Convincing my damned legs to work, I made my way over to her bed and collapsed into the chair beside it. I gently held her right hand with both of mine, feeling a sense of desperation and panic beginning to swell up inside of me.
“Levy,” I pleaded, searching for any signs on her face that she could hear me. “Levy, please wake up.”
~Levy~
Where am I? I could hear a loud beeping coming from somewhere close, but I couldn’t figure out where. Everything was dark, too. Am I asleep? No, that couldn’t be it. If I had been asleep, I wouldn’t have been able to hear that annoying beeping, right?
Something warm around my right hand drew my attention away from the noise, along with a familiar scent. Gajeel. The thought kept repeating in my head. But why is he here? Where am I? I couldn’t make myself move, no matter how hard I tried. My eyes wouldn’t open, either.
“Levy,” Gajeel’s voice broke through the darkness, and I immediately wanted to go to him. He sounds so sad. Why? That was when everything rushed back. The rain covering the road so that the lines were barely visible, the light that turned from green to red in an instant, and the sound of squealing tires.
~FLASHBACK~
I poked my head into the living room, taking a wary breath as I prepared myself for an argument. “Gajeel.” He grunted in response. “I need to make a quick run to the store—”
"It can wait til tomorrow,” he answered, just as I knew he would.
I frowned and walked over to him. "Gajeel we are out of everything, including cat food. I won't be gone long, and I'll be careful." Gajeel glared up at me, but it didn't affect me. "I'll be back, ok?" He huffed but nodded and I smiled before grabbing my keys.
I rushed to my car to avoid getting anymore soaked than I had to, and made my way to the store. “Gajeel acts like I’m not careful,” I grumbled to myself. I knew it wasn’t fair to blame him for worrying, considering this kind of weather was what had caused the accident that killed his father.
“It’s getting late,” I noted, looking down at the clock on my radio. I sped up a little, keeping my eyes on the road as the rain increased and the lines became harder to see. “Of course it would rain harder,” I sighed.
I was nearly to the store when the rain came down even harder. “Seriously?!” I snapped, glancing down at my clock again. When I looked back up, the light ahead of me that had just been green was now red. I slammed on my brakes, praying I still had time to stop—or that there weren’t any cars coming. Thankfully, no one else was foolish enough to be out as late as I was in this kind of weather. Unfortunately, my car didn’t stop, even as I pressed the brake pedal to the floor.
~END OF FLASHBACK~
I must have gone off the road, I thought, unable to remember much after that. If that was the case, I was most definitely in the hospital. The beeping was probably a heart monitor. And that would explain why I feel so heavy all over. I wasn’t exactly in pain—most likely attributed to whatever pain meds the hospital had me on—but I felt as though something was laying on top of me, making it difficult to breathe.
“Come on, Shrimp, I know you’re still in there,” Gajeel said, squeezing my hand.
“You should go home, Gajeel. I’ll stay here with her tonight.” Mom? If she was there too I must have been in pretty bad shape.
“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” Gajeel told her. “I can’t leave her. Not like this.”
“I’ll go get us some fresh blankets then,” mom sighed. I felt her touch my face briefly before she left the room.
“Shrimp, it’s been three days, you have to wake up.” Something wet hit my hand, and I realized he must have been crying. I was so shocked that I forgot for a moment what he had said. Gajeel’s crying?! Damn, I must be in bad shape. His words slowly sank in, and I knew that I probably was. If I had been asleep for three days, and if Gajeel was actually crying, I must have come close to dying.
Gajeel, I’m right here! I tried to open my eyes, but my body wouldn’t listen to me. I felt so heavy, and so tired, that I couldn’t move.Gajeel!
~Gajeel~
“Shrimp, it’s been three days, you have to wake up,” I pleaded, never releasing her hand. The doctors told us just a few moments before that things didn’t look good. She hadn’t shown any signs of recovery from the coma, so they weren’t sure she would ever wake up. Despite myself, I felt tears running down my damned cheeks as I sat there. I stared at her bandaged face, praying that she would open her eyes.
“You can’t die yet,” I told her. “Not before I get the chance to man up and tell you that I love you.” I cursed myself for not going with her that night. If I had just gone with her—or stopped her from going all together—none of this would have happened! Levy, I’m so sorry.
“My clock hasn’t moved for as long as I can remember, and I think I’m starting to understand why. It’s because I already met my soulmate. I don’t care if your clock is still ticking, and I don’t care that your soulmate is still out there somewhere. I love you, Levy, and I’ll love you until the day I die.” I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat, hating how much all of this sounded like a damned goodbye.
I watched her for a long time, still searching for a reaction. When she didn’t move, I rested my head on the mattress beside her.Levy, please…I can’t lose you too. A slight twitch against my fingers had my head snapping up. I stared at her tiny bandaged hand, my eyes growing wide when I saw her fingers close just the slightest bit around my own.
“Stu…pid.”
Chapter 9
Start from the beginning
