Bullied Little Hipster

Chapter 24: Don't Give Up Hope

~Normal POV~

It's been 3 weeks and there hasn't been any sign off Sollux waking up. Eridan hadn't left his side, except to eat, use the restroom, and clean himself. He just sat there holding Sollux's hand, looking pitiful.

Close friends of the couple have tried to get Eridan to leave, but he would just snap at them and growl a little to get them to back off. Eventually people just stopped trying to separate the two.

The doctors told Eridan that Sollux will wake up, but they don't know when. They managed to get the bullet out of him thankfully, stating that the bullet didn't hit any important organs. Hearing those words made Eridan relax just a tiny bit, only a tiny bit though.

There were many thoughts running through Eridan's head at the moment, all of them about how it should've been him that got shot and not Sollux.
~Eridan's POV~

I sighed to myself for what seemed like the umpteenth time. I couldn't help myself, who knows if Sollux will ever wake up or not. When he does wake up I want to be by his side, so that he won't feel uncomfortable and worried. If only I protected myself better then he wouldn't be in this hospital bed making everyone worry about him.

I felt my stomach grumble, and as much as I want to stay by Sollux and not miss anything that could be prudent to his recovery, I'm positive he wouldn't like me starving myself. I slowly got up and planted a kiss on my love's forehead, promising him that I'll return quickly, before striding out the door to the hospitals cafeteria.

They were serving meatloaf, fish and chicken with a side of beans, rice, or bread. I went with the fish and rice, because even though hospital food is disgusting, fish is the only food I'll tolerate in a hospital.

After getting my meal I went to the vending machine to grab a nice cold can of Pepsi. I went back up to Sol's room and ate in there silently, taking sips of my drink. It tasted bland like usual, but it fills a person up so I have to deal with it for the moment. My meal finished, I threw away the trash and went back to watching over Sol.

I almost didn't hear the door open and when I looked up I saw Mituna looking as if he intruded on a personal moment. Gesturing him to come in, he pulled up a chair and sat beside me looking at his brother.

".....Do you think he'll ever wake up?" Was the first thing that Mituna said. I look over at him and saw that his eyes were bloodshot from crying. He looked as if he wanted to cry now, but had no more tears to shed. I felt sympathetic for Mituna, how he must be feeling to see his brother in this state, not knowing when he'll wake up.

"I don't know, but we have to keep hoping. Besides Sol wouldn't want to see us upset like this." I tried to encourage him, but even I didn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. Even though it was a feeble attempt at calming him, it worked only a tiny bit. The two of us sat in silence for the remainder of the day.

I don't remember dozing off, but when I woke up the sun was setting. I saw Mituna beside me still so that means he fell asleep also. I smiled at the peaceful look that adorned Mituna's face before checking on Sollux once more. No sign that he going to wake up.

~Normal POV~

Eridan grasped onto Sollux's hand praying to whatever God was out there, hoping that he would awake soon. But Eridan has been disappointed before when praying, he prayed to God hoping that his mom would get better from cancer, but she never did and died a week later from the cancer. He felt that he would be disappointed again and almost lost hope if not feeling Sollux's hand twitch.

He looked at Sollux and saw that he seemed to be twitching. Eridan shook Mituna awake from his slumber and the two of them watched as Sollux seemed to be awakening.

"Sol, can you hear me?" Eridan inquired excitedly. Sollux appeared to be responding and Eridan told Mituna to go get the doctor.

"Sollux if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." He instructed Sollux and Sollux did squeeze his hand.

~Sollux POV~

Ugh. What happened? My body felt stiff and I couldn't speak. Am I asleep?

Wait. Am I hearing voices? Is that ED?! I made my hand twitch and I could feel his hand holding mine. I could hear him tell someone to get a doctor, then telling me to squeeze his hand if I could hear him.

I tried to open my eyes, it was difficult but I couldn't give up now. I slowly pried my eyes open and was greeted with a room with dim lighting. I slowly turned my head to the left and saw ED. I softly smiled at him when he looked at me.

He planted kisses on my face, crying about how worried he was and that I should never do anything as stupid as that ever again. When the doctor came in he ushered Eridan out and began to inspect me.

~Normal POV~

It was a close call, but Sollux finally woke up. Mituna went to go call his father to tell him the good news and Eridan stood in the hallway grinning like a loon. His Sollux was awake and all he has to do was not give up hope. Huh, who knew?