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.・゜-: ✧☾ ☽✧ :-゜・.
When Levi returned to their house after the run, the world had shifted beneath his feet. Pete, the doctor, had been bent over Stella's motionless form, his face drawn tight with worry. Her heart rate had dropped dangerously low, so low Levi had felt his own heart mirror the fall. Though Pete stabilized her within minutes, Levi never quite caught his breath again.
For the next two days, he refused to leave her side. He counted her breaths through the hours of silence, pressed trembling fingers to her wrist to feel the faint, stubborn pulse, and demanded that Pete check her every hour, sometimes twice. Sleep was a luxury he no longer trusted himself to take.
Now, with dawn bleeding gold through the cracked shutters, Levi sat slumped beside her bed. His fingers worked absently through her tangled hair, the motion careful and reverent. He hadn't noticed the night had fallen until the sun began painting the walls in faint amber.
The boy mindlessly began to describe the sunrise. It had become a habit for him since their last interaction before all this had been during the sunrise after the storm. He was in the middle of describing the colors when he felt a slight shift. He would have barely noticed it if it hadn't been for the small groan that followed.
Levi froze, his heart leaping violently against his ribs. "Stella?" His voice broke on her name.
Her lashes fluttered, and then, like the world itself had tilted back into place, her eyes opened. Groggy, weak, but undeniably awake.
Her lips parted with a soft breath - one more present than the others. And with that, Levi shot up, hunching over her while his hand gently cupped her cheek. Her eyelashes fluttered once again, a weak move as if the girl struggled to stay awake.
"Hey, baby. Hey-" Levi's voice shook. "You're awake. You're okay. I've got you, baby." His thumb brushed over her painfully evident cheekbone.
Her lips moved soundlessly at first, too dry for words, but her gaze locked on him with remembrance. Despite the grogginess and weakness in her gaze, Levi could perceive the recognizable light in her eyes.
Stella's gaze tried to find him through the fog.Her eyes, those eyes, found him. Levi let out a choked laugh that was half a sob, half relief, before pulling back just enough to drink her in as her mouth moved inaudibly.
"Hey, baby, don't talk. It's okay." Levi whispered, and gently traced his fingers down her arm, reaching for her hand.
"L-levi." She croaked out and the boy's eyes snapped back up to her face at the sound of her voice. Then suddenly he felt five weak fingers wrap around his hand and he had to blink fast to keep her in focus.
"Hi, baby." He sniffled. "I've got you." He tightened his hold on her hand and bowed down to place a gentle kiss against her temple, breathing her in like it was the first time in years that he wasn't constantly suffocating.
