-S i x Minutes-
Soundtrack: Anything, Mae
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Maybe he did love me. But unrequited love isn't how he broke my heart.
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"Gippal, stop it!" Rikku giggled. His hands were pressed over her sides, fingers playing along the skin as she laughed with mirth. In other words, he was tickling her. "You're going to make me pass out," she warned. He grinned at her and leaned closer.
"I'm sure a passed out Rikku would be far more fun than one that babbles as much as you do."
Rikku narrowed her eyes but laughed anyways. "You jerk!" She wormed out of his grasp and he chased her.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Everything was right in Rikku's world. Yuna was happy, Gippal was happy, she was happy. She didn't have detention. She already did her homework, which was minimal anyways. It was Friday. And even better, she and Gippal were in the park spending the afternoon together. He had driven her on his motorcycle after school, which was quite a thrill. She had spread her arms and 'kawed' like a bird, to his amusement. Rikku smiled when he caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"You thought you could run away from me, princess?" He murmured into her ear. "Think again."
He kissed her neck slowly and her eyes drifted shut.
Perfect day, indeed.
"I'll never let you go," he said quietly. Rikku sighed and melted into him. "Not even when I do this!" He spun and tossed her to the ground. He reached out and grabbed her at the last second as she stared at him in shock.
"Do you have do ruin all good moments, Gippal?" She demanded. He smirked at her.
"Yes. It's the price you gotta pay for bein' with such a good lookin' guy like me," he crossed his arms. Rikku gaped at him.
"You are such a self-centered…meanie!" Gippal burst out laughing and bent over. Rikku huffed. "Well, you are."
"You are priceless, Rikku. You are," He gasped out. She smiled a little at him. Priceless, eh?
"So…I'm worth more than a thousand dollars?" She questioned innocently. He moved forward to ruffle her hair.
"Oh, hell no." Rikku's jaw dropped. Why, the nerve of- "You're worth more than a gazillion trillion dollars!" he amended.
"That's better," she smiled.
She loved him, she really did. Rikku was glad that all of the trouble from before was over. She loved being with him. She loved the way his hair ruffled in the wind, she loved the way he teased her but made up for it, she loved the way he saved that one special smile for her, where the corners of his lips would turn up slightly and his eyes laid her soul bare. He was her everything.
"C'mon, we should get going," he nodded to the sky. It was beginning to get dark. Rikku figured they had lost track of time while they were fooling around. "I'll drive you home."
"Kaw, kaw!" She ran toward his bike with her arms flapping and hair streaming behind her. His manly laughter echoed in the trees surrounding her as she raced to snap on a helmet.
--
Rikku stepped off the bike and kissed Gippal goodnight.
"I love you," she smiled softly as they parted.
"And I love you," He brushed a hand over her face. "Goodnight." She waved and skipped to her front door. She fished around in her bag for her keys and unlocked the door, slipping inside. The aroma of Chinese takeout wafted through the air and Rikku smiled. Without her to make dinner, what were Brother and her dad supposed to do?
"I'm home!" She called out. Rikku went straight upstairs and skipped the food. Her stomach was too full of butterflies for her to even think of eating. She ran to her window and opened it up, feeling so full she might burst. She released a breath she had been holding out into the night air. She closed her eyes and willed her thoughts to reach out to Gippal, wherever he was. She breathed deeply and turned to flop down on her bed.
No sooner than she had gotten comfortable reading a magazine, her cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Yes, hello? Is this Rikku?"
"It is," she said cautiously. The number was restricted.
"This is the county hospital. I'm afraid we have a Gippal in here who has been asking for you…"
Rikku didn't hear the rest of what the lady had to say. Her phone had slipped out of her hand to crash to the floor. Hospital…?
She ripped a jacket off the floor and sprinted out her door.
--
The parking lot was half-full. Rikku took the one closest to the door as she could, and to her credit it was a decent park, but she didn't feel it was good enough. Gippal was inside, hurt, maybe dying and she had to get there as fast as possible. She held back tears at the thought. They had just found each other, was it really fair to lose him this soon?
She rushed through the automatic doors and to the front desk.
"Hi, I'm here to see Gippal," She wheezed, out of breath. "Gippal L-"
"I know, honey. You wouldn't believe how uncommon the name Gippal is. He's the only one I've ever met!" The nurse smiled slightly. "He's in room 504. Head on up." Rikku nodded and made her way to the elevators. The doors wouldn't open fast enough. The elevator wouldn't travel fast enough. Her legs couldn't carry her fast enough. Wings wouldn't be able to get her to him fast enough.
She fiddled with the doorknob a little and burst into the room.
"Gip…pal?" She trailed off. He was attached to at least four IV's and looked paler than an Al Bhed should ever look. She approached him with uncharacteristic caution and he forced open his eyes.
