Stained

"No," as quiet as it was, that single word rang out like gunfire, startling the two teens. Their eyes swiveling towards the source, their hearts racing and breathing baited. Neither was able to move as they stared with hope.

Blue eyes slowly flutter long and slow blinks of long black lashes against pale, sunken cheeks.

"Ver-veronica," she croaked, voice breaking. "Stay,"

A smile broke across Veronica's face, and she collapsed against the bed, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed loudly and brokenly. Lilly smiled softly, her hand cradling her friend's now short blond hair. The girl spoke in an indistinguishable rush of words, her face slick with tears.

Blue eyes swiveled up to look at the boy intruding on her private moment with her best friend. With a great deal of strain, she growled out. "Leave,"

With a quick nod, he left with a frantic and shrill cry of 'Nurse!' as he opened the door.

She rolled her eyes but looked back down at her friend, who, although ugly crying, beamed happily at her. Lilly briefly wondered if anyone had ever been so happy to see her?

A pretty nurse walked almost lazily as if she hadn't believed the teenage boy. But upon seeing Lilly, her dark eyes widened, and she ran out with a loud cry of 'Doctor! She's awake!'.

Lilly shook her head and again turned to Veronica. Her heart warmed as her friend held her hand to her face; she looked so relieved and happy. No one had ever looked at her like that. None of the boys or men she seduced. They had looked at her as if she were a trophy, a possession to obtain and show off. Even when she had been dating Logan, the boy hadn't been invested in her spiritually or mentally; his attentions were more physical.

Only her Veronica had ever cared about her, had supported and even saved her. Her Veronica had always been there to gently assist her without ever trying to control her, unlike everyone else in her life.

"Water?" Lilly struggled, her throat dry and voice hoarse from disuse.

Veronica jumped her eyes and face conveying a single phrase. 'Duh!' The look had Lilly laugh, although her throat was so dry that it quickly turned into a rough cough.

"Of course, here," Veronica then quickly poured her a glass of water and even proceeded to assist her in bringing the plastic cup to her lips. The water coated her tongue and mouth, and although the water tasted stale as if it had been sitting there for days, it was still cool and inviting to her deprived throat. She drank long and slowly, savoring the feeling of the water on her tongue and the feeling of it going down her throat and settling in her empty stomach.

"Ms. Kane?" The Doctor, a plain man, asked in surprise before smiling with a shake of his head. "Good morning, Ms. Kane. Happy to see you awake,"

Lilly eyed him before rolling her eyes and looking at Veronica. No one else mattered, but the blonde girl; her friend had somehow brought her out of that nightmare of darkness and even now seemed to beam brightly compared to the dullness of her surroundings.

The Doctor tried to talk to her, but Lilly found everything coming out of his mouth to be dull and pointless. It was nonsense, none of which had any substance, but she went along with it. But when he asked Veronica to leave, Lilly screamed, holding her friend's hand in a death grip. A part of her was terrified to be left alone.

Seeing the state of which it brought her, the Doctor was forced to rethink his request. As he examined her, she pulled away from his cold and clammy touch but found her attempt futile as her muscles were too stiff from disuse.

He flashed a light in her eyes, the brightness bringing with it a flash of a memory. Of the man standing over her, the sun behind him, shadowing his face, but his voice sent chills down her spine and a deep fear clawing in her stomach.

"I need to talk," it came out broken and strained, but she pushed on, determined to hold on to the voice of the man she remembered just before her world had gone dark. "-talk to Officer Mars,"