The glaring light of the hospital's fluorescents was not a pleasant way to wake up, but I suppose I should've been grateful to wake up at all. My mouth twitched at the amount if times I had thought that in the last two months.
As I stirred, stretching out my stiff limbs, and saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw Polly, sitting in a worn chair at my bedside. The room was I was in had minty green walls, and the furniture was sparse and institutional. On one side was a wall of white curtain suspended off the ground and the other was a wall with a simple door that led out into a hall. I recognized this as a hospital room.
"About time," she said. Her eyes were bright and smiling. "Why were you out so long? I was the one who fought that thing pretending to be my sister and got stabbed eight hundred times,"
"How long have I been out?"
"A couple weeks,"
I leapt forward in bed, and my body protested. It wasn't in pain, but it certainly was stiff from lying still for so long. Polly stood up and reached over me, pushing the button attached to my bed to summon the nurse. "How are you feeling?"
I sat in silence for a moment, trying to get a feel for my body. There was no pain, no lingering ache. But I definitely felt different. Maybe it was because I knew that I no longer had to run from Lillian, and the absence of fear felt strange. I reached to scratch my arm, and my fingers made contact with something strange.
My arm was marbled with puckered skin that ran over it in little rivers of raised flesh. The burn from Lillian's attack, from where I shoved my hand down the Beast's throat.
"Yeah, he couldn't get rid of that." Polly said, watching my gaze.
"He...? Luc! Is he okay?"
"Of course he is! He was the first one to get out of the hospital."
"What are you telling her now, Polly?"
A knock came at the door to our room. Luc walked in, smiling ear to ear, carrying two bunches of flowers-one was overflowing with lilies and the other was a small package of yellow daises. He looked like he had never seen action; his skin was smooth and unscarred and he looked well rested.
"She was just telling me how you've never been better while I've been lying in a hospital bed, scarred and clinging to life," I teased, pretending to pout.
His smile faltered a little, but he still pulled me close to him and kissed me lightly. He handed me the lilies. "Did you just wake up?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Do you want anything?"
I paused; my stomach growled. "Chocolate pudding?"
Polly snorted. "You wake up from a near death experience and you want pudding?"
I just narrowed my eyes at her. "Near death? You guys were way more injured than I was! How did we even get here? Wasn't the building about to collapse?"
"I-" his voice fell to a whisper, as he glanced around the room "-teleported us out onto the street, I healed us as much as I could before the Normals arrived." He nodded to a nurse who passed by the door. "And then after I had rested for a bit in the hospital, I used my powers to heal myself more-not too much at once though so they didn't get suspicious. But it was still the fastest recovery they had ever seen," He finished with a wink.
"Didn't you come to heal us too?" I said, slightly hurt that he didn't think to use his powers on me-my arm was forever marred with this huge burn.
"Why do you think I'm sitting here instead of lying in the bed next to you?" Polly said, motioning towards the curtain behind her.
"Then why was I out for so long?"
Luc shrugged. "You've been unconscious since we were teleported onto the street. I did everything I could, but you wouldn't come too. I knew you weren't in danger, but I figured you'd just wake up... when you were ready."
"Ready?"
"Magic that dark affects people in strange way."
My face blanched. "I'm not still cursed, am I?"
"What? No!" Luc said, afraid of getting me worked up while I was still in a delicate state. "It just... leaves a mark. People and places that have come in contact which such stuff are forever changed."
Places... my mind changed gears, wondering about the place where our battle went down. "What happened to the apartments?" I said, worried. When the emergency services arrived-I assumed that's what he meant by Normals-I couldn't bear to think of the questions they would be asking.
"Oh don't worry," Polly interjected smirking. "He burnt the house down."
"You burnt the house down?" I cried.
"Not so loud!" Luc hissed, shooting a careful glance at Polly. He released me and wandered around my bed and over to Polly. He handed her the small bunch of daisies, shaking them at her as a warning. She snatched them away, narrowing her eyes, but the tension and hatred between them was absent.
He sat on the edge of my bed that was next to Polly. "I had too. Destroy the evidence."
I scowled, my brow creasing in thought. I don't know why I was upset. It wasn't like anything from my apartment would've survived anyway; the Beast had already done a good job to utterly destroying everything before the battle. It was just sad knowing now I had absolutely nothing to my name. And no place to live. Again.
"So now what?"
"You just heal," He smiled. "And I'll come by every day to, er, speed up the process,"
"No, I mean... after that... where are you staying?"
Luc shot a questioning glance at Polly. Polly raised her eyebrows.
"What, you want me to tell her? Am I actually allowed to talk now?" Polly said, obviously annoyed that she had been mostly left out of the conversation.
Luc just rolled his eyes in a playful way.
"Fine. He's been staying at my house," Polly continued, still glaring at Luc out of the corner of my eye. "I plan to have-or, ask‚ I guess-you both to move in,"
I gaped at her. I knew that the bond Polly and I shared would be stronger than ever now, but I never quite expected her to want to be housemates. Especially with Luc!
"Polly, why?" I stuttered in shock.
"Because," Polly said, her voice a little softer and her eyes a little sad. "I had been keeping it a certain way ever since Lillian left, to somehow keep it in her memory. But now I know what happened to her, I know it's not a good idea to hold onto these memories, to dwell on them. I want to share it now, make new memories in that house... to start fresh."
I nodded at her, a small smirk playing at my lips; I knew exactly how she felt. I thought back to the first time I had seen my apartment, standing by Lillian (who at the time I thought was Mrs. Malik), looking for the solace I so desperately craved. I had been looking to find a new beginning then... and that hadn't exactly turned out well. But now I had a second chance to do it over again.
And a fresh start was exactly what I needed.
THE END
+ + +
I want to thank anyone and everyone who took the time to read, support, vote, and comment on my little story! When I started writing this—posting these very chapters to Wattpad without any editing—I never imagined I'd get this kind of response.
I am so glad that people enjoyed it, even in it's roughest form, and I hope you enjoyed the conclusion.
As always, remember to vote and comment if you did! 😜
💜 Yvette
PS. There's a sequel, did you know?
PPS. If you're looking for something more polished, you should check out the new & improved version of THE PSYCHIC NEXT DOOR! It's been completely edited and expanded.
You can find the links here: http://www.yvetterussell.com/the-psychic-next-door