Almost Gone
By: Cece Williams
((Disclaimer: I don't own "XME" but I do own Melanie. I really don't feel like explaining myself twice, so you know what to expect.))
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Now Kurt was definitely wide-awake. His mouth dropped open in surprise as he 'ported to the infirmary. "Where's Melanie?" he asked the nearest person.
"She's right here," Jamie told him.
Kurt saw that the younger boy was crying, the tears falling down his face. They saw that her situation hadn't improved; it only worsened, to their horror. It was the last thing he wanted to see; he didn't want to see her giving up. "I thought she was getting better."
"So did I," the Professor said, wheeling up to the two boys. He looked at the ailing girl. "I don't think there's anything else we can do for her."
The words shot through Kurt's heart like an arrow through an apple. The same words he said about his statue mother. Remembering that Melanie hadn't given up on him earlier that night, he was going to do the same for her. "I'm not giving up!" he declared, 'porting himself to her bedside. "Not on you, Melanie; not by a long shot," he added to her comatose form before falling asleep.
Suddenly, a thought came to him when he woke up three hours later. He remembered when Melanie had told him that when things are looking down, then he should pray. "Well, this is my last resort," he said to himself, looking at her innocent face.
Rogue, unbeknownst to Kurt, looked into the room, a look of unknown shock on her face. Melanie was now in a coma because of what she had done. "I almost killed someone," she said, starting to walk off. "I hope she'll make it."
Back in the kitchen after everyone had heard the heartbreaking news, Kitty sat in a chair, resting her head on her arms, trying to block her tears from falling, but her powers kicked in, causing them to fall through her arms. Jean and Storm just lowered their heads. In the common room, Scott and Evan sat on the couch, deathly silent.
Finally, Kitty broke the eerie silence in the kitchen. "Melanie and I were, like, sisters," she said, drying her blue eyes. "She could probably die tomorrow, and we can't do anything about it."
Jean looked at her. "She still is a sister to all of us," she said. "Being in a coma doesn't mean that you're dead." She sat in the chair next to her and wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders. "Melanie's going to make it; you'll see."
"She has to," Kitty said, leaning her head on Jean's shoulder. "She just has to make it."
The younger students were all in the same state, but Jamie was the worst off than the rest of the team. He stayed in his room after he had delivered the horrifying news and heard a sober song playing on the radio, one of Melanie's favorites called "How Do I Live". The tears came from his eyes, but he didn't care if they fell.
Back in the infirmary, his yellow eyes closed, Kurt began a desperate but heartfelt prayer. "I know I'm not a praying person, but my friend, Melanie, is lying here, and she could either wake up or slip from us," he began, the tears coming to his closed eyelids. "Show some mercy and bring her back."
In the kitchen, Jean heard Kurt's prayer in her mind. "Kurt's got a good idea," she said. She asked Storm to sit next to her, and all three ladies held each other, saying a group prayer, the tears falling from each of their eyes.
That night in his room, Kurt was in a troubled sleep. In his dream, he was reliving that night right to its last detail. He dreamed that the statue had hit her in the chest instead of her ribs. She ended up in his arms, beaten severely and barely clinging to life. After she had mouthed his name and closed her eyes, he screamed, sitting up in bed, breathing heavily. He looked around and realized he was in his room.
Kitty heard his scream and phased through the door. "Kurt, are you okay?" she asked him.
He looked around in the dark for a light. Finding his lamp, he turned it on and met Kitty's eyes. "Oh, Kitty, it's just you," he said, relieved.
"That's, like, not a very nice welcome," she said. "What happened?"
"I had this dream," he answered, raising one of his three-fingered hands through his hair. "Melanie was … she was…"
Kitty's face turned from concerned to understanding. "It's just a dream," she told him. "Melanie's just in a coma."
"Maybe you're right," he answered, his breathing back to normal. As Kitty left his room again, he sighed. "I just hope it doesn't come true."
Alternating between school, the Danger Room, and homework, everyone became concerned about Melanie and they wanted an update. For an entire month, the Professor only said three words: "There's no change."
One night after all the students had gone to sleep, although they really didn't want to, the Professor was about to leave the infirmary when he heard a little mumble coming from someone. He looked at Melanie and smiled; she was starting to wake up. He wheeled to her bedside, seeing the young girl struggle to open her eyes.
After a minute of struggling, an image finally came to her eyes. A fuzzy image of a bald guy came into view. As she focused, she saw his face clearly. "Professor?" she asked, her voice constricted with unknown pain.
