Author's note: All hallucinations are italicized. They used to be in really cool fonts, but it didn't transfer over...sad..
"Libby, it's fine. Really."
Libby fidgeted, playing with the hem of her dress. She knew he was right. He usually was. Tucker had slipped and fallen on his way into the temple where Divya's wedding was to take place. Although he was usually fine if you took the right precautions, you could never be too careful when your boyfriend was a hemophiliac. And, Libby being Libby, had a hard time dealing with it without panicking over every minor scrape. Had that whole page of webMD memorized by now.
"I know. I know," she sighed, "It's just…it worries me-"
"Yes, because it's not like I have this down pat by now," he grumbled sarcastically. Tucker blushed as he watched Libby blink back tears of hurt and frustration. It really did worry her, sometimes, he thought, more than necessary, but it wasn't like it was an abnormal reaction. Gently he took Libby's hand into his. "Sorry," he whispered, "It's just frustrating…I just wish…you know, that..I didn't have to worry about this…I mean, no one else does…
If I was in their skin
I'd treasure every instant
Out there, strolling by the Seine
Taste the morning out there
Like ordinary men
Who freely walk about there
Just one day and then
I swear I'll be content with my share
Won't resent, Won't despair
Old and bent, I won't care
I'll have spent one day out there…"
Libby blinked, slowly turning her head to stare at Tucker. He was smiling at her, the blush still on his cheeks from revealing something so deep, but as Tucker tenderly kissed her, Libby wondered whether or not her hearing was still intact. Was it just her, or had she heard Tucker sing that last part?
"Come on," he said, squeezing her hand. "We don't want to miss the wedding."
"…Right," Libby murmured.
Quickly they made their way into the church. It's just my imagination, Libby thought. Yeah, that's right. I must be coming down with something…now what illnesses have symptoms of hallucinations…?
Before Libby's mind could take this any farther and send her into a full-blown cybercondirac panic-attack, she was disrupted. Tucker held his arm out, forcing her to halt.
"Tucker, what-"
He quickly touched his finger to her lips. Annoyed, Libby was about to bat it away and protest when Raj's voice caught her ear.
"Divya, you're being illogical," he said, as if talking to a disillusioned child. They could hear the break in Divya's voice as she protested.
"I am not being illogical," she whispered, "It was illogical to even let it get this far."
Tucker and Libby stared at each other, wide-eyed. Was Divya backing out of the wedding?
"But why Divya? Why are you doing this now?" Raj asked in disbelief. He wasn't even sure this was actually happening.
Divya bit her lip. She didn't want to hurt Raj, not like this. But Divya couldn't go through with this phony marriage. She inhaled slowly, then started to explain:
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game.
Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap
Libby blanched. Divya was doing it too, the words coming out of her mouth as a heartbroken melody. As ridiculous as it was to Libby, she swore that she heard Divya singing as well…
I'm through accepting limits, 'cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change, but 'till I try I'll never know
Too long I've been afraid of, losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost.."
Libby cupped her mouth, as if she were about to be sick. Was she going completely insane.?! Thankfully, Tucker took the motion as if she were being sympathetic to Divya. He squeezed her shoulder. "Come on, we better get going," Tucker whispered. Wrapping his arms around Libby, he lead her out of the temple. Libby didn't even notice. Right then her mind was scrambling through every known disease, trying to figure out what in the world was wrong with her. Nothing was coming to mind. Libby inhaled through her nose, then exhaled through her mouth.
Breathe, relax, she thought. You can talk to Hank later. Everything's going to be okay.
"So…guess you're stuck with us, huh?" Evan asked, a small smirk playing on his face. He couldn't help it, he was happy. Divya wasn't going off to London! She was staying with them!
Divya nodded glumly. Sure, it was wonderful to be back with HankMed, but how would she ever reconcile with her parents? Comfortingly Hank placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Divya. I think your parents will cool down after awhile," he said, as if reading her mind. Divya smiled.
"Thanks Hank..but Evan," she chided crossly, "did not help any by stealing half the wedding cake.."
Evan stared at her in mock-horror. "And leave a perfectly good cake to its doom?!" he cried out. Tucker couldn't help but laugh. He and Libby had snuck away with the HankMed team back to Boris's, but ever since they overheard Divya's confession, Libby had been acting strangely. Tucker had caught her chewing her nails a couple of times, and that was something she only did when she was extremely upset.
