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As the Pain Sweeps Through
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The sight of so many mortals huddling together within this smallish room filled with dozens of chairs intrigued and pleased Zeus. Their panic rolled over him from so many feet away that he grew a bit dizzy with the rushing influx.
Finally those who recognized his magnificence and paid appropriate deference without requiring his force. The mortals' reaction to his arrival prompted him to set aside his original goal temporarily for their obvious temptations. With a broad grin, Zeus sauntered across the ICU waiting room toward the group clustered at the end farthest from him.
He enjoyed how the women shivered and the men tensed as he drew closer. Somehow, in this sea of modern audacity, these mortals harbored belief quite easily; already one in particular sent waves of power to him. Zeus eyed that person specifically as he strolled passed the empty chairs, an entire row sliding from his path.
"Your belief is unusually strong, mortal," he said a few feet away as two males made a futile effort to bar his path to the remaining humans hiding behind them.
"Excuse me?" One male, his tone lacking respect as he moved into Zeus's path, "What did you call him?"
The god cocked his head slightly, and without pausing a step, back-handed the man sending him flying across the room. The chairs broke the first man's trajectory with a splintering crash, and he landed in a tangle, dazed and semi-conscious. The women cried out and the other male bravely replaced the first, albeit with a touch of fear in his eyes. Zeus savored it. This was the one he preferred.
With a quicksilver strike, Zeus's arm snapped out and his large hand wrapped around the man's throat, lifting him upwards until only his toes brushed the floor. The man's fear multiplied, his fingers dug at Zeus's grip and the women screamed. One female leapt to save him, screaming the man's name, but Zeus stopped her with a casual wave of his free hand to her face. She crumpled to the carpet, unconscious. The mortal in his grasp said something like 'Ka...Ka', his eyes darting to following the fallen woman as his hands fought the god's fingers.
"Mmm..." Zeus pulled his catch in close, sniffing the air, "You, mortal, have the Sight, yes?" The man nodded as best he could, his face flushing as he gasped and choked. "You know who I am?" A slight shaking of the mortal's head..."Ah...but you know what I am, yes?" The man nodded again, his eyes bulging, spittle misting from his mouth as his gasps worsened, "You understand? You believe? I can taste it on you...
delicious." The man's hands slowed their battle against Zeus's choking grip, and his face shifted from red to purple.
"You're killing him!" Another woman, older than the first, protested loudly. She clutched a younger man behind her. The god's vision flicked from her back to his fortunate catch. The male did seem less lively...wouldn't do to finish him too quickly. And he did have other business here...
"Very well." Zeus released the man who dropped limply to the floor in a heap, his breathing ragged and deep as he struggled to regain his normal oxygen levels. "I shall return for this one. He is...
valuable."
"Who the hell are you?" The woman asked, her eyes flashing and her body held proudly; Zeus found her gumption both insulting and arousing. Perhaps he might take this mortal as well. Two steps brought him nose to nose with the female who pushed the boy farther back, his head barely peeking around her side.
"I am the god of gods, mortal." Reaching up he caressed her face with a fingertip delighting when she trembled, her eyes dilating against her will. "And I shall allow you to worship me with your body and soul." A strangled, wet sound escaped the woman's throat as Zeus trailed his finger lower, over the sensitive skin of her throat until he parted open her shirt, pushed down her bra, and fondled her peaked nipple. Frozen in his thrall, the woman's body erupted in spasms and Zeus lost himself momentarily in discovering her feminine amusements.
"Leave my mom alone!" Someone...the young male, impacted his flank. The boy's useless fists battered at Zeus's body.
"Leave off, boy!" He said in derision, not bothering to turn from his current prize as he shoved the nipping flea far from him.
"You should've listened to the boy, Father." A new voice spoke, feminine, confident and highly offensive to his ears. With a growl, Zeus spun in place, his new plaything forgotten at this long dreamt of threat now in his presence.
"Aphrodite! You whore daughter, I have a score to settle with you!" Instantly enraged, his hand outstretched toward her, but he faced not only face Aphrodite, but another daughter, Athena, and his son, Ares, as well. All three ranged in a horseshoe inside the doorway. They wore traditional togas of pristine white decked with mystical battle armor and weapons. Stunned, Zeus hesitated, he had not expected such offensive, and his mortal clothing flickered into a royal battle dress toga with a golden breast plate, gauntlets, and crown.
