Sunday,

September 1, 2012

12: 00 PM

New Orleans Hospital

Outside an opened brown door labeled 204, Sunny paces anxiously. The dark bags under her tired eyes reveal she hasn't slept since the group returned to the normal world, the red strain in the white of her eyeballs further proves this. Emma had pushed the Elder Huntress into a bathroom for a shower before they followed the helicopter to the hospital yesterday, and the ruined clothes she wore were switched. Now another old plaid she packed is over her shoulders, buttoned to hide her bra and torn sweatpants (she accidentally cut them sharpening knives) with the softest shoes she owns, a pair of fluffy slippers.

The woman had been waiting in the room Kane was given upon entry, they took him straight into emergency surgery and a nurse told her she could wait. Valli has been frozen on the couch inside the room; Sunny pushed him into the helicopter with Kane, he held the man's limp hand, still comprehending his Aunt's death. The moment Kane disappears behind the double doors in a cluster of doctors and nurses, Valli has dropped into the couch, lost and confused in grief.

As soon as the two of them were settled in the hospital, Emma returned to her car, phone in hand. She'll leave them to handle Kane, he'll need them if he ever gets free from surgery. For now, she handles what she knows well Valli is not ready for; Addy's Burning. Someone has to build the Pyre for the Witch, and with Valli's probable shock and Sunny's concern for Kane, Emma will do it.

A Hunter Pyre is similar to a Viking or American Indian Funeral Pyre; a stage that is lifted off the ground, and made of wood and hay or other flammable materials. Fairly simple design. For centuries, communities of various beliefs, skin tones, or ideals have used this method as a sign of respect and honor. To Hunters, burning their bodies leaves little chance for the deceased to reanimate (possessed, cursed, or spelled); a pile of ashes is useless to monsters, while a full-body corpse is easy to possess and steal.

For now, she'll give Valli, Kane, and Sunny time to grieve and heal, then bring them home to see Addy. They'll all get to say a proper goodbye to The Witch.

The doctors said they'd inform them of any updates regarding Kane, but as of right now — almost a full night of surgeries — there is no news. The silent pitying gazes of the hospital staff don't help Sunny's overwhelming fear she'll lose her boy, they just lost Addy – she doesn't think they'd survive if Kane died on them. Her pounding heartbeat throbs deep in the pit of her stomach, a developing migraine stings the left side of her head. Her arm pulls and pitches where she got about two hundred stitches, a new gauze tightly securing the shredded wound. They gave her medication to assist with the pain, but her mind isn't focused on the discomfort in her numbed arm, she's too aware of Kane's failure to come out of surgery.

Predictably, before the Hunters could fabricate a lie to cover their wounds, Kane's severe injury, the staff had already been shouting about animal attacks. All the questions they asked were biased and too rushed; "What animal attacked him?", and "Did it look diseased?". Sunny answered in one-word responses, glaring holes through the doctor not working on her adopted son; "Bear. No."

Over the hours, nurses have made multiple attempts to calm Sunny. Politely suggests she sit down, eat or drink, and sit inside the room with Valli. However, the woman only listens when Valli croaks out requests or questions weakly. The man is deep in an emotional pit, fighting his way through thoughts, feelings, and a neverending fear and guilt. When they (the helicopter, Kane, and Valli) got to the hospital, he was instantly overwhelmed by the sights. The forced comprehension of having his sight returned broke his brain for the two long hours it took for Sunny and Emma to run into the room.

Two nurses had to guide him to Kane's room after they ran a few tests on him, only leaving him due to the door slamming on their faces when he was alone. Valli will not admit he had a minor (or major, depending on if you ask him or the nurses listening at the door) breakdown, sobbing uncontrollably and rocking himself, tucked into a corner. It's just too much.

The Gods used him for their joking purpose, Addy dies, Kane is left to lay on a surgery table and now he may have his vision back permanently if he so wishes. The Hunter's Curse has found a way to redistribute Hunters – Kane and Sunny – to him only to snatch them away.

