I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly and then all at once.

-The Fault In Our Stars by John Greene

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'I'm sorry Miss. You can't go in there.' A nurse said, trying to ward me off.

He paled at the murderous glare I shot him in return and gracefully stepped out of my way.

I scoffed.

Like anyone could prevent me from seeing Gavin.

I barrelled past his family and close friends who were waiting in a private waiting room outside the intensive care unit. They were anxiously waiting for the doctor to give them the go ahead to see their friend, brother and son.

Good thing I've never been a particularly patient person.

I continued on my one-woman bulldozing path, barrelling past the security guards stationed outside the door to his room.

They immediately went in after me, hauling me back by my arms. I glared at them even though I wasn't really seeing them. All I could focus on was Gavin. I'd glimpsed him lying on the bed with a breathing tube sticking out of his mouth.

With fire blazing in my eyes, I focused my attention on the guards who had the unfortunate luck of stopping me. They took a cautionary step back out of my line of fire but I wasn't having it.

'What!' I thundered.

They both flinched. 'Miss, you're not allowed to go in there.' The braver of the two replied.

'And who's going to stop me? You two?' I scoffed. 'Gavin is injured. He's hurt! Possibly...' The word 'dying' stuck in my throat leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

'No one is going to stop me from seeing him. No one. Especially not two underpaid police assigned guards who don't who he is. Or what he means to... To... I am seeing him. End of story.' I declared.

The doctor strolled out of Gavin's room with a grim look on his face. My heart fell.

That can't be good.

Gavin's family immediately crowded around him.

'What's going on, doctor?' Gavin's father asked.

'It's... The prognosis while not dire, isn't reassuring. The next few hours may be the most critical. After that, it should be smooth sailing. You'll be allowed to see him in a few moments.' The doctor said in a robotic voice.

I resisted the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him to life.

This is a person's life we're talking about. How can he be so calm and detached!

'I'm going in.' I declared.

'I'm sorry but only his immediate family will be allowed to see.'

'Try and stop me.' I challenged, my eyes shooting fire.

Flustered, he looked at Gavin's family helplessly.

'Let her.' Kelsey smiled. 'Because I don't think she's gonna let anyone stand in her way.'

Thank God someone here understands.

Shooting her a grateful smile over my shoulder, I strode purposefully into the ward.

The image of Gavin hooked up to the all those machines with an IV sticking out of his arm and the large bandage around his shoulder was too much for me to take.

My knees wobbled and I would've collapsed if I hadn't grabbed onto the bed. I shut my eyes tightly and forced myself to go through a few breathing exercises but even with my eyes closed, I could still see Gavin clearly. The image was burned into my brain and I knew it would haunt me in my worst nightmares.

He looks so helpless. So fragile.

So human.

I didn't realize I was crying until a sob escaped my lips. Why did I have to let him save that girl? Damn it, I should have grabbed his hand and run the other way at the first sign of danger.

I shouldn't have let him play hero. He might be Superman but he's also human. He's definitely not bulletproof.

'Gavin, please wake up.' I whispered quietly, burying my face in his chest.

'Please be okay.'

For the first time in two hundred years, I prayed. I prayed like the world was about to end. I prayed like my life depended on it. Because it did.

Even when Gavin's family came in and I had to leave to give them private time with him, I went to the chapel to continue my prayer and after they left, I returned to his ward. In all the three days that he was unconscious, I never once left his side.

***

Maybe it's because I was studying his profile like my life depended on it but when his eyelids fluttered slightly, imperceptibly, on the third day, I caught the motion. My body froze and tensed all at once.

He's alive!

He's alive!

Thank God!

And then he opened his eyes and all thought escaped me. All I could was think was how much I missed those warm chocolate brown eyes.

And then he smiled and all was right with the world again.

'Hi.' I breathed.

'Starlight.'

'You're okay. You're safe. You're in the hospital.' I supplied.

'Hmm.' He managed.

'Should I get the doctor?' I asked.

'No.' He grunted.

'You sure?' I persisted.

He nodded.

'Good.' I snapped. 'What the hell were you thinking? Are you out of your freaking mind! What happened to bash him over the head. You got yourself shot dammit! No that's it. You weren't thinking! You're stupid. Brainless even! You could've have been killed. What was I supposed to do then? How was I supposed to move on?! Was I supposed to not miss you? Was I supposed to not fall apart? Was I supposed to forget there was ever Gavin Connor in my life?! Damn you Gavin! Damn you to hell for you put me through!'