Shaking off Aphrodite's momentary psychological advantage, he said, "Well, I see your traitor siblings decided to join you. I expected this of you Athena, but Ares? My son, have you no sympathy for your betrayed father?"
Ares shrugged, his tanned, muscular shoulders brushing his medium length black hair, and his face impassive, "As much as I ever have, Father." Ares switched his plain, round, brass shield casually from hand to hand, his short sword still sheathed at his hip, "I abstained the first time Aphrodite challenged you eons ago, but you've gone too far this time, you endanger us all by harming so many." He smirked, showing his perfect pearly whites, "Can't let you do that." Zeus growled again, fists clenching, obviously his fickle son bore him no real consideration. So be it.
Athena spoke, her usually soft-spoken tone, hard...as hard as her star-bright eyes staring him down, "Your broken slumber has caused much damage these many years, Father. It is our duty to return you, permanently." His most serious daughter slid her war helmet down from the crown of her head to cover her serene face and long, wavy chestnut hair; the bronze obscuring all but her shrewd eyes glaring at him. He would find no reprieve from her just as he did not the first time and did not waste his breath. He scowled at them.
"So, Dad," Dee said with a grin and flip of her blond hair over her shoulder, "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" She pretended to ignore the humans still huddled behind her furious father and hoped he forgot them in his anger.
Dee continued to keep Zeus's attention on her and her siblings as they bantered while Sarah's family and friends slowly moved farther from the small field of battle warming up. A few random mortals hid farther away, Dee disregarded them as she knew want Zeus really wanted. She warded the entrances to the ICU waiting room, effectively isolating their battle from any mortal outside for the present, as long as no immortal crossed the barrier. As for Sarah...Dee hoped she was outside the wards; her survival being paramount.
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One second Sarah stood facing Dee in the in between place arguing about her destiny and exactly how to make her suckage of a choice, the next second the Pawtucket ICU engulfed her senses with Gerard's room front and center of her view. Initially, Sarah wished to race to Gerard's side. Having being told to choose with her heart, she assumed it whisked her back to his actual physical location until her brain processed what her vision witnessed.
A half dozen hospital employees working madly on her fiancé within the glass box-like enclosure of a room; one busy thrusting with great effort down on his chest as she counted out the compressions as another manually breathed for him with a bag over his mouth. But what drove home the gravity of the situation was the doctor yelling 'clear', the staff moving back a foot diameter, and Gerard's body jumping on the bed as the doctor shocked him with the defibrillation paddles.
"No..." Sarah whispered in disbelief, her hands coming to rest flat on the glass. Her heart decided on Jareth? Not Gerard? How could this be? She didn't remember actually deciding anything, just Dee urging to quickly choose as circumstances rapidly escalated. Something to the tune of they needed to return and she must decide now. The next moment...she stood face to glass witnessing her fiancé's death.
The doctor said 'clear' again and Gerard's body spasmed with the powerful electrical shock, his arms flailing limply. A sharp pain shot through her chest and she pressed a fist to her heart until silent tears sprang forth. Why was it so hard to breathe? Why did it burn every time she tried to say his name? She pushed her fist harder against her heart, willing her hand to pass through her ribs and rip out the offending, useless meat. Why did she feel like she was dying, too? God...she wanted to...
Someone said 'resume CPR' and a different person started pushing on Gerard's chest. Sarah didn't want to watch any longer, but she couldn't turn away. Much like when she absorbed Jareth's pain on Dee's non-television screen. This was her fault, she caused his death. She would honor him by bearing witness to its horror.
"Jer! NO!" Cassie's pain-stricken voice pulled Sarah from herself, and she turned to see a far more haggard looking woman. How long did her trip with Dee take? When had Cassie walked in? Gerard's sister stared, aghast, through transparent door next to Sarah until several minutes later the doctor ceased further resuscitation efforts. Sarah listened as a nurse stated Gerard's heart rhythm had degraded from shockable ventricular fibrillation to unshockable asystole...meaning flat-line, no electrical activity within the heart. He was clinically and officially deceased.
"NO!" Cassie yelled causing the entire ICU staff to look in her direction for a few seconds before returning to work. They understood. Sarah wanted to scream with her, but she literally had no heart for it. No energy existed within her. She wanted to sit on the tiles, roll into ball and never move or breathe again. All that she was left with Gerard...how does one go on?
Both woman heard the doctor state Gerard's time of death after deciding to 'call the code', he frowned then his pulled his latex gloves off with an efficient inside-out snap, and chucked them into the biohazard waste bin. With a regretful looking shake of his head, the doctor exited the room to put his talents to better use elsewhere.
