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"Wandering to Love"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 6: When he wouldn’t wake up

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“Dear Journal, Last night was easily the most horrible night of my life.  While Mom and I waited for Aranelion to get home from his date with Camillia, I received a phone call from Lairen telling me that he and Camillia, as well as Isaac and Lucie, were part of a four-vehicle accident just outside of the movie theater downtown.  Not a soul had emerged from any of the vehicles, including my friends and twin brother, and Auron had run into what was now a raging inferno to save as many as he could.  All I could do was tell Mom there had been an accident; oh how did it come to pass that the burden was on my shoulders…the burden of having to tell my mother one of her twin sons was in a terrible accident and could possibly be…well, no, Aranelion didn’t die.  But…that doesn’t mean that everything is alright.  He…oh…dammit…why won’t he wake up?”

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   Smoke, fire and water filled the air.  Camillia began to regain consciousness, and yet as she opened her eyes she quickly began to realize that she was hanging upside down, still strapped into her seat by her seatbelt, which in this case, had most likely saved her life.  She felt…pain…mainly above her right eye and in her upper back just below the shoulder blades.  She could taste blood in her mouth, and it felt as though her upper lip was now busted open.  She whimpered in pain, and yet…she did not hear Aranelion try to comfort her like she expected him to.

   Camillia looked to the left, only to see Aranelion hanging upside down in the driver’s seat.  His airbag had failed to deploy, and she felt faint and sick with horror when she saw his body twisted, broken, and bleeding as he hung there.  His face was emotionless, almost as if there remained no soul within him to provide a look of fear.  Fearing the worst, she pushed past her own pain and cried out, “Aranelion!  Please!  Somebody help us!”

   Unfortunately, Auron had run to Isaac’s vehicle first, for the Greyfox was able to climb out of his car and run to him for help.  Lucie was alive and conscious, but was now pinned between the ground and the center console of his vehicle.  She was in great pain and cried out miserably, her right leg shattered and her left arm twisted around backwards.

   Lairen ran to help Auron after calling Elianaron.  As the Greywolf and Greyfox struggled to turn Isaac’s car back on its wheels, Auron shouted, “You need to crawl in there and make sure we don’t aggravate her injuries.  Hurry!  We have to check on Aranelion and Camillia next!”

   The brown cat nodded and climbed into Isaac’s car, doing her best to comfort Lucie and brace her injuries while the boys fought to turn the car back over.  Sirens began to screech wildly in the distance as fire fighters, police, and ambulances arrived on the scene.  After shutting off water to the broken one, the fire fighters hooked up their hoses to nearby hydrants that had not been hit, and did their best to try and extinguish the flames engulfing the two burning vehicles.  Emergency workers went to help the occupants of those cars, while Auron, Lairen, and Isaac continued their struggle to free Lucie.

   Somehow, Camillia’s cries went unanswered.  When Aranelion didn’t wake up after all of her screaming, Camillia felt herself breaking down.  His body looked badly damaged and traumatized…did this…did this mean that Aranelion was…dead?

   “No!  He…he can’t be dead!  I won’t let him die!” Camillia cried to herself.  Though she was in great pain, Camillia knew she was alone for the moment, and with the fires from the neighboring vehicle slowly spreading towards a puddle of gasoline that leaked from Aranelion’s SUV, she knew she had little time left to act before they were both destroyed by this explosive fireball that now bore down upon them.

   Fighting the pain in her back, Camillia reached for the buckle and carefully undid her seatbelt.  She pulled it off gradually, her right arm erupting in a terrible pain as she did so.  She screamed again terribly, falling to the ground, her arms and wrists being sliced by shards of glass from the shattered windshield, but again her cries went unanswered.  The emergency workers got the message that the vehicle was unoccupied, perhaps thinking that Auron and Lairen had come out from it.  At the same time, Auron, Lairen, and Isaac knew nothing of the danger Aranelion and Camillia now faced.

   With one final push, Auron and Isaac pushed his car back on its wheels, while Lairen made sure Lucie’s injuries didn’t worsen.  Lucie let out a cry, continuing to whimper as she waited to be rescued.  Looking to Lairen, she asked, “Why did this happen Lairen?  Everything…everything was perfect.”  Looking out through the now broken windshield, she murmured, “He…he finally said he loved me.  Everything is finally like my dreams, and then it turns into a horrible nightmare.”

   Lairen felt like crying.  It turned out Lucie was just as in love with Isaac as he was with her, and now the beautiful night had gone awry.  She shook her head, holding back tears to be strong for Lucie and said, “Aww Lucie…look at how hard he’s fighting to save you.  He loves you Lucie, and no matter what happens this night that’s one thing that will never change.  Look at it this way; you can spend time together healing after all this.  You can’t let this ruin it for you.”

   Lucie looked back to Lairen, one of her eyes now blackened as a result of the crash, and smiled weakly.  Before she could reply, Auron called to them from outside, and said, “Keep bracing her Lairen!  I’m gonna rip the car door off!  Hang on!”

   Before he could pull, Isaac crawled into the backseat behind Lairen and made his way to Lucie.  Taking the hand of her uninjured arm, he squeezed it gently but securely and said, “It’ll be okay Lucie.  Just hang on.”

   She gazed at him, lost in his eyes and his love, and murmured, “I love you Ike.”

   Demonstrating the magnitude of his aura-powered strength, Auron’s eyes glowed until they were sheer white with a slight hue of blue behind them.  With a loud cry, he used his aura powers to increase his strength, allowing him to rip the once jarred passenger door free from its hinges, taking the pressure off of Lucie’s injured leg.

   Lairen ran to check on Auron, leaving Isaac to take care of Lucie.  The two foxes opened their eyes, and were able to smile even in the face of adversity.  Taking Lucie in his arms so he could take her to a waiting ambulance, Isaac whispered, “I love you too Lucie.  Everything will be alright.”

   Back in Aranelion’s SUV, Camillia finally shrugged off the pain in her arms.  She looked to Aranelion, only to see the expression on his face still as lifeless as before.  Allowing angry disbelief to fight off her tears, Camillia cried out again, “Will somebody please help us!  Please!  I won’t let him die!”

   At the same time, Elianaron had gotten as close to the crash as police barricades would allow.  He had abandoned his vehicle and now ran through the crowd of people with his mother, Aerealei, close behind.

   She glanced around nervously at the crowd of people that were in shock and awe over the accident.  Sure, she had been to Starshine Town before, but something about the mob and the accident that night made this a very frightening place for her, and the idea that one of her sons, all she had left of her soul mate Armundae, was in danger, turned it into a nightmare.

   “Blessed Armundae…wrap your loving arms around our son.  Protect him.  I cannot bear to be without him or his twin.  Please protect him until we can rescue him tonight,” she prayed as she ran with tears running down her cheeks.

   Armundae’s spirit heard the pleas, not only of his wife, but of his prospective daughter-in-law.  Camillia had fallen to the roof of the vehicle, which now acted as a floorboard.  She was crying desperately for help and was now almost succumb to the pain from her injuries and blood lost.  She watched the reflection of the inferno as it approached her in a few shards of glass that lay under her now sliced wrists and arms.

   “If Aranelion is dead…then I…I might as well die too.  Life’s not worth living without him.  Please…just let me die and be with him again,” Camillia whimpered.

   But Armundae knew…he opened her eyes to the truth.

   Something persuaded Camillia to look to Aranelion once more, perhaps to say goodbye.  However, something caught her eyes.  His face had a lifeless expression, and yet…his chest continued to rise and fall as he kept trying to breathe.  Aranelion wasn’t dead!  He was severely injured, but he was alive.

   Camillia felt tears stinging at her eyes.  A joyous smile graced her lips as she cried, “Oh Air!  You aren’t dead!  You’re still alive!  We still have a chance!”

