Author's Note: I'm obviously struggling with White Flag, because I'm stuck on a particular plot point and can't figure out how to solve it. I am working on it. In the mean time, I'm writing all these other stories while I sit there and stare at the blank pages. This one will only be 4 (5?) chapters, and I have them all pretty much written, so not as big of a deal to finish. This is my attempt at a story where Paige actually does betray Mike to Sid, and will probably be my only one because I fully believe that it was a completely OOC thing for her to do.
The heart monitor beats weakly beside the hospital bed. The agent attached to it, looks pale and weak. The ugly scrapes and bruises look out of place on the otherwise flawless body. A chunk of blonde hair is shaved back to reveal the stitches that sew up the gash where doctors had to operate.
Next to the hospital bed pouring over the chart, is a person who's not supposed to be there. A ghost who has snuck into the hospital, cloaked by night, practice, and a dark hoodie.
Intelligent eyes quickly scan over the doctor's messy chicken scratch, trying to make sense of each word on the page. If the patient doesn't wake up within 48 hours, the chances of survival drop by 98%. This report was filed two days ago, after the surgery.
A single tear smudges the ink on the page, but the others are not allowed to follow. Slamming the chart back in place, the intruder begins to pace back and forth angrily, wondering how this all happened. The beeps mockingly continue at their slow pace. Beep… Beep… Beep..
None of this should be happening. It feels like a bad dream.
"Come on, wake up. Not like this."
If the words are heard, there's no sign of acknowledgement.
"Come on, Paige. You have to wake up!" Mike orders again, in a soft whisper, leaning over the hospital bed of his former lover. There is still no response from the blonde agent in the bed. Mike's pale fingertips reach for her hand attached to the heart monitor, but after hovering for a moment, he pulls away, deciding against the innocent touch. She looks so weak, he fears it might break her.
For a brief moment, he has a fantasy of waking her with true love's kiss like a fairy tale. But his time at Graceland has stripped him of his innocence, and he knows their life is no fairy tale. Paige doesn't want his love, and after all that's happened, he's not sure he has any left to give. Even with all that, he had thought they'd one day work it out, but it seems like they've run out of time. This could be the end of their story. Even if Paige does wake up, she may not ever be Paige again.
"Paige as long as I've known you, you have never given up. Fight this, please. Come back to me." Mike squeezes his eyes shut to keep back tears as there is still no response from the monitors. He decides to try a different approach, turning her own words against her. "You know, I forgive you. For everything that happened, for everything between us. I forgive you… but I will never forgive you if you die like this."
"Are you trying to punish me more? Is this your way of getting back at me for all I've done?" Mike isn't sure if he's talking to Paige or God at this point. He knows he needs to leave this room, but he can't bring himself to. When he leaves, that will be the end. He knows it.
"You want to hear the words, Paige? The truth? Fine. I burned Lina. Sulla killed her because I was too cocky. I tried, but I couldn't save her. So, I burned her body. Then I couldn't face you. I couldn't tell you what really happened, because I knew it would break your heart and I couldn't do it. So I lied to you. I lied, and then I faked her escape and hit myself with a goddamn tire iron hoping you wouldn't find out."
"Of course, you saw right through me." Mike says with a wry grin, looking down at his hands which were pressed together. He could never fool her. As much as Mike hated that, he also thought it might be the thing he loved most about her. "You didn't believe me for a second. I thought if I could just keep going, that I could find a way to tip the scales. To make up for what I did. Obviously, I was too late."
"Look, I promise if you just come back to me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you," Mike pleads. "But you've got to come back and keep me in line ok? There is so much more you need to kick my ass for. I need you. I need you to come back to me. I need you, because I don't know what sort of monster I'll become if you're not here to guide me."
"That night before you got abducted… That goddamn night when everything went so wrong, I told you I couldn't sleep with Jess, because my heart was somewhere else. Paige, you don't just have my heart, you are my heart. You can't take that away from me."
"Excuse me sir."
Mike nearly jumps out of his seat. He was caught. He's stayed too long, let his guard down in his grief, and now he was caught.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just changing her IV bag." The kindly older nurse says to Mike. Mike lets out a sigh of relief as he realizes she doesn't seem to know who he is and there are no armed guards ready to take him away.
"Sorry. I know it's passed visiting hours, I should go." Mike stands up in a hurry, trying to hide his face from her. Trying to be forgettable.
"You're fine honey. You're the brother right?" Mike just nods, still a little uneasy. He remembered Paige talking about her brother. Danny. He was her best friend growing up, and he knew they were still close, but he'd never met any of Paige's family. "They said he would be visiting. I understand how it is. You've got some tough decisions to make."
"Decisions?" Mike echos back nervously.
"She's an organ donor. The standard office policy is to harvest as soon as the patient is declared brain dead. We need permission from her Health Care POA first." Of course she would be a fucking donor. Paige would want to help others in anyway she could, but the thought of her being divided up like parts… His Paige… His heart.
Mike can barely get the words out to ask, "How long until they decide…"
"Don't worry. She's a fighter. Nothing's been declared yet, they just like to talk to the family ahead of time to make sure everything is in line."
"But if she doesn't wake up soon?"
"They won't decide anything without talking to you first." The nurse means it to be comforting, but Mike knows it's not him they would be talking to. It would be Danny. A man he's never met.
"Do you mind if I stay just a bit longer?" Mike asks weakly. He's not sure he can leave now.
"Of course honey. Stay as long as you need. I'm here until 2am, and after that the staff switches, and the late shift nurse is not as understanding."
"Thank you." Mike says, sitting back down beside Paige's bed. "Can she hear me?"
"I think so. Try singing to her." The nurse says as she packs up her things to leave.
"I don't sing." Mike says bluntly.
"Sometimes, just hearing the tune helps." The nurse smiles encouragingly at him. "I'll leave you two alone now."
Mike sits next to her for a few moments in silence, just listening to the beeps and worrying. Finally he takes a deep breath and turns back to the sleeping girl.
"This is so stupid. If you can hear me, I'm sorry for this." Mike takes a deep breath and begins in a quiet shaky voice, "You've got to… S-M-I-L-E to be H-A-double-"
Mike doesn't finish singing, because suddenly, out of nowhere, Paige awakens.
It's not a soft gentle fluttering of the eyelashes with a coy smile like he expected. It's a twisted grimace followed by an avalanche of violent activity. All of a sudden Paige starts to spasm, her hands flailing about, clawing at her neck, ripping at the intubation tube. She's making a gurgling noise and rips out first the IV then the pulse meter from her hand. The machine flatlines, and Mike presses the nurses button frantically, but three staff members are already shoving their way into the room.
"She's fighting the intubation tube. She's choking. We need to calm her down!"
Mike can barely hear the words. His heart is racing, and he's trying to back up towards the door. He needs to escape before anyone realizes who he is. He can't be here for this. Can't watch her struggle. She's awake. She's awake and flailing about with strength he didn't know anyone in her state could have. She was awake.
Suddenly, with the doctors crowded around her trying to hold her down, her green eyes shoot open and lock wildly on his. For a second Mike is frozen. He can't move at all. She's staring straight at him.
The only thought in Paige's head is, this is what Mike must have felt like. Gasping for breath. Dying and unable to do anything to save himself. This is what Mike must have felt in his last moments, when he looked up powerless from the hospital bed to see Sid Markum standing there, knowing he was going to die. Only it wasn't Sid who would be coming to take Paige away. It was always going to be Mike.