Chalice of Revenge (Ghost X Ruby Laswell)

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Death.

It was so permanent. It seemed to come in waves, but for me it came in a fucking tsunami. It always happened to the people I cared for. The totality of it, the feeling of looking at a piece of laminated stone. It was all bullshit.

I felt like I could be the reaper that enters anyone's life.

Many days still haunt me, but there were a few that ran through my mind constantly.

Forcing to see dead people at five, ridicule them.

Watching my parents die,

My addict brother lay motionless on the floor knowing he didn't give a shit.

The time I was on a mission and threw a grenade into a basement just to find out a child was being held captive down in it.

But for some fucked reason, life took a chance on me.

It's been a week now.

She hasn't opened her eyes, but she was still breathing. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for me.

I could handle her being stabbed. The mortality rate was low, especially in her case. I've taken stab wound after stab wound; her being in pain didn't scare me. It angered me. But being shot blank in the middle of the stomach was different. It was the first time I felt legitimate fear in my life.

All I could see when I closed my eyes was the blood. Not just a simple stab wound, but blood coming from her mouth. The way she shook her head, and the way she had tears coming out of her eyes when she looked down at herself.

My heart felt frozen. It felt cold again; and little did I know she slowly thawed it out. Then it froze again.

"Ghost."

I look behind me, seeing Soap enter with a somber look on his face. He held a bouquet of pink and white flowers

"I can watch her. You need rest." Soap sets down the plants, sitting at the end of her bed. "At least she's breathing." He looks to me, trying too hard to be optimistic.

"Yeah, well that's not good enough for Kate." I say. Kate was constantly trying to check in on Ruby while she was going on missions- said she told her she would get hurt but didn't listen. But it sounded like something Ruby would say.

"Any changes?" Soap asks looking at her. Her face was bruised, and finger print bruises lay around her neck. I clench my fist, trying not to let my anger become the best of me.

"Negative."

"Ghost, there's something we need to talk about." Soap says with a sigh.

"I'm not leaving her, Johnny."

"There's a mission—"

"I'm not leaving. Post pone it as far as you can. She will be up by then." I didn't want to hear it. Any of it. I was in no condition to operate normally. Not with Ruby Laswell treading on my mind.

"I'll see what we can do." Soap gets up from the bed, exiting the room.

"I'm not leaving, Laswell." I say as I lean over the bed. Her eyes move behind her eyelids. It made me wonder what she was dreaming, if she was in any sort of pain.

I look down, and notice the bedsheets slightly moving. I move away the thin fabric, seeing her occasional finger twitches. Something I noticed she also did in her sleep.

I'd give up everything just for you to be conscious and talking again, Ruby Laswell.