Keiko Fujiwara: Here's the next installment!

Title | Reality

Fandom | Beauty and the Beast (CW)

Description | Catherine learns some heavy duty information from her father, Agent Reynolds when she visits him in the cell regarding Vincent's recent arrest. One thing leads to another, eventually causing Catherine to wake up in a hospital while shouting Vincent Keller's name. Gradually, she is convinced that everything she has learned about beasts was all made-believe to help her cope with her mother's death. Will Catherine buy into the story the doctors are telling her? Or, will she see past their deception and find a way back to reality? If you want to find out, continue reading!

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated T for language, suggested themes and anything else T-rated I might throw in it. If anything, read at your own discretion.

POV | Third Person Omniscient

Disclaimer | While CW owns Beauty & the Beast, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

Reality

Chapter 4

Written by: Keiko Fujiwara

~Beauty & the Beast~

Tess paced back and forth as she and JT waited for the Doctor's analysis; it's been three hours since Catherine Chandler was admitted to New York General, and they have heard nothing about her condition. The accident was severe; a drunk driver drove Catherine's car into a lamppost while she was driving down the Rikers Island Bridge before he ended up pushing her (and her car) into the East River. If not for Tess's 911 call as she had left her apartment, the emergency response team might have not gotten to the scene on time. A report from a witness confirmed Catherine's location and described the accident to the 911 dispatcher, forcing him to call in for a helicopter medical unit. Catherine was alive when pulled out of her vehicle, but just barely. She had suffered from massive bleeding as a result from the crash, and damage to her lungs and esophagus from nearly drowning as her car pulled her under the water. She, however, was not aware what was going on; upon the drunk driver's impact, her head had slammed into her steering wheel, rendering her unconscious. The multiple cuts from the many shards of glass that flew towards her body forced the emergency unit at the hospital to perform immediate surgery because one of the glass shards pierced the right side of her chest, collapsing her lung. It's a wonder how she had survived for so long.

"Cat," Tess muttered under her breath, "You better get past this."

"She's going to be fine, Tess." JT stated, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She's a fighter."

"I know but a lot of shit has happened lately; I should have gone with her to Rikers." Tess clenched her fists together, angry at herself for not being a better friend.

"You couldn't have known this would happen; look at the bright side, she's in good hands. New York General is one of the best hospitals in Manhattan." JT said, trying to console her. "But while we're on topic, we need to figure out if we're going to tell V about this…"

"Well, he'll hate us if we don't," Tess replied, "but, if we do, we could jeopardize his composure. I'm not sure we'd want to do something that might cause Rikers to send a S.W.A.T. team into the building."

"That's true." JT nodded. "But, then again, if we don't tell him, and he does find out, he'd be super angry…, and that could be worse than what his reaction might be if we do tell him."

"Good point," Tess pressed her lips together. "Let's just wait and hear what the doctor has to say before making our final decision."

"Good plan." JT stated before elbowing Tess, nodding towards the doctor walking towards him. "Well?" His voice directed to the doctor. "How is she?"

"I'm Dr. Parkington. Are you Ms. Chandler's family?"

"No…we're her friends…her best of friends…I'm representing for her boyfriend since he…cannot make it over here…. He's…out of the country right now." JT said before taking in a large gulp.

"Does she have any family members in the area?"

"No." Tess answered. "Her sister is in Miami, and knowing Catherine, she wouldn't want Heather to know about this—at least not yet."

"Her parents?"

Tess sighed, "Her mother and her step father are deceased; her birth-father is in jail."

"I see." Dr. Parkington hummed. "Although I cannot tell you any specifics concerning Ms. Chandler's condition, I will say that she is stable…for now. We've stopped the bleeding, but she received numerous blood transfusions during surgery."

"May we go and see her?" Tess asked, hoping his answer would be positive.

"You may, but she is in a coma."

"A c-coma?" JT gulped.

"Yes." The doctor nodded.

"M-medically induced?"

"No." Dr. Parkington frowned.

"Will she come out of it?" Tess's heart jumped with worry.

"It's hard to say, but we will do all we can. Having a brain injury as massive as Ms. Chandler's can be scary. Unlike the rest of the body, the brain is highly unpredictable. She may wake up today or she might wake up sometime next year…" his voice faded.

"What are the chances that she never wakes up?" JT asked after popping a TUMS into his mouth.

