"Ah, come on, Robert, that's rubbish!", the usually calm Briton suddenly interrupted, "You're killing yourself because of some misguided thought of reuniting with your family? Do you really think that's the way it works, die and live happily ever after? Open your eyes, Robert! You've lost your mind!"
Everyone in the room was now staring at Tom who's whole body was shaking, his fists clenched.
"You don't know what I know", Robert countered, his voice quiet and weak, "I've seen her, Tom. I've seen Kate. She was there, it was really her. It's not just in my mind but I know she's waiting for me. Too long already."
Tom sighed, shaking his head.
"Have you ever listened to yourself, Rob? Do you hear what you're saying?", he said then, "That's nonsense."
"If you don't believe me, why don't you ask her?", Robert suggested quietly, now looking at Liz.
She gulped, realizing how Tom was staring at her with his brows furrowed in confusion.
"What is he talking about?", he wanted to know, never keeping his eyes off her, "I don't understand..."
"Tom, it's not that easy", she replied, quickly looking at him, back at Robert, then back at him, nervously rubbing her hands, "I don't quite know how to explain..."
"Try", Tom insisted and shrugged, "I want to know the truth."
Liz bit her lip and grabbed his arm, leading him out of the room, through the endless and crowded corridors of the hospital, through the foyer until they got outside, raindrops pouring down on their heads.
"I-... I've seen her", she said then, her hands trembling just like the rest of her body, "I've seen Kate, talked to her and... He's not hallucinating, Tom, it's the truth."
He shook his head in disbelief, staring right into her warm brown eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me?", was all he asked, his voice shaky.
Liz uttered a sigh and closed her eyes, running her fingers through her hair.
"When I found out", she eventually continued, "I thought I was crazy,- yes, insane. I thought I had lost my mind. She was just standing there. A woman, I have never in my life seen before, talking to me like she was-..." She gulped, shaking her head. "Like she was real. But she was dead. Can you imagine what kind of mess my head had become? I was talking to a ghost!"
"Liz", Tom insisted, reaching out for her hand but she just moved away, not allowing his touch.
"Can you imagine how many tests I've made, how many doctors I've visited to find out what was wrong with me?", she added then and I realized the single tear that was now streaming down her cheek, barely able to recognize because of all the rain that blended in with it, "And each of them told me exactly the same, told me there was nothing wrong with me. So, yes, I didn't tell you because how were you supposed to believe me when I couldn't even believe myself?"
He took a deep breath, smiling sadly, as he eventually wrapped his arms around her body, holding her close to his chest while he caressed her hair.
"I'm sorry", he apologized then, biting his lip, "I didn't mean to shout at you. It's just..."
He hesitated for a second, closing his eyes.
"He's my best friend", he added almost inaudibly, his voice about to fail, "He's my best friend..."
And for a while, both of them simply stood there in the cold rain, holding each other tightly, reassuring each other that the world hadn't ended yet.
"Mum!", I suddenly heard a dull voice shouting, "Mummy!"
Immediately, I opened my eyes and fell to my knees, the earth around me moving again.
"Grace?", I asked anxiously, reaching out for her hand to press her petite body against my chest, my arms wrapped around her tightly, "What's happening? Everything's about to be destroyed..."
Her big brown eyes looked up to me.
"It's inevitable", she said then, "You don't have to be afraid, mum. Everything's going to be better once it's over. Trust me."
I gulped, biting my lip, and tucked a strand behind her ear.
"We're going to be alright, mum", she assured me again, "Stay with daddy."
I nodded hesitantly and closed my eyes, desperately trying to escape this chaos.
But when I arrived at the hospital again, Tom and Liz weren't there any longer, they were no longer waiting outside. So, I started to run.
Run, through the hallways whereby everything seemed to be on fast forward, passing by faster than anyone could have possibly seen. And within a heartbeat, I was back there. Back in his room where those eyes I hadn't seen for years were now staring at Robert, still no sign of Tom or Liz.
"Junior", the older man whispered in shock, staring at his son, "What happened to you?"
I covered my mouth with my hands, taking a step back as my eyes filled with tears.
Hesitantly, Robert opened his eyes.
