Finding Light in the Shadow (Solangelo)

Chapter 1

Will grabbed a file off the stand beside the bed. Then, he sat down on the chair beside the bed and started to write in it. "First off age, height, and weight?

"Age 78, height 5'8", and weight 110lbs give or take, probably take. Although, for all intensive purposes, my physical age is closer to eighteen." I could see Will gulp after I rattled off my answers.

"Okay then," he said, "I just need to check your vitals. We'll start with your pulse; can I see one of your wrists please?"

I offered him both of my wrists, but he chooses my right which was closest to him. He took my wrist and put two of his fingers over the artery in the middle. The warmth of his touch still amazed me, I was used to being cold all the time. I was trying not to look directly at him, but I couldn't resist. Will was looking at his watch with his sky-blue eyes. I was starting to have trouble concentrating on the exam. The skeletal butterflies in my stomach were doing summersaults.

"A little elevated, but otherwise fine." He made a note on what I guessed was my chart. "Blood pressure next." I started pulling up my sleeve as he got the blood pressure cuff from the stand. I was hoping that I got it up my arm enough for him, I wanted to keep my shirt on. He wrapped the cuff around my arm, putting his stethoscope under the bottom against my arm. It almost seemed like he was holding my arm more than just the stethoscope itself. I wasn't sure if I was going to survive the exam at this point. "Blood pressure looks good, though a little on the high side. Just a few more things to check, then we'll be done." Of course, my blood pressure was elevated, I'm surprised that all of this physical contact hasn't caused a stroke yet.

He put the blood pressure cuff back on the stand and picked up something with a cone on the front of it. Will pointed the tip of the cone in front of one of my eyes and told me to keep eyes open. A light came on and half blinded me while he was looking through the other side. I could feel his hot breath hitting my face, the smell of mints overwhelming me. He looked in both of my eyes as he seemed to be taking his good old time. When he was done, he turned the light off and put the device back on the stand. He picked my chart back up and made a few more notes.

"Okay, one last thing," he placed his stethoscope against my chest, "take a few deep breaths for me. I had always remembered this part being cold, but it felt so warm against my chest with his strong hand holding it against me. I did as he asked and when he appeared satisfied, he made a few more notes on my chart. He put the file back on the stand along with the things that he used for the exam. If just getting through a routine check-up was this rough, the next three days were going to be torture.

"Okay, everything seems to check out Death Boy."

"Don't call me that ever again!" I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh, but it did. Suddenly, a wave of memories him me like a truck. Images of everyone that I hurt or killed started racing through my mind. I was trying not to break down in front of him like this, but I couldn't stop it from happening. I could feel the tears starting to roll down my cheeks. There was no way that I could sit here and cry in front of Will. I jumped under the covers and pulled the sheet up over my face as the years of pain washed over me.

Will

Oh, my Gods, what have I done. He was doing so well with all of this, then I had to go and fuck it up. I sat there in shock as he started to cry before crawling under the covers. I didn't think that calling him that would cause this kind of reaction, I was just trying to be funny. I could tell that he carried a great deal of painful memories with him, but I didn't mean to remind him of them. I got up from my chair and laid down on the bed beside him. I wasn't really sure what to do that wouldn't make the situation worse. After thinking about it for a minute, I decided to throw caution into the wind and I wrapped my arm around him. He was definitely skinny, way too skinny for my likings. Making him eat more was now on my mental list of things to do.

"I'm so sorry Nico, I wasn't trying to upset you." He continued to lay there crying, not saying a word. I couldn't imagine all of the pain and agony that he must have had inside.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he stopped crying. "I'm sorry Will, it's just that so many people have been hurt or killed because of things that I've done. In some cases, even by my own hands. I don't want to hurt anyone else ever again."

"It's okay Nico, you have friends that care about you here. We won't let anything happen to you, you're safe now. You don't have to worry about hurting anyone else."

I squeezed him tight and continued to lay beside him for a while. He wasn't crying anymore and he seemed to have fallen asleep. Just as I started to get up, Nico's arm came out from underneath the blanket and grabbed my wrist. He pulled my arm back around him to where it had been. Half asleep he said to me, "Will, please don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere Nico." I kept my arm wrapped around him with his hand still holding my wrist. The blanket had pulled down from his head and his long jet-black hair was in front of my face. I could still smell the shampoo from his last shower. These next couple of days were going to be a lot more difficult for me to get through than I thought.