Chapter four guys! I hope I got this out a little quicker than the last chapter! Woo...?

Enjoy.

Lightning awoke to a hand on her shoulder. She snapped her eyes opened, jumping to her feet immediately. She snapped her head to the side, ready to fight off whatever dream monsters her mind could conjure up in that short amount of time.

She was surprised to find a doctor, his hands held up in front of him, staring at her with wide eyes. She was confused for a second before she remembered where she was, and the memories of the day before all hit her like a speeding semi. She nodded at him, relaxing her arms to her sides.

The doctor lowered his arms and made a motion for her to follow him, and hurried down the hall. He still seemed a bit nervous and almost began walking faster as she followed him, but seemed to catch himself.

Lightning was taken to a small white room. Not just a white room, a painfully white room. She blinked a couple times to get used to the brightness before carefully stepping to the chair at Hope's bedside.

She looked down at him, and felt a frown etch on her face. He was pale -paler than usual anyhow- and his hair was even more erratic than it normally was. She clenched her fists, but otherwise showed no sign of her agitation. She sat in the chair provided at the side of the bed, and watched him for a couple minutes, thinking about the previous days events.

I was this close to kissing him. The hell?

This is a good lesson for him, I guess. He should listen to me more often.

Damn kid.

Then again, if he hadn't stepped up, I would probably be dead. Maybe.

I'm gonna be dead anyway, when he wakes up. I can just hear him now..

"Light?" A rough voice asked.

Surprised, she blinked down at him and saw Hope's green eyes looking back at her with wonder and confusion, but he was obviously happy to see her no matter the circumstances.

She felt heat rise to her face a little at the thought, and thank god the pink of her hair hid whatever showed on her face.

She cleared her throat and threw on the best disappointed look she could. She poked his chest, hard, and growled, "I told you to let me handle it, idiot. Now look what you've got yourself into." She motioned towards the bandages around his shoulder area.

He barely missed a beat, smirking up at her and saying, "It's not so bad."

"You have a hole in your shoulder, Hope." She deadpanned, looking at him with obvious irritation.

"Better than a hole in my heart." He shot back at her, and she couldn't help but let out a couple giggles (giggles? What?) at his fake pained expression.

He laughed easily along with her and then gave her that special smile and whispered, "I'm glad you came to visit, at least."

She smiled back at him ever so slightly, but turned away quickly and told him, "I had to. Your my ride home."

"Oh, such rapier wit. How you wound me." His voice was coated in sarcasm but he still kept that stupid grin on his face.

She wanted to kiss it off of him.

SMACK.

Smack, not kiss. Smack.

Yes, that...that is what she meant. Obviously.

Clearing this stupidity from her mind, she glanced down at him and studied his face. She often found herself doing this when she was thinking without even realising she had done it. This time, though, it was purely intentional.

"You realize you have something on your face, right?" She asked, her tone totally neutral. It caused Hope to burst out laughing until he groaned and put his shoulder back on the bed again.

"Do I?" He asked, his voice cheeky and playful. She didn't understand why until he boldly asked, "Can you get it? I can't get to a mirror."

She eyed him suspiciously, but before she could do anything, there was the sound of footsteps on the ground. She turned her head and spotted her.

The girl from the park.

The bane of her very existence since yesterday.

Her arch nemesis.

She had no idea what the girl's name was, but the above point still stands.

Light decided to call her 'Jane-girl', because she was mentally pissing herself off by repeatedly referring to her as 'the girl'.

Lightning instantly stood up as Jane-girl approached, and she watched Hope's expression carefully. He was...surprised, but not entirely unhappy.

Still, he didn't look totally comfortable either. That gave her a small satisfaction, though she had no idea why.

"Hey..." Hope rasped, giving her an awkward smile and a small hand wave.

Jane-girl gave a sideways smirk, and looked between Hope and Lightning uncomfortably. Light got the message right away - she wanted to be along with Hope.

Light wasn't having it. She crossed her arms, but Hope poked her in the side and said with a dopey expression, "It's fine. Give us a minute, Light."

With his tone softened the way it was, and the kind and pleading smile he gave her, she curtly nodded and stepped from the room. She let her back hit the wall gently as she stepped away from the door. Lightning took to staring at the ceiling, waiting for their conversation to be over.

His green eyes stared into her brown ones, the eyes he had once willingly wasted his time thinking about and gazing into. Now he did it out of obligation for the seriousness of the conversation.

Hope sighed and watched the door for a second before he glanced back at her. "So. What...what are you here for, exactly?" He asked, wishing his could make his voice stronger.

She brushed her hair behind her ear, and glanced at him and away again. "How're you holdin' up?" She asked, pointedly avoiding his question.

"I would feel a lot better if you would answer my question." He replied, raising his brow and fixing her with his gaze so she couldn't look away.

"Because...I wanted to see you." She replied with a shrug, looking at him with sincerity shining in her eyes.

"Why?" He whispered, shaking his head slightly. "For the past couple of months, you've wanted nothing to do with me. Now your suddenly worried?"

"Yeah, I guess." She replied instantly, then grabbed the side of her arm and looked away again with a sigh.

"I just...saw what you did and... and I was concerned, I guess."

"Well, you shouldn't be." He told her in a curt tone, "I can take care of myself." He growled. "Despite how many times Light has had to save my sorry ass..." He added with a lighthearted shrug.

"Light?" She asked, sounding a bit unsure. "Was that the girl who..?"

"The one I took a bullet for, yeah. The one who came to visit me before anyone else. And the one who probably had to deal with doctors and paperwork for hours, too." He stared straight back at the girl with a hardened gaze, challenging her to say anything. There was a warm fondness to his voice though, a sound that wasn't there before.

She stared back at him, her gaze clearing and becoming somber, and almost sad. It was also lit up with a little happiness. I guess, over all, it could be described as a bittersweet expression.

"You really like her, huh?" She asked glumly, her posture changed to a relaxed and lazy one.

He cleared his throat and looked away, "I ... you should go." He told her, looking back at her with a steely gaze. He was determined not to break.

She nodded, rolling her sleeves over her fists. As she stood she came to the side of the bed, and kissed his forehead.

"Bye, Hope."

Lightning was leaning against the wall still when the door opened, and the girl stepped out. She looked sad, disappointed even, and she glanced at Lightning and she smiled. It wasn't a smile that one would want to see, but not because it would mean anything unfortunate would befall you. It would be because you can see the lie and the heartbreak through the smile and know they are only pretending.

As she opened her mouth to say something, Light cut her off first. She pushed off the wall slightly, and stood in front of her, "You don't deserve him, you know that?" She practically hissed, her eyes were stormy and cold, threatening and challenging.

"I see that now." The girl replied, nodding slightly at Lightning with the smile saddening a little more. She then sighed, gave a small shrug, and walked away down the hall.

Lightning watched her go, and slowly turned her attention back to the objective at hand; Take care of Hope.

She walked in through the door, and closed it again. Slowly, she walked over and sat hesitantly in the chair, glancing at him then away again.

"What was that all about?" She finally asked, and Hope just shrugged with a grimace and a nonchalant smile.

"It doesn't really matter anymore."

Light sighed, and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She would have to remember to bitch him out about it later. Right now, she was tired and needed some rest. Everything could wait until the morning.

SO. Hate it?

Yeah, it's shorter than the other ones.

But, see, I have this little plan for all my chapters. And I write down what I would like to happen in them. This is all I had down for Ch. 4 So...*shrug*

This will probably be the shortest chapter though :)