"Hey, princess…" He coughed and she pulled a chair to his side and grabbed his hand. "This is kinda embarassin', you seein' me like this an' stuff. You won't tell, though, yeah?" She giggled in spite of the dread creeping up her spine.
"What happened to you?" She asked. He looked down.
"Well…after dropping you off I was taking the normal route home when my headlights blew out. I guess it was hard to see-" he broke off his sentence to hack into a speckled washcloth. Blood…? "Sorry. I guess it was hard to see my headlights, because a huge truck…hit me…" He coughed again, more violently. It was only then that she took note of the deep gashes all over his body and the purple bruises that mottled his face. It made him look grotesque and monstrous, but Rikku had never been happier to see him.
"Oh, Gippal! I'm so sorry!" She leaned forward and hugged him without caution, forgetting his current state. He flinched and she pulled back, feeling guilty. She was too careless. "At least you're okay though, right?"
He didn't answer. Rikku started to get nervous.
"At least you're okay, though….right?" He frowned and glared at the wall.
"No. I'm not okay. At all."
Rikku sucked in air so fast it made her esophagus twitch and close up. Her eyes watered and her brain thrashed for a mental anchor of some kind.
"What do you mean?" Be brave, be brave, be brave…
He turned to look at her, really look at her, and his bright green eyes were so full of sorrow she could feel it, taste it, and feel it in the air surrounding her. His words made her hair stand on end.
"Judging by what the doctors have said, I've got about…six minutes left," He finished quietly. Rikku could feel herself panicking. The adrenaline was being pumped into her blood like gas into a car.
"No! No, Gippal, it's just a car accident, we can fix this! You'll be okay, don't listen to them, I'm not going-"
"Rikku! It's not. I was hit by a truck. On a motorcycle. My internal bleeding is so bad that I can practically feel my lungs drowning," Rikku started to cry. "I'm so drugged up that I can't feel anything below my waist," Rikku wanted to claw her eyes out, she wanted to fucking blow up the truck that hit him, go back in time and…do something. Do anything! "I'm dying." His voice broke and he squeezed her hand.
Four minutes.
She broke down and fell into his chest. He flinched but held her fast. Was this the cruel fate of all lovers? Were they to find each other, only to lose each other? Rikku sobbed hopelessly into the hospital gown of the only boy she had ever loved-the only boy she felt like she had ever even known-and lost hope. She lost her faith in life. What was the point? Gippal was going to die. Was dying. Was practically already dead. No! She couldn't think things like that!
Three minutes.
"What am I supposed to do without you?" She looked at him through the blurry vision of a distraught teenage girl. Her head ached and her eyes were swollen.
"You'll figure it out…I promise…" He grunted and put a hand over his heart. Rikku noticed a little red spot near his hand that was beginning to pool into a much larger stain. She tried to get up and tell someone, anyone, but he pulled her back down. "Don't. My fate is sealed. We both know what's gonna happen t' me…" He smiled a little and squeezed her hand.
Two minutes.
"I'll never love anybody as much as I loved you." He looked at her angrily.
"Don't you dare say that, Rikku. You're going to live your life, happily, and you're going to find someone else that you love. Maybe even more than me. Don't give up on hope like that, okay? Promise me."
She swallowed heavily and nodded her head with caution.
"I promise."
They intertwined their fingers and held onto each other will all they had.
"I love you, Gippal," she said quietly. Rikku spoke her words true, straight down to her core, and meant every syllable.
"And I love you, princess," He smiled the biggest and brightest smile she had ever seen him muster. Images fluttered through her mind briefly as she stared at him.
One minute.
Detention. The diner. His house. Her house. The park. The cafeteria. The movies. Him and Tidus. Him smiling. Gippal. Gippal. Gippal. He was everywhere inside of her, spreading through her veins like a poison she never wanted to get rid of.
He took ragged gasps and she looked down to see that through her reminiscing, his whole front had turned scarlet. She whimpered and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"I'll never forget you, Gippal." She pulled away and kissed him one last time. The finality of the kiss made her face crumple. She felt it as he sucked in his last breath, through her. She felt a part of her die inside as he died. And then…Rikku felt nothing.
She vaguely remembered being escorted out of the hospital in hysterics and her father and brother waiting downstairs. When had they gotten there? She remembered being strapped into her dads car as her brother took her own home. She remembered being tucked into bed and having her hair pulled back and her crying being soothed. The familiar gestures reminded her of Gippal and brought on another wave hysteria. When she finally cried herself to sleep, she had deep, dreamless sleep that she thanked the heavens for.
And when she woke up, she cried once more. After she felt done, empty and dried up, she looked out of her window and to the sky. The elevator, her legs, even wings couldn't have gotten her to him fast enough. But her mind could reach him faster than light speed. He was a part of her.
She inhaled and closed her eyes.