   Her happiness was short-lived.  At that very moment, the fires reached the engine of Aranelion’s SUV, causing it to explode and rattle the SUV violently as it burst into flames.  Crying out with all her might, Camillia reached for Aranelion’s hand as it hung in the air with her bloody hands, and shouted, “He’s not dead!  Please!  Someone…help us!  Please!”

   Auron and Lairen stood together, Lairen trying to help Auron recover from using so much of his aura power.  They were about to turn their attention to Aranelion’s SUV, but instead the loud explosion demanded it, not giving Auron much chance to rest.  He jumped in front of Lairen, shielding her from the blast just like before.  He was pelted by a hail of shrapnel, and let out a cry when a piece of jagged metal slammed into his back.

   “Aww dammit!” he shouted, slumping to the ground as he screamed.

   “Auron!  No!” Lairen cried, kneeling down with him.

   As the explosion died down, Elianaron and Aerealei finally arrived, and Isaac returned after making sure Lucie was being taken care of.  They all crowded around Auron as he moaned in pain, but only for a moment.

   Elianaron fell to his knees beside Auron and shouted, “Where’s Aranelion?  Where’s Camillia?”

   At the same time, the tail end of Camillia’s cries could finally be heard as the noise of the explosion faded away and everyone’s focus was momentarily distracted.  They could hear her say, “He’s still alive…please…” just barely.  Yet, it was enough for Elianaron’s ears.  Without warning, he took off for the SUV.  Aerealei did not need to be restrained.  As fearful as she was for both her boys and her potential daughter-in-law, she knew that they had taken care of each other through much worse than this, and that her darling Armundae was watching over them.

   “Aranelion!  Camillia!” Elianaron cried desperately.  He fell short of the SUV only steps away from the passenger’s side.  The heat of the fire was becoming too much to bear, but he simply had to rescue them.  “Camillia!” he cried again.  He could hear her cry back in return, and so he desperately looked for a way into the vehicle.  He saw the passenger door behind Camillia’s seat hanging loosely on its hinges and far enough away from the flames.  He reached for it, and with all his might, he pulled it free and tossed it to the ground.  At last, he climbed into the burning vehicle.

   Elianaron was gripped by sheer terror at what he saw.  Aranelion was hanging upside down, still strapped into his seat.  His hands were being held by Camillia’s, her wrists and arms bleeding from being cut by glass from the windshield, the rest of her body mangled from the wreck as she lay down on the roof of the vehicle.

   She could feel her consciousness slipping away as she went into shock, but glanced at Elianaron once more before saying, “He’s alive Ell…please…save him.”

   Taking one of her hands, Elianaron shook his head and said, “You’re both hurt.  I’m gonna save you.”

   Camillia didn’t reply…she simply looked back at Aranelion, and with the rest of her strength, she whispered, “Tell him…I love him.”

   “No!” Elianaron cried.  She fell silent and didn’t speak further.  Thinking quickly, he gently took her in his arms as to not aggravate her injuries and shouted, “Ike!  Help me with Camillia!”

   Both Isaac and Lairen ran to the vehicle, where Elianaron handed the now unconscious Camillia to them.  Holding her together, they rushed her off to one of the ambulances.  As they ran, another explosion rocked the SUV.  Elianaron could see Aranelion’s hat start to catch on fire.  Suddenly, their connection kicked in, and Elianaron let out a cry, able to feel the pain that ravaged his twin’s body, but at the same time, realized that Aranelion had no active thoughts…almost as if he was…dead and alive at the same time.

   Overcoming the pain, Elianaron fought against the heat, and unbuckled Aranelion from his seat.  Taking his brother in his arms, Elianaron climbed out of the car and rushed for the barricade.  No sooner had he emerged from the vehicle that it exploded once more.  Had anyone remained in it, they would no longer be alive.

   It was now that Aerealei ran for her sons.  Tears were in her eyes as Elianaron fell to his knees, holding Aranelion tightly, while he trembled heavily and gasped for air.  She wrapped her arms around them both and whispered, “It’s okay my boys…Mommy’s here.  You’ll both be alright.  Your father is here for you too…in spirit.”

   At this point, Elianaron could only barely hear his mother’s words.  Exhausted, he collapsed, maintaining his weak hold on Aranelion, but passing most of it onto his mother as he fell to the ground.  Letting out a gasp, Aerealei shifted Aranelion’s weight to one arm, and held Elianaron in the other, much like she did when they were infants.  She felt so alone and frightened.  She shivered as she held her ailing sons, and cried as she prayed to Armundae and whoever would listen.

   Finally, a police officer approached her.  Kneeling down beside her, he said, “I saw your son’s bravery.  They both need treatment now.  I believe they should be fine.”

   Looking up at him, Aerealei didn’t know how to reply as she had only spoken to humans a few times before and didn’t know what to expect from them.  Still, he seemed as kind as her boys said humans were, so at her weakest moment, she trusted them, and whimpered, “Th—thank you good sir.  Please…you must help them.”

   The officer’s eyes widened.  He could sense her fear, and so he called for two stretchers before returning his attention to her.  “Please,” he said, “You can ride along with one of them.  The rest of their friends will be at the hospital waiting for them.”

   Aerealei finally made eye contact with him, her eyes, the same icy blue color as her sons, were glassed over with tears.  As the medics arrived with a stretcher for each of her sons, she could feel herself ready to melt and fade away as they were gently pulled from her arms.  Unable to help them, as their injuries were far worse than a scraped knee, she burst into inconsolable tears.  The officer, feeling her pain, helped her rise to her feet and walked her to the ambulance Aranelion was taken to.  As the four ambulances raced to the hospital, everyone else involved in the accident walked away from it, watching the blazing inferno destroy their vehicles, and dry up the blood and tears that fell on the road that night.  However, the painful memories, would not be as easy to wash away.

   At the hospital, Camillia, Isaac, and Lucie were treated for their injuries, as well as Auron and Elianaron, for the damage they sustained in the rescue.  The shrapnel missed Auron’s spinal cord, and if anything his back would be sore for a good while.  Elianaron suffered from exhaustion and smoke inhalation, for the pain he felt belonged to Aranelion, and not himself.  The two of them were able to get up and attend to the injuries of their friends.

   Thankfully, Lairen was not injured in any sort of way, so she spent most of her time looking after Isaac and Lucie.  Isaac was fortunate; he broke his left wrist and suffered from pulled muscles and a few torn tendons, but that was the worst of it.  Lucie was treated for her shattered right leg and broken left arm.  She would be in a wheelchair until they healed, and would need some therapy once they did, but she would make a full recovery.  This was the only good news for the night.  The group of friends still had to face a grim report when they asked about Aranelion and Camillia.

   The doctor gave it to them straight; Camillia was pretty banged up, but after she had received stitches for the cuts on her arms and wrist, as well as the gash to her forehead, and a sling for her broken arm, she ran to Aranelion’s side, only to learn the terrible news the rest of them were about to hear.

   The group of five stood just outside Aranelion’s room, where they could hear both Aerealei and Camillia weep as they tried to comfort each other.  The doctor was shaken by Elianaron’s gaze, and could feel not only his pain, but that of Aranelion’s friends too.  He finally resumed speaking.  “Aranelion, I’m afraid, is now comatose.  It’s a light coma thankfully, but we have no idea when he’ll wake up from it.  It could be days…weeks, or even months.  I doubt a coma this light could last more than a year…but…,”

   “Oh God,” Lairen cried.  She fell to her knees, and Auron and Isaac helped her up just enough so she could sit on a bench as she cried.

   Elianaron was getting angry.  Looking back to the doctor, he growled, “But what?  Spit it out will you?  What’s wrong with him?”

