Faith and Leo W
Faith sat in the middle of her bed, a glass of vodka resting in the palm of her hand, and bottles of asprin, anti depressants, pain killers, everything, scattered by her sides. She shook a handful of pain killers and anti depressants into her palm and closed her eyes as she lifted her hand to her mouth. She coughed, then washed the pills down with her vodka. She coughed again, and finished the rest of her vodka, placing the cup on her bedside table. She lay down against her pillows, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Faith?" Leo orbed into her room and took in the scene before him.
Faith didn't answer.
"Faith!" Leo stepped over to her and tapped her gently.
She turned to look at him, but instead of edging away, she sat calmly and looked into his eyes, sensing that she could trust him.
"Do you need anything?"
She shook her head slightly.
"Do you want me to go?"
Silence.
"I'll go." Leo turned and headed for the door.
"Leo?" Faith said, her voice hoarse.
"Yeah?" He turned around and sat on the bed next to her.
"Take my pain away?" It was a question rather than a request.
Leo looked at her in concern. "I can't."
"Yes, you can." Faith sat up, her tone woeful. "You did it once before, do it again."
"Faith, that was a different... a different circumstance."
"That was less pain than what I'm feeling now, and you won't do it? What kind of angel are you?" Faith flinched involuntarily when she said the word 'angel'.
"I don't have the ability to do it now."
"You're a liar! You have the ability, you just don't what to! You just want to let me suffer, because, because, because..."
"Because why?"
"BECAUSE I DESERVE IT!"
"What, Faith, no - " Leo reached out to hold her.
Faith jumped up. "No! No, don't!"
"Faith... Faith, you need to calm down. I can't take your pain away."
"You don't want to! You can and you won't. You want to make me suffer. But I am! Can't you see? I am! Leo, I need... I just need you to take it away, take it away! Because I don't want to feel it, I don't want to do that anymore! I can still feel him, my skin still crawls, I can't get rid of the dirt, no matter how much I try, I scrub and scrub until I bleed, but it's still there! The dirt is still there!" Faith was bent down on her knees, her hands running frantically through her hair.
"Faith," Leo said soothingly, moving over to her slowly.
She flinched away from him. "Please, please," she pleaded, her eyes begging him to see her point. "Please take the pain... I can't... I can't live with it. And I can't get rid of it."
"You lived with pain before," Leo reasoned.
"But I had Zac to help take it away, and now I have nothing. NOTHING!" Faith cried, her big brown eyes filling with tears again.
"Faith, I can't take your pain, I'm not allowed to."
"You don't want to," Faith said bitterly. "Go away."
Leo sighed and orbed out.
Faith leant against the wall and let out a loud shriek. It wasn't going to get any easier.