Marc was staring at the track field on the other side of the fence. Several students were training, running across the field, sprinting, almost as if flying inches above the ground. Marc wasn't moving.
He also once craved this feeling of freedom that came with the speed, zooming past his opponents, reaching the finish line before anyone else, and feeling free, complete once and for all. His hands were clamped to the wheels of his chair, preventing it from moving. His joints were white, the pressure of his grip stopping the blood from reaching his fingertips. He was envious, more than he ever thought he could be in his life. He didn't know how much time passed, maybe an hour ? Two ? He couldn't tell. All that he was sure of was that the sun was setting when he first heard her, this voice behind him:

- "What are you looking at ? You waiting for someone ?" He turned slowly, as fast as his wheelchair allowed him to and fell face to face with a girl. Her hand on her hips, she was gazing at him, sizing him from above. She looked like the kind of person that didn't let others tell her what to do, fierce, with a defiant look on her face, her pink hair contrasting with her pale skin. Marc wasn't really interested in conversation at the moment, so he went back to his observation session.
- "No, I'm just observing, taking some fresh air", he rotated back to the iron grid separating him from the field.
- "Hmm, you have a sad look on your face for someone just observing.", she sat on a bench close to him, not intending to move from here in the short future it seemed. Now she was starting to piss him off, he was already frustrated enough by the situation that he didn't need a reminder.
- "Maybe, but I don't think it has anything to do with you.". He wanted to go back to his thoughts, and she wasn't letting him
- "Come on, you can tell me, I promise you I have the time, I don't have much to do these days anyway. Plus it's not the first time I see you here and I'm beginning to grow curious". Marc sighed, he didn't want to be bothered at the time, it had only been a few days since he finally got to leave the hospital and gain a little more freedom, he didn't want his freedom to be shattered by a stranger, so may as well give her what she wants.
- "I used to run before. I was ... pretty good actually, the best on my university team" He took a deep breath before resuming. "And just when I finally felt that I had found my purpose in life I got into an accident, and it stripped away from me the thing I truly liked doing. I'm just sulking that's all, and being here in my thoughts allows me to take a bit of distance" She was still sitting close to him, leaning closer to where he was. He continued talking.
- "The worst thing about all this is that I wasn't even responsible for the accident, a truck just decided to run a red light while I was on bike. If I was recklessly driving I could at least tell myself that I deserved it but no, the only thing I can think of right now is how unfair all of this is"
- "Well, life's not fair, I think it's better to think this than to resent your actions for the rest of your life" He looked at her, a bit pissed, "You have quite insensitive stuff to say for someone that said she was curious about me"
- "I don't think it's insensitive, just realistic." She slapped her hands on her thighs before bolting upwards, standing on her feet while looking at Marc with a smile. "Wanna go for a walk ?"
- "Now you're just mocking me."
- "No, I'll walk you don't worry".
- "I'm not sure I feel very comfortable with a stranger pushing my wheelchair, but I can follow you on your walk, I'm not that immobile". He pushed on his arms, turning his wheelchair towards the sidewalk.
- "Oh sorry, I just thought since you didn't move at all for the last hours". She grinned from ear to ear while happily passing him before turning around and waiting for him. Now she was purely trying to tease him. But he didn't really have anything better to do either, so he caught up to her.
- "Why are you acting like this towards me ?"
- "What do you mean ?"
- "I mean talking to me, what led to you deciding to speak to me ?"
- "As I said before, you looked sad"
- "And so you talk to every sad person you encounter in your life ? Looks time consuming if you asked me."
- "Well, not every single person, but you really looked like some company could help you. And I've seen you sulking here on my daily walks everyday for almost a week now, I won't let you ruin my evening walks with you gloomy mood longer than this." Well, she was right, but still, she could have maybe phrased it better. Ruin her walk ? It wasn't that good of a walk if a single stranger with a sad look could ruin it. He decided to overlook this and resumed the conversation.
- "You daily walks ? Do you live close to here ?"
- "Well, not always. But these last few months yes", she answered after a bit of pondering.
- "Oh, school ?"