   The doctor gave a kind and sympathetic eye to Elianaron.  Shaking his head, he continued, “I know of his medical history Elianaron, both his and yours, and I know you’ve both had nearly nine near-death experiences between you.  He’s seen worse than this.  I know he’ll survive.  His injuries will heal as they will for the rest of you.  The only problem is we just can’t know how long these comas will last.  There’s nothing we can do to coax him out of it either.  You’re just going to have to tough it out until he does.  I tried explaining that to his girlfriend and mother, but everyone seems to think it’s a death sentence.  It’s probably good that he sleeps off the injuries…considering he broke both of his hands he couldn’t play piano right now anyway.”

   “Oh God, oh God, oh God…,” Lairen whimpered.  The psychic cat was beyond consolation, for she was a twinless twin, and the idea that one of the Brokenstar twins floated on the border of life and death was more than a nightmare for her empathetic heart.  Lucie now tried to comfort her as she wept,  barely knowing Aranelion but already very fond of him.  Auron and Isaac exchanged sad and weary glances, unsure of what to feel anymore as they sat holding their girlfriends in their arms in an attempt to comfort them.

   Elianaron remained stone faced.  He stared at the floor in disbelief.  He realized now why he could get no read on Aranelion’s thoughts.  It was because he was in a coma.  He was alive, but his thoughts were dead.  Even though his twin would live, this was a scary thing for Elianaron, and them all.  Despite nearly dying so many times from everything from gang green to blood loss, a coma was…scary.  It was the one thing Elianaron couldn’t rescue Aranelion from.  Not even the doctors could do anything for him.  The only consolation Elianaron had now was that Aranelion’s other injuries, including his broken hands, would heal, and that this nightmare wouldn’t last forever.

   Without another word, except for a softly mumbled, “Excuse me,” Elianaron walked past the doctor and into Aranelion’s hospital room.  The doctor and his friends watched as he exited, and slowly, the remaining four followed him, Lairen with one of Auron’s arms around her shoulders as she helped him limp along, while Isaac wheeled Lucie into the room behind them.

   The doctor and some of his nurses watched as Elianaron remained strong, trying to comfort his mother, even as tears fell from his eyes as he gazed at his slumbering twin in disbelief.  He called out to Aranelion, as if hoping that he could defy medical science and beckon his twin to waken.  When Aranelion didn’t move, Elianaron fell to his knees, being pulled into his mother’s lap as she comforted him.  The seven of them did their best to console each other, but it appeared that none of them knew what to say to make it better.

   “The poor souls,” the doctor said, turning to his nurses, “I know those hybrid echidnas well.  They’ve had quite a painful road to walk in life and yet they’ve come out stronger and happier for it.  They’ve seen the world, things most of us will never see.  They’re heroes, and for one of them to be injured this badly torments my heart.”  Looking back into the room, he added, “I’m just relieved that Aranelion’s hands will heal completely.  If they were crushed any harder…he probably would never be able to play piano again.  He can fight this.  He’ll wake up soon and live life again.  We’re just going to have to pray for him and do our best to help him through this…all of them.”

   It was something the entire hospital staff was determined to do; they wanted to make Aranelion’s stay there as easy on his family and friends as possible.  Isaac and Lucie went on recovery leave from work, and spent more time together as they healed; Auron received a similar vacation from his job, albeit shorter since he promised to return once it no longer hurt him to walk, and had Lairen to help him through the days.  Life returned to relative normalcy for them.  For Camillia, Elianaron, and Aerealei, however, life was now quite different.

   The three practically lived in the second half of Aranelion’s hospital room, save Aerealei, who Elianaron pleaded with, asking her to stay at his apartment at night instead of having to sleep on a cot or a hospital bed, which she accepted even through objection.  Camillia took to sleeping in the vacant bed in the room, while Elianaron slept on a cot between where his brother and Camillia rested.

   As the days turned into weeks, Camillia, Elianaron, and Aerealei did whatever they could to help Aranelion heal.  Aside from the nurses’ regular health checks, everything from changing IVs to collecting status data, the three of them would do everything from washing his hair to massaging his shoulders, arms, and legs.  A feeding tube gave him the nutrients he needed; one IV gave him fluids while the rest gave him medication.  A ventilator helped him breathe.  It was the last step before full life-support.  It scared Camillia, even as the days passed and she grew used to it.  It was like watching someone die on her favorite soap opera, even as the doctors swore on their PhD’s that he was recovering.

   His blood cell count was slowly recovering, fighting off the anemia he had sustained after losing so much blood.  His torn muscles were healing; any trauma, bruises, and scarring beneath his fur was fading away.  His broken bones, including two ribs, his left leg, and even his hands were healing perfectly.  Still, as the weeks passed, Aranelion couldn’t shake this coma and the hold it had over his life.  It was enough to slowly break Camillia’s spirit, even as Aerealei and Elianaron weathered the pain relatively unscathed.

   She would lie in bed at night, listening to the now all too familiar ambulance sirens, the hurried footsteps of nurses and doctors rushing their latest patients to the ER.  Yet when all the noise faded away, the constant, monotone beeping that kept record of Aranelion’s heartbeat was all that remained.  He was still alive, and apparently doing well from what those around her said in praise of his recovery and strength.  But still…this pain, this fear, this hospital room…they weren’t going away.  When would he wake up?  Was he ever going to come back to her?  Camillia felt her spirit dying, and was only grateful that she had told him that she loved him, and he had time to return it, before this horrible state of existence took over their lives.

   Over those weeks, Aranelion received cards, gift baskets, flowers, and other gifts from all the friends and fans he had, and not just in Starshine Town.  These gifts came from coast to coast as the news spread from friend to friend.  His friends in Sandysun City made the most impressive showing, coming in person to see him and his family.  Mrs. Caranelli even cooked dinner for the week that they visited, and when she wasn’t there, the outpouring of sympathy didn’t let up.  Families all over town would cook meals for Aerealei, Elianaron, and Camillia.  Everyone was doing everything in their power to make things easier, and while it was appreciated all around, it did little to bring comfort to Camillia’s spirit.

   Finally, Hidama and Delilah returned to Starshine Town.  Aranelion was now a month into his fight against the coma that kept him sleeping, and it was now that Hidama finally got the chance to get away.  He enjoyed getting the chance to see Aerealei again, after not seeing her for several years.  He did his best to console Elianaron, the two of them knowing full-well the kind of fighter Aranelion was, and trusting he would awaken.  While Hidama got to spend time with his other friends in town, Auron, Isaac, and the rest, Delilah spent most of her time with Camillia, who was hard-pressed to leave Aranelion’s side.

   One evening, Delilah was talking to Camillia, trying to cheer her up again.  “Hidama and I have been talking about our first child Camillia.  Hee hee, I told him I want a little girl…and I think he agrees with me whole-heartedly.  I don’t know, I guess we both wanted the marriage to set in for awhile before we take that next step.  Hey, maybe you and Aranelion can catch up to us after all.  Wasn’t he talking about marriage with you?”

   Camillia, who was actually angered about the good fortune of her friend, growled and shouted, “Shut up Delilah!” This was in enough time for Hidama, Elianaron, and Aerealei to return to the room, standing in the doorway as they listened to Camillia shout back at Delilah, holding Aranelion’s hand tightly through it all.

   “Apparently he talked to EVERYONE about marrying me but ME!  He finally says something and then as he pulls into traffic, that jackass makes a blind right turn coming from the other direction, hitting our vehicle, and threatens to destroy my life forever!  He had FINALLY said it!  He FINALLY said he wanted to get married!  There wasn’t a ring, and it wasn’t in so many words, BUT HE SAID IT!  Everything was perfect!  Then this sick crap happens and takes it ALL AWAY!  What am I supposed to do now?  EVERYONE around me is happy and finding joy and love, while I have to sit here and watch mine fade away!  Why can’t people just SHUT UP and stop reminding me of how everything is going wrong?!” Camillia shouted.

