Chiliad

/kil-ee-ad/

noun

a period of a thousand years

Melissa's POV

-----------------------

When I woke up, my eyes came in contact with the most beautiful set of blue eyes that I had ever seen. His blonde hair was quiffed as usual and his face seemed to have scruffy hair lightly dotting it as well as scratches that had yet to heal from the last raid. A sigh left my parted lips as I remembered the raid and what had happened after I was taken into surgery.

My eyes blinked open to find bright lights shining down on me and I squinted to make out what was happening. Pain radiated from my leg and I tried to move my hand to clutch it, to show the medical staff in the room where the pain was coming from; unfortunately, I couldn't as my arms and legs were strapped down to the table I was lying on currently.

My chin began to quiver in pain as I heard random mumbling about anesthesia and pain levels elevating. Of course my pain was elevating, who works on a person while they're awake.

"She's going into shock," one assistant called to the worker searching desperately for what I could only assume was anesthesia.

"I can't find the morphine or any of the anesthetics," the worker I had been staring at calls, her red hair making a large contrast to her now ashen skin tone as she continued to look for the medication, holding a saline bag in one hand while the other digs in the cabinet.

A blonde haired woman came over and pushed her out of her way, sweeping the cabinet one time with her eyes before grabbing something and an IV line before heading over to me. Her expert hands searched for a vein in my arm after she had wrapped the tourniquet around it.

I felt a slight pinch in my arm, nothing compared to the blood curling pain coming from my leg, but enough to know a needle was intruding my skin. She released the tourniquet, adding tape to the tube now in my skin as she injected anesthetics directly into my bloodstream before securing it to what I can only assume is a morphine drip.

My body began to feel weak as I slowly lulled off to sleep. The blonde woman stood straight in front of the red haired girl, who was shaking slightly in front of her, obvious scared.

"You are fired," the blonde spat.

"B-but...." the girl tried to explain, only a bit of color returning to her face.

"That girl could've died," the medical professional seemed to scream at her, without raising her voice at all. Her eyes narrowed at the trainee, who was still shaking and trying to find a way to save herself. "You panicked and if that happened again, who knows if the person would've lived. Leave."

Her voice was menacing as she pointed strictly at the door and sent her home. My vision started to fade as my eyes closed slowly, deep breaths coming from my mouth as I drifted into unconsciousness.

"Don't worry Melissa," the blonde said gently, petting my hair lightly from behind me. "We'll get you better and back in Luke's arms as soon as humanly possible," she joked with a light laugh. She doesn't seem to mind my lack of a laugh as she knew how drowsy I was.

Her voice silently commanded me to sleep, and that was when the world went black again, for the second time in the day.

That was a week ago, and the blonde had followed through with her promise, I was now in bed next to Luke, staring at him as his wide eyes did the same to me. The blue in his eyes was gentle, a large contrast to how his eyes had been the last time I had been injured; however, his beautiful orbs held the same adoration they had held when he had seen me in the hospital.

Luke's tall frame was the first thing that came into my view when the blonde haired woman left my room. His hair was no longer quiffed as it usually was, instead it was disheveled as if he had been pacing and running his hand through it several times. He still looked handsome though in his bloodied uniform that I knew had to be riddled with my blood.

I cringed at the realization of how much pain he must've went through, seeing me so helpless and not being able to do anything. He obviously didn't notice my cringe as his feet carried him over to me, his eyes containing nothing but happiness. His hands cradled my face as he slowly leaned down to meet my lips with his.

"Never scare me like that again," he said once our lips are parted from each others. His eyes held a type of fear I've seen before, just not in this intensity. Fear of losing me.

If only he knew the hole in my heart from putting him through this and forcing him to have to watch my unconscious body be wheeled into an operating room. No doubt was in my mind that he had fought tooth and nail to follow me inside, only to be stopped by the medical team.

"No promises," I lightly whispered to him, noticing the way his eyes lit up at my humor being in tact.

My lips met with his once again as my hands gripped onto his shirt tightly. His lips molded with mine willingly, but unwilling to push any further due to my condition. I sighed into his lips, content with the feeling of his lips pressed to mine, his heartbeat under my hand, and his cool lip ring against my lips, sending chills up and down my body.

"I can't believe I almost lost you," he said suddenly, his tough facade he always had on seeming to fall apart at the seams as his eyes stared into mine, holding nothing back.

I could usually read him like a book, but right now he seemed to be holding something from me that I couldn't distinguish. My mind made a mental note, but let it go back to it at some point. I was content to stay in his presence where my whole body could relax without the slightest hesitation.

Luke's eyes trailed up and down my face while his hands gripped my waist, pulling me in closer to him. "What were you thinking about?" he asked, my chest pressed against his while his lips came in contact with my neck, lightly placing open mouthed kisses wherever he chose.