- "Hmm, sort of, my parents don't live around here but I'm starting to know the place quite well so I don't mind it". Human interaction felt oddly good. Marc hadn't been able to talk to friends or family for quite a time now.
- "Hmm, anything to do around here then ? I am starting to get bored of the hospital if I must be honest"
- "Yeah, understandable. Well, apart from, you know, sports, I think there's a mall close to here, there's a karaoke and a movie theater there. And an arcade cafe." She was still teasing him, but he was starting to get the hang of it
- "Why are you doing this ?"
- "Talking to you ? I already answered."
- "No, teasing me."
- "Well, you're easy to tease, and it does brighten your mood doesn't it ?" She was right, frustratingly right, he didn't think about the accident even once since talking to her. He who had been sulking about it for eons all by himself, finally having his mind free to think about other things felt refreshing.
- "Yeah, it does. It's soothing sort of."
- "You're welcome" He didn't see her face right now but he could only imagine what her grin. He looked at the sky, the sun had already set for a few minutes now, and he had a curfew he had to respect.
- "It's getting dark I need to go back."
- "Yeah, me too, I don't wanna sleep too late". Marc looked at her, her face dimmed by the neon lights of the night scenery, she looked stunning, like a flame burning in the night sky, warming the ones that felt her presence.
- "Would you like to maybe, meet up again sometimes ?" She looked at him with a smile.
- "Of course, I'll give you my contact if you want, but I'll probably see you around if you keep coming near this place". He smiled at her, it had been a while since he felt reassured by the simple presence of someone.
- "Then I'll see you around. It was nice talking to you"
- "The pleasure is mine." After exchanging phone numbers, he looked at her, sluggishly walking away, her pink hair was floating in the wind. He slowly turned away before making his way towards the hospital. His days did not consist of much to be honest at this point. Mainly checkups to ensure that the accident didn't leave sequels harder to detect than the loss of his legs, exercises to train the upper half of the body, and rest, a lot of rest. The doctors were quite adamant on this last point, mainly citing the recent operations he had been through. Upon finishing his obligations, Marc lied in his bed, staring at the ceiling, picturing the woman he met just today. He forgot to ask her her name. Closing his eyes, he slowly drifted away, engulfing in his dreams.

Marc woke up the next morning. This day didn't feel much different from the day before, checkups, questions, the usual. But he finally had something to look forward to at the end of the day. The different tasks at hand felt lighter, simpler, faster, and before he knew it, it was already time for him to take his usual stroll. In a record time, he arrived at the place where he encountered the girl the day before. Marc whipped out his phone and sent a quick message, ""Just arrived on the path of you daily walk, waiting for you"". It wasn't long before he received an answer. ""Comiiiing :)"" He sat there, smiling back at the emoji on his screen before, after only a few minutes, he heard a voice behind him, the same voice that interrupted him yesterday and stopped him in his thoughts, but a voice that he was waiting for:

- "Waiting for someone ?"
He rotated his wheelchair around, facing the girl with pink hair.
- "You know damn well the answer to your question."
- "Hmmm maybe"
He looked at her, squinting his eyes, he could see her teasing smile, this god forsaken smile that he saw again and again each time she was trying to poke fun at him.
- "You're just trying to make me say it aren't you ?"
Her smile widened, of course it was what she wanted. Marc sighed.
- "I was waiting for you, happy now ?"
- "Yes, perfect", she let out a chuckle, still smiling at him.
Marc smiled back, he was growing fond of this habit of her to always try to one up him, like if she was toying with him, in a playful, friendly way. It felt... warm.
Before she could try to tease him more, he gripped his wheels with his hand, beginning to continue forward on the path.
- "So, what do you want to do today ? Just stroll around like yesterday ?"
- "Well, we have more time than yesterday so I was thinking about going to the mall. If it's okay with you of course."
Marc looked at her, an hint of surprise on his face. Was this a date ? He couldn't tell.
- "Yeah sure, anything in mind specifically ?"
- "Yep, the arcade room, always wanted to go there"
Marc looked at her, she had a fierce look on her face, the look of someone that wanted to win no matter the cost.
