Chapter Nineteen – Don't leave me

Rina hissed as she tried to move her arm, it was stuck to her side by some secretion from one of the slimes. She could feel her bare skin burning with the contact; slimes literally dissolved their prey or if they were large enough, or there were enough of them, suffocated it. There was an array of monsters around her that were dead or dying but she could see more crawling, flying and oozing in from the broken window and now, wide open door that had been torn off its hinges. She was exhausted, blood loss was going to be the real death of her if anything. There were some nasty lacerations down her back, deep gashes on her thigh and she was pretty sure she had a few broken ribs. Adrenaline kept her agile and focused but once that had worn off, her anger took over. Even that only carried her so far and now she felt like giving up. It would be so easy to fall to her knees and just let it be over.

She felt her vision start to blur and darken, causing her to stumble back against her fridge, leaning on it for support. The cool metal was refreshing against her aching body and burning, stinging wounds. Weakly, she gripped the pommel of her sword, raising it in a protective manor in her less dominant hand, her other bound to her side and useless. Rina felt the pain of her tiled floor ripple up her body as her legs finally gave way, causing her to collapse. The irritating clicking and buzzing of the large insects that came closer overwhelmed everything else and she fell unconscious.

Suddenly she felt weightless, wrapped in a warm embrace. The pain coursed through her, awakening and harsh. She gasped in agony but weakly reached out for the comfort that disappeared, pulling it back. 'Don't leave me,' she demanded, her voice barely above a whisper. 'Don't go. Please… I'm scared.' The comfort returned, more aware of her pain, soundlessly easing it while she felt drops of wetness on her cheek.

Then the wind was whipping her hair in her face, the bright lights of something large, loud and powerful. 'Keep her still, we'll be there in about ten minutes. They're on standby and expecting us.' Unfamiliar voices, frightening. Determined tones and a pressure in her palm and entwined with her fingers that refused to leave. 'You're coming with us, don't worry, she's in good hands.'

-x-

'Sebby?' Robin said softly as she placed her hand on her son's cheek. 'Darling, it's been three days,' she whispered. The stark white walls seemed to reflect the light and the only sounds were the machines monitoring her vitals with a monotone but regular beep and the steady exhale of her breathing as the ventilator assisted her. Sebastian raised his head from where he had been asleep on the edge of the bed, resting on his arms.

'Wha-?' He said sleepily, 'is she-?' He looked over at Rina and his fell as he saw that she still wasn't awake. Sebastian cleared his throat, running his hand through his hair, brushing it away from his face as he slowly sat up. 'I thought she would be awake by now,' he mumbled.

Robin took the extra chair next to the bed and passed Sebastian a coffee that she had picked up from the hospital café. 'They only stopped the treatment a few hours ago, sweetie, it could take another day for her to recover consciousness,' she said, knowing the he already knew. 'From what the doctor said, she's doing really well. After her scan they're confident that she's going to regain almost all, if not full capabilities,' she said softly as she leaned over and brushed more of Sebastian's hair back. 'Go back to the hotel, I'll stay here and look after her. If anything changes, I'll ring you. You know that.'

Sebastian sighs and looks at his mother, 'thanks, mum,' he whispered. Robin smiled with bittersweetness and pulled him into a gentle hug. Sebastian pressed his face against her shoulder and attempted to stifle the emotions that he felt were welling up. He pulled away and stood up, feeling a little embarrassed that his mum was next to him as he leaned over to Rina. 'I'll be back soon, Pheebs,' he whispered as he left a chaste kiss on her temple. 'Mum is here, you're not alone,' he assured.

After a little while, he made his way back to the hotel where Demetrius was packing a few things. Robin and her husband had been here for a night but had to go back to Pelican town later that evening. Sebastian had been in the hospital since they arrived but he was going to take over their room until Rina was well enough. Robin had brought a bag of clothing for him and he really needed a shower. Demetrius greeted him as he opened the door and let him in. 'Hey, Sebastian,' he said gently as the young man walked into the room. Their relationship had improved, both making an effort to understand one another. 'How's your wrist?' He asked as Sebastian began to take off his shoes.

