One-Shots: The Geek Collection

Rex Salazar - Generator Rex (2)

"Not him too..." I whispered to myself, watching through the glass.

For the tenth time today, Doctor Holliday charged two paddles and pressed them to Rex's chest, making his back arch. The monitor next to the table showed no change. She tried once again, this time bringing back the faintest of heartbeats. Another tear slid down my cheek.

I watched Holliday as she hung her head and pressed a button on the control panel. Her voice crackled over the intercom in the room. "Y/N, come down here please," she said, looking up through the glass window at me. I choked back a sob and nodded.

I walked up to her and she turned to me. Her cheeks were glistening with tear streaks and her eyes were beginning to turn red. "There's nothing more I can do. His heart rate is faint for now, but I don't expect it to last long at all. It's...it's time to say your goodbye." Another tear fell as she looked down and turned the other way. Her heels clicked against the floor: the only sound in the room besides the heart rate monitor that was ever-so-slightly slowing more and more with each of her steps.

I was stunned. I watched the bleach-white door close behind her. I swallowed and turned to Rex, all while mentally preparing myself. A sob escaped my lips.

He was so pale; he already looked like he belonged in a casket, all pale and cold. The gash just above his brow and the one on his chin made his skin seem even more papery than it was. In my whole life I'd never laid eyes on anything that broke my heart this much.

I sat next to him on the bed and stared at him for what seemed like an hour. Finally I glanced at his hand and took it in my own. His fingertips were already beginning to lose the warmth that they always used to have. I looked at his wrist, where he still wore the same orange bracelet that I had given him just a year ago. As if my heart didn't hurt enough, it ached even more.

I reached up and brushed a hand through his jet-black hair. I took my finger and traced the outlines of his face and down his nose. A sad smile tugged at the corner of my lips and another tear escaped from my eye. Handsome as always... Even when you're half dead.

I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. In the process, even more tears fell. I pulled away and let out a shaky sigh. My gaze hovered on his face for a second before I turned my head to the side, putting my head in my hands. I sobbed.

I don't know how long I sat there and cried.

Seconds?

Minutes?

...Hours?

I lost all track of time. I was stuck in my own little world- stuck in my own thoughts and emotions, completely separate from reality. It was then only a slight shift jolted me out of my deep reverie.

It wasn't the speeding up of the heart rate monitor; no, not even the barely-audible groans coming from behind me, but the soft touch of a hand on my arm, just above my elbow. The touch was weak, but nonetheless it still had that tingly feeling that could wake me up even from the deepest of sleeps.

I looked down at the caramel-colored hand and stifled a sob. My eyes trailed from the hand, up the arm, and finally met two very familiar oak brown eyes. They were dull and weak, but they had that little mischievous gleam in them that never seemed to go away.

His lips attempted a small smile. "Don't I at least get a hello?" He asked with a dry voice, holding out his arms. I sobbed again and instantly flung my arms around his neck, crying even harder.

"You were dead," muttered into his shoulder, my voice cracking.

"Did you really think I would leave you?" He replied softly. I continued to cry, hopelessly trying to get myself together.

"Please don't plan on it," I finally responded with a light chuckle. I pulled away and wiped at my eyes, trying to clear them of tear streaks and smudged mascara. I was taken by surprise when Rex reached up with his hand and took mine.

"Y/N?" I turned all my attention to him.

"Hmm?"

"You don't realize... I don't know if you..." He took a brief pause to gather his thoughts. His warm, welcoming eyes bored into mine. He opened his mouth again. "Do you know how much you mean to me?"

I took a second to think about that. "I- I'm not sure. What do you mean?"

"I... Well, all I know is that you mean so much to me. I guess that's it."

I smiled. "You mean a lot to me too, Rex."

"I know but I..." He broke eye contact for a second, swallowed, then looked back up. "I love you."

My eyes nearly watered. My insides warmed up and I immediately grew a smile so wide I had to suppress it to not look like an absolute idiot.

I leaned forward. I stretched out my arm, gripped a fist-full of his shirt, and gently tugged him just enough to press my lips to his. I felt him smile, which made my own grin widen so much that I was forced to break away.

I looked right into his shimmering eyes. "I love you too. So much."

He glanced down and took my hand. He looked at it for a second, brushing his thumb over my knuckles before he finally looked up and spoke.

"While I was... you know, gone... I wasn't motivated... not completely. I wanted to live, yeah, but I didn't put up my best fight- not until you showed up." He continued to fidget with my hand, still talking. "I could hear and feel everything: Doctor Holliday, Six, Bobo... But when you showed up... It was different... Like me dying while you were still alive just wasn't an option. To say the least... you saved my life."

I was at a loss for words. I simply reached up and brushed his hair back again, almost as if I were making sure he were actually there and not in my imagination.

I rested my hand on the side of his head and looked down at his eyes, searching each one individually. "I'm just glad you're here." For the second time, I bent down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Except this time, I was smiling.