- "Haha ok, but go easy on me, you wouldn't want to bully a handicapped person would you ?"
- "Oh, so now you handicap also affects your arms ?"
- "No, but I suck at arcade games and I need an excuse as to why I will lose all the games"
- "Ahah, fair enough, let's go then"
Marc followed her, the journey to the mall wasn't really long, approximately 10 minutes going at a slow pace. On their way to the mall, the two of them talked, in a lengthy manner, about all the videogames they used to play before, and all the video games they couldn't finish due to a lack of time. First game of the evening, Marc was focused, more focused than he had been in months. He knew damn well that if he let her beat him, she would tease him until the end of times, he couldn't afford that. They decided to go for a fighting game for now, a classical Street Fighter. He played the game a bit with his father when he was still young so he was pretty confident in his abilities. The game started, the tension escalated, he gripped the controls harder. And then it happened, she hit him once, a simple aerial kick, fast, followed by a punch, a kick, a special move. Marc tried mashing the inputs to get out of the combo, nothing changed. He stared at the screen in disbelief when the words finally appeared: PERFECT. He hadn't hit her, not even once.
- "You're sure you're new to this ?"
- "No, but I never said I was new"
- "You told me you never went to an arcade room"
- "Nope, I just said I wanted to go to this one since I've never been in this mall".
She was looking at him with a grin, clearly teasing him once again.
- "I'll get my revenge someday, beware"
- "Not with this level of skill you won't"
He looked at her with squinted eyes, a fake anger on his face. She stared back with the same defiant look she always had. And then, they burst out laughing, the kinds of laugh that stop only to start again louder, that leave you with a sore throat. The kind of laugh that are caused by something not even particularly funny at first, but that leave the most vivid memories in the minds of any that experience them. And they laughed, people stared at them, yet they continued laughing. Time passed yet they continued laughing.
After a few minutes, Marc finally dried his tears, caught his breath, and looked up at the girl he was with. She was radiant, truly. Her perfect pink hair cascading on her shoulders, her eyes, laughing were of a deep and intense green unlike any he had seen before. And her smile, oh her smile. It was warming his heart more effectively than any other things in the world. Minutes passed, she progressively stopped laughing before wiping her tears and looking at him.
- "Watcha staring at ?"
- "Oh sorry, I was just observing you". Marc panicked, he hadn't realized she was aware of his gaze
- "Why ? Do I have something on my face". She tilted her heads towards him. Now he was getting anxious, he didn't know how to get away from this situation.
- "No, absolutely not. It's just that ..." Marc paused, he had only known her for a day now, and didn't really want to pass as weird. Muttering his courage he resumed, "I just thought you were cute that's all".
She froze for a bit, still staring at him, a hint of surprise on her face, that slowly turned into amusement, then back to her usual teasing self.
- "Awwwww, say that again, you're cute when you blush"
Marc was red, his ears burning, his chest tight. Definitely not, he could absolutely not tell it again, else he might pass away. He turned away as quickly as he could, hiding his face from her dangerous eyes.
- "Let's play something else, You're annoyingly better than me at this"
- "Running away huh ? Well whatever, I still got to see your shy side so I consider it a win". The girl followed after him, happily hopping from one leg to another
She was frustrating, beating him down with words yet too cute for him to try to fight back. So he gave up. Going from arcade games to arcade games with her, being teased at each defeat and complimented in a teasing way at each victory. He could not escape her grasp, even if he wanted to.
Marc was having fun, truly, for the first time in weeks he wasn't buried in his thoughts, unable to let go of the accident, he felt free, liberated. An hour passed, two maybe. And then came the time of the curfew. The two of them silently left the arcade, saddened by the reality that it was already over.
Marc was adapting smoothly to his wheelchair now, bumping into less stuff, beginning to grow more aware of his surroundings as the people around him passed, sometimes cutting his road, every so often purely smashing his chair when they didn't see him, occasionally followed by a quick apology, most of the time not. Stairs were still a nightmare, but the mall was equipped with elevators so, apart from the waiting time, he didn't have much to complain about.
