The end...? (Ranger's apprentice/ Brotherband fan-fiction)

Chapter 26

'Hallie' was feeling miserable, because he had been the reason nobody had been able to search for Will, but besides that he was doing fine. He should have stayed in bed, as had been told him many times. Naturally, he hadn't obeyed with everything going on around him. He wasn't going to make that mistake a second time. Therefore he now obediently stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling he knew so well. His childhood bedroom simultaneously felt familiar and strange, the latter because of the amount of time he had spent aboard the Heron.

He wondered what life would look like, as soon as he was healed. From what he heard from Edvin and the other doctors, he was incredibly lucky to be alive. Would he ever be the same again? Nobody knew. He sighed. If only he knew the answer to that question, he would feel a lot less lost. He quickly rebuked that thought. What if the answer to the question was that he would not be the same again? He wouldn't want to know that now. That Would only discourage him. He needed to stay strong. His own little pep talk did not change his mood, so he decided to simply continue staring at the ceiling.

Before another minute of his silent staring had gone by, the door opened quietly. A grin split open his face; every visitor meant distraction from his depressing thoughts and boredom. Excitedly he regarded the door being opened frustratingly slowly, presumably to prevent it from making noise. Hal's grin turned into a frown. Why would anyone need to enter this carefully? Experience had taught him that often people with bad intentions would do such a thing...

His precautionary tension disappeared rather quickly as soon as he recognized Lydia standing there.
"Did you have to startle me like this?" he asked, teasing her. His little joke did not have the intended effect. Lydia burst into tears. This time actually startled, Hal attempted to make his way towards her, but she gestured for him to stay put. She hastily closed the door, before coming to side on the edge of his bed.
"Me startle you?" she sobbed angrily. "How about the other way around?!" The skirl cluelessly tried to think of something to calm soothe his friend. Despite her protests, he managed to sit upright, so he could at least look her into her eyes properly.
"Hey, it's okay," he awkwardly mumbled. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but Lydia smacked his hand away, turning her back towards him. Even though they were alone, she refused to show him her tears.

Hal frustratedly dropped his arm, while simultaneously looking through the room, trying to find something to distract her. Failing to find such a thing, he rested his head against the wall behind him, to avoid looking at Lydia's breakdown. He was not used to seeing her like this. He opened his mouth, hoping something brilliant would come out, but no words sprang to his mind.
"Lydia..." he therefore said, semi-desperately, hoping she would soon get a hold of herself, turning back into the strong version of herself she always was. The opposite happened: she threw herself in his arms, once again sobbing. Luckily she paid attention not to put any pressure on his stomach, instead leaning onto his shoulder. This did not reduce Hal's state of confusion. He automatically wrapped his arms around her. Her hair tickled his face, but he didn't dare speak out about it.

Slowly but steadily Lydia calmed down somewhat. Hal realized he had whispered all kinds of soothing words into her ear, his voice muffled by her hair. Slightly amazed he observed the girl - no, the young woman - he was holding. They had been through so much together, he had thought he'd seen every facet of her before. Now he realized they had a long way to go before he could claim such a thing. He smiled. The idea was quite to his liking, which surprised him. He had never thought of Lydia as a potential girlfriend before. No, that was not true. In the very beginning, when the Herons had just met her, both Stig and Hal had shown interest in her. He thought he had left that feeling behind long ago, but right here, right now, he couldn't imagine ever letting her go.