   With that, Hidama ran into the room, putting his arm around Delilah and said, “Cut it out Camillia!  Delilah and everyone are just trying to help you!  Don’t take your pain out on them!”

   Continuing to hold Aranelion’s hand, Camillia stood up from her seat, glaring at the echidna and shouted, “Help me?  Hell with that!  Nobody can help me!  All you all are doing is helping me to live through a life that hell won’t have again!  I wish you all would get out of here and leave Aranelion and me alone!  Go to Auron and Lairen’s wedding!  Go on and have your babies Hidama!  Get a girlfriend Ell!  Join Isaac and Lucie on their vacation to Emerald Isle!  I want you to freaking party!  Just leave Air and me ALONE!”

   “That’s enough!” Elianaron shouted, running into the room.  Standing between Hidama and Camillia, he glared at the pink cat and continued, “Look Camillia!  This has been hard on everyone!  It isn’t just you who’s suffering you know!  Aranelion is my twin brother!  He’s like…half of what I am!  God knows our poor mother has wept untold tears over this!  The only difference between you and us is that you just aren’t letting anyone or anything cheer you up!  It’s like you’re giving up on Aranelion completely!  It’s like…you’re convinced he’s not strong enough to fight it!  It’s…like…you believe he’ll never wake up again and that he’s abandoned you!  Do you honestly think that you’re the only one who hurts here?  Have you really given up on my brother?  Well…HAVE YOU?”

   Camillia could feel her legs shaking as she stood there with Elianaron glaring at her angrily.  The hand she held Aranelion’s with began to sweat and tremble as she tried to find the words to reply.  That wasn’t how she felt at all.  She was simply facing a breakdown, and this anger was her last attempt to stave it off.

   Aerealei could sense this as she walked into the room, going to the other side of Aranelion’s bed.  As she rubbed his forehead, she looked up to the group and said, “Please, no more shouting.  How do you know he can’t hear us subconsciously?  He could be able to hear us and just be unable to respond.  Do you really want this to be what he hears?  Do you want him to think that him being unable to wake up is causing us pain?  Please…we can talk about this later.”

   “No!” Elianaron protested, “I want her to tell me why she’s given up on my brother!”

   Camillia could feel the tears falling from her eyes as she stood there, unable to speak.  She whimpered, “I—I haven’t given up on him Ell.  It’s…it’s not what you think.”

   Tilting his head to one side, Elianaron calmed down a bit and asked, “If it’s not that, then what is it?  Why were you talking like that to Hidama and Delilah?”

   The pink cat looked at her friends as her tired eyes began to sting from the tears running over them.  She dropped down to her seat, holding Aranelion’s hand to her face as she whimpered, “I’m tired of everyone telling me not to feel bad…only for their words to not have any effect.  Every day that goes by that I can’t help him, I feel more and more lost.  I feel like I’ve failed him somehow.  I can’t feel okay, and so I’m tired of people telling me I should.  I have…no right to feel okay while he suffers.”

   The hardened expression on Elianaron’s face softened as he listened to her words.  “Aww Camia…I’m sorry,” he started, walking over to her, pulling up another chair, and sitting beside her.  As he hugged her, he added, “But you don’t have to feel like you’ve failed him Camillia.  These past four weeks have been difficult on us all, and yet we’re doing everything we can.  Aranelion’s got more love and care than most coma-stricken people.  He’s lucky to have a twin, mother, girlfriend, and multitude of friends to help him.  The doctors have said he’ll wake up.  You just…have to trust that and know that Aranelion’s fighting as hard as he can to wake up.  You have to be strong for him…that’s all any of us can do besides what we’re doing already.”

   Camillia looked up at Elianaron, finally letting go of Aranelion’s hand as she hugged him back, unable to speak, and only able to weep.  Hidama and Delilah looked on sadly, as did Aerealei, before returning her attention to her slumbering son.  She noticed something different about Aranelion’s face.  His cheeks had tear stains streaking down them that weren’t there moments before; she looked at him closely, and saw his eyes clench shut tighter as tears poured from them.  He wasn’t waking up from his coma yet, but Aerealei knew, without a doubt…that Aranelion was crying.

   She looked to the group with tear-filled eyes and a smile on her face and whispered, “I told you he could hear us.  Something tells me he’s upset that he can’t wake up.  His spirit is weeping.”

   Everyone let out a gasp.  Camillia and Elianaron spun their seats around to see Aranelion’s face while Hidama and Delilah ran closer to his bedside to see the same.  Sure enough, fresh tears were leaking from Aranelion eyes, even as the expression on his face remained unchanged.  He was indeed still comatose, because he was unaware that he was crying, but was still weeping nonetheless.  It was like Aerealei said; it was as if his spirit could hear the yelling and sense the tears and wanted to stop it…like he knew he was the cause of the pain.

   Picking up Aranelion’s hand, Camillia could feel the fur on it was damp with her tears.  Crying harder, she stumbled over her words.  “Oh…oh Air—Aranelion…I’m so, so sorry for…for breaking down.  Here…you are trying to come back to us, and…and I—all I can do is cry.  Puh—Please don’t…don’t cry anymore.   I’ll—I…I can be strong for both of us.  I’ll be right here when…when you wake up.  I’ll keep living…for the both of us, until you…can come back again, where we can live together.”

   Though she had found her strength again, seeing the tears leak from his eyes got the better of her strength, causing her to bend over and rest her head on his chest as she wept.  Listening to his actual heartbeat as opposed to the beeping was soothing to her soul.  She held onto his hand and whispered, “I love you Aranelion.  You don’t need to cry anymore.  Sure, we’re worried about you, but we’re all doing everything we can to make this better.  You don’t have to worry.  Everything will be alright.”

   The others looked on as the tears slowly stopped coming from Aranelion’s closed eyes.  It was bittersweet, for while they didn’t want him to cry, it was the first sign of life to come from him in the past five weeks.  Elianaron rubbed Camillia’s back gently, trying to console her, while Delilah, who had clearly already forgotten about before, bent over beside Camillia and hugged her.  Hidama and Aerealei exchanged mournful glances as they sat at Aranelion’s bedside.  Clearly, this was affecting them all in painful ways, but with no more signs of life emerging, it was all too clear that it wasn’t time for him to wake up yet.

   After a week, Hidama and Delilah returned home, and so Elianaron, Camillia, and Aerealei went back to the life they now lived, taking up a resident life at the Starshine Memorial Hospital.  However, they tried their best to get back to their lives.  Aerealei wrote a letter to her friends in Valordian, telling them of Aranelion’s plight.  Having healed their relations with both her and her sons, there was an outpouring of sympathy from the Valordian hedgehogs as well.  They promised to look after her gardens and orchards until she could return, and sent flowers, cards and baskets to Aranelion, wishing him a quick recovery.

   Camillia started to work again too.  While she spent most of her time with Aranelion, her boss and manager got her some new modeling jobs.  It stung at her heart, because in a few weeks, she’d be modeling wedding dresses in a runway show and photo shoot.  She only hoped that Aranelion would wake up before then…if he didn’t, he would have been in that coma for two months.

   Elianaron went back to playing at Kawai’s, for both his shift and Aranelion’s.  It was hard on him and his fans to have to play without Aranelion, but he did his best all the same.  He also spent more time drinking root beer at a local bar call Smithy’s, for while he could not stomach alcohol of any kind, root beer was enough to help him drink away his pain.

   Aranelion always had someone by his bedside…and every night Camillia told him she loved him.  She knew he would wake up someday…and even though he wouldn’t right now, she and the rest knew to keep their faith in him, and live their lives the best they could without him.