However, the soreness in his arms quickly made navigating the mall harder and harder for him, he began slowing down, sometimes failing to stop before hitting things. After a few such occurrences, Marc stopped, visibly pissed by the situation, if he could walk he would have already reached the elevators at this point, but they were still so far away.
- "Want me to push you ?" The girl behind him smiled softly at him, offering him an hand. He wanted to tell her no, showing that he could take care of himself, but he couldn't.
- "Yes, please"
She passed behind him, gently putting her hand on the handles of his wheelchair, he loosened his grip on the wheels. And they began moving forward, in silence. She was surprisingly gentle, smoothing down every turn, dodging things without braking suddenly. And in what seemed like an instant, they were already out of the mall, on the sidewalks.
- "This was harder than what I expected". He heard her chuckle softly behind him. He turned around, she seemed tired, putting more weight on the handles, with small eyes, that were still as smiling as always but in a more subtle way.
- "You don't need to continue, my arms have mostly recovered, and we're out of the mall now". He didn't want her to continue tiring herself out only because he was unable to move on his own, he felt pathetic for it.
- "No it's okay really. I can rest a bit on the handles so it's fine.". Marc acquiesced, focusing back on the road in front of him.
He looked back on the day and realized how much he had missed these kinds of day, where he would goof with his friends, laugh together and play together. Muttering his courage, he took a deep breath before saying.
- "Thanks for today"
She did not respond immediately, scaring him that he embarrassed her for a bit.
- "Thank you too, it was fun" Her voice felt calm, sincere.
- "I never asked you your name", he maintained the tone, wanting to know more about her, about her hobbies, her habits, her flaws and aspirations.
- "Neither did I to be honest. I'm Lilith"
- "I'm Marc, it's nice to meet you Lilith". He turned his head around to look at her, she was still holding the handles, her head lowered more than usual.
- "Nice to meet you too Marc". She was smiling at him, her head inches to his, he could smell her perfume, a sweet scent of flowers, delicate yet strong.
- "Lilith, I really need you to be honest about something here". Marc continued in his path, the courage he muttered still vibrating in him, about to tell the thing that could very well be the biggest regret of his life
- "I'm listening"
- "Was this" he hesitated a bit, scared that he might make the mood weird before he launched himself head first into the subject. "Was this a date ?"
She looked at him, a smile slowly forming on her lips, her embarrassment showing on her rosy cheeks. And her eyes smiled at Marc, a look that could only mean one thing "I'm not going to answer that, but I think you already know". They slowly continued to stroll forward, in silence, quickly reaching the hospital.
- "Then I'll leave you here. It was a good day Lilith, really. I hope we can do that again sometimes".
- "It was a good day as well Marc, have a good night"
- "Have a good night"
Marc turned towards the hospital, his arms weren't sore now, he felt lighter than usual even. After a few meters he turned back to Lilith, still standing where she left him. He waved at her, happily, wave reciprocated in a heartbeat with a smile he could only imagine at this distance.
Life felt light, lighter than this morning, and definitely lighter than a few days before.
Laying in his bed Marc stared at the ceiling, smiling softly, thinking back upon the date he just had. He felt a warmth in his chest that he hadn't felt for a long time. He let this feeling swallow him, drifting away in his dreams. Dreams of many things. Dreams of Lilith among many other things.
- "I saw you in my dream the other night", Marc glanced at Lilith, trying to pass the ball through the net for the forth time without success. Her hair were tied in a ponytail, she was wearing a sports outfit, skin tight, showing her athletic body. She looked like a panther sort of, her slender yet muscular figure arched, ready to bounce. She was beautiful, in more ways than one. Hearing his words she stopped in her track, placing the ball under her arm and raising an eyebrow at him.
- "Perv"
- "What ? No no, that's not what I meant really. We were just running in a field nothing more", Marc clarified, flustered, he could have phrased that better.
- "Ahah, such pure dreams you have sleepyhead. Grab the ball you haven't shot since forever". She tossed the ball at him, her usual grin on her face. He felt like she already knew it wasn't a lewd dream, she was just wanting to fluster him. He grabbed the ball and aimed for the basket, perfectly scoring a 3 point from where he stood.
