Chapter 21
In the end, there could never be an us – Part 3
Grey and Lucy sped down the streets. After Lucy showed him the text, everything had suddenly made sense. Grey slammed on the gas, rage flooding his mind, he had known Natsu was in danger and yet he had done nothing to help him nor Lucy. It could've easily been him in Natsu's position, or Levy, or Juvia, or Erza. Any of his friends could have been at the mercy of Laxus all because he didn't try to help more.
Lucy sat in the seat next to him crying, quiet sobs heard between the noise of the streets blowing by them. She had known something was going to happen, this was just as much her fault as it was Laxus's. She heart squeezed itself so hard it barley beat as every worse scenario ran through her head. They were driving to the hospital but who knows if he was even there. What if he had been taken before he even managed to unlock his car? What if he sat in some grimy cellar being beaten with no one to come save him? Unfortunately, Grey couldn't drive to "what if", he could only take them to their first solid lead, which was the hospital. He drove through the back roads, he knew Natsu knew them well and would've went this way thinking it was faster.
Neither of the two spoke, scared of what the other may have to say. The two couldn't bare to voice the dark thoughts running through their head, so they didn't. They let the loud wind from outside the car consume the air as they drove as fast as they could.
Grey squinted, it was now a full-blown snowstorm, a complete white-out that left the world a meter in front of him totally invisible. He turned on his high-beams in order to gain some visibility of the road, but it was useless. He continued to speed down the road with only sheer luck allowing them to not be hit by another car out of view.
Suddenly Lucy's life flashed before her eyes. Down at the intersection in front of them laid a car, upside-down, and the figure of a person who laid lifeless. It wasn't until Lucy saw the smallest strand of pink hair rustling in the wind that she screamed.
"STOP! THAT'S NATSU!" She yelled. The car came to a screeching halt, but Lucy had jumped out of the car before then. Her feet landed in a foot of snow that sent a shock through her ankles. It was freezing cold out but it didn't even faze her. Lucy ran full force towards the boy on the road, she gasped as she fully saw him.
Natsu laid deadly still, the snow around him bright red as his leg bled everywhere. His lips and fingers were blue, and his arm was bent unnaturally as it laid in the snow. Lucy dropped to her knees, she wiped the snow that fell onto his face and slowly lifted him onto her lap.
"Natsu…Natsu! Please! Wake up!" She sobbed. She tilted her head to his face to listen, she felt relief wash over her when she heard his faint, strangled breathing. He was alive, but for how long?
Grey ran over to the two, he paled when he saw Natsu's condition. He was pretty much knocking at deaths door by the looks of it. Without thinking he moved into action. He slowly lifted Natsu off of Lucy and into his arms, "Get in the car." He barked at her.
She rose quickly and stumbled into the backseat of the car. Grey laid Natsu onto her, he then ran to the drivers seat and sped off before he even closed his door. There was no time to waste right now, it would be only moments before Natsu's life would come to an end, it was up to him and Lucy to save him now.
Luckily, they were in front of the hospital. He drove passed everyone, cutting off the ambulances as he threw the car into the emergency bay. When he jumped out, he was met by very angry EMT's and concerned nurses. He said nothing as he ran to the other side of the car and swung open the door, revealing a distraught Lucy and a near-dead Natsu.
The next moments past like a blur for Lucy. She watched as nurses and EMT's lifted Natsu off of her. Grey slowly helped her out and put his coat over her as Natsu was laid onto a stretcher and rushed inside. They two followed after him, they heard as more nurses ran over, all screaming things to each other as they assessed Natsu's worst injuries. They watched as nurses began to insert IV's and apply pressure to his cut leg. But the next part remained clear in her mind as she watched it.
"He's got a pneumothorax!" One nurse called as they tried to give him oxygen
"Hand me a scalpel." The doctor barked at the nurses. One rushed into a drawer and handed it to him
"Hold him down, we don't know if he will regain consciousness." The doctor said. 4 nurses then held Natsu's shoulders and head.
Lucy watched in terror as the doctor sliced open Natsu's ribs, he pushed a tube deep into his chest so hard Lucy thought the doctor was trying to kill him. Grey held her to him, trying to shield her face as the doctor continued to push the tube into Natsu's chest. Suddenly his chest began to rise and fall strongly. The doctor took his stethoscope and listened to each side of his chest, "Even breath sounds, good. Okay everyone, good work let's get him upstairs and into surgery." The doctor said to his team. They all nodded with a small smile as they began to grab his IV bags and machinery attached and rush him down another hall.
