It was a lesson in futility and frustration.
The void was growing. It was a monster, threatening to devour her completely. It would be the end of her, of that, she was certain.
Part of River—a dark part that was getting louder with each passing minute—didn’t care if the void consumed her. Maybe giving in to the emptiness would be better.
It would definitely be easier.
If it wasn’t for the voice and the way its low rumble spoke to the very essence of River’s being, she wasn’t sure that she’d care if she got lost in this dark, empty place.
But the voice did not abandon her. It kept talking to her, urging her to come back. Each syllable tugged on her soul, urging her to anchor herself to it.
It was because of that voice and the tiny embers of warmth that sparked low inside her every time this mysterious person called her “Princess,” that River fought. She grappled with the blanket pushing her down, wrestling with the darkness and trying to get back to herself.
River vowed never to give up, because if that voice needed her, then maybe she might need them, too.
“You needto come back to me.” The agonized words were a hoarse whisper, overflowing with a pain that River didn’t quite understand but recognized all too well.
It was the same one that was ripping her apart from the inside out.
River hated that the voice was hurting, hated that she was causing their pain.
I’m trying, she attempted to say. To scream,I want to come back, too.
The darkness was looming, the same as before, but something had changed. It was different, now. More ominous. Heavier. Something inside her knew that if she let the darkness take her again, it would be for the last time.
The emptiness had been steadily creeping through her, barely leaving anything untouched. She was River, but not, and she knew this had to come to an end.
She still had no recollection of what had happened to her, no idea how she’d gotten to this place or how she could leave, only that she was trapped in her own body.
Help me, she attempted to say.Get me out of here.
Her memories were fragmented pieces floating through her mind, but even so, she knew she’d never experienced anything like this before.
As if the voice had heard her unspoken plea, fingers brushed River’s cheek. The gentle touch verged on reverent, and, gods help her, River wanted to lean in to it so damned badly. The fingers traveled across River’s face, brushing the corner of her lips oh so lightly, then down her chin, her neck, her arm.
They laced through her fingers, clinging to her.
As if this person, whoever they were, felt like she was an indispensable part of their life. As if they needed her as much as she needed them.
“Please,” the voice said roughly.
Open your eyes!River screamed at herself.
They did not obey her commands. When she asked her fingers to move, they ignored her, as well.
Nothing was working.
Nothing.
Despair was sweeping through River, filling the vast void inside her. She didn’t know how much time had passed while she’d been in this strange space, but it felt like forever.
Her mind was moving sluggishly. She was hot and cold at the same time. Everything inside her feltwrong.
“The doctors said that if you don’t wake soon, you probably won’t.” The voice cracked on the last word, and something inside River ached at the sound. “And that… that can’t happen. You have to fucking wake up, because I need you. I can’t do this without you.”
The tone of his voice, the desperation woven into his words, pulled at River’s heart. She knew, deep down inside, that she needed this person, too.
Lips brushed her cheek. Ghosted it, really. The touch was barely there, yet it reverberated through her. “Please.”