What if they don't die at the end?

Mateo Torrez

It's sucks that it took almost dying for me to come to life.

My head darts up to the sound of the door opening.I'm expecting to see Rufus standing there but rather it's the shocked face of Elizabeth, my dad's nurse, holding a tray of food.Oh crap, not this again. She stands there, frozen in place.

"Mateo?" She questions her voice high pitched and eyes wide.
"Hey..." Every atom in my body is stopping me from saying surprise! like I did with Lidia. After you find out someone escaped the Death-Cast prediction, the last thing you want to hear is surprise!.
"What on Earth?" She places down the tray and walks towards me and pokes my chest. I imagine she's trying to make sure I'm not a ghost. "Oh my lord, you- I mean you're..."
"Alive?"
"Yes! What?" She covers her mouth with her hand in thought "But the call, we were notified. You're supposed to be... Well you know."
"I know, I know but Rufus and I-"
"There's another one!" She keeps her hand in her hair, as if she's about to pull it out "The two of you survived!" I hold up my hands, she's being too loud for comfort.
"Ok yes, but please don't tell anybody" I say in a quiet tone. I don't like attention.And if this is her reaction to this news, I can't imagine the shitstorm that would form if word got out. Elizabeth takes a few deep breaths, running her finger over her palm as she does so.
"This... Wow this is so weird"
"Believe me, I know"
"Oh my lord I just came in here to check on your father, I didn't expect to see anyone and now... mean just, how? How did this happen? this isn't what Death-cast does" I shrug.
"I don't know how it happened or why, but for some reason it did" Elizabeth takes a few more deep breaths and looks down at my father. My eyes wander back to him as well. "Has anything changed? Since I've been gone." I ask.Elizabeth lets out a deep sigh, and I understand completely.
"I'm sorry darling"
"It's fine." I wave my hand in dismissal. 

It's always the same.

"I think I should go," Elizabeth looks at me with pity in her eyes, and I hate it. I don't want pity.I want my dad back.
"You sure you're going to be alright?" I start heading towards the door.
"Yeah...yeah I'll be fine" I look back, my father's chest still slowly rising and falling with the help of the machines.I stand by the door frame,  waiting there for a few more seconds. Because maybe the universe will pull some last minute magic and wake him up. I mean, if the universe brought Rufus and I together, to have us survive, it can wake him up too, right?

...

But it doesn't.

He's still laying there, lifeless.Nothing's changed. I guess you can't expect two miracles in one day.
"Thank you, for everything" I add.She smiles and nods as I make myself walk away. I can't do the same thing I did yesterday. As much as I want to stay here, by his side. I have a life to live, he wouldn't want me living it inside a hospital room. 

I make it back into the waiting room, where Rufus is on his phone scrolling through something.His head darts up and he meets my gaze.He gets out of his seat.

"Hey" he says.
"Hey" I reply, my body feeling heavier than it was before.Like there's a weight on my shoulders. The way Rufus looks at me, I can't describe it, but the way he looks at me just makes me wish I could shrink down and disappear. He can tell somethings off.
"How'd it go?" I look away. 
"It was...It was good, good to see him."
"But?" I sigh.
"God... you know there was a part of me that actually thought he was going to wake up today" I run a hand through my hair "I just, I wish I could have told him everything.There's so much I wanted to tell him, and I want him to meet you an-and." I stutter out words, my vision gets blurry and fuzzy.I my everything's-fine persona starts to break and crumble to the ground. I bring my hand to my face and wipe my eyes on my sleeve. "Roof, what if he doesn't wake up?... What if-if I never get to tell him? Without him, what am I gonna do?" Rufus wraps his arms around me.
"Mateo,don't say shit like that." I muffle my sobs in his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his waist.Rufus squeezes me tighter and sighs "Listen, you can wrap yourself up in "What if" all day, but it's not going to change anything. All its gonna do is scare you and make you feel like shit." He traces circles in my back "Don't torture yourself, it ain't helping anyone. Your dad wouldn't want that. And when he wakes up, he'll tell you that himself." 
"I'm just...I'm so scared"
"I know, I know" I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. I look around, praying to god there's no one else around to see me. I'm not the prettiest crier. Other than Rufus, I don't want anyone else to see me like this. Luckily enough, there's nobody around. I let out a content sigh.
"Thank you."
"Don't worry about it" He smiles.
"Don't know what I'd do without you" 
"You'd probably be dead" I scoff "What? Too soon to joke about it?"
"Hm, maybe a little." I sniff and wipe my face again. "Come on let's go, if I don't leave now you'll have to drag me out." We pull apart and I start to walk down the hall, Rufus by my side.As we walk he takes his hand in mine and it makes me feel a little bit safer.Our fingers entwine, his hands are as cold as ever, but I don't mind.

We make it outside, I shudder at the cold.I look over the streets of New York, at the pedestrians as they walk by on their phones or drinking coffee.I breathe in the cold, late-summer air and let out a deep sigh.I rest my head on Rufus's shoulder, my eyelids feeling heavy.
"You good?"  
"Yeah, I'm just tired I guess." He rests his head against mine.
"Hm,makes sense. Telling people you're not dead takes it out of ya." I look up at him and his handsome face. 
"D'you wanna come back to mine?" He grins smugly and fains surprise.
"Mr Torrez, are you trying to seduce me?" I snicker, my cheeks feeling warmer.
"Was it that obvious?" I say in a sarcastic tone.He laughs, bringing closer by wrapping a hand around my waist. He kisses me on the forehead, I can feel him smile against me and my heart swells.
"I'd love to" He brings up his hand and cradles my cheek. He leans in and kisses me softly, his lips are much warmer than his hands. 

"Take me home, Mateo"