i wanna be your left hand man | riptide - vance joy | 12
"i love you, when you're singing that song and i've got a lump in my throat 'cause you're gonna sing the words wrong."
paul and emma, waking up for real.
this time, emma wakes slowly. this time, her first thought isn’t kai. it’s paul.
paul, who would’ve died first. who probably died worse. who might never have even had a chance to destroy the hivemind. the meteor.
take out the head, and the body dies with it. one of pauls coworkers said something like that. in her professors house. before everything went to total shit.
i love you,
then its kai. kai, who’s bent over the side of emmas hospital bed, snoring quietly. briefly, emma wonders if she’s died and gone to heaven.
then she figures thats the drugs in her system. she can feel the iv in her hand.
kai shifts towards her with a tiny grunt, then settles fully against the bed. the room is sterile looking and achingly empty.
when you’re singing that song, and,
she reaches her non-iv’d hand toward kai, and settles it in kais hair. it’s messily pulled back by a headband and a thin, plastic-looking hair tie. it’s barely hanging on around the mass of teal. she’s never figured kai would be the type to pull her hair back. must have been the medical staff, if there are any.
sleep comes easily. easier than it had in months.
..maybe its the meds.
paul comes to for the sixth time to kai’s voice, talking loudly to.. a boy? he can’t make out the other shape. his vision swims violently enough to make him mildly sick.
he must make a sound, because both kids are at his sides in seconds, saying his name in various levels of volume and panic. he can’t even see kai’s face clearly. something must be wrong with his eyes.
i’ve got a lump in my throat, ‘cause,
the boy, he’s never seen before. he’s much- much taller than kai, and much broader. he thinks the boy might be her age. he hopes so. if nothing else, she deserves a friend.
kai drops her head onto his chest with what he thinks might be a sob. if he could’ve moved faster to hold her, he would’ve. as it stands, he can only barely get his arms around her.
the boy chuckles, and runs his hands through kais hair. paul can’t make out his face, either. he doesn’t have much time to question what exactly the explosion did to him before he’s falling into darkness.
you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
it’s quiet. music-less and calm. it’s good sleep.