A/N: I wrote this to channel the anger and frustration I had all this week, and this is what came out, although I planned this oneshot a while ago, I never expected it to turn out like this... :)
The wind whined and howled, tree branches scraped against the window. Rain drops pounded down on top of the small house, sounding like bullets. The storm outside was brewing to become disastrous, but it couldn't seem to match the other storm from happening inside the small stone bungalow.
"I told you, it's NONE of your business!" The man shouted, storming into the kitchen. A woman followed, hot on his trail. "Oh, well sorry for caring than!" She bellowed at him, a sarcastic edge to her voice. "How stupid of me to be concerned, it's not like we've been dating for over five years!"
Eli had his back facing her, a low growl emitting from his throat. "SO WHAT?" He yelled, whipping around to face her. "You think that you know me, and that you can tell me what I FEEL?" He slammed his fist down onto the counter in range, causing the few items on it to jump and shake.
"I'm just telling-begging- you to take your medication, Eli," Clare said, her voice now soft, silent tears prickling her eyes. "I just want you to get better."
You are my sunshine,
"Better?" Eli scoffed, a malicious look in his eyes. "Get it through your skull Clare; I AM NEVER GOING TO BE BETTER!" He stalked up to her, glaring into her wide blue orbs. "Bi polar is forever Clare, and no matter how many drugs you or anybody else try to put in my system, it will never fix me. I'm always going to be broken. Accept it."
Clare shook her head, tears falling fat down her face. "No… no, Eli, I'm trying to help you, can't you see that? I am trying to save you, but you're making it so hard!"
"I never asked you to do that!" He said, his voice rising again. "Is that why you came back? So you could save me? Fulfil your Christian duties, eh?"
"I can't believe you think that!" Clare shouted, her mouth agape.
"WELL IT'S TRUE!" Eli roared, causing Clare to jump back in fight." "Just fuck you, Clare! Fuck you! Get out of here!"
Clare began backing towards the door, grabbing her coat and purse. "I'll… I'll just give you some time… time to cool down…"
She opened the door and stepped into the pouring rain, thunder rumbling in the distance. "I'M SERIOUS!" Eli screamed after her as she disappeared into the dark night. "DON'T COME BACK!"
…my only sunshine
…
After falling asleep for an unknown period, Eli woke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Lightning flashed through the window startling the man as he sat up. "Clare?" He called out in the empty house, curiously. "Clare are you here?"
Silence was his answer.
He ran his hands through his thick dark locks anxiously. He remembered his fight with Clare, and how ruthless and downright cruel he had been. After she left he grabbed his favorite Chuck Palahniuk book, and know and behold, a photograph fell out from between the pages. The glossy picture showed Clare and himself at his graduation; him in a graduation gown and cap while Clare kissed his cheek, herself wearing a simple floral dress but never looked more gorgeous to Eli.
You make me happy,
Seeing the picture seemed to spark something in Eli; he knew that he didn't want to lose Clare, so he dug the medication he had thrown into his sock drawer and popped two of the small pills into his mouth, washing them down with a glass of water. The medication made him feel slightly drowsy, so he snuggled into the couch, thinking Clare needed some time away from him, and she'd come back in an hour.
Of course, that seemed like eons ago.
It was nearly nine now, and he was sure Clare had left around seven. Wringing his hands together, Eli turned the TV, the news flashing as he searched for his phone. He only paused when the News broadcaster said something that caused a cold chill to run up his spine.
"Severe flooding is happening all over the Toronto area." The reporter said. "Citizens are cautioned to stay indoors, and off the roads and bridges. This is predicted to be one of the worst storms for our general area, and many rivers are already overflowing."
"fuck, fuck,fuck…" Eli chanted, scrambling to press the buttons on his phone. "Pick up, Clare… pick up." He whispered to himself, holding his breath as the phone rang and rang.
…when skies are grey
"Eli?" Clare's voice answered after few terrifying rings… "I… can't really talk right now, I'm driving…"
"Clare! Where are you?" Eli ignored her, wanting the facts. "It's not safe out! Pull over and tell me where you are, I'll come get you!"
"I can't!" Clare said. "I'm on a bridge and…. OH MY GOD-"He heard tires squealing and his heart stopped as Clare let out a blood-curdling scream into his ear.
