No More Lonely Nights - A Fan Fiction

No More Lonely Nights - Chapter Sixty-Four

ALLIE: I was actually able to fall asleep for a bit (I think I'm so exhausted and stressed that my body will crash without rest) until the phone rang at one in the morning. I switched on the lamp and sat up, feeling my pulse quicken. There was only one reason I could think of that the phone would be ringing in the middle of the night, and I felt myself start to panic. "Hello?" I said.

"Miss Morgan?" a female voice on the other end spoke.

"Speaking," I said.

The woman identified herself as one of the nurses from the hospital, and I felt a strange sensation grab hold of me. Something was wrong, I knew it. I had only told the nurses to call if something was wrong. "Is everything all right?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You would be well-advised to come down here now, and to hurry," the nurse said. "Things aren't looking so well at this moment."

"What's going on?" I said, my voice shaking. "Is Paul all right?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Morgan. The fever spiked at forty-one degrees Celsius, which in your American terms is one hundred-six. He's been hallucinating and calling for you for about the past ten minutes. The prognosis so far is looking rather grim, to be honest with you. The doctors aren't sure if he's going to make it."

"No!" I exclaimed without even thinking. I felt the tears start to flow. "I'll be there in just a few minutes." I hung up the phone and got up, snatching my jeans and shirt off the floor. I dressed quickly and grabbed my handbag and coat, checked to make sure I had my keys, and left my apartment hurriedly. I don't know how I was able to drive, but I did, and I made it to the hospital in a mere seven minutes. I had to hurry. It didn't look like I had much time left with Paul, and I had to get to him as quickly as I could.


PAUL: Where is Allie and why hasn't she come yet? I have been calling for her and calling for her and she's not here. People move in and out of my sight, telling me she's coming, but she's still not here. Why? I know she wouldn't leave me here by myself. Where is she?

I keep seeing things, things that I'm not even sure are really here, and I heard someone tell another person that I must be hallucinating. If I am indeed, this is horrifying. Even when I close my eyes, the sights before me are terrifying, and I can't seem to hide from them no matter how hard I try. I can't breath, can't think... part of me wonders if I am dying. If I am, I just pray that Allie gets here in time. I can't die without seeing her one last time.


ALLIE: I made it to the hospital and went immediately to Paul's room. I didn't even stop at the nurses' station to ask consent, they knew I was coming anyway. I pushed open the door to his room, and my hand flew to my mouth. He was tossing and turning, screaming my name in a voice I had never heard before, a voice filled with sheer terror and distress. I sat on the bed beside him and took his hand. "Paul, it's me!" I said. "It's all right now. I'm here."

He looked at me, and I saw recognition in his eyes. At least he wasn't hallucinating to the point that he didn't even know me. "Allie!" he exclaimed. "You're here!"

"Of course I am!" I said, crying. "I couldn't get here fast enough!" I held him close. "I'm here."

He was having difficulty breathing, even after I helped him put on the oxygen mask, and I felt a cold fear run through my veins. He sounded as if he was dying, and I couldn't accept that. He couldn't die. Not now. Not like this.

I held him quietly, stroking his hair and whispering softly in his ear. "Don't leave me," I murmured. "Please don't leave me."

"I don't... know if... I can... promise you... I won't... leave you," Paul answered, his voice thin. "I think... I think I... might be-"

"Don't say that, please!" I exclaimed. "You can't! You're not dying, Paul, don't even say such a thing!"

"I think... I am." His voice was barely even a whisper now, so quiet that it was almost inaudible. "I'm... so sorry. Not... just for you... for the... others. For John... and..." He couldn't keep talking, he was so winded. I sobbed harder, tightening my hold on him. "No!" I cried. "Not now! Please, not now, I'm begging you! Fight for me, please! Please, Paul, don't do this to me! Don't do this to John, don't do this to any of us!"

"Can't... promise... that... either." He fought to take a deep breath, and I pulled the oxygen mask back up over his nose and mouth. "I... love... you... Allie," he said a few moments later. "I'm... not... doing... this... on... purpose. I..."

"I love you too, Paul. Please, just don't do this to me. I can't make it without you. I can't live without you. I refuse to live without you. If you leave me, I won't be able to live anymore."

He didn't respond for a long moment. "I'm... sorry...baby," he finally spoke up. "Just... hold... me... please."

I held him, not saying a word for quite some time. He was going to leave me. How in the world was I going to make it without him by my side at all times? There was no way I could live without Paul, it just wasn't even possible. I would have no reason to keep living without him. I would have no choice but to take my own life if he left me, as why would I want to still be on this earth without him? What would there be to live for? I would have nothing to live for, no reason to even continue to exist.

Paul spoke again after a long while, saying the words that gave me a reason to be alive. "I... love... you... Allie," he said. "I'm... sorry."

"I love you too, Paul. It's all right," I said. I couldn't believe that I was telling him that it was all right if he died. What did it matter? I'd be joining him soon enough anyway if he did.

The room fell silent, and it was at that moment that I noticed the machines to which he had been wired- the heart monitor, the oxygen, everything- had ceased their quiet noisemaking. I glanced up at the heart monitor, only for my eyes to be met with a flat line moving across the screen. His chest wasn't rising and falling rhythmically, and I didn't feel a pulse. I felt tears fill my eyes again, and I didn't even try to stop them. I just held him closer as I cried, even though he no longer knew I was even holding him.

Paul was dead.