"Okay. Okay. And how do we do that?" I question quickly.
"We need to get her to Metro-General. Christine can help," he says, looking back down.
"How far away is that?" I ask. He doesn't answer. "Stephen, how far away is the hospital?" yet again, no answer. He's too focused on the Ancient One. I look at the crowd that surrounds us. Their phones are out recording the scene. That's when an idea pops into my head.
"How far is Metro-General from here?!" I scream out. No one seems to hear me. I take my hand off Stephen and step back. "Hey, anyone! How far is Metro-General from here?!" I scream again, this time with anger and panic laced in my voice. No response. I see a few people looking back at me and some rolling their eyes. That's it. I've had it. I storm over to the nearest person. They look at me with a confused look. I wave my hand in front of his phone. "Hey, instead of recording a dying woman like a moron how about you look up how far away Metro-General is," I say in his face. I probably look like a crazy woman with my clothes and my scarred face.
"I- Uh..." he stutters. The girl beside him nudges his shoulder.
"Look it up, babe. This person is dying," she says with concern. He looks at her and nods.
"Okay, yeah." He stops recoding and looks at his phone for a minute. He looks back up. "It's a twenty-minute walk and about an eight-minute drive," he says.
"Thank you," I say to him. I turn to the girl. "Thank you so much." She smiles and nods.
"Of course." I turn back around and run over to Stephen.
"It's a twenty-minute walk, but we can take a cab," I explain. He snaps his head at me with wide eyes.
"No. No cab," he says with a scared tone.
"Why not? It will be a lot quicker?" I ask confusedly.
"Because I said so," he snaps back. I back up from shock and shake my head.
"Okay. Okay, that's fine, but twenty minutes is too long," I say. He shakes his head.
"You're right. She won't las that long. She's losing blood. Fast."
"What else can we do?" I question. That's when his eyes light up.
"Y/n, come over here and see if she has her sling ring," he says, turning back to her. I run over and bend down. I can see the blood pool forming around us on the concert. It makes me nauseous. I can see that Stephen's hands are pressed on her wound made by Kaecilius' glass sword. His hands are visibly shaking. She's all battered and bleeding. "Y/n, the sling ring," he says again knocking me out of my thoughts.
"Okay, yeah," I say, nodding my head. I look down to her hands nearest to me and see her sling ring. I slowly take it off of her fingers. "Okay, I found it." Stephen looks back up at me.
"Good. Now, I need you to make a portal into Metro-General," he says.
"What!? No, I can't do that. I've only been there once. I forgot what it even looks like. What about you? Or Mordo?" I ask with fear in my voice.
"I can't let go of the Ancient One. My hand is the only think preventing her from bleeding out, and Mordo has never even been to New York City for all I know. You are the only one that can do it," he explains.
"Stephen, I- I don't think I can. You haven't prepared me for this. I've only done it once, and I almost died," I say, my breathing starting to get erratic.
"Look at me, kid. Y/n, look at me," he says calmly. I look into his eyes. I can see the fear and the panic, but I can also see that he is trying to stay calm for me. "You have to do this. You are the Ancient One's only hope."
"Okay. Okay..." I breath out, shutting my eyes and swallowing hard.
"Think of all the details of the hallway. Think of the smells and how you felt," he tries to explain. I look back at him and nod. I slowly stand up and put the sling ring on my fingers. I turn around and face the crowd. I close my eyes again and focus on my breathing. Once I feel my heartbeat get slower, I start thinking of the hallway at Metro-General. The way it smelt of blood from Stephen's wound and the faint scent of cleaning supplies. I see the gurney and the blue and white walls. I start waving my hands, and I hear a faint crackling sound.
"You did it, y/n!" I hear Stephen yell. I open my eyes and see a portal into Metro-General. I drop my arms. I stare at it in shock. I look behind me and see Stephen picking the Ancient One up in his arms.
"I'm going to stay behind and deal with this crowd," Mordo says to us. Stephen nods.
