Steel My Soul ✓

34 | Love

C H A N C E Y

"Chancey," A gruff voice called out to me, a voice I hadn't heard in years. 

I tried to open my eyes and panicked when I couldn't. 

"You're okay, son. Don't panic."

But then I recognised the voice and shuddered into tears at the warm comfort Indigo's father once gave me. I'd missed it. I'd missed him so much. 

"Did I die?" I tried to ask, not hearing my voice as I moved my lips to speak. 

His familiar laughter surrounded me, easing the tightness in my chest. "No. Big man upstairs says it's not your time."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

Indigo's dad, who I cherished as much as I would've if he'd been my own father, hushed me gently. If I'd been a child, I would've been lulled to sleep at the sound of his gentleness. He was too good for this world. 

"You need your rest," His voice sounded far away now, and I tried to sit up, open my eyes and search for him. "She still needs you. Don't leave her now when she needs you the most."

"Don't go," I whispered into the darkness. "Don't let her leave me either. I need her, too."

"You'll be okay, kid," He whispered back. 

My head shook back and forth, "No, I won't be. I won't be okay. Not with you both gone."

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"I can't see you," I still struggled to open my eyes. 

"But you can feel my presence, hear me in the darkness?"

"Yeah," I gave up trying and let myself relish his presence. 

"That's right, son. We'll be in your presence. You won't be alone," He paused, his voice beginning to fade. "Get some rest. There's no need to panic anymore. You'll be okay."

"And Indigo? Will she be okay?"

"I'm in safe hands, Chancey. She will be, too," His words settled into my heart, lowering the blow to my gut when he said, "We'll meet again. I promise."

I N D I G O

Machines beeped. Cords and tubes were torn off my skin. Nurses tried to get me back on the bed, but I pushed them away with whatever strength I had. I needed to see him. My heart wouldn't stop racing out of my chest until I saw my love. I loved him so much that my heart shattered at the news that he'd been seriously hurt.

"Get off me!" I yanked my arm away from a woman who grabbed it in an attempt to settle me into the bed. "Let me see him. Why won't you let me see him?"

"He's resting, Indigo," A male nurse told me from across the room as he consoled my mother. 

She watched with wary eyes as I lost my strength and reluctantly allowed the two female nurses to return me to my bed. They hastily attached the tubes and cords I'd ripped off, and I winced when one of them almost jabbed a needle into my arm. I glared at her. She avoided my gaze and did her job anyway. 

"Please," I returned my attention to the nurse who stood by my mother. "I want to see him."

"He's been resting for a week," He said, heading toward the exit. "We'll wake him up when his body is well rested and healing."