Alex, Xander, and Michael finally arrive with Delic being supported by Isaac and Michael. They lay him down on the other bed next to me in the nursing office. Meanwhile, Isaac is straightening out my legs and covers me with the blanket.
"Take off Master's uniform," Xander orders Isaac while still dealing with Delic. "She's probably having trouble breathing judging from her labored breaths."
Isaac immediately undoes my tie and unbuttons my shirt until I lay with just my bare chest. Isaac then covers me once again in the bed's blanket to keep me from getting cold.
Another minute or two later and I am surrounded by a vampire, a fallen angel, and twin dark elves. They don't say anything for a while. Awkward stares are passed from one set of eyes to another, but noise was never presented.
"So... who's going to start us off?" Alex asks, fidgeting his fingers behind his back.
"You would think that we would be low-key excited to have a rare opportunity like this," Michael jokes.
My eyes wince from the immense pounding in my head, and I let out a small grunt kind of like the sound one makes to hold in their cry of pain. This causes the four guys to flinch a bit and snap them back to the situation at hand.
"I think that the twins should go first," Isaac suggests. "Delic got the first kiss, right? If we go in the order of who was loved first, then wouldn't the next person that Lady Viola loves be one of the twins?"
"That's a good point, but there's two of us. How are we supposed to know who she loved first?" Xander questions as he and Alex move over closer to my face.
"Oh! Then let's go with the first twin who loved the Young Lady," Michael adds in. "She would have realized who loved her first out of the two of you and developed a fondness in that order."
Alex sets his shaking hands on the bed. "I guess that would be me then," he admits.
"That's fair. Alex fell in love with Master on our first day as her aides," Xander teases trying to stop Alex from shaking so much.
The three boys take a step back leaving only Alex next to the bed. Alex hesitates at first, but he gets reminded of the first time he started having feelings for me:
'That's why I decided to change. I decided that I will do everything that I can to repay the favor that my new master is doing for us.'
Taking a deep breath to relax his nerves, Alex brushes my increasingly white bangs to the side as he pets my head. He takes another look at the other guys who are watching at the sides. Each has an expression similar to the next. One full of firm resolution yet weakening stability. Alex begins to lower his face closer to mine gently caressing my cheek. In one swift motion, his lips touch mine for what was most likely just a second but probably felt an hour. Alex then quickly steps back hiding his embarrassed face in his hands.
"Xander, it's your turn," Alex blurts out from between his fingers.
Stepping forward, Xander gazes down at me.
'I also love you very much, so I was going to take the opportunity if you were presenting it.'
"I guess I can repay that kiss now, huh?" Xander whispers to himself. There is no hesitation in movements as if he was ready and prepared for this exact moment. A little longer than his younger brother but a lot shorter than Delic's attempt, Xander's kiss is honest. The gentleness that masks the intense passion is just enough so that the other guys wouldn't get mad but visibly clear that he won't back down from anyone.
Xander rises up and backs away from the bed tapping Isaac on the chest. "Looks like you're up next."
Isaac reaches my bed with such a sad look on his face. "If only I was able to see that you were in pain just a second earlier, I might have been able to prevent this from happening." No one had a comment on Isaac's complaint. They all felt equally as guilty for not noticing that something was wrong with me. Empty sympathy is not the style Michael and the twins are going to even attempt to use to cheer Isaac up.
'Friends will always be there to tell you when you have done something wrong or stupid.... Family will always be there to support you even when you are at your lowest time.... Friends start off as strangers.... Maybe after a while, you can become family....'
"FFC is what matters most to the Winter Family," Isaac quietly chuckles. "If it wasn't for your family's principles, you would have probably never taken me in, but I know that you probably still would have since that's just the type of heart you have."
Isaac effortlessly perches his lips on top of mine. I give off a small moan as I shift my head to the side.
"Did she just react?" Xander questions running to my side.
"Do you think it's actually working?!" Alex immediately asks, jumping up to the bed.
"It could have just been coincidental, but it's not a bad thing to think that it is working," Michael responds, crossing his arms.
Isaac and the twins collectively stare at Michael.
"I guess we will find out when you finish, Michael," Alex states as he and the others step away but closer to the bed than last time.