I didn't realize I was practically screaming until his family along with the doctor and two nurses burst into the room. Gavin was staring at me with a confused wide eyed expression. Like I was a madwoman ranting for no sane reason.

He can't seriously be pretending not to get it. What the hell is wrong with him?

I spun on my heel and stalked out of the room as his family proceeded to fuss and gush over him.

An eye roll was all I could managed.

'He deserves a good bashing but instead they're fussing over him.' I grumbled to the heavens.

After making sure Gavin was perfectly alright and a getting a boatload of reassurance from the doctor that Gavin will make a full recovery, I made myself scarce.

He's such an idiot.

***

One week later.

'And so the prodigal ghost returns.' Gavin taunted when I finally showed up the day after he was discharged from the hospital.

'And so the stupid boy lives.' I replied with just as much sass.

Two can play that game.

'I don't get it.' He cocked his head to the side. 'Enlighten me. Why did you disappear from the hospital after I woke up? According to Kelsey, you were always around when I was unconscious but as soon as I came to, after yelling at me, you were gone. Mind telling me why?'

'How can you be so thick?' I grunted. 'I was worried dummy. I was terrified out of my mind for you. And then you were okay and I dunno... I guess I let my emotions get ahead of me. I needed time to wind down.'

'Why? Why were you scared?' He pressed, I could tell he was seeking the one thing I wasn't ready to give.

I got the feeling his near death experience had changed or at least skewed his priorities a little.

'Why wouldn't you leave my side at the hospital when I was unconscious? Why were you worried?' He continued, advancing on me. For every step he took, I took one away until I was backed against the door.

'Because if you die, I'm done for genius. How else am I supposed to get un-cursed if you're dead.' I fibbed.

'I think you're lying.' He stated, his warm breath on my neck.

My defenses immediately went up. 'What the hell is going on with you? Are you reacting to some meds? Or something like that?' 

'No. For once I'm being honest. I'm not hiding or running away like you do all the time. We've both accepted that there's something going on between the two of us and running away like you always do isn't helping. We need to talk about and settle it. Find out what we are to each other.'

'I'm sure you hit you head a little too hard when you you fell. We're nothing to each other. I'm a ghost and you're a human. End of story.'

'Denying it isn't going to help. I already told you. I'm not running away from this. Not this time. When I was lying on the pavement, all I could think about was you. I could only hope and pray to the heavens that you were safe and you would survive even if I didn't. When I was hanging on the brink of death and I was so sure I wouldn't make it. I didn't have the strength to keep fighting. I saw Kelsey, my parents, my friends and I could feel was sadness and despair. And then I saw you. Your face. Smiling. Scowling. Sticking your tongue out at me and I couldn't leave. I couldn't do it. Fear of losing you was worse that anything I'd ever known. It was worse than death. It gave me the strength to hold on. You were there. You led me back. That's when I realized we were more than just boy and ghost. There is more and it was far deeper than we both imagined. Whether you're ready to admit it or not, you feel it too. You're like my star on a dark moonless night. You're my....'

'Soulmate.' It took a while before I realized I was the one who breathed the word and not Gavin. And an even longer while before I realized I had tears streaming down my face. I didn't even bother to try to identify the strange warmth spreading through my body, emanating from my chest. At the rate at which my brain is processing things today, I might not be able to name the feeling until Christmas next year. If I get lucky.

I guess his mushy speech affected me a lot more than I thought it would. Which is a whole lot because mushy speeches have never affected me before. I'm always the girl who sneers at the end of it, asking what you expected the speech to change. Two hundred years and a curse later and I'm a sentimental crybaby ghost. Great.

So I did what I always do. The one thing I excel at.

I ran.

Except this time we were both too preoccupied to notice that instead of vanishing, I ran out the the door. But one peeping Tom in the version of a slightly shy girl obsessed with painting and baking noticed. In fact she had noticed for a while and was waiting for when either of us would come to realize the obvious glaring change.  But thanks to our current emotional turmoil, we were both blissfully oblivious of it. But then, its not particularly hard to notice that you can't through walls anymore or vanish at the snap of your fingers.

Bottom line, we both couldn't stay oblivious for long.

Author's Note:

Two more chapters to go. This chapter is dedicated to the first person who got the question in the previous chapter right. I'm thinking of doing a sequel for Kelsey. What do you guys think? Would you love to read about how Kelsey finds love?

Let me know your thoughts <3

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