As soon as his staff straightened up the room and patient, he would speak with the family, explain his death, allow them to see his body and pay their respects. This case was unusual, inexplicable, too young, and yet as a physician he could only do so much. Reluctantly, Sarah pivoted from the harsh reality of Gerard to his waiting sister. Hate radiated from Cassie, her eyes silently crisping Sarah.
"You did this," Cassie said, "You killed my brother." And the painful irony...Sarah knew she was accurate, even in her arrogant, presumptuous lashing out, Cassie's accusation struck true. If she'd had the heart, Sarah would've protested, yelled at her, denied her, slapped her, but in the end Sarah accepted—painfully—the veracity of Cassie's hatred. After everything...Sarah Williams did kill Gerard Scott, her fiancé and love of her life. She would have to live with that truth until her own mortal end.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, her eyes misting, Sarah replied dully, "I'm sorry, Cassie."
"I don't give a shit about your apology; just get the hell away from us!"
"Cassie..." Gerard's sister slapped her face, her cheek burning in the shape of Cassie's palm, and drawing a sharp gasp from Sarah. She deserved the pain. She wanted the pain. So why then did it feel so distant, so numb?
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Hit me again,' she screamed in her head, '
Please! Hit me! I can't feel anything anymore!' "Don't!" Cassie scowled and turned away with a cold shoulder. Her eyes riveted to her brother's body now covered by a white sheet. Dejected, Sarah spared a last glimpse towards to Gerard. Then feeling unworthy, she walked away, her head bowed and her shoulders slumped. She may be a savior of the Underground, but she would forever consider herself a murderer at heart.
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"You think to subdue me, Aphrodite?" Zeus paced, slightly crouched and placing his weight on the balls of his feet as he waited for his children to strike first. Every second he delayed he consolidated his power. "Force me into slumber? I broke free this time, I shall do so again."
"Because of the misfortune of a potent fae whose cries weaken our wards," Dee replied as her hands weaved her initial spells.
"An error we'll not repeat!" Athena said as she shuffled in place from foot to foot, her short spear held comfortably in one hand.
"You cannot defeat me, child! I am eternal!" He shouted and the room and all its contents quaked at the god of god's declaration, several of the windows shattering and allowing the rain inside.
"Oh, enough already, you old windbag!" Ares rolled his eyes and threw the first feint with bolt of energy flinging wide of a ducking Zeus as Ares instantaneously materialized next to his father, and used the edge of his shield as a short distance discus to Zeus's throat. Seeing the sharp metal race towards him, Zeus twisted his torso and shoved a hand upwards knocking Ares's shield off target.
Athena joined the fray, her spear flashing to strike from above with a great leap and an Amazonian cry while Dee discharged her spell of forgetting targeted specifically for Zeus. His shield redirected, Ares crouched and drew his short sword to bear upon his father's legs hoping to slice him down with the razor edges. True to his title, Zeus deflected both physical attacks and successfully repelled Dee's spell as easily as shaking dust from his sandals.
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Karen Williams, fully recovered from her short, disturbing interlude with Zeus, helped her dazed husband crawl to relative safety where Toby, Kathy and Todd clustered together near the entrance to the ICU. Something invisible blocked their passage further so they did their best to remain unobtrusive while the—
beings—fought, destroying the building and décor amid zaps of energy and weapon sweeps.
"What are they, Todd?" Karen asked in a low voice after settling Robert next to Toby.
"How should I know?" He pulled Kathy, still bewildered from the attack on her, closer to his chest. His voice, still damaged from Zeus's attack, rasped painfully.
"The biggest one was really interested in you, said you had the Sight?" Toby said. Todd shrugged, acting dumb.
"Yeah, I don't know, but I can do without that kind of interest. I don't know what they are, but my gut tells me it's bad." A bolt of lightning blasted a hole in the wall above their position and they all yelped in unison. Smoking dry wall dusted their heads
"You don't say..." Toby deadpanned brushing whitish gray specks from his hair.
"I just hope Sarah's okay wherever she is," her stepmother mused aloud, pulling her son lower who for once did not protest her coddling. Nodding in agreement, Todd scanned the waiting room for danger. Neither Sarah nor Cassie were anywhere in sight again, and his vibes were off the grid.
