Kayalina

Original Story

I sat in the waiting room; Mom held my hand while Dad kept me in a hug that I knew was supposed to hide me from the world. They were waiting for me to react, to cry, to curse, they would have taken anything to see that I still could feel, but I didn't want to. If I showed any sign of hope there was a chance I'd be crushed, but if I threw hope out the window and expected the worst I'd have to live with the guilt of doubting. No, feeling nothing was the only thing keeping me together.

I looked at what was once my perfect dress. It was emerald green with an off-the-shoulder neckline and a black sash that was held loosely at my hip by a single black jewel pendant. Now the green was stained with blood and the used-to-be floor length hem line was torn to above my ankles. It didn't matter; the one person I wanted to dress up for was on an operating table in critical condition.

"Kay, you've got to say something," my step mom pleaded.

My dad kissed my head. "Sweetie, anything, please," he whispered.

I tried, but nothing came out, so I just kept staring at the floor.

I could feel my parents look at each other, it was like I knew what they were thinking.

"I lost her mother, if Lucas doesn't make it, I'll lose her too. I feel so helpless..." 

"It's the first time she's opened her heart, she couldn't have kept it closed all these years for it to be broken. Please God, make everything right..."

The doctor came in. His face was blank, his eyes vacant and his walk without purpose.

I could feel my mom fighting not to cry beside me, and my dad held me tighter to protect me from the news he felt coming.

If the doctor was going to say what my parents thought, no hug or sign of bravery would save me, I'd be destroyed; shredded from the inside out.

"Miss Verden?" he said.

I braced myself. "Yes?"

"You did very well in stopping the blood. He asked me to let you see him," he said with a tired smile.

I squirmed out of my dad's hug, sitting on the edge of my seat as I waited impatiently for the doctor to tell me which room I was running to.

"He's awake?" my dad asked quietly.

The doctor turned his head slowly; clearly he had been working long past his regular hours today. "No, it's still a touch and go situation."

Those words drilled a hole in my heart. "How did he ask for me, then?"

"Before we gave him the anaesthetic he told me that as long as he was still breathing when he came out of the surgery, you needed to be the first person to see him."

"How much of a touch and go situation are we talking?" My step mom asked as she leaned forward and held my hand.

"As I said, your daughter did very well at stopping the blood, but the internal damage was quite extensive. We were able to fix the damage, but he needed a blood transfusion and we'll be prescribing a two week antibiotic to prevent the possibility of infection. There's a small chance of that possibility, but they'll also help him with the pain. We'll need to watch him for the next week, and after the next few days we'll have a clearer idea of what to expect for the recovery rate."

"But there will be a recovery?" I asked, letting my hope get the best of me.

"Though I'm not technically supposed to make guarantees, I'm quite certain he'll make it. He will have a scar though, I suppose he can add it to his collection," the doctor laughed.

I had no clue what was so funny. "Collection?" I repeated.

The doctor looked at me, stunned. "That young man has several scars, some look to be from wounds that came close to competing with this incident."

"He was raised and taught very differently from here," my father said.

The doctor only widened his eyes and gave my dad Lucas' prescription as well as a copy of a chart detailing everything that had to be done in order to save Lucas, then gave me his room number.

I did not know what I was expecting to see when I walked into the room, but whatever it was, this wasn't it. Lucas laid on the hospital bed with an IV transferring the blood from a bag off the IV stand into his arm and oxygen tubes entered his nose to assist his slow but steady breathing. The other arm had another IV that was transferring a clear liquid into Lucas's body. Though he was sleeping, his face looked tired and his skin was much paler than I was used to.

I took a seat next to the bed and held Lucas's hand, it was cold.

As I sat there, just when the clock's hands showed the New Year had begun, I felt Lucas's hand squeeze mine and I knew I had him back.

... Yes, I remembered every small detail, and it was all because of Lucas.

As I headed down the stairs to car that waited to take us to the airport I saw my dad loading in the last of his and my mother's things into the trunk. Soon I would be home in Radorna with my father and step mother in a castle that one could only try to describe.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. "Just one more day and we'll be home," Lucas whispered.

I leaned my head back and kissed him.

He smiled. "I'm not complaining, but what was that for?"

"For finally asking," I said.

Lucas took my hand and played with the ring he had put on my finger the night before. "A princess deserves a crown; a bride-to-be deserves a ring."