Chapter 2 – To smile

Normal POV

Lucy is now being treated in the hospital. Natsu called the guild and informed them what happened to Lucy and they all rushed to the hospital. They've arrived but Lucy is still in the emergency room being treated by the doctors. "Lucy-san must have been really hurt to commit suicide. It must have been difficult for her to endure it any longer." Wendy sobbed and hugged Carla. "Lucy-san can't take this hardship any longer. We all know that she's been unloved by her father, and then every one of you, especially you Natsu-san, ignored her when Lisanna-san came back. She told me that she felt that she was just a replacement of Lisanna and since she came back, none of you cared for her anymore." Juvia said while crying. "Nice move, you idiot. You left her. You made her feel abandoned again. And you made her feel lonely when you rejected her to be somewhere on her birthday just to be with your white haired chick!" Gajeel said while eating a piece of iron. Natsu and other guild members suddenly remembered that it was Lucy's birthday yesterday. They all felt really bad. And Natsu felt even worse. He's stupid for ignoring her for a long time and he's totally a jerk for forgetting his girlfriend's birthday and by hurting her girlfriend's feelings on her birthday. "It's my fault. I didn't know that they were together. No one informed me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Lisanna cried. "No. It's my entire fault. I've hurt her. But I promise that I won't hurt her again, ever!" Natsu stated it with a determined look on his face.

A nurse came by and told them that Lucy was transferred into a room. Natsu and the others quickly rushed into the room and they saw the doctor still observing her condition. The doctor talked to them outside the room. "Doctor, how is she?" Master Makarov asked. "Well, she'll be fine. If she hadn't been rushed to the hospital at the right time, she'd die from loss of blood. She's now stable… well… physically. But she's emotionally unstable. She's emotionally stressed and she has depression issues. No one should stress her out even more. It would be very bad for her. Remember, she's emotionally unstable. Everyone should take good care of her." The doctor explained. "Well, you brats heard the doctor, if you would like to see her, just do it one at a time." As the master said it, Natsu began to enter the room and closed the door.

Natsu's POV

I saw her lying in the hospital bed with a bandage in her wrist. I sat on a chair beside her. I held her hand as I wait for her to open her eyes and whispered the words "I love you, Luce. Please wake up." in her ear. Lucy's fingers suddenly move, a sign that she's waking up.

"L-Lucy…" I muttered.

Then Lucy opened her eyes. She looked straight into my eyes. But she quickly averted her gaze towards the wall.

"Luce, are you o-okay? How are you feeling? I asked.

I did not get any response. I informed everyone that she woke up and they suddenly entered the room quietly. Everyone was glad that she's awake. Some have tears in their eyes. Some are asking her questions, but none of them can get her to talk. She doesn't look at their eyes. She's just staring blankly on a wall or on her bed. She doesn't even respond to Master Makarov. She seems… lifeless.

Normal POV

Two days have passed but Lucy just still stared blankly into space, not paying attention to the visitors in her room. She doesn't want to eat either. She just wanted to leave the hospital and be away from them, be away from Fairy Tail. So, she decided to wait for the perfect moment to escape.

The guild members always visit Lucy in the hospital. They also take turns in watching Lucy at night except for Natsu, of course. He's accompanied by one member at night. He's always there at night to watch her girlfriend. Natsu just left the hospital in the morning to get some rest and eat and he returns at night.

The last people who visited her were Mirajane, Juvia, Erza and Wendy. They always talk to Lucy but they don't get any response. They understand her situation that she is hurting. They left Lucy for a while to get something to eat because she is asleep, or that's what they thought.

Lucy's POV

'This is the perfect time for me to leave the hospital.' I thought.

I removed the needle that is inserted at the back of my palm. I got out of my room and out of the hospital while there's no one in the nurse station. I finally escaped. I ran as fast as I can, I don't know where to go but I ran and ran and I was surprised that my feet brought me to the forest.

Natsu's POV

I decided to go back to the hospital to take care of Lucy. Even though she's ignoring me, I just keep on talking to her. I just want her to feel that I care for her, that I'll protect her and that I love her so much.

When I opened the door of her room, no one's inside. I was so shocked that I couldn't move. Erza and the others stood behind me.

"W-where's Lucy? Is she with you?"

"No. We left her here. She's slee-?" Mira paused for a minute to find no Lucy in the bed.

"She escaped." Erza said.

"Wendy and I will tell the guild. The rest of you go look for Lucy-san." Juvia said.

"I'll go to the nurse station so they could help us look for her if she's still in the hospital.

I ran outside the hospital, trying to sniff the air for her scent. There's a faint smell of her, I followed it but it was not enough to locate her. I decided to go to her apartment, hoping that she would be there. But there's no sign of Lucy.