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Much stronger than she expected her father's gains over them increased as they gradually weakened. Dee feared how much longer she and her siblings might last at the rate Zeus's power continued to increase. How much mortal belief had he sown since his awakening fifteen years ago? Her miscalculation threatened to be their end as Ares's sword shattered on Zeus's gauntlets, Athena's spear became engulfed in a blaze of lightning, and Dee's own spells unraveled moments after casting. Their father's stamina surprised her, but Sarah's tearful arrival at the boundary of her wards, and Zeus's immediate reaction, truly frightened Dee.
"Ah? What have we here?" Teleporting behind Sarah through Dee's wards, Zeus swept one arm over her shoulders and pinned her to his chest. "I recognize this mortal's flavor...succulent...like a perfectly ripe peach." Wrapping his other arm around her waist, Zeus lifted Sarah from her feet. Her legs and arms flailing for purchase, Sarah screamed until Zeus cut her off by moving his forearm upwards across her throat. Instantly, Sarah turned scarlet as he leisurely strangled her. Weakly she struggled in his vicious embrace, as if not truly caring if she lived or died.
"Father!" Dee shouted through her exhaustion, her hand upraised in a 'halt' motion. "Don't!" Athena and Ares went to their knees, gasping, waiting, watching their sister's next move.
Cocking his head to one side, Zeus took measure of his most upstart child beseeching him. What of this mortal female interested Aphrodite? He looked over the brown haired beauty from his intimate vantage point. Oh, yes...the fae who woke him...the reason he arrived at this building...that's why he recognized this mortal female's flavor. He felt the same soul connection. What plan did Aphrodite conspire? He licked his lips; the belief emanating from this woman was a deluge compared to every other mortal in the building combined, in the city perhaps! The feast she could provide him...he grew hard imagining the enjoyments with her, a ready-made meal for a god with a side order of sexual diversions.
"Father, please...we can make other arrangements for you," Dee pleaded, cautiously stepping closer, her hands open and wide.
"Stay where you are, girl," he said without looking away from the crook of Sarah's neck and shoulder. Meanwhile, Sarah ceased struggling and hung limp, her fingers dangling by her sides as her eyes flicked from Dee to her family several feet away, watching in silent horror. Sarah's shallow breaths came faster as she forced air through her constricted trachea.
"None of your
arrangements for me," he gazed directly at Dee, "I much prefer my freedom to roam amongst mortals, like this tasty morsel." Zeus tightened his hold on Sarah's throat and her eyes bulged.
Gulping, Dee tried again, "She's not for you, Father."
"Oh, I see your little weavings on her soul,
Goddess of Love. I've already taken care of her mate, your plans are fruitless. I'll have what I want, who I want, when I want!"
"Father..." another small step, her hands out in supplication while her siblings remaining kneeling and quiet. This was Aphrodite's battle; they followed her lead. "I'll find you another mortal, a better one, but not her." Zeus's deep chuckle echoed in the decimated waiting room while his lower arm traced a pattern on Sarah's abdomen.
"Oh, but I intend such fine times for this one. She's a ripe little thing, ready to be plucked by a god. You've already prepared her for me, haven't you, child?" Not quite unconscious yet, a whimper escaped Sarah, and she squirmed under Zeus's ministrations as his hand wormed its way under her shirt and past her jeans.
"Please Father..." Things were getting desperate...Dee felt tired and unsure...If Sarah died or Zeus abducted her...
"I never could abide your worthless hide as a brother and even less as a philandering cad, husband dear." A woman's voice: calm, regal, commanding, overrode Dee's tense words and all heads swiveled to the center of the room to spy a woman nearly as beautiful as Aphrodite, and just as imposing in her traditional toga and gold tiara.
"Hera!" Zeus said adding a guttural hiss. "This isn't your concern!"
"Nonsense, Zeus," his wife and sister replied with all due nonchalance, "It is very much my concern when my husband flits about the world again upturning the lives of mortals for his own pleasure."
"Your majesty," Athena said as she stood, relief displayed openly on her face while Ares cultured his to appear more restrained, his shield held proudly to his torso.
"Mother," he said and bowed his head minutely.
"My son, I apologize for my tardiness. I was unavoidably delayed." Hera walked lightly passed Ares, touching him lightly before approaching Athena and repeating her action. "Athena." She then turned to her husband's other child and said in a cooler tone.
"Aphrodite, my apologies."
"None required, your majesty." Dee dipped her head, "but your timing is appreciated."
"I see." Hera sniffed disdainfully in Zeus's direction.
