TITLE: Their Words, a Whisper in the Dark
GENRE: Drama/Angst/Romance
CHARACTERS: Cal, Gillian
PAIRING: Cal/Gillian
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: None
WORDS: 600
SUMMARY: All-encompassing darkness and the two of them right in the middle of it; no faces to be read.
i.
He was a whisper in the dark.
Nothing more; but also nothing less. A whisper just between anguish and an odd comfort only he could give her.
"Let me," he requested tenderly and touched her leg. She hissed, closing her eyes and wishing for everything to be different. But it wasn't, so it was just him and her and the pressure he applied to her leg in the inescapable darkness of a room where nobody could hear their calls for help.
He just remained right next to her—his fingers pressing on the wound, never letting go, waiting, wishing, hoping.
ii.
She was a whisper in the dark.
Barely audible; clearly at the end of her rope. A whisper just between giving up and wanting to go on despite her body slowly abandoning her will.
"I'm glad it's with you," she told him and seemed to smile through the words. A sad and knowing smile. He shook his head and pressed his fingers into her flesh harder, because there would never be an end to this—to them. He just wouldn't allow it.
So despite it all, she remained next to him—her head sinking onto his shoulder, not giving in.
iii.
He was another whisper in the dark.
Sometime later, when the end was nearer, but not yet there. He wouldn't allow it, but maybe he had to, and no strength he could summon up, no plan he could devise, no skill he possessed would help him avoid this bitter fate.
"I love you." It was uncertain and yet so full of truth and assurance.
He kept on pressing and with his free hand searched for hers in a darkness where there was nothing to see, only to feel. He felt her warm skin and the piercing pain in his heart.
iv.
She was another whisper in the dark.
Some more time later, when the end was even nearer, but not yet there. She was fighting, but slowly losing and it became clearer that there was nothing they could do, while her limbs grew colder and her heartbeat weaker.
"This is not a good time to tell me this, you know, but I'm trying to not be mad at you for once." The last part of the sentence almost lost in scattered breathing.
With all the strength she had left, she squeezed his hand and bathed in the feeling it gave her.
v.
He was a whisper in the dark. Again.
"Hey." Soft and full of relief.
Then darkness turned into light and while her eyelids slowly fluttered open, she sensed his hand in hers—there where she remembered it last. Her heart monitor was quietly beeping.
"You said you loved me," she recalled, her throat dry and not used to words anymore.
"You didn't say it back," he replied simply.
"I needed to save something for when this wouldn't end like we were thinking it would."
It made sense. Just in the kind of way that the two of them made sense.
vi.
She was a whisper in the dark. Again.
"I love you, too." Certain and full of endearment.
The darkness they were sitting in wasn't like the one before. It was only a temporary state, just the shades being drawn in a full auditorium with somebody lecturing about a topic he failed to remember.
"We're at a conference. In a public place. Hold your horses, Dr. Foster," he said, his voice betraying him and sneaking in a mischievous smile.
"Sorry, I forgot," she replied simply.
He wouldn't forget and put his hand on her leg—there where everything had nearly ended.
THE END