Living with wings.

Chapter 8

Everything is black. I'm floating, weightless, motionless. Nothing hurts anymore, the ringing is gone and now I'm left to my thoughts.

Why did Glenn do that? He had told me once that he would never show his wings again, that it was a part of him that he wanted to let go of. And yet, when my body was giving out he went back on his decision. He could have just left me, but instead he stayed and held me.

Slowly I start to hear sounds around me, the soft roar of vehicles passing by, the bark of a dog, and a hum. The hum is low and soft, the tune is a song I am unfamiliar with but it sounds beautiful. Something about it is familiar, but I can't pinpoint it exactly. It's soothing, the slow pace of the song paired with the low tone is so peaceful. It almost reminds me of home, the way no matter what was happening I had a sense of peace.

The longer I listen the louder the hum gets, the stronger the song sounds. The darkness begins to fade away, but nothing takes its place. Everything is gone for a while, the only thing near me is the song.

I open my eyes to see Glenn with his head back against the wall, his eyes are closed but he is humming softly. His wings have faded away but he still has his arms wrapped around me. It's as if he hasn't moved, other than leaning his head back. My body is still sore, but definitely manageable in comparison.

I don't want to disturb him, he looks so peaceful like that. His dark hair is rushed across his face slightly, it's almost messy but not really. From here I can see that he has a few freckles on his nose and cheeks, when I first arrived here I thought he looked quite peculiar. But now there's something about him, to me he looks perfect. I move my head a small bit before croaking softly. " Glenn?"

His head snaps up and he looks at me quickly, his glasses are sitting on the floor beside us so he's squinting a small bit. He looks concerned as he whispers. "Oh my god your awake." He places his right hand on top of my forehead for a moment, and then on my neck. " And your not burning up anymore. I was really scared for a bit there"

His voice sounds tired but also alert, he cracks a half smile flashing his colourful braces. He starts to sit up slightly and I wince a bit. " I'm sorry, keep going it's just my hip. It's okay, you made me comfortable it's your turn." I croak as he stops moving.

Glenn looks at me a little concerned, but continues to adjust. I give him the warmest smile I can muster, I'm sure he was worried. He walked in as I was screaming and crying, but instead of panicking he simply comforted me. " I am so glad your awake, it's been two days."

Two days? I slept for two days and he stayed here holding me the whole time? " I am so sorry I did that to you. You could have moved me and gotten on." My voice is starting to return to normal the more I speak.

Glenn looks at me with sadness riddled all over his face. " I would never leave you Ella. Especially like that, it was better for me to be here. And I didn't want to move you, I didn't want you to suffer anymore."

I can feel a small tear in the corner of my eye. " I am so glad you didn't leave me." He slowly reaches down and wipes my eye softly before moving a piece of hair off of my face.

We sit in silence just looking at each other for a few minutes before I make a suggestion. " Do you want to go lay in my bed? It's more comfortable, and I think it's only fair."

Glenn once again looks embarrassed by the proposition of sleeping in my bed. But he slowly nods, before slowly standing without letting go of me. He carefully carries me to the bed, before slowly setting my down towards the middle of the bed. " Are you sure you don't mind?"

I look at his slightly red face and smile. " Of course not."

He flashes a half smile again before walking over to my closet and heading to the drawer I keep my pyjamas in. " No need for you to sleep in those bloody cloths." 

After rummaging around for a few minutes he comes to a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. He gently sets them next to me and turns around to face the wall. " Thank you Glenn." I whisper quietly. I slowly reach over and grab the clothing, it takes a long time but I manage to change on my own. " Okay, I'm finished."

Glenn turns around slowly and almost cautiously. He looks at me and smiles before walking over to the bed.
" Do you mind if I take my shirt off? It has a few stains from, well from you."  He looks very embarrassed that he has to ask, so he adds. " Only if it's okay with you of course, I don't want to make you uncomfor-"

" Go ahead, no need to explain its okay." I smile at him to reassure him before looking away to give him some privacy.

I hear his shirt fall on the floor and I look back over to him. He is in shape, but not super muscular. He has a large scar across his stomach, it's jagged almost like a knife mark. I don't say anything and instead pat the bed softly and slowly next to me.

Glenn slowly walks over to my bed before sitting down and swinging his feet up. He leans back against the pillow softly before looking at me. We smile at each other and I decide to ask him. " Is it okay if, you hold me again? Like you did durning the storm? I feel a lot safer that way.."

Glenn gives me a soft smile before moving his arm slightly. " Of course, it's a lot more comfortable anyways."  I slowly slide in against him and he sets his arm down gently, careful not to hurt me.

I set my hand gently on his chest, where I had grabbed his shirt before., and I place my head cautiously on his collarbone. We both lay in silence for a few minutes, I focus on listening to his breath and heartbeat.

I decide to ask him a loaded question. " What was your home like?" My voice is quiet and cautious not to overstep.

Glenn takes a deep breath in and out. " It was sort of like here, there are a lot of us. Things definitely were worse there though. Some truly evil demons reside there, think all of us here are considered too good. Honestly I'm glad I'm here, I can have a life and I can be happy here rather than miserable. And it is so cold there, all of our wings cool the air around us. So it's never warm back home."

I try to imagine everything he says, I colder version of here with demons everywhere. It's a terrifying thought. " What about yours?"

I adjust my head a little bit, trying to take some of the pressure off of Glenn before describing the beauty of home.I start to tell him about the weightlessness and how everything was always peaceful. I start to tell him stories about Lora and I, and how we would watch over others almost like guardians. " But in the end, I'm happy I'm here."

Glenn looks down at me with a confused face. " After everything you just described, why would you rather be here?"

I return his gaze and smile up at him. " Because your here, and you are honestly the best thing I could hope for."
Glenn blushes at my statement, but he returns my smile with wide eyes.

We continue to share stories of home, and Glenn shares stories of earth before I got here. Everything is so interesting, there is so much to him. I find myself becoming more interested with every single word he says.

After a while, my eyes start to become heavy. Glenn and I say goodnight and close our eyes, I find it hard to do anything but imagine all of his story's while listening to his breaths. And after a while I fall asleep with all of Glenn's story's playing over and over in my head.