THE IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE

(Mason) Chapter 43

The doctor points his finger at a door. "Fay is sleeping right now. She will need a lot of rest to recover again."
I look at his name tag. Doctor Stevens.
"We will check on her every half an hour. I promise you, Mr. Anderson," he must have read my last name in the documents I had to fill. "we will do everything in our power to keep your wife alive."
There's a lump in my throat, so I just give him a thankful nod and then, finally open the door with shaky hands.
Immediately my eyes scan for Fay, and when I see her, I have to swallow down another flood of tears.
My steps are on autopilot, walking to her without a second thought.
There's a chair right next to her hospital bed, but I can't make myself to sit there just yet. I have to look at her for a while, first.
She's so beautiful. Paler than normal, but there's definitely more color than she had before. My heart aches at the memory.
She was dead. I think. Fay has met the other side.
I stroke her cheek, needing to touch her, to convince myself, that she's warm and alive.
Her skin is so soft, just like it was months ago. Fay's breathing is even, one of her arms connected to a tube, a clear liquid flooding through the poke. Painkillers, I guess.
Her lips are split a little, as if they're too dry to keep the skin together. My thumb strokes over her mouth, needing to feel this too.
I need to feel everything of her.
The months with her gone were slowly killing me, and now just looking at her, is a slow put together, of all the pieces that hasn't been broken of me, already.
Her promise comes back into my mind, "I'll fight for everything that you believe is missing. I'll get you the missing pieces, like it's the only mission I've ever had." she didn't knew it back then, and probably still doesn't know, but she's all I need to be a whole person. Fay is my missing piece. I think I kind of always knew that, I just didn't want it to be true, because I knew, that whenever I am near Fay, she would be in danger. But I'm a selfish bastard, so I took her, knowing I could break her.
I finally sit down on the chair, take Fay's hand into mine and murmur words into the silence, as if it could make all those months disappear.
"It's breaking me to see you like this." I rasp. "You're my everything, beautiful."
"I wish I would have declined your wish that night. I should have went with you to Mandy's. I should have left with you, when it was not yet too late."
"I'm so sorry, my beautiful wife. It's all my fault." my eyes sting, my voice cracks when I continue. "I've failed. I couldn't protect you. I am so fucking sorry."
With still her small hand in mine, I lay my head onto her bed. Watching her chest move up and down. I think I'll watch that for a while now, because this means, she's breathing. Alive. And here. With me.

A rustle snaps me out of my weak sleep. My eyes immediately find Fay. She's still asleep, but I think it won't take long until she finally opens those beautiful eyes again. The urge to see them is making my chest brutally tight.
My gaze moves from her face, to our locked hands. Fay's wedding ring is blinking back at me. Thoughtfully, I stroke my thumb over it.
A soft moan fills the room, immediately my head snaps to my wife. Searching her face for awakening.
Her eyes are still closed. I move in my seat, leaning a little closer to her.
"Baby?" I rasp, eyes strongly focused on every little movement that she could possibly make.
A quiet sigh escapes Fay's lips, pulling my gaze to her mouth. Suddenly, the need to touch her lips with mine overcomes me.
And I can't help myself, I lean down, until my mouth is only mere inches apart from her own, and so very slowly, I press my lips onto hers. It's a soft kiss, a kiss that practically screams 'I will love you to death.'.
Her eyes flutter open, this intense green fixating me. "Mason?" she hoarsely whispers, and something inside me breaks, to then be put back together. With tears in my eyes I rasp, "Yes, beautiful?"
And then she smiles. My gaze drops to those sinful lips, watching the curve of her mouth pull into a smile. My throat gets dry.
"God, you drive me crazy, Fay." I state. How can she lighten my mood within seconds? She really is a wonder.
"You didn't leave me." I say on a broken whisper, those fucking tears stinging in the backs of my eyes again. They need to fucking stop. Get yourself together, Mason. Your beautiful wife is looking at you, and all you can do is cry like a baby. But I can't help myself, Fay's sight is making me feel all kinds of things, and those fucking tears seem to be my new way to communicate.
Her sleepy eyes drop to my mouth, watching the words leave my lips. She scrunches her brows, then slowly shakes her head.
"Didn't I promise to never leave you, Mason?" she whispers.
With fascination in my eyes I reply, "Yes, you did."
Her fingers come up to my cheek, I close my eyes at the touch. I thought I'd never feel this again.
"So why would you question me?" she asks, her voice so weak but still so strong.
The lump in my throat is back, my eyes snapping open to meet hers. "I was scared to death, beautiful." I croak. "I thought I'd lost you forever."
A sad smile returns to her lips. "I could never leave you, Mason." she tells me. "Not in death. Not in life. Never."
I'm just about to say something when Doctor Stevens comes rushed into the room.
"Mrs. Anderson." he lightly calls. "Welcome back." Fay's eyes drift to him. "You truly are an impressive woman." the doc tells her, making me feel proud of my wife. He reaches out his hand, just like he did hours ago when he met me. "I'm Doctor Stevens. I've been the surgeon operating on you. You did very well."
A warm smile appears on Fay's face, she takes the doctors hand into hers and shakes it, the little movement causing her to hiss in pain. Worry overtakes my being. But Fay hides her pain well. "Thank you for saving me, doc."
"Do not thank me," he replies with a dismissive gesture. "it's my job. I love to see you lively again."
A weak laugh escapes Fay's lips. "Believe me, doctor Stevens, how happy I am to be alive."
With a smirk, the doc continues to talk. "I just wanted to check on you, dear. Seeing if there are any complaints? How strong is the pain on a scale from one to ten? Even though I'm nosy to ask why, and who did this to you, I won't do it. It is not my place to ask." his brows crunch in concern. "But if you are in danger, Mrs. Anderson, we need to call the police." Fay swallows, her gaze meeting mine before sliding to the doctor back again. "I'm safe now." she replies softly. "Don't you worry about me."
I don't miss how Fay avoids his question. She doesn't want the police to come. I don't want them either, because there would be nothing they could do, and Fay seems to know that.
My brother cannot know that Fay got shot, maybe he still hasn't found Mandy. So there's still a little time for us to keep calm.
But unfortunately...time is limited.
Doctor Stevens clears his throat, making my gaze swift to him. He wears a professional mask, but his next words give me a coldness I don't want to feel.
"There's something else we need to talk about." his eyes bounce between mine and Fay's. My wife gives him a stiff nod, telling him quietly to keep going.
I close my hands firmer around Fay's, because I know, his next words will be ugly.
"When you were brought in here, you've already lost an amount of blood." he takes a long pause so we can follow him. "The bullet went straight through your stomach, hitting an important organ. Not an organ needing to live, but..."
"What organ?" Fay asks, her brows furrowed in fear.
"The bullet has hit your uterus, Mrs. Anderson." Fay gets completely pale. My face must be a mirror to her own. "We had to take it out to safe you."
She looks devastated, broken. And I want nothing other, than to take all the pain she feels to myself.
"I'm so sorry this happened." the doc tells us, but his words are only a fading blur.
I give him a forced smile, telling him without needing to use my voice, to leave the room.
When he leaves and Fay and I are alone, she breaks. I don't hesitate to carefully wrap my arms around her. It's hard with her in the bed, but I manage to comfortably close her into an embrace. I stroke her back, whispering stuff I know could never stop the pain she feels.
She's sobbing uncontrollably, her whole body shaking. And all I can do is sit there, watching her fall completely apart. Breaking my heart with every single tear that escapes her eyes.