Neil stood before the old lighthouse, a thoughtful look on his face. Adjusting his glasses, he turned towards the twin headstones beside him. The job was done. Yet, he felt a small sadness. John lived to see his wish come true. River didn't. But they married and they were together for a time being, and that was what mattered.
Small footfalls were heard and when he looked, Tommy and Sarah were running up to him and pointing.
"Here he is!" Sarah exclaimed cheerily. Behind them, Eva approached, nodding.
"Thanks... Off you go, now."
Without so much as a nod, the children ran back, jumping and laughing as they went. Eva walked up to him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She turned her head to the side. The sun shone red on her skin and the wind blew her hair back.
"I still can't believe that Johnny just willed the house to Lily like that."
Neil scoffed inwardly. He knew her for too long to not know that she was avoiding a question. Still, he took up her attempt at a conversation and replied.
"Well, who else was there to give it to? Us?" Neil turned back to the gravestones.
"Terrible place for burials, though. If there's a landslide, they'd be swimming with the fishes."
Eva smiled weakly.
"Still a little too soon."
Neil shook his head.
"Naw, it's never too soon."
There was a double meaning, but he was the only one that noticed. For a second, the pounding in his heart was painful. He'd have to take his painkillers soon. Neil turned and looked Eva in the eye. Did she know? Or more importantly, did he want her to know?
He didn't want to admit it, but he was fond of her. He didn't know when, and he didn't know how, but sometimes, he had the sudden urge to just run up to her and kiss her. Other times, however, he wanted to just strangle her. It was a love/hate.
Suddenly, her phone began to ring. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was upbeat and playful and definitely not Eva.
"Nice ring tone."
She glared at him before pulling it from her pocket and flipped it open, putting the device to her ear. Neil grinned impishly.
"Hello, Eva here."
There was a bit of murmurs and sayings, but other then that, Neil couldn't hear a thing. Eva nodded.
"We're on our way."
She ended the call before closing the phone and putting it back into her pocket. She turned to Neil.
"New patient?" He asked, even though he knew it was. They never could be off duty for long. They were a famous duo in the Sigmund Corps, so they were requested frequently.
"New patient." Eva confirmed. Neil nodded.
"Let's roll."
Eva turned and began walking down the road, back to their Sigmund issued vehicle. Scratch that, their destroyed Sigmund issued vehicle. She sighed. Neil was an idiot. But she was stuck with him.
Neil pretended to follow Eva until he was sure she thought he was there. Then, his heart started to ache intensely. He was right on time. He took the bottle of painkillers from his pocket, uncapped it, and swallowed one dry. A few seconds later, the pain dissipated. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning around to follow his partner.
When he arrived at the car a few minutes later, Eva was sitting on the hood. He raised an eyebrow. He approached her and grinned stupidly.
"Don't tell me your gonna cry like in those chick flicks."
In response, Eva looked up at him. What he saw shocked him. She wasn't crying, but she looked tired, exhausted. And scared. A concerned look crossed his face. He wasn't joking anymore.
"Eva, what's wrong?" She shook her head.
"What's wrong with you, Neil?" She asked. Neil's brow creased in confusion.
"What are you ta-"
Her hand unfurled to reveal an orange plastic container. His eyes widened. His old bottle of painkillers. Eva shook her head slowly.
"Why do you need painkillers, Neil?"
A look of conflict passed his face. How did it come to this? Everything was just fine earlier. He gritted his teeth, looking to the side. How was he supposed to tell her he was slowly dying? That there was no cure? That he was using painkillers as a last resort to stave off the pain until he died?
Suddenly, there were hands on his shoulders and a head pressed firmly onto his chest. His eyes widened. Eva was standing, inches away from him with her hands on his shoulders, listening to his heartbeat. He found that it was very hard to breathe.
"Your heartbeat's sluggish." She whispered. He sighed, resting a hand on the back of her head, soothing down her hair.
"I know."
It was near midnight when their car began to sputter. Neil groaned. Not now! They were in they middle of no where!
He was in the driver's seat, trying to avoid eye contact with Eva. Speaking of which, said woman was seated in the passenger seat, looking bluer than a smurf. The car sputtered again, lurching forward one last time before it died and became still. Neil stared forward in disbelief. Great. He directed his attention to Eva. All she did was brush some stray hair away from her face. He frowned. There was no comment of "You're an idiot" or "I told you we should've stopped for gas!". Instead, she just opened her car door and stepped out. Neil stared after her. Then, he sighed, opening his door and stepping out. Eva was a little ways away, staring up at the billions of stars that illuminated the sky. He stood next to her silently. They stood and watched the stars for a time. Then, Eva spoke.
"Out of my time working in this twisted, fucked up job, the one good that came out of it was working with an equally twisted and fucked up partner."
Neil nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.
"I'm fifty shades of fucked up." He whispered playfully. Eva chuckled lightly at the reference.
"Neil, the point I'm trying to make is that I thought you wouldn't lie to me. Not since David's case 3 years ago. And whether I like it or not, I'm worried about your annoying ass."
Neil remembered that case. It wasn't quite pleasant, and Johnny's case was only half as troublesome. He turned to Eva. She was still looking up.
"Neil. What's wrong?"
The very next second, Eva found herself in his bone-crushing embrace. The air leaving her lungs left her, leaving her breathless. He clung to her tightly. They both stood very still. Then, Neil took in a shaky breath.
"I'm dying, Eva."
Her eyes widened, fear and shock wracking her.
"Neil..."
"The doctors at Sigmund confirmed it. I've been going there for medicine for the past few months."
A silence passed between them. Then, Neil felt Eva's petite frame begin to shake. Her arms lifted up and returned the tight embrace as she buried her face in his chest. This shook Neil to his core. Of all the things he's seen, Eva crying would have been the last thing he expected to see. So he held her tighter.
"Everything'll be okay, Neil. The medicine will make you better. You'll be okay." She sniffled.
Neil nodded sadly.
"I will, I promise."
Neil didn't like the fact that Eva was crying. But he absolutely hated lying to her. Sigmund called it. There was no cure, no medicine that could help. He was going to die. Still, he held her tighter.
He hated that he had to lie.
(A/N) Welp. There goes my try at a To The Moon fanfic. I saw Cry play it and it gave me the inspiration to write... well, this. Eva's a little OOC... Okay, a lot OOC, but I tried. And failed XD
And about the David's case thing? I don't know about that. I just made that up. XDD
Uh... Well, I guess... review and all that. I'm not asking for any. :)