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 Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2024 2:44 pm
Mel’s eyes were red and puffy. Upon waking in the hospital, her parents, whom the hospital called when they admitted her, insisted that she stay for at least an additional day for more tests and observation. She had apparently hit her head pretty hard and had taken far too long to wake up for their comforts…though she imagined anything beyond an hour would have qualified as “far too long” in their books.
The down time meant there was plenty of time for her to circle back to the last thing she could remember from that night–those golden eyes. Each time she closed her eyes they were all that she could see, and all that came to mind, so she could hardly get any rest, and any time her parents stepped out of her room she was, for some reason now unknown to her, reduced to tears.
The annoying part was that she couldn’t recall exactly why. She imagined it was something to do with what happened after she saw those golden eyes, but no matter how hard she thought nothing came to her. The frustration only added to those tears, and she just looked…tired.
Her parents had taken care of calling her boss and her teachers to let them know what happened, so she officially had the rest of the week off. She let a few other close friends know what happened and where she was after she’d recovered a little bit of her strength, but beyond the occasional short replies back she stayed off her phone. She was focused on trying to remember what happened, and was staring out the window at the dreary weather.
“Must be the first rainfall since summer,” she said dryly, sniffling as she wiped at her damp cheeks.
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Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2024 4:09 pm
Aiden didn’t knock on the door when he arrived at the hospital. Honestly, a part of him hoped that Mel was sleeping so he could just drop off the bouquet of bright yellow and orange flowers and slip out. He knew she probably didn’t want company, and he wasn’t here to disrespect her wishes, but–
Well, he knew what it was like to spend any amount of time in the hospital.
It was scary. It was uncomfortable. It was nerve-wracking.
He didn’t know how she’d been hurt but it was easy to guess. All the more reason to just make sure she was okay and didn’t need anything.
It was probably because he was being so quiet, and because her attention was already so focused on the weather outside, that she didn’t hear him come in.
Ah, she was in the hospital, he should try not to spook her.
He turned the doorknob a little louder and made sure the door clicked behind him when he entered. “Yeah, I think so. I brought you some sunflowers to try and brighten things up. How are you feeling?”
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Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2024 3:13 pm
Mel heard the door open but figured it was just one of the nurses, or maybe her parents, so she didn’t look. She’d been holding it together pretty well so far whenever someone came into her room, but it always took a minute to steel herself so her emotions didn’t get the better of her. It was just easier when people weren’t worrying and fussing over her; it made her feel a little better that they didn’t, but she knew it probably wasn’t the greatest thing for her.
She was fine, though. Fine enough.
So when she heard Aiden’s voice she blinked in surprise before looking over, blue eyes flickering from her friend to the flowers he was carrying and back again for a second before she broke into a teary smile.
“Been better,” she said with a weak laugh as she looked away to wipe at her eyes, “but not bad.” When it felt like her eyes would stay dry, she looked up again, expression a bit brighter than it had been when he first walked in.
“Thank you,” she went on, “for coming by. And for the flowers…”
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 9:34 pm
The wetness in her eyes was somewhat unexpected but Aiden had no reason to judge her for them. She was in the hospital, hurt! And probably hiding the extent of how she got here, but he wasn’t going to make a fuss about that right now. She probably didn't even want him to notice.
“How could I not? On such a dreary day? It just seemed right. I brought some cookies from my cousin’s bakery, too.” He raised his shoulder just slightly, as if that gesture alone would let her see through the backpack he was wearing.
“Have they told you how long you’re going to have to be here for? I didn’t want to go overkill with the gifts if you’re going to be discharged soon but I was worried about you and hoped you might like some company.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2024 3:51 pm
”And the cookies,” she added with a slightly wider smile, eyes following the shrug of his shoulder to his backpack where the cookies probably were, as he wasn’t carrying anything else besides the flowers. She gestured toward the chair that was just beside her bed, where her mom had been a permanent fixture whenever she was inside the room. Thankfully not that case for this visit; it meant she could be more specific should questions arise about why she was here and all that.
Not that she had any of those answers for herself, but maybe Aiden might. Maybe he’d encountered this thing before? Or heard of others that had and walked away from it without the two-day stint in the hospital.
“Just one more night, to make sure I’m stable. Doctor says I’m fine and can rest at home, and they would have discharged me this morning but my mom about had a conniption over it. Saying it was too soon or something.” There was a flicker of a smile at the memory.
“Your company is always welcome, Aiden,” she went on. “And your timing’s pretty good, too. I was just getting a little hungry.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 2:20 pm
Aiden laughed softly and nodded as he crossed the room and planted himself in the seat she’d pointed out. He held the flowers out so she could smell or examine them, and once they were out of his hands he unzipped the bag so he could pull out the carefully packed assortment of cookies.
