Colour of Desire {Enjonine}

Chapter 20

*Eponines POV*

A white light. That's what I saw when I opened my eyes at last. The next thing I saw was Joly. He looked tired, as if he'd been awake for a long time. I weakly reached my hand out and placed it on top of his. It hurt to move anything, even breathing was painful.

"Eponine? How are you feeling?" He asked, when he noticed that I was awake.

"I'm full of pain." I croaked.

"Yes, you were shot through the hand and the bullet grazed your abdomen."Joly said. I looked down and saw a large bandage covering my hand. I shuddered to imagine what it really looked like.

"Oh, how horrible." I said. I was back at home, in my own bed. The rest of the house was completely silent.

"Joly, what day is it?" I asked.

"Saturday the ninth of June." He said quietly. My fluttered and I looked up.

"W-what?" I asked. "I've been asleep for three whole days?"

"You were weak. Very weak. I was only allowed to bring you home from the hospital yesterday."

"But what about the revolution? What happened?"

"It's over. Barely lasted a day. By the time I got back it was all over and done with." He replied sadly.

"But what happened to everyone? Where are our friends?" I asked, sitting up. I dreaded the answer, knowing that all of our friends had put their life in the line.

Joly stared at the floor, refusing to meet me in the eye, which only added to my worry.

"Joly, what happened? Tell me." I demanded.

"There were no survivors." He whispered. "A few are missing, but presumed dead."

"Who is missing? What happened to Enjolras? And Gavroche?" I begged, starting to cry. Joly reached over and handed me a handkerchief, even though his own eyes were already stained with tears.

"We haven't located his body. He and Marius are both missing, but it hasn't been confirmed if they are dead." Joly said.

"No! I don't believe you. They can't be dead. They just can't!" I wept.

"Eponine, I'm sorry, but until we know for certain, they will be presumed dead."

He wrapped his arms over my shoulders, rocking me gently back and forth. I couldn't live without Enjolras. He showed me to the light when I was trapped in the darkness. He gave me his love and I gave him mine in return. We were part of one another. We needed each other more than anyone else. He was my marble man and I was his lady of stone. Without him, the darkness came back and I was lost again. If he was dead, then so was I.

"Do you want to speak with your brother?" Joly said softly.

"Gavroche? He's alive?"

"Of course. He's right outside the door."

"Eponine!" Gavroche said, limping into the room, covered in bandages. He hobbled over climbed, with difficulty, onto the bed to give me a hug. He was also crying, and he had never shed a tear in his life. Something was wrong and I needed to know what it was. I needed to be his big sister and help him along.

"Gav, be careful. Her bandages are still new and we can't afford to break them." Joly pleaded.

"Gavroche, what's wrong?" I asked, wiping his eyes.

"It's my fault. She's dead and it's my fault." Gavroche wept. "I should have stayed where I was, but I didn't and now she's gone."

"What happened? Who's dead?" I asked.

"It's Mama. I left to try and get the ammunition and they started to shoot at me. I thought I was dead but Mama ran out and brought me back inside the barricade. The last thing I remember was her falling down and not moving. They told me yesterday that she was dead because the guards shot her." Gavroche cried.

"No, no its not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what happened. You both would have died if she didn't save one of you." I said, starting to cry again

"They have her body in your old bedroom." He sniffed.

"I went with them. She's lying in a beautiful coffin, washed and ready for her funeral." Joly said.

"Thank you." I replied weakly.

My whole world had just begun to crash down around me. It seemed that everyone I cared about was dead and I was left alone. I couldn't stay in the house alone as Enjolras owned it an we were not yet married. Papa would not be pleased if I came crawling back to him and anyway I couldn't bring Gavroche back to a life like that.

Musichetta came into the room moments later and rushed to my side

"Oh, Eponine, I'm so sorry." She said. "I know words won't help to ease the pain, but just know that we are all here for you at this time."

"Thank you, Musichetta. It really means so much to me. I just can't believe it's real." I sighed.

"I felt the same way when my brother died. We were all so close and then one day we were told that he had been murdered. I refused to believe it for so long, that when we had his funeral, I almost collapsed as it all hit me. It was as if someone had just dumped a house on top of me." Musichetta said sadly.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." I replied.

We were all quiet for a while, but it was a good silence. There was nothing more to be said. I gazed out of the window but I didn't really find anything to look at. Even the sunshine seemed dull on days like this.

"We'll leave you both alone for a little while, but we'll be downstairs if you need anything." Joly said, standing up with his wife. I nodded in thanks as they both left the room

"Have you heard anything about Enjolras?" I asked when we were alone.

"No. All I know is that he and Marius are both missing. No one knows where they could be. They were both injured so they can't have gone very far."

"And what about the café Musain?"

"Joly and I went earlier today because he wanted to stretch my leg. There were lots of men and women moving the barricade pieces away." He said.

"We probably made quite the mess, didn't we?" I said.

"There was blood all over the paving stones and the houses were covered in bullet holes."

"Oh dear."

"And you believe what I heard." Gavroche said. "Inspector Javert is dead."

"What?"

"Javert, he was found yesterday floating in the river. They say he must have fallen off the bridge and broken his back. Most say it was suicide." He said.

"I honestly never thought I would see this day." I said.

"I know. He was a lying rat. He sold some of our secrets to the National Guard. It his fault most of them are dead."

"Surely you don't believe that?" I said.

"Of course I do. If it weren't for him, people could have lived. But they didn't. I will always blame him for this."

"Gavroche, can I be alone for a minute? I really need to rest." I said.

"Of course. I'll come up later, to check on you." He replied, sliding off the bed.

Once I was finally alone, I lay back against the pillows and fought back my tears. Everything was terrible. My world was a mess and I had lost almost everyone I cared about.

I looked down at my hand to where my engagement ring still sat in my finger.

"Please come back to me, Enjolras. I need you more than ever."