"Again, it's hard to say. I suggest you inform Ms. Chandler's loved ones to come up here as soon as possible just in case."

"Just in case what?" Tess's throat started drying up.

The doctor pressed his lips together. "Just in case they'll need to prepare for the worst." Without another word, Dr. Parkington turned around and walked away from Tess and JT.

A few moments of silence passed before Tess finally gasped, "Oh my God!"

"What's Heather's number?" JT asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"What's Heather's number? I obviously do not have clearance to tell Vincent since he's locked up at Rikers. You, on the other hand, do. If there's a chance Catherine could die from this, Vincent will need to know. You go and tell Vincent what's going on. I'll call Heather, tell her to fly up here, and then figure out a way to bust V out of jail—legally of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Am I ever?" JT shrugged. Tess pulled out her phone and ran her finger over her contacts. She hovered her index finger over Heather's name and pressed the button. JT looked over her shoulder, inputting Heather's number into his phone. "Now, before we split off, let's go see Cat. Who knows, maybe she'll wake up."

"Maybe…" Tess's voice faded, knowing JT's positivity was going to get them nowhere.

~Beauty & the Beast~

QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE BEFORE CONTINUING:

Normal Text = present / what is happening in real life.

Italic Text = imaginary / what is happening inside Cat's mind during her coma

~Beauty & the Beast~

Catherine groaned as she sat up from her bed and grasped her head. As she opened her eyes, she whirred around, not recognizing all of her surroundings. There were monitors everywhere in the room, along with a TV, a crossword puzzle book?, a swivel table for God only knows what and a drawing pad with a bunch of numbers and squiggles on the top page. 'What the hell is going on?'

Suddenly, she realized where she was—Vincent's old bedroom at the Gentlemen's Guild. How in the world did she end up there? The last thing she remembered was talking to Tess on the phone before feeling her car spinning out of control. Was this Heaven? Was she dead?

She slipped out of the bed, walked over to the mirror and noticed the gaudy white gown she was wearing. Just as she was about to slide out of it and change into something more fitting, she felt a presence in the room. "Who's there?"

"Relax," a playful voice laughed, "it's just me."

"Vincent…" her voice faded. "What's going on? Why are we here?"

"Does it matter?" Vincent asked with a shrug before hopping onto the bed. He was hiding something. "We're home, that's all that is important."

"If you say so," she pressed her lips together. She sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "I'm glad that I can count on you to always be here—even in the most bizarre dreams." That must be what this freaky world was—a dream. After all, she did remember something hitting her head the last time she was conscious.

Suddenly, the door opened and a familiar, unwanted voice said, "Catherine, who are you talking to?" Gabriel Lowan walked into the room with a strange doctor's get-up. He held a clipboard in his right hand, and frowned. "What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting—especially after trying to escape yesterday; you took a nasty blow to the head when you fell off of the fence."

"No one cares what you have to say," Catherine said coldly. "I'm fine; Vincent is taking care of me."

Gabe placed his clipboard down on the swivel desk, and sighed. "Catherine, Vincent does not exist."

"Yes he does; are you blind? He's right he—" Suddenly, she stopped her statement when she realized her head was resting on a pillow, and not her boyfriend's strong shoulder. "Well, he was right here. He must have zipped out of here while neither of us were looking; his beastly DNA allows him to do that, you know."

Gabe sat on the corner of Catherine's bed and placed his hand over hers. She immediately withdrew her hand back. Gabe took in a deep breath and nodded. "You forgot to take your medication today, didn't you?"

"You're delusional. I don't need any medication. I'm as healthy as a horse." Catherine replied as she stood up and walked away from Gabe. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of this gown and get ready for work."

"You don't work, Catherine." Gabe replied. "You quit your job almost five years ago."

"What? Why?!"

Gabe rubbed his temples, "Because, you got sick. Your condition couldn't allow you to continue working as a detective….When bad went to worse, I had you admitted. You hated being away from home so I bought the Gentlemen's Guild and made it into a mental ward. They say doctors shouldn't treat their loved ones, but after pulling a few strings, I was able to have special permission to oversee your condition, my love."

Catherine raised her eyebrow. "This is some whacky dream, especially if you think we are lovers. Hate to break it to you, Gabe, but while we were dating, I never once loved you. I tried to, but my heart always belonged to Vincent."