- "Ah, well the sleepyhead still has a better aim than you"
- "Don't celebrate too quickly she intercepted the ball before launching it back at him.
A second three point. Pure net.
She intercepted the ball again, staring at him.
- "How are you so good at this ?"
- "I played basketball for a few years before becoming a runner, it's kinda weird to do it in a wheelchair but the aiming is similar so I can do that with ease".
A flash of grief passed in his eyes, it was too quick for him to start mentioning these things casually. He still sometimes dreamt of the life he had before, hoping that everything was just a bad dream and nothing more.
- "Let's pause, I'm getting tired." Lilith walked towards a bench near the playing field, sitting down, her eyes lost in the void in front of her, pondering about something.
Marc followed her, putting his chair in front of her
- "You okay"
- "Yeah nothing, I was just ..." Lilith stopped in her phrase before closing her eyes and sighing. "I was just thinking about you"
Marc smiled
- "You flirt, I'm right here you know, no need to think about me"
- "No really Marc, I'm serious". She stared at him with a resigned expression. "It's just, I look at you talking about these things of your past with regret in your eyes. Talking about running in the fields with me and I just ..." She paused again before staring in his eyes. "I think it's unhealthy for you to let you disability dictate your entire life."
Marc stared at her, stunned.
Of course it was dictating his life. He lost his legs, he lost everything in this accident, everything that he liked doing, everything he was good at. Crushed. In an instant. He stared at her, furious.
- "And how do you expect me to behave exactly ? Act like everything is normal, like I didn't lose my legs ?"
Lilith sighed
- "That's not what I meant and you know it. It's just that you won't move forward if you spend your whole life gazing backwards at what could have been. You already lost your legs, no need to lose your future as well."
Marc gripped at his chair, the slowly built up frustration of his weeks in the hospital slowly resurfacing.
- "I already lost my future Lilith. Running was everything to me, and I lost it without having even a second word"
- "It was not everything, you still have things besides that, like basketball, you are a thousand times better than me"
- "I'm not good at basketball. And you could beat me with ease, I spent the whole hour just waiting for you to throw me the ball, I can't move, I can't run, I can't dribble for shit. I can just shoot, and I was mainly lucky for these two shots"
Lilith seemed nervous. Marc was visibly frustrated, angry at the situation.
- "I'm just trying to help. I can promise you that you have qualities beyond your ability to walk if not I wouldn't ..."
Marc didn't let her finish, he snapped
- "WELL YOU AREN'T HELPING. And you could never possibly help me, you have no idea what it's like to be disabled, no idea what it's like to have your life interrupted by something you couldn't control. You're just a selfish human being that took pity on me for being in a wheelchair and decided that she was going to help him so you could feel good about yourself. You aren't. Never"
Marc turned around storming away. Still steaming at her. What could she know about this all. She was a perfect 'quirky' white girl who could do everything she wanted in her life and probably never experienced any hardship. Reaching the sidewalk, he took a last glance at her. She was still sitting on the bench, not having moved from her spot. Her head was grasped between her hands, tears pouring down her face. Good. It's what she deserved, to be hurt by someone to finally realize how hard it was sometimes to not get things your way. He continued towards the hospital, ruminating.
A day passed, then two. Marc hadn't met Lilith during his daily walks. It was for the better he thought. He had already thought in his head of multiple things he could say if he ever met her again, to really make her understand that she went too far.
Three days passed, then four. Still no sign of Lilith. Marc wondered from time to time where she went. Maybe she was dodging him on purpose, maybe she stopped going for daily walks, he couldn't tell.
Five days passed, then six. Still nothing. He was slowly starting to realize that he may have been too harsh with her. She didn't mean anything bad, and she wasn't trying to hurt him. He, on the other hand, dedicated the entirety of his speech to the purpose of wounding her.
A week passed, still nothing.
Marc looked at his phone. His conversation with Lilith opened, scrolling up, looking at the messages they exchanged, her happiness when they were both available. He thought about her, her smile, her teasing, her eyes. And he sent her a text. A simple one "I'm sorry for talking to you that way. Could we meet again someday".
