「Anime x Reader One Shots」

Bouquet of Hyacinths (Levi x Sick!Reader)

After being diagnosed with cancer, only two things were certain in your life. Death was an obvious one, but you didn't want to count it. After all, death was a certainty in everyone's life whether they were young or old, healthy or sick. Death was painfully blatant in everyone's lives so you didn't feel the need to include it.

One new certainty in your life that most people didn't experience was the constant beeping of the heart monitor. It was a constant in your life that you oddly enjoyed. It was something you knew for a fact that would always be present in your life, and when the day came that it would finally stop beeping, you wouldn't be there to see that one certainty go away for good.

It also helped remind the doctors and nurses that you were still alive and fighting after months of this. Sometimes, on your down days, it even helped to remind you that you were, indeed, alive. After being bedridden for what seemed to be an eternity, it was sometimes hard for you to remember that you were alive. Definitely not well, but alive.

The next and final certainty wasn't one that you expected. It was a person that you thought would leave your life for good the second he learned of your illness, but he never did. Levi Ackerman, the love of your life. You could hear the sound of his angry voice coming from underneath the closed door to your hospital room along with the voice of the doctor who had been treating you this long.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think she's going to last much longer. Perhaps a few more months at most," the doctor said.

"I don't give two shits about what you think!" Levi snapped, his voice growing increasingly louder. "It's only been six damn months, I know she can keep fighting longer!"

"A person can only fight for so long."

"To hell with you," he spat, but he didn't sound as confident about this as he did before. Moving around the doctor, he entered your room holding the bouquet of flowers he brought today to find that you were awake despite what he thought. "Did you hear all that?"

All you could do was nod meekly. He sighed and placed the bundle of flowers down on the table. "Dammit, (Y/N). I don't want you listening to the bullshit that comes from his mouth."

The two of you stayed quiet for a few moments before you could work up the courage to finally say something that had been on your mind. "The doctor is wrong."

"No shit he is," Levi grumbled angrily.

"No, not like that," you persisted. "I don't think I'll even last for a few months."

"The hell are you trying to say?"

"Levi, I'm going to die soon. Real soon."

"Stop it, (Y/N)!" he screamed, slamming his fist down onto the table. Your face immediately softened, knowing how hard this was for him. You were the one dying and yet he was the one hurting most.

"The doctor said you still have a few more months," he whispered as he placed a hand on your cheek.

"I know my body better than any doctor could. I can feel it shutting down - getting ready to die."

He suddenly turned his head away and you knew you should stop. The last thing you wanted was to hurt him, but you didn't think you could keep up fighting this illness much longer. The only reason why you were still alive was that you fought for him.

"What kind are those?" you asked as you pointed to the flowers he brought you, trying to change the subject.

Prior to being diagnosed, you never cared too much about flowers. But ever since that day, Levi had brought you a new bouquet of flowers each day in hopes of cheering you up. By now, waiting to see which new type of flower he'd bring was something you looked forward to.

"They're azaleas. Do you like them?"

"They're pretty. But I like the ones you brought me yesterday the most."

"You mean the hyacinths?" he asked, a smile tugging on his lips.

"Yeah!" you exclaimed. "I like their shape and all the colors."

He sat on the bed beside you and started to gently stroke your face. You instantly moved closer to him at the feel of his touch and you felt more at peace. "What about their do you like so much?"

You hesitated for a moment, trying to think of a way to answer his question. Never did you think of why you liked them so much, you just did.

"I think it's because... because they look so alive," you answered slowly. "They look depressed and almost dead when they haven't bloomed yet, but as soon as they do bloom, they come to life and look so happy."

The both of you stayed silent after that, neither of you knowing what to say. He knew you wished that you could be just like a hyacinth flower, but it could never happen. At least, not in this lifetime.

"It's getting late; I should go," he said, standing up from the bed. "I'll bring you another bouquet of hyacinths tomorrow."

"I'd like that."

He leaned down and kissed your forehead softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too," you told him as you gave his hand a tight squeeze.

As he left the room, tears began to form in your eyes not because had to leave, but because you knew that it would be the last time you'd see him. Like you said before; no doctor knew your body as well as you did. It was very evident to you that this would be your final day.

The next day, Levi walked into the hospital holding the bouquet of hyacinths as promised. Before he could enter your room, the doctor stopped him much like he did the day before, but this time, a grim expression was clear on his face. As he told Levi of the bad news, the bouquet of flowers slipped from his hand and took what seemed to be forever to land on the ground. His expression drastically changed from one of shock to horror, and then to pure anger and hatred. A fury of curses that were all directed at the doctor escaped his mouth and he never stopped until he was forced to leave the hospital. He couldn't tell who he was more angry at; the doctor for not being able to save you, or you for giving up the fight. For leaving him.

The day of your funeral was by far the hardest day for him in his whole life. He didn't dare go to the funeral knowing that he wouldn't be able to contain his anger when people who hardly knew you and people who didn't even visit you in the hospital started talking about how good of a person you were and how much they loved you. It made him sick just thinking about it.

He waited until dusk when everyone had left your grave to pay his respects. He carefully laid a new bouquet of hyacinths onto your grave and harshly bit his lip to prevent himself from crying.

"For fuck's sake," he cursed as he quickly wiped a tear from his eye. "I've never cried over anything or anyone before I met you. I've never felt this much pain before meeting you. But... I wouldn't fucking change it for anything. I hate that all this shit happened to you I hate the pain it's caused, but I could never hate or regret meeting you. I may have made plenty of mistakes in my life, but loving you wasn't one of them."

The tears started pouring down his face as he was no longer able to contain them. He didn't want to contain them. Even if you couldn't see it, he wanted to show you just how much he cared. Just how much he loved you.

"Thank you for fighting so damn hard for me," he said, trying hard to keep his voice from wavering. "I will love you forever, (Y/N)."