This time Lucy and Grey didn't follow after Natsu, they knew they wouldn't be allowed to follow him from here. Grey held Lucy tight to him as she sobbed so hard his own heart hurt. He couldn't imagine the pain she was in right now, seeing the person you love in such a condition, that would tear even the strongest person to shreds.
He rubbed her back with his ice-cold fingers, he could feel her shaking but wasn't sure from what. Was it the shock or the cold? He held her tighter to him in hopes of warming her up and giving her some comfort, but he knew the latter was near impossible. No one in such a condition could be comforted.
He then led Lucy into the waiting room, it would be awhile before they would be hearing anything. Grey almost hoped he wouldn't be getting an update soon, the longer no one said anything, the longer he could cling to the hope that Natsu was still alive. His eyes then travelled down to Lucy's face, she stopped crying, she now stared at the wall in front of them, her eyes devoid of any and all emotion.
She had shut down, shut off, her mind left her body as the shock of it all began to wear off. She tried to breathe through the suffocating guilt, but she couldn't. This was entirely her fault, she basically handed Natsu to Laxus, she was as guilty as the car that hit his. She may have not been the executioner, but she was the axe.
It then became strikingly clear what she had to do next. She had to leave her friends behind, leave Natsu behind. Her presence was their death sentence, and she could not live with the guilt of hurting anymore people she cared about. She began to plan it out in her mind, how she would do it, how she would fix this. Before tonight she had hoped this could all blow over with everyone getting out unscathed, but she had been so terribly wrong. The only was to fix this was to remove the common denominator in the problem, which was her.
Grey and Lucy sat for God knows how long in the waiting room. People stopped at stared at the two as they were both covered in blood on their beautiful attire. Lucy's blue dress was now a dark shade of purple where she had laid Natsu on her. Her hands had dried blood, his dried blood, in the cracks of her nails. Grey on the other hand had a big blotch on his dress shirt from wear he had carried Natsu into the car. Although stains could be cleaned, the two would never remove the stain this left on their hearts, nor the fear they felt at the realization on how brittle life truly was.
Finally, a nurse approached them, "Good evening, you are here for Natsu Dragneel right?"
Lucy looked up at the nurse, eyes blank. She said nothing as she stared at the nurse. The nurse then looked to Grey for a response, hoping one of them was okay enough to speak.
"Yeah, yeah, we are. How is he?" Grey spoke, his voice a mere whisper after not speaking for hours.
"He's okay, he's upstairs in the ICU. He's got a few cracked ribs, a broken arm, he had a collapsed lung and then the laceration on his leg. If it were not for you two, I'm afraid he wouldn't be alive right now. You both saved that boys life tonight." The nurse said with a warm smile.
Lucy looked up to her once more. She was no hero tonight, she wanted to scream at the nurse to take it back, to say she was at fault. But once more no words would come. Her mind said it for her instead, "But you were the one to kill him first." She repeated in her head.
"Thank you. Is he awake?" Grey asked.
"No, although the anesthesia should be wearing off in a couple of hours. Its technically not visiting hours but considering you two were the ones to save him, I will allow you to go visit him if you would like. His father is already there." She said with a small smile. Grey nodded to the Lady and stood up to follow her.
But Lucy sat still, how could she face him now? How could she stand in that room while he fights for his life knowing she was the one to put him there in the first place? Lucy felt glued to her chair, unable and unwilling to face the consequences she caused.
Grey looked at her curiously, "Aren't you coming?" Grey asked. She didn't look up at him nor did she respond. She felt disconnected from her own body, she couldn't speak if she wanted to.
Grey then crouched down to her level, he took his hand in hers and used his other hand to lift her face to meet his gaze. "Lucy, this is not your fault. You had no way of knowing. Tell all that guilt to fuck off because right now Natsu needs you. He needs to remember why he has to wake up, Okay?" He whispered to her.
