "She'll wake up soon, Ruby. You'll see."
She has to.
...
As the day wore on painfully, Blake found herself becoming increasingly restless, confined to the prison of her wheelchair as she waited for the moment that it seemed would never come.
Ruby and Weiss had both departed for Beacon, the monotony of everyday life pulling them back in and leaving Blake alone in limbo once again. She needed something, anything to distract her mind from the empty silence that filled her world, so she grabbed the nearest book from the stack that sat next to her.
Usually upon opening a book, Blake would feel a strange sense of excitement and anticipation as she waited for the pages to drag her in. But this time, it was a desperate escape, and she knew it.
To her, a book was a living, breathing entity, with thoughts and feelings of its own. It was something about the way that a novel could tickle her with a clever turn of phrase, make her feel happy or sad or fearful, all with the simple use of ink on paper. A book was a place where her mind could live on its own, free from the constraints of her body, free from worry and doubt as the story enveloped her senses and brought her away into another world.
But today, it was different. Blake was an unwanted visitor in a place that she didn't belong. The words seemed to actively fight against her eyes as they roamed fitfully over the characters, any information presented leaving no mark other than to remind her of what it was that she tried so desperately to escape.
Maybe it's just this book in particular, I've never liked it much anyway. She snapped the book shut and set it down, immediately moving to pick up the next in the stack.
But it was no use. Every book she selected refused to allow the escaped she so desperately needed as she frantically leafed through pages upon pages of painful reminders.
They seemed to delight in pushing her back out, sometimes with a character that resembled Yang, sometimes with events similar to her own recent experiences, and worst of all, sometimes with the tragic death of someone's beloved.
And so book after book was picked up, skimmed and slammed back down, Blake's frustration mounting with each failed attempt. As the very last book she had proved just as painful as every other, something broke inside of her, and she threw the text across the room with an anguished sob, before slamming her fist into the stack beside her.
She collapsed into her chair and cried out in frustration as books scattered over the floor, pages ripping, spines cracking, and covers bending. But she didn't care. As far as Blake was concerned, even books were her enemy now, nothing but another source of pain and anger.
"I thought dogs were supposed to be the ones who destroyed books."
Blake froze. There was only one person she knew who would be so blatantly racist in her presence. One person who she would immediately forgive no matter how insulting the words had been, because she knew that there had been no ill intent behind them.
Blake's heart leaped to her throat as she turned around and was met by the beautiful, violet orbs who's absence had left such a void in her heart. "...Yang?" Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, and she could feel tears forming in her eyes as the blonde beauty grinned weakly back at her.
Noticing her girlfriend's tears, Yang took Blake's hand and squeezed, before gently pulling her down for a soft kiss, short and sweet. "I'm sorry, kitten. Were you waiting?"
Blake's words failed her, all she could do was reach over to caress Yang's cheek and smile back through her tears. The pair gazed into each other's eyes, lost in a haze as everything but each other faded from reality or importance.
"How are you feeling?" Blake asked gently, as if words alone would somehow push Yang back to whatever dark abyss from which she'd so recently returned.
Yang grinned and gently ran her thumb across Blake's lips. "Better now that you're here."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Really blondie, you just woke up and you immediately roll out some awful pickup line?"
"You know you love me." Yang teased.
In response, Blake leaned down and captured Yang's lips once more, the familiar softness a greater comfort than any book could have ever been. She broke away and began placing gentle kisses along Yang's jawline, up her cheek, and a final one on her forehead as she whispered into her partner's skin. "I was so worried, I thought you might die..."
Suddenly, Yang grabbed Blake's chin and brought her head back down so that their eyes met once again, and the Faunus could see the beginnings of tears gathering on the shores of lavender oceans.
"I could never stay away, not when I have you to come back to."
Blake's heart melted. "I love you so much, Yang. Just...don't ever scare me like that again."
"I promise." Yang moved to pull herself closer to her girlfriend, but winced as a sharp sting shot through her. "Ow, shit! I guess I'm still pretty cut up huh?"
Blake nodded. "Try not to move, you'll heal faster if you don't agitate the wounds." She nonchalantly pressed a button to call the nurse, hoping to get something that would dull her partner's pain. She knew, however, that Yang would refuse.
The blonde girl groaned. "Ugh, this sucks! You know how restless I get. I can barely make it through one of Port's lectures without some extra stimulation." She winked at Blake. "I need a distraction."
Blake sighed, knowing all too well what Yang usually implied when she referenced "distractions". "Yang, I'm pretty sure that's out of the question right now..."
Yang cut her off with a wave of the hand. "I know kitten, I'm not that dumb." Her eyes scanned the room, searching for a while then coming to rest on the floor.
"Read to me?"
Blake smiled, picked up the nearest book and dusted it off. "Sure Yang."
...
The next few days had a certain strange, dreamlike quality to them. While Blake was overjoyed that Yang would make a full recovery, both girls rapidly became frustrated with the monotony of being stuck at the hospital, not to mention the physical gap that was forced upon them.
With Blake unable to walk, she was confined to her wheelchair for any time she spent out of bed, and seeing as Yang's wounds had yet to fully heal, any major movement on her part usually resulted in an unpleasant burning sensation.
As such, the majority of their time was spent with Blake at Yang's beside. So close, yet so agonizingly far away, as Blake would love nothing more than to be able to curl up beside her girlfriend and fall asleep in her arms.
The moment Ruby had learned of Yang's awakening, she'd appeared at the hospital in seconds and had nearly crushed her sister to death in greeting. She and Weiss still visited on a daily basis, their presence a welcome distraction from the dull, slightly lonely existence that Blake and Yang had been forced to adopt.
Their conversations often turned to Raven and the White Fang, yet no matter how much they pondered or discussed, none of them were ever able to come up with a believable theory as to where they'd gone. The submarine base had been their first and only lead, and now that it had drawn a blank, team RWBY found themselves in the dark once more.
They specifically avoided bringing up Adam.
Finally, after what had seemed weeks, Yang had recovered enough to begin moving on her own without risk of re-opening her wounds, and Blake's leg had healed sufficiently to allow the use of crutches instead on being confined to a chair.
The first thing Yang had done upon slowly climbing out of bed was leap into Blake's lap and draw her into a long, needy kiss, the Faunus giggling as Yang's hands roamed every inch of her body. In truth, both girls were desperate to once again feel each other's touch, and Blake eagerly reciprocated Yang's attention, all while the nurse yelled something incoherent about "strenuous activity."
Yang relented with a groan, contented to simply hold Blake in her arms, all the while shooting the Faunus a look that said something along the lines of. "I'm so going to fuck you senseless later."
Just gonna throw this out there, it might be a while until my next update, but seeing as everything's fine with Yang now, it hopefully won't be too torturous for you :P
Peace out