.Perfect Fantasy. |H.S.|

Chapter 46. Inevitability.

.Harry.

The voices were loud now, senses spiraling out of the foggy abyss. My side still throbbed and the skin felt tight against my skull.
This couldn't be life and I was getting very upset by the minute.
New sounds awakened me, and I rubbed my eyes with icy fingertips, sure that I was dreaming at the sight of my new visitor standing still in the same spot, just there, keeping the distance by alertly leaning forward on the edge of the bed.
His expression never changed, standing worriedly with eyes fixed narrow and unblinking.
He waited while the woman adjusted the blanket across my lap, taking her time to calmly fix it for my comfort, the cold still seeping my muscles, as if some inner warmth had been extinguished from my body and all that remained was the smell of rubbing alcohol and some other unfamiliar scents and recollections that enveloped me whole.

This was my absolute worst nightmare; trying to remember but feeling like my head was blank. It felt like another blackout from being too drunk, my heart panged, struggling with a curious resistance to the piece of digging I was about to do.

Again, I think it was a pure shock, but my eyes lost and found focus, making me feel tired, unhinged and disconnected. Somewhere between those things, I clasped my hands tightly together to make them stop shaking, but nothing seemed to help me.
This was a new self-contained world of confusion and resentment, and it was so damn horrible; the waiting part of the room was empty, and the low hum of medical equipment throughout the floor was like emotional white noise passing as a conversation between the three of us.

It wasn't until the sky darkened that they allowed me to get my shit together, feeling half-human again after washing off the remains of whatever happened. The nurse had to help me put on a fresh hospital gown.
Felt my mouth falling into a grim line when the bittersweet taste of memory dropped as fresh as the damp strands of hair by my ears, a flashback of Natalia helping me take a shower a few weeks back. It was crazy she wasn't around this time. It hurt and made me think constantly about how good it had felt.

I opened my mouth to say thanks but nothing came out, her kind eyes matching her smile as she bowed her head and walked away from me, not failing to give Jeffrey a hard look before she crossed the room; a faint and clipped goodbye mumbled into the vacant space around us.
It definitely wasn't the same.
So tightened my hands together trying to chase away the chills, the energy unsettling and all wrong. It did no good. I drew in a shuddering breath. Fear like nothing I had ever known had clawed at my insides as I had helplessly watched people rushing around me all day, an inconsequential flashback pinged in the back of my shrewd brain as the last thing that went through my mind was entering my bedroom, and then, nothing. Not a single coherent thing, not noise or a person, no pain. Nothing. So many questions and no answers.

Stepping closer without saying hello out loud, pointed at the stuff he was holding in both of his hands. My stuff. He tugged off his jacket and tossed it on top of the pile, making himself at home as if weeks hadn't passed us by.

Just one look at that stupid beard he could actually grow, and tears welled up my eyes.

For a moment, a fleeting look of resignation passed through his eyes, but then, he moved over to me, dropping his voice to a deadly serious tone. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head sharply, "I'm fine," My voice was gravelly as the words came out. "Just feel a little bit... uhm, sick."

His face flashed with his usual outrage when things didn't go well, again, but he reined it in just as quickly, crossing the space between us, and then pulling me into a big tight half-hug. Pain bubbled up through my chest into my eyes, and tears began spilling out. "I was so scared when they called me. I'm so sorry." He then sat down, rolling the nearest chair through the floor until he was right next to me, clicking his phone on silent as he carefully smiled at me. "You know?, everyone knows I really shouldn't be here, but I couldn't wait to see you until tomorrow, and I had to make some calls and pull up those persuasive traits we've learned to love and hate..." I smiled at him and nodded my head. "You know how my old man has powers that are beyond both of us."