What am I supposed to do? Does he request his sight back, throw away all the years it took him to relearn and regain his confidence with Kane? Does he go back to living in a Void, and be unable to see Kane again? Or does he keep his sight, witness and relearn the colors, see the states again, and maybe even travel the world to sight-see? Does he go back to Hunting, where he may die, or witness Kane die? It's an impossible decision to make; each has pros and cons, but which does he want to spend the rest of his life regretting more? He'll regret getting his sight back at points, and he'll regret staying blind as well.

For years he has secretly hoped, deep down, that he'd get his vision returned. However, now that he is faced with the opportunity, he finds that he is scared to commit to either of the options.

For now, he settled with waiting until Kane is out and in recovery to make any confirmed choice. Right now, he isn't in the mindset to think of anything else.

###

7: 49 PM

"Mrs. Ranger?"

The fake name Sunny used perks her ears, a male doctor is standing a few feet from the room, glancing between his chart and the black woman. She stomped towards him, and the sudden movement caused him to vaguely flinch, controlling his expression and body language to avoid angering the woman. She demands answers, voice raised and jaw clenched. Her eyes are glassy, flushed, and worn. "Any news on my son?! We've been waiting for fucking ages?!"

The doctor glances into the opened door, the scarred, irritated eyes on Valli greet him; dull and wet. The man's position on the couch is pathetic, slouched with limp arms flopped over his lap, head raised simply out of worry for the gutted man he rode the helicopter with. Briefly, considering his words, the medical professional sighs deeply as his attention slides back to the woman. "Well, the attack was impressively close to fatal. Mr. Ranger had a concerning amount of internal bleeding, his stomach was nearly cut in half – we managed to stitch him up and make his stomach slightly smaller to fix the damage as much as we could." The man grimaces, recalling the gory details he saw. "His liver, kidney, and most of his intestines were damaged. We've got most of the fatal wounds serialized and cleaned, sewn up and they shouldn't be an issue in the recovery process."

"Yeah, yeah – he gonna live or not?!" Sunny has no time to listen to medical nonsense, all she wants is a straight answer regarding her boys' life.

Accustomed to families' impatience, the doctor doesn't bat an eye at the growled question. Simply continues along, kindly. "Mr. Ranger is stable, for now. With his injuries so severe, we'd like to keep him for a few weeks in case the intestinal bleeding returns. There are also concerns that our stitches may come undone unexpectedly in such concerning areas. We want to be completely certain he is clear for recovery and to go home. For now, I'd recommend quiet since he'll be asleep due to the medicine and the extent of the surgeries he underwent. Any other questions?"

Rubbing her clammy palms over her face, Sunny slumps into the wall as relief floods her system. Kane making it through the operations is one less concern to worry about, but now there's a new issue stepping up the empty plate. The woman takes a few even breaths behind her hands, eyes squeezed shut. "Will he recover?"

The medical professional winces, thankful the upset woman hadn't noticed. Normally, the doctor would give a light warning to remain prepared to lose a loved one – especially given the fatal wounds the patient came in with, it is unlikely the man he sewed back together will pull through. However (that said) Mr. Ranger did remarkably well throughout the operations, and his vitals are as good as possible. If the man makes it past tonight, the doctor would be surprised, but not dumbfounded. Carefully, he thinks his words over before calmly speaking. "Like I said, for now, he is stable. I have some faith he'll pull through, but I – If I may, what does he do for work?"

"Construction. Freelance stuff, likes to work heavy loads." Sunny lies cleanly, recalling the heavy frogman from Ohio Kane tossed away like a hay bale.

"I figured something like that, given his build. But I must warn you, I'm concerned his injuries may keep him from working. The damage is so severe and, no matter how much we try to fix it, there could be permanent impairment." He soothes a hand over the nape of his neck, beginning to sweat with the glare the woman fixes him with. Gulping, "I'm just saying Ma'am, your son was gutted. Honestly, I'm shocked he made it here in the first place. I recommend, you make backup plans in case his recovery declines. Be prepared to help him find a new, less strenuous job. Be prepared for the worst, even as we try our best to get him home in one piece for you."

