Lizards never lasted as long as Abby hoped. She had gone through many losses over the years. From anoles to geckos, there were empty lizard containers waiting to be refilled. She would cry for a week or two, before she'd toughen up her barriers and move on. Not truly move on though, as these lizards were a part of her, but she'd think about it less and she would start getting used to having one less mouth to feed…
but she could never imagine losing one lizard. One very important lizard that began everything for her. Rex.
Of course, though, life never really works out exactly the way you want it to and one morning, Abby woke up to find Rex curled up in the bed, his body freezing and unbreathing.
"Rex?" She asked, her eyes widened as she touched his body, shaking it as lightly as she could. But he didn't move. His eyes didn't flutter open and he didn't fly about, chirping happily. "Rex, stop!" She yelled, startling Connor out of his sleep.
"Come on, come on, you can't—-you're not—-" Abby repeated several times, her tongue unable to form much else as tears appeared in her eyes and a lump appeared in her throat. "Rex…no…"
"Abs?" Connor questioned, his voice groggy and confused.
"Go away!" She screamed, picking up the lizard's small and delicate body. How had this happened? Was he that old? Was he sick? Was it too cold in the house? Did he lay wrong? What had happened? "Rex…please…you can't…"
It didn't take long for the genius to put together that the lizard had died and automatically, his eyes filled with tears as well. In the beginning, the two of them didn't have a great relationship, but as time went on and on…they ended up closer than he would've thought. He used to talk to the lizard at night when no one else would listen, used to tease him and make fun of him, as if he was a person…
"Abs," Connor tried again, but she wouldn't have it. No comforting words were going to make her feel better. A hug wasn't enough, a kiss wasn't enough, a cuddle wasn't enough…nothing he could offer her would ever be enough in this moment.
"No! Don't talk to me…" Abby shook her head, the tears pouring from her eyes, her body shaking. "Rex, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if you were sick and I didn't notice, I'm sorry if you needed help and I wasn't there, I'm sorry if I never realized you were in pain…I loved you, though. You're the reason for all of this. For the ARC, for my relationship, for my best friends…without you, I would still be in that zoo. I would still be lonely, I would still be scared of men, of people, of everyone and love…Rex, you saved my life and maybe it's stupid to tell that to a lizard, but you lead me to one of the greatest things on Earth. A time-rip, a family…thank you…" And without hesitation, she leaned down to kiss his head.
God, how was she ever going to continue on without him? Her little Coelurosauravus, her secret from the world, the lizard she shamelessly favored…
He was the highlight of her day. Even if he got annoying, constantly chirping and begging for attention, he could always bring a smile to her face and when he noticed she was upset, he would always nuzzle into her and sit on her shoulder. He understood her, he loved her unconditionally and now he was just…gone.
And for a few days, nothing truly felt right and Connor saw how she would just lie on the couch for hours, a blank look in her eyes. He would feed the lizards then and kiss her and cuddle her, making sure she knew it was going to be alright.
The burial was harsh and she punched her husband in the shoulder rather hard and more than once, too and he had to practically drag her way from the box in the ground, the one that contained her favorite lizard.
And being at the ARC was no better for her and Matt took over taking care of the creatures…
because without that little green lizard, Abby felt lost…
After all, he started it all…
it felt like it should be the end without him.
As if they were on the last page of their story and the hero was dead.
She would never and could never be the same.