Strings of Destiny

12

The rain came down harder as Eddie burst through the hospital's sliding doors, the automatic glass panels parting with a reluctant sigh. Cold needles of water peppered his face, his shirt already darkening beneath his jacket. His boots splashed through a growing puddle as his eyes swept the curb for her. And then...there she was. She was already halfway into a cab, her hair trailing behind her like a last thread he couldn't hold. The door slammed shut. The cab's taillight flared red, blurred by the rain, then blinked out as it disappeared into the crawl of traffic at the end of the block.

"Lara!" he shouted after her.

But his voice was drowned in the downpour, and the sharp hiss of tires slicing through water. There was no way she heard him. No way she could've seen him standing there, soaked to the bone, heart pounding like it was trying to break its way out of his ribs. He stood motionless for a second, chest heaving, lips parted like another word might claw its way out. Nothing. His fingers dug into his pocket, yanked out his phone, nearly fumbling it in the rain. He tapped quickly. The letters shaky beneath his thumbs.

Lara, believe me when I say I want us to work. I want to try. Wait for me in your apartment. I'll meet you there.

He hit send. The rain fell in sheets now, drenching his hair, curling it tight against his forehead. His breaths came fast, fogging the screen as he stared at it. Three dots appeared. Then they vanished. Then they came back. And then...

I'll be there.

A breath escaped his lungs, sharp and thick with everything he'd been holding in since she walked out of that hospital hallway. His fingers curled around the phone like it was the only solid thing in the world. The rain blurred his vision, not tears, just the downpour. He shoved the phone back into the pocket of his jacket, turned, and sprinted for his car. The moment he dropped into the driver's seat, water dripping from his jacket, he started the engine. The dash lit up dim orange, the wipers lurching to life with heavy screech. His fingers clutched the wheel tight as he pulled out into the wet, glistening street.

He backed out, turned the wheel hard, and merged into the wet, slow-moving current of the street, heading the house he shared with his wife. The city blurred around him. Headlights smeared red across the windshield. A streetcar passed on the tracks to his right, its windows glowing with soft yellow light. People moved along the sidewalks under umbrellas, shoulders hunched, heads down. Everything looked distant, wrapped in winter silence. Inside the car, the storm didn't stop. Not the one outside. Not the one inside him. The roads twisted through the neighborhoods he knew too well. Fremont, then over the bridge toward Queen Anne. The tires hummed against the wet pavement. He barely noticed the signs or the names of the shops passing by. He could still feel the heat of Alara's hand under his, the pressure of her chest against his palm, the words that shattered him more than they steadied him.

I'm just... afraid you'll have to watch me die.

And he hadn't hesitated.

Then I'll still be there. Especially then.

But now this. Just like thirty years ago. It seemed like fate was playing them again. One message pulling him forward. One pulling him back. As he turned into the narrow road that curved up to their quiet street, his stomach knotted tighter. Inside, Laura was waiting. Eddie slowed the car to a crawl and pulled up the driveway. Rain clattered against the hood like knuckles. The engine ticked softly after he cut it. For a moment, he didn't move. Just sat there in the silence of it, his breath fogging the glass. Alara was waiting too. He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and let the weight of it all settle across his shoulders like the rain had soaked into his bones. Then he opened the door, stepped out into the storm, and walked toward the front door, toward Laura.