Chapter 28 – Promises
A/N: I can't leave everything hanging there right? So this is the last chapter not chapter 27! ENJOY!
Athrun stared at the pristine walls of the hospitals as he sat on the bench. He, Miriallia and Dearka were the only three who received less severe injuries. Athrun touched his head tentatively. Pain erupted at his temple and he let out a hiss of pain. Well, you could say curiosity killed the cat. Athrun sighed and looked down at his current throbbing ankle. Apparently, he sprained his ankle when he landed on the rockier side of the lake. Athrun let out a curse inwardly. He turned towards the surgery room worriedly. Marionette have cleverly prepared herself for self destruction when she lunged at them. Ten meager seconds was all the time they had to jump into the lake before the robot exploded. But the robot caused much greater damage when it was still operating. Athrun glanced at the similarly worried Miriallia opposite of her. Athrun stood up, "You better get some rest. We can only hear the news tomorrow." His voice was uneven as he said the last few words. Athrun turned at limped to his room.
He looked up at the dark and sparkling sky. It was a comforting sight that he had never enjoyed in his busy schedule as a chairman. Even when he neglected them, he never had a chance to admire the simplicity offered by the sky. It was an opaque piece of paper, illuminated by the soft shine of the moon. The best part; Athrun concluded would be the violet dash of clouds shadowing one part of the moon and no doubt, the single glowing star. How could he have missed this simply joy of watching the sky? Cagalli… His mind whispered softly. A weary smile ghosted over his tired face as he turned to his left to stare at the pale green wall. The doctor said she would be suffering a mild concussion that was not too serious. Besides that, she had two broken ribs, a slight tear in the muscle at her arm and several bruises. Athrun did question about the concussion period. The doctor was silent for a moment and dread seeped into his system.
"Unless her mind is stopping her from waking up, normal mild concussion cases like hers should take only one to two days to wake up." Athrun could only pray that she heard his plea, back then when they were fighting Marionette. Athrun felt his heart give another twinge of worry as he stood up. Decisively, he went into Cagalli's room.
The strong smell of antiseptic hit him as he opened her door. She was sleeping in the middle of the room. Athrun took a moment to observe her. Her blonde strands were splayed over the pillow covers and he noticed it was longer than before. Her face had a slight bruise that marred her clear complexion slightly. It seemed to him that her face held an odd understanding. Perhaps the fight had her thinking about how precious life was? His green eyes trailed from her skin to her eyes. Cagalli's long thick eyelashes brushed her cheekbones slightly as she mumbled something under her breath. His heartstrings suffered a tug when he remembered the small confession the doctor offered.
Athrun pulled the blanket to her chin when she shivered slightly. He brushed her fringe fondly before planting a kiss on her forehead, "I love you. Don't leave." If he had told her that he was worried for her when they had a fight, maybe they would never have to go through all these? A tear escaped his eye. He made a move to stand when a hand held his tightly. His startled emerald eyes stared at warm amber ones as she whispered her small promise, "I won't."
Miriallia stood trembling like a leaf inwardly. A voice made her look up, "You better get some rest. We can only hear the news tomorrow." It was Athrun. His voice was a little uneven as he limped away. Tears started dropping down on the floor as she sobbed soundlessly in front of the pale blue plastic double-doors. Both Yzak and Shiho were getting an operation. A chill grabbed her heart as she remembered how much blood Shiho had lost. Will she die? She asked herself. Strangely, she has come to care for them unknowingly. Was it because of how desperately they fought against Marionette together? Maybe. She clutched to her crutch tightly as she turned to leave. She almost tore a ligament at her right leg but the ligament was too strained and it hurt like hell.
Her short brown curls got in the way as she limped back to her room. "Damn! I'm going to hack it all off one day."Miriallia mumbled, irritated. She leaned on the wall and set her crutch firmly on the wall. She brought her hand up to brush away the hair. Satisfied, she returned to grab her crutch and continue on her way to her room. But NOO, the crutch had to be evil and fall on the floor with a mocking thud. Miriallia let out a curse. She could not possibly crouch down and retrieve her crutch with her bad leg. She turned to the back to look for anyone to help her. She turned back and groaned softly. Carefully, she slid down slowly and tried to reach the crutch without hurting her leg. Unfortunately, her clothes offered no friction against the smooth walls and she fell down.
A groan and a string of curses flew from her mouth. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and brought her to a standing position. Miriallia turned to stare into the violet pools of Dearka. She watched silently as he gathered her crutches with his left arm. His right arm was broken and his other arm was also bandaged heavily. Apparently, he pulled a muscle at his left arm. A thought struck her violently. He was strong. She had never noticed how strong he was back then. Her only impression of Dearka was him being a goofball, peacemaker between Athrun and Yzak, an occasional sparring partner for them and a clown. But never the thought of him being strong. She accepted her crutches with a grateful nod and fumbled slightly to get the crutches into position. A small chuckle floated into her ear.