"Damn you, woman! I'll not be set aside while you converse with these traitors!"
"Calm down, you great oaf," Hera replied with a graceful wave of her hand, "I'll not speak with you while you continue to clutch at the useless mortal."
"Wh—she's not useless!" Zeus said as Sarah squirmed again, her face nearly blue from suffocation.
"Whatever you say, husband dear, but I refuse to interact with you while you handle your mortal playthings." She pouted out her lower lip.
"Argh...fine!" Zeus released Sarah who dropped with a thud onto her side. Still conscious, barely, her breathing resumed at an accelerated rate. "I'll collect her later," he said casually without another glance as he focused entirely upon his wife.
"Thank you, Zeus." Hera fluttered her eye lashes and sauntered from Dee to her husband who watched every swish exposing her hips and legs, blind to her hands twisting a pattern. He stepped away from Sarah to meet Hera midway.
"Mmm...Hera, my love, it's been too long," he murmured as she pressed her body to his, her arms draping around his neck. Zeus ran his hands up his wife's shapely backside, pulling the toga up as he traced her curves and buried his face in her bared cleavage.
"Ah, Zeus, lover...it has been too long." Behind his head, her hands completed their weaving pattern and a small, clear glass vial appeared in her grasp behind his head. Everyone except Zeus, mortal and god alike, observed Hera's scheme with their mental and real life fingers crossed.
"Speaking of..." He lifted his head from her bosom; his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "I seem to remember you assisted the traitors last time as well." Hera grinned with as much innocence as she could muster.
"You're absolutely correct, my husband," she said then smashed the vial to the back of Zeus's skull. He released a titanic growl following by a wailing, his hands clawing at the back of his head.
"Hera, you bitch!"
"Love you, too, Zeus," she said blowing him a kiss as she backed rapidly away. A clear substance sprang from Zeus's hair and a film spread over his body, engulfing him in a bubble which hardened and thickened. His screams and curses could be heard through the material as it began to contract and shrink back to its original size. Eventually the same small, glass vial rested on its side in the middle of the floor where Zeus once stood.
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Interesting...Where'd you get that?" Dee asked, approaching it and noticing her miniature father within the glass...a very pissed off looking miniature Zeus.
Hera shrugged, "Oh, just a little gift from your uncle, Hades, it's a containment glass." She picked up the now harmless god of gods and squinted at his tiny form battering at the vial. "A very special containment glass, you know how much he dislikes his brother. Apparently, he's been working on this little trick since Zeus escaped your trap." Ares and Athena joined them and admired Hera's handiwork.
"I see," Dee frowned, "I guess I'll have to visit hell to thank the bastard."
"That would be considerate, Dee."
"I like it," Ares said and palmed the glass from his mother, juggling it from hand to hand. "I shall have to convince Hades to make more for me. One never knows when one can use a dirty trick in battle."
"You would," said Athena as she caught the glass mid-toss and returned it to Hera's waiting hand. Ares huffed at his sister.
"Spoil-sport!" he said with a scowl.
"Thank you, dear. Your brother is most troublesome as usual." Hera pocketed the vial of Zeus in a secret compartment within her toga.
"What will you do with him, Your majesty?"
"I'm not sure, Athena, but he cannot ever be released. I must think on it."
"Excuse me..." a somewhat meek, gravelly voice interrupted their conversation and all four turned to face one of the mortal women whose family stood a few feet away.
"Sarah," Dee reached for her, pulled her into a hug, "Are you alright?"
"Um...I think so..."
"My insane father didn't harm you?"
"No... Not permanently..." Sarah patted her throat and torso for reassurance.
"So this is your little project." Hera pursed her lips thoughtfully, her gaze scanning Sarah head to toe.
"Half of it...Hera, this is Sarah Williams." Dee smiled and urged Sarah forward. Meanwhile, Sarah wavered on her feet.
"Mm...Yes, I've heard of you." The goddess picked lint from Sarah's hair, "Not much to look at for a savior of an entire realm, is she?" Scowling, Dee crossed her arms over her chest.
"Must you always be so rude?"
"Dee, I haven't time to consort with mortals, unlike some of us who prefer to
slum it, as they say," she said in a bored tone. "If we're done here?" At Dee's abrupt nod, Hera turned to her two preferred immortals, motioned for them to accompany her and moments later the three vanished from sight.