Sebastian looked at the cast on his left hand. 'Itchy,' he said honestly. Once he had arrived at Rina's home, he had thrown a few flares into her fields to distract the monsters but it didn't mean that he had an easy time getting to her. His bike had a red light built into its headlights, as did most vehicles. So, his arrival caused chaos and panic with the monsters. He had ended up having to fight some of the more stubborn creatures to get to Rina. Once he had carried her into her bedroom and locked the door, it was only ten to fifteen minutes before his mother arrived with Marlon and his step dad, they took care of clearing the rest of the mosters. Air transport had been arranged to take Rina to the hospital in the city, Sebastian joining her as he had been hurt in his own fight. Once at the hospital, Sebastian had found out that Rina had listed him as her medical contact. Not her father. He made the decision not to have her father notified until she woke up and made the choice herself.

'Won't be long till it heals,' Demetrius said honestly. Sebastian nodded and began to look in the rucksack for some clothes while his step dad cleaned up. Demetrius passed him a towel and clear bag filled with toiletries. 'Here,' he said as Sebastian walked to the bathroom. 'I'll have the room signed over to you and I'll leave the key card on the desk.'

He paused at the bathroom door and looked back at Demetrius with a nod, 'thanks,' he replied sincerely.

Demetrius paused and then took a deep breath and cleared his throat, 'Seb?' He said to start with making Sebastian tilt his head in response. 'You did something amazing for Rina. I… would have been terrified if that were your mother in her position. Not that I wouldn't have done the same thing as you,' he clarified. Sebastian wore a slightly weak smile, a little amused and touched. 'Your… your father would be incredibly proud of you,' Demetrius said firmly.

Sebastian inhaled sharply and had to take a fraction of a second to remind himself that in no way did Demetrius mean it maliciously. Sebastian cleared his throat and nodded, 'thanks, I think my father would have been too,' he agreed. Demetrius nodded and picked up the suitcases he and Robin had brought and went to the door. As he opened it, Sebastian spoke again, this time looking at the handle of the door. Anxiety rolled around his stomach, 'I'm more interested to know… what my dad thinks, though,' he said quietly, refusing to meet the man's eye.

Demetrius paused and Sebastian could see in his peripherals how his shoulders tensed as he turned around to face his step son. His voice was choked with emotion and his eyes glittered with tears. 'I… have always been proud of you,' he said as he smiled weakly, 'you didn't need to do anything to earn that,' Demetrius said honestly. Sebastian sniffed and nodded in return, both of them uncomfortable with the vulnerability. Demetrius cleared his throat and with no more needing to be said, he left the room, allowing Sebastian to take a shower in peace.

It was a few hours later, Sebastian had taken his mother's advice and tried to get some actual restful sleep after his shower. It hadn't taken him long to drop off and his phone barely woke him when it started to ring. Groggily he reached over and pulled it from where it was charging, answering it as he rubbed his face. 'Mm… hello?'

'Sebby,' it was Robin. He almost smacked his head against the headboard with the speed he sat up. 'Calm down, nothing is wrong,' Robin continued to say, blissfully unaware of his close encounter with the wooden frame. 'Rina woke up about half an hour ago. She's fine, a little out of it but looking good. They're going to run some tests but she should be able to come off the ventilator later this evening, though she'll still need a higher concentration of oxygen for a while. So, the oxygen mask will be essential for a couple days until her lung heals a little more,' she explained.

'I'll be-'

'Don't rush over, Sebby,' Robin interrupted. 'She's got hours of tests to do and bloodwork, etc. You'll just stress her out as she won't like that you're having to wait. I've asked the nurse to call you as soon as she's done with it all but for now, I've got to return to home and deal with some bits,' she said softly.

Sebastian didn't like the idea of leaving Rina alone in hospital but he knew that his mother was right. Rina would be worrying about him getting bored or annoyed for having to wait. 'Does she know I'm here?' He asked quietly, it's not like Rina wanted to see him. He didn't know why she called him that night, he was just glad that she had.

