Re: Never Alone. (Shiori)

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"Yeah. Nice to meet you."
Jason grinned slightly, his lips curved into a pleased smile. When she shook his hand, his smile grew broader, before he dropped it back down to his side. "Eric...? Who's that?" He turned, looking around the room slightly. When she had mentioned him, he felt a slight pang of jealousy, but quickly pushed it away. "You should have seen the guy before, he was hurt. Mark was hovering over him like a mother hen, even went to the hospital with him. At least he's not here to bother anyone anymore." Jason didn't realize that Eric was the one that was hurt, and didn't think twice about insulting him.

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Leah gave him a stern look, but it only lasted a moment. She felt a pang of longing when she remembered what they used to have... She frowned. Used to. "Actually, I was there with him when he got hurt," Leah said, her tone flat and monotonous. "He was just trying to protect me. And we used to be...well, unofficially a couple, I guess." Leah gave him a look that silently screamed she was curious what he had to say to that. Though her feelings had unwillingly died down a bit for Eric, she still had a large portion of her heart that wished things would go the way they had before.

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Jason frowned at Leah's stern glare, before she sharply corrected him. He looked down, speechless and scrambling for words, though he couldn't think of anything to say. "Uh.. So- Sorry..." He blurted out, tripping over his words. Shaking his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets and pursed his lips, looking very embarrased and out of place. "So... He's at the hospital.. We're you going to go see him?"

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Leah shrugged it off, "It's fine," she muttered, "Not anywhere near intimate anymore." Leah rolled her eyes slightly, rather annoyed with the fact that Eric probably had forgotten her completely. When Jason asked her if she was going to the hospital, she shrugged her shoulders halfheartedly. "No, I wasn't... I trust Mark to take care of him. Plus, he probably wouldn't care if I came anyways." Leah almost said she'd made a few mistakes in the past, but Jason didn't need to know, so instead she smiled weakly.

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Jason raised his eyebrows at Leah's comment, trying to keep a smug smile off of his face. That was just his personality, and he really didn't mean to be that un-thoughtful about it all. It must have been over between the two of them, because he had been hurt pretty badly, and Leah didn't even care. Shrugging slightly, noting her tired smile. "Sorry it's not so grand here... It's the best Dad could do. How did you get here?"

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Leah frowned at his commentI came here on the train with him. To here. Getting away from my parents. And his parents." Leah didn't mean to let that slip, but she quickly stopped herself from saying more, "But you have to promise me you won't tell anybody. If our parents found us...egh. My dad would kill me. And I'm not even exaggerating."

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"So you ran away with him."
Jason summed things up pretty bluntly, stepping so he was a bit closer to Leah. He gave her a friendly smile, then shook his head. "I dont know... So you came here, because there was no where else?" Jason thought that it was pretty poor planning on Eric's part, not knowing where to stay as soon as he hit the big city. Jason himself didn't know the details, so wasn't really thinking reasonably.

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Leah frowned slightly. He was being rather blunt about it. "Well, yeah, I guess," Leah commented. Leah shrugged, "I don't really know where else there was to go. Eric bought the tickets, he invited me to come with him.... I didn't care where we went, as long as we were away from my dad and brother." Leah shivered slightly. "But I guess there wasn't anywhere else..." Leah sighed quietly.

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Jason nodded slightly, a fake smile pasted on his face. She probably couldn't tell it was fake, but it didn't matter. Soon, the large figure of his father came into the room, and he was soon called away from Leah. "Uh, gotta go. I'll talk to you later!" Giving her a smile, he turned and made his way to one of the doors that led to the upstairs of the church.
(fail.)

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Leah stared at him suspiciously, though her face was completely blank of any emotion. She nodded and waved, "Okay, bye!" Leah walked into the area where Mark kept his cot, and she rummaged through her backpack until she found her iPod buried in one of the pockets. She took it out and flipped through the phone until she found 'Forever and Always' by the band Parachute, and hit the replay button as she put in her earbuds and leaned solomnly against the wall. The discussion with Jason had brought back bittersweet memories.

[ had to add that song. not in a very happy mood right now. Dx ]

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Damn, if he only had a phone!
Eric glanced to his bedside table, but then realized his phone was broken, crushed under Blake's fat foot. He had slowly come to realize what had happened, and now he needed to find a way to contact Leah. Near the bedside table there was a phone, but he didn't remember Leah's new number. Searching his memory, he thought he would at least try. Painfully ajusting the bed, he made a grab for the phone and hissed in pain, waiting until it subsided to try and reach it again. He grasped the cord, quickly dragging the device towards him, and picked up the phone in his trembling fingers. After repeatedly trying several different numbers, he thought about giving up. Deciding to try one last time, he dialed what he thought was Leah's phone number and held the device up to his ear.

