- Isabelle Pov-

I sigh to myself as I keep inputting the controls on the Switch. A small smile comes to my face as I get to watch Zelda launch my opponent off the stage, and then the match ends. A small sigh comes to me as I stop the timer I had begun to see how long the match would take. Under a minute, and another JV3 for me. Not even this winning streak I'm on, which is my highest one yet can cheer me up from this problem, or short of that, it doesn't even manage to distract me long enough to keep my mind off of it. I go to start another match, and then I hear the Tetris theme from the counter, the ringtone to my scroll.

Sighing a little bit, I place my hands on the wheelchair, and begin to roll over to the counter to see who it is. It's not a number I recognize, not mom or dad, not anyone from my team, and not Kazumi, though if it was him, I would end the call. I grab the phone, and then look at the number, wondering who it could possibly me. Thinking about it for a little bit longer, I answer the call, and set the scroll down on the counter, putting it on speaker. " Hello," I ask, trying not to sound curt to whoever is on the other end.

I hear voices on the other end of the call trying to confirm that the call went through, since the connection in the house isn't the best. I wait for a little while, but nothing happens. When I reach down to end the call, a female voice cuts in clearly. " Hello? Is this Isabelle Nikos," she asks, clearly frantic and panicking. I confirm for her that it is, and then before I can ask anything else, she speaks right over me. " You're the emergency contact for Kazumi Sustrai correct?"

The headache I had been nursing all afternoon returns to me, worse than it ever had been before. I rub my temples and go silent for a moment, which prompts the voice to ask if I'm still there, and then it repeats the question. " I'm still here," I confirm with a sigh, which I try to keep her from hearing. " And yes, I am the emergency contact for Kazumi. Though, you can change that if you want. I'm done bailing him out of trouble."

" Ma'am, do you recognize this number," she asks me, and before I can answer, she takes my lack of a response to mean that I don't know who I'm speaking with, and like before, she keeps on speaking. " This is the Beacon Hospital wing. Kazumi was just admitted to us in critical condition. He might not make it through the night. He's asking specifically to see you, in case it's the last time." The woman says to me, and then I can't help but sigh a little. Of course he's in the hospital again.

" I'll be on my way," I tell her, and then she texts me the address to the hospital. I go through some closing pleasantries with her, and then I roll my eyes again and end the call. Putting my scroll away, I rub my head one more time, and I have to ask myself how I ended up in this situation, how I ended up, once again going to see Kazumi in the hospital, even when I told him I didn't care what happened to him anymore. Before I have too much time to think about it, I wheel into a bullhead, and wait for it to make it to my stop.

I've been to the hospital many times in my life. Of course I have, I'm a girl in a wheelchair trying to be a huntress. There have been countless injuries for me, and also just the routine checkups the doctors do, always with some new medicine they think will help me walk, and then it never does. Rinse and repeat. But, I don't think I had ever been to the hospital more than what I had started dating Kazumi, sometimes several times a week.

The first hospital visit I actually remember had been when I was about a year old. I don't remember all of the details, but I remember it being the first appointment which wasn't going to be for my spine, and I was excited to not be poked and prodded out. I had been so confused when I went into a room, and I saw my parents friend, Emerald, screaming and crying out in pain. A few hours after that started, they had a baby of their own, Kazumi, who ended up being my first...everything really. My first friend, boyfriend, fiance, husband, and on the track we were going on now....the first and worst mistake I had ever made.

He and I grew up together. His parents, Mercury and Emerald had been criminals who had managed to redeem themselves, but because of the trouble they had caused, a pair of huntsman had been tasked with watching them and keeping them out of trouble, and as luck would have it, those happened to be my parents, Tealle and Achilles Nikos. Before Kazumi had been born, our parents had become genuine friends with each other, and so Kazumi grew up right across the street from me. Things were different back then, simpler and better.

Growing up in a wheelchair, I had learned how to make things work for me. I had learned to make it in buildings which didn't have elevators or ramps. I had to learn how to make it through small spaces, how to get on and off the toilet, in and out of the shower. But the most important skills I had to learn were how to be comfortable with the wheelchair, and how to be someone strong, even in the wheelchair. I had to be more than an easy target for bullies, and for all the jerks in the world.

My parents helped me with the first. Seeing their unconditional love and support for me made everything easier. When the two of them used their words and were there for me, it felt like I could do anything I put my mind to, and they helped with so much. Even if I would never learn how to love the wheelchair, I learned to tolerate it, and to not fly off the handle when someone insulted me for it. And for the second thing, I taught myself. And in the times when I was still learning how to defend myself, I always had Kazumi there to do it for me.

