PROMPT 4: FREE DAY

Synopsis: Leon realizes light shines the brightest in the darkest time

#not beta read #Post-Resident Evil: Damnation #Post-Resident Evil: Revelations 2

The bright sunray escaped between the blinds of his bedroom window hitting Leon's face. His eyes squinted and he groaned expressing his annoyance at what was happening. The clock on his nightstand indicated it was noon already. He covered his eyes with his arms trying to block the light but then he was assaulted by the blaring ringing tone of his cell phone.

Fucking hell! He reached out to his cell phone and hit the reject button. And then he saw 10 missed calls from Hunnagin and the other 22 missed calls he did not know. He was too irritated to find out. His phone rang again. Begrudging, he answered the call.

"Somebody better be dying."

"Leon, where have you been? I tried calling you ...", said Hunnigan.

Groggily, he cut Hunnigan, "Yeah, yeah. I'm alright."

He heard Hunnigan's huff on the other end. He continued, "Just got home last night. Geez, I thought I was in the clear right after the mission's completed. You..."

"Listen to me, Leon. Since Chris Redfield was unable to reach you, he called me to convey the news instead.", said Hunnigan earnestly.

Leon was currently in a sitting position by the edge of the bed. His tired body hunched down with his hand holding his pounding head.

"Chris? What does BSAA want from us?" His face scrunched.

He heard the sound of Hunnigan clearing her throat, agitated.

"I know that you prefer to keep personal matters to yourself, but this is concerning Claire Redfield."

In the instant, he raised his head and was fully awake.

"What about Claire?"

-*-

The hospital corridor echoed with the shuffling sound of his haste footsteps. He restrained himself from running, to avoid creating panic for other visitors and the hospital employees. As soon as he arrived at the nurse station of the intensive care unit, he introduced himself with his uneven breath.

"Leon Kennedy." He gestured his hand to himself. He was uncertain if the nurse catch on to what he was saying.

"For Claire Redfield." He tried another name, and the nurse smiled.

"Leon Kennedy?" She pointed a finger towards him, for clarification.

"Yes. Yes. Here for Claire-"

The nurse cut him, "Follow me please." Her English was scented with an accent. Leon followed her as she made her way to the automatic panel door, and immediately turned left. Shortly, he was greeted with a familiar face. Sherry threw her hand around him and enveloped him in a bear-like hug.

"I'm here kiddo.", said Leon. He returned her gesture by holding her in one arm and the other hand softly patting her head to provide her comfort.

The nurse walked passed them and entered the isolation ward. He assumed that where Claire might be. He followed the trail of the nurse through the screen glass where he noticed a man standing next to the bed. Right as she spoke something, the man turned in his direction and soon revealed it was indeed Chris Redfield.

Looking down at Sherry, they let go of each other's hold.

Sherry tried to form a sentence but failed to do so. Her eyes were red, filled with tears.

"Claire, she's..."

Her lips were trembling. Throughout the years, Sherry Birkin had grown to be a resilient young woman. Leon and Claire both witnessed her firsthand; but, when things came to him and Claire, she would turn to the 12-year-old girl that they met 13 years ago.

He cupped her face and softly said, "It's alright. Claire, it's here now. With us, that's all that matters."

He hoped those words would comfort the young woman. Or maybe himself too. Because right now, he was trying his best to keep his emotions at bay for everyone's sake.

"Kennedy."

The man looked distraught. Leon thought Chris's voice was a lot more steady than he expected. He could only manage to give Chris a cordial nod to address his greeting. Leon and Sherry moved in Chris's direction.

"How's Claire?" asked Leon, his voice laced with trepidation.

Chris was hesitant at first but continued, "Claire... she much better than when she was found. The doctors were optimistic, she'll pull through."

"Can I see her?", asked Sherry. Chris nodded and Leon ushered her to go in first. As Sherry entered the ward, the nurse earlier exited after completing the routine check on Claire.

Chris cast a longing gaze in the direction of Claire's bed. Leon did the same. With a heavy heart, he explained to Leon all the injuries that sustained from the abduction. It was a long list. In their line of work, he knew exactly what to expect and what to hope. Yet, it still felt so surreal when someone dear to him was doomed to those unfortunate circumstances.

Chris let a long sigh, "She infected too."

Leon's face betrayed with shock as he turned to Chris, "What?! Which one?"

"Guessing something new. We don't know. But Rebecca Chambers was here and took a few blood samples. We'll know soon.", said Chris.

His hand balled to fist, angered by the situation. He followed back Chris's line of sight and said, "Is she awoken yet?"

Chris replied, "Only once, then fell back to sleep again. The doctors said she needed the rest as much as possible."