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Leah almost missed the ringing of her phone, and she jumped when she realized it was ringing. Putting the song on pause, Leah took out the earbuds, and she rummaged around for her phone for a minute before picking it up. "Hello?" Leah asked, taking the other earbud from her ear, letting out a deep sigh. She looked over at the empty cot and frowned. She wished Eric was here---but she didn't know if he'd want to be here. Maybe, maybe not. After all, he was in the hospital because he had been protecting her...

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The ringing of the phone line made Eric's head hurt, and he was forced to pull it slightly away from his ear. He was probably supposed to be sleeping, as he was obviously doped up on something that made him rather drowsy and weirdly happy. He leaned back against the pillow, the phone pressed tightly to his ear. His fingers gripped the device, and he sat rigidly until a feminine voice answered on the other line. "Leah? Is that you?" He was extremley tired, and almost fell asleep against the pillows. "Are you ok?"

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Leah's heart caught in her throat as she realized who was calling. "Eric...?" she murmured, cocking an eyebrow and getting to her feet, walking outside and standing on the front doorstep of the church, hoping to get a better connection. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about you..." Leah bit her lip gently as emotions welled through her. "Is Mark with you? Have they fixed your hand? What about your shoulder wound?" Leah caught herself, realizing she was firing questions at him. "Oops, sorry."

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Eric's face broke into a relieved smile as the voice said his name. "Yeah... It's me." Leah started to talk, Eric listening to her intently. "I'm sure they fixed me up." He looked down to his hand, noting that it was in a cast. "I broke my hand... It's in a cast..." He seemed at a loss of words to say. "I wish you would have been here. I missed seeing you when I woke up." Eric's voice was drowsy, giving away that he wasn't quite thinking straight. "I wish you... were here..." He shook his head, trying to clear his foggy brain. "I dont know where Mark is. I'm alone, exept for the nurses... But they aren't all that talkative."

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Leah smiled sadly, remembering the times where she'd curled up beside him in the hospital. "Do...you want me to come over?" Leah asked, though it was a bit tentative. If he did, he'd have to tell her which hospital he was in, but she didn't even know if he was aware of what hospital he was in. He was knocked out by the time she had fallen asleep last night, and he'd been asleep when she woke up. All she could guess is that he was asleep while they took him there, and probably gave him some painkillers that would mess with his brain. Either way, it was worth a shot to ask, wasn't it?

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Eric closed his eyes, leaning back against the soft pillows. His wrist hurt slightly, but nothing else really did, and he was glad for once that they had actually given him enough pain killer to get rid of most of the pain. He shook his head, the phone still clasped to his ear. "You're fine.. If you wanted to see me, you would have already come Leah." Though he was doped up, he still was able to think clearly enough to realize the true fact, but pursed his lips and shook his head yet again. "I dont know when I'll see you though.. come if you want. I'll wait for you." He quickly reached to the side and hung up the phone, praying that he hadn't said anything to offend her. He did miss her, it was true... And before he passed out again, he hoped that she wouldn't have trouble deciding what she wanted to do.

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Leah sighed slightly at his comment, but she knew it was partially true. She was about to make an excuse (like she'd been gone to see if she got the job at the coffee shop), but he continued to talk, shortly after he hung up the phone. Leah frowned and traced where the call came from. She had to go and visit him. She should've been there a while ago, and she knew it, too. Speaking with the pastor's cute son was no reason to excuse herself from seeing him. As soon as her phone had roughly located the place the call had come from, she smiled and jogged out onto the street, making her way towards the hospital.
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It only took her fifteen minutes to get there, and when she did, she asked for Eric. She was slowly, yet surely, directed into another room where she saw Eric's figure, the phone by the bed, splayed messily, and an IV in his arm. Her gaze softened as she thanked the nurse and walked over to his bedside, seeing he was sleeping---or maybe he was simply unconscious. Probably the latter. She sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her thumb over the top of his hand for a moment, before letting go of his hand and sitting on a chair by the bedside, where she would wait for him to wake up.