"When I woke up last week, after the accident," I told him, knowing that this answer would only cause him to ask questions of the accident during the raid.

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you leave with the troops?" he asked persistently, eyes searching mine for any explanation he could find for my decision to stay back and get myself hurt. I had never given him a full account of the story, always excusing myself with a lie of tiredness, which he accepted every time with kindness.

"I tried, but he saw me and.....the look in his eyes scared me Luke," I confided in him. His eyes dimmed slightly at this revelation. "He was quicker than I was and he...." I paused trying to collect myself being taken back to the fight.

The persistent kicks being delivered to my ribs, the taunting way he walked around my body as I withered on the ground, making him feel superior as the happy glint in his eyes grew the more pain I showed I was in.

"He was trying to find out what we were after and where we were," I finally told him, noting the way his fist clenched at the information. "I didn't tell him anything, but...." my voice trailed off, not wanting to paint the image for Luke, knowing he would figure it out on his own.

"He tortured you?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly at the revelation. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing exactly what to call it.

"He didn't do anything to almost kill me or anything-"

I was cut off by Luke scoffing, followed by his deep voice rumbling, "Melissa, he shot you. If he would've shot two millimeters lower you would be in the morgue right now."

"Then it's a good thing he didn't, right?" I joked as he shook his head at me, my attempt to liven the mood obviously being a moot point for him.

"You are never going on another raid," he insisted tightly, holding my gaze and not faltering in the slightest.

My eyes widened at him as I glared back at him, hating his over-protectiveness, but knowing that at this point any sane person would agree with him. I shook my head slightly at him, my hands intertwining with his as I held them close to me, kissing his knuckles lightly.

"I'm fine; you're fine. We can do this," I told him lightly, my eyes holding his gaze.

His strong exterior faltered slightly. "Do you know how hard that was to watch Melissa? You were so pale and all the blood...." His voice failed him fro a moment before he regained control over it. "I can't do that again. I can't watch you wheeled into an operating room again and being away from me."

I saw the tears well up in his eyes as he gazed at me for the first time with a vulnerable expression. My heart stopped for a moment as I realized the weight this attack probably had on him. More importantly, he would have to go back into the Central Office in a week to search for the Code since this past raid had been unsuccessful.

"I couldn't think of anything but Cecilia," he confided, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. My heart lurched forward at the mention of his younger sister. "You looked just like she did in that alley, except this time I couldn't even touch the person that did it."

My hands wandered up and down his arm, in a weak attempt to relax him and ease him into letting go of what he usually held inside to himself. The only thoughts running through my mind were of Luke's usual strong facade breaking in front of the medical team as he begged them to do more and to save me. I couldn't picture the horrific scene without tears forming in my mind.

"I thought I was going to be alone again," he finally released with a sigh.

My expression fell as my eyes widened at the revelation. He was connected to me now, not only because I was his girlfriend, but also in the same way he was connected to Cecilia. She was his world, and even though he was so young, he had known what unconditional love felt like because he loved that young girl with all of his being.

Suddenly, the light bulb went off in my mind. The gentle touches, the way his eyes glowed when he looked at me, the way he couldn't comprehend the thought of me not being around, his over-protectiveness, the way he had opened up to me more than anyone else before in his life.

He loved me.

Emotions blossomed inside of me as I felt like a flower blossoming in the spring. I had never felt this way in my life and I knew it was because of Luke that I felt this way.

My hands came up to cup his face, bringing his lips down to mine in a gentle kiss, taking him by surprise before he reciprocated, his hand on my hip pulling me closer while the other held my wrist, gently rubbing circles as he deepened the kiss. Our legs were intertwined under the covers as I felt heat overtake my body.

"I'll make you a deal, I won't go on the last raid since it's the most dangerous," I whispered against his lips once I broke the kiss.

"W-what?" he asks incredulously, confused by my sudden mood change toward the subject and obviously happy that I had given in to his idea.

"I..."my words faltered as I tried to explain how I had come to the decision. His eyes stayed trained on mine as my mind desperately searched for the words to say. "I know how you feel about losing people you care immensely about," I began, taking in his expression, "and I know how you feel about me."

His eyes widened slightly as mine remained trained on his, not flinching a bit.

"I don't want you to lose another person you love," I whispered simply to him.

His expression turned from shock to happiness to adoration in a mere second. "It doesn't scare you that I care about you the same way I cared for Cecilia?" he asked gently, moving a strand of hair away from my face.

"No," I whispered against his lips before his capture mine in a gentle, yet somehow deep and passionate, kiss that made my toes curl and my heart beat increase to a new rate I had never experienced.

"I love you," his deep voice mumbled into my lips as our mouths disconnected and our foreheads leaned against each others.

"And I love you," I breathed out before our lips connect again.

Edited: 14 January 2017