//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18 
// Story: Tavi and Vi 
// by Master Koschei 
//------------------------------//

	I woke to the sound of crying.  I sat up in my bed confused.  Ditzy hadn’t cried since she had recovered; she was too happy.  I got up quickly, running down the hallway and knocking on her door.
“Ditzy?”  I knocked again.  “What’s wrong?”
“I had an accident,” she weakly replied, sniffling.  I sighed, but put on a small smile as I pushed the door open.  Ditzy sat on her bed, a large stain in the middle of her blanket.  “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what happened.”
“It’s alright, Ditzy,” I said soothingly, making my way to her and sitting on the edge of the bed.  “These things happen.”
Ditzy sniffled again, wiping her eyes.  “I’m worried,” she muttered, looking up at me sadly.  “This hasn’t happened in so long.  What if I’m getting sick again?”
“Don’t be silly,” I said, placing a hand on her leg gently.  “The doctor said it was a miracle, but you were all better.”
“But that’s just it!”  Ditzy’s eyes burned into me, tears starting to fall once more.  “A ‘miracle’!  No one knows what happened, or why I got better!  For fuck’s sake, no one even knew WHY I was retarded!”  She stood up, starting to pace back and forth.  “And now that I’m all better, and my life seems to be working out, now that I’ve tasted what it’s like to be normal, I feel like I’m slipping!”  She turned to me, glaring angrily.  “I don’t want to go back, David.”  Her hard eyes turned soft and watery.  “I… I just can’t.”
All I was able to do was stare at her outburst, too shocked to respond.  Finally, I looked down at my hands, which rested on my knees.  “I don’t know what to tell you, Ditzy.  You’re right.  You seem to be slipping.  You’re having some trouble walking again, and your memory seems to be failing.”  I stood up, placing a hand on her shoulder.  “I’m not going to lie to you.  You could be relapsing.  You could go back to how you were.”  I squeezed her shoulder, trying to comfort her.  “But never forget that I am your friend.  I’ll always be here for you, just like I always was.”
She slapped my hand away.  “Please,” she scoffed, looking down.  “You only stayed because you felt bad for me.  Because it was your job.”
I took a step back, my hammering heart feeling as if it were breaking.  “Ditzy… Ditzy I stayed because I care about you.  Because I wanted to help you.  Because I –“  I suddenly stopped short.  I glared hard into her eyes, but my tears were betraying me.
“Because you what?”  She took a step closer, staring up at me with tearful eyes.  “Because you what?”
I sighed, gulped, then took a deep breath.  “Because I love you,” I muttered, looking down at her.  “You beautiful amazing kind woman, I love you.  No matter what happened, you never gave up hope.  You were always so happy, always smiling.  You could brighten any day with your laugh.”  I closed my eyes.  I waited for her response, waiting for a slap, or screaming, or more crying, or laughing.
Instead, a small, soft hand took mine.  Looking at her, I saw a smile on her lips.  “I knew it,” she said quietly.  “I love you too, Doc.”

***

I woke up to silence.  That was stranger than waking up to crying.  I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and standing up.  The house was dark, as was the sky outside my window.  I walked down the hall to Ditzy’s room, listening for her soft snoring.
Silence.
I slowly pushed the door open, peeking inside and seeing an empty bed.  I dashed inside, looking under her bed and in her closet.  She was nowhere to be found.
I looked at her empty bed once more, and was surprised to see a note.  It had the prettiest handwriting at first, but as the note went on, it got shaky; the note was also stained.
I picked it up carefully, and read it slowly.  When I finished, I had to read it again, then once more.  After my third time through it, I dropped the note, then ran from the room as fast as I could.

My Doctor,
I’m not going back.  I just can’t.  I love this life I’ve had here recently, and I’ve loved really getting to know you.  I want to leave as happy as I can.  I want to know you love me, just like you know I love you.  I don’t want to forget that.  I don’t want to forget anything.
I don’t want to lose it all.
I want to know what it’s like to fly.