“Well, I’m glad your mom is looking out for you. Better safe than sorry. My parents are the same way. But I had my ‘unexplained coma’ stint in the hospital so now if I’ve got a headache they think I should go to urgent care.”
Naturally, he could only smile at the thought. He was ready to swap flowers for cookies but didn’t want to rush her, so he just leaned forward and seemed ready to exchange when she was ready.
“The cookies might tide you over for a bit but I can get real food delivered if you’re tired of cafeteria food. Not sure how they expect anyone to get better when they’re feeding them cardboard.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:04 am
Mel took the flowers and brought them close, her smile growing as she took in their fresh scent. It did more for her mood than anything else since seeing her parents when she woke up, and smelled better than the hospital by far. She took her time with them, though was still carefully listening to Aiden as he spoke.
Her eyes widened when he mentioned his ‘unexplained coma’ and her eyes snapped over to meet his. Though it was already past, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. She could only guess what might have happened, and after a moment of processing she nodded slowly.
“That seems fair enough,” she said, expression softening and her worry ebbing when she saw the smile on his face. “I’m worried my mom might start fussing about me a little bit more now, but I guess that doesn’t need to be a bad thing.” Eventually she offered him the flowers in exchange for the bag of cookies, her thoughts meandering back to the well. Thankfully the sound of Aiden’s voice kept her from getting fully lost in those thoughts, and when he mentioned the hospital food she couldn’t help the light laugh that bubbled up out of her.
“Cardboard is a bit harsh,” she replied, “it hasn’t been that bad, but I haven’t had much of an appetite since waking up. Maybe real food will help with that.” She opened up the bag and took out a cookie, bringing it to her lips and taking a nibble.
“So your coma…” she started, eyes moving to the door to check if someone might be coming, before settling again on her friend. “Could you tell me a little more about it, or…?”
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:02 pm
Aiden only laughed when she made some effort to defend the hospital food. “If you smell real food, you’ll get your appetite back. Here,” he said, and opened up a delivery app before passing it over. “See if any of that looks interesting. And if it doesn’t, I’ll just pick one of my favorites and we’ll see what happens.”
He trusted her with his phone. Unbothered, once it was in her possession, he just stretched out.
“What do you want to know? It sucked. I didn’t even know what happened at first. I mean, one minute you’re walking home at night, and the next you think you see some monster, some guy with his hand in your chest–you’re going into a coma, who knows what’s real? I thought it was a dream at first. Just some nightmare my brain concocted to make it make sense. It wasn’t until I,” he shrugged, gestured to himself, and then continued, “you know, had some new life experiences that I realized I wasn’t just tapping into my imagination.”
His eyes lingered on the door briefly but no Negaverse agent suddenly jumped into view. “I don’t know who it was, I neve ran into him again. I don’t know if I’d want to or not. Guess I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I don’t know who saved me, either. I’d like to thank them, but. I was kind of on my last legs so we were cutting it pretty close. I remember, hm. I remember waking up from the worst sleep of my life. I was so tired, I couldn’t move. I remember the nurses rushing in, I guess my heart was doing something weird? And I think I remember red hair. Through the window. I can’t remember a face but I remember that was the first person I saw when I woke up. I don’t know if they had anything to do with it, I didn’t recognize them. But back then I wasn’t really thinking about any of that. It didn’t seem important. I wish I knew back then, I’d like to thank them, but I don’t know if I’ll get the chance. All I know is that I got unlucky, and then I got really lucky afterwards. Most people don’t get to wake up from those comas. I’m just trying to make the best of it.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:15 pm
Was it just her that thought most people wouldn’t be so comfortable when handing their phone off to someone else? Most showed signs of hesitation, by her experience. Fiddling with something before handing it to her for whatever reason that she needed it. She never questioned it, even understood why since phones were so personal these days, so the way Aiden handed his over was…refreshing.
Reassuring, even. She eased back into her pillow, a small smile settled on her face as she went down the list on the app. She had her attention split between eating her cookie, browsing the app, and listening to his story. Though the more he shared, the more he pulled at her focus until he had her absolute attention.
And she felt a quiet ache in her chest as he recounted the experience. She could relate to the pain, at least, of having someone’s hand on her starseed. She was a knight at the time and it had been…an indescribable amount of pain. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like as a civilian. Tears pricked at her eyes as she went through a wave of emotions. Fear and worry, sadness and concern…and ultimately relief, but at that point she had to bite her lower lip to try and keep the tears from falling.
Even if it was in the past, the near loss felt so horrifyingly close.
