Rosetta

29

TRIGGER WARNING

Cress stared at him. Thorne had his head tipped back against the window, finally allowing himself some sleep.

He hadn't slept for days. He had stayed with during her operation, and when she woke up he was the first face she saw. And she had only gotten up once to take everything of the med clinic in. But through one eye.

Cress realised, with the same pain the thought always brought, that she only had one eye. 

One eye.

She recalled the events of the fight, when Carlos had crept up behind Esmerelda when she threw the knife towards Thorne. She had tried to protect him by taking the knife herself.

The pain was unimaginable. It was as if a white-hot poker was being pressed into her neck, as if she was being thrown into a vat of slow-acting acid, pain coming too slow, burning too fast, but never fully stopping.

It hadn't stopped now.

The ache of losing something she'd become used to her whole life, stars, she could understand Cinder's pain.

The world really took things for granted. Her eyes had kept her alive for all those years, allowing her to program devices for Mistress, and even find the Rampion.

She lifted her hand to where a medical patch was hiding her empty space. The doctors had told her that when they had removed her eye, the nerves hadn't been in a good shape. They also said a lot of other medical facts, but Cress had zoned out into the one thing.

She couldn't get cybernetics.

She could forever have one eye.

She rested her hand again and shifted in the bed, shifted ever so slightly- but Thorne was up in a second.

He stumbled over to her, dizzy from his abrupt awakening, but dragged himself to the bed rail.

"Cress?" He questioned. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water?"

She just stared up at him. His hair was a ruffled mess, making her want to stand up and fix it. The bags under his eyes made her want to force him to go to sleep. And the guilty look on his face, the face clearly stating that he held himself responsible, made her want to crumple in her bed and dissolve into a thousand pieces.

"I'm good," she replied.

"Good!" He said quickly. He twisted his hands in front of him, occasionally digging his fingers into his skin.

"Thorne, what's wrong?" She asked finally.

"I'm fine!" He didn't say.

"What do you mean?" He didn't say.

"Don't worry about it!" He didn't say.

"How can I live like this?" He whispered, so quietly it was as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Then he began to cry, silent tears dropping down his face.

"I've destroyed you, Cress. How can I possibly live knowing I've done this? That I've put you up for this. What I did years ago on Luna- I'm never, ever going to forgive myself, Cress. And now- what you did to save me- I'm not worth saving Cress," he rasped harshly. "You should have let me get hurt."

"Don't say that- how can you say that?" Cress stammered.

"You've lost an eye, Cress!" He shouted.

She squirmed back from his voice. "But- but you didn't hurt me, Thorne. You've never once hurt me. And I don't ever think you could."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "And another thing, Carswell Thorne, is that you have given me the best life I could have ever dreamed of. Because you gave me my dream. You showed me the world, after I shot off your fingers!"

He took a moment to take it all in, but settled with, "I'm sorry, Cress. I'm so, so sorry."

But he also couldn't stop a slight grin falling in his face. "What?" She asked.

"I love it when you say my name."

*

She was screaming. A blood curdling, ear splitting scream that was ripping his heart out.

But Thorne could only watch his hands as they delved the knife deeper into Cress's stomach, her face becoming paler and paler.

She was dying. He was killing her.

Then the control snapped and this hands were his own. He knelt over her failing body, trying to staunch the bleeding with his hands. Then hers fell limp.

Settling by her sides, her head titling to face the empty space to his right.

Dead.

Cress was dead.

He broke into hacking sobs, feeling as if all his organs had been taken out and broken up to bits. He wanted to break up into ash, letting himself be scattered away so he could never be put together again. Never fixed. He would never be fixed.

Because she was the one who had fixed him.

*

Thorne jutted up, banging his head on the window.

"Thorne...?" Cress questioned sleepily.

He cursed. "I'm fine, get some more rest."

She held herself up by her elbows and looked at him, her head tilted to one side.

"No you're not..." She was half asleep.

"I am. Trust me." He put on his most encouraging smile. "Just a nightmare."

She raised an eyebrow but laid back down on the bed.

Stars, it's was strange to see her in an eyepatch.

She began to pat the side of her bed. "Come here."

"Wait? No, you need proper rest," he said.

"Come here..." her voiced tailed off.

He sighed and went over to her, climbing in the bed and getting under the thin blanket.

When he was comfortable, and had finished shifting, Cress placed her head in his chest and began to entwine their fingers.

"Cress?" He asked.

"Hm?" She responded, eyes closed.

"Do you still love me?"

Her eyes snapped open in an instant. "Of course I do!"

He smiled awkwardly, embarrassed. "I love you too."

A sleepy smile curved on her face.

He bent down to kiss her forehead just as Cress said, "Im going to wear the eyepatch over my eye- thing. Forever."

"Whatever you want, Miss Darnel." The name made him realise that it would be Miss Darnel for long. Soon, it would be Mrs Darnel-Thorne.

Cress must have noticed too, because she said, "And I'm gong to wear it on our wedding."

"I'm surprised you still want to marry me," he muttered.

Cress kissed his cheek. "Carswell Thorne, there is no one else I would marry."