Suddenly, Gabe grabbed Catherine's shoulders and shook her violently. "How many times must I tell you that your fantasy-boyfriend does not exist!? He was created as a coping mechanism when your mother was killed by a random shooting incident. I know there are times you can't help it, but if you took your medicine, we wouldn't be in this situation where I have to listen to my wife rave on about someone else!"

"Woah!" Catherine exclaimed, pushing Gabe away. "W-wife?! We aren't married!"

"Yes we are!" Gabe grabbed her hand and pointed to her wedding band. "We've been married for six years."

"I haven't even known you for six years!" Catherine refuted as she pushed Gabe away from her. "Get away from me, you psycho!"

"Yeah, you heard her!" Vincent suddenly shouted, standing behind Gabe. "Get lost, you asshole!"

"Vincent!" Catherine exclaimed, happy that her boyfriend was back. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "See, Gabe? Vincent is as real as you and me! Now, get the hell out of here or I'll call the cops!"

Out of nowhere, Gabe grabbed Catherine's shoulder and pulled her away from Vincent, but she held on tightly to her boyfriend's fingers. "VINCENT ISN'T REAL!" He grabbed her chin and forced her to look towards her Vincent. He wasn't there; he then pulled her chin down to look at her fingers. A wad of curtain was clutched into her hand—not Vincent's strong fingers. Gabe then pulled her face back to look at him. "Catherine," he removed the curtain away from her fingers and pulled her away from the window. "This is real." He kissed her fingers; she grimaced. "Vincent does not exist. Please realize who you are—what your life really is. Vincent is not a true part of it; I am. Please remember who you used to be. Please, I don't like seeing you this way."

Vincent wasn't real? He never was a part of her life? And Gabe—he was her husband? Nothing added up correctly; she hated Gabe. Right? Gabe was the reason her life was a living hell—so why would she ever… Suddenly, her attention was taken elsewhere. She noticed a sign outside on the lawn as she looked through the window behind her bed. Muirfield Mental Institution.

Gabe…he's a part of Muirfield. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Catherine shoved him away from her, and ran out of her room. She pushed past the multiple nurses and patients standing in the hallway before flying down the stairs. She had to get out of there! As she continued to make her way to the door, she heard Gabe shout, "GET HER! SHE'S TRYING TO ESCAPE AGAIN!"

As Catherine pushed open the doors, two security guards grabbed her. One of them wrapped his right arm across her chest while he snatched her waist with his other arm. As the other guard pulled out a syringe and tried to aim it at her, Catherine struggled with all of her might. "STOP IT!" She yelled as she squirmed in the guard's arms, "VINCENT!" she screamed her boyfriend's name, hoping he would hear her from wherever he was, "IT'S GABE! HE'S PART OF MUIRFIELD! IT'S GABE! IT'S ALWAYS BEEN GA—

~Beauty & the Beast~

"What's happening?!" Tess exclaimed as she watched her best friend's body starting to jerk in multiple directions.

Several doctors and nurses crowded around Catherine, and held her jerking body as still as possible before Dr. Parkington injected something into her arm. In minutes, Catherine's body calmed down, and went limp.

"What happened? What did you give her?" Tess asked, hoping the doctor would answer her questions.

"She was seizing. I injected a dose of medicine that slowed her movements down and calmed her heart-rate. It won't prevent future seizures, but it will slow them down if they ever happen again." Dr. Parkington replied.

"What does that mean in terms of Cat's condition?" Tess inquired before pressing her lips together to a thin line.

"I am not at liberty to say," Dr. Parkington stated. "Unless you are either a blood relative or a married partner, I cannot disclose her medical condition at this time."

After Dr. Parkington left Catherine's hospital room, Tess walked over to her best friend and squeezed her hand. "Hang in there."

~Beauty & the Beast~

Even though Vincent was locked up in the cells for the big bads of the lower level of Rikers, he was still grouped in with the other inmates. At mealtimes, he would be escorted out of his cellblock, and taken towards the mess hall to eat with everyone else. The only difference? He was required to eat by himself at a table away from everyone else. He didn't care though. It was probably better if he sat alone just so no one would provoke him.