Kazumi had always been strong, and he had always been a fighter. From a young age, he had taken many different martial arts classes, and he worked out everyday. He had a temper, but back then, he didn't start fights. He stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves, for those who had been dealt a bad hand for life. Before I could stand up to the bullies, it had always been him.

We became a couple after one of the times he had stood up for me. It had been in kindergarten. We had all gone to our nap time. Kazumi stayed close to me to help me out of the wheelchair, and also to help me back in when the nap was over. Some bullies had come and they had stolen and hid the wheelchair from me. Kazumi beat them all up, and returned the chair to me. We ended up cuddling after that, and soon after, when our parents had arrived and seen how cute we were, they presumed we were a couple. Both Kazumi and I had wanted to be for some time, and we jumped at the chance to be with each other.

Of course, I thought to myself as I wheeled off the bullhead and into the hospital. That had been a long time ago. That had been before Kazumi had gotten addicted to fighting, before he had become addicted to Nebula Gas, before that kind person I used to know became buried under someone cruel, someone who liked to hurt others. Someone who, with his words had hurt me. Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I wheel into the room where Kazumi is being held.

My eyes widen when I see the condition that he's in. His arms are shattered by his sides, his legs look bent, and his body is covered in wounds, and in burns. He has a breathing mask on, and he's hooked to numerous machines to monitor his vitals, all of which are weak and barely there. I glance over at one of the nurses, asking her with my eyes what could have happened. " We just found him like this, in the Emerald Forest. It's a miracle he's even alive."

Yes. It is. But it wasn't just one now, it was one when he took dose after dose of his drugs, or it had been one when in all the fights he picked, he didn't run into someone who would kill him. But, despite me thinking this, a sigh of relief escapes me that he's alive. Rolling my chair next to him, I watch as he opens his eyes slowly. His arm twitches and strains, and he reaches out and takes my hands into his broken ones. " Isabelle," he asks softly. " Is that you?" His eyes flutter open and shut several times, and despite everything, I can't help but worry for him. " I'm so sorry," he says weakly.

" For which part of it?" I ask, a little harsher than I mean to, and his face falls with anguish. Closing my eyes for a moment, I find myself blinking away tears that I didn't realize had been forming for sometime. I take a deep breath and try to compose myself, and then I nod. " Do you know how hard you make it to be with you sometimes? Between the money I'm always paying to help you make bail, the fact I don't know if we can have kids because of the drugs always in your system. The people who insult me for being with someone so violent. And yet....I light up inside when I get to call you mine."

Through the tears which have obscured my vision, I see Kazumi's shattered hand wrap around the life support cord. " I am so sorry Isabelle. That I couldn't have been someone better. Someone kinder. I'm sorry I can't be the partner, the husband who you deserve. Maybe the best thing I can do for you right now is go. Is that what you want?" He asks softly. I can tell by the look in his eye and the tone of his voice that if I tell him to, he'll pull the plug.

" No!" I find myself saying before I can think about it. Moving my wheelchair closer to his bed, I push myself onto the hospital bed, and then I lay next to him. Gently, I trace a scar on his chest from when he protected me from a Grimm horde. " I am proud to be your wife, despite it all," I tel him sincerely. A smile comes to his face when I say this, and then I hold his hand gently. " And I know you. I know you're a kind person. You just....need someone to bring out the best in you."

Kazumi squeezes my hand softly, and then looks at the roof. " I'm sorry. That I am the way I am. That I got addicted to drugs, that I fell in love with fighting." With shaking arms, he hands me his weapon, and my eyes widen when I see the section which was meant to give him drugs has been removed. " I went to the Forest after our fight. I was going to get rid of the drugs, and make things right. But so many Grimm kept coming, and coming, and there were just too many."

The fight. That stupid fight we had. It seems like it had been so long ago, and not just a couple hours ago. I barely remember what it was about. Someone had insulted me. Kazumi put them through a wall. We got home, and then fought. Past a certain point, we were just saying things to hurt each other's feelings. He had called me a coward, which is when I said I didn't care what happened to him.

