"How you feeling honey?"
Janice the nurse asked as she walked over to where Arthur was sitting in the clinic. Arthur sat hooked up to his chemotherapy machine and sat back with his legs up. Further down there were several other people doing their own treatment. One that broke Arthur's heart was a sixteen year old girl who had lost all of her hair. She wore scars around her head, almost like how Regan used to and most of the time sat listening to her I-pod.
An older man, around sixty sat closer to him. He usually was reading the newspaper and would comment out loud about the sports scores and then mumble before turning the page.
Arthur had been in treatment for almost six months now. It had moved painfully show, but when Arthur finally made the choice to get treatment, he was stunned to hear that he wasn't as hopeless as he believed he was. Of course his doctor cursed him up and down for not coming sooner. He asked what the hell he had been doing for so long? In which Arthur answered...working. They ran tests, took blood, and Arthur even spent a week in the hospital to get his levels up. The tumor hadn't grown, but it was in a tricky spot. Before they could even talk about getting it removed they needed to work on freezing it and stopping it in its tracks.
Which was when the treatment came in.
It had been rough, mostly dealing with this alone. Arthur had hired on a housekeeper to watch his dogs as he went into the city four times a week for treatment. Some nights he was so drawn and sick, he had to get a hotel close by instead of driving.
Cobb visited a month or so in with Eames, both arrived at the clinic. Eames had flowers and a stupid sly grin spread across his face. Arthur had been dozing off that day when he hears Eames say...
"Hello darling."
Arthur had opened his eyes to see his two friends, he was stunned to see them. Eames shoved the flowers at Arthur before grabbing a chair for himself a Cobb.
"So, are they juicing you up nicely here?"
Arthur sat up slightly confused before Cobb gave a small smirk and patted Arthur on the shoulder.
"I've been trying to contact you, I talked with your housekeeper, why didn't you tell me?"
Arthur shrugged, he honestly never liked being fussed over. Putting the flowers on the table beside him he looked at his two friends.
"Didn't think it was a big deal."
Eames and Cobb exchanged a look.
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you been sick?"
"Does it matter?"
"To us yes."
Arthur sighed.
"A while now...I finally decided to do something about it before it was too late."
He left out the path that Ariadne had been the reason he changed his mind. Up until then for nearly a year before all of this had happened, he had prayed for death. Now here he was fighting it.
For most of the afternoon Cobb and Eames stayed with him. Cobb explained he was now "retired" and spending his time with his children. Showing Arthur photos, he grinned. He had known Cobb's children since they were born, in fact he had sorta felt like an uncle to them before Mal had died.
"Their getting big..."
He said, feeling a small pang of pain in his heart, knowing he would have had a daughter growing up if Regan hadn't been killed.
Eames was still working of course, over in Europe and was telling them about the latest case. He joked that nothing could have been as amazing as their last adventure in which Arthur gave a dry laugh at. They talked for a while, and Arthur could sense underneath it all his friends were worried about him. Underneath it all, they loved Arthur like family...and knowing that all this time he had been sick and had been hiding it scared them.
"Have you seen Ariadne?"
Eames asked with a smirk.
Arthur leaned back in his chair, he knew within the hour his treatment would he over, but he all ready felt dizzy.
"No...have you?"
Eames nodded looking at his nails, slightly amused.
"I ran into her a few weeks back while I was spending a weekend in Paris. Our little student seems to have a bun in the oven."
Arthur's eyes widened.
"What?"
Eames smiled.
"Yep, we ran into each other and she seemed real embarrassed, poor little thing...she waddles when she walks. I asked how the father was and she just gave me some smart ass remark. She's still in school...didn't say any of her plans...but she asked about you two."
Cobb and Arthur exchanged a look before Eames asked tapping on Arthur's machine when he would be all juiced up and ready, he was buying drinks.
That evening the three of them went to dinner. Arthur didn't drink, nor eat a lot. He was exhausted and knew that the mix of the chemo and news about Ariadne was making him feel dizzy and weak. Cobb seemed to notice it while Eames drank glass after glass of wine and kept joking about. By the end of the evening Cobb offered to drive Arthur back to his house.
Eames had patted Arthur on the back, giving him a big friendly kiss on the cheek and told him to behave himself. Arthur pulled away giving Eames a dirty look as Eames laughed and stumbled down the sidewalk to his hotel.
"I see things haven't changed..."
Arthur mumbled as Cobb laughed and walked him to his car.
The drive to his house was silent as Cobb drove on the highway. Finally Cobb glanced over at Arthur who was running his hand through his hair. He had been lucky not to have lost any of his hair yet, but he felt it thinning.
"What's on your mind?"
Arthur glanced over at Cobb.
"Nothing, why?"
"You seem like something is bothering you..."
Arthur shook his head.
"Just tired..."
"You seemed bothered when Eames told you about Ariadne, have you seen her since the last job?"
Arthur wanted to lie as he had with Eames, but Cobb had been his friend. Cobb had been the one who had shown him he wasn't alone in this new world they had all discovered. He had been there for Cobb after Mal, and both understood what it was like to loose someone from this job, and how to try and deal with reality.
But Cobb was now home, he had his children...Arthur had nobody. Whoever had murdered Regan had taken the child they had so badly wanted away as well. Now for so long he had put up a front. Acted distant and just did his job...now for the first time he had been faced with a choice.
Live or die.
He was fighting, and he honestly thought it was because of Ariadne, she reminded him so much of Regan it wasn't even funny. That rainy afternoon they spent together after the airport had changed everything. She was the first one he had welcomed to open his mind to. She knew about his horrible mistake and guilt with Regan's doctor, and the fact that revenge wasn't the only answer. In fact...it made things worse.
