It had been 20 days since Valentina had been poisoned by Francis to become like him.

Although the pain in her upper back had started a bit sore, over a short period, it had become so bad that, at times, she felt as if she couldn't breathe. The pain had spread throughout her body, and it was so bad that even the slightest movement would cause a fit of pain for Valentina, making the halls fill with her screams.

The nighttime was restless for her and now, she was being monitored by Xavier or Quinn around the clock.

And as if it all wasn't enough for her, Valentina's emotions were also heightened, and the anger, regret, and anxiety she felt were swallowing her altogether. She felt useless, pathetic and depressed.

Although she tried to put on a happy front, Quinn and Xavier could see right through it, so eventually, she dropped it.

The girl refused to eat or to get out of the bed to clean herself. And it didn't help that Francis nor Valentina were talking to each other. Francis thought that he had messed it up and he didn't even need to see her and all Valentina thought was that she never wanted to see that bastard again.

Both of their hearts said that they wanted, needed, each other but their heads refused though. The woman numbed the pain with her own hurting herself by lying on her back and not caring for her emotional health, and the male took out his anger on his friends and workers, piling himself over with work.

God, does my back hurt. Valentina thought as she shuffled around in her bed. Quinn was in the room so Val couldn't make a sound of pain otherwise she would get the doctor. The room was covered in silence as the two girls stare at each other. Quinn dared Valentina to make a sound so she could get her friend the help she needed, but Valentina refused. Finally, the sick girl found a spot she was comfortable in but just as she was about to finally rest, it felt like sharp needles were pushing on her back again.

And that's when a yell of pain came out of Valentina's mouth.

"Val, you need to let me get someone to check your back!" begged the dark-haired girl.

"No Quinn," Valentina muttered, getting annoyed. "Then you can sit up at least," she demanded and scoffed reluctantly. The pair kept bickering from across the rooms until Quinn finally got sick of it.

"Fine! I'll make you sit," she grumbled and started walking towards the girl in bed.

"What?" Valentina asked in shock as her friend got closer and closer to her.

Quinn grabbed the girl by the shoulders and forced her to sit up, making the patient hiss in pain as she had been in a laying position for so long, but the pain was soon distracted from Val as she heard her friend gasp. "What is it?" Valentina asked seriously but Quinn only looked at her back further.

"I- I need to get the doctor," she panicked and stumbled back to the door before running out. Faintly, as she ran away, Val could hear her yelling for a doctor

With all the commotion from Quinn, Valentina had to check out what was happening to her. She pushed herself up from the bed and her arms were frail from the lack of exercise, so it took a few tries to do it but as soon as she stood on her two legs, her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor.

Valentina cursed herself for being so weak, she managed to push herself to crawl to the door of the bathroom and crawled from the cold floor to the blue tiles. The girl weakly reached up from the floor and clutched her hands on the white sink, so hard that the sink broke even more than before. She pushed herself up and ripped off the hospital shirt so only her open back remained. Valentina's breaths were becoming heavy.

"I need to see what's wrong with myself," she huffed to herself and with her hands clutched on the rim of the sink, she turned around to see her and gasped.

Her back was bruised with black and blue, two long arches were going down her back- they were bones trying to push themselves out of her flesh- surly to be her soon wings. The sight was too gruesome to look at and that's the moment when Valentina felt like all the air in her lungs got pushed out of her lungs.

She felt something arise in her throat and vomit started to pour out of her throat. Desperately, Valentina fell to the floor and put her head into the toilet bowl next to her, letting her insides twist and empty.

Just as she thought it was over, she moved away from the toilet and tried to stand up, but when she tried to breathe, Valentina felt her body losing sustainability under her and her hands fell to the floor along with tears pouring out of her eyes whilst trying to keep them open.

No.. no... not now! Valentina thought to herself. Her eyelids felt like they gained in weight and black blobs formed in her vision.

Just as she felt her eyes close, she leaned on the wall and there was a bang, it sounded like the door had burst open. The sound jolted a bit of energy full her body and Valentina's eyes reminded half open, but her body was still closing down.

"Valentina!" a strained voice called and all she could do was groan in response.

The bathroom door was snapped open, and someone stormed in. Their features were frantic. The girl couldn't see who it was, but she knew that voice, even though it felt like she hadn't in forever.

"Francis," she mumbled, not being able to open her mouth fully. His body fell next to hers as he brings her off the floor and into his arms. "Angel," he whispered in response and allowed her to rest her head on his chest. The pain was strong, and her emotions were heightened from the panic attack.

"It hurts," Valentina croaked and she clutched onto Francis's black collard suit as if he was going to disappear any second. And as she did, she felt the man tense.

"It really- hurts," she repeated as her hand slipped from his body and fell into a pit of black.

Stupid, stupid! I repeated to myself as I sprint down the hallway, being boosted by my wings as I sprinted down the hallway.