Reluctantly, Sunny nods slowly, pitching her lip with her fingers. Inside the room, Valli listens blankly, and the elder hunter massages her eyes as pity and heartache curl around her heart tighter. Tiredly, stressed, she asks with a vague gesture towards the depressed man. "Anything else? His boyfriend needs me right now."

"He'll need a new diet since his stomach is now sensitive and smaller, whatever he ate before will most likely be too much." Flipping through his chart, the doctor shakes his head. "I'll have someone drop off some diets we can recommend, something easy for him and soft. I'll also drop by to check on him, for now, I'll leave you guys to it."

"Thanks."

The door stays open, Kane will be rolled in if they're done with surgery. The woman just slides into the room and collapses next to Valli on the couch with a deep groan, the man huffs a weak laugh at the action. Sunny drapes herself over Valli, curling her good arm over his shoulder. She's glad Emma and she convinced him to shower in the bathroom connected to the room, now he's fresh with cleaned clothes; warm leggings from his dresser, a t-shirt, and plaid Sunny stole from Kane's bag. She gives him a soft shake, and he hums, head tilting faintly in her direction.

"He's gonna be okay, Val," Sunny assures, and a kiss is pressed to his temple softly. When he only shrugs, eyes glassy, she adds. "I heard Addy say Kane would live. She wouldn't lie to you, Hun. Kane is gonna be a little weak, but he'll live. Thanks to Addy and you, both of you thought fast to cover the wound and stop the bleeding as much as you could. Or, in Addy's case, gave him a bit of magic."

Valli sniffs, croaking. "But– it's my fault they–"

"No." Valli gulps at the dour, serious snap. Sunny's eyes are melancholy, but filled with an unbending affection. "Nothing is your fault. You didn't freeze, you were waiting for your opportunity to get the kill in – those are two very different things." She hugs him tighter, guiding his head to rest on her shoulder as she had done for Kane a thousand times. "You didn't tell Kane to rush in – hell, no way does that man listen to anything anyone says. Kane is his own man, with his own set of rules, Valli. You know this. No one orders Kane around, and if they do, he decides if he will do it or not." Valli nods along, knowing this is true. "But you did not cause him to get hurt, you did not push us, me or Kane, nor Addy to go on this joke of a hunt. This, none of it is your fault. Addy isn't your fault, son. This is the doing of bored Gods wanting some Hunter Toys to play with. You do understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am." While he felt better, the words she spoke in such an inflexible, heartfelt tone were what he needed. But there is still a tiny voice in the back of his head, Addy was killed because of you, and Kane will be forced to give up hunting thanks to you. It's like a ghost haunts him.

"Good. Don't let Kane hear you blaming yourself for his actions, that'll get you some spanks for sure." She cackles as Valli's head snaps up, eyes wide.

"Ma!!" For the first time since they returned, he giggles at her loud bellow of laughter due to his flabbergast reaction.

She waves him off, smirking. "I know my boy, Val. He's a kinky fucker if nothing." She chuckles, pulling him to his feet by his upper arm. "Now, let's go find something to eat in this dull-ass place, Kane should be here by the time we get back."

###

Kane is knocked out due to the pain medication the doctors gave him when Sunny and Valli return to the room thirty minutes later. Valli lags slightly behind the Huntress, uneager to witness his partner in a hospital bed. He takes his time to scan the new scenery that has been dropped on him. It's been years since he stepped into a hospital, let alone seeing one. The glistening shine of sterilized floors and various tools glint off the heavy overhead lights, nurses, doctors, and everyday people are scattered along the wide halls. Beds, occupied and empty, stand along the walls. The scent of cleaning chemicals irritates his nose, nostrils unaccustomed to the harsh odors – he'd take the rancid smell of monsters over this any day. The food is terrible, bland, and pathetic; if he had an appetite, he'd rather wait until their home to eat. Uncaring that he has no desire for food, Sunny pushed two pitiful sandwiches into his hands in the cafeteria, demanding he "stuff them down your throat."