Thinking of the two of them laying on his kitchen floor he felt a shutter deep inside his chest. He wasn't trying to figure anything out, his life was a mess as it was...but here he was.
He was trying to fight the best he could. If he died, then he could be with his wife again. If he lived...at least he knew then he wasn't giving up. He knew Regan had tried to fight to life, and sadly lost...he didn't want to ever face her in whatever afterlife there was and tell he he didn't even have the will to go on. Even though after the doctor's murder he was almost positive he wasn't ever going to see her again.
He knew if he did live then he would just keep working. He knew Cobb was finished, but he more than likely would team up with Eames and keep doing what he did best. He had good control, and maybe he would die alone. At this point it didn't seem to matter. He had his happiness as brief as it was. Some people never have such a thing and their only escape was their dreams.
He had both.
"We slept together."
Arthur said in a dry voice which filled the silence of the car as Cobb drove. Arthur sat there looking out the window at the darkness of the freeway as Cobb glanced over.
"When?"
"When we got back, she came over to my place...I told her about Regan...in fact I told her about everything...afterwards she was the one who told me to try and get help...I took her advice and she left..."
Cobb looked at his friend before taking the exit.
"Eames said she's pregnant."
Arthur continued to stare out the window.
"Yeah..."
"Do you...think?"
Cobb didn't finish, instead Arthur just stared out the window as the night passed them by. Afterward Cobb brought hm to his house. The front driveway lights were on.
"You need help?"
Cobb asked as the parked. Arthur smirked.
"I have cancer Cobb, I didn't loose my legs."
Cobb looked amused before patting his friend's shoulder. Arthur glanced at him before Cobb spoke.
"You should go see her. Yeah she's young...but I think she's good for you. I watched you guys while we were planning the job...first time I had seen you smile in years."
Arthur shot Cobb a look.
"Ariadne is living her own life, and so aren't I. Listen, I was messed up for a while but I still have a lot to do...I might not even make it."
"Don't say that..."
"It's true. The doctors have been honest with me. Yeah I'm doing the treatments, and yeah I look all right..but the whole half a year I waited really cost me. My odds aren't that good and I've made peace with it."
"More of a reason to talk to her."
Arthur shook his head.
"I just need to be alone right now."
Cobb nodded.
"All right, but just remember...do you want to take a leap of faith or die an old man...filled with regret..."
"Waiting to die alone?"
Cobb smirked before Arthur looked at him.
"Thanks for coming by."
"Eames and I will be in the city for the next few weeks."
"All right, I'll give you guys a call. I would really like to see the kids."
Cobb smiled before Arthur got out of the car and walked up the walkway to the front door. Taking his keys out he watched as Cobb's headlights flashed across the house and then dissevered. Sighing, Arthur opened his front door and suddenly felt weak.
His legs buckled and he fell hard onto the floor. Right away Kim and Novak barked and ran over licking his face. Arthur leaned against his door, taking shallow breaths as his hands and face grew numb. Closing his eyes he thought of what Cobb said and passed out.
His housekeeper found him the next day and tried to bring him to the hospital. By then Arthur felt weak, but able to walk and told her he just fell asleep there and laid down to rest. Now here he was, back in chemo and feeling worse than ever. He ignored Eames's calls on his cell and just sat back hoeing his horrible aching in his head would stop soon. That's when the nurse asked how he was feeling. Arthur opened his eyes and gave a weak smile and said he was fine. She said she was going to bring over some ice chips for him before walking away.
Sitting there watching everyone else, he almost didn't believe it as Ariadne walked over to him.
She was wearing a loose fitting blouse and slacks. A scarf around her neck and her lovely brown hair tied back. She walked over and the first thing Arthur noticed was her stomach.
It had been nearly seven months since he last saw her, and from the looks of her she looked like she was nearly done with her pregnancy. Her stomach looked so out of place on her tiny little frame, and like Eames said she waddled as she walked.
Yet, Arthur remembered how beautiful she looked.
Ariadne stopped right in front of him and smiled.
"Hi."
Arthur blinked at first his throat felt dry and he didn't think he could speak.
"Um...hi."
She softly smiled before pulling up a chair beside him, her tiny hands rested on her stomach.
"I have something to tell you."
She said, not letting them dance around the subject. Arthur felt sick and tried his hardest to sit up straight. Ariadne stared at him before the nurse came over with the plastic cup filled with ice chips.
"Here you go honey..."
Arthur felt like he was in a daze and thanked her, not taking his eyes off Ariadne. The nurse felt Arthur's forehead and frowned.
"Oh, I think you might have a fever. I'll come and check up on you in a little bit. You just relax...oh! Who's this pretty little thing?"
Ariadne smiled and offered her hand.
"Ariadne, I'm a friend of Arthur."
The nurse shook her hand smiling.
"Oh that's nice, Arthur here is my most handsome and polite patient. You keep an eye on him you hear?"
Ariadne laughed as the nurse walked off and then looked at him. Arthur cleared his throat before she looked at the machines that were hooked up to him.
"So how are you doing?"
Arthur didn't take his eyes off her.
"Dying...yourself?"
Ariadne smiled before looking down at her stomach.
"You know, the whole reason I was scared to loose my virginity was so stupid...I always was scared I would get pregnant with the first guy I slept with. Funny how life works out huh?"
Arthur looked at her stunned, most of the color from his face had left him. He just sat there unable to speak nor move. Ariadne smiled, amused by his expression before rubbing her stomach.
"I need to talk to you Arthur, it's important."