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Turns out, Eric had been doesed with more than just pain releiver. He was sleeping soundly, unconcious to the rest of the world. The crisp white sheets were pulled up to his chin, white cotton blanket spread out over his body. His chest was rising and falling with each breath, his shoulder bandaged. One of his ribs had been cracked, along with several other injuries that would require him to rest a little while before he would be mobile again. His hair was slightly messy, abstract against the white pillow cover. His dark eyes were closed, a slightly troubled expression frozen on his face. He no longer slept without cares, as even his sleep was disturbed by horrific thoughts and nightmares. Soon after he had hung up the phone with Leah, the pills started to wear off, and within a half hour, he was slowly, and groggily starting to come back to conciousness. His cheek pressed into the soft white pillow, but he was un-aware of Leah's presence in the room. In fact, he had almost felt betrayed when she didn't show up at the hospital. It wasn't that he needed her there, but... He would have liked to know that she still cared enough about him to come see him if he was hospitalized. He knew that if they had switched places, he would have been by her bedside in a split second, holding her hand in his and praying that she would get better.

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Leah saw him stir slightly, and her eyes lit up, hoping was getting ready to wake up. She stook up from her chair and walked over to the edge of the bed, sitting down on it, but not too close, as she didn't know exactly where all his bandages or bruises were. Leah didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was. She stared at his face a moment, wishing it looked the same as it did when he hadn't a care in the world, and they'd been safe, peacefully sleeping together. Daunting memories of her screw-up came back to her, and she let out a thick sigh before taking his good hand in hers and rubbing her thumb over it, staring at it as if it held some extremely rare and significant value, despite the fact it was merely a hand. But it was Eric's hand. Which made a difference.

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Lying on his back, Eric soon roused from a sharp pain in his side, whenever his rib cage expanded as he breathed. He tried to open his eyes, but his lids felt heavy, and they fell shut again before he could see exactly what was around him. His throat and lips felt dry, and he tried again to open his eyes, lying very still to avoid any more pain. The room was silent, and his groggy mind didn't comprehend that anyone was in there with him. He didn't expect anything more, as he slowly thought about his recent conversation with Leah. How long had that been ago? How long had he been sleeping? He didn't know, but now felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart that she wasn't there with him, though he had let her know she was wanted by him. He had been about to go on, when Eric felt skin touching his, felt a warm, slender hand take his, and very gently hold it. Eric frowned slightly, he was in the hospital way to much for his liking. Prying his eyes open, he moved his head to the side, blinking a few times to clear his foggy vision.

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Leah stared at him intently as he struggled to wake himself from the iron grip of painkillers and whatever-else the doctor's and nurses had given him. He lookd unsteady and upset about something, though Leah wouldn't know what. It wasn't the most comfortable position sitting up, back slumped, but she was happy that he was waking up, and that she was there beside him when he did. Hopefully that would be reassuring, and it would mean something to him. Leah frowned as he opened his eyes, staring right at her but not seeming to see anything. "Still sleepy?" Leah said quietly, though it was more of a tease than anything else.

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Leah's soft voice greeted Eric, and a small smile touched his cracked lips. He leaned back onto the pillow, closing his eyes. He officially hated sleeping drugs, he could never think properly when he was dosed up on them. "I-" Eric's voice caught, and he was forced to clear his throat, as his voice had sounded more like a desperate croak. "I thought.. you didn't want to come." He managed a weak smile, opening his eyes to look around for water. His smile faded however, as his eyes glanced down, noting that her hand was holding his.
"I thought you didn't care about coming."
Eric spoke, his words rather blunt. Blunt or not, they were the truth and he could put it in no simpler form, no way that was easier to understand. Shaking his head, he glanced down at the cast on his hand, glaring at it. "I hate casts."

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Leah smiled tenderly, letting him talk, which he was obviously not having the easiest time doing. He looked like he needed water, and she made up her mind that once he was finished with what he had to say, she'd ask the nurse to get him a glass of water before returning to him. She shook her head, her smiling fading slightly, "I think I care more than you know." Leah smiled weakly, getting up momentarily, letting go of his hand. "Never had a cast; I wouldn't know. I'm going to go get you some water, all right?" Leah turned and walked from the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back!"

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Eric set his jaw tightly, looking down when Leah spoke. He hadn't thought that of her, but now felt bad for thinking that she didn't. He nodded when she said she was going to get him water, and gave her a smile. "I'll be up in no time. I'm fine, but these damn pills are making me so tired." Leah let go of his hand, and he used it to run his fingers through his hair, propping himself upright as Leah started to leave the room. He leaned back on the pillows, pinching himself to stay awake and out of the drowsy state of unconcious, pill born sleep.

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