Lithuania x Belarus ~There's Always Tomorrow~ 1

~There’s Always Tomorrow~ 1

The air was still as death in the white room. There was little to no noise in the entire bulk of the chamber, and the bleached linen cloth smelled like the scent of death. Thank goodness Toris didn’t come to these places very often or his mind might have gone numb from all of the events going on in such a sterile place. He hated hospitals.

“We can now accept non-familial visitors,” a nurse said, her body carried by the clopping of hard, black flat-soled shoes. Toris was surprised they’d even allow her to wear something so distracting in a place where the mood was so heavy.

Regardless of whom he was listed under, Toris had always thought of himself as being part of Ivan’s long-lost direct family. He and the others had spent so much time living together that when the time came that they were free to go, he had found himself suddenly wondering what to do and where to go.

Either way, Toris wasn’t related to Ivan’s family by direct bloodline, and he was just fine with that because he was feeling something other than platonic affection for one of his old boss’ sisters.

-----

When Toris entered the patient’s room, the atmosphere was exactly the same as the hospital corridor but smaller and with the walls seeming to squeeze on his lungs in a suffocating chokehold.

As expected from the nurse’s explanation, Natalia was in critical condition. She had fallen under a comatose state. Toris had heard of such things happening in movies, but he had never expected to witness someone dear to him going through it in real life. Still, even as she slept in her rigid state, he found her to be as beautiful as ever.

“Oh, Natalia…” he breathed and knelt by her bedside.

The recollection of memories started to come back to him like an old photograph developing on film. Toris had first heard of Natalia’s situation through a phone call. Apparently, Ivan and Yekaterina were out of reach at the time, and being the oldest of the list of emergency contacts, he was the first one the emergency room had successfully contacted.

Toris didn’t believe it at first. He would have never imagined Natalia to get herself into any careless situations; she was more careful than that. Too bad the same couldn’t be said about who she chose to feel affection towards.

“It’s alright, Natalia,” he whispered to his beloved one. Even though she physically couldn’t hear him, he hoped that somewhere else, his voice could reach her spirit. “I’ll stay with you.”

And stay with her he did. Visitors were restricted to only spending a limited amount of time with the patients and especially those in a coma, but Toris visited whenever his schedule allowed him to. Yekaterina visited her sister a few times bringing her fresh blue cornflowers and reading to her like a mother to a sleeping child—one that wouldn’t wake. Even Eduard and Raivis had paid a visit after Toris had convinced them that, according to the doctor, she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. However, not once did Natalia’s brother come to the hospital.

“How could he?” he asked Yekaterina once when they had finished paying their most recent visit. “Natalia’s loved Ivan since I’ve known her. What kind of brother doesn’t even visit his own sister in the hospital?”

“I don’t know what’s going on in Ivan’s mind,” she admitted. “He’s always had some…issues…with our little sister.”

“What sort of issues would he have that he wouldn’t even visit her?” Toris asked, his blood starting to rise to his head. He found it absurd, almost inhumane. Then again, Ivan sometimes acted like he had emotionally and mentally cracked some time ago. Who was he to say what Ivan was doing—or in this case, what he wasn’t doing—was wrong?

“I can’t exactly say, but if I see him, I’ll talk to him.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate it.”

-----

Like the doctors, Toris had no idea when or if Natalia would wake up. As far as he knew, she could have remained a vegetable forever, a dreaming spirit trapped inside a physically impaired body. Even if she did awake, Toris was told that there were no guarantees that her memories would all be there. Her mobility would also be limited because parts of her body were permanently damaged from the accident.

There’s always hope, he thought. Nothing is impossible. People have woken up before. Natalia can wake up, too.

But…was that really what he wanted? If Natalia woke up with her memories in tact, what would she think of him? Would she still treat him as she did before? Before when she had treated him with such coldness and malice? Toris was completely aware of what Natalia felt about him and of her brother, but he didn’t need Eduard or Raivis reminding him.

Perhaps she will be able to realize that she deserves better, he assumed. It’s like a hopeless love triangle: Natalia loves Ivan, but Ivan couldn’t care less about her. And then there’s me…

These were all one-sided loves, but Toris thought that his feelings towards were considerably more logical than the ones Natalia had felt towards her brother; he didn’t love her in the eccentric way that he would hurt her. If anything, he just wanted to spend more time with her.

Well, he had that wish granted, but not in the way he would have liked. He wanted to see her smile. It was rare, but Natalia was very capable of making a lovely smile—when it was in front of her brother, at least. Or, heck, even seeing her eyes would be enough for him. He had always found something fascinating with those soft blue eyes of hers. They were the perfect shade of blue reminding him of the cornflowers Yekaterina so often placed by her bedside. He hoped that one day, he would be able to see them again however long that would be.

Someday, he thought. There’s always tomorrow to look forward to if not today, right?

It was better to keep himself thinking optimistically. He had spend far too long wallowing in his misery and misfortune to be dragging himself down again. This was a better way of thinking.

And it just so happened that this way of thinking paid off because one night way past visiting hours, Toris received a call from Yekaterina.

“Toris, come quick! It’s Natalia! She’s awake!”