He settled to nibble at one as he sat on the couch in the room, back to the large window overlooking the hospital's glistening behind the building. The curtains are thrown open, casting fresh sunlight and shadows onto the white-dotted squared tile floor, onto Kane's white bed; on the thick form he makes under the gray blanket they tucked over his shoulders. Valli can't believe the scene his eyes reveal – the man he thought was too stubborn to die, is bed-ridden with a fatal injury that could take a turn (Addy wouldn't promise then allow him to die, he is going to live). The sun-kissed skin tone he got used to in the Void and Beyond, is worn and pasty; sickly. The messy, spiked highlights of his dirty blond hair are freshly washed and lusterless. His, now scruffy and untended, beard is also cleaned and flatted.

While the man liked to be still – a statue in the room or whichever seat he occupied, Kane has the habit of merely sitting, listening, waiting. Yet he was never this stationary. Valli always called him what he was; a Hunter, Kane sits patiently, and he listens for threats while keeping himself still as a statue to lessen being discovered by an enemy. He remembers the energy he felt when he was blind, when Kane would position himself for an unneeded stake-out in the house. Each time, the comparison to a stalking predator came to mind – that building tension and suspense for that off-chance Kane burst to life due to a threat. He witnessed his boyfriend go into that mode in the World Beyond The Void – as he has taken to calling it, for lack of official names in Lore — the man would rest on the ground, arms either hung over his knees or thrown over Valli's shoulders, ocean eyes closed and body lull with steady breaths.

It was such an oddly serene moment in the chaotic World, complete opposing sides of the coin they were on. Sunny had merely grinned at them, while Addy snickered and winked.

With a grated sniff, he blinks his suddenly moist eyes. He had thought, mistakenly, that he ran out of fluid to produce tears after the recent bawling sessions. Almost an entire day since Addy passed, and he still can not comprehend she's gone forever. He finds himself expecting her to magically appear in the doorway, for her voice to echo in his head with a naughty or sarcastic joke; and for her warm, comforting hug to envelop him.

However, logically, he knows it's impossible. She's gone – really gone this time. He hadn't wanted to spare a thought as to how and when he would get to build her Pyre– doesn't believe he could muster the strength to do what is needed. Deep down in his heart, he knew her death was inevitable, but she had spent all his life by his side and she spent her life at the side of his parents. She's been family since before he was even conceived. It's extremely hard to think of the future and not see her there, grinning and making mischief.

I wish I would've asked her to stay back. It's new guilt added to his heart. Perhaps if he had told her to stay, she'd be alive right now. His breath stutters as he quietly, mourningly laughs at that thought. Addy would've gone no matter what he said, she was stubborn and cunning. If she had a set plan, there was nothing he could do to keep her from achieving it. As much as it may be small in light of the tragedy, he is grateful they got to say their goodbyes. If she had passed without him at her side, he would've never forgiven himself. Hearing her words, how she wanted him to keep moving forward, was what he needed to hear – at the end, and in general. He needed her reassurance, her faith in him.

It's one of the main reasons he considers – however vaguely – to keep his newfound sight.

The risk of losing that memory, how she looked, how she sounded, and how she held him is too high to return to his normal. He's experienced it with his parents; eventually, his mind simply forgets their faces, what they sounded like, and how they held him. They're only fog, faces shrouded and voices dull. The only thing he recalls is their hugs. The risk of losing Addy the same way, doubly traumatic, is a risk he doesn't want to take.

However, if he kept his sight, he could be overwhelmed, regret it during Hunts, or be terrified of losing it again. He'd be able to see his parents in pictures. See the faces at the market, his cows and chickens. He'll see the rushing river, the marshy swamps, and the beautiful house he lives in again. It all seems too good to be true, but Addy wouldn't give him options like this unless it were real. He trusts her word too much to consider she'd lead him down the wrong path. She was, and forever will be, his Guardian Witch.

"Son."

Valli blinks, glassy clear nutmeg eyes jumping upward where Suuny stands over him with an eyebrow raised and a soft dimpled smile. The woman spared a second to be surprised by the lack of grayish film over the man's irritated eyes, he appears like a new man, even with the identifying scars. She doesn't linger on this fact, more concerned over his mental health. He barely has one sandwich down, the second laid on the end table at the arm of the couch. For the past thirty minutes, Valli has been staring blankly at Kane's bed, silent and expressionless.