All the guild members are looking for her. I searched at the park, the bookstore, the mall, everywhere. But I couldn't find her. I went back to the guild to ask them if they found her. But there was still no sign of Lucy.

'Damn it. Where are you Luce?'

Lucy's POV

My feet are killing me so I rested beside a tree for a while. I heard noises so I got into battle stance but I'm not in a good condition to fight. Then someone grab me from behind. He took me as a hostage. But it was in a blink of an eye that I was freed by a spiky haired boy. He took me from the thief by attacking him. The thief fell on the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked

"Yeah, thanks mister."

"Mister? My name's Sting… Sting Eucliffe. And you?"

"I'm Lucy."

"So what brings you here?"

"I… um… I was running away from those people who lied to. The people who told me they love me but betrayed me." I looked down holding back the tears.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Watch out!" I yelled as I saw the thief fired his magic on us.

The guy with a blond spiky hair protected me by covering me. He took the blow but it was powerful that we flew to the rocks behind me.

Sting's POV

We hit the rock behind her because of the explosion. I quickly countered attack and the thief was now really unconscious.

"Hey Lucy, are you al-"

I saw her unconscious and her forehead is bleeding. She must have hit her head. I carried her to take her to hospital and I noticed her pink insignia in her right hand. She was from Fairy Tail. I shook my head and focused on bringing her quickly in town of Magnolia to bring her to the hospital.

Normal POV

Sting had brought her to the hospital. Lucy was quickly rushed to the emergency room again to treat her new acquired wounds. After her wounds have been treated, she was sent back to her room. The nurse called at the Fairy Tail guild.

Natsu's POV

It's been two hours since we all looked for Lucy. All the guild members were back from their search but none of them have seen Lucy. The guild was silent until the phone at guild rang, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I'm so worried for Lucy.

"Hello… oh yes this is the guild… Really? Alright, we'll be right there! Thank you!" Mira said on the phone.

"Hey everyone, I have good news. Lucy was brought back to the hospital!" Mira announced the news to the whole guild members.

"How is she? Is she hurt?" I asked.

"I don't know the details yet. Let's just head back to the hospital to find out her condition." Mira replied.

The whole guild went to the hospital. I ran as fast as I can after Mira answered my question. I ran off to her room and found her sleeping in the bed with a bandage wrapped around her head.

Normal POV

Natsu opened the door in Lucy's room to find her soundly sleeping in the bed with a bandage wrapped around her head. A minute later, all the members of the guild have caught up to Natsu. They noticed a stranger on the side of Lucy. Natsu approached the bedside of Lucy to hold her hand and be with her. He had a worried look on his face.

"Who are you? Are you the one who brought her back? "Natsu asked and the guild members looked at the stranger.

"My name's Sting. And yes, I'm the one who brought her here." Sting said with a disgusted look on his face. He guessed that they are the one that Lucy's running away from.

"What did you do to her? Why does she have a wound on her head?" Natsu growled. Anger could see on his face.

"I didn't do anything to her. I found her in the forest while I do my mission. My enemy fired his magic on us and we flew on a rock. That's where she bumped her head." Sting replied.

"So it's your fault you bastard. It's because of you that my Lucy is hurt." Natsu blurted out.

Lucy woke up at the loud conversation between Natsu and Sting.

"Lucy, are you alright? How are you feeling? "Natsu calmly asked.

"Stop pretending that you still care for me."

"Will you just stop the tough act? And stop being a brat! " Natsu now angry at her for leaving the hospital and for making him worry. But he didn't mean it.

"See?"

"No Lucy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Natsu trying to explain.

"Don't touch me!"

"Lucy, please listen to me. I –"

"Hey dude, will you just let her go? You're stressing her." Sting said while prying Natsu.

"Don't involve yourself in our business. This is our problem! She's awake now, so you can leave!" Natsu sent a death glare to Sting.

"You're wrong. Since I'm the one who's at fault because she bumped her head, I have a responsibility to her now. And I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt anymore and that she'll recover." Sting countered.

Natsu ignored what Sting said. He doesn't want to be the cause of Lucy's stress.

"Lucy, please… be you again. I want to see the Lucy who's smiling even in tough situations. I want to see my Lucy again. I want to see you smile. I want you back to your normal self again." Natsu cried.

"Smile? Just give me a reason to smile after all that has happened. I can't smile at you or anyone else in the guild. I just can't be happy… smile with this guild anymore, I can't be myself again. I-I- I can't…" Lucy cried.

"That's enough. Natsu, go out of this room to cool down. Everyone leave us too." Master Makarov ordered.

"Hey girl, if you need any help, just look for me in Sabertooth guild, okay?" Sting whispered to Lucy while master was talking to the guild. Sting patted the girls head before he left.

All of them have left the room. Master Makarov was the only one in the room talking to Lucy.

To be continued...