Reach out for the Sun [UsUk]

Seventeen: There Is Always Hope

The next morning

"Alfred, wake up!" 

A familiar voice rang through the clear white hospital room, and the person being called needed a couple of seconds to respond. He groaned tiredly and shifted around in the bed a bit before finally opening his eyes with only a slight amount of difficulty, blinking and finding himself staring at the face of an excited brown haired girl who seemed to be in a hurry for something.

"Uh... G'morning." Alfred mumbled in confusion, still not completely conscious and aware of his surroundings since he wasn't quite a morning person anyway, and with extra exhaustion on top of that, he could barely figure out who was standing above him. 

"Come on, we gotta get ready soon! I'll help you, don't worry. I can't just let you try and get up by yourself." The girl chuckled ever so slightly, almost jumping from excitement. "Also, it's nice you finally got some decent sleep. You will need that energy for today."

For another longer moment, Alfred was utterly perplexed about the situation, but then it hit him.

Today, right, that was today. He and Elizabeta. Piano and violin. What more was there to be said?

"I didn't practise..." He only managed to mutter out, exhaling loudly. "I'll be terrible."

"Bullshit. You know the piece by heart, and y'know, the hospital is letting you go, so why miss the opportunity? I thought you wanted to go! We've been discussing this for weeks, every time I came to visit you. What changed your mind all of the sudden?" Elizabeta frowned in concern, examining the boy top to bottom and noticing what a terrible state he was in. He had lost so much weight throughout the month, his skin had gone pale, and on top of all, he couldn't get out of bed without someone's help. Losing the ability to walk meant he was going to need extra assistance in everything he wanted to do, which made him so, so mad. At the last performance, he wanted to stand, to experience it fully, but he had to sit instead. Though at the end of the day, all that mattered was music.

"I do want to go. I'm just scared I won't be able to... You know. Play." He coughed slightly, clearing his voice before he continued to speak. "I'm very weak, and I don't like that."

Before Elizabeta could come up with anything to say as a response, the door of the hospital room opened, and with a grand entrance Matthew and Adrienne stepped in, both dressed for the occasion. Well, kind of. 

"We're ready for the music!" Matthew exclaimed loudly, deeply hoping that the competition would go well and that nothing would go wrong during their perfomance.

He was wearing a navy blue suit and trousers in the same colour, a white shirt underneath and a black-and-blue striped tie. Adrienne had a black dress on, and her hair was put in place with the fanciest looking ponytail that Alfred had ever laid his eyes on. And Elizabeta wasn't far from looking that elegant, except she let her hair fly around as she usually did, only her signature flower holding up the fringe. She had her favourite outfit on - a simple olive green hoodie with a black skirt and combat boots. For the competition, she didn't want to go too flashy, but rather put on something she felt comfortable in. 

And Alfred?

He suddenly felt so embarrassed in his white hospital gown, and immediately wanted to change what he was wearing. "Uh... You all look great." A small smile appeared on his face, but it soon went away with the realization that he couldn't be like them anymore, that he couldn't dance, run, jump, take long afternoon walks, or get dressed easily like they could. And it was just because of something strange that humanity hasn't learned to cure yet.

"Oh, I know I look amazing", Adrienne smirked, "but you're the star of the scene. Now let me help you get ready."

"No, I will do that. It's probably difficult walking in that long ass dress, isn't it?" Elizabeta jumped in with an offer to help, and the French girl had no arguments against it. Truth be told, everyhting that the Hungarian said was true. "Also, where the hell is Gilbert? He went to get drinks from the coffee machine a century ago."