forget me || sokeefe

chapter 18

~keefe~

Keefe spent every day of Sophie's recovery at Havenfield, by her side and watching over her, waiting patiently for her to wake up.

"Keefe, honey, you should go get some rest." Edaline told him softly.

Without turning, Keefe shook his head. "I'm not leaving her." He never looked away from Sophie's resting face. She looked so calm, over the past few days he watched the color slowly come back into her face, he was not going to leave her now.

"We can take care of her, you need to get some rest." Edaline suddenly appeared next to him and put her hand softly on his shoulder, making him jump.

"Yeah Keefe, you need to go take a shower 'cuz woo you don't smell too great right now." Ro said, fanning her hand in front of her face.

Keefe shook his head silently, feeling tears prickle his eyes. "I'm not leaving her."

Edaline sighed loudly. "Would you at least like something to eat?"

"I'm okay. But thank you." Keefe kept his eyes trained on Sophie.

His memory flashed to when he had given Sophie his drawings for midterms. She looked so happy. He remembered how long he had worked on them, longer and more painstakingly than he had ever worked on anything before. He would do it a million times over to feel her giddiness when she first saw his art. He was ready to do anything, to see the glint in her eyes when she hugged him. Her eyes, they were beautiful. Keefe loved everything about her. He just wished she saw herself the way he saw her.

Wait.

Loved?

He. . . Loved her?

Keefe was wrapped up in his thoughts when a voice that he had been waiting to hear, one that he missed a whole lot more than he thought he had, spoke.

"Keefe?" Sophie rasped, her eyes opened slowly.

A few tears leaked out of Keefe's eyes. He grabbed her hand, holding her gently, he started to send her "blue breezes" in Sophie's words. "Hi." He choked up, he didn't know why he was getting so emotional.

"Sophie?" Edaline asked incredulously, she was tearing up too. She reached out to grab Sophie's other hand.

Sophie winced when both her hands were being held. They looked at her strangely.

"Sorry, I just, things happened while I was with the Neverseen." Sophie said quietly, she shivered.

Keefe saw fear flash through her eyes, as well as dread. He felt bad, for the first time he didn't know how to help her. He wanted to help her with everything in him, this time, he just couldn't.

But he sure as heck could still try.

Sophie noticed her glove back on the hand that Edaline held, but not on the one Keefe was holding.

She tried to sit up and winced. "Easy, Sophie. You've been asleep for long time." Edaline tried to lay be back down.

Panic flashed through Sophie's eyes. "Where's Flori?!" She practically screamed.

"She's safe." Keefe assured her.

They all knew a little of what had happened to them in there, from Flori. But what Flori didn't know, was what they had been doing to Sophie when they took her out of their cell. But Flori had painted a pretty painful picture of how dead she looked each time they brought her back in.

"Sophie?" Flori charged into the room.

Sophie's breath caught at the sight of her gnomish bodyguard. She started to cry, so did Flori.