"Thank you Mordo. You do what you need to," Stephen says. Let's go, y/n," he runs into the portal, and I run in behind him. I turn back around and see the crowd peering in. Their eyes are wide and full of shock and confusion. I quickly raise my hand and close the portal. I turn around and see Stephen placing her on the nearest gurney. I run over to them. "We have to find Christine," he says. I nod. Two male nurses run over to us.
"Doctor Strange? Is that you?" one of them asks that's wearing green scrubs.
"What are you doing here? We haven't seen you in forever," the other one questions that's wearing navy scrubs.
"Joseph. Wally. I don't have time to explain. I need your help. Where is Christine?" Stephen asks quickly. Without hesitation they get around the gurney and start rolling the Ancient Once down the hallway.
"We'll take you to her," the one in green says.
"Follow us," the one in blue states. Dang, they must have a lot of respect for Stephen just to drop everything and help him without asking what's going on. They start running down the hallway with the gurney, and I follow closely behind. As they do one of the nurses puts an oxygen mask on the Ancient One and hooks it up to the tank that is on the gurney.
"Christine!" Stephen yells as we turn the corner. "Christine!" I see a lot of doctors and nurses in the big ER room. I look up to see Christine looking over in horror.
"Oh my God!" she exclaims. She runs over to us in a panic.
"It's not fibrillation. She has a stunned myocardium," Stephen explains as we keep running through the room.
"Neurogenic?" Christine asks.
"Yes," Stephen replies.
"We are going to take her into this operating theater," Christine states as they start rolling her through a pair of double doors. More doctors and nurses are rushing through to help. I start to go through when I feel a strong set of hands on my shoulders stop me. I look up and see Stephen staring down at me. His face is trying to remain calm while his eyes are full of panic.
"Look, you can't come in here. It's an active surgery, and you don't have clearance," he explains.
"No, Stephen. No. You can't leave me," I start, trying to push against him.
"I'm sorry, y/n. You can't come in here," he says again, shaking his head and looking away.
"Stephen, stop!" I scream. My heart feels like it's about to beat out my chest.
"Wally, can you help me out?" he asks the nurse as he walks out of the room.
"Yeah, of course," he responds.
"I'll be back, y/n. I promise. I just have to go take care of the Ancient One," he says as he lets go and slips in. I start to walk in when Wally grabs my arm.
"You son of a bitch!" I yell after Stephen. I try pulling against Wally's grip, but it's too strong.
"Ma'am, you can't go in there," he says. I look at him with disgust.
"I know Doctor Stephe Strange. He's my friend. I can go in there," I say, tears threatening to spill over.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. Even if you do know him. You can't go in there," he explains. I sigh and take a step back from the doors, knowing that I'll never make it in there. Wally drops my arm, and he walks in front of me. "Ma'am, are you alright? Do you need to be checked out? You have a lot of blood on you," Wally says with wide eyes.
"Hmm?" I look down at my arms and clothes and see blood all over. Could be mine, Stephen's, and the Ancient One's or a mix of all three. "Dang, I didn't notice that," I say.
"Are you hurt?" he asks with concern.
"No, no. I'm fine. It's not mine. Can you point me to the nearest bathroom, so I can get cleaned up?" I ask.
"Yeah, of course." He points down the hallway that we entered from. "It's right down there, and you'll take a left. You'll see the waiting room and right next to it is the bathrooms," he explains.
"Thank you," I say turning. Before I have a chance to leave, Wally places his arm on my shoulder. I turn back around.
"Hey, once your down cleaning up, take a seat in the waiting room. If anything happens, anything at all, I'll come and get you. Is that okay with you?" he says with kindness. I give him a slight smile.
"Thank you, Wally. Yes, that sounds good. It means a lot," I respond with a nod.
"Good. I'll let you get cleaned up then." I turn away and start walking through the room, trying to ignore the cries and people bustling around me. In this moment, I decided that I hate the ER. It makes me want to vomit.
