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It was late at night, or technically early morning when Gray was woken up to the sound of footsteps. The visiting hours were well over, but he had a feeling that the person who was currently walking towards him didn’t care much for the visiting hours.
He could hear footsteps, and he had a feeling who it was.
Or atleast, a hope.
They were soft, almost like a feather landing on the ground. They weren’t Chief’s, she had already left for home after her visit to his room, and he didn’t have any family since he was an orphan, so really that put it down to two options.
Option one, it was a nurse or a doctor, trying to be quiet as they checked on him.
Option two, it was her.
And God, did he hope it was the latter.
The footsteps stopped beside his bed, and a shadow casted over him, blocking the stripe of moonlight that had settled across his upper-body.
He heard the sound of a chair being pulled from beside his bed to face him more, and the shadow disappearing as whoever it was sat down in the chair.
That pretty much confirmed who it was for him.
He kept his eyes closed, his breathing slow as to see what she would do, how she would act. And it was only when he heard soft sobbing and felt his hand being grasped tightly he cracked open one of his eyes, looking down onto a red-hooded figure crying against his hand.
He could hear her mumbling softly, before she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
“Oh God, Gray, I’m so sorry.” She cried softly, somehow holding his hand even tighter than she had before.
He opened his eyes fully, before opening his mouth.
“Carmen?” He rasped, his voice still scratchy from sleep. Her head shot up, and he could clearly see the tears running down her cheeks, and the multiple black circles around her eyes.
“Gray?” she croaked, eyes still showing her disbelief as her grip loosened on his hand.
Gray cracked a smile at her, settling his head back into the pillow as she quickly wiped away the tears.
“How- How are you feeling?” She asked, sniffling slightly.
“Like I was hit by a truck,” He admitted, glancing at her pain filled expression.
Carmen stood abruptly, her hand slipping out of his. A groan of disappointment escaped from his mouth when he felt the warmth of her hand slip from his. “Oh god, I shouldn’t have come here, you probably don’t even want to see me and I shouldn’t-” She started backing away as she rambled, but Gray quickly grasped her wrist, pulling her back towards him so quickly that she stumbled onto the bed.
“Don’t leave. Please. Not again.” Gray looked her in the eyes as he begged her to stay. She stared him in the eyes for a few seconds before she nodded her head almost so imperceptibly, that he is sure he would have missed it if it hadn't been for his VILE training.
Carmen re-adjusted herself so that she was sitting on the edge of his bed, his hand falling down her arm and back into her hand, smiling as she grasped onto his hand tightly.
“Y’know, I’m pretty sure visiting hours are over, mate.” He smiled as she blushed and smirked at him. “How’d you get in here?”
“I’m a highly trained superthief, Gray. I easily snuck in.”
Gray laughed at that, before grimacing as the pain in his chest registered from the crackle rod. Carmen immediately noticed, and smoothed her hand over his chest.
“What hurts?” She asked worriedly, her hand lightly stroking his chest. Gray didn’t want to answer, in fear of the expression that would appear on her face when he showed her the still-pink scar underneath the bandages in his chest.
“It’s fine,” He whispered, smiling at her reassuringly.
Carmen didn’t buy that. Not at all.
She glared at him, before moving her hand to the hem of his shirt and lifting just far enough so that she could see the bandages over his chest. Gray looked at her wide-eyed, still not wanting her to see the injury.
“Carmen, seriously, it’s fine, you don’t need to-” Carmen unwrapped the bandages and revealed his scar, her face immediately seizing into tight pain as what felt like sharp glass pierced through her heart when she saw the pink tissue. Gray winced at the lone tear that fell from her eye as she smoothed her palm over the mark.
“Oh my god.”
“Carmen-” A sob interrupted him from speaking any further, and teardrops started falling onto his chest.
“Gray, I’m so sorry,” She cried, her eyes still focused on the mark before she grabbed the bandages and started rewrapping his scar. She brought his shirt back down, before she brought her hand up to her mouth, muffling her sobs.
“Carmen, please don’t cry,” Gray begged softly, taking her hand again. “Look at me,” he stared at her, though she still averted her eyes. “Carmen, please, look at me.” Her eyes slowly shifted towards his, and he pulled her towards him so that she was laying against his chest, right over his heartbeat. “You hear that?” he asked quietly, and he felt her nod against his chest. “I’m alive. I’m okay. None of this was your fault, okay? It was all VILE.” She lifted her head to look at him.
“But I was the one-”
“No.”
“What?”
Gray looked at her, before laying her against the bed, and raising himself onto his side to look at her, face-to-face.
“You didn’t do anything.” Gray cupped her cheek, making her look him in the eye. “Carmen,” he whispered, his tone sincere. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Please, please stop blaming yourself.”
Tears started falling from her eyes again, and Gray wiped them from her face. He settled beside her, and laid with her while she cried again, and after as well. Time passed as he lay in bed with her, so content that he could freeze time here and never move ever again. Hours passed, and before he knew it, they were staring at the sun rising through his window.
“I should probably leave before your doctors come in for a morning check up.” Carmen lifted herself from the bed, stretching her arms high above her head before standing up and walking towards the door.
“Carmen?” Gray whispered, watching as she turned around to look at him.
“Yeah, Gray?”
“Promise me I’ll see you again? Please?” He begged, aware of how pathetic he sounded. Carmen merely smiled at him, before nodding and leaving the room.
Gray laid back down to try and get some sleep, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon filling his nostrils as he slowly fell back asleep, and dreamt of a certain woman in red.
---
When Gray woke up again, it was from the sunlight instead of Carmen. His mind filled with disappointment as the steady beeping of the heart monitor droned on beside him.
He was hoping to wake up to Carmen’s voice, and when he woke his heart dropped.
His doctor came in, tapped a few buttons on the heart monitor before turning and speaking to him.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Calloway?”
“I’m alright, just want to get out of here.”
The doctor laughed, before replying. “Well, good news on that front, I can release you today! All you need to do is sign some papers and you’re free to go.”
Gray smiled at the cheery doctor, before asking for the papers. He signed them, changed back into his normal clothes, before stopping.
He hadn’t been home in months, also not paying rent alongside that. Where would he go? How would he-
He stopped his train of thought when he felt an envelope in his coat pocket. He took it out, and unwrapped it, reading the contents inside.
Chief had arranged his apartment situation and had made sure that his rent had been paid for the next 3 months. He smiled, at least happy that he wasn’t homeless. He grabbed the rest of his stuff and walked out of the hospital.
His smile soon disappeared as his hand was grabbed and dragged out of the entryway, his instincts kicking in as the perpetrators hand wrapped around his wrist and pinned him against the wall.
“Shhh,”
He knew that voice by heart, and immediately stopped resisting as the crimson haired woman stared back at him.
He smiled, his grin as bright as the sun as she smiled back at him.
“You kept your promise,” he whispered, his hand slipping into hers, his head leaning towards hers.
“I try,” her eyes flick down to his lips, before back to his eyes.
“You gonna keep me pinned against the wall?” He grinned as a red blush took over her face as she stopped pinning him against the wall.
He laughed heartily, pulling her towards him and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Maybe,” she whispered, looking intently into his eyes. “Maybe, we can figure out what happens now, together?”
Gray smiled, before pulling her even closer than before.
“Absolutely.”
Maybe, just maybe, they could heal together after stepping on the sharp shards of glass that had kept them apart.
---