Description
"Wandering to Love"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 6: When he wouldn’t wake up

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“Dear Journal, Last night was easily the most horrible night of my life.  While Mom and I waited for Aranelion to get home from his date with Camillia, I received a phone call from Lairen telling me that he and Camillia, as well as Isaac and Lucie, were part of a four-vehicle accident just outside of the movie theater downtown.  Not a soul had emerged from any of the vehicles, including my friends and twin brother, and Auron had run into what was now a raging inferno to save as many as he could.  All I could do was tell Mom there had been an accident; oh how did it come to pass that the burden was on my shoulders…the burden of having to tell my mother one of her twin sons was in a terrible accident and could possibly be…well, no, Aranelion didn’t die.  But…that doesn’t mean that everything is alright.  He…oh…dammit…why won’t he wake up?”

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   Smoke, fire and water filled the air.  Camillia began to regain consciousness, and yet as she opened her eyes she quickly began to realize that she was hanging upside down, still strapped into her seat by her seatbelt, which in this case, had most likely saved her life.  She felt…pain…mainly above her right eye and in her upper back just below the shoulder blades.  She could taste blood in her mouth, and it felt as though her upper lip was now busted open.  She whimpered in pain, and yet…she did not hear Aranelion try to comfort her like she expected him to.

   Camillia looked to the left, only to see Aranelion hanging upside down in the driver’s seat.  His airbag had failed to deploy, and she felt faint and sick with horror when she saw his body twisted, broken, and bleeding as he hung there.  His face was emotionless, almost as if there remained no soul within him to provide a look of fear.  Fearing the worst, she pushed past her own pain and cried out, “Aranelion!  Please!  Somebody help us!”

   Unfortunately, Auron had run to Isaac’s vehicle first, for the Greyfox was able to climb out of his car and run to him for help.  Lucie was alive and conscious, but was now pinned between the ground and the center console of his vehicle.  She was in great pain and cried out miserably, her right leg shattered and her left arm twisted around backwards.

   Lairen ran to help Auron after calling Elianaron.  As the Greywolf and Greyfox struggled to turn Isaac’s car back on its wheels, Auron shouted, “You need to crawl in there and make sure we don’t aggravate her injuries.  Hurry!  We have to check on Aranelion and Camillia next!”

   The brown cat nodded and climbed into Isaac’s car, doing her best to comfort Lucie and brace her injuries while the boys fought to turn the car back over.  Sirens began to screech wildly in the distance as fire fighters, police, and ambulances arrived on the scene.  After shutting off water to the broken one, the fire fighters hooked up their hoses to nearby hydrants that had not been hit, and did their best to try and extinguish the flames engulfing the two burning vehicles.  Emergency workers went to help the occupants of those cars, while Auron, Lairen, and Isaac continued their struggle to free Lucie.

   Somehow, Camillia’s cries went unanswered.  When Aranelion didn’t wake up after all of her screaming, Camillia felt herself breaking down.  His body looked badly damaged and traumatized…did this…did this mean that Aranelion was…dead?

   “No!  He…he can’t be dead!  I won’t let him die!” Camillia cried to herself.  Though she was in great pain, Camillia knew she was alone for the moment, and with the fires from the neighboring vehicle slowly spreading towards a puddle of gasoline that leaked from Aranelion’s SUV, she knew she had little time left to act before they were both destroyed by this explosive fireball that now bore down upon them.

   Fighting the pain in her back, Camillia reached for the buckle and carefully undid her seatbelt.  She pulled it off gradually, her right arm erupting in a terrible pain as she did so.  She screamed again terribly, falling to the ground, her arms and wrists being sliced by shards of glass from the shattered windshield, but again her cries went unanswered.  The emergency workers got the message that the vehicle was unoccupied, perhaps thinking that Auron and Lairen had come out from it.  At the same time, Auron, Lairen, and Isaac knew nothing of the danger Aranelion and Camillia now faced.

   With one final push, Auron and Isaac pushed his car back on its wheels, while Lairen made sure Lucie’s injuries didn’t worsen.  Lucie let out a cry, continuing to whimper as she waited to be rescued.  Looking to Lairen, she asked, “Why did this happen Lairen?  Everything…everything was perfect.”  Looking out through the now broken windshield, she murmured, “He…he finally said he loved me.  Everything is finally like my dreams, and then it turns into a horrible nightmare.”

   Lairen felt like crying.  It turned out Lucie was just as in love with Isaac as he was with her, and now the beautiful night had gone awry.  She shook her head, holding back tears to be strong for Lucie and said, “Aww Lucie…look at how hard he’s fighting to save you.  He loves you Lucie, and no matter what happens this night that’s one thing that will never change.  Look at it this way; you can spend time together healing after all this.  You can’t let this ruin it for you.”

   Lucie looked back to Lairen, one of her eyes now blackened as a result of the crash, and smiled weakly.  Before she could reply, Auron called to them from outside, and said, “Keep bracing her Lairen!  I’m gonna rip the car door off!  Hang on!”

   Before he could pull, Isaac crawled into the backseat behind Lairen and made his way to Lucie.  Taking the hand of her uninjured arm, he squeezed it gently but securely and said, “It’ll be okay Lucie.  Just hang on.”

   She gazed at him, lost in his eyes and his love, and murmured, “I love you Ike.”

   Demonstrating the magnitude of his aura-powered strength, Auron’s eyes glowed until they were sheer white with a slight hue of blue behind them.  With a loud cry, he used his aura powers to increase his strength, allowing him to rip the once jarred passenger door free from its hinges, taking the pressure off of Lucie’s injured leg.

   Lairen ran to check on Auron, leaving Isaac to take care of Lucie.  The two foxes opened their eyes, and were able to smile even in the face of adversity.  Taking Lucie in his arms so he could take her to a waiting ambulance, Isaac whispered, “I love you too Lucie.  Everything will be alright.”

   Back in Aranelion’s SUV, Camillia finally shrugged off the pain in her arms.  She looked to Aranelion, only to see the expression on his face still as lifeless as before.  Allowing angry disbelief to fight off her tears, Camillia cried out again, “Will somebody please help us!  Please!  I won’t let him die!”

   At the same time, Elianaron had gotten as close to the crash as police barricades would allow.  He had abandoned his vehicle and now ran through the crowd of people with his mother, Aerealei, close behind.

   She glanced around nervously at the crowd of people that were in shock and awe over the accident.  Sure, she had been to Starshine Town before, but something about the mob and the accident that night made this a very frightening place for her, and the idea that one of her sons, all she had left of her soul mate Armundae, was in danger, turned it into a nightmare.

   “Blessed Armundae…wrap your loving arms around our son.  Protect him.  I cannot bear to be without him or his twin.  Please protect him until we can rescue him tonight,” she prayed as she ran with tears running down her cheeks.

   Armundae’s spirit heard the pleas, not only of his wife, but of his prospective daughter-in-law.  Camillia had fallen to the roof of the vehicle, which now acted as a floorboard.  She was crying desperately for help and was now almost succumb to the pain from her injuries and blood lost.  She watched the reflection of the inferno as it approached her in a few shards of glass that lay under her now sliced wrists and arms.

   “If Aranelion is dead…then I…I might as well die too.  Life’s not worth living without him.  Please…just let me die and be with him again,” Camillia whimpered.

   But Armundae knew…he opened her eyes to the truth.

   Something persuaded Camillia to look to Aranelion once more, perhaps to say goodbye.  However, something caught her eyes.  His face had a lifeless expression, and yet…his chest continued to rise and fall as he kept trying to breathe.  Aranelion wasn’t dead!  He was severely injured, but he was alive.

   Camillia felt tears stinging at her eyes.  A joyous smile graced her lips as she cried, “Oh Air!  You aren’t dead!  You’re still alive!  We still have a chance!”