“That sounds awful,” she managed a little squeak, and tried to get back to nibbling at her cookie to distract herself. Some tears slipped past her guard, and she let them be. Maybe pretending they weren’t there would keep Aiden from noticing. “I’m glad you woke up, and for what it’s worth I think you’re doing great.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 6:59 am
At some point, Aiden’s eyes had drifted to Mel’s but he’d been quick to look away. It was easy to see the moisture in her eyes and the fluorescent lighting of the hospital room made the tear tracks on her cheek practically glow.
Mel was strong, she wouldn’t want to be coddled. She’d already been so hesitant to have anyone even come visit her so the last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel self conscious. He didn’t have his phone to play with and the room itself was fairly boring so he picked at his nails a bit and somehow made it look convincing enough.
“Ahhh, you’re sweet, Mel. I appreciate it. I’m glad I woke up, too! I’ve got a lot of unfinished business. I’d have probably wound up being a very annoying ghost. And all my work would have gotten foisted on someone else. Nah, I think things worked out pretty okay.”
How could anyone complain about being alive? Sure, things weren’t easy, but he’d take a bad day over no day.
“I’m glad you’re here too, you know. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing great, too. Here, come here. Let me give you a hug. I’ve been trying to be cool about it but I’m really glad to see you in one piece,” he said, and opened his arms to invite her into a hug as he lifted himself from the chair. She was in the hospital, she was probably supposed to be resting! He didn’t want her to work any more than she had to.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2025 10:11 pm
“I’d probably still harp on you about pulling ‘dangerous’ stunts even if you were a ghost.” Mel did her best and offered up a playful, if slightly weaker than usual, smile after she finished off her cookie. They were both doing their best, whether it was in their civilian lives or their powered lives. In truth, it was really, really nice to have someone that was both a fellow knight and someone she considered a good friend.
“Mm…well. I’m definitely trying,” she said, lip trembling despite the extra effort she put into trying to smile. Something about the idea of managing to stay in one piece again brought her back to those eyes. Something clicked right then, as though those eyes brought her face to face with her own mortality. Every single person in her life that she cared about flashed through her mind, and worry quickly settled in her eyes even as Aiden gently encouraged her. Her lip trembled all the more at the sight of his open arms, and despite wanting to look and be strong she found she could hardly refuse.
So she didn’t.
Mel leaned into Aiden and buried her face into his chest, and she hugged him tight.
Because she could. She was still here, safe and sound. Alive despite whatever odds. The relief hit her all at once, manifesting as tears that unfortunately started soaking into Aiden’s shirt.
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 4:42 pm
Aiden laughed softly when she suggested giving him a hard time about his stunts but it was very clear that he wasn’t laughing at her. She’d done a very big thing by accepting his hug, and he adjusted himself so he could sit next to her. He was in this for the long run and he’d stay here for as long as she needed.
He kept his arms wrapped around her, protectively but not too tight. He rubbed small circles on her back and tucked her head under her chin.
If he noticed his shirt getting damp–and, he certainly didn’t act like he had–he didn’t seem like he was bothered by it.
“You’re doing a good job, Mel.”
He didn’t have to know everything he’d been through to know it was hard. It’s not like anyone actually prepared you to be a Knight, to put your life on the line every time you powered up.
“Sometimes it feels like we drew the short end of the stick though, doesn’t it? But I’m really proud of you. It’s not easy to do the things you do.”
Every night was a new problem, a new risk, a new threat.
It took a tough person to drag themselves out to face it time and time again. And for what! To do a little good in a sea of evil, when the risks were so high?
…It was worth it.
But it wasn’t easy.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:37 pm
She nodded at his question, though it briefly occurred to her that he might have just been asking rhetorically given what he said right after. Either way, she kept herself tucked against him, soaking in the comfort he offered until the tears stopped and she finally calmed down. She shifted slightly, turning her head so her voice wasn’t muffled against his shirt.
“Thanks,” she said quietly, though after a moment she let out a little laugh. “But I feel like ‘short end of the stick’ is putting it lightly.” It was maybe a bit morbid and not her usual sense of humor, but at least her smile came back as she said it. He was right, though. None of this was easy for anyone involved–Aiden, of course, included. High risk, low reward. Whatever gains that did come felt sometimes negligible in the grand scheme of things.
But it was worth it. Every person saved from Chaos made it worth it.
Just some days were harder than others.
Eventually she did pull away, and her eyes fell first to his shirt. “Sorry,” she mumbled, cheeks turning a light pink as she reached up to brush her hand over the spot to see how bad it was.
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2025 6:32 am
Aiden laughed warmly and shook his head. “Please,” he insisted, “You’ve got nothing to worry about. No one but you is even going to notice. Promise.”
And, he’d make sure of it by putting on a jacket. For now, he made sure she could see his smile more than anything else.
“It’s gonna get better, Mel. You can soak my shirt any time. I’ll make sure to wear a soft one.”
But, hopefully the future would be kind to her. She deserved better than tears.
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