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Must have been the six millionth and one time he’s seeing them, half of those millions he’s the one lighting them, and a fraction of those numbers would occasionally earn him a trip to the freezer for some ice cubes to treat some smoke-barbecued boo-boos.

Regardless, give it another six million and one, millions more first-degree burns, once they go whistling and crackling in the sky like stars exploding, they’d still be just as pretty.

After all, true beauty never really fades away, does it? They’re like breasts, in a way. Always glorious, dopamine uproarious.

They’ve been blasting off for quite a while now. He had taken a quick stroll across the first floor, had a brief scuffle with a scamming vending machine that refuse to give up the goods, went on an entire selfie streak session with a bunch of fans down over at the other wards, and by the time the elevator ding-ed him back to his floor – a slightly disgruntled nurse escorted him back to his room in tow – bright festive lights were still painting the crumpled white sheets of his empty hospital bed in a disco floor of colors from a fogged window draped wide open.

A six millionth and two familiar view, and it just never gets old.

“One more night, a few more checkups, and you’ll be out here by tomorrow afternoon,” the kindly nurse reminded him not so kindly. “In the meantime, bed – or I’ll have you strap to it.”

“Kinky, bro,” He chuckled, but sadly his ribs weren’t capable of finding the humor in it and cut his laugh short with a painful wince. “But, mmm, yeah… I get you, I hear you… it’s light out for me for the night, promise.”

And he made good on his word immediately, waddling himself into bed as the nurse left the room.

.....

Warm blanket, comfy pillows, and his sore bruises appeased, for a moment, he wondered why the hell he even decided to leave this little oasis of paradise in the first place, and just as a momentarily, the answer came to him in the drab yellow of fluorescent light and the shabby pastel colors that made up his little piece of heaven.

Because it was boring as fuck.

Sure, Billy did come by earlier today with a replacement for his shattered-to-shit phone, but you can only double-check your channel dashboard so many times, scroll through all your homies’ feeds of them having a good time, and watch stupid random videos about the heat death of the universe before you start thinking that maybe your aching bruises ain’t really as bad as you remember and you’re just being a total pussy.

And if one thing was true, then it was that Tyler Leaden was no pussy. But, well… maybe just one more video would be alright for now. Dark matter be looking sick as fuck on that thumbnail.

Woosh! Swish! Bam! Bam! Bam! Over and over again on an endless volley outside like some sweaty battle royale lobby the game’s busted-ass matchmaking had placed him in. The flash of fireworks might always be an awesome sight to see, but sometimes they weren’t as nice to hear… especially when you’re trying to fall asleep to the comforting narration of quantum mechanics.

Giving up on slumber for the time being, Tyler resigned himself to watching the light show of the skies go through the rest of its course. Every fleeting illumination, every shade of color his room would shift into offered him a clearer glimpse of the total emptiness that surrounded him. Every bombastic explosion echoing the silence that accompanied him.

No, wait, now he remembered why he actually left his room in the first place.

Comfy and snug as heaven was, it was also kinda lonely…

As he thought this, Tyler’s eyes fell to the armchair that had been scooched and dragged practically inches away from his bedside. Visiting privileges had already long expired, and so naturally the chair sat vacant beside him… but that doesn’t mean it was exactly empty.

A dazzling white seeped into his room, brightening some areas, darkening others… and drenched in the dim shadow of the chair, a small, white paper lay atop its leathery surface.

Her paper bag.

She brought it for him earlier in the afternoon. Making it twice now that she had completely taken him by surprise… and what’s more with a gift, with a meal… filled with her sympathies and best wishes.

“I’ve gotten much better since the last time,” She had heartily reassured him after they both exchanged a knowing look. “Not burnt, not doughy, can barely even taste any salt too. I hope anyway,” He saw her flash a brief smile, and simultaneously it felt the first and the millionth time he had seen that smirk. “Enjoy it, alright? Merry Christmas, Tyler.”

Before she got up and left to continue going about with the rest of her day, she plopped the bag, wafting with the wispy white swirls of something warm and sweet, onto her spot on the chair… where it definitely had turned as stale as cardboard remaining untouched throughout the day.

Ain’t that hungry – he told himself. An excuse that gradually transformed into a lie as the day bled into the dark of night, and now deep into the late P.Ms… he has finally reached a turning point.

Tyler’s stomach began to growl.

Now hospital food wasn’t exactly five-star dining. Once he ate some rotten spoils in a food challenge video that had more flavor than the shit they serve here.

He could try for a pizza, but something told him that the nurse-man wouldn’t exactly appreciate some delivery guy waltzing up the reception with the classic cheese pepperoni combo. Yeah, probably best to not risk getting evicted here…

“Ah, fuck it…”

His instinct to survive ultimately won out, his empty gut practically whining as much as his ribs were. Swallowing a balloon of hesitation, he swiped the paper bag from its spot with a greedy rustle, poking shameless yet reluctant fingers inside and plucked out something dark and soft.

A brownie.

“Outgrown cookies, did ya…?” He muttered in silence before slowly bringing it close to his lips for a bite. For a moment, he let the chunk sit on his tongue, tasting it, savoring it… then slowly, he chewed and swallowed. “Still salty too. Much better, my ass.”

He stopped chewing and was surprised to feel a smile on his lips. Tyler promptly reached for another. A few moments after that, he took another from the pile.

Outside, the fireworks continue to soar and implode, drenching his room with the, assailing the quiet with the luster and glimmer of festivities… yet unlike before… taking a bite, and another more… heaven didn’t feel as lonely anymore.

A bright blue flared in the skies.

Tyler swallowed another piece.

And a voice began to speak.

“Who is she?”

“FUCKING JESUS, WHAT THE F—!” was not necessarily the correct answer to whatever the hell question that was, but in Tyler’s heart and mind, both of which were ripe to explode themselves, it sure as shit was the right response to give.

He whirled his panicked eyes towards the source of the voice, nearly snapping his neck turning to his right, and found that someone had now occupied the empty spot on the armchair.

A figure of darkness, a blackness, spilling over the leather surface. And he recognized it at once, almost like instinct – the way his heart skipped a beat, the spike of adrenaline surging through him, his breathing turning breathless, his voice going silent…

The figure on the chair calmly, coldly met with the shock in his eyes, and that was when he decided that he really wasn’t dreaming, or if the brownies were spiked with something nefarious.

This was real.

She was real.

“Amelia…”

He said it. She heard him. And as always a faint haughty scoff answered him right back. Music to his ears.

“That girl that visited you today,” Amelia spoke up again, like a dream, like a wish, made real. “Who is she?”