better off | d.m.

24.heal

Sage blinks her eyes a few times to focus her vision. It doesnt take long, because it is dark, night maybe. She ignores the headache as she sees a figure pacing around the room nervously.

That makes her nervous as well. She doesnt know how long she was out. Only a few minutes maybe. What has happened? Why is he so on edge?

"Hey." Sage croaks and not just surprises him, but also herself by the sound of her voice.

Maybe it was more than a few minutes.

"Holy shit." Draco breathes and advances at her rapidly, kneeling down on the floor beside her.

He gives her a kiss on the lips like he thought he never could anymore, yet like she is out of glass and could break any moment. When he pulls away, she sees the tear streaks and puffy eyes, as well as dark circles around them.

"Youre awake."

She can feel the restraint, that he wants to hug or hold her, but is scared to touch her.

She caresses his cheekbone and furrows her brows. "Why wouldnt I be?"

He shakes his head lightly and his eyes rim. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Blossom." He takes one of her hands in his and lays his forehead on the edge of the matress.  "I should have come sooner, I- I should have killed him. I could have saved you. I should have saved you." He chokes out, his shoulders heaving.

"Draco, stop that." She says sternly.

He is driving himself mad again.

Sage moves her left arm to take on his shoulder and hisses, not because of the pain, that is a little weaker now, but because she totally forgot about where exactly she is injured. That causes him to lift his head on his own and check her out.

"How bad is your pain? You had potions that let you sleep long enough to recover, but we werent sure how much it would heal." He explains worriedly.

"How long was I out?" She asks while wiping away his tears.

"About 26 hours." He sniffs and Sage's eyebrows shoot up.

Not only is that a freakish long time, but the way he reacted when she woke up only lets her assume that he convinced himself of the worst.

"Did- did you think I was dead?" Sage investigates carefully.

The hurt she sees in his beautiful silver eyes is crushing. Her heart clenches as the new tears of his flow. He is unable to form a response, but she doesnt need a verbal one.

"Draco, I'm so sorry." She whispers and her eyes are welling up.

He shakes his head again. "These hours without you were... awful. Its like, a part of me was gone and I know that is dramatic, but I cant even explain to you how much I love you." He says with a broken voice and her tears roll down, not only at his words, but also because of his words.

"What happened?" She breathes, stroking his cheekbone to offer some comfort.

"You fell asleep before we could give you something. I had no clue how exactly you were injured, so I worried that you wouldnt wake up. It was a waiting game and the hours kept on going and it got more dreadful and I- I..." His breathing becomes erratic and he presses the back of her hand against his forehead, while looking down, his elbows propped on the matress.

Just imagining being in his skin for the last 26 hours, imagining a life without him, it hurts. And it hurts that he suffered uselessly, because she is alive. But that is what love does, right?

"Draco, please hug me." Sage says. He looks at her again and hesitates, but she pulls him with her good hand as best as she can in the position she is in.