"Dad", he exhaled scarcely audible, swallowing hard, "What-... What are you doing here?"
"What I'm doing here?", his father repeated, rolling his eyes, "Your friend called me, saying you were at the hospital, saying you were in a bad condition. Your sister and I took the first flight to get here..."
"A- Allyson? Y- You brought Allyson here?", Robert countered in surprise, "Why did you do that?"
Suddenly, the brown-haired woman emerged from the shadows, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Because I care about you, Rob", she then insisted, desperately trying to fight against the upcoming tears in her eyes.
Robert gulped and closed his eyes again.
"Ally", he whispered then, slightly shaking his head, "You should not have come here..."
"You're ill, Bobbie", she interrupted him, walking over to his bed where she sat down, reaching out for his hands, "You need help. I've talked to your doctor. We both have..." She quickly turned around to the older man before she faced her brother again. "You're in a critical condition but he can save your life."
"Maybe", he agreed weakly, faking a smile, "But I don't want to be saved, Ally. She's waiting for me."
Suddenly, his father started to laugh.
"Of course it's because of her", he mumbled then, shaking his head, "It has always been about her. Don't you see that, junior?"
"Dad", the woman insisted strictly, begging him to be quiet.
But he didn't pause.
"Ever since you've been with that woman-..."
"Kate!", Robert insisted decisively, his voice now deeper and more powerful, "Her name's Kate. Don't you dare to talk about her like that!" He clenched his fists, shaking his head. "You don't know anything about her or what we had! Or did you forget what has happened when I asked her to marry me? Did you forget how you told me you'd never talk to me again as long as I was with her?"
The older man gulped and bit his bottom lip, rubbing his hands.
"Well, I do remember, dad", he continued then, breathing heavily, "I remember the times I've called you, the times I've invited you to our wedding. And of course our wedding itself. Everyone was there. Except you. My own father." He took another deep breath, panting for some fresh oxygen to invade his lungs. "You thought she'd drag me down, thought she was bad for me. Although she was the only thing bright that has ever stepped into my life. How wrong you've been..."
"She did drag you down, junior!", his father now shouted at him, "Don't you see where we are? Don't you see what's happening to you? All because of her!"
"Go!", Robert yelled back at his father with the last of his strength, "Go, leave me alone! I never wanted you to-..."
Suddenly, he paused, desperately trying to catch his breath.
"Bobbie?", Allyson asked with tears in her eyes, as her brother's whole body seemed to relax and the monitor next to his bed started to beat rapidly.
Immediately, the doors opened and the doctor, followed by a few nurses, entered to room.
"Everyone needs to get out, now!", he announced strictly, already reaching out for the defibrillator while the father and his daughter were pushed outside, both of them staring at the doctor who was trying to save their beloved son and brother.
"I just can't believe this is happening", Allyson stuttered quietly, her eyes wide open, "We should have never allowed this..."
"Do you think this is my fault?", the older man asked as both of them sat down on the chairs in the hallway, still in shock, holding each other's hand.
"Of course not", his daughter assured him, smiling sadly, "None of us could have known, could have changed anything."
"But if I had been there", he countered apathetically, lost in his thoughts, "If I had been a better father... I should have cared about him."
"This is not your fault", she assured him again, enhancing every single word.
But the opening doors and the doctor with those big eyes, marked by that well known sad expression, who walked towards them caught her attention.
She got up the instant she had seen the man in the white lab coat, eventually letting go of her father's hand who was still staring at a place far away from reality.
"We got it", the man said quietly, nodding reassuringly, "It'll probably take some time until he's going to wake up again but-..." He hesitated for a second, realizing the tears in the woman's eyes. "If you like to, you can already get in, stay with him. He'll need every possible support right now. Maybe-... Maybe you can talk to him. Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't do anything for him."
Allyson nodded slightly, quickly wiping away her tears.
"I'll talk to him", she replied then and turned around, facing her father, "Alone."
But the man simply closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to deal with his sorrow on his own while his daughter entered her brother's room again, quietly sitting down next to his bed, holding his hand in silence.
