AU again. GerIta with references to HRExChibi.

I remember waiting in the hospital, watching your small chest rise and fall. You'd always seemed so strong and tough, but now you were dangling between life and death, held their by numerous whirring machines.

My short, chubby legs had dangled above the floor, swinging back and forth to the rhythm of the beeps. I could barely see your serene face from beneath the clear plastic mask that fogged in time with your steady exhales. They called it a coma, and said you wouldn't make in another week. Your brother made them keep you alive, fighting with anyone who tried otherwise. His leg had been broken in the crash, but you had been his first priority.

I remember seeing your eyelids flutter, your beautiful blue eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. I'd charged to the bed, standing on tiptoe and clinging to the railings to try to get a better view. I had called your name what must have been a hundred times, but you refused to look at me. Your brother hobbled into the room, his casted foot thudding dully against the floor without the aid of his crutches. When he saw you, he folded like a house of cards, tears in his crimson eyes. He'd grabbed you and sniffled, trying hard not to bawl. I did anyway.

When all the confusion of nurses, doctors, and specialists had passed, it was determined that your memory had been wiped clean. Your brother had gone into shock, staring down at his pale, shaking hands. I imitated him, my childish mind convinced that this was how one behaved when someone close to them had lost their memory.

You sat up and asked for food, water, and a book, but when your eyes turned to us, you looked right past. We no longer existed on your plane of reality.

Your brother had packed you up after being discharged, and you'd both moved back to Germany to be with your relatives. I'd stayed put and pretended not to miss you. I did.

Now I'm sitting in a hospital room again, waiting for you to open your eyes once more. Today, however, my legs no longer dangle, and your brother isn't here.

When we met this time, we were strangers – familiar strangers, but strangers nonetheless. Your eyes had been full of turmoil and sorrow, shadowed from years of hardship. Their confusion and hopelessness made me ache; you always seemed lost and disoriented.

Now your eyes are hidden again, locked away behind your pale eyelids. The doctors, so much more advanced than they once were, still insist that you'll never wake. Now it's my turn to fight them off, doing your brother proud.

The car had come out of nowhere. Its agitated, mustached driver had careened into you on your once-spotless motorcycle, leaving two broken bodies in his wake: one of twisted metal, and one of bloodied flesh. The driver had then swerved off a bridge, ending his own life after barely sparing yours.

Suddenly, your eyelids flutter, golden lashes flapping like the wings of a crippled moth.

"Ludwig?"

You are tired, eyes hazy and breathing, slow. "Feliciano."

"You remember!"

"How could I… forget?" Through my tears, I can see a smile, barely visible past your clouded oxygen mask. "How long… have we been together?"

"F-five months."

"No…"

I froze, the salty drops spilling freely down my slack cheeks. There is something in your tone that makes my heart clench and stomach churn.

"It's been longer… much longer…"

"L-Ludwig?"

You look me dead in the eye, understanding and fulfillment visible in your sapphire gaze. "You were… a beautiful child, Feliciano."

The words die on my tongue, freezing up my mouth.

"I have… always loved you best."

Sappy ending? I apologize. Everything I write lately has become a lot more fluffy...