Air.
It swam through her lungs, it caressed her face, it surrounded her endlessly.
Air was what she saw when she glanced at her hands, what she felt when she tried to catch a single strand of her hair between her invisible fingers.
It was vast emptiness, it was nothing, it was her.
If it weren't for her labored breathing, her weakly pounding heart and her vague senses, she would have assured herself dead.
Her insides throbbed with pain and fear, she quivered with tears, she shook, yet her movements made no sound at all. It was almost as if she no longer existed, no longer belonged to life, yet she didn't belong to death either.
It seemed she was trapped somewhere in between, in an abyss that had no entrance, no exit. She was now a part of the Earth, of the clouds, of the wind and the rain, for only they knew of her insignificant existence.
Silver knew she had taken Skyelaar's place when Seto kissed her, she knew he'd given her back the life she so desperately wanted.
She remembered the painful sight in the office, the shouts and the screams. She remembered the way Seto's eyes slowly flickered shut as his face approached hers, she remembered shutting her own and letting lust take over her entire body.
Then darkness.
It suffocated her and ripped her from her body, it flushed her deep into the hollow shadows of death, it tortured her without compassion until she simply lost consciousness, lost the fight.
Her mind began wandering wild corners, it floated, it soared towards the unknown in a frenetic spiral of hurt. It flew into every her own cells and filled them to the brim with suffering, one she never new existed, and she realized her mind was taking its own life.
So she fought. Gave her heart the strength to keep beating, to keep pumping life into her veins, by thinking of the only person she knew how to.
Seto Kaiba.
That was when it stopped.
Her mind simply reset itself, it filled with memories, with feelings, senses and sensations. It recovered it's essence before gently willing her awake, as if it itself were afraid or what was awaiting her on the other side of life.
Her eyelids quivered, slowly opening and letting reason flood her being.
Fear consumed her heart when she realized she felt nothing. Fear of being dead, fear of having simply been through an atrocious nightmare.
A part of her missed the safety of the unknown, of not knowing where she would end up, of not knowing what would become of her, of not knowing what had been reality and what had not. Because in the unknown there is always hope, one that vanished the minute her translucent pupils set themselves on the hospital bed standing directly in front of her.
She took in a stale, shaky breath, struggling to expand her tired lungs, and somewhere in her mind, hearing a small voice that told her she was slowly falling into decay.
The room was unusually dim, the blinds on the windows were carefully drawn, the white floors reflected nothing as she peered down at them, the impeccable glass window etched into the door doing the same.
Only two sounds gave her signs of life: the constant, steady beeping coming from a large machine that stood guard beside the bed, and the soft melody of snores that emanated from her side.
As if expecting the sight, her eyes hurriedly rushed to the source of the snores finding Seto Kaiba sleeping on the very couch she was sitting on.
She felt her senses instantly ease themselves as she let her eyes sweetly caress him for any clue, any hope as to why she was there and where her precious life had escaped to. She wandered his face aimlessly, quietly. A myriad of questions dripping from her mind like leaks in a faulty faucet.
Did he remember her? Had she been permanently erased from the planet? Would she ever be able to go back?
Where was Skyelaar?
A shiver slid through her spine at the thought of the woman who had, in a way, taken her life. How far could a person go for the love of one man? More importantly, how far would a person go for the love of a man?
Her lips began to tremble as her eyes grew hot with tears, slowly she was coming to the realization that even if she was still conscious, to the real world she was as good as dead.
Her family, her friends, Seto.
Seto.
She couldn't remember when she started to refer to him by his first name, when she started feeling comfortable enough to think about him that personally.
Seto.
To her it sounded so much better than Kaiba, so much more intimate, so much more special, so much more human.
Seto.
The man who despite having proclaimed his hate to her, had intended to kiss her when he was at his weakest.
A sorrowful sigh pushed out her tears, the warmth of them contrasting with how cool her skin felt. Her vision blurred, turning everything into a senseless blur of colors, making everything look the way it felt.
She blinked fiercely, not used to feeling so weak, so impotent.
Mokuba was in critical condition right before her eyes because of her and she had done nothing to stop it. Seto lie next to her suffering, she was sure, yet she couldn't comfort him or even offer her apologies.
The desperation wrung her heart for long, endless hours, the tears never hitting the ground.
She watched as Seto turned and fussed in his sleep, clearly disturbed by the day's events. She watched as his breathing suddenly took on a peaceful beat only to have it shatter with haunting nightmares too many times to count.
She inspected the thin hairs that conformed his eyebrows, the small, almost invisible freckles that lined his narrow nose. The forming cracks that lined his lips and the strong jawline that led to them.
As ironic as it sounded, it seemed the man displayed his entire life on his face, despite being so reserved, and Silver found the smallest of joys in reading his features for the largest portion of the night.
She sat by his side, disappointed when she saw her hand dissipate into his skin, into his hair, but hopeful when she began hearing Mokuba's quiet breathing.
As dawn began to settle in and the moon bid its last farewell, Silver felt her eyes grow weary. Maybe the tears, maybe the pain or simply the long day had worn her out, she wasn't sure.
As she let out one last sigh and settled into the couch, as close to Seto as she would dare be, there was only one thing she was entirely sure of.
The imminent fear she felt when she saw those familiar green eyes rapidly approach her, and by the deathly glare they emanated, Silver knew that Skyelaar could see her.
Another one done! I hope you like it enough to leave a review, those are always incredibly appreciated!
-Peace&Love