"You know him", she mumbled almost inaudibly, biting her bottom lip, "You know he doesn't mean it that way. He's just an old, stubborn man. Stubborn like you." She hesitated for a second, softly squeezing her brother's hand as she eventually allowed her tears to fall. "We love you, Bobbie. We only want the best for you. I know what she meant to you. I've seen it. The sparkle in your eyes every time you've talked about her, the smile on your lips every time you've said her name." She smiled sadly. "Dad didn't mean it that way. You just have to understand what he's going trough, Bobbie. He's about to lose you, his son. If you see it or not but he cares about you, and he's blaming himself for what you've become. Just promise me not to give up, promise me to fight. I'm sure that's exactly what she would have wanted you to do."
But like she had already expected, he didn't reply. His eyes remained closed and she simply watched his chest slowly rise and fall in a comforting rhythm.
"When did you stop loving life, Bobbie?", she asked then, gently caressing the back of his hand with her thumb.
"You don't love life itself, Ally", he suddenly countered, his voice even weaker than before, gasping for air after every third word he spoke, "You love people or places, music or memories you have of those-... Those people in most cases." He coughed, faking a smile. "And sometimes you meet someone who is like the lost piece of your puzzle called life. Someone who requires all the love you have to give. That person is like the air you're breathing. It's-... Inalienable." He closed his eyes, panting for some fresh air. "And if you lose that someone, you think everything else is gonna stop, too. But that's false. The world doesn't stop spinning because of one simple human being, no matter how special that person was to you. No, the world keeps spinning and everything else just keeps on going."
Allyson gulped, tightening the grip around his hand.
"You can't imagine the pit of despair, the hours of lamentations, the-...", he swallowed hard, "Burden of existence... Someone once said that you can miss a single being, even though you are surrounded by countless others", he added scarcely audibly, "And although she was not inherently different than anyone else, she was everything to me. Everyone else, those people... Those people are like-... Like extras. They cloud your vision, they're a meaningless crowd. They-... They're an unwelcome distraction."
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"So, I'm meaningless?", she concluded quietly, shaking her head, "An unwelcome distraction? A-... A cloud?"
"No, no, of course not, Ally", he countered immediately, recognizing the tears in his sister's eyes, "You're not a cloud, okay?"
She sobbed, quickly wiping away her tears.
"But basically, you're trying to tell me we're not worth living for, worth fighting for", she assumed, staring out of the window, "Because it seems like-..." She swallowed hard. "Bobbie, you're going to die if you don't let Coulson perform surgery on you. He's your last chance. And if you're not going to do it for yourself, do it for me. Because I wouldn't stand losing you."
"Ally-", he wanted to say but was cut off by her.
"Please", she begged with tears in her eyes, "Please, Bobbie."
He closed his eyes, breathing in and out, letting the oxygen curse into his lungs.
"Please...", she pleaded once more before her voice failed.
Robert gulped and took another deep breath.
"Okay", he eventually deferred, "Call Coulson. Tell him I'm ready."
Immediately, a smile formed on her lips, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her brother's body.
"But-", he added then, making her move away from him again, "Tell him he can perform his surgery. But if anything happens-... If that broken heart of mine is going to stop beating again..." He shook his head. "Let it be. Just let me die in peace. That's all I'm asking for."
She smiled sadly and wiped away her last tears.
"I guess I can't change your mind anyway, can I?", she asked, faking a smile to hide her fear.
After a moment of hesitation and simply looking into each other's eyes, trying to find out whether this was a goodbye or not, she eventually got up and nodded slightly.
"Okay", she agreed then, finally letting go of his hand.
"Thank you", he whispered almost inaudibly, smiling at her one last time, "And Ally?"
She paused, about to open the door.
"Tell Liz I'd like to see her one last time", Robert continued then, "I need to talk to her. Urgently."
After a moment of silence, she eventually muttered something sounding like a sure before she eventually left his room.
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Heii!
So, now there's only one chapter left :o Still can't believe it's almost over...
You might also want to check out some of my other stories ;)
Anyway, what do you think?
Any predictions?
And although it's already late but what did you think of Age of Ultron? I've already seen it three times, absolutely in love with the movie!
Love,
Sarah :)