GOODBYE IS NOT FOREVER

Hello, everybody! I'm back from the dead! Well, this story is, anyway. Sheez, I can't believe this thing's been left untouched since January! Don't know what happened; somehow I got caught up in school and other writing affairs.

Well, here you are, with a new chapter. A short one, to be sure, but a chapter all the same. I'm feeling a bit rusty with my Transformers stories; it'll take a while to get the squeaky gears moving smoothly again.

Characters (with exceptions) © Hasbro and Entertainment Rights

Story © unicorn-skydancer08

All rights reserved.

Chapter 14

The next morning, Melly felt better. Even so, she was still considerably weak, and her doctor strongly advised her to take it nice and easy for the next few days.

Matthew reassured Melly he would help out more with the house, the finances, and everything else while she recuperated. "No need for either of us to shoulder the burden alone, sis," he said. "No need for you and me to go around collapsing on each other." Matthew's leg was still on the mend, but he'd recently found a way to earn a little extra money from the comforts of home.

Later that morning, Melly received a call from Mr. Sumdac. Mr. Sumdac, after making sure his young employee would be all right, gave her the rest of the week off from work, and the whole week after that. When Melly started to protest, he told her gently but firmly, "You need a break, Miss Manchester, and badly, too. I do not want you even thinking about work until you have made a full and complete recovery. That's an order from your boss!"

Inwardly, Melly was grateful.

It finally dawned on her that she'd gone too far, stretched herself too thin, bitten off more than she had the capacity to chew. The girl was surprised to learn from her doctor how much weight she'd lost over the last few weeks; she was also suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, and her blood pressure had risen significantly, too. For now, she was put on an IV, and a tranquilizer was administered to help her relax.

In the afternoon of the second day, she received a visitor. To her surprise, it was Blurr. The blue bot was much too big to fit in the tiny room, but he visited Melly through the open window. Melly sure was glad to see him, though she was also profoundly embarrassed that he had to see her this way. (What she didn't know until sometime later was that it was Blurr who'd chauffeured Matthew to the hospital.)

"Oh, Melly…sweetie, are you okay?" Blurr asked solicitously. The love and concern in his face and tone touched Melly's heart.

"As you can see, I'm not," she replied abashedly. "Not really."

"What happened to you?"

"Turns out I overloaded myself." Glancing at the IV sticking out of her arm, Melly added ruefully, "Big time."

Blurr shook his head. "Why didn't you talk to me sooner?" He didn't seem the least bit angry, but it was obvious he was disappointed. It almost made Melly want to cry on the spot. "I'd already told you that you were free to contact me anytime, anywhere, if you ever had a problem or desired company. I'd made it clear I was ready to give my help when needed. Why did you shut me out for so long?"

Melly felt her face grow hot, and she hung her head.

"I—I didn't want to badger you, Blurr. I didn't want to take up too much of your time. You already have plenty of other things to worry about besides me, and not just the Elite Guard. You have a life, a world of your own. I didn't want to be a nuisance."

Blurr regarded the girl with optics full of heartbreaking sorrow. It was a minute or two before he could speak, and then it was in an especially slow, soft tone. "How can you say that, Mel? How can you even think it? You could never be a nuisance to me."

Melly closed her eyes for a moment, almost wishing the bed would swallow her. And Blurr was far from finished.

"Don't you know that you are my first and foremost priority?" he asked. "Do you truly believe you're just something I casually consult at random? I love you, Melly. I care about what you go through. What matters to you matters to me, too."

Melly said nothing, but she felt a hot spring of tears well up.

"Your father was a friend of mine," Blurr continued. "I regret his loss, too. To this day, I still find it impossible to believe what happened really happened. Knowing he was your father makes it even worse. I want to help you through this, in any way possible…but I can't if you won't let me. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for help if you truly need it."

A lump the size of a fist swelled in Melly's throat, while guilt pierced her heart like the needle that pierced her arm.

"I'm sorry, Blurr," was all she could find to say. "I'm so sorry."

Blurr managed to slip one hand through the window, where he gently rubbed the girl's cheek with a single white finger. "I don't want anything to happen to you," he told her softly. "You had me, all of us, worried to death. Thank Primus you're all right."

With a lopsided smile, Melly commented, "Who would have guessed a big bot like you would go all soft for a puny human like me?"

He managed a slight smile, too. Just before he withdrew his hand, Melly took hold of his finger and placed a light kiss on it.

When Blurr was eventually compelled to leave, he said, "You get well soon, you hear?"

Melly heard, all right. "I'll do my best," she replied. She paused briefly before adding, "And I'll try to do better from now on."

"Good," Blurr said, "because I'm not leaving this city until you are well again." Though the speedster didn't say it aloud, he had no intentions of ever leaving Melly alone again.