In Love With Death's Daughter

Awake

        I keep my eyes squeezed shut, and listen for someone to respond to Kathy. She was probably talking to my mom, or something. But where in the world am I?!

        "You know," Kathy keeps on talking. Whoever she was talking to probably just nodded, or something, "We've really missed you. Delilah has been really upset and all. Whenever I would come, she'd try to keep herself from being obviously sad, you know? She stayed in the room with you. Promised herself that." Kathy lets out a short laugh, and I try to think.

        Is this some kind of flashback to something that didn't happen? Because it really sounds like she's talking to Lucas. But he's gone, so that's insane. Maybe she's gone insane. No matter what the situation is, my neck seriously hurts, and if I don't fix it, I'm going to start crying. I decide to listen for a tiny bit more anyway, though.

        "I can imagine. She's so stubborn." A weak voice says, and it's all I can do to not sit up and stare in shock. What if I do, and it all turns out to be a dream? What if I'm still in the car, and my neck is sore from being bent, and asleep or something? Because I'm hearing Lucas' voice. Well, not really. Lucas' voice is usually strong and reassuring, but right now.. Right now it's weak and tired.

        "I think I might try to wake her up again. Give me a sec." Kathy says, and I hear a chair get pushed back, and soft steps being taken towards me.

        I open my eyes, and see Kathy right in front of me.

        "Pinch me." I whisper, and she looks at me confused, for a moment.

        "I'm so glad you're up! I was starting to worry! Now that that's out of the way, I can respond. Um, why?" Kathy says, and I don't bother to chuckle, or even smile.

        "Pinch me, punch me. Something." I whisper back, and Kathy nods.

          She turns away from me for a moment, before spinning around and punching me in the arm, then pinching where she'd punched.

        "OW!" I yell, sitting up, and cradling my arm. "Thank you." I add, clenching my teeth as the pain burns through my body. That girl can punch.

          As soon as I recover from my injuries, I stumble out of my chair, rushing to Lucas' bed. I smile at him, carefully caressing his face.

        "H-Hey." I say, smiling through tears

        "Hi there." He replies. His face is still a bit scarred, and bruised, but his eyes are the same. His smile is the same.

        "I've missed you." I whisper, and put my hand on his.

        "I love you." Lucas says, and I grin.

        I let out a small laugh, "I love you too."

          From behind me, I can hear a tiny click, and Lucas chuckles a bit, as much as he can without hurting himself. But I honestly don't care. I'm here. Not at home, going to school because I'm not needed to be here anymore, because Lucas is gone. No, I'm in this hospital, and I'm talking to my boyfriend. He's alive. I was dreaming everything. I can't even put words to describe how I'm feeling, because ecstatic isn't a strong enough word to explain it. So I just stare into Lucas' eyes, and kiss him softly on the nose (Why not?).

          Then, his smile fades a bit, and I turn around to see my dad. I don't say a word as I get up, and take him out of the room.

          "He's awake," I say softly, "What are you doing here?"

        He doesn't say a word as he reaches into his jacket pocket, and pulling out a yellow post-it note. He has a smile on his face, and I can't speak. I'm so confused about everything, that no words can come out of my mouth. So I take the post it note, and flip it to the side that I see my dad's boss' writing.

          He is strong enough. He'll live.

          I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding, and I feel tears pressing behind my eyes. I hug dad, and smile into his chest, tears of relief and happiness pouring.

        "Thank you." I whisper, partially to him, partially to his boss. Dad just rubs my back. When we release each other, I run back into Lucas' room, and show him the post-it.

          When he reads it, Lucas gets a smug look on his face.

        "Of course I'm strong enough. You know me. I'm a freaking tank." He jokes, but his quieted voice detracts from it, and I just laugh.

        "I never doubted you." I tell him.

        "I know that. I know, too, that If I didn't have you to fight especially hard for, I might have just... not." He whispers, just so I can hear.

        "Don't I feel special now, huh?" I ask, kind of sad about what was written behind his words. As if he had nothing much else to fight for.

        "You are special." He whispers, and takes my hand.

          For the next hour or so, we all just talk with Lucas. His parents show up, and I can tell they're ecstatic to see him awake. After a while, though, Lucas goes to sleep, and we all decide to go to dinner together. My mom and Aren included, of course. 

~ ~ ~ ~

        Here we are. Lucas' parents, my family, Kathy and I. All of us are sitting around a table At Joey's only, telling stories, and enjoying the night. Yeah, it sucks that Lucas can't join us, but he needs to get his sleep. And yes. I left the hospital room, only because I saw Lucas awake and okay, I decided that it would be alright. Even after my nightmares.

          I can hardly even think about them. If I do, I just end up staring into space, and probably crying silently. So, I try not to. I try not to think of how I was so convinced that it was real, that he was really gone. I told him I never doubted he was strong enough, because how would I tell him the truth? I mean, I did, obviously. I fainted in the midst of chaos, and thought my nightmares were real, to the point of doubting the truth of real life. How do you tell someone that you truly believed that they weren't strong enough? I'll just keep that nightmare to myself, thank you very much...  

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A/N:

Yeah, quick chapter to let you know what's going on. Promise next will be better!! And longer. Much longer.. heh.

Slaaash... Almost the end... So.. yeah.