Story - A Final Gift of Love
Note - This is my very first fanfic. I hope you like it.
Ellis stumbles down the Cliffside, horrified to see the car turned over. It isn't on fire, but he's afraid. Afraid that Jennifer is injured, or worse.
He notes the snow falling as a blip of a thought.
"Weird," he thinks. "Have to get to Jennifer."
He falls at the bottom of the cliffside and rushes to look inside the car. Jennifer isn't there. He stands and peers into the darkness. "She must have been thrown," he thinks and his fear goes into terror. The water is only a few feet away and if she was unconscious, she could be drowning right now.
He shouts out her name, hoping to hear a reply, however faint. Each time, he waits and listens. Finally, finally he hears his name being said, a bare whisper and very close by.
He looks all around him but the snow has become blinding and a fog has rolled in off the water, the surface misting at the sudden change of temperature.
"Jennifer? Where are you?" he calls, trying to stay calm despite feeling panicked.
"Ellis," he hears, the voice familiar yet not. "I'm here. I'm here, Ellis."
Up above, the lights from a highway patrol car appear and soon after, a spotlight is shining down on the area. That's when he sees her. It's Jennifer.
He runs to where she lies, beneath a willow tree. His joy is immense but as he crouches down to see her face, that happiness is turned to confusion and worry. Her body must have been thrown against the sturdy trunk of the tree because she's lying limp on the ground, blood streaming from a head wound.
"It's probably fatal, but I've got to try to save her," he tells himself, but to her he says, "Stay still, Jen. The police are here. We're going to help you."
"Ellis, Ellis, listen to me," his beloved's voice is saying. "I don't think I have much time and I want you to know something."
"Shhh. Don't speak. Save your energy."
"But you have to know this."
Tears are streaming down Ellis's face and the man is torn as to what to do.
"Ellis," Jennifer says, "hold me, please. I don't care if I'm more injured; I want you to hold me."
Disregarding his practicality, Ellis lay down beside Jennifer and pulls her gently into his arms until her head and shoulders are cradled. That's when he notices her twisted legs and feels the blood seeping from her chest. "There really isn't much time," he thinks and the thought feels like a knife in his chest.
"Jennifer, I love you. Stay with me."
Jennifer reaches up a hand and touches his bearded cheek. "Shh. Listen to me," she says.
He quiets to grant her what may be her final wish. "What is it, my love?"
"A long time ago," she says, "something like this happened to me. I lived but I also stopped aging. I know this won't make any sense to you, but that's why I kept trying to stay away from you."
"Jen-"
"It's true. I stopped aging when I was 29 back in 1932. Your father knew me as Adaline and that's really who I am."
"You're Jennifer and you're hurt. The trauma is confusing you."
"No," she says, "Look at my hand."
Ellis doesn't understand, but he does so and in the shadow of the police spotlight, he notices that her hand is no longer the hand of the girl he loves. It's slowly wrinkling. "What's happening?" he whispers.
"This is me as I truly am," Jennifer says. "I'm aging, Ellis; rapidly now that my body has been re-traumatized. I'm over 100 years old and my body is dying as we speak."
"No, that's impossible."
"Look!" she demands in a weak voice. "Look at my face!"
He does and there he sees Jennifer's visage looking as she might at the age of fifty, her blond hair beginning to go gray. "I'm going to die here, Ellis. But I'm going to die in the arms of a man who loves me and who I love."
"Jennifer," Ellis sobs.
"Adaline," she corrects. "Say you love Adaline." Her voice is growing thinner and the sound of people approaching is growing stronger.
Though he doesn't quite believe what is happening right in front of his eyes, Ellis pulls himself together and looking into the beautiful eyes of his beloved, he murmurs, "I love you, Adaline," then holds her tightly against his torso.
"Thank you," Adaline mouths against him, and then she's gone.
End - A Final Gift of Love