I turn the left and see the waiting room Wally was talking about. People start to pass me and whisper and give me strange looks. But I mean I don't blame them. I look like a mess. I know if I saw me walking down the hallway of a hospital, I would stare as well.
I find the bathroom and slip in. As I go to think sinks, a woman comes out of one of the stalls. She instantly stares at me in confusion and shock. I give her a slight smile. She looks down, walks to the sinks, quickly washes her hands, and leaves without drying them. I sigh and walk over to the sink. I look at myself in the mirror. I'm a mess. I turn on the hot water and put my hands under. I take the soap and start scrubbing my hands, trying to rid them of the Ancient One's blood. My hands shake as I scrub them violently. I wish Stephen was here. I wish he could wash my hands like he did before. He comforted me. Tears start welling up in my eyes thinking about the Ancient One and whole situation, but I push them back down. I can't think like that. She'll be okay. She's the Ancient One. She can't die.
After what seems like forever, I shut the sink off and wipe my hands off. I fix my hair in the mirror and decide that I'm a little more presentably than I was before. I walk outside and go over to the waiting room. There were a lot of hushed conversations and people crying and distraught, so no one gave me any thought. I spot a seat with no one around and sit down. I hate feeling this helpless with nothing to do. I don't even have a phone to pass the time on. I stare out of the large window overlooking the tall buildings of New York City. The lights almost make it seem beautiful.
I look to my right and see a little boy maybe around eight years old look back at me with wide eyes. He's Caucasian with light brown hair, green eyes, and a slight sprinkle of freckles across his face. He's a very cute little boy. I smile at him, and he quickly looks down. I laugh to myself and continue looking around when I hear a small voice speak up.
"What are you?" it asks. I look back at the boy and see that it was coming from him.
"Me?" I ask, pointing to myself. He nods quickly.
"Yeah, you have a weird outfit on," he explains.
"Well, I'm a... I'm a wizard," I answer with a little laugh. I mean I'm not lying. His eyes go wide.
"A wizard?!" he exclaims. I put my finger up to my lips.
"Shhhh it's a secret. But I think you're trustworthy. Can you keep a secret?" I ask quietly. He nods his head.
"Can you do magic tricks?" he whispers.
"I can," I respond with a smile.
"Can you show me?" he asks scooting closer.
"Now, it wouldn't be a secret if I just did it front of everyone now would it?" I ask. He shakes his head with a sigh. "What's your name?" I question.
"Conner," he replies with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you, Conner. I'm y/n." I look around trying to find someone who is responsible for the boy, but I don't see anyone paying attention to him. I look back. "What are you doing here, Conner?" I ask.
"My mom is having a baby. My dad didn't want me in the room, so now I'm waiting for my grandma to show up," he says with a slight frown.
"Aww that's so exciting!" I exclaim. "Why do you seem so down?" he shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't want a baby brother. I just want it to be me," he responds.
"Hey! Baby brothers are the best," I say with a smile.
"How do you know?"
"Oh well, I-" I stop mid-sentence. I think about Gavin. I think about the blood. I swallow hard.
"Are you okay, y/n?" Conner asks. I look back up and push back the thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah. I had- have. I have a younger brother. His name is Gavin," I explain. I decide to tell him a partial truth. He's too young to know about death. Today is supposed to be a happy day for him. "I love him so much. We are best friends. Just like you and your brother will be." Conner's lips curl into a smile.
"His name will be Gavin too," he says. My heart beats fast and my eyes go glassy.
"That's so sweet," I respond with a crack in my voice. "Gavin is a cool name."
"Because you and your Gavin are best friends, I bet me, and my Gavin will be best friends too!" he exclaims. I give a laugh.
"I bet so too, buddy. You seem like you are going to be a great big brother." In that moment all felt calm. I could almost feel Gavin's presence in the room.
Suddenly, a chill runs down my spine. A wave a nausea washes over me. A disturbance. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something blue. I look over and my heart drops. I see the Ancient One is her astral form breaking through the mirror dimension. She looks at me and waves for me to come. I nod and quickly look back over to Conner.