Robin didn't instantly reply, 'her… memory is a little disjointed, the doctors aren't worried though. They said it happens. She's been going on about how she's "lost" something and that the other person would be upset. I tried asking but couldn't figure out what it was about. I've mentioned you but she didn't seem to even register what I said, then again, she's got a lot of meds in her system and she's probably exhausted.'

'Yeah… I get it,' he replied with a nod. 'Thanks mum, I'll go over when I get the all clear from the hospital,' he said after a small cough. They said goodbye and he sighed, looking at his phone. After a few moments, he began to look through all the photos he had stored on it. Rina hated photos being taken at first; it reminded her of the times with her father. After a while, when she realised that she didn't have to be "picture perfect" with every pose and silhouette, she seemed to have fun taking them. Several were ones that she had taken and then sent to him. He skimmed through, most were of them together, watching films, Sebastian trying some of her cooking. Rina attempting to climb a tree. There was even one of them both in mines together, looking for precious stones. There were a couple that he had taken without her knowledge; Rina at the Winter Festival, spinning Jas, her hair and dress caught with the few snowflakes that had fallen. One with Mochi curled up and snoozing on Rina's shoulders as she had fallen asleep over her kitchen table while filling Halloween baskets with sweets. Sebastian couldn't help but chuckle as he saw one that wasn't particularly flattering of himself.

Rina had somehow convinced him to allow a pamper session. She had placed this rainbow, soft fabric, elasticated headband in his hair, pulling it all away from his face. She had then coated his skin with this bright green clay mask and some hydrating lip gel that was violently red on his lips. To be fair, Rina had done the exact thing to herself and they had sat on his bed, watching his laptop as she painted his nails random colours that didn't chip off for weeks. The picture was of them both, Rina holding the camera up high to get herself in the foreground and Sebastian, begrudgingly holding up his hands to show case his nails while in the face mask and headband. She looked so happy with her bright smile and he could remember the sound of her laugh as she took the picture. A pang of guilt ran through him, when was the last time he had heard that laugh? Not recently. It was his fault too. Then he came across a video that began to automatically play:

It was dark, then the night vision clicked on. They were in Rina's bedroom and then suddenly a voice cuts through the silence. 'I get scared that one day I'm going to wake up and this would have all been a dream,' Rina said quietly. There are noises as he heard them readjust their sleeping position. Sebastian remembered why he was recording, they were trying to catch Mochi on camera, zooming back and forth across her bedroom. Rina continued to speak. 'I just can't imagine what my life would have been like had I not come here,' she said with a sigh.

Sebastian replied, 'I don't like to think about that,' he admitted. 'If that did happen for some surreal reason, you know as sure as anything that at least it was a good dream?' He said trying to cheer her up.

'Can I be honest?'

'Always,' he nods.

'I'm so scared that somehow, I'm going to lose everything. I don't know how or why but it's like a perpetual, constant, fear,' she mumbled. Sebastian couldn't see what happened next but if he remembered correctly, he had simply pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her hair lightly. After a while, she spoke, 'do you think dreams mean something?'

'I think some do. Let's just say this was a dream. A dream I had,' Sebastian said softly. 'If I woke up one morning and this had all gone? Because it was a dream? Well, I'd jump on my bike and I would drag you out the city to here.'

Rina snorted, 'that's a little selfish. I wouldn't know anything about this life, or you. You'd just end up scaring the life out of me,' she pointed out with a giggle. They both stilled as the cat flap went but soon kept talking.

'I wouldn't do it for me. Even if you hated me for it, I would try and get you to stay and figure it out. I would want you to know that you could have a better, happier life. If only you took the risk,' he replied.

'Aww, you sap,' she replied and Sebastian smiled, both unable to see each other. 'I think we would- Oh, there he goes,' Rina pauses as Mochi nyooms across her bedroom floor and jumps onto her wardrobe. 'Little demon,' she laughs behind her hand. Mochi looks straight at the camera, his eyes flashing yellow as they reflect before he jumps onto the bed and causes them both to shout out in pain as his weight lands on them. The camera fell sideways and then after a full minute of laughing and giggling, is picked up and turned off. He sighed and put down his phone, perhaps moving to the city would be the best thing for her. One less worry.