And he putted his phone away. For two minutes. Then opened it again, she hadn't seen the message yet. So he shut down his phone for good. Five minutes later she still hadn't seen it. Marc was nervous.
But a day passed, and she still hadn't seen it.

Marc wandered through the hospital, without really having a destination in mind. He had a lot of time at hand and didn't feel like going outside, afraid to approach the places he had spent time with Lilith.
Everything around him was silent, voices echoed in the distance, laughs, cries, coughs. Doors opened and closed, doctors hurrying, stressed.
He continued to move forward, endlessly, through corridors and halls, no one stopping him, no one noticing him.
Then he stopped. In front of a door. Something caught his attention though he couldn't really tell what.
A figure was sleeping on a bed, tube connected to her body. Her vitals were feable, regular yet slow. Marc sighed.
He glanced at the rest of the room. a small table was located in a corner of the room, a tray deposited on top of it. Personal stuff probably. Makeup, a purse, a phone. Some earrings and other jewelries.
And a wig.
Long.
Pink.
Marc stopped breathing.
For a moment, his mind blurred, the sounds of the hospital distorting in his mind, echoing while he was trying to connect the pieces.
But nothing made sense, he didn't want it to make sense.
His hands gripped the wheels of his chair, the world spinning around him.
"No"
"No, no, no."
The words barely left his lips.
He looked back at the figure on the bed. She looked pale, fraile. More fragile than he had ever seen her.
The room seemed to tilt.
Lilith.
A sharp pain traversed his chest, preventing him from breathing, his vision growing darker. He wanted to move, yet he couldn't, standing here, gasping for air.
Footsteps approached behind him.

- "What are you doing here ?" Marc didn't turn immediately, his eyes locked on her.
- "I .. I was just taking a stroll" His voice began faltering. "What happened to her ?" The doctor followed his gaze, then sighed quietly.
- "Are you family ?" Marc hesitated
- "A friend" Another pause.
- "Pancreatic cancer. We thought she was stabilized but she had a relapse just a few days ago.". A few days ago. Marc flinched. Hardly containing his tears, everything came crashing unto him. Her smile, her laughs, her teasing. The way she looked at him. The argument. Everything he said, everything he didn't mean. "We're preparing for surgery" The doctor resumed. "There's still a chance for her to heal if everything is successful." The doctor's expression shifted, from his regular stressed figure to a deeply empathetic look. "I'm sorry, for your friend. We will do everything in our power to bring her back" Marc excused himself, slowly going back to his room. His heart shattered in pieces. He hurt someone he loved deeply and that was the last memory this person will ever have of him. A person that hid her disease to help him find a purpose in his life. Because she knew that it was not a matter of who suffered the most, just a matter of living through one's hardships, no matter how small, and no matter how big. He couldn't find sleep that night, replaying the scene from a week before in his head, regretting his every words. Every words pronounced piercing his already wounded chest. His eyes were puffed, his throat sore from all the tears he shed. And yet the only thing that stared back at him during these emotions was his own self? A self that he didn't want to see at the moment. The next day, he went back to the room, Lilith was still laying down, peacefully, not moving. He met the doctor again. Her operation was scheduled for tomorrow, with an expert that came from overseas. Until then, he had no choice but to wait. Wait. The day of the operation came. Time stretching. Every single passing second felt like torture for him. The fear of being told something went wrong growing bigger and bigger as the time passed. Tension was palpable as the surgery continued for what felt like years. After an eternity the surgeon finally emerged from the operation room. He looked exhausted, black underlining his eyes. He approached Lilith's family, they talked, but Marc couldn't hear, as if his brain was refusing to receive any type of information. Lilith's mother, who had been crying for hours now stopped, drying her tears. Hope. The surgeon then quietly made his way towards Marc, pausing briefly in front of him before announcing.
- "Everything went smoothly". Every single emotions of the last day came crashing on Marc's shoulder, the stress, the anxiety, leaving his body. His shoulder collapsed from relief. Lilith was still pale, still frail. But her chances of healing weren't as slim as before. She wouldn't wake up for three days after this. Three days during which, every time he could, Marc was with her, waiting on the side of the bed, staring at her face, sobbing from time to time. When she woke up, Marc was still there, drowsing. He was the first to see her eyes open, the first to alert the doctors. They escorted him out of the room, making him wait for a time that felt like an eternity. After an hour, a nurse came looking for him.
