Part of Anni wasn't surprised the next day when she found her key didn't fit the lock at Shizuo's apartment. He really didn't want her around. It was over. She'd lost. She didn't even care anymore that he had been her only connection to the story she adored. He'd been her friend and roommate, and she screwed it all up. She was too tired for this anymore. It was only 7PM, but Anni went home and went to bed. She'd woken up with a sore throat that morning, among other ailments from the day before, and going to work for the full day only made her feel worse. Anni made herself into a warm blanket-burrito on her bed and got some much needed rest.

Waking up seemed to mean dragging herself from one dream to another, more painful one. She was shivering, and ached everywhere. Sweat drenched her poor blankets. Getting up to get a glass of water proved a bad idea, as the floor didn't want to stay still. She had no idea what time or day it was, but dialed Maya's number anyway. Thankfully, her friend picked up. "Anni, do you know what time it is?" she groaned.

"No. Maya, I need you. I have a fever and I can't see straight" Anni croaked at the phone.

"You sound terrible. Fine, I'll come get you" she agreed. "Make sure your door is unlocked for me, or I'm leaving you to wallow" Maya said before hanging up. Following instructions was hard. Anni eventually managed to stumble to the door and fumbled at the lock, with much assistance from walls and furniture. Then she stumbled to her couch and lost consciousness again.

-!DRRR!-

Everything was white. The sterile theme and smell permeated every surface. She was in a hospital. "Sit up for me sweetie" the kind voice beside her asked. Light brown waves of hair hung from her ponytail, to rest on the collar of her scrub top. Mom. Anni did as she was asked and breathed on cue. "Well, at least your lungs are clear" she said, hanging her stethoscope back around her neck. "You really scared everyone. Don't do that again" she chastised. Anni only nodded. Her mom walked away, pausing at the door. "She's awake, you can go in now" she announced before disappearing completely. The three people Anni wanted to see most filed in the doorway.

"Anniiii! You idiot! You woke me up just so I could go to your house and call an ambulance for you" Maya complained, lightly backhanding her arm. Now that she mentioned it, Anni vaguely remembered being in an ambulance.

"I'm sorry, I had a fever, I wasn't thinking straight" she said, turning her attention to the next in line. Alex stood on one side of her bed, his arms crossed, like they always were when he felt like lecturing her.

"What did I say about taking care of yourself?" He gently messed up her hair.

"That I should avoid it at all costs?" Anni joked in return, smiling.

"I really do need to hire someone to look out for you every minute of every day" Alex sighed, turning away. So Anni turned her attention to the last in line. Shizuo stood at the far corner of her bed smiling.

"Don't worry about it" he interrupted as she tried to speak. "We'll work it out when you're well again." Anni was about to thank him when she was interrupted again by a disturbance on her bed. White paws forced her to lay back down, though they were surprisingly heavy.

"Brucie! I've missed you too" Anni laughed as the mostly muscle, black and white cat settled with sprawling across her front and purring.

Anni's eyes fluttered open. It was another dream. Everything was still white. Still in the hospital. If she was going to be set up in a dream again, the least her mind could do was change the setting. Anni groaned and closed her eyes again. She just wanted to wake up already.

"Anni? What's wrong?" came a concerned voice from beside her bed. Anni didn't need to open her eyes again to know who it was. It was the last voice she heard in her previous dream.

"I-" she croaked, forcing herself to stop and clear her throat. "I'm sick of my obnoxiously vivid dreams tricking me into thinking I'm awake. I just want to wake up for real already."

"Good thing you're awake now then" the voice asserted, as if just saying she was awake would make it so.

"That's what my mom said in my last dream" Anni noted, opening her eyes to appraise the owner of the voice. Shizuo sat in the chair beside her bed. "At least they're getting more believable. It's only one person this time, not everyone and my cat. I might be able to wake up after this one." Shizuo's brows drew together in confusion.

"Do you really think you're still asleep?" he asked. Anni closed her eyes and leaned her head back again, ignoring his question.

"It's still not entirely realistic though. It should be Maya sitting around, waiting for me to wake up. The real Shizuo is still mad at me. I'm pretty sure he wants nothing to do with me anymore."

"Your friend's at work, and I'm not mad at you."

"Of course you're not. This is my dream. Since it's not a nightmare, it's going to show me exactly what I want to see. Hence why you're here."

"You're being entirely unreasonable, Anni" Shizuo growled. Something cool touched her forehead, making her eyes snap open reflexively. Shizuo carefully removed the back of his hand and sat back down. "'least your fever is almost gone."

"Shouldn't you be at work too then?"

"Tom-san gave me the rest of the day off when your friend said you were in the hospital." Anni turned her full attention to her visitor now.

"Maya hunted you down?" she asked, but didn't get her answer. A nurse came waltzing in cheerily. She changed Anni's IV, took notes on how she felt, and took her temperature: 99.1, barely a fever at all. Then she left Anni and Shizuo alone again. "Maybe I am finally awake" Anni mused, staring at the ceiling. Shizuo laughed at her revelation.

"Are you finally coming to your senses now?"

"Shut up" Anni said weakly, turning her face away to hide her smile. "You really aren't mad at me anymore?" she asked cautiously. "I mean, you changed the lock and everything."

"Naw, I just screwed up again. I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously when you came to apologize."

"Give me some credit too" Anni said, turning to look at him. "You're not that only one at fault in this." Shizuo didn't really respond, staring at the other side of the room. "So how did Maya convince you I didn't really hate you?"

"She just came up and told me you were in the hospital. When I said I didn't want to bother you, she started going off about how you only hated one guy who you kept drawing being beaten up. Who is that, by the way?"

"I only ever draw the flea like that. And that's who I was talking about last week, outside my work." Anni added emphatically, trying to sit up. Shizuo quickly quashed her attempts with a hand on her shoulder, pushing her to lay back down. She couldn't hope to fight him when she was at her best, there was no way she could succeed now.

"Calm down" he ordered. When Anni sighed and gave up, he sat back down. "She told me that you only hated the flea, and always spoke highly of me. Then she started going on 'bout why she thought you hated him…" Anni shook her head.

"She actually told you her stupid theory? I only hate one person, but I swear I hated the jokes she made about him more." They both fell silent. Anni let her eyes fall closed in the quiet.

"I'll let you get some rest" Shizuo announced, standing.

"Thank you" Anni said quietly, drifting off again.

-A/N-

Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix