Ha, I told you she would make me update! AngElle kept perstering me until finally, yes, the next chapter is here. This one is dedicated to both AngElleandFox Kitsune. A sub-dedication (if that's even possible) is to Dragon C. Chan and Daydreamer9 because they review a LOT. To the rest of you who do review a lot, keep it up and I'll dedicate a chapter to you in the future!
To make up for the iffy content in the last chapter, here's another one, but this one is over 2000 words long. Feel special. Actually, no. Feel spiffay.
(Ulrich P.O.V.)
It's been three days since Odd first went to the hospital. We've already been there five times, and now we're headed there again for the sixth.
Mr. and Mrs. Della Robbia haven't shown up yet though. Mr. Delmas tells us that he has been unsuccessful in all his attempts to reach them. They haven't been answering the phone, and by now a letter should have reached them. No one knows where they are, but rumors are flying around school that they've deserted Odd and gone to America.
"Hey Ulrich? What are you thinking about so hard that you haven't listened to a word I just said?" Yumi says to me. I quickly snap out of it and turn to her. We're walking to the hospital, and Avery is about two blocks ahead of us. The first time we went to go see Odd, we tried to keep up with her, but she's extremely excited at any chance to see Odd.
"Oh nothing Yumi. Just Odd's parents."
"Oh, okay. I'll just stop talking then." She lays her head on my shoulder.
"No, please keep going. I'll pay attention now. Besides, I love listening to your voice, even if I'm not paying attention to a word you're saying."
"Oh, how sweet." She kisses me on the cheek. Before she can even start talking again, we reach the hospital. We walk up to the front desk.
"Hello Mrs. Cook." I say to the receptionist.
"Hello again. You're here for Odd again, I presume?" She asks smiling. She has the kind of demeanor that makes it so you can't help but like her.
"Yes Ma'am."
"Well, go on ahead. Make sure you tell the nurse if there's any change."
"We will." I say and we go on to Odd's room. We've been here enough times that the nurse, the receptionist, and even Odd's doctor knows us all by name. We head up to Odd's room and open the door, where Avery is already sitting. She's sitting next to Odd on the bed talking to him, even though he's asleep.
Odd's been asleep for all three days, he hasn't woken up once, no matter how loud we've been. The nurses say he should wake up at any time, that he isn't in a coma or anything. I think he's just making up for all the sleep he lost before. That's why Mrs. Cook told us to notify a nurse at any change. We're all waiting for Odd to wake up.
Avery is sitting, holding his hand in hers, and talking to him. Telling him all about her day, about all the classes he missed, even about how the food was. She's even stroking his hair. Most people would say she's crazy, but I know I would be doing the same thing if it were Yumi.
Jeremie and Aelita sit in a couple chairs next to the bed, and Yumi sits down on the foot of his bed. I prefer to stand, so I lean against the wall by the door.
I see Avery lean down and whisper something into Odd's ear, but suddenly she sits straight up and stares at her hand, which is holding Odd's. When she does, everyone in the room tenses up.
"Did anyone see that?" She asks quietly.
"See what?" I ask, walking over closer to the bed.
"Odd… he… he squeezed my hand."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive…" She says quietly. Avery waves me over to her, so I quickly walk over and lean next to her. She whispers into my ear.
"He squeezed my hand after I told him I loved him." My eyes widen visibly in shock. Odd must be awake.
"Odd? Are you awake?" I say loudly. There is absolutely no reaction from Odd.
"Odd, if you're awake, this isn't funny." Yumi says. Then Odd makes his first mistake. In the whole time he was asleep, he never moved, not even to roll over. But now he yanks his hand out of Avery's grasp and rolls onto his side, away from Avery.
"He's awake." I say firmly. Yumi quickly hops off the bed and runs out the door, presumably to tell the nurse.
"We know you're awake now Odd. There's no use trying to deny it." I hear a sigh come from him.
"Then I guess telling you that I'm asleep isn't going to work either." He says, rolling back onto his back. He slowly opens his eyes, squinting to get adjusted to the light.
"Odd!" Avery yells, hugging him tightly.
"Hi Avery." He says flatly, without the slightest trace of emotion. Avery doesn't seem to notice.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm starving." He says right as a nurse comes in, followed closely by Yumi.
"Oh good, you are awake. How are you feeling?"
"Like I just got hit by a steamroller. Can I get something to eat?"
"I'll get you some food in a minute." She says, walking over. She shoos us away from Odd and out the door.
"I need to take care of some things first, then you can see him." She says. There's only four chairs in the hallway, so I let Jeremie, Aelita, Avery and Yumi take them. I stand next to Yumi.
"What do you think she's doing in there?" Aelita asks.
"I'm not sure." Jeremie replies.
"I think maybe I know…." Yumi says, and everyone looks at her expectantly.
"Odd basically just tried to commit suicide. Most likely, he's going to be set up for counseling."
"I guess you're right." We wait for a couple more minutes in silence before the nurse comes back out.
"Okay, you can see him now. But, he asked to see Ulrich alone first."
"Why me?"
"He didn't say. I'll be back in a couple minutes with something for him to eat." She says before walking off. I reach for the doorknob and Yumi grabs my arm.
"Go easy on him." She pleads with me. I just nod my head before entering.
"Hi Odd." I say when I enter.
