The Angel

Chapter 8

Lilac

Alec held his phone with an iron grip as he was let inside the hospital room. Now told of everything by the doctor, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves as his long, careful strides brought him to the edge of her bed.

Here she was: Her blonde hair was as lifeless as she looked right now. Skin stark white like that of a porcelain doll neglected and left to rot in a glass cabinet. Dainty, frail hands folded into her lap neatly. Containers of anticonvulsant medicine on the nearby table. Empty green eyes trained on the blank wall ahead of her.

Motionless.

All was still.

How the moments had gone by so fast. Strange how just a few moments could change you. Control you.

Break you.

This carbon copy of the girl he knew all his life sent goosebumps up his back and clawing into his flesh. Whoever this was might as well have been a marionette carved from the broken remains of a soul that died before the body.

And yes, she was beautiful, but this was not the beauty of Lilac.

It was a beauty which held the mere shell of what she used to be.

For a few seconds, both of them soaked in the dampening calm. Such a dreadful peace threatened to lull one to sleep.

So much was missing from the picture. Her smile was gone -- replaced by a thin, flat line between her lips which was neither an upward curve nor downward frown. The vacant expression on her face made it all the more worse. It was as desolate as her hollowed self.

"... I'm sorry I kept putting off giving him that note."

That him... That him was you.

Lilac fumbled around with her hands, unable to meet Alec's eyes with her own. She already knew what his expression was. Probably disappointment that she never told him up until now. Or even anger that she had wasted so much time already. And maybe even--

"Lilac, why are you always so hesitant?"

Because it's a pretty bad idea: me and you.

Alec kneeled at her bedside, his eyes trained on Lilac with all the worry and care in the world. And here she was, avoiding his gaze with all the strong will she could muster.

"You have so little time...," he went on. "Why put off everything you could ever enjoy?"

She gulped down the lump forming in her throat. "I know I have so little time... It's just..." Lilac paused. "... I have so much left to lose."