"Finally!" Said Dee with frustrated sigh. "I thought the uptight bitch would never leave." Looking half dead on her feet, Sarah nodded blankly before promptly collapsing unconscious into Dee's arms. "
Well! I guess you've had a long day, hon." Motioning to her family, Dee handed off the limp Sarah to them, their eyes as wide as their mouths.
"Not here," the goddess held up one hand. "Get everyone together, finish your business while I clean up and I'll meet you later...promise. Just..." Dee touched Sarah lightly on her forehead, "Make sure this one is well cared for, she's important."
"We will." Karen found her voice first, "Thank you...Aphrodite?"
Dee smirked, "Call me, Dee. I'll see you later."
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Upholding her promise, Dee worked her deity mojo and cleaned up the waiting room. Within the hour no one but the Williams family and friends knew of or remembered the titanic clash of ancient gods inside the Pawtucket Memorial Hospital. Accepting the risk versus belief, Dee allowed Sarah and her family and friends to retain their memories as they would need them in the coming days. Dee might be a meddler and schemer, but not a thief.
Sometime during this morass, Gerard and Cassie's mother arrived fully prepared to nurse her son back to health only to be informed by her grief-stricken daughter that she was too late. Gerard Scott was dead. At this moment of discovering her son's tormented passing, Sarah Williams reentered the waiting room from the main hospital, and Cassie pointed her out to her mother, naming her the cause of Gerard's untimely death.
The formidable woman met Sarah's eyes from across the room with a blank expression. The older, middle-aged woman was dressed smartly in a travel suit of the finest cut and a small leather carry-on bag sat next to her on the floor. Robert and Karen tensed as Sarah bravely approached Ms. Georgia Scott ready to face her almost mother-in-law, not that her parents or anyone knew any details of the truth as yet. Cursing at her, Cassie lunged but her mother grabbed her arm making her daughter squeak in pain.
"Cassandra Scott," her mother said in an authoritative tone, "how dare you blame this poor girl for your brother's death." Ignoring Cassie, Sarah spoke to her mother.
"Ms. Scott? I'm Sarah Williams," Sarah said keeping her eyes lowered respectfully, "I'm so sorry." She managed to say just before she broke down in sobs. The first true tears since watching Gerard die. It was all too much to bear.
"I understand he proposed to you, dear," she asked in a kind voice making Sarah look up. Ms. Scott's gray blue eyes shone bright with her own unshed tears.
"Yes...Yes, ma'am, he did. Just the other day, we were in a bit of a rush." She waggled her left hand. "No time for a ring," she added sadly. Not because she cared for material possessions, but to have something to remind her of their love, something from him; to prove, however briefly, it had been real.
"I see; that's a shame. My Gerard was always romantic, quite traditional really underneath all that caddishness." Mrs. Scott patted Sarah's naked hand.
"Yes, h-he...he was, I love him...I mean loved," she sniffed, "him," It was so hard talking about him in the past tense. How was this possible? Barely a day since he declared his love to this...horror. She would never, ever forgive herself.
Ms. Scott released her daughter and seemed to contemplate something for a moment before tugging a slim, filigree gold anniversary band from her left ring finger.
"Mum! What're you doing? Dad gave you that!" Cassie exclaimed and grabbed her mother's hands.
"Hush, Cassie. I'm doing what Gerard would've wanted done."
"But Mum..." Ms. Scott placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and added a meaningful glare which immediately silenced her. Then turning to Sarah, Ms. Scott took her left hand and slipped the band on her ring finger; it fit perfectly.
"Oh, no, I couldn't!" What was she doing? She couldn't accept this...this...this...
forgiveness! "You could and you will, Sarah."
"But—"She shook her head as she secretly admired the dainty band, pretending she didn't see Cassie's evil eye.
Ms. Scott held her hand, "I always wanted Gerard's wife to have this ring and it seems you're it."
"Ms. Scott, this really should stay in the family."
"It is dear. Cassie inherits her grandmother's ring which is quite impressive, so don't let her fool you."
"Well..."
"Please wear it, for me, for my Gerard. It would have made him so proud." Now she really cried: huge splashing tears as she threw her body into Ms. Scott's arms. You can't say no to a request like that.
A/N: We're passed the answer chapters! Yeah! FYI-who's noticed that the chapter titles have changed from my own to versions from the movie? That's deliberate BTW. A subtle hint to where we're going if you haven't considered it before. There's so much nuance in this story I have to say that aspect has challenged me and it's what I most proud of. Hope you enjoyed this last chapter and the not so cliffy ending this time.