All I was doing was checking on the stocks of the market as I heard Quinn running down the hallway, she didn't stop at my door which was a surprise but as soon as I heard a singular word leave her mouth, I sprinted to her.

"Doctor!" she screamed and out of breath, and I instantly knew who it was for.

All Quinn and Xavier had been doing for the last few days was spending their time with her. They both wanted to spend time with her and later, Quinn had reported that all Valentina could do was lay on her back. I knew that that was the most painful part of the transition because that would be where the most change would occur.

My mind was racing and so were my legs as I tried to get to her hospital room.

"Valentina!" I shouted as I banged into the room and she was nowhere to be found. I waited for her response, I waited almost ten seconds before I heard a faint groan from her slightly closed bathroom door. I rushed into the blue room and as soon as I did, I laid my eyes on her.

She was laying on the floor, her hospital shirt ripped off, leaving her back bare. She had her hair laid in strands, some covering her face and there were heavy beads of sweat going down her forehead, and struggling breaths coming out of her slightly parted lips.

I heard her mumble my name through heavy breaths, making me faintly smile as I picked her up attentively. "Angel..." I uttered as I pulled her closer to my chest so that she was in my warmth, her skin was so cold.

"It hurts..." she winced with her lips thinned together in pain, and I could feel my heart differ in hurt, seeing my love in this much pain. Her hand was grasped onto my shirt, and she held onto it like a lifeline.

"It really hurts," she gasped just as I felt her heart slow down her hand dropped from my chest making my eyes widen in surprise.

She was surely having a panic attack of some sort and now she's passed out; what do I do?

I delicately laid her down on the bed and looked around franticly but didn't see anything that I could help her with.

I'm someone who sends people to the hospital, not helps them in hospital for fucks sake! Then I just started doing the only thing I could.

"Doctors!" I yell in a loud and demanding voice and as if I summoned them, two appeared at the door, and Quinn was standing behind them the panic on her face grew as she saw Valentina unconscious on the bed.

The doctors stood in the doorway hesitant to approach the girl anywhere near me, but I didn't have time for this. "Don't just stand there! Tell me what's happening to her!" I order and the two doctors quickly tend to the unconscious girl, taking her temperature and looking at her blood.

All of this took an hour. Quinn just nervously paced around the room, looking at the ground most of the time but throwing glanced at Valentina now and then. All I did was sit in the armchair and stare at her. It was all my fault, my fault. She even said that she cared for me.

My eyes flickered to the doctors who were now discussing something and writing it down and as soon as they saw me looking at them, they became more hesitant but spat the information they had out.

"W-well sir, we've found that her wings and development have come along quicker than it had for you, in fact extremely quickly, possibly because she has heightened emotions given... her circumstances."

Magnified strength, which explains the cracks in the sink. The doctor went on. "I also think that the large change in blood flow and DNA is new and too much for her body so she can't handle it. It also caused her a panic attack." he finished quietly, but I kept an emotionless face.

"And what will happen next?" I questioned sternly.

The doctor fidgeted with his fingers and avoided my eyes' gaze that was burning him. "She will have to go into an intense surgery to be able to allow the wings to form outside of her body,"

The room fell silent, only Valentina's heart monitor to be heard, but after only a moment of thinking, I knew it would be the best.

"Do what you have to." The words came out of my clenched jaw and I turned to walk out of the room, not bothering to glance at her unconscious body once more, knowing it will only drown me more.

I went to the only room I could release all of the anger and hurt I was experiencing in my training room.

I burst into the room and looked around to see what I wanted to do, punching bags, throwing knives, there was anything you could think of, but I ended up at the gun target practice. It was filled with all the best types of guns, and I chose the revolver and semi-automatic rifle. There were different targets in the shape of humans, all different distances away and all in lines up.

As I started with the revolver, I walked to my side, aiming, and shooting the vital organs of anyone's body, the heart, brain, and lungs. And then I moved on to the rifle which finished the targets and only left metal pieces on the floor. I must have someone to clean that up I thought to myself as I moved onto the punching bag.

Every blow to it, it retracted and came back. Every time I hit the bag, I trained all my punches on my anger flooding inside me, to myself.

I messed up, I messed it all up.

Those thoughts kept racing through my head until I felt something soft and foamy contact my bare fists, and I look up to see that I had punched the bag so hard that it had burst and the foam inside was oozing out.

Pulling my hair back in anger, I yelled for my men to come to clean up the mess and soon enough two boys in suits came and cleaned it up but made no effort to go near me.

I noticed my knuckles bleeding as I walked out of the messed room, remembering punching the wall out of frustration on the way here. But I ignored it and didn't bother to bandage it, it wasn't as if I could feel it.

I was useless, but she made me feel something, anything. I need that.

And I need her