"CLARE!" He yelled. "CLARE!"
"…Eli…" her voice softly replied.
"Clare, what happened? Please tell me you're okay!"
"I… I don't think I'm hurt…" She said. "But… I crashed into the restraints by the bridge… I think I'm stuck!" He could hear the panic in her voice which seemed to squeeze his heart into pieces.
"Baby… try to get out of the car… can you get out?" Eli asked, already grabbing his keys and his jacket. There was no way he was leaving Clare out to fend for herself.
"Ah!" Clare groaned in pain. "I can't! My leg is stuck!" He heard shuffling over the phone as Clare tried to move, letting out whimpers of pain. "Eli! I'm stuck!"
"Hold on, Baby, I'm coming," Eli told her urgently. "Don't move or anything, okay? I'm on my way. Tell me which bridge you're on."
"It's… it's…the eastern avenue bridge," She whispers before letting out a cry, "Eli, I love you."
"Don't," He said, tears pooling in his eyes. "Don't do that. You stay there and you hold on, okay? I am coming."
You'll never know, dear…
Eli ripped the car door open and jammed the keys into the ignition. The car roared as he pulled out of the driveway rapidly, speeding down the road. He could hardly see the street, let alone any signs due to the pouring rain. "Come on, come on, come on," Eli repeated over and over under his breath has he pushed down on the gas pedal, the engine reeving. He ignored the cars pulled over of the side of the road, trees and electrical poles knocked down onto their sides. He ignored the vast amount of water flooding the roads, he only had one thing on his mind; Clare.
Thinking quickly, he pulled his phone out again when he reached the road that would take him to the bridge Clare was stuck on. "Hello, 911, Fire, Police or Ambulance?"
"Ambulance!" Eli spat out, rushing as he saw Clare's car up ahead with the help of his headlights; her car had rammed into the barricade of the bridge, like she had said- only now the car seemed to be one shove away from falling straight into the river.
"What injury has taken place?" The receiver asked, to which Eli qickly responded, "My girlfriend crashed her car into the barricade on eastern avenue bridge- her car is almost ready to fall in! You need to get an ambulance here NOW!"
"Sir, please calm down, a ambulance has been dispatched-"
He hung up, breaks squealing and he roughly parked his car, hopping out and running down the now slippery bridge. "CLARE!" He called over the rain and rumbling wind. "Clare!"
Reaching the car he yanked open the driver's side. "Clare," he said, placing a cold hand on her cheek.
"Eli," She smiled at him, but was still unable to move. He inspected her appearance; She had a nasty cut on her forehead, which seemed to have some dry blood on it and he spotted her right leg caught under the crushed consol. "Okay, babe," He said, grabbing her face. "I have a crow bar in my car, I'm going to grab it and get us out of here, alright?"
Clare nodded, and Eli jetted back to his car, opening the truck open and digging around. "Where is it…" He muttered panicky, shoving useless tools and material things out of the way. He was just about to curse the fact he didn't clean out the car when Clare told him too when he finally got his hands on the long bar that would hopefully free his blue eyed girl.
Slamming the truck shut, Eli moved his way around the car, squinting to see Clare through the rain that was blurring his vision. Trudging forward, he fought the wind, making his way towards the totaled car when honking blared in his ears, causing him to whip around. A truck was thundering down the bridge, swerving dangerously at a high speed. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; Eli saw the truck and where it was heading. "STOP!" He yelled at the top on his lungs, running. "STOP THERE IS SOMEONE IN THERE!" It was too late, however; the truck slammed into Clare's car, being the force needed to nudge the car loose from the barricade and right into the overflowing lake below. "CLARE!" Eli screamed In horror, hearing her petrified screams over the whooping wind and pounding rain.
…how much I love you
The truck zoomed off right after; not bothering to stay and make sure Clare or Eli was alright. Eli would have tracked down this person, but there were more pressing matters at the moment. Throwing off his soaping jacket and grabbing a tight hold on the crow bar, Eli dived into the lake, thinking nothing but needing to get Clare out of there.