"I'm right here," he answered her; the beeps of her monitors still sounding weak, but they were getting stronger little by little. "Melanie, do you remember what happened?"
She looked around with sleepy green eyes. "The last thing I know happened was something hitting me…" She stopped. Then, it literally hit her. "Kurt! Is he okay?" she asked him, starting to sit up, only to wince in pain.
Logan had heard her voice; he walked in and laid her back down gently. "Elf's doing okay," he said. A rare emotion came to him; he smiled. "Though you did worry him."
"Oh, no," she answered, her mind racing. "The statue, it…" She felt tears come to her eyes. "He'll never forgive me."
"You shouldn't worry about that right now," the Professor told her, running a hand through her hair, which was a little tangled. "You should be getting your strength back; you missed some crucial exercises in the Danger Room."
Melanie smiled. "I know," she answered, closing her eyes again. "I'll have to make it up when I can…" She drifted back off to sleep before she could finish her sentence.
Logan looked at his watch. "It's only six in the morning, Charles," he said. "You want me to wake up Elf boy?"
"No, I think I should tell everyone all at once," he said, wheeling himself out of the infirmary and to the common room. "Storm, you wake the girls; Logan, you round up the guys."
They nodded, and after twenty minutes, they finally had everyone downstairs in the common room. Everyone was still wearing his or her nightclothes, looking sleepy.
"Students, I have some news for you," the Professor said.
Kitty yawned, and so did several others. "Could it, like, wait until breakfast?" she asked. Others mumbled their agreement, or disagreement because of her cooking.
"It's about Melanie," he answered, and as soon as he said that, everyone was wide-awake. Jamie and Kurt were sitting next to each other, the others with their heads lowered, each thinking of the worst-case scenario; Melanie finally gave up.
"Enough with the suspense," Jamie said, breaking the uneasy silence.
Kurt raised his yellow eyes up at him, hoping to whomever Melanie believed in that it wasn't the bad news. "She's not, you know…"
"Melanie's finally waken up," the Professor answered. "She's going to pull through; she's going to be in a lot of pain, but she's going to make it."
The students all started cheering; Jean and Scott hugged each other, most of the younger students started dancing, Kitty included, Evan and Kurt slapped high-fives and smiled, but Rogue still looked down.
"Rogue, what's wrong?" Kurt asked her. "Aren't you happy that Melanie's going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm ecstatic," she answered. She looked at Kurt. "Can I talk to you somewhere private?"
"Sure," he answered, 'porting himself and Rogue into Melanie's bedside in the infirmary. He looked at her. "What's up?"
Rogue looked around and saw that Melanie was still resting. "Kurt, I almost killed Melanie," she answered, looking into Kurt's shocked yellow eyes. "I didn't know that she was going to try and stop the statue from breaking. I'm sorry, and I can understand if you don't want to forgive me."
A very familiar voice answered her, "I forgive you, Rogue." They turned around and looked in surprise as Melanie opened her eyes in front of them. "I'm not angry at you," she continued, looking at them. "I even feel that way about my parents, shoving me out of the home I've loved for so long, but I guess that if they hadn't done that, I wouldn't have made so many friends like you two."
"But I almost got you killed," Rogue protested.
"That doesn't matter," she answered, taking her gloved hand. "Think of it this way; it's better this way than having to see me on that rainy day." She smiled, even with the bandage on her head. "And that's not going to happen anytime soon."
"Maybe we should let Melanie get some rest," Kurt interrupted. "Besides, Mel, you gave us quite a scare."
Rogue sighed; Melanie had forgiven her after all that she had done. "Well, since Melanie's up, I'll leave you two alone," she said, starting to walk off. She stopped when she heard her name. She looked back at Melanie. "Yeah?"
Melanie smiled again. "Go with peace in mind," she answered.
Rogue smiled and walked away, heading back to the elevator that took her to the mansion.
Now that Rogue had gone, she laughed. "Hey, funny elf," she said.
Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling. "That's 'fuzzy elf'," he corrected.
"I'm sorry I worried you…and the others," she said, smiling. "At least I got away from Kitty's cooking, huh?"
Kurt laughed; she was almost back to normal. "Yeah, you did," he answered. "Although a whole month was a little too much."
"I was out for a month?" she asked, surprised. "Jeez, I only thought I hit my ribs and my head." Her eyes looked away from him. "You know, Rogue shouldn't be the one apologizing; that should be me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I tried to stop…your mother from those rocks, but…" She stopped, trying to stop the tears that came to her eyes, but failing miserably. "It's all my fault."
