Too Good To Be True?

Chapter 11 Ⅰ

Knock knock.

"Squiddy...?"

I stared at the wall.

Knock.

"Squid nugget, can I come in?"

My eyes slipped shut.

Creeeaaak...

"Oh, sweetheart..."

I heard the shuffle of Amy's slippers, felt the bed dent as she gently set herself beside me.

I stayed exactly where I was, laid on my side, facing the plain, blank wall. I hardly registered that she was there, barely felt her hand touch my shoulder, her fingers which were lightly sweeping back and forth.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

I studied a chip in the paint.

"Do you wanna... watch a movie?"

I contemplated how long a squid could survive on land before it suffocated.

"Do you... want to see a picture of Angel...?"

I went back to the moment our lips first met, feeling her fingers dig in my hair... her breath on my cheeks...

Amy sighed. "So you're just going to lay here forever, huh?"

My finger twitched, the first significant movement I'd made in the last few hours. "She's never coming back..." The words hardly slipped through my lips, hardly passing for an incoherent mutter.

"What's that, hun?" she murmured, her voice as smooth as silk, overflowing with sympathy.

My lip quivered, my hand slowly dislodging itself from beneath my pillow and hesitantly setting itself on top of hers. I stayed there for a moment, letting myself feel another person's skin. I hadn't thought about it before, but I'd completely avoided physical contact since I'd left the hospital. I hadn't felt the touch of another human being in so long...

I slowly looked up at her, trying to simultaneously find and push away all the similarities I could see between miss Amy Lee and my beautiful Angel...

"Cou..." I licked my dry lips, struggling to make my broken voice work. "Could you... stay for a bit...?"

She smiled softly, her eyes shining through the sorrow. She nodded and carefully laid next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist and holding my hand.

It took everything I had not to burst into sobs, but even then, a few stray tears fell through. I turned onto my other side, never letting go of her hand, my new lifeline, and buried my head in her shirt, curling up like a scared toddler.

"Sshhh... It's okay..." she whispered, stroking my hair. "I'm right here, it's okay... You're not alone..."

I sniffled, my body shaking as I fought for a hold on my emotions. "I m-miss her... s-s-so m-much..."

"Sshhh, I know... I know..."

I slowly stopped shaking, slipping into an uneasy sleep in the comfort of Amy's embrace. But in my dreams, it was Angel's arms around me, her voice singing to me, sweetly telling me it would be alright... and somehow... I believed her.