"Hey, Conner can you do me a big favor?" I ask.
"What is it?"
"Can you watch me sleep for a few minutes and make sure no one messes with me? And if they do just say I'm your big sister or something," I explain.
"You can go to sleep that fast? Is this for a wizard thing?" he questions, excitedly.
"Yeah, it is," I whisper. His eyes go wide.
"Yeah. I'll say right here. I promise," he nods.
"Thank you, Conner. I'll be back. You are super." He gives a toothy grin.
I sink back into my chair and close my eyes. I take a deep breath and start counting to three.
One... two... three... I open my eyes and stare back into my asleep body in the chair. Ew, I look really disheveled. I look back at Conner smiling and the waiting room and everything moves in slow motion.
"Y/n," I hear a familiar voice call out to me. I turn around and see the Ancient One is her astral form as well. She looks so beautiful floating there with no signs of the damage done from the fall.
"Ancient One," I say my voice quivering. "Are you okay?" She gives over to me with a slight smile.
"I'm dying, y/n," she says softly. My heart drops. I shake my head violently.
"Then- Then you need to be back in your body. You're too susceptible and weak for your consciousness not to be there," I say my eyes welling up with tears.
"Y/n, we don't have much time before Stephen realizes that I'm here and not actually on the operating table," she says softly and calmly.
"I- I don't understand. Don't you want to live?" I ask pleadingly. She reaches out and grabs my hands.
"My sweet, y/n. I'm so, so glad I was able to meet you and be a part of your journey," she starts.
"No, no. You can still be a part of it. You can still fight. Stephen can save you. He's the best doctor here." She squeezes my hands and shakes her head.
"I knew you were coming. You are one of the best things to happen to this world. To Stephen. You will go so far in this life if you allow yourself. I sense so much potential in you. Potential to do amazing things, to become an amazing person," she explains.
"Ancient One, please..." Tears fall from my eyes.
"I know it's sudden, but no one lives forever." She sighs and looks down. Then, she looks back up, her eyes wide. "Stephen has realized. He's coming. But y/n, I want you to promise me something." I swallow hard.
"What?" I whisper out.
"Keep Stephen in line. Be there for him and let him be there for you. I can tell he has deep feelings for you, and I know you feel the same," she says. My face goes red.
"I don't have feel-"
"Promise me," she interrupts.
"I pro-" I start, my head reeling with questions and sadness when suddenly I hear Stephen's voice ring out over my own.
"What are you doing?" he asks. I look over and see him floating over to us in a hurry. The Ancient One releases my hands, and I watch her float away outside of the large window and onto the balcony. "Come on, you're dying!" Stephen yells to get her attention, but she keeps going to the balcony. He follows after her, and I follow closely after him, wiping the tears from my eyes. He goes to her left side, and I go next to him.
"You have to return to your body now. You don't have time," he pleads to her, his voice quivering. My heart hurts for him. I know he cares about her so much.
"That's what I said," I add.
"Time is relative," she says, not turning to us while looking off in the distance. "Your body hasn't even hot the floor yet," she says calmly. Stephen and I look into the distance too. We see the crackling of lightning in slow mow and a helicopter going to land on the building carrying a patient. For a second, I was in awe of the view.
"I've spent so many years peeing through time looking at this exact moment. But I can't see past it." Stephen and I look back towards her. "I've prevented countless, terrible futures. And after each one, there's always another. And they all lead here...but never further."
"You think this is where you die," Stephen speaks up.
"You wonder what I see in your future?" she asks him. I swallow hard knowing what she told me about mine.
"No," she says, shaking his head. She looks at him and gives a slight smile. "Yes," he restates dropping his head. She turns back to the sky.
"I never saw your future. Only its possibilities." Stephen looks back at her, his eyes wide. "You have such a capacity for goodness, like you've shown with y/n. You've always excelled but not because you craved success but because of your fear of failure," she explains.