Miriallia glared at the man beside her and stuck out her tongue. A hand slid around her waist and proceeded to pull her forward. Miriallia felt her eyes widen slightly before she relaxed and with his help they walked to her room. Both her crutches were in her only free hand as they moved together in a comfortable silence. Miriallia glanced at the tanned man, "Thanks for helping me." She said in a small tired voice. A smile crinkled on Dearka's face before she closed the door. Dearka purchased two cups of tea and walked into Miriallia's room.
"To soothe your nerves." He answered to her raise of the eyebrow. He watched as she drank the warm tea happily. Dearka stared at the brown liquid in his cup, "Is our date still on?" It was a question he was dying to ask.
"Date? What date?" her startled reply came immediately. Dearka sighed and raised his cup to drink a bit of the warm liquid. "When we tried to patch them up. We agreed to meet again. But you probably found out the reason and forgot all about agreeing to meet me." Miriallia sat in silence. He wasn't dumb either. Her mind whispered. Miriallia pondered for awhile and glanced at the tanned man. He was still enjoying the warm tea he bought.
"Sure." Miriallia said before taking another sip out of her tea. She looked up, in time to see Dearka swoop down and land a small kiss on her cheek. A blush stained her cheeks as he walked out of the door grinning happily. Miriallia reached up to touch the tingling part of her cheek and smiled. Things are taking a turn for the better. She concluded.
Yzak stared at the ceiling; an aura of gloom set over him. A knock on the door made him turn to see who walked in. He found himself staring at Athrun and Dearka. The two of them had a grim smile plastered on their faces. They had just gone to ask of his condition and Yzak was willing bet that it was nothing good.
"There's no use honey-coating something bad. So tell me straightforwardly." Yzak said. Dearka sighed, "The doctor said, your left hand has two crushed fingers. And there was nothing they could do to help your last two fingers. Your arm was fractured badly and one of your bones scratched a tendon. So it will have to take at least two years to get it working." Yzak sighed gravely. Surprisingly, he was not angry. Instead he was happy that he was alive. Shiho was too. Yzak snapped his head up to meet Dearka's eyes as he whispered, "Shiho?"
Athrun stepped in, "She had a few a few broken ribs. The knife pierced her lung slightly but thank god it missed her spinal cord. The doctors managed to save her but she lost a lot of blood. And…" He could not continue. Yzak looked at him angrily and said in a barely controlled voice, "AND?" Athrun swallowed the lump in his throat painfully, "She landed in coma." Yzak froze. The word 'coma' echoed in his brain. He strained to get his question out, "Will she wake up?" It was a dumb question and Yzak knew it.
Yzak was finally able to walk and was currently trying to get his arm into business again. He walked to a familiar room that he visited for a month now. He could never regret loosing his two fingers. If loosing two fingers was the price to pay to find Shiho, he was happy to loose them. Hell, he would give up his life just to see her again.
"It depends on her will. The doctors did their best and managed to keep her alive. They said all we can do now is to talk to her and hope that she will wake up."
The revelation of Shiho's coma from Athrun a month ago rang in his head. Yzak opened the door and placed a new bouquet of white lilies in the vase. Yzak was feeling particularly sentimental today, "These are my mother's favorite flowers. You knew that didn't you?" The question was left hanging in mid air. Yzak ignored the fact that he looked insane. He pulled a chair up nest to Shiho and stared at her. He traced a finger down her cheek and brushed her long hair back.
"Do you still remember the day we met?" Yzak paused. "I know you do. I was just 7 years old and made an orphan overnight. I remember it to be a rainy day. All gloom and sadness mixed in one. I remember the ancient headmistress of the orphanage getting me into one of her grubby little cells." Yzak paused to laugh at his choice of words.
He wetted his handkerchief with the pitcher of water and dabbed on Shiho's lips delicately before continuing, "I remember some of the older boys stirring some trouble and then getting me to be their scapegoat." Yzak paused again to let out a string of curses at the memory. He glared at the air before proceeding with his story, "Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. They made me their scapegoat and got me spanked. Damn the assholes! Anyway, I took it silently. Not really wanting any trouble as I was still mourning over my parents. It was until they played tricks and teased me of my hair color and my parents did I snap. I did alright; I glared and hollered at them but they beat me up." Yzak frowned and drank some water.
"I was angry at myself for being so weak and went to a tree and started hitting the tree. Then, you came along. You placed your hand on mine and asked… no commanded me to stop hurting myself." Yzak smiled. "Thereafter, we were friends and fellow mischief makers. I never knew how much you really meant to me until the day you were lost to us. Presumed dead. Devastated I was. And I never really had a chance to tell you this. But I want you to know now, I love you. Since the day you commanded me to stop hurting myself. I can still quote your exact words you know. You said: You idiot why are you hitting the poor tree and hurting yourself? Stop it right now! I said stop it you dummy head!" Yzak smiled at the fond memory. He glanced at the clock and twitched slightly. "Time flies when I talk to you. I'll be back around 6pm later. See you, love." Yzak chuckled at how corny his last sentence sounded. He opened the door and stepped out.
Dearka sure is getting to me. Yzak concluded, snorting.
He did not notice, however, the small twitch of fingers and the slight rustle of covers of the only person left in the room.
A/N: A satisfying ending I hope… Thank you to all who bothered reviewing, reading and adding me to author alert or favorites.