It didn't make sense. Both Libby and he knew that this was better-fantastic, even. So what was she so upset about? Tucker's mind whizzed though the past few hours. Had it been something he said? Probably. Letting out an aggravated sigh, Tucker wished women wouldn't be such complicated creatures.
Suddenly Evan interrupted Tucker's thoughts. "Why are we all so miserable?" he said, grinning from ear to ear, "This event, my friends, calls for a toast."
Divya and Tucker exchanged bewildered glances. Evan couldn't have had too much wine already! However, Hank just smiled. He knew his brother was only going over-the-top just to cheer up Divya, and perhaps, deep down, Evan was more overjoyed about the cancellation of the marriage than he realized…
Dramatically Evan stood on top of his chair. Lifting his wine glass up in the air, he began his toast:
Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes
Here she lies, no one knew her worth
The late, great daughter of mother Earth
On this night, when we celebrate the birth
In that-
Suddenly Libby let out a strangled cry. "NO! NO! NO!" she shrieked, clamping her hands over her ears. Shocked, Evan just stared as Divya and Hank rushed over.
"Libby, what's wrong?" Hank asked as she buried herself into Tucker's shoulder. He glanced at Tucker for any kind of explanation. All he could do was shrug.
"She's been acting strange all day," Tucker responded, taking Libby into his arms. As he stroked her hair, soothing her, Libby's blabbering became a little more coherent.
"The singing! The singing!" she whimpered, "Make it stop."
Tucker's eyes widened. "What?" he asked softly. Now it was his turn to look at Hank for an answer. Compassion and worry were etched on Hank's face as he bent next to Libby.
"What singing, Libby?" he asked calmly. Libby's lips trembled as she stared at him.
"Everyone's been singing…all day," she cried reluctantly, "Just now…Evan was singing his speech."
Hank and Divya exchanged a look. Both of them realized that there were very few things that could cause such a strong hallucination…or one like that…
"Kinda sounds like Scrubs," Evan said off-handedly. Divya rolled her eyes.
"Evan, this is serious-" she snapped, but Evan interjected.
"Now hey! On that show, this lady heard everyone sing and they found out it was a brain tumor-"
The room turned deadly quiet. 'Brain tumor,' Libby mouthed, starting to tremble. Divya shot Evan the evil eye as Hank and Tucker tried to keep Libby from panicking.
"Now Libby, relax. Everything's going to be fine," Hank murmured as Tucker shushed her tenderly. "I don't think it's a tumor. In fact, I think it's something a little more rare- "
Libby's head shot up. "More rare?" she cried, "That means it's harder to treat, isn't it?"
"Libby-" Tucker said.
"That means I'm going to die, isn't it-"
"Libby-"
"No, no-I'm not ready to die! I don't want to go yet, I-"
"Libby," Tucker stated firmly, "You are not going to die."
Libby's eyes shot from Tucker to Hank, as if she was waiting for Hank to concur. Very calmly, smiling kindly, Hank took Libby's hand into his and nodded. Libby's shoulders drooped. She collapsed upon Tucker as Hank explained.
"Libby, what you have is called Euchari's syndrome. It's usually caused by adverse reactions to some medications. Have you been taking anything new recently?"
Libby nodded. "I've been taking ibuticane. I've been having a lot of headaches recently," she mumbled drowsily. Hank nodded.
"That would do it. Having a hard time sleeping too?"
Libby nodded again, burying her head into Tucker's shoulder. She felt so drowsy…
"That's another symptom," Hank whispered, watching Libby's eyelids flutter. Tucker stared concernedly at his girlfriend.
"Should she be falling asleep?" he inquired. Hank smiled and nodded.
"She'll be good as new when she wakes up."
Libby peered up at Tucker. She could feel herself slowly drifting to sleep. "So…so I'm going to be fine, right?"
Tucker smiled, kissing Libby on top of her head. Once again, she heard the music, but this time, it was really quite wonderful…
You're going to be okay
That's what's going to happen
Everything's okay
I'm right here beside you, I won't let you slip away
Plan for tomorrow, cause I swear to you, you're going to be okay.
Author's note: Copyright goes to Disney and the makers of Scrubs, Rent, and Wicked for the use of their songs. Thanks!