You Always Build It Better the Second Time Around

Chapter 40 - Never Mind (the Bruises)

I've watched him for these next few days. His cold skin has turned warm at times. Mostly in the night. I was told not to be worried of his uneven breathing during the night. Each night he awakens, he used to complain about his chest hurting. I suggested for him to stop breathing so heavily, but he did not seem to know what I was talking about. It has been three days since Nikolai, and Yu has not mentioned a single part of it. I have grown increasingly worried, but he has not taken notice of my worry for him.

He still cannot see.

"I know I've been told to be patient, but how long do I have to keep these bandages over my eyes? They're itchy."

I take his hands into mine to keep him from picking at the gauze over his eyes. "Just a bit longer. When you get completely better." I wish I could tell him more. Honestly. What the doctors have told me... I have to dig deep to find out how far it has affected him. Although, I am afraid of how deep the clutches of Heaven's Crown has knitted into his being. Are you even aware of it yourself?

His smile is what brings me out of these time-consuming thoughts. "You're all healed now. You're not too warm."

His smile is admittedly contagious. "But you are still blind."

"I expect you not to take advantage of me." He traces his thumb over my upturned lips no longer graced with a sincere smile, but one of mischievous intent.

"My dear, now why would an honest bastard like myself take advantage of someone as vulnerable as you are?" I adjust my position, my legs no longer hanging off the chair beside his bed, but my knees buried in the sheets beside Yu's thigh. His bandages cover his eyes, though not the blushing mess he has become. I take this opportunity and how unsuspecting and trusting he is of me not to take advantage of him, to pull him onto his back. I take pride in his soft whine of surprise. I lean down, close to his face, until we are chest to chest. "As I recall, I made a promise to Shiho Kimizuki."

Yu's smile fades, and I wish now that I could see the emotions portrayed within his eyes- the most wondrous color I have ever seen in my life. "I'm sure you are aware-"

"Let me see your eyes," I interrupt him. There was no need to hear him out, for I knew what he was going to say. He falls silent, nevertheless. "I know the consequences, but it's dark in here. It will not hurt." I open my mouth again to say something more, moving to get off of him and help him to sit up again. The next words that leave my lips I know aren't necessary, but yet I feel insecure without hearing the response from his own lips. "Do you trust me?" I ask softly, moving my hands to undo the gauze if he says so.

"You're so insecure, love." Yu smiles, soft with sincerity, as he places his forehead against my own. "I do trust you, Mika. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be here with you now."

And so I undo the gauze from around his eyes. I watch the reluctance of opening his eyes fade away, and his lids raise slowly, revealing those emerald jewels of a forest within those eyes. As I recall, the doctors here in the Heavens had trouble repairing his eye to the way it was. I was told- while struggling to find him, as we were kept in different rooms to heal- he could've lost his sight. But he didn't, because he trusts me. "Do you remember?"

Remember what happened, that is?

...

We were both cold. We were both heaving out breaths, greedy for air to cool our burning lungs. But my mind was not on my pain, but on yours.

He's growing colder and weaker. If only I could move this fucking barrier between us, then I can help him...

Yu gasps out breaths, coughing his words out with spits of blood. "Do you see?" he vaguely asks me. Then he lifts his hand up with great weakness, and faded green eyes follow with the point of his finger. "Nikolai," he coughs, "cannot leave. He has wasted... too much time... away from me."