As he sat down at his table, he decided to watch the morning news since there wasn't really anything better to do. As his eyes glued to the television screen that was bolted to the wall, he saw the name "Catherine Chandler" plastered all over the news crawl. Ignoring the noise around him, he focused in on the anchor's voice:

"A few hours ago, a well-known NYPD detective, Catherine Chandler, was injured in a terrible car accident off of Rikers Island Bridge. Apparently she was leaving the prison after visiting with her father, former Special Agent Robert Reynolds, and prison guards claim she was disturbed about something her father had said to her; details are still unclear about her conversation with former Agent Reynolds, but it appears her boyfriend, Captain Vincent Keller, was arrested earlier this morning for the murder of New York City's multibillionaire, Curt Windsor. The whereabouts of his daughter, at this time, are still unknown. Whether or not Keller's arrest was related to Chandler's visit to Rikers is still unconfirmed, but there's some possible truth to that theory.

"Witnesses report that she was driving away from Rikers, and crossing Rikers Island Bridge. Marcus Fitch, age 23, was driving while intoxicated; he lost control of his vehicle due to alcohol-induced impaired vision, crossed over the bridge's medium before hitting Chandler's vehicle at approximately 65 miles per hour. Her vehicle had wrapped around a light post, according to witness, Kelly Long's statement."

As the camera moved away from the anchor and focused on Kelly Long, Vincent's heart stopped. He could hear himself hyperventilating, and feel the Beast trying to emerge. 'No!' he shouted to himself, needing to keep his composure if he wanted to get out of prison alive. As an effort to calm himself down, Vincent focuses his attention back to the screen.

"...I literally thought the driver was done for." Kelly Long had said, "As that drunken dirt-bag crashed into her, I was sure she was going to die. Her car did this like flippy thing after it hit the light post over there," she pointed behind her, "and in seconds, her car had fallen into the East River…"

The camera went back to the anchor, "Chandler was talking to Detective Tess Vargas via Bluetooth at the time of the accident. Vargas claimed to have heard crashing noises in the background of her phone so she called the 911 dispatcher as soon as possible, and minutes later, a witness informed the unit of Detective Chandler's location. An emergency response team rescued Chandler, pulling her out of her sunken vehicle before flying her to New York General. Details of her condition are still unknown at this time, but EMT Specialist Isaac Frederickson, man of the hour who was in charge of the unit who rescued Detective Chandler, believed it would be a miracle if Chandler survived from this wreck.

This is New York's 5, Patricia Robertson, and back to you Mike."

Vincent turned away from the TV, and closed his eyes as he continued to keep his resolve. Catherine was in pain—perhaps dead, and all he could do was sit in here like a duck and hope JT or Tess could find a legal way to get him out of there. Sure, he wanted to storm out of jail at that very second, but he wouldn't be able to check on Catherine without having a S.W.A.T. team on his back.

"Cool your jets, Vincent." Reynolds said as he walked by. "We both don't want the world to know what happens when you blow a gasket, do we?"

"Have you seen the news?" Vincent asked, his eyes suddenly turning gold. Instantly, he looked down to hide them away from peering eyes.

"I make it my business not to watch the news as the world turns to turmoil. There's enough corruption as is in my life; I don't need to educate myself with more worldwide corruption." Robert replied before heading to a table. However, Vincent stood up and grabbed his shoulder.

The guards stirred, but did not intervene. They decided to watch and see how things panned out between the two men. Would Keller knock him out? Will he try to kill him?

"You should pay more attention," Vincent muttered through gritted teeth. "Catherine was in a major car accident—one that was almost fatal."

Robert's eyes widened in horror. "You're j-joking…You're just trying to convince me to feel sorry for you."

"I wish that was the case, old man." Vincent said, his resolve returning. As much as he wanted to lose control and let the Beast roam free, he needed to play safe for now. "Just watch every news channel," Vincent said as he pointed to the TV behind Reynolds' head. "you'll see that I'm not lying."

Vincent sat back down at his table, and waited to be excused in order to pick up his food from the food service line. Before he could even take a bite of his dinner after he had ordered it, a guard walked up to him, and said, "Detective Tess Vargas is here to see you. She claims she has an urgent message to deliver."

Oh no. Vincent gulped; what if she was going to tell him that Catherine only has 20% chance of living? What if…she's okay and she wants to see him? What if…No. He wouldn't dare think of that. The security guard escorted him to the interrogation room, and locked him inside. Vincent saw Tess standing frantically beyond the glassed window, and his heart dropped once more. Something wasn't good.

~Beauty & the Beast~

Keiko Fujiwara:

Well? You like? I had fun writing this chapter! :)