"Hey Ulrich…" I walk over and sit down in the chair next to him.
"Ulrich… I…"
"You don't have to apologize, I already forgive you."
"No. I have been preparing for this all day, and I'm going to say it. I'm sorry for hitting you, I acted like a jerk. I know you were just looking out for me. I'm sorry." I smile.
"Apology accepted."
"Thanks Ulrich."
"Can you do me a favor now?"
"Sure, anything."
"Can you send in Avery? I think I hurt her more than I did you."
"Of course. Can I just ask you one question though?"
"Uh, okay."
"How long have you been awake?"
"I woke up earlier today, but I fell back asleep before you came. I woke up again when Avery whispered in my ear."
"Do you know what she said?"
"No, I was too groggy. Why?" I just smile.
"No reason. I'll get her for you." I walk outside before he can say a word.
"Avery, he wants to talk to you now." I say, and Avery stands up. When she walks by, I whisper in her ear.
"He didn't hear you." Avery looks at me strangely, but I sit down in her spot and she walks in.
(Avery P.O.V.)
I walk in and my hands are shaking. I put them in my pocket to stop them, while still trying to figure out what Ulrich meant. I really hope it meant what I thought it did, that Odd didn't hear me when I whispered that I loved him. I realize I was looking at the floor, and I look up to see that Odd is staring at me intently.
"Hi Avery." He says softly, but firmly.
"Hi Odd." I reply even softer.
"Come sit down." He says, waving his hand.
"I… sure." I consent. I walk over, but pause before I sit down. I look back at Odd and he's patting the spot next to him.
"There's room right here." He says quietly. I debate whether I should or not, but I find myself sitting next to him.
I hate my subconscious…"I…I…" Odd begins, but he fades off. We sit quietly, stealing glances at each other once or twice. Finally, the nurse walking in breaks the silence.
"Odd, I brought you some- was I interrupting something?"
"No." Odd and I both say at the same time. The nurse smiles at us knowingly.
"I brought you a little bit of food. I don't want you to eat it too fast or your stomach might reject it. Go slowly."
"Thanks." Odd replies as the nurse sets the tray down.
"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." She says before exiting.
"We're not lovebirds!" We both say loudly. We both look at each other and laugh before falling back into an uncomfortable silence again. After a couple minutes, I decide that we need to talk about something, even if it's not about what happened before.
"Here Odd, have some food. You need it." I pull the tray closer, and he grabs a little bit. After taking a sip of milk, he finally sets the cup down roughly.
"Avery, I'm sorry." He says loudly.
"You don't need to be sorry…" I say quietly, but Odd barely hears me.
"But I am sorry. I hurt you, emotionally and physically. I could have killed you."
"You never almost killed me." I contradict him.
"I did. I went into that cave knowing you had claustrophobia. Then I passed out. Did you even go in the cave?"
"Yes, I had to save you."
"I passed out in that cave. You had to come in to save me at your own personal risk. What if you had hyperventilated too much while you were in there? You wouldn't have been any better off than me. You could have died!"
"Yes, I could have. But if I hadn't taken that chance, you would have died. And now we're both okay, so it doesn't matter!"
"Yes it does! I have done nothing but cause you pain since you came here. I even hit you! I promised myself I would never hit a girl like that, but it had to be you, a girl I love…"
"Odd…"
"I'm sorry. I won't ever bring my feelings up for you again. If you don't want to see me ever again, I understand. I'm sorry you ever had to meet me, now you can go on with your life."
"Odd," I say, standing up off the bed. "there are two things I want to make sure you understand." I put my hands on my hips for emphasis.
"First, I am not sorry that I had to meet you, in fact I am glad. My life would be a lot more dull if I hadn't met you. Second, I will see you tomorrow." I walk calmly out of the room and into the hallway.
"Odd has a tray of food in there, I want you to make sure he eats it slowly. The nurse says if he eats it too fast, he might just throw it back up." I say to no one in particular. Without saying anything else, I stride off down the hall and hit the button for the elevator. I step inside and turn around to see Ulrich running towards me. I grab the door to make it stop closing until Ulrich reaches me.
"What do you want Ulrich?" He reaches the door and stops outside.
"You're not going to walk home alone, are you?"
"You bet I am." I let go of the door, and it shuts before Ulrich can stop it. As I exit the hospital, I turn around to find Ulrich behind me.
"I told you, I'm going to walk home alone."
"No, you're not. It's not safe for a girl like you to be walking home alone."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say many a guy would be very interested in taking advantage of you." He says, and I find myself blushing.
"Whatever. You can follow me if you want, but I'm not going to talk to you."
"Fair enough." Ulrich and I walk back to the dorms in complete silence.
"Goodnight Avery." He says when I reach my dorm room. He followed me all the way here.
"Goodnight Ulrich. And… thanks for walking with me. I actually did feel safer."
"No problem." Ulrich smiles at me and walks away with his hands in his pockets. I open my door and slip inside my room.
Ha! You thought they were gonna confess, weren't yah? I fooled you!
Anyways, I'm not going to talk much here, I'm just going to give you a couple quotes.
471. Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
472. There are three kinds of people in this world: Those who can count, and those who can't.
473. Ever stop to think and forget to start again?
476. No writer can capture the true essence of perfection on paper.