A/N: I am going quote crazy so I apologize in advance. I had planned to post this earlier but the part wasn't cooperating (still isn't, truth be told), but I wanted to get it posted since I left you guys with such a cliffhanger. Don't hold it against me? ;o)
Ok, on with the show . . .
~.~.~
Hopeless as my dream dies, as the time flies
Love, a lost illusion ... helpless, unforgiven ...
Cold and driven to this sad conclusion
No beauty could move me, no goodness improve me
No power on earth, if I can't love her . . .
- from the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast
~Previously:~
Beeeeeeeeep
Her phantom touch left his hair and her hand became still in his as the relative quiet of the room was pierced by a high-pitched sound and a whisper that sounded eerily like 'I'm sorry . . .' and Vaughn was left with a heart monitor whose steady beeping had now changed to a flatline and a single thought moving through his head:
I can't lose you . . .
~.~.~
And now . . .
Part 11: Sand and Water
~We will not remember dying - Pablo Neruda~
Sydney and Francie sat by the shoreline, watching the waves pound against the surf.
Across the sand stood Vaughn. He was talking but his voice was drowned out by the waves.
"What is he saying?" Francie asked, tilting her head at Vaughn even as she continued drawing patterns in the sand.
Sydney shook her head and sighed.
"He never really speaks to me anymore" she answered even as she strained to hear his words. She had tried to approach him but found that even though they appeared to be on the same beach, there were oceans separating them. She exