"Everything changed me..."
Love In The Dark -Adele
The Intensive Care Unit in the Los Angeles Medical Center reeks of the smell of death and antiseptic. Currently, Lucifer's right knee is bouncing up and down as he sits in the plastic chair. The devil himself is sitting here in a hospital, waiting to see a saved innocent's life for the first time since they were separated.
His thoughts kept rushing back to those small intense moments in the ambulance. Even as he was holding her hand, begging her to stay awake, she had coded twice. Chloe's once bright blue eyes shut, and her body began seizing, attacking itself. The doctors had shocked her twice, and Lucifer had felt his own eyes water. His attachment to this human may have been impractical and un-explainable, but it was strong. Once out of the ambulance, the doctors literally had to hold Lucifer back from the doors. They wheeled her away behind thick doors, doctors shouting things that flew right over Lucifer's head. Nothing sounded good, and everything clicked into place including the lock clicking into place as they shut. His hand swung behind him and Lucifer had to sit down before he gave out. Lucifer had stayed that entire day in the waiting room, staring at the blank walls and floors. Waiting for any news, good or bad. Dan had arrived shortly after, with a skiddish Trixie as his second shadow. Together they all waited, no words needing to be said for hours, until Trixie could stand the silence no more.
"What happened to Mommy?" The child asked Lucifer. The words shattered Lucifer and Dan, both of them not wanting to answer. Their heads hung towards the ground.
"She was in an accident," Lucifer decided to tell her. Not meeting her eyes, he realized his answer wasn't a complete lie.
"Is she going to be okay?" Trixie asked also. When Lucifer couldn't even give an answer besides gawking noises of impaired speech, Trixie just latched onto his arm, hugging it with desperation. Lucifer didn't even mind or react. Should this woman die, she was leaving so many behind in her warpath. So many lives in which she had touched, leaving unintentional permanent scars. Tears slowly fell down the child's face, and Lucifer even took his thumb and wiped them away softly. The child in front of him was a part of Chloe, and until they would learn the outcome, he was going to treat Trixie with the utmost respect.
It took a full twelve hours before the doctor approached them all. Despite the long list of injuries he went through, he revealed that Chloe was in a stable condition. At the time, he had nothing left to lose and in relief Lucifer fell to his knees. His head fell into his hands and he allowed himself to fully breathe in and out. Trixie came up beside him and hugged him tightly from the side. The only issue was that Chloe was in the Intensive Care Unit, because of her injuries and because she coded twice. For now it was family only and despite his best efforts and arguments, Lucifer was denied entry. Forced to stand back as Dan and Trixie went first, Lucifer stormed out of the facility. He knew if he stayed he would do something irrational, so he forced himself to leave.
That night, Lucifer closed LUX to have a silent night alone. Even now, he couldn't remember how many bottles of alcohol he went through. Not that it had any effect on how he was feeling. Going onto his balcony, he stared at the night sky. Looking up at heaven, Lucifer muttered a "Thank You," to his dear ol' dad. Lucifer had received the call from Dan early the next morning. It appeared as though Detective Douche' had pulled a string or two and got Lucifer visiting privileges.
And now here he sits, his knee not stopping even as his hand tries to force it to the ground. Lucifer is nervous to see Chloe, wondering how she looks. Just because she is stable doesn't mean that she could have further permanent injuries not mentioned before. What if she is paralyzed and can never walk again? What if all the coding caused a heart failure in need of repair? Something told Lucifer he didn't want to know what that sicko Thomas had done to Chloe's interior.
"Lucifer..." The nurse struggles. "Morningstar?" Standing up, Lucifer instinctively smooths out his suit.
"That would be me," Lucifer replies.
"What is that? A stage name?" The stuck up nurse rolls her eyes, and places her key card into the scanner. The comment sends Lucifer's thought spiraling back to when Chloe had said the same thing. It was the first time they had met, and his fingers stroked the piano keys and her voice smoothly and calmly questioned him. The first time Lucifer saw Chloe, not only was he right in his assumption of seeing her naked, but he was also struck by her beauty. Blonde hair cascading around her shoulders, keeping herself closed off. Lucifer likes to think he has broken her high walls down, just like she has changed him. They were meant for one another since that moment that god placed her in his path.
The nurse warns Lucifer to stay back for a moment, and enters the curtain quickly. Only hours earlier a steel door was in his path. Now it was a simple curtain, and for that he was grateful. The nurse steps back and holds the curtain with one hand. "Chloe is just waking up, she is still heavily medicated. Do not do anything to upset her, or harm her. If she slips back under, let her rest. She needs it. We will be just outside the door," the nurse explains before walking away.
Lucifer sneaks one hand behind curtain and pulls it open just enough to make his way in. The hospital bed is surrounded by machines and cords, some of which are connected straight to Chloe.
Chloe...
While Chloe looks better...it isn't much of an improvement. The bruise on her eye is finally blackening up, surrounding the area from her eyebrows right down to where he cheekbones begin. Eyes closed, Lucifer begins to continue his inspection of her before she wakes. Cuts are beginning to scab on her arms, and thankfully most of her body is covered in warm blankets. Her ankle is left out in a thick cast. It already has a signature from Dan and a messy scribble from Trixie. Lucifer smiles at the lack of penmanship, and makes his way to the chair next to the bed.
Chloe's eyes begin to flutter open, but as soon as they seem to focus and stop spinning she begins to panic. The heart monitor spikes as her body seizes up as she lurches forward. A scream almost escapes her lips and Lucifer immediately takes action. He has seen things like this before in hell, traumatic pasts haunting people. Wrapping his arms around Chloe, he holds her tight so she won't fall apart. Her arms curl up around his bicep as her head falls into the space between her and his shoulder. Resting on it, she takes heavy breaths as she slows down her heart rate. After a few moments, Lucifer begins to soothingly rock her back and forth as he also pets her hair with his free hand.
"I...I...-" Chloe tries to speak. Voice hoarse, she swallows and tries again. "I thought I was back there. The smell...the cords...the machines...the feel of the bed...everything down to the smallest details. It was like I was right back in that basement for a moment there."
Lucifer sighs, not letting go. "It is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," he explains, still running is fingers through her hair. "You went through something terrible Chloe, and you have ever right to be shattered over it." Squeezing her one last time, he begins to let go. Keeping one hand locked in hers, he uses the other to pull the chair closer to the bed. Chloe's eyes won't meet his as she slowly reclines her body back to where she was. One of her hands rests in a fist on her forehead, and she takes a few moments to breath as Lucifer rubs his thumb over her hand.
"I can't even imagine how weak I must seem to you right now, or stupid," Chloe says slowly. Lucifer's eyebrows raise as his chin shifts forwards.
"Excuse me?" He asks in need of clarification.
"I went off to pursue a lead without you because he made me think you were in danger, and then I got kidnapped. Tried to fight back and failed, and at the end of the day all I did was allow myself to get beat up and cause the death of my attacker," Chloe clears up, while simultaneously tearing up. "I was the damsel in distress yet again. Placing stress on everyone around me-"
"Chloe," Lucifer interrupts. "Stop." Looking perplexed, she finally meets his eyes. Silent, she waits for what he has to say. "Go back, what do you mean he made you think I was in danger?"
Sniffling, Chloe tells him. "When I found out who it was, I got a phone call. It was Thomas. He needed the evidence against him, and he said if I didn't meet him alone...then he would hurt you. I remembered that time I shot you, and how you bled despite all your talk about immortality. I couldn't place you in danger Lucifer. So I left you a single clue in case things went south. I met up with him, gave him what he wanted. But he tried to drug me. I fought him and used his weight against him. We fell through the glass windows, and all I can remember is the pain before I blacked out. When I woke I was in that basement, strapped to a gurney. Wearing a bloodied hospital gown and paralyzed from the drugs like the other girls before me. Thomas...he," it was growing harder for her to speak. "He...he tried to perform a surgery on me. When I tried to fight back..."
Words seemed to not be able to form and she began to hyperventilate again. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she forced herself to keep going. "I found out later he severed a nerve within me. But it didn't work, it was just damaged. The doctors say it might repair itself, they couldn't tell since they never saw anything like it. Then Thomas tried to repair it, and placed actual staples within me. After the pain, all I could feel was this numbness. Lucifer...I didn't think I was making it out from that place. I had fully accepted imminent death. As if it was a gift or a symbol, my hand wasn't as tight in its harness. I grabbed a scalpel and when he came back I stabbed him with it.
"I untied myself and tried to run. When my foot," Chloe points towards her plastered ankle. "When it hit the ground, I fell flat. Thomas grabbed onto my leg and I tried to fight him off. The blade was embedded between his shoulder blades as I made my way for the stairs. I could hear your voice," Chloe's voice begins to break. "He chased me, and I knew I wouldn't make it past him again. I made a split second decision to let both of us fall down the stairs. When we landed...the blade seeped all the way through. I can still see it. Thomas on the ground, his body seizing and shivering. I knew he wasn't going to make it, so I was forced to just sit there and listen to his gargling sounds. The cops informed me that he died down there after choking on his own blood."
"Chloe..." Lucifer tries to place into the conversation. Yet, Chloe continues on.
"I don't remember a lot after that point. It went black, in and out. What I do remember...is you. When I saw you I remember this deep desperation to cling onto you, like you were my savior and without you...I don't know where I would be. Lucifer, I don't know if I would have made it out of there. Without you."
Taken back by her words, Lucifer is left truly speechless for a moment or two. "What part of that makes you seem weak? All I heard was a girl who fought so hard for her life, even when everything including the odds was against her. You may have given up for a moment, but you fought until the end Chloe. You did everything you could, and now a child still has her mother to raise her. While I was waiting for you, all I could think of was the moments we've had. From the first moment I met you up to that moment in that basement. I hope you remember. When there was only a chance I would never see you again, all I wanted was to go back in time so I could've met you sooner. I want to know you for my whole life, and love you just as long. If there is a price to loving you, I'll pay it every single minute of every single day. Chloe, I've finally found my reason to be here on this earth. I've realized that at least here I can be your lover. If my father took you, we would be separated forever and I can't even begin to fathom that thought nor do I want to."
Chloe looks at the ground where Lucifer's feet rest. "Playing in your metaphor, how can you love me anymore after what I've done? A man is dead because of me. I'm no longer an angel, I have taken a life."
Lucifer stands up from his chair and walks over to Chloe's bedside. Bending his knees, he places his lips next to her ear. "Even the brightest of angels have inner demons. It was self-defense, and his soul was not innocent. Thomas will get what is coming to him, and yet your halo still remains. Blinding the darkest soul there is in front of you. Please don't ever believe that you are tainted, or less innocent. Chloe, your still a perfect angel to me," Lucifer whispers softly before planting another kiss on her forehead.
As his lips leave, he feels two petite hands lock behind his hot neck. Pulling him down, Chloe crashes her lips into his again and Lucifer smiles as they share another kiss. At first it seems unsteady. Then the kiss turns passionate, and fiery. It lights something within the both of them. Never before has Chloe felt so alive, especially after being so close to death. Her lips are dry and chapped while his are soft, the moisture leaking into hers. Her hands sneak beyond his shoulders and her hands grasp at his jacket and back. Lucifer bends lower and wraps his arms around her waist. When they break to inhale, it only takes a moment before they resume. Chloe's heart monitor is rising, while remaining steady. Lucifer's veins in his neck protrude as he focuses primarily on the woman in front of him, and how much of a frenzy he is sent into at the mercy of her touch.
When they break, their foreheads touch as both Chloe and Lucifer breathe heavily. In and out. In and out. Chloe lets out a small chuckle as she realizes not only are some of her arm cords, but she has also come dangerously close to ripping her IV out. Lucifer also manages a small giggle as he unwraps a cord or two.
"You are leaving aren't you?" Chloe asks.
"I wish I wasn't. I'll be back however. You just need to focus on healing my dear," Lucifer tells her.
"I'll try," Chloe promises.
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All Amenadiel needed was proof. When Maze had told him that Lucifer's weakness was a mortal girl...he hadn't believed it. Keeping it in his back pocket as a final plan, he had only just begun to fantasize what he could do with that knowledge. Sure enough, as he followed Lucifer around for the past few days he had seen all he needed.
The devil himself was weak and vulnerable to this girl.
Amenadiel had tried everything. This next plan would not be approved by his father, but Amenadiel could take it no longer. Guarding the gates of hell wasn't easy. The job was not meant for him. Perhaps separating Lucifer from Chloe would be exactly the push Lucifer needed to return to his throne.
Whether or not the plan was morally right, Amenadiel had already made up him mind. This pressure was too much, and he would do anything to get it to go away. Plan B was just beginning, waiting to be executed. It was too soon to act straight away. Now all that was left do was wait for the proper timing, and begin praying for forgiveness.