in his arms | BOOK II

FOUR // unedited

♠️

ellie

The first thing Ellie could see when she gained consciousness was the obnoxious brightness of the sun through her eyelids. Her eyebrows scrunched together and her head wobbled from one side to the other, her body too weak to try to move anything else. Her head pounded and she groaned out lowly, rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand.

"Archer, get the curtains," a familiar, yet raspy, voice immediately spoke. Their voice came out with urgency. "Grace, get a glass of water, Lord knows when she last had something to drink."

Ellie opened her mouth to speak but felt a rush go to her throat. Almost as if they knew what her body was thinking, they held a small bin to her and allowed her to throw up the very little content she had in her stomach. Ellie felt suffocated from the sobs that she released, her face falling into her hands once she was finished. They took the bin from her, allowing her to cry to her heart's content.

"D..." Ellie choked out, her first word sounding rough and dry. She coughed at her weak attempt to speak, her eyes tearing up more than they already had.

"He's safe," they assured her. "Downstairs eating a buffet's worth of breakfast, in fact."

She nodded her head, hesitantly peeling her eyes open. The second her eyes revealed themselves from her lids, they wanted to be hidden once more. Everything was so bright, it was hard to keep them open. No matter how many times Ellie blinked, the blurring never faded, and it caused her to panic as her breathing began to become uneven. She tried to sit up but failed miserably, her arms wobbling every time she added pressure to them.

"Hey, hey, hey," the deep voice gently rushed out. Ellie flinched when she felt their warm hand graze her cheek, but she did not pull away. "It's just me, baby. The blurriness is temporary. It's just the effects of your medication wearing off, okay? I'm going to need you to put this in your mouth and just swish it around for a minute."

Ellie nodded her head, her breaths still coming out short and heavy as she listened to the gentle instructions, blindly taking a tiny cup handed to her. The second the liquid touched her mouth, she knew that it was mouthwash, and began to swish it around for another minute.

When she spat it back out into the cup, Ellie had calmed down. She began to blink again until she could make out the silhouettes of the people in the room. She looked up at the very large man in front of her, her bottom lip quivering as she released another ugly sob.

"Blaze?" She managed to get out, immediately noticing the whiteness of his smile.

"Yes, it's me," he spoke softly, attempting to cup both of her cheeks once more. Ellie did not hesitate as she moved one of her hands to intertwine with his, salty tears continuously rolling down her cheeks. "I'm here. You're safe."

Blaze wiped her tears away, having to fight off his own. He watched the corner of her lips turn up the slightest bit and unexpectedly pulled him down, her cries of relief echoing through the room as she clung to his body. Ellie feared that she was dreaming; she wanted—needed—to make sure that Blaze was truly in front of her, holding onto her.

Maybe it was Death finally deciding that He had had enough toying with her. Maybe, after so many months of torture and pain and starvation, Ellie was finally being allowed to rest so she could truly be happy. And maybe seeing Blaze for the last time was Death's gift to her for managing to fight for so long.