Reflections of Light

After

Luci mumbled something in her sleep, and turned over; before sitting bolt upright in the hospital bed. "Where are my babies?"

"They're alright, they're alright, they're sleeping." Dec reassured her, easing her back down. "You saw them earlier. The doctors are looking after them."

Luci smiled sleepily. "Mmm... Okay. They're alright."

The birth of the twins hadn't been an easy task for either of them; but understandably, it had been most physically taxing on Luci. She was going to rest now; Declan was going to ensure it, before they even began to consider heading home.

There was a tentative knock on the door. Travis stood there, peering in the window; with a small smile, he waved at his friend.
Grinning, Dec crossed over to the door, pulling it open and sticking his head out to talk to him.

"All good?"

"Yeah, all stable anyway." Dec reassured him. "I've seen them. They're so tiny; I feel so bad this happened."

"Look, it's not your fault, okay? Trust me, I saw the scene. Speaking of which, how's the shoulder?"

Dec rolled the shoulder in its socket experimentally; not really having given it a second thought since coming into Luci's hospital room. "...Honestly doesn't feel that bad at all. Huh." He mused. "I think we were very lucky on this one, when you look at it all."

Travis put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Still, I think Mina's going to threaten spanking me with her ladle if I don't get some sugar in you soon, so maybe we could wander down to the canteen?"

"Yeah, sure, if Mina can stay with Luci."

"I'm sure she can. Brutus will, I know that. Oh, and you probably should call your Mum, I'm sure she and the kids are chomping at the bit to know what's going on. They'll want to see the new arrivals."

Dec sighed, suddenly looking incredibly tired. "Maybe later." He mumbled. "I've got to talk it through with Luci; decide what we're doing first."

Travis looked puzzled for a second, then shrugged. "Alright. Let's go get bacon sandwiches for you and the lady, and teddy bears for the new arrivals."

"Luci will have both." Dec chuckled. "Bacon and a teddy."

Travis laughed, shaking his head. "Fuck it; after that, she can have anything she wants. She deserves it."

***

His hands felt funny. His limbs did too; in fact, everything felt very strange.

It was hard to open his eyes; sealed up from exhaustion and gummed up with the accumulated filth from the hours past. That time was a haze; a blur of memories and emotions in no cohesive state. He felt completely limp; like all the energy had been drained out of him, leaving him shattered and disjointed.

Slowly, he prised open his eyelids; blinking like a newborn as the low light seemed to scorch his eyes. As his vision adjusted, he slowly drew his right hand from under the sheets; laying it on the pillow next to him as he turned his head to look at it. Experimentally, he curled his fingers in one by one, focusing on the feeling of the rhythmic movement of his joints.
He smiled childishly at the action.

Putting his hand back on the mattress, he very carefully levered himself up into a sitting position; looking around the room curiously. Immediately he spotted the curly-haired brunette sitting besides the bed, asleep with her head on the mattress besides him. Grinning mischievously, he lowered his face next to hers to whisper in her ear. "Are you wearing my shirt?"

She jumped, blinking like an owl as she woke suddenly; making him laugh impishly at her expression. "Huh?! What? Huh?!"

"Hello." He smiled happily, humour written across his face.

"Oh my God." She breathed, crawling up onto the bed beside him; staring at him with wide, yellow-toned eyes. Tentatively, she lifted a hand to reach out and touch his face; then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for an embrace. "Oh my God! How are you feeling? You look... So much better."

"I feel... Strange." He mused. "But I'm not sure what kind of strange... I'm fine. Don't worry, I think I'm fine." He reassured her quickly, feeling her tense up at his words. She was shivering in his arms too, he could feel that; the highs and lows of the adrenaline she'd been on for the last few hours clearly having taken its toll. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course." She said, drawing back from him; swiping at the tears in her eyes with the back of her hands and chuckling to disguise the tremble in her voice. "... No... I was so scared. You looked like you were in agony- I don't think I could have beared it if we'd caused you harm."

He kissed her forehead. "You shouldn't worry about such things."

She smiled softly; then closed the gap between them to kiss him gently on the lips, which he reciprocated eagerly. Breaking it off, she drew back to look at his face; his eyes showing the purple bruising of exhaustion, his lips bitten ragged, his cheeks sunken and hollow, and yet somehow he'd never seemed better.

Gently, she brushed her thumb over the ridge of his cheek. "Your eyes..." She marveled.

"Question is, why are you wearing my shirt?" He teased.

She giggled, glancing down at the shirt she was wearing as a dress. "I had trouble finding something to wear. Probably need to leave some of my own clothes here."

"But why-" He grinned, tugging the bottom of the shirt to pull her closer. "-when you look so very good in mine?"

"Jonathan?"

They both jumped apart guiltily at the sound of Jocelyn's voice. She was sitting across from them in the far corner of the room, on one of the comfy chairs they'd hauled in when they'd realised the long night they were in for. She'd been cat-napping in it just a moment ago; taking advantage of the lull to get some rest. She wasn't resting now.

Ever so carefully, she got up and crept towards him, her expression unreadable as she approached. Tentatively, she took his face in her hands to look at him. "How do you feel?"

"Good. I think."

He was surprised when she gave a little sob then; covering her mouth as she'd startled herself with the sound, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Then, suddenly, she pulled him forwards into a hug; at which point he froze up completely for several long seconds, before responding awkwardly.

"Oh, is he awake?" Evelyn said pleasantly as she strode into the room, carrying a water bottle. "Told you he'd wake up if I left for a few minutes. Sod's law, really. How's he doing this time?"

"See for yourself." Jocelyn said happily, eyes still glistening with tears.

"Can I see for myself?" He asked. "All I've had is people grabbing my face. I'm curious."

"Ooh, I'm on it." Nyx said, reaching around the back of her neck and undoing the clasp of her mirror-pendant. Holding it by the chain, she swung it teasingly in front of his face; light sparkling off the silver surface. "Let me dazzle you with my brilliance."

"Alright, that's enough, let's have some space between the two of you now." Evelyn scolded firmly. Nyx playfully pouted.

Taking the looking glass from her with a sympathetic chuckle, he held it up to look in it; and his breath nearly stopped.

Two very green eyes looked back at him.

Happy New year! I feel this chapter was a good one to end 2019 on. XD

Of course, because it can't be that easy we're not done quite yet, but we're only a handful of chapters from the end of this book now, and the start of book six!