" Kazumi, do you remember when we were kids?" I ask him, and he nods. Of course he does, how could either of us forget. " I remember when we did fight and argue. It lasted for a few moments, and then we would cry, and then we would make up. Things were easier back then. I loved you, and you loved me, and that was all we needed." I say, and then he nods. We go silent for a moment, and then I look at him. " And I can tell you love me. I feel loved when I'm with you, and I love you too. But that's not enough to sustain us anymore. I need you to promise me something." He looks at me, desperate to have me stay by his side. " Promise me you won't pick fights anymore, and you won't do that awful drug anymore."

He cries softly, and with a shaking arm, he brushes some tears from my eyes. " I've been trying to quit for two months now," he admits softly, trying to keep his voice from breaking. " But I never could. But, Isabelle...I promise that I'm going to be better. I'm gonna be a better person, a better man, and a better husband. Just....don't leave me. Please? I can't breathe right, and the machines....and the needles, and I'm scared."

For the first time in my life, I watch Kazumi break into tears. From fear of being in the hospital, anger at himself for how things happened, and also a sadness. Smiling softly, I wrap my arms around him, and gently pull him close, not trying to hurt him, but wanting him to feel my presence. " I'm not gonna leave you Kazumi. I don't want to lose you. But I'm so scared. Scared you're going to die. Scared you're going to hurt me. Scared of the defects our kids might have. But, I promise that if you try, we can work all of this out."

Kazumi nods softly, and then snuggles into me. I can feel him falling asleep, shifting in and out of consciousness, but fighting to keep a hold on it. " Isabelle? I want you to know that I never stopped loving you. I know I changed, and a lot of it was for the worst," he sobs out. " But I never stopped loving you, and I never can."

Gently, I plant a kiss on his forehead, and I begin to gently stroke his hair. " I never stopped loving you either Kazumi. You changed, but I always knew that your wonderful heart was somewhere in there. Why do you think I stayed," I ask softly, and then he nods in understanding. I think for a moment, and then look at him. " Do you want to know how many ways I can say ' I love you?'" Kazumi nods, curiosity overriding his fear for a moment. Nodding, I begin to tell him that I love him in every way that I can, using different words, phrases and languages, until I've said it in 312 different ways.

He closes his eyes, and then lays down gently again, and he looks over at me. " I never deserved you Isabelle," he says softly, and I want to protest, but he cuts me off before I have the chance to say anything.  " But you always stayed. Please don't leave me....I can't do this without you. I need you." He pleads, still scared he'll wake up and I'm going to be gone. I gently kiss his forehead.

" Never. I'm always going to be here for you," I promise him, and then he nods and falls asleep. It's only then that I realize how tired I am too. Laying down next to him, I cradle him protectively, and pepper him with some soft and comforting kisses, until I find myself drifting off to sleep, and despite everything which has happened today, a small smile is on my face. The man I love still exists, and I'm never going to give up on him.

-Epilogue-

I smile to myself as I wait for Kazumi to catch up with me. After a few months in the hospital, he's being released today. Right now, he's in a wheelchair due to his muscles getting weaker during their inactivity. Still, he laughs and smiles as he manages to get caught up with me, and then I manage to laugh as well. " Isabelle? Thank you," he says gently, and then I hold his hand and squeeze it. " I never would have been able to get off the drug, had it not been for you."

" Speaking of drugs, I think it's time for you love," I tell him, and then his eyes perk up happily. Smiling, I pull him closer to me, and then I begin to pepper him in kisses all over, gentle and soft kisses. When he was quitting the Nebula Gas, he and I agreed that, cheesy as it was, my love was going to be his new drug.

Kazumi smiles and laughs, and then he begins to wheel off, and then he spins to look at me. " Race you to our home!" He says playfully, and then he begins to wheel off to make it to our house first. A chuckle escapes my lips, and then I begin to move my wheelchair after him, not wanting to lose.

As the two of us make it home, and onto our bed, we flop down, beyond exhausted. The two of us touch foreheads with each other, and then I smile brightly, seeing how much happier, how much healthier Kazumi has been ever since he got off the drug.

Not dwelling on that for too much longer, I rest my head on his chest, a happy smile. It warms my heart, as it always will to know that it wasn't too late for me and the one I loved to be with each other, that the person I fell in love with wasn't gone. That the man I love is safe. And for me, that's always enough. " I love you so much Kazumi."

" I love you too Isabelle," he says with a bright smile, as the two of us snuggle into each other.

( Let me know what you thought. Kazumi is my OC, and Isabelle belongs to @DrakeWings. He's a great friend, and a great writer and roleplayer, so be sure to check him out if you can.)