"No, it's not," he answered, making her freeze. "At least you're alive; that's all that matters, Melanie. Nothing else."
She looked back at him, smiling although the tears still fell from her eyes. "Kurt Wagner, for a minute there, I swear you were flirting with me just now."
"This coming from a girl who nearly got herself killed trying to save my mother," Kurt answered, smiling. "Then ends up in a coma for a month and pretends nothing's wrong." He looked around and then back at her. "Melanie, if I were flirting with you, I'd do this." With that, he kissed her just shy of her lips.
Blushing, she giggled. "Oh, that tickles," she answered. "Told you I'd dig the fuzzy dude." She gave him a wink. "Just do me a favor."
"Anything," he answered, hoping it was something he could do.
Melanie looked around with her green eyes; when she realized that they were alone, she answered, "Well, it's really two things," she answered. "One, please no Britney Spears videos…"
"That's easy; just don't watch MTV," Kurt answered her. "The second?"
"Whatever you do, don't forget my birthday," she teased.
"Oh, that's already in my planner," he teased back at her. "I'll have to keep that day clear…definitely." Both started laughing, an emotion neither one felt for a long upsetting month. They heard a teasing voice say, "Kurt and Melanie, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…"
Kurt was about to go after the voice, but Melanie stopped him. "Don't worry about that," she told him. "We'll get him back when I get out of here."
"Speaking of which, should we tell the others what we talked about?" Kurt asked her. After a minute, both said, "Nah."
Another week went by, and Melanie was well enough to move back into her room again, much to the relief of the team, mainly Kurt. Melanie still had some pain in her ribs, but her arm, ankle, and her head felt better; although she still had to make up the sessions in the Danger Room, Kurt told her that he would help her out. Not that she had a problem with that.
She was listening to one of her burned CDs in her Discman, reading a mystery novel. As she bobbed her head to the music while reading the interesting book, she heard a poof in front of her, almost scaring her. "Hey, Kurt," she said, taking off her headphones and turning off her CD player.
"Hi, Melanie," he answered. He was in his holographic human form and he was sitting at her side. "How are you feeling?"
"Although the Professor's giving me ibuprofen, which is a good thing," she answered, smiling. "I'm doing good; he said that I should be back on my feet in a couple of days, but I shouldn't overdo it, you know."
"That's great," he said, and just as soon as he said that, his holographic inducer went crazy, changing him back into his blue fur. "I've got to talk to him about this thing."
Melanie laughed. "Oh, don't worry about it," she answered, lightly pinching his furry cheek. "Besides, blue is one of my favorite colors."
Beneath his fur, Kurt blushed. "What's the second?"
"Green," she answered, pointing at her eyes. "Isn't it obvious?"
He looked at her CD player, seeing it was the same color as her eyes. "I see that," Kurt answered. He looked around and saw that everything was put where she wanted it. "Got settled in, didn't you?"
She nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "I still miss England, but this is a nice change."
"I've got a present for you," he told her, 'porting himself to her dresser, sitting on it. Clearing his throat, he started singing, "'Why do you build me up, buttercup, baby…'"
As he continued to sing, Scott looked inside and, sneaking behind the blue fuzzy boy, covered his mouth with his hand. "Kurt…" he started.
Melanie started laughing. "Oh, that was the funniest thing I ever heard," she said. "Oh, and Kurt, by the way, my birthday's not for another several months."
Poofing to the edge of her bed, Kurt looked at her. "Now you tell me."
Scott couldn't help but laugh. "I know you're trying to impress Melanie and all, but, Kurt…" He shook his head. "No on the singing, man."
While Kurt glared at Scott, Melanie laughed harder. "Oh, I didn't seem to mind that at all," she answered him. After Scott left, she pulled Kurt next to her. "You just need to practice more, that's all."
"I intend to," he answered, smiling. He was about to sing when he saw her face. She was beaming.
"I'm going to like you helping me get better," she said, laughing again. "But do me a favor, and don't pick a song really high for you." She winked at him, smiling.
"Okay, how about…" Kurt thought for a few minutes. Then, he started humming "Fur Elise", sitting next to her on her bed so she could hear.
She giggled. "That's pretty good," she said, leaning her head against the pillows again. She was going to like this.
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((Well, time to R&R again. The next story's synopsis: Why do Melanie and Kurt want to talk to each other? And what does it have to do with Amanda? Read the next story. Catch you later!))