Burn in Water, Drown in Fire

~6~ Speak Now

I showed up at the hospital the next morning with a gift for Angel.

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked me. I looked around the hallway outside of Angel's room. Brian, Lulu, and Devin waited. Lulu was standing when she asked me the question, but I didn't answer her. It was common knowledge Angel and I never truly got along, but I wasn't going to justify myself for being here for her...especially not to Lulu.

"Is she asleep?" I asked Devin.

"Probably," he shrugged. Impatiently, I started to walk to the door and someone grabbed my arm. Brian.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. I sized him up and he gave me a confused look before I decided to continue to enter the room. I wondered about if he saw my new eyes, but it was pushed from my mind due to my intentions. When I spun away from the door after closing it, Angel looked over to me with half-opened, tired eyes. I already knew that she wanted to know why I was here.

"I came to talk..." I said while approaching her bedside. She gave me an unreadable look and gestured to her throat. She couldn't talk because of the smoke's damage. I smiled and then placed the present on her lap. She sat up in the bed and unwrapped the gift. She gave an amused expression when she took out the erasable board set. She took out the blue marker and started writing.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but...thanks," she wrote.

"You're welcome," I smiled back. Her smile faded after a while. "So, uh, how long are you going to be in here?"

"I don't know," she wrote, but as soon as I read it, she erased it and started to write again. "I'm surprised you're not in a hospital bed yourself."

I shrugged.

"I didn't have any damage," I informed. Her eyes narrowed.

"But—" her hoarse voice said but stopped herself to write a response. "I saw that board fall on you and you were in there a long time. You should be in the same condition as me, if not worse."

"Well I'm not," I said. She closed her eyes and hit her head on the pillow out of stress. What now? Her eyes opened again and gave me a look. "What? What's wrong?"

"Come back tomorrow," she said. I gave her a confused look.

"Why?" I asked, making her look even more uneasy and confused towards me. She looked down to the board and started to write but kept erasing the starts to her words.

"Something's..." Her marker hovered over open space. "...different."

"How so?" Something's different? Or I'm different?

"I'll tell you tomorrow when I can speak hopefully," she decided.

"Alright," I nodded, starting to get up. But I stopped. I turned back and wrapped my arms around her waist, burying my face in her shoulder. It was the first time I had ever hugged her, I realized. That bothered me for some reason. "I'll be here."

I pulled away without a look to her and then just left the room.

***

"There's something different about you," Angel said before eating a spoonful of ice cream the next day. I took a spoonful myself.

"Oh really? Like what?" I asked. Our eyes locked.

"Like the fact that you're being nice to me for once," she said with narrowed eyes.

After years of knowing her, I noticed that Angel Hallow was a very interesting girl who voiced any and everything that crossed her mind. Even though she talked in a soft voice for now (finally, actually), I had the full intent to listen.