   Her happiness was short-lived.  At that very moment, the fires reached the engine of Aranelion’s SUV, causing it to explode and rattle the SUV violently as it burst into flames.  Crying out with all her might, Camillia reached for Aranelion’s hand as it hung in the air with her bloody hands, and shouted, “He’s not dead!  Please!  Someone…help us!  Please!”

   Auron and Lairen stood together, Lairen trying to help Auron recover from using so much of his aura power.  They were about to turn their attention to Aranelion’s SUV, but instead the loud explosion demanded it, not giving Auron much chance to rest.  He jumped in front of Lairen, shielding her from the blast just like before.  He was pelted by a hail of shrapnel, and let out a cry when a piece of jagged metal slammed into his back.

   “Aww dammit!” he shouted, slumping to the ground as he screamed.

   “Auron!  No!” Lairen cried, kneeling down with him.

   As the explosion died down, Elianaron and Aerealei finally arrived, and Isaac returned after making sure Lucie was being taken care of.  They all crowded around Auron as he moaned in pain, but only for a moment.

   Elianaron fell to his knees beside Auron and shouted, “Where’s Aranelion?  Where’s Camillia?”

   At the same time, the tail end of Camillia’s cries could finally be heard as the noise of the explosion faded away and everyone’s focus was momentarily distracted.  They could hear her say, “He’s still alive…please…” just barely.  Yet, it was enough for Elianaron’s ears.  Without warning, he took off for the SUV.  Aerealei did not need to be restrained.  As fearful as she was for both her boys and her potential daughter-in-law, she knew that they had taken care of each other through much worse than this, and that her darling Armundae was watching over them.

   “Aranelion!  Camillia!” Elianaron cried desperately.  He fell short of the SUV only steps away from the passenger’s side.  The heat of the fire was becoming too much to bear, but he simply had to rescue them.  “Camillia!” he cried again.  He could hear her cry back in return, and so he desperately looked for a way into the vehicle.  He saw the passenger door behind Camillia’s seat hanging loosely on its hinges and far enough away from the flames.  He reached for it, and with all his might, he pulled it free and tossed it to the ground.  At last, he climbed into the burning vehicle.

   Elianaron was gripped by sheer terror at what he saw.  Aranelion was hanging upside down, still strapped into his seat.  His hands were being held by Camillia’s, her wrists and arms bleeding from being cut by glass from the windshield, the rest of her body mangled from the wreck as she lay down on the roof of the vehicle.

   She could feel her consciousness slipping away as she went into shock, but glanced at Elianaron once more before saying, “He’s alive Ell…please…save him.”

   Taking one of her hands, Elianaron shook his head and said, “You’re both hurt.  I’m gonna save you.”

   Camillia didn’t reply…she simply looked back at Aranelion, and with the rest of her strength, she whispered, “Tell him…I love him.”

   “No!” Elianaron cried.  She fell silent and didn’t speak further.  Thinking quickly, he gently took her in his arms as to not aggravate her injuries and shouted, “Ike!  Help me with Camillia!”

   Both Isaac and Lairen ran to the vehicle, where Elianaron handed the now unconscious Camillia to them.  Holding her together, they rushed her off to one of the ambulances.  As they ran, another explosion rocked the SUV.  Elianaron could see Aranelion’s hat start to catch on fire.  Suddenly, their connection kicked in, and Elianaron let out a cry, able to feel the pain that ravaged his twin’s body, but at the same time, realized that Aranelion had no active thoughts…almost as if he was…dead and alive at the same time.

   Overcoming the pain, Elianaron fought against the heat, and unbuckled Aranelion from his seat.  Taking his brother in his arms, Elianaron climbed out of the car and rushed for the barricade.  No sooner had he emerged from the vehicle that it exploded once more.  Had anyone remained in it, they would no longer be alive.

   It was now that Aerealei ran for her sons.  Tears were in her eyes as Elianaron fell to his knees, holding Aranelion tightly, while he trembled heavily and gasped for air.  She wrapped her arms around them both and whispered, “It’s okay my boys…Mommy’s here.  You’ll both be alright.  Your father is here for you too…in spirit.”

   At this point, Elianaron could only barely hear his mother’s words.  Exhausted, he collapsed, maintaining his weak hold on Aranelion, but passing most of it onto his mother as he fell to the ground.  Letting out a gasp, Aerealei shifted Aranelion’s weight to one arm, and held Elianaron in the other, much like she did when they were infants.  She felt so alone and frightened.  She shivered as she held her ailing sons, and cried as she prayed to Armundae and whoever would listen.

   Finally, a police officer approached her.  Kneeling down beside her, he said, “I saw your son’s bravery.  They both need treatment now.  I believe they should be fine.”

   Looking up at him, Aerealei didn’t know how to reply as she had only spoken to humans a few times before and didn’t know what to expect from them.  Still, he seemed as kind as her boys said humans were, so at her weakest moment, she trusted them, and whimpered, “Th—thank you good sir.  Please…you must help them.”

   The officer’s eyes widened.  He could sense her fear, and so he called for two stretchers before returning his attention to her.  “Please,” he said, “You can ride along with one of them.  The rest of their friends will be at the hospital waiting for them.”

   Aerealei finally made eye contact with him, her eyes, the same icy blue color as her sons, were glassed over with tears.  As the medics arrived with a stretcher for each of her sons, she could feel herself ready to melt and fade away as they were gently pulled from her arms.  Unable to help them, as their injuries were far worse than a scraped knee, she burst into inconsolable tears.  The officer, feeling her pain, helped her rise to her feet and walked her to the ambulance Aranelion was taken to.  As the four ambulances raced to the hospital, everyone else involved in the accident walked away from it, watching the blazing inferno destroy their vehicles, and dry up the blood and tears that fell on the road that night.  However, the painful memories, would not be as easy to wash away.

   At the hospital, Camillia, Isaac, and Lucie were treated for their injuries, as well as Auron and Elianaron, for the damage they sustained in the rescue.  The shrapnel missed Auron’s spinal cord, and if anything his back would be sore for a good while.  Elianaron suffered from exhaustion and smoke inhalation, for the pain he felt belonged to Aranelion, and not himself.  The two of them were able to get up and attend to the injuries of their friends.

   Thankfully, Lairen was not injured in any sort of way, so she spent most of her time looking after Isaac and Lucie.  Isaac was fortunate; he broke his left wrist and suffered from pulled muscles and a few torn tendons, but that was the worst of it.  Lucie was treated for her shattered right leg and broken left arm.  She would be in a wheelchair until they healed, and would need some therapy once they did, but she would make a full recovery.  This was the only good news for the night.  The group of friends still had to face a grim report when they asked about Aranelion and Camillia.

   The doctor gave it to them straight; Camillia was pretty banged up, but after she had received stitches for the cuts on her arms and wrist, as well as the gash to her forehead, and a sling for her broken arm, she ran to Aranelion’s side, only to learn the terrible news the rest of them were about to hear.

   The group of five stood just outside Aranelion’s room, where they could hear both Aerealei and Camillia weep as they tried to comfort each other.  The doctor was shaken by Elianaron’s gaze, and could feel not only his pain, but that of Aranelion’s friends too.  He finally resumed speaking.  “Aranelion, I’m afraid, is now comatose.  It’s a light coma thankfully, but we have no idea when he’ll wake up from it.  It could be days…weeks, or even months.  I doubt a coma this light could last more than a year…but…,”

   “Oh God,” Lairen cried.  She fell to her knees, and Auron and Isaac helped her up just enough so she could sit on a bench as she cried.

   Elianaron was getting angry.  Looking back to the doctor, he growled, “But what?  Spit it out will you?  What’s wrong with him?”