"I'm not 'bout to ask if you're good, 'cause I know that answer." Sunny softens her voice, lowering her body to sit beside the man. Their shoulders brush, and she gently knocks into him. "But you're scaring me a bit, come outta your head and be here with us."

Slowly, Valli nods, sniffing dryly and forcing down a lump in his throat. Sighing out, "Sorry."

"It's okay. I understand how you feel, except the sight parts." She leans on her knees, callused tough hands clasped together as they observe Kane's prone form. It's difficult for her to witness her nephew in such a pathetic state. Since before William died, Kane was a resilient child and teenager. Never did an injury bench him from Hunts, he was always up and increasing her blood pressure.

William would drop the young boy at her cabin whenever he hunted with partners, that man never trusted other Hunters with Kane when he was still impressionable. Didn't want others to teach him, that was his fathers job. At first, when Will realized Sunny attempted to undo some of his training, he didn't bring Kane to visit for two months. This was when Kane was seven years old, still learning about the world yet understood perfectly that a monster is a monster and you kill on sight. Rather then bring him to her, Will dropped him in motels with food money and instructions on how to safe guard the room.

Sunny recalls the moment Will hightailed it down her driveway at the asscrack of dawn, towing Kane along half dead before his eighth birthday. The story she was told was that while Will took care of a Ghoul and Vampire tag team, Kane was abandoned in a motel – where a stray Hellhound was roaming about on the run from a fellow Hunter. The frantic panic she felt then is similar to now and a shiver chills her spine as she compares grown Kane, covered in his blood and gutted, to the little boy in his fathers arms; more crimson than his pale thin skin, lethargic, back torn and legs bitten at.

The woman had taken her gun to the man as soon as Kane was taken care of, the weapon aimed at Will's head only after she had beaten him bloody with her fists. Kane has no clue, but William was given a choice. Either leave Kane with Sunny and continue Hunting alone, or keep his son and drop him with the Huntress when it was too dangerous. Sunny promised, swore on her deceased Husband that she'd murder William before he killed his son due to stubbornness. Needless to say, the father kept Kane switched between them – firmly training his son to ignore Sunny's tries at teaching him more then killing.

Occasionally, she wishes she pulled the trigger on that man.

If she did, it's possible Kane would be completely different than the emotional constipated man he is. Maybe he wouldn't be so quick to kill, although she noticed being with Valli has been a good influence. She witnessed her nephew lightly scanning books, looking at the notes Valli makes and listening in on his boyfriends conversations with Addy. Sunny is glad Addy was around, getting information from a Witch was new for Kane and she definitely assisted in chipping at his fathers training.

Kane aside for a moment, Sunny will miss the Witch. They had gotten along like a house on fire, and she could see them getting into a different type of relationship if she squinted. The woman was attractive, the Huntress is woman enough to admit it. She'd have tried her luck if Addy was interested, and by certain interactions, it appeared she was. It doesn't matter now, she's gone. As the Witch predicted. In the Void, the women talked. Addy told Sunny she may not make it, and while the men were rested on the ground quietly during a break, the women had quietly said their goodbyes to each other.

As it always will be, Addy's first priority was Valli. A wet, hazel gaze peeks over at a despairing Valli out of the corner of the Huntress's eyes and she makes the promise once again in her mind. I'll take care of him for you, Witch.

Afterall, she had lost more than enough people throughout her life and taken care of Kane. Valli doesn't need her to do anything besides be a comforting shoulder to cry on, and she's more than happy to provide that. In her mind, she had automatically adopted him into her family the moment Addy requested the Huntress stay close and watch over him.

Together, they will take care of Kane and together they'll handle Addy's funeral. Then, they'll continue as every other family does – move on as best as they can.

"Kane is gonna scold you for pouting over him, ya know?" She jokes lightly, smirking as Valli nods with a small, genuine smile.

"He'll forgive me, I think."

"Ahh, course he will. He can't stay upset with you, you're too sweet on him."