Twice Burned

Zoe

I watched as Quinn hesitantly walked over to Nathan's bed, before finally sprinting and practically tackling him to the sheets.

"Okay, gentle," he said, patting her back. I felt my eyes open and close as I looked at the two of them, noticing that they finally looked like husband and wife in their faces. Nathan had taken out the breathing tube, but the bandage around his head seemed to be held on tight enough. He winced when Quinn squeezed too hard.

Something about being in the room with them made me feel out of place, which was probably accurate. Human in a fairy hospital bed, a stranger in a couple's reuniting. I played with my thumbs, waiting for them to acknowledge something. 

Quinn was smiling, but also crying, and I realized that I never knew what happened to Nathan to make him like this, in the hospital bed next to me.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Quinn muffled into Nathan's shoulder. Nathan put his chin on her head, then thought better of it and kissed her hair, holding it there for a long time. Then he let go and rubbed Quinn's arms like he was warming her up.

That's when he saw me.

His smile faded only some, but I could still see his eyes sparkling at me when he spoke.

"Hey," He said, almost breathless. I felt my jaw set forward, though I didn't know why.

"Hey." I replied, looking him up and down. Quinn looked between us, before she stood from the bed.

"I'm gonna leave, I'll come back in a few minutes." She said, removing herself from the room. Great. Now for another heart-to-heart, awkward conversation.

Nathan gazed at me like I was a whole new person, smiling. I knew what he was doing, but I refused to believe it.

"What a cruel way to get what you want." I sputtered, suddenly angry again, even though I didn't know why.

Nathan's smile vanished. "What?"

"You stabbed me in the only place you knew was vulnerable to me." I said. "My father!"

Nathan looked concerned, then frustrated. "Says the one who tricked Quinn into seeing her father after only days from his death!" He said.

My face softened for a moment. "It was only days?" I asked. Nathan nodded with his mouth open, like it was an obvious answer.

"And even if it was years, if I had that power over someone, I wouldn't use it against them, not even my worst enemy, so why would I do it to you?" He said.

"You have no proof." I blurted, pushing away even the possibility of anything happening.

"When you were fourteen, you brought home an egg for biology class and you were supposed to keep it safe for 48 hours. You ended up bringing back a bag full of scrambled eggs." Nathan laughed. "Your mother used to braid your hair in tiny braids all over your head, and you'd look like a bowl of ramen when they were taken out."

"What does that prove? How do I know you haven't been searching through my memories while I was unconscious?"

Nathan's face turned stone cold, then started to recite something I hadn't heard in years.

"Moon light, moon bright,

First moon I see tonight.

Wish I may, wish I might,

have the wish I wish tonight."

I stared at Nathan for so long my eyes began to burn. My mouth was open, but there was nothing to say. I knew now, but I wanted to refuse it, I didn't want it to be real, because that would mean that all the pain I had endured over loosing him would be for nothing.