Hatchetfield Stories

Some Things Are Worth It

Hello and welcome to me
1) suddenly having a lot of inspiration after a month of not writing
2) ignoring everything that happened in Forever & Always
3) once again using a Starry song for a Paulkins fic, this time On The Threshold Of Eternity

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-Minor character death
-Violence
-Gun violence
-Needles
-Hospitals

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When Paul woke up, he noticed the tight restraints before he even opened his eyes. The steady beeping of the heart monitor next to his ear already annoyed him, and he blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the bright lights in the room.

A man, probably a doctor or a scientist, talked to a woman in a military uniform.

"Yes, colonel, he'll probably wake up soon. Our last tests all proved that the cure worked, but as you can see, we restrained him for both his and our safety."

"Good. Let me know when he's ready to talk." Her boots clacked on the tiles of the hospital floor as she left the room.

The man turned to Paul, and smiled at him when he noticed he had opened his eyes. "Ah, awake, I see."

Paul tried to move into a sitting position, but the strap around his chest stopped him. "Wha- What happened?" he managed to get out, his voice shaking and raspy.

"Young man, you've been infected by an alien virus that somehow managed to make its way into your hometown. You're lucky to be alive. Dozens of scientists have worked weeks developing a cure, and you're the first one we could save."

Paul's eyes widened as the memories came back. The coffee at Beanies, the professor's bunker, Alice's school, the helicopter crash, the meteor. And so much blue...

Emma.

"Where's Emma?" Paul asked, tugging at the restraints, but still too weak to actually attempt to free himself.

"We moved all of the infected into cells, I assume you'll find her there. Now, young man, what's your name?"

"Paul Matthews! Now let me see her!" The beeping of the heart monitor quickened as he desperately tried to free himself from the restraints. "I left her alone! I have to-"

"Mister Matthews, calm down, we have to make sure-"

"No! Let me go! Emma!"

The doctor pressed a button before his hands moved to hold Paul down. An alarm sounded somewhere in the distance, but Paul didn't hear it. He had to get to Emma.

The woman in the military uniform who was there earlier rushed into the room, moving to Paul's side with long strides. Her hands hovered over his struggling body, before she ran to the other side of the room, grabbing a syringe from a tray.

"We can't take any chances." She told the doctor, prodding the needle into Paul's neck.

The woman and the doctor both took a step back as the sedative kicked in.

"Emma..." Paul muttered as his eyes slipped closed.

*** *** ***

"It's been weeks, and you still can't get near her?" Paul asked, nervously tapping his hands together.

"No, Paul..." Colonel Schaffer sighed. "She's fighting. It's too dangerous to go into her cell, she's very unpredictable. Whenever the door opens, she screams. We've already lost two soldiers who tried to calm her down. She keeps asking for you."

"I'll go in."

"No, Paul, it's too dangerous, you can't-"

"She knows me. Maybe I can calm her down enough to give her the vaccine."

"I don't know... No one else was this difficult."

Paul nodded. "She's tough. She won't give up without a fight. If you just let me-"

"We're sending a few soldiers in to try again. If that doesn't work, I'm afraid we have no choice but to put an end to it."

"But-"

"No buts. You haven't had proper training. I'm not taking the risk. You can watch the mission through the security cameras. You know where it is." Colonel Schaffer walked away before Paul could say anything else.

Paul ran to the security room, sitting down in one of the chairs. He anxiously bit his nails, something he hadn't done for years.

"Yo, Paul!" A voice said.

Paul jumped, turning around. "Ted? What are you doing here?"

"There's not much to do around here and they won't let us go until everyone is cured. I might as well come here."

Paul nodded, turning back to the screen. Two men were in Emma's cell now, both of them were heavily armed and one was holding a tray with a few syringes. The cure.

He clicked on a button to turn the sound on, and Emma's shouts sounded through the room immediately. "BRING ME TO PAUL!"

Ted chuckled. "Wow, for someone that short she can make a lot of noise."

Paul was too focused on the screen to respond. Emma had taken one of the guns of a soldier and was aiming it.

The bullet hit him in the forehead and he crumpled to the floor, dropping the tray.