Lucy stared at him, finally she managed to nod. He gave her a smile as he stood up and held his hand out for her to take. She took it as he helped her stand, her knees felt weak as if this was the first time standing in years. She pushed through as they both began to follow the nurse to the elevators. Grey put his arm around Lucy to show his support. With Lucy he knew she wouldn't take any of his gestures the wrong way, he was just a good friend trying to support her in a time of need, something she greatly appreciated.
They strode into the elevator and climbed up to the fifth floor where the ICU was. As they approached his door the nurse suddenly stopped.
"I should warn you; he's currently connected to a ventilator. His left lung collapsed during the accident and with the anesthesia its precautionary. He's hooked up to a lot of wires and tubes that are all helping him get better. I know it may look bad but just know he's going to recover well. All of those things are just in place to help him with his recovery." She spoke kindly.
Grey nodded and looked to Lucy, she simply put her head down. She was full of dread; she would rather die then see him like this. Her body screamed to run the other way, fearing if she even approached him, she would manage to hurt him more.
As they entered the room their eyes landed on a sleeping Guildarts, he looked uncomfortable in the hospital chair but as his father they all knew he wasn't going to leave until he knew his son was 100% okay. Their eyes then landed on Natsu who laid on the hospital bed in the center of the room. Like the nurse had warned, he looked truly horrendous. His eyes sunken in and he was scratched up head to toe. His right arm was in a cast and his leg suspended and covered in bandages. Lucy gasped at the sight; she couldn't believe this was the same boy she danced with hours ago. The room was silent, the only noise coming from the ventilator and heart monitor.
Grey took Lucy's hand and led her to the bed where he lay.
"Hey Flame-brains, you look like shit. Don't worry though, once you get better, we can get back to fighting like we always do." He said with a small smile. He refused to break at the sight, he knew Lucy relied on his reaction right now, he couldn't break, not unless he wanted to see Lucy completely shatter.
He then sat in the hospital bed on Natsu's right. Lucy, standing awkwardly in front of the bed, moved to the chair on his left. She gently took his hand from the bed and lifted it to her lips, she gave him a soft kiss on the hand, scared to touch any other part of him.
"Hey Natsu…" She breathed, "We're here, when you're ready to wake up we will be here." She continued.
She watched in hope for any kind of response but was deflated when nothing happened. A tiny part of Lucy had hoped her voice would bring him out of his slumber, like a fairy tail, but unfortunately that wasn't how the real world worked. If it was then none of this would have happened, the prince would have saved the princess and they would have lived happily ever after. But in this life, the princess killed her prince and would have to return to the dragon to keep her one true love alive, she understood that now.
"Hey, I'm gonna head to the washroom, you good here?" Grey asked as he pointed to the hallway where the restroom was.
"Yeah… I'll be okay." She responded to him; she gave him a small smile as a thank you for all he had done for tonight. He returned the smile then stalked off to the bathroom.
Lucy sighed, she knew what she had to do, staring at Natsu in such a condition made it crystal clear. If she truly loved Natsu, she would have to let him go. He had spent so long protecting her heart, but now it was her job to protect his.
She stood up and entered the hallway. It was silent aside from a few nurses heading in and out of rooms periodically. She pulled out her phone and texted the unknown number that had texted her so many times before.
"call me." She texted.
In a matter of moments her phone began to buzz. Dread filled her bones as she saw the No Called ID appear on her screen. Despite it she picked up and put the phone to her ear.
"Lucy…" Laxus purred.
"You win. I'm done. I'll do whatever you say. But you leave them alone, you leave Natsu alone." She growled.
"Ah, ah, ah! Now don't be rude. Let me make this perfectly clear, you are now my possession, mine to hold or break at my own will. Do as I say, and I can promise you no one else has to be hurt, go against me though and reap the consequences worse than tonight." He responded. His voice was relaxed and smooth even though his words remained deadly. Lucy felt the fear crawl up her back as everything now set in.
"Okay." She responded
It was now obvious, for her in Natsu, in the end, there could never be an us.
Authors Note: Hey everyone. I'm a day late oops! Anyways I know this chapter is short but I hope you enjoy. I really like the connection I've built between Grey and Lucy, I promise there will be more major moments showcasing their friendship later on:) Anyways hope you liked the chapter and feel to review what you thought. Cya!
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTER'S; I simply write the plot:) All rights reserved by the creators of Fairy Tail.