"That's what made me a great doctor," Stephen adds.
"It's precisely what kept you from greatness." Stephen looks at her in confusion. "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significance lesson of all."
"Which is?" he questions intently.
"Life is more than about yourself," I let out. The Ancient One turns to us and nods.
"Precisely what y/n said." She looks directly at Stephen. "It's not about you." His eyes go wide. She looks away again.
"When you first came to me you, asked me how I was able to heal Jonathan Pangborn. I didn't." Thunder rumbles in the distance. It sends a shiver done my spine. "He channels dimensional energy directly into his own body."
"He uses magic to walk?" Stephen questions in astonishment.
"That's incredible," I say in shock.
"Constantly. He had a choice to return to his own life or to serve something greater than himself."
"So, I can have my hands back again," Stephen asks with a hopeful tone. "My old life?" My heart hurts at hearing that because I know I'm not a part of his old life, and he's not a part of mine. But I want him in my life. Always.
"You could. And the world would be all the lesser for it. For you and y/n both to go back to your old lives. I hated drawing power from the Dark Dimension. But as you well know sometimes one must break the rules in order to serve the greater good." Stephen turns his head from her. I see his eyes gleaming.
"Mordo won't see it that way" he says, turning back to her.
"Mordo's soul is rigid and unmovable forged by the fires of his youth. He needs your flexibility and y/n's compassion just as your both need his strength. Only together do you all stand a chance of stopping Dormammu," she explains.
"I'm not ready," Stephen says with uncertainty.
"Me neither," I say with a shaky voice.
"No one ever is. We don't get to choose our time." She grabs hold of Stephen's hand and instinctively Stephen grabs hold of mine. This is the first time I felt his hand not shake. I take it and squeeze it, letting him know I'm here with him. "Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered. Your time is short." I see a tear run down Stephen's cheek. The first time I've seen him cry since meeting him. My heart just breaks for him. I know how close he is with her. My eyes start overflowing as well, knowing that a woman that has turned into a good friend, a mentor, and almost like a mom to me is about to die. I feel Stephen squeeze my hand back. He takes his thumb and gently rubs the top of my hand with it.
"You'd think after all this time, I'd be ready. But look at me. Stretching one moment out into a thousand... just so I can watch the snow." Her eyes tear up as I look out with tears streaming down my face to watch the snow slowly fall down upon the city. Suddenly, I don't hear her anymore. I turn and she's gone.
"Stephen, where did she go?" I ask with concern. He turns to look and lets go of my hand. He looks back at me.
"I have to go back to the operating room," he says urgently, wiping the tears from his face.
"Stephen-" I start but he turns around and rushes back to the operating room where his body is without another word.
I stand there for a minute, looking at the snow, trying to take in what just happened. But I can't. I have to go back. I quickly go back over to my body back into the waiting room and wipe the tears from eyes. I take a deep breath and slowly sit back into my body.
I open my eyes to hear to voices and traffic of the hospital all around. The lights are bright and blink a few times to adjust my eyes.
"Are you okay, y/n? How did your wizard mission go? Are you done? You were only gone for a few seconds," I hear a voice speak to me. I look to see Conner's big, green eyes staring at me. I give a slight smile.
"It went well. I'm okay. Thank you for watching me." I stand up quickly. "Look, Conner, I have to go right now. But you are going to be a great big brother. Don't forget that," I say, my heart heavy, trying to keep my tears in.
"Thank you, y/n! It was nice to meet you." He smiles cheerfully.
"It was nice to meet you to, Conner."
"I will tell Gavin that you said 'Hi'," he says.
"I would love that," I whisper out. I wave at him and turn around before he sees the tears fall out of my eyes. I start briskly walking to the operating room where I had left Stephen and the Ancient One when I hear a man's voice in the distance.
"Conner! Your baby brother is here. Come and meet him!"
I start running to the operating room.
My mom died. My dad died. Gavin died. And now the Ancient One died. Who's next?