Cinder felt as if she were floating. In the distance, she imagined she could hear Tal Bachman singing.
"Coz she's so hiiiiigh, high above me, she's so lovely. 'Coz she's so hiiiiigh, like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc or Aphrodite..." The song in her mind trailed off, quickly being replaced by Skye's voice.
"Cinder, please come back. I love you, you're my sister. Please don't leave me. I need your help so bad and I can't live without my best friend." The sobbing brought Cinder back. Although Skye claimed she hadn't said a word, and Zac agreed, Cinder would always swear that she had heard Skye's thoughts as they sat in the cold, white, impersonal hospital room.
"Skye," she whispered, opening her eyes. "Skye, is that you?" The currently golden hair and grey-blue eyes of her best friend in the world filled her vision. "Please don't cry. I'm not going anywhere yet." Then her eyes closed and she drifted off, back into her own little world.
Ike stood, watching his brother and Skye, not sure who looked worse. Neither of them had left the hospital in the 24 hours Cinder had been there. They were too worried about Cinder. "And," Ike thought, "Tay can't even bother to show up and comfort his girlfriend when she needs him the most."
Zac hadn't showered since the morning before. He hadn't eaten in twice that long. He was living on coffee and jelly beans, which isn't healthy for anyone. His eyes were scratchy from all the crying and his nose was stuffy. He couldn't pick up a fork by himself and the whole world was spinning before him, but he refused to leave his girlfriend's side.
Skye's condition was just as bad, if not worse. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, not since they had found Cinder. All she had done was smoke cigarette after cigarette and pace the room. Now she no longer did even those small things. She was too weak from lack of nutrition and sleep to walk down to the smoking area, and standing up was an unbearable task. Tay was nowhere to be seen or heard, and her relationship with Ike was as uncomfortable as the hard plastic chair she sat on, yet he continued to sit a vigil with her and Zac, leaving occasionally for showers, food, and other necessities. He tried to forcefeed them both with no response. They were falling apart.
Beep beep beep beep beep! Skye opened her eyes with a start. "Where am I?" she groaned, sitting up. She looked at the shoulder her head had been on. "Ike?"
"Finally awake?" He looked calm but in his voice there was a nervous break. "My shoulder was beginning to falling asleep. But at least you got a little rest. Very little."
"Is she..." Skye's eyes drifted to Cinder's empty hospital bed, then to Zac's empty chair.
"No, she's awake," Ike answered. "The doctors said there will be scars from the razor and all, but physically she's fine, other than major blood loss. They gave her a transfusion. Mentally, there's a whole different story. They're keeping her in the psychiatric ward for awhile. Not sure how long though. Zac went to get a coke and she's getting some tests right now."
"Thank God she's alright," Skye breathed a sigh of relief. She leaned against Ike's chest, ignoring the chair's metal armrest digging into her side. She could do this without embarrassment. "Thank you, Ike."
"No," Ike whispered to her, "thank you."