A dark slender silhouette vaguely makes its way out to me. 'Stop trying to resist. Your body isn't going to hold up with you wasting energy like this.' The voice is clear this time unlike the distortion from earlier. The silhouette glides over to me with an outstretched hand. 'Hand them over.'
Never! I will never hand Isaac and Michael to you!
I jerk back to avoid the figure from touching me. I look up to find a pair of eyes glaring at me.
'Little girl, you are going to have a lot of trouble on your hands if you don't do this peacefully.'
Threatening me won't work if that's what you're aiming for. You're going to have to get in line if you want to try and threaten my position.
A warm sensation taps on my face. I touch my lips where it is the warmest. The tips of my fingers cover my mouth as I suddenly feel an enormous sense of love coming from somewhere. I scan around, but I can't find where it was coming from.
'You shouldn't look away from your enemies, little girl.' The silhouette flies over to me and grabs my wrists. 'Since you aren't going to willingly give up the vampire and fallen angel, then I will just have to take over your body and do it myself.'
I try to free myself, but the silhouette's grip is too strong since I'm still recovering from last night.
"Michael, don't waste too much time. You are the last person," Isaac says as he gives Michael a small push to get him closer to the bed.
Michael stares down at me. "I know that I have only been here for a little less than a week, but it makes me happy to know that you love me even if it's just a little bit." Michael's pale fingers glaze my face once more before his lips come into contact with mine. After about another second or so, Michael rises back up, and the other guys stand by the bed.
Surrounding all four sides of my bed, the guys patiently wait for a response. However, it wasn't me that gave the response that they wanted.
Delic gasps for air as if he was drowning in the pressure around him. He quickly sits up on the bed panting while feeling his heart. "Is Viola okay?" is the first thing that comes out of his mouth.
"She hasn't opened her eyes yet if that's what you're wondering," Xander responds as he hands Delic a glass of water. "Judging from you being able to sit and not clutch your chest, I think we can safely assume that she's fine for now."
'What do you think you're doing?' the silhouette questions as I throw it off of my back.
You have been distracting me for too long. My guys are probably worried that I'm not waking up and doing everything they can to wake me up. You and your Black Snow Organization can threaten me all you want. I'm going to protect my family regardless if I'm strong enough to or not because I have people who will fight with me and for me.
I'm sure of it. The warmth I'm feeling is the guys touching my face. I can't let them worry for too long. Let's just hope that the touch isn't something inappropriate that I would have to hit them for.
'Hm! Let's see you try and protect your family.' The silhouette disappears just as quickly as it originally appeared. The faint traces of black smoke dissipates as there is nothing left to feed from.
"Lady Viola," Isaac whispers as he lays his head next to my shoulder on the bed. He softly pets my head as he plays with the loose strands of hair. "Please wake up."
The twins sit over on the bed where Delic rests as they help him drink some more water. Delic continues to take deep breaths, but at least he isn't gasping for air like earlier.
Michael leans on the window adjacent to my bed as he peers down at me. His patience is wearing thin, but he tries to keep it together for my sake. Every once in a while, he stares out the window he's on to calm himself down when he feels like he might explode.
"It's already been two hours," Xander comments as he stands up from Delic's bed to refill the glass of water. "Should we try something else?"
"We should wait just a bit longer," Michael answers, lifting himself off the window. He leans over me to feel my chest. "Her heart isn't racing anymore, so she should be waking up any moment. If not, then she is probably just resting."
"What do you think we should do, Delic?" Isaac asks without taking his eyes off of me.
"The only thing I can say is that she isn't in any evident danger at the moment," Delic responds, trying to sit up with Alex's help. "We probably just have to let her rest. You four should go back to class. You already missed one whole class period and in the process of missing another one. I don't think Viola will take too kindly to using her as an excuse to skip out on classes."
The four guys look at each other and burst into fits of laughter.
"She would probably get mad seeing us surrounding her instead of in class," Michael jokes, wiping the couple of tears from his face.
"Lady Viola certainly does take school very seriously despite the condition that she's in," Isaac adds as he stands up from my bed.
"We'll come by after school is over," Alex states, holding the door open.
