Magicanimalclub: 2 : What Happened?

Down the Ravine

--SQUIDS POV--
It was dark.
I was back in the war, in a forest, one hand on a revolver and one hand keeping my gas mask on.
It was the final battle, I saw Joe running up to Finn Ball, punching his face as Finn Ball switched places with my father. Joe sliced his throat, my fathers eyes were focused right on me.
Right on me.
I yelled with fury as my eyes opened wide: I was in bed, Nicole looked at me in shock. The depth of the darkness surrounded me: I felt alone, yet Nicoles arms surrounded me and her lips pressed against my cheek.
"You still feel tortured by the war." She deduced, I nodded.
"What part of it were you thinking about..?" She whispered, I could hear every syllable.
"The part where Joe kills my dad." I told her, before I saw Joe walking into the room and sitting beside me on the bed, his eyes were dark and menacing, I felt almost threatened by him.
"I shot Joe's hand when I found out what he did, it must have really hurt." I told her, remembering what I did to my friend. Joe held up his left hand which showed the bullet scar between his finger and thumb.

"Do you still see Joe?" Nicole asked, I was startled, did she know?
I couldn't bring myself to say yes or no, my jaw shivered,
"It's okay, it's perfectly normal for a traumatised, slightly schizophrenic and demented man." She said,
"You're a soldier." She said, "and not just an army soldier."
I looked into her eyes, "does anyone else know what an amazing person you are? How incredible your story is and how forgiving and honest you are? Does anyone know that every single year on the date of their deaths you go to the French cemetery and lay flowers down on all the graves of the people that you killed."
"How did you know I did that?" I asked her,
"Because you told me, love. Don't you remember?"
I felt a feeling of disbelief and hopelessness, I couldn't remember what day it was, never mind everything else.
"You were suicidal once, you remember that?"
"Yes." That was one thing I remembered distinctly, after I found out what Joe did to my father I beat him up, I wanted him dead, I then threatened Finn Ball, only to find out that he had been livestream it the whole event on my channel, I was ready to kill myself, a gun pressed against my temples, but Nicole pushed me away, without her I wouldn't be able to help her now, I wouldn't be able to congratulate my children, I wouldn't be able to come home and tell them that I loved them, I wouldn't have been able to see my father again. I would have ended my life hating Joe.

I looked again at Nicole, she had fallen asleep with her head on my bare chest: I was cold, cold and alone.
I pulled the duvet up around us, and wrapped my arms around Nicole. She was perfect, and it took me twenty years of marriage to realise that there's nowhere that I'd rather be but in her arms.

**

As the days bled into weeks Nicole became weaker, we would spend fewer days out walking and more lying in bed, sketching. She became thin, fragile and frail. She lost all energy, even a kiss was a struggle for her.

I would spoon feed Nicole like I used to feed Ash as a baby. I would sit behind her head to support her, and feed her with a dessert spoon.

"My head.." She groaned, planting her hand on her head. I increased her morphine levels and helped her to drink water.
"You're going to be okay Nicky. You'll be fine." I whispered, through her endless tears of pain, another migraine: we had less than a month left.
I held her hands through her pain, kissing her neck: it killed me to see her like this, it completely destroyed me from the inside out.
"You're gonna be okay Nicole, you're gonna be fine." I soothed her, but her breathing was still increasing until all at once her eyes widened, she put her hands on my face and her eyes went white before she went limp and they closed immediately.

My jaw shook, "n-Nicole?" I called, but she made no response, luckily Rosie was in the house, but it was about 6am.
"Rosie! Rosie!" I yelled, I didn't have my phone in the room but I knew Rosie would- Rosie was studying medicine in Cambridge, therefore I assumed that she knew a lot more than me and could at least help her mother.
I heard her running up the stairs and ran into the room, "what happened?" She asked, running over to Nicole and checking her pulse on her wrist. After about thirty seconds of no luck she proceed to check her neck. She looked up at me with anxiety.
"Ring an ambulance. Ring one quick!" She yelled, "my phones over there," I grabbed her phone, I told the woman on the phone what I needed and what Nicole was like.
I ran back into my bedroom, Joe sat beside Nicole as Rosie tried her very best to try and bring my wife back.
"Rosie can I d-" I was cut off by Nicole gasping for breath.
We both ran over to her and supported her.
"Rosie.. I.." Nicole began, she looked over at me and put her hand on my face.
I couldn't say anything, I couldn't speak, I just hugged her, hugged her so tightly and let all my tears fall, ignoring the rest of the world: because I knew that this would be my last day with her: I knew.
And she knew too.