Holding his breath, Eli opened his eyes under the water; He could hardly make out his arms in front of his with the murky dirt and other unmentionables floating around. Pushing himself forward, Eli swam, his body screaming in protest as his limbs froze due to the temperature. Breaking through to the surface, Eli swallowed the cold air and spotted Clare car to the far side of the lake; He propelled himself towards her as fast as he could with the crow bar weighing him down and soon grasped onto the car for support. Gliding carefully into the broke car window he plopped down right beside his love. "Clare!" His voice showing obvious relief as Clare looked turned her head towards him at the sound of her name.
"Eli," She replied, her free hand touching his wet cheek, as she could hardly believe her eyes. Eli leaned forward and placed a hard, needy kiss in her frozen lips. "Let's get you out of here," He said, determinedly looking down and her leg still caught. Breathing in he ducked down under the water, his eyes stinging as he opened them. Holding the crowbar tightly, he wedged into under the console and tried to get it to budge with little luck.
Please don't take…
He rose up, his breathing quick and uneven as his took another deep breath of oxygen. "Eli," Clare whimpered, and his just noticed how tired and extremely exhausted she looked. "It… it isn't going to work. You need to get yourself out before it's too late-"
"Don't!" Eli cut off harshly. "There is no way in hell I am leaving you here, got it?" Clare just let out a dry sob while Eli tried to console her. "Shh, we are going to be fine, we are going to get married, have beautiful blue-eyed, dark haired babies and grow old together," He proclaimed. "Don't give up Clare, don't give up on me." He kissed her and she deepened it, putting all the love, passion and care she had for the man before her. Her everything.
Just as Eli took a large gulp of the icy air into his lungs, water swooped into the car as the windshield shattered with the weight of it. Glass flew into the water as the car began to skin deep, the water level rising rapidly, threatening to swallow both Eli and Clare whole.
"Fuck!" Eli cried again, spitting out water as the crow bar was thrown out of his hands. He gave Clare one last meaningful look, as to say, hold on, while she in turn just stared at him and said, "I love you,"
Refusing to return the words and give in, Eli ducked down into the water just as it started to pool at their necks. Swimming deeper, he caught hold of Clare's jammed leg and pulled. He pulled and yanks and pushed the console, doing anything into his power to set his lover free. He couldn't lose someone else who was so close to him again; he could not allow that to happen.
His muscles tired and worn; Eli pulled Clare's leg up again, and kicked the console with all the power he had left. His eyes widened in awe as the console wedged loose, allowing him to finally pull Clare's leg out to freedom. He turned to look at her, his eyes gleaming in triumph, only to be met with the sinking feeling of dread as his stomach clenched painfully as he saw Clare eye's closed shut. It didn't look like she was breathing.
Acting quickly with adrenaline pumping through his vanes, Eli swiftly collected Clare into his arms, pulling her through the window and swam the hardest he ever had in his life to break the surface. Legs were wobbly and weak, but he trudged through the muddy band onto the side of the bridge, laying his Clare on to the wet ground below. "Clare," He whispered, praying, hoping the sound of her name would cause the eyes he loved so much to open. When she remained unresponsive Eli cried as he leaned over her body, checking her pulse.
"No, Clare!" Eli yelled at her frail body, shaking her. He couldn't lose her! She was supposed to hold on! Setting her down back onto the pavement, Eli tilted her head back, breathing into her mouth as he began to preform CPR. Faint sounds of a siren were heard in the background as Eli continuously repeated the reputations on Clare's chest then to breath into her mouth in any attempt to get her breathing again. "Come on baby," Eli sobbed. "Breath, just breath. Your time isn't up yet!"
Paramedics in suits hopped out of the ambulance, but looking at the scene ahead of them, they knew they were too late; it was a shame, so see a lady so young lost, and even harder to see her lover sob over her lifeless body. "Son," One of the older paramedics said to Eli, as he refused to stop CPR. "Son, I'm sorry, She's gone."
"No!" He wailed, covering her body with his protectively. "She…she can't be… we were supposed to have FOREVER!"
Minutes turned into hours as the rain splattered down on him and his lost love, his salty tears mixing in with the cold rain. Medical officers gripped his shoulders as he leaned forward, placing a final kiss on Clare's cold, lifeless lips. "I love you," He said finally, allowing her to be taken onto a stretcher, a white sheet covering her body then pulled up over her head. "I'll love you forever, love. Forever."
…my sunshine away
Review?