"Don't do anything funny while we're away," Xander finishes. "You're also not in good condition either."
Delic smiles and waves the boys off. After the door closes behind them, Delic turns his attention to me.
'Are the boys gone?' I ask without opening my eyes.
Delic jumps from his bed and nearly trips over his blanket trying to get to my side. "Viola!" he shouts, grabbing my hand. "Are you really awake?" Tears stream from his tired eyes as he moves some of my hair out of my face.
I slowly open my eyes to find Delic's shimmering blue eyes gazing down at me. 'Yes, Delic, I'm awake,' I laugh, giving Delic a small smile.
"Thank goodness," he mutters through his tears. "Thank goodness you're awake." He collapses onto my bed burying his face onto my chest. His tears soak my blanket. I couldn't do anything but sigh with a chuckle since I'm still too weak to move.
'Delic, can you tell me what happened during lunch?' I ask as I finally manage to muster up enough strength to slide my hand onto Delic's head.
Delic turns his head just enough for an eye to poke out from the side. "You suddenly collapsed. Your heart was crying out in pain as if someone was wringing it out without releasing the tension. I don't know how you were able to withstand so much pain by yourself."
'Well, if you weren't around, then that pain would have been doubled since I would have to shoulder all of it by myself,' I say slowly petting Delic's head. 'Thank you for being by my side and suffering with me, Delic.'
"Thank you for keeping me, Viola."
Delic turns into a smaller pup version of his wolf form and nuzzles next to my face. Exhausted from the pain, we both instantly fall into a peaceful sleep.
—
"Who's the dog?" Michael asks as he picks up Delic from my bed.
"Do you think it wandered inside when somebody opened the door?" Isaac questions as he pets Delic.
Delic begins to wake up with a big puppy yawn. He looks around to see that he isn't on the bed but in Michael's arms. "Put me back down," Delic sleepily demands as he sits up on Michael's hand.
Michael freezes after jerking his head down to look at the puppy in his hands. "I-Isaac, did the d-dog just talk?" he stammers as he shakily points at Delic.
"I think so..." Isaac answers staring wide eyed at Delic.
"Yo~ What are you guys talking about?" Xander asks as he and Alex walk into the nurse's office.
"This dog just talked!" Michael yells showing the twins said 'dog'.
The twins chuckle a bit before giving Michael a simple explanation.
"The 'dog' you're holding is Delic," Alex states, pointing at the now irritated Delic.
"He doesn't like to be held, you know," Xander adds, trying to stop himself from laughing.
"No way!" Michael and Isaac shout dropping Delic onto the floor.
Delic turns back into his human form and stands up grabbing Michael's and Isaac's shirt collar in the process. "What kind of idiot picks up a dog while it's sleeping?"
"We're so sorry!" Michael and Isaac apologize, attempting to avoid getting punched by Delic.
"Why is it so loud?" I groan inching my way up to a sitting position.
"My Lady!" everyone yells as they hop onto my bed squishing me.
"We were so scared you weren't going to wake up!" the twins cry, covering me in another layer of tears on top of Delic's.
"It's so nice to see that you're awake, Lady Viola," Michael mentions rubbing my head.
"I'm so sorry!" Isaac says, grabbing my hand. "If I was more aware that you weren't feeling okay, you probably wouldn't have gotten in the state that you were in. I have failed you a second time. I'm so sorry."
"Don't beat yourself up, Isaac," I reply with a trembling hand to Isaac's face. "No one was going to be able to stop what happened to me in the first place, anyways."
"What do you mean by that?" Delic asks as he pries the boys off of me.
"Someone from Black Snow got into my head," I start off. The room falls silent. None of the guys moved. "They said that they already have people in the city. They wanted Isaac and Michael back, but I refused to let them go. My choice almost resulted in my body getting taken over by whoever got into my head, but I was able to feel the warmth you guys were giving me. It snapped me out of my frustration which caused whoever was in my head to go away. Thanks for getting me out of there."
The beginning of a setting sun shines through the window beside me as I give off a warm smile. It happened without warning. I couldn't hold it in anymore. It was voluntary yet involuntary, but I wasn't mad about it. The words just slip out so naturally as if I had been saying them over and over again.
"I love you all so much..."