#falcondectective

It was dark for a long time. Dark and quiet. Peaceful. But lonely, so lonely. She wondered, wondered why she was encased in this never-ending darkness, so different from the darkness of her blindness. What had happened?

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It was all blur. They had found her. The murderer. A desperate woman who wouldn't come quietly, who wasn't about to let them leave alive. A gun, a gun pointed at Saguru. Who looked shocked, but stood there. Was it the shock, why wasn't he moving?! A click. No time to waste. She shoved Saguru over, out of the way.

BANG!

Pain. No, agony. It felt like something exploded inside as the bullet tore through her, through her skin and muscles, through ribs, through her lung, past her heart, coming to a stop in her back. It burned, oh God make it stop! Please, make it stop!

Then he was beside her, pressing something into her wound as her head swam with pain. It took everything she had to look over at him.

"Sa...Saguru-san."

Sirens, people yelling, the inside of the ambulance  Everything blurred together, she was so tired. She looked over at Saguru, holding his hand weakly, blood everywhere. Her blood. She should apologize....but everything was getting so warm and dark. So sleepy....

"I promise you it will all be fine. You have nothing to fear Shizuka-kun.”

The last words she heard as the darkness overcame her.

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Saguru. She wanted him. Wanted to let him know it was ok. To apologize. She couldn't let this darkness overcome her, she couldn't succumb.

With a monumental effort, Shizuka forced herself to open her eyes, wincing as light blinded her briefly, forcing them shut again. But she tried again, and kept trying until they she was able to keep them open. She was in a hospital room. She'd survived.

Though it took almost all of her energy, she managed to turn her head, only then realizing that the was some kind of tube in her throat, and after a brief moment of searching, there he was.

Her hand came out to gently touch one of his, which was cradling his head. He jumped, face coming up from his hands, staring at her.

Saguru was...crying.

"Shizuka-kun....you..."

'I'm alive Saguru, I'm here! It's ok!' she tried to tell him, but the ventilator put paid to that. Not that it mattered. He reached over, one of his hands taking hers, the other resting on her head, lightly stoking her hair.

"I don't believe...you came back...you-!" his voice broke, tears spilling from his eyes. Shizuka gently pulled her hand from his grasp, reaching up to shakily try and brush away his tears. It didn't work, but Saguru didn't seem to care. He simply brought his hand back to hers and pressed it against his face for a moment or two, before gently pressing a kiss to her wrist, beneath all the bandaging and catheters.

"Shizuka....."

One Year Later

The wheelchair made a squeaking noise as it was pushed. Shizuka made a face. She was definitely going to mention that the next time she was at the hospital. It was bad enough being in a wheelchair, she didn't need a noisy one at that.

"We're here, Shizuka." was the soft murmur, a hand resting on her shoulder. Shizuka smiled and turned her head to see Saguru put on the chair's brake, then watched him cross to her side, their hands intertwining as they both gazed at the area quietly.

Here they were again. The place of that fateful shooting, one year to the day. The worst day of their lives.

Shizuka had survived the bullet meant for Saguru, but only just. The detectives initial deductions about her injuries had been correct. The bullet had broken through her ribs, punctured her left lung, just about missed her heart and grazed her spine before coming to a stop. It had been hours in the ER and Operating Room, with her heart stopping twice, before the doctors had been able to repair the damage done and remove the bullet. Endless blood bags to replace the blood she'd lost.

Then 5 days in a coma before waking up. Then came the most devastating news of all. The way the bullet had grazed her spine had damaged a number of crucial nerves in her back. Specifically, the ones controlling her lower limbs. Shizuka was paralyzed from the knee down, never to walk again.

Yet, though all that, through 6 weeks in hospital, through endless day of physical therapy and counselling, even in the face of her family's hostility towards him, Saguru had never left. He'd stayed with her, coaching her when she struggled to complete an exercise, talking to her sternly when she felt like giving into her despair, crying with her when the news of her paralysis was broken. Through everything, he had stuck with with her.

Shizuka was broken out of her musings as she felt the had in hers tremble. She looked over to see Saguru staring determinedly into the distance, trying to hide his emotions and his trembling. Gently she rested her other hand on his his stroking gently, trying to comfort him, sunlight glinting off the ring on her finger.

"Shhh, Saguru. It's over, that's in the past. We made it..."

"You made it, Shizuka. I just watched." was the soft reply as Saguru knelt to her level, breathing deeply to calm himself. After a moment he turned his face to her, smiling slightly.

"It's been one year....and we're still here...."

"..still surviving." she confirmed with a smile. "Still strong, in more ways than one."

Without another word, they met for a soft, lingering kiss, the world around them fading away as they lost themselves to each other, nothing else mattering in that particular moment.

They'd both survived the most traumatic year they'd ever experienced. Despite all the trial and tribulations, they'd made it.