Bubble

Chapter 34

“Alright, you can go now, I’ll see you at home honey,” Elisabeth told Emma later that night, and she swung her legs off of the hospital bed, standing to her feet quickly, eager to get out of the infirmary. The moment they had entered the gates of the colony, her mother had rushed her to the hospital, although Emma’s injuries weren’t major. They were able to close up the gash on her neck with some sort of bio spray, making new skin grow over the cut instantly, and you could hardly tell anything was there. But it was still extremely fragile, and it hurt like crazy.

Elizabeth had forced her to stay in the infirmary for the rest of the day, wanting to make perfectly sure she was alright. Emma had been mechanically saying that she was fine all day, but everyone knew she wasn’t. No matter how hard she tried to rid herself of the memory, the scene from earlier that morning continued to race through her mind. And telling yourself to stop thinking about something usually has the opposite of the desired effect.

But Will had stayed by her side the entire day, holding her hand as he sat in the chair next to the bed. He filled Emma in on what had happened after the man was killed; she had been too hysterical to see or remember anything. No one else had come through the portal, and Dr. Truman had successfully closed the tesseract before they had the chance to. After an hour or so of damage control, the new colonists were herded back to Nova Kai. Everyone was alright; there hadn’t been any casualties or injuries, and there wasn’t a chance that the government was ever going to harm Nova Kai again. And people had been trying to thank Emma all day for it.

All she wanted to do was get out of the hospital and go somewhere where she could have some privacy and could curl up into a ball to just breathe. As she jumped up from the bed, she swayed a bit, and Will helped steady her. “Ready?” he asked, offering her his hand. Emma gladly accepted it and speed walked towards the doors.

It was late, and rather dark, although a full moon was attempting to shine through the clouds that covered the sky. Will and Emma started off towards her house through the streets, which were still surprisingly full of people, but he paused when they neared the gates to the orchards. “Wanna go for a walk?” She nodded furiously, yearning to get away from the crowds. They walked in silence for a few minutes between the rows of trees, heading nowhere in particular. When the noises of talking and footsteps of town finally left her ears, they came to a stop and she heaved a shaky sigh of relief.

Will brought her into a tight embrace, and Emma clung to him with all her might, never wanting to let go again. “I thought... I thought you were going to die.” His voice was rough with emotion as he almost whispered in her ear. She nodded into his chest, silent tears making their way from the corners of her eyes. Will pulled away slightly, moving his hands from around her back to cup her face, but still holding her close.

“I never want to loose you, Emma. I love you.” His words stole all of the breath from Emma’s body, and she sniffed a smile.

“I love you too.” Without another ounce of patience, Will brought his lips to hers and pulled her as close a possible. He picked her up, and spun her around in his arms, and she giggled into his mouth, all of the sadness and fear of the last couple months melting away.

Emma felt something splash against her face, and pulled back to wipe away whatever it was, furrowing her brows in confusion. Another drop landed on her cheek, and she realized what was happening. It was raining. Will smiled and captured her lips once again with his, both of them soon becoming drenched in the water that began to pour from the sky. Emma paused for a moment to look up at the sky, and smiled. A new season was beginning, and the rain didn’t taste like tears.