Marshfield (a Life is Strange- fanfiction)

Chapter VI

MAX P.O.V.

Her room was empty. No balloons, no empty tea cups, no drafts of her drawings, no dash of her scent, no Kate at all. Just an empty, white, boring plain old hospital room.
Dissapointed and slightly worried i turn around and walk through the hallway, peeking through doors to other rooms if they're open. It's not a neat thing to do, but snoopy is just what I am. All rooms I peek into seem to be  empty anyways, so I don't really hurt anyone.

I ask a nurse if she had seen Kate. She had, actually, just a minute ago.

"I believe she's in the common room, saying goodbye to the other patients." she said. She tells me to have a nice day, and walks past me. After two steps she stops again, and she turns around to face me again.

"Aren't you Max?" she asks me. "I am indeed! Nice to meet you." I answer politely.

"You're a good girl. " She comes up to me to pat my shoulder, and then she leaves again, for real this time.

"Kate is finally going home!" I whisper to myself, I guess that was the good news.

I feel myself getting some colour in my cheeks. I don't usually blush this fast, but the thought of Kate being closer to me again just warms my heart.
I wonder what she told the nurse about be, though. Luckily She's the type of person who only talks about the bright aspect about a person. I'm thankful for that, I don't want her to see how broken I can be.

When I get to the common room, everyone is sitting in a circle. Kate is hanging around a wheelchair with an elderly woman in it. A tear trickles down the woman's rimpled, colourless cheek. She's holding a beautiful yellow tulip. Kate is looking down upon her, and kisses the crown of her head, filled with ashgray hair. The Lady grabs Kate's hand with her bony, worn out fingers and squeezes it lovefully. 

"i'll miss you." she mouths to her.

Kate lets her hold her hand until the grab softens again.

As I look around the room, most people are holding flowers. Some seem to be holding papers, probably drawings she made. They all seem to be touched. Happy too, in a sad kind of way, because who could be truly happy in a hospital? Especially in this ward.

I silently enter the room and go sit on a chair in the corner. Making sure nobody spotted me, so I can just enjoy watching Kate for a while.

Kate had finished going around the circle of patients before she eventually notices me.

"Max! How long have you been sitting there?" She asks, laughing. She runs up to me and gives me a tight hug.

"Long enough to see you're doing something incredible again. Look at all those happy faces." I say, gesturing to the people, who seem to have been imbued with a surge of happines.

She blushes and chuckles, making my heart melt.

"It's just a small token of simple kindness, I already owned the flowers, but i figured they needed them more than me. besides, I had more than enough time to make some drawings for them." she says with a soft, sweet voice.

"No no no, Marshmellow, you're not going to brush compliments off anymore. You deserve some gratitude. I'm going to build you a statue one day, with big golden wings growing out of your back, you know. You're too good for this world, Kate. Way too good."
She starts to tear up and pulls herself against me.

"Thank you, she sniffs. Thank you, Max. I love you. I love you so- so much." she stutters out.
I suddenly start sobbing too, i brush through her hair, and hold her tightly against me, safe. Safe from all the monsters who have attempted to hurt her in the past.

We suddenly get disturbed by a loud applause and joyful cheering. We turn our heads around, still holding each other, and instantly start laughing, and just after we see what's going on, we started sobbing harder than before.

They were cheering for us, most with bright smiles on their faces, other's with tears in their eyes. They had stood up from their chairs, even the old lady had, with help from two other patients, found the courage to stand up.

When the applause slowly died out, echoing through the halls, and silence took over again, the frail lady spoke with a soft, sharp voice :

"Well, what on earth are you waiting for, Kate? Give her a kiss!"

Kate turns to me, and stares into my eyes for a second.

 We both knew it was coming. A shy look before she pulled her face closer and our  lips met. She kissed me and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. Her hand rested below my ear, her thumb caressing my cheek as our breaths mingled. I ran myfingers down her spine, pulling her closer until there was no space left between us and I could feel the beating of her heart against my chest.