Ugh…..my head hurts……  It was the first thought that came to Kit's mind, when he gained consciousness. The constant pounding in his head, following his heartbeat, as if drained the life out of him. He wanted to go back to sleep, but falling asleep in these conditions seemed impossible. 

He noticed he was laying in a bed, and there was something attached to his forearm. He slowly opened his eyes, which was quite painful considering the unbelievable amount of eye crusties he had, and looked down. There was an IV drip connected to the arm, and a red liquid was pumping into his veins. …..is that….  

His head spun, and his head dropped onto the soft pillow. Where even am I? It was clear that he wasn’t in his apartment, or any familiar place for that matter. The wooden tiles on the ceiling were making this room have an ancient vibe, and everything just looked……old. 

…..shit. What am I supposed to do now?? 

After a few minutes, he was strong enough to sit up, and place the pillow behind his back. He looked for his phone, but nothing but the stuff from his pockets, aka spare change and a few old bus tickets, were all he found beside him, on the small table next to the head of the bed. 

What should I do…??  Just as he was considering leaving the room, it opened with a creak, diverting all his attention. 

“Oh, look who finally decided to wake up.”   A woman came into the room, and her heels were loudly knocking on the floor as she did so. She had a neutral expression on her face, but when she saw Kit returning her gaze, a smile appeared on her lips. 

Oh my god!! It’s- 

“Did you miss me?” She asked, but already knew the answer. 

"Oh my God, it's you!!" Kit wanted to get out of bed, and hug her immediately. He hasn’t seen her for…….so long. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. And finally you did.” Ada came up beside the bed, and carefully hugged Kit around his shoulders. 

He could smell her perfume, the same as usual. Nostalgia warmed his heart. 

She always buys one specific brand, and always says that ‘This one smells the most professional’. 

But, Kit has to say, it totally suits her. She had on her work attire, so she must’ve just finished with her work. Her neutral button-down, with a simple black skirt, made her look so put together.

Kit always admired her. Her passion for the work that she does, while still maintaining time for herself, and the ones around her, he still doesn’t really understand how she does that. She has the ability to make every one of her subordinates work efficiently and very well, and she earned a lot of respect from the elders because of that. 

“Phew…..you really did scare me though.” Kit saw her expression go into one of anxiety. “When they brought you in, you looked so……dead. Like……that was it. And no one had a clue what was with you, and the doctors here wouldn’t say anything.” Her eyes started watering a little bit. “We’ve known each other for so long and……it….. scared me a lot.” 

Guilt hit Kit in the chest. “Uh…..so I’m at the institute…?” He felt insensitive for asking, just after Ada poured her heart out, but he had to know. 

“....yeah. They say some patrols were just circling around the area, and they smelled blood, so they came to your apartment, and found you. You were unconscious, and they brought you here.” Ada broke her gaze. “Even though you left……..we all still care about you.”

She shook her head a bit, and continued. “So,.........the doctors said that you were….basically dead, they just detected some remaining brain activity. Your heart was still pounding, but so slowly that your brain wouldn’t survive in those conditions. After a while, the doctors told me all this, and me and Riley could visit you. Sometimes, you would move your eyes, but that was it.”

……….wait…….….what?  Ada noticed Kit’s very confused expression, and added. “It was all because of a long-term lack of human blood.”

Kit looked at the sheets, and he noticed his fists were clutching the soft fabric. The last sentence really felt like a brick. Ada also stayed quiet, and after a few seconds, reached to take a hold of his hand for reassurance. Kit imagined her expression right now. One of pity. She knew how much Kit wanted to live without the need for human blood. How much it drove him, to leave the institute, and the whole vampire organization behind, and live all on his own. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, and Kit felt his heart breaking. She squeezed his hand, to give him comfort. 

“I….It's fine.” Kit felt like he was on the brink of breaking down, crying. And he let it free. In mere seconds, waterfalls of tears were rolling down his cheeks, and dropping down. ……why?

He faintly heard Ada gasp, and she immediately went to wrap her arms around him. Kit buried his head in her chest.

“I’m sorry.” She kept repeating. “I’m sorry.” 

“W-why can’t I…..just be normal?” Kit threw himself into more of a debilitating mental state. 

Normal. The depiction of Finn and himself popped up in his head. Them, enjoying their time together, not having to worry about a thing. Kit, not having to worry about his tendencies. And Finn, not anxious about his secretivity. Life would be so much easier.  

Kit’s hands slowly wrapped around Ada’s back, and his fingers slowly played with the fabric of her button down. She tightened her hold of him, and put her cheek on his forehead. One of her hands went up to caress his hair. 

“You’re like a mom right now.” Kit let out a small laugh in between all the hiccups he was letting out.

“Well, someone has to be the caring one. Do you think Riley could do this? He would just nervously stand around and do nothing.” Ada was joking around with him, but her voice still held a lot of emotion. 

“Haha….yeah. You’re right. Riley would be a terrible mom.”