- "She wants to see you, if you would like.". The nurse pointed at the inside of the room. Marc entered, stressed, his guilt forming a mass in his stomach that he could hardly ignore. Staring at her for a few seconds, he finally muttered the courage to speak.
- "I'm sorry". They both said at the same time. Marc stared at her. Lilith stared at him, each not daring to interrupt what would come after.
- "Oh go first" Marc mumbled
- "No you go" He took a big breath.
- "I'm sorry for saying these hurtful things to you. I didn't mean them, never will. I was just frustrated by the situation and you were right. About the fact that my disability doesn't define me." Lilith stared at him with teary eyes
- "And I'm sorry for not realizing what you were going through. I thought it was as simple as telling you but you are right, it takes time to heal, and move forward. I shouldn't have imposed this on you like this." Marc sighed of relief. He finally was able to tell her what he wanted to, after days of building up guilt and regret. And she accepted it, without anger, without hating him for what he did. He extended a hand towards her.
- "Let's be friends again ?" Lilith grunted, extending her own hand with great difficulty.
- "Yes, friends will do for now." The doctors behind him slowly escorted Marc out of the room. She needed rest, and a lot of check ups to ensure everything was right. Her recovery was scheduled to take a few months, if everything went smoothly. Marc promised to be here. Her room became their new meeting place, they talked, ate, played games together in the hospital filling the place with their laughter, but still making sure not to disturb. Months passed, Lilith started regaining colors, becoming less frail, her healing was going smoothly. Soon came the time where she was allowed to go out.

Marc was sit, in his chair, facing the track field where the sun was setting, injecting the sky with orange, with a slight hue of purple. Lilith was sitting next to him on the bench. His face lit by the evening sky, Marc turned towards Lilith.

- "You know, that day where I ... lashed out at you ?" Lilith let out a chuckle.
- "Ahah, hard to forget yes"
- "I'm sorry about it all really."
- "I know" Marc paused for a bit
- "Just before I snapped at you, you were saying something, what was it ?" He stared at her for a bit. Her face was lit by the orange sky, making her cheeks look redder than normally. She slowly turned his heads away from him before mumbling something.
- "Sorry I didn't hear you" She looked back at him, flustered, almost on the verge of collapsing.
- "I was saying that you have qualities beyond your ability to walk." She paused for a bit, Looking at him with eyes that hardly hid her stress. "otherwise I wouldn't love you." She snapped her head away from him.
- "Aaaah, you're pissing me off, forget it." Marc stared at her dumbfounded. He had been precedented. Love ? She loved him ? Him ?
- "No way in hell I'm forgetting that."
- "Stop, it's embarrassing, please forget what I just said" Marc extended an arm, grabbing her by the shoulder. He wouldn't let this opportunity slip, not once again.
- "I won't forget cause I love you too Lilith" Now it was her turn to freeze, to stare at him dumbfounded.
- "EEEH, really. You're not lying to me out of pity right now are you ?"
- "No, I really love you. I love your smile, your grin when you tease me. Your beautiful eyes. I love your ability to tell things where others would stay silent, your way of reassuring every single person around you. Everything, I love everything about you." Lilith continued glancing at him, her eyes becoming more and more teary as time passed. And then, she burst out laughing. A nervous laugh, that Marc quickly followed. After a few minutes Lilith calmed down before looking at him, shyly extending her hand.
- "Then can we hold hands ? As lovers ?" Marc took her delicate fingers between his, her touch was soft, delicate, but her grasp felt strong still, perfectly at her image.
- "Anytime you want." They both stared at the sun. The lives ahead of them were long. And the hardships numerous, more numerous than they could probably ever imagine. But it didn't matter. Cause they were together, and they knew that whatever the world threw at them, they would face it and overcome it. Not easily, probably not elegantly either, but they would. And that's all that mattered to them.