The other soldier pulled his tranquilizer from his belt, but Emma was too quick. She grabbed his arm, bending it in a way that an arm shouldn't bend. The soldier cried out in pain, but before he could grab his gun, Emma's nails were digging into his stomach, slowly pulling his guts out as the soldier could do nothing but scream.

Paul stood up. "I'm going in."

Ted grabbed his arm. "Dude, are you fucking insane? She'll kill you."

"She won't. I know it." Before Ted could stop him, he was running down the halls.

Paul came to a stop in front of Emma's cell, the heavy door had multiple locks, but only one of them was locked. The door opened, and he was immediately greeted with a gun aimed at him.

"Emma, put the gun down," he spoke calmly, taking a slow step towards her.

Emma dropped the gun and threw herself into his arms. "Paul!"

Paul rubbed her back. "Hey, Em..."

Emma looked up at him. "I missed you."

Paul smiled. "I missed you too. Do you think you can let me give you a vaccine? Then you can get out of her."

"NO! I'm happy now!"

"Really? You don't seem like it." Paul said, eyeing the bodies on the floor.

"They locked me in here! Paul, you have to help me!"

"I will. Just let me give you a quick vaccine. It won't hurt, I promise."

Tears rolled down Emma's cheeks. "Paul, please!"

Paul sighed. He wished it didn't have to come to this. But he had to calm her down.

"A moment's glimpse of death. It smiles at my door." He started to sing, trying to calm her down. She liked music, right? Or at least the alien in her did.

"Heaven isn't near, but that's what this hell is for..." Emma buried her face into his chest, gripping his shirt tightly with both hands.

"I'm falling, I'm falling away. Forgetting the reason I stay." Emma's breathing evened out, and Paul could feel her muscles relax. He kept singing.

"If something could light up the darkness that consumes my way."

Paul swayed her body gently at the rhythm of the song. "Sitting on the threshold of eternity. Dousing out your flame, burying your shame. What's the use of trying if you can't be free, as you're fading every day... On the threshold of eternity."

"There's only one moment, my mind feels pure."

"There's only one moment, your mind feels pure." Emma echoed, her beautiful voice filling the room.

Paul smiled. "Working's my sole hope for any cure."

"Working's your sole hope for any cure...'

"They call you a madman, well so much the worse. You know that you're crazy, you know that you're cursed."

"This fracture inside, we can no longer hide, as our seam splits in this universe," they sang together.

"Shine..." Emma sang, smiling at Paul.

"Sitting on the threshold of eternity." Paul smiled back.

"Sunlight..."

"Drowning in your pain."

"Together we'll see..."

"Burning in your brain." Paul grabbed one of the syringes from the fallen tray.

"Both sunlight and storms..."

"What's the use of trying if you can't be free..."

"Fading..."

"Fading every day..."

"On the threshold of eternity," they sang together, smiling at each other

"On the threshold of eternity..." Paul sang, uncapping the syringe and slowly poking it into Emma's skin. Her smile didn't fade, even as her eyes closed.

The door burst open, revealing a very angry Colonel Schaffer.

"I said you couldn't enter!"

"Yeah, but I-"

"And you sang. We'll have to do a few tests to make sure you're still human."

Paul nodded as the colonel grabbed his arm, leading him out of the room. He caught one last glimpse of someone lifting Emma onto a stretcher before the door closed.

*** *** ***

Paul was human. He knew that already, he was just trying to calm Emma down, but because he had sung for her they had to make sure.

Paul was alone in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting to receive any news on Emma's condition.

Ted entered with a smirk, leaning against the doorframe.

"Seriously, Paul? Fuckin' Starry? I thought you hated musicals!"

"I do! Alice made me sing it with her and I happened to remember the song. How do you know it? You don't seem like a theatre nerd either."

"Ha! Absolutely not! But that one coworker of Emma was, her name is Cloe or Zoey or something. She's hot. And women like it when you listen to them. Too bad I didn't get laid that night, because she wanted to see some stupid show. But back to you, why did you sing for her? What happened to never wanting to sing or dance? Hasn't this whole musical alien thing damaged your sanity enough?"

"You know what... Some things are worth it."