Clouds As Witnesses (RUBY DA CHERRY/$UICIDEBOY$)

Chapter 54

Coming out of anesthesia was a surreal experience.

It fell somewhere between consciousness and comatose; a place where there was no hurt, no grief, no pain, no recollection. 

Before she could even pry her heavy eyelids open, Shay remembered asking for Aristos in a haze. The only voice she could distinguish was one of a woman, though, presumably the post-surgery nurse. The voice was warm and soothing like sweet caramel, even reminding her of her mother's temperate demeanor, but she only wanted Ari.

Speaking of her mother...

It hurt to think that Diane, Kellie, and Pavlos had never even gotten the news about their grandchild, nor Sophia and Alexi about their niece or nephew. Now they would either never know, or only know of its death. Heartbroken for five more, the mere thought left a bilious taste in her mouth.

What was the maximum capacity for heartache? Beyond a shadow of a doubt, she had reached it today.

The recovery room was bare and sterile-smelling and way too cold. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and curled onto her side, fading in and out of sleep. In her dreams, everything was breezy and blissful like a summer afternoon on the beach. She was floating through a bright blue sky full of wispy clouds and everlasting sunshine, oblivious to the situation that brought her here in the first place. But all good things came to an end eventually. 

When she fully came to, the lights were dimmed and she could feel a less penetrative ache in her lower belly as whatever medications in her system wore off. The unfortunately vacant olive-green chair and the clacking of keys behind her head became the focal points of her attention. If she concentrated too hard or too long on the aching sensation, she would remember what was lost. And right now, she just wanted to appreciate the calm before the storm.

The typing paused suddenly. Shay could feel another presence enter the room, her suspicions confirmed when the nurse spoke in the same amiable tone as before. "Oh, hi there! You must be the famous Aristos. I'm glad they finally let you come back. She's been asking for you nonstop."

Oh, God, she hoped it was Aristos.

It was. There was the familiar, nectarous laughter that sent the butterflies in her chest into a spiral. From her fingertips to her toes, a warm fuzzy feeling ebbed and flowed until he moved across the room and came into view. Only then did it become a full-on tropical storm, flooded with so many emotions at once that she didn't even know where to begin.

"Hey, princess." His voice was low and raspy, tinted with exhaustion and a despondency that burst the first few stitches out of her sewn-up heart. She acknowledged his company with a soft smile when he took her hand delicately in his, lowering into the once-vacant chair and stroking her knuckles with his thumb. "How you feeling?"

What a loaded question. She was feeling a lot of things. But the procedure must have gone as well as it could have, so she whispered, "I'm okay."

Ari's gaze shifted up to the nurse behind her, who was shuffling papers around on the computer desk in an attempt to keep busy instead of disturbing their first few moments together.

What a real one.

But she had a job to do. So after a few moments of silence, the nurse decided it was appropriate to speak. "Shayna, Dr. Bloom will give you a little time to wake up and rest, then he'll stop by to do one more check and relay any discharge instructions. There's some food for you on the side table. You lost quite a bit of blood with the procedure, so we want to get that blood sugar up before we feel comfortable letting you walk out. Sound good?"

Shay peered at the nurse over her shoulder. Interestingly enough, she noticed an elephant embroidered into the pocket of her scrub jacket. They just couldn't escape those today, huh? "Okay. Thank you."