"When injuries like that, she should be", said Leon in agreement.

"Physical injuries are one thing." Chris added, "She kept apologizing about her failure to save Moira Burton. She said she left her. On the other hand, Barry Burton still believes that she's still alive."

Leon chewed his lip as he massaged the back of his neck.

"There must be something I can do to help." He muttered under his breath, but he knew exactly that his hands were tied.

Leon's brief soliloquy was heard by Chris. Chris turned to him and patted his shoulder for encouragement. "Don't push yourself too much. Let's just say, your last road trip didn't recount as the walk in the park. It didn't go unnoticed.", said Chris.

Leon groaned in frustration, "I didn't want to talk about it. I got here as soon as I landed. I just wish I knew this sooner..."

Still holding Leon's shoulder, Chris gave a gentle squeeze to express his empathy towards the younger man. "The important thing is that you are here now. I'm sure you being here meant a lot for Claire."

Leon stared at Chris with much appreciation. Chris flashed a faint smile and continued, "You two raised that kid well. She has been here since the beginning. Always stay by her side."

They watched through the glass as Sherry lovingly kissed Claire's forehead; subsequently making his way to them. It came to his realization that Sherry had carried all the weight on his behalf when he was preoccupied. So did Chris. Somehow his chest felt over-flourished with gratitude, and perhaps it was his turn now to do the same.

"Thank you, Chris."

Chris gave a friendly nod. "I gotta head out to help Barry. My partner is already there, maybe some information got from Claire will narrow down the search for Moira.", said Chris, who sounded hopeful.

"I think, I'm gonna head out to the hotel-" said Sherry to Chris when she exited from the isolation ward.

Even before Chris managed to reply, Leon said promptly, "I'll be here." He gave Chris an assuring look and returned to Sherry, "Go get some rest, you have done so much. Let me a chance to take care of her, will ya?"

He ruffled Sherry's hair as she enveloped him with a hug. He let out a chuckle to comfort her.

Chris jokingly asked him with a smirk on his face, "Can I really count on you rookie?"

Leon pursed his lips at the same time folded his arms together. Irritated by the jesting query, he retorted, "Did Claire ever tell you I'm not a rookie anymore?"

His defensive response brought Chris to let out a hearty laugh. In some way, it reminded him of Claire. Sherry also joined the laugh at the same trying to stifle her remaining sniffle from the crying earlier. His chest warmed with delight considering he be able to make two of them laugh. Even in a fleeting moment. Even him as the joke.

Because it was definitely worthwhile.

-*-

He was alone now, standing at the end of the hospital bed with arms by his side, stilled. He froze for quite a minute, not due to the chilled temperature of the room but the sight before him. The smell of antiseptics and medicines that had been attacking his nose became more prominent the moment he stepped into the room.

The steady beeping of the heart monitor and the interval sound of other machines that were wired to her sounded deafening to him now by the absence of other noise. He glanced at the screens, there were a lot of lines and numbers that he did not understand.

In remorse, he stared at her face marred with cuts and bruises. He should come sooner, he thought over and over again. He walked slowly and arrived next to her in a depleting spirit. He bore no strength to stand, he sluggishly slumped into the chair.

His eyes started to well with tears. Carefully, he gathered her hand into his which was covered with cuts, burns, and bruises. He brought it to his lips and kissed it tenderly.

"I'm so sorry, Claire. I'm so sorry that I'm late."

He tasted salt now; so he wiped his wet cheek with the back of his hand. He tried to calm himself as he was trying to hold back the tears from falling, hence he swallowed the lump in his throat. His gaze remained at her with him still holding her hand. He unconsciously traced his thumb on her palm when he noticed it was covered with blisters.

Already in remorse, his tardiness and ignorance about the news made him feel even worse. He was the last one to know. Perhaps this was how Claire felt every time he came back from his field assignments, not knowing what had happened to him. The worry, the anxiety, the grief, and the pain. Perhaps he can change this, at least find the ways to do so. For his own good but most importantly for her better.

With care, he interlaced their fingers together and brought them to his cheek. And all of a sudden, he noticed the flickering of her eyelids. Claire's eyes fluttered open, and her beautiful blue eyes made an appearance. With a coarse voice, softly she asked, "Leon?"

"Yes, Claire. I'm here now.", answered Leon, his hand reached out to her and cradled her face. His thumbs wiped the tears of happiness rolled out on her face as she gave him the most captivating smile she ever had. And in return, he gave the broadest smile to her with his heart set on a new light to their reciprocal bonds.

Notes

At some point, I have to put RE: Revelations 2. I hope I don't make Leon too out-of-character.