   The doctor gave a kind and sympathetic eye to Elianaron.  Shaking his head, he continued, “I know of his medical history Elianaron, both his and yours, and I know you’ve both had nearly nine near-death experiences between you.  He’s seen worse than this.  I know he’ll survive.  His injuries will heal as they will for the rest of you.  The only problem is we just can’t know how long these comas will last.  There’s nothing we can do to coax him out of it either.  You’re just going to have to tough it out until he does.  I tried explaining that to his girlfriend and mother, but everyone seems to think it’s a death sentence.  It’s probably good that he sleeps off the injuries…considering he broke both of his hands he couldn’t play piano right now anyway.”

   “Oh God, oh God, oh God…,” Lairen whimpered.  The psychic cat was beyond consolation, for she was a twinless twin, and the idea that one of the Brokenstar twins floated on the border of life and death was more than a nightmare for her empathetic heart.  Lucie now tried to comfort her as she wept,  barely knowing Aranelion but already very fond of him.  Auron and Isaac exchanged sad and weary glances, unsure of what to feel anymore as they sat holding their girlfriends in their arms in an attempt to comfort them.

   Elianaron remained stone faced.  He stared at the floor in disbelief.  He realized now why he could get no read on Aranelion’s thoughts.  It was because he was in a coma.  He was alive, but his thoughts were dead.  Even though his twin would live, this was a scary thing for Elianaron, and them all.  Despite nearly dying so many times from everything from gang green to blood loss, a coma was…scary.  It was the one thing Elianaron couldn’t rescue Aranelion from.  Not even the doctors could do anything for him.  The only consolation Elianaron had now was that Aranelion’s other injuries, including his broken hands, would heal, and that this nightmare wouldn’t last forever.

   Without another word, except for a softly mumbled, “Excuse me,” Elianaron walked past the doctor and into Aranelion’s hospital room.  The doctor and his friends watched as he exited, and slowly, the remaining four followed him, Lairen with one of Auron’s arms around her shoulders as she helped him limp along, while Isaac wheeled Lucie into the room behind them.

   The doctor and some of his nurses watched as Elianaron remained strong, trying to comfort his mother, even as tears fell from his eyes as he gazed at his slumbering twin in disbelief.  He called out to Aranelion, as if hoping that he could defy medical science and beckon his twin to waken.  When Aranelion didn’t move, Elianaron fell to his knees, being pulled into his mother’s lap as she comforted him.  The seven of them did their best to console each other, but it appeared that none of them knew what to say to make it better.

   “The poor souls,” the doctor said, turning to his nurses, “I know those hybrid echidnas well.  They’ve had quite a painful road to walk in life and yet they’ve come out stronger and happier for it.  They’ve seen the world, things most of us will never see.  They’re heroes, and for one of them to be injured this badly torments my heart.”  Looking back into the room, he added, “I’m just relieved that Aranelion’s hands will heal completely.  If they were crushed any harder…he probably would never be able to play piano again.  He can fight this.  He’ll wake up soon and live life again.  We’re just going to have to pray for him and do our best to help him through this…all of them.”

   It was something the entire hospital staff was determined to do; they wanted to make Aranelion’s stay there as easy on his family and friends as possible.  Isaac and Lucie went on recovery leave from work, and spent more time together as they healed; Auron received a similar vacation from his job, albeit shorter since he promised to return once it no longer hurt him to walk, and had Lairen to help him through the days.  Life returned to relative normalcy for them.  For Camillia, Elianaron, and Aerealei, however, life was now quite different.

   The three practically lived in the second half of Aranelion’s hospital room, save Aerealei, who Elianaron pleaded with, asking her to stay at his apartment at night instead of having to sleep on a cot or a hospital bed, which she accepted even through objection.  Camillia took to sleeping in the vacant bed in the room, while Elianaron slept on a cot between where his brother and Camillia rested.

   As the days turned into weeks, Camillia, Elianaron, and Aerealei did whatever they could to help Aranelion heal.  Aside from the nurses’ regular health checks, everything from changing IVs to collecting status data, the three of them would do everything from washing his hair to massaging his shoulders, arms, and legs.  A feeding tube gave him the nutrients he needed; one IV gave him fluids while the rest gave him medication.  A ventilator helped him breathe.  It was the last step before full life-support.  It scared Camillia, even as the days passed and she grew used to it.  It was like watching someone die on her favorite soap opera, even as the doctors swore on their PhD’s that he was recovering.

   His blood cell count was slowly recovering, fighting off the anemia he had sustained after losing so much blood.  His torn muscles were healing; any trauma, bruises, and scarring beneath his fur was fading away.  His broken bones, including two ribs, his left leg, and even his hands were healing perfectly.  Still, as the weeks passed, Aranelion couldn’t shake this coma and the hold it had over his life.  It was enough to slowly break Camillia’s spirit, even as Aerealei and Elianaron weathered the pain relatively unscathed.

   She would lie in bed at night, listening to the now all too familiar ambulance sirens, the hurried footsteps of nurses and doctors rushing their latest patients to the ER.  Yet when all the noise faded away, the constant, monotone beeping that kept record of Aranelion’s heartbeat was all that remained.  He was still alive, and apparently doing well from what those around her said in praise of his recovery and strength.  But still…this pain, this fear, this hospital room…they weren’t going away.  When would he wake up?  Was he ever going to come back to her?  Camillia felt her spirit dying, and was only grateful that she had told him that she loved him, and he had time to return it, before this horrible state of existence took over their lives.

   Over those weeks, Aranelion received cards, gift baskets, flowers, and other gifts from all the friends and fans he had, and not just in Starshine Town.  These gifts came from coast to coast as the news spread from friend to friend.  His friends in Sandysun City made the most impressive showing, coming in person to see him and his family.  Mrs. Caranelli even cooked dinner for the week that they visited, and when she wasn’t there, the outpouring of sympathy didn’t let up.  Families all over town would cook meals for Aerealei, Elianaron, and Camillia.  Everyone was doing everything in their power to make things easier, and while it was appreciated all around, it did little to bring comfort to Camillia’s spirit.

   Finally, Hidama and Delilah returned to Starshine Town.  Aranelion was now a month into his fight against the coma that kept him sleeping, and it was now that Hidama finally got the chance to get away.  He enjoyed getting the chance to see Aerealei again, after not seeing her for several years.  He did his best to console Elianaron, the two of them knowing full-well the kind of fighter Aranelion was, and trusting he would awaken.  While Hidama got to spend time with his other friends in town, Auron, Isaac, and the rest, Delilah spent most of her time with Camillia, who was hard-pressed to leave Aranelion’s side.

   One evening, Delilah was talking to Camillia, trying to cheer her up again.  “Hidama and I have been talking about our first child Camillia.  Hee hee, I told him I want a little girl…and I think he agrees with me whole-heartedly.  I don’t know, I guess we both wanted the marriage to set in for awhile before we take that next step.  Hey, maybe you and Aranelion can catch up to us after all.  Wasn’t he talking about marriage with you?”

   Camillia, who was actually angered about the good fortune of her friend, growled and shouted, “Shut up Delilah!” This was in enough time for Hidama, Elianaron, and Aerealei to return to the room, standing in the doorway as they listened to Camillia shout back at Delilah, holding Aranelion’s hand tightly through it all.

   “Apparently he talked to EVERYONE about marrying me but ME!  He finally says something and then as he pulls into traffic, that jackass makes a blind right turn coming from the other direction, hitting our vehicle, and threatens to destroy my life forever!  He had FINALLY said it!  He FINALLY said he wanted to get married!  There wasn’t a ring, and it wasn’t in so many words, BUT HE SAID IT!  Everything was perfect!  Then this sick crap happens and takes it ALL AWAY!  What am I supposed to do now?  EVERYONE around me is happy and finding joy and love, while I have to sit here and watch mine fade away!  Why can’t people just SHUT UP and stop reminding me of how everything is going wrong?!” Camillia shouted.

   With that, Hidama ran into the room, putting his arm around Delilah and said, “Cut it out Camillia!  Delilah and everyone are just trying to help you!  Don’t take your pain out on them!”

   Continuing to hold Aranelion’s hand, Camillia stood up from her seat, glaring at the echidna and shouted, “Help me?  Hell with that!  Nobody can help me!  All you all are doing is helping me to live through a life that hell won’t have again!  I wish you all would get out of here and leave Aranelion and me alone!  Go to Auron and Lairen’s wedding!  Go on and have your babies Hidama!  Get a girlfriend Ell!  Join Isaac and Lucie on their vacation to Emerald Isle!  I want you to freaking party!  Just leave Air and me ALONE!”

   “That’s enough!” Elianaron shouted, running into the room.  Standing between Hidama and Camillia, he glared at the pink cat and continued, “Look Camillia!  This has been hard on everyone!  It isn’t just you who’s suffering you know!  Aranelion is my twin brother!  He’s like…half of what I am!  God knows our poor mother has wept untold tears over this!  The only difference between you and us is that you just aren’t letting anyone or anything cheer you up!  It’s like you’re giving up on Aranelion completely!  It’s like…you’re convinced he’s not strong enough to fight it!  It’s…like…you believe he’ll never wake up again and that he’s abandoned you!  Do you honestly think that you’re the only one who hurts here?  Have you really given up on my brother?  Well…HAVE YOU?”

   Camillia could feel her legs shaking as she stood there with Elianaron glaring at her angrily.  The hand she held Aranelion’s with began to sweat and tremble as she tried to find the words to reply.  That wasn’t how she felt at all.  She was simply facing a breakdown, and this anger was her last attempt to stave it off.

   Aerealei could sense this as she walked into the room, going to the other side of Aranelion’s bed.  As she rubbed his forehead, she looked up to the group and said, “Please, no more shouting.  How do you know he can’t hear us subconsciously?  He could be able to hear us and just be unable to respond.  Do you really want this to be what he hears?  Do you want him to think that him being unable to wake up is causing us pain?  Please…we can talk about this later.”

   “No!” Elianaron protested, “I want her to tell me why she’s given up on my brother!”

   Camillia could feel the tears falling from her eyes as she stood there, unable to speak.  She whimpered, “I—I haven’t given up on him Ell.  It’s…it’s not what you think.”

   Tilting his head to one side, Elianaron calmed down a bit and asked, “If it’s not that, then what is it?  Why were you talking like that to Hidama and Delilah?”

   The pink cat looked at her friends as her tired eyes began to sting from the tears running over them.  She dropped down to her seat, holding Aranelion’s hand to her face as she whimpered, “I’m tired of everyone telling me not to feel bad…only for their words to not have any effect.  Every day that goes by that I can’t help him, I feel more and more lost.  I feel like I’ve failed him somehow.  I can’t feel okay, and so I’m tired of people telling me I should.  I have…no right to feel okay while he suffers.”

   The hardened expression on Elianaron’s face softened as he listened to her words.  “Aww Camia…I’m sorry,” he started, walking over to her, pulling up another chair, and sitting beside her.  As he hugged her, he added, “But you don’t have to feel like you’ve failed him Camillia.  These past four weeks have been difficult on us all, and yet we’re doing everything we can.  Aranelion’s got more love and care than most coma-stricken people.  He’s lucky to have a twin, mother, girlfriend, and multitude of friends to help him.  The doctors have said he’ll wake up.  You just…have to trust that and know that Aranelion’s fighting as hard as he can to wake up.  You have to be strong for him…that’s all any of us can do besides what we’re doing already.”

   Camillia looked up at Elianaron, finally letting go of Aranelion’s hand as she hugged him back, unable to speak, and only able to weep.  Hidama and Delilah looked on sadly, as did Aerealei, before returning her attention to her slumbering son.  She noticed something different about Aranelion’s face.  His cheeks had tear stains streaking down them that weren’t there moments before; she looked at him closely, and saw his eyes clench shut tighter as tears poured from them.  He wasn’t waking up from his coma yet, but Aerealei knew, without a doubt…that Aranelion was crying.

   She looked to the group with tear-filled eyes and a smile on her face and whispered, “I told you he could hear us.  Something tells me he’s upset that he can’t wake up.  His spirit is weeping.”

   Everyone let out a gasp.  Camillia and Elianaron spun their seats around to see Aranelion’s face while Hidama and Delilah ran closer to his bedside to see the same.  Sure enough, fresh tears were leaking from Aranelion eyes, even as the expression on his face remained unchanged.  He was indeed still comatose, because he was unaware that he was crying, but was still weeping nonetheless.  It was like Aerealei said; it was as if his spirit could hear the yelling and sense the tears and wanted to stop it…like he knew he was the cause of the pain.

   Picking up Aranelion’s hand, Camillia could feel the fur on it was damp with her tears.  Crying harder, she stumbled over her words.  “Oh…oh Air—Aranelion…I’m so, so sorry for…for breaking down.  Here…you are trying to come back to us, and…and I—all I can do is cry.  Puh—Please don’t…don’t cry anymore.   I’ll—I…I can be strong for both of us.  I’ll be right here when…when you wake up.  I’ll keep living…for the both of us, until you…can come back again, where we can live together.”

   Though she had found her strength again, seeing the tears leak from his eyes got the better of her strength, causing her to bend over and rest her head on his chest as she wept.  Listening to his actual heartbeat as opposed to the beeping was soothing to her soul.  She held onto his hand and whispered, “I love you Aranelion.  You don’t need to cry anymore.  Sure, we’re worried about you, but we’re all doing everything we can to make this better.  You don’t have to worry.  Everything will be alright.”

   The others looked on as the tears slowly stopped coming from Aranelion’s closed eyes.  It was bittersweet, for while they didn’t want him to cry, it was the first sign of life to come from him in the past five weeks.  Elianaron rubbed Camillia’s back gently, trying to console her, while Delilah, who had clearly already forgotten about before, bent over beside Camillia and hugged her.  Hidama and Aerealei exchanged mournful glances as they sat at Aranelion’s bedside.  Clearly, this was affecting them all in painful ways, but with no more signs of life emerging, it was all too clear that it wasn’t time for him to wake up yet.

   After a week, Hidama and Delilah returned home, and so Elianaron, Camillia, and Aerealei went back to the life they now lived, taking up a resident life at the Starshine Memorial Hospital.  However, they tried their best to get back to their lives.  Aerealei wrote a letter to her friends in Valordian, telling them of Aranelion’s plight.  Having healed their relations with both her and her sons, there was an outpouring of sympathy from the Valordian hedgehogs as well.  They promised to look after her gardens and orchards until she could return, and sent flowers, cards and baskets to Aranelion, wishing him a quick recovery.

   Camillia started to work again too.  While she spent most of her time with Aranelion, her boss and manager got her some new modeling jobs.  It stung at her heart, because in a few weeks, she’d be modeling wedding dresses in a runway show and photo shoot.  She only hoped that Aranelion would wake up before then…if he didn’t, he would have been in that coma for two months.

   Elianaron went back to playing at Kawai’s, for both his shift and Aranelion’s.  It was hard on him and his fans to have to play without Aranelion, but he did his best all the same.  He also spent more time drinking root beer at a local bar call Smithy’s, for while he could not stomach alcohol of any kind, root beer was enough to help him drink away his pain.

   Aranelion always had someone by his bedside…and every night Camillia told him she loved him.  She knew he would wake up someday…and even though he wouldn’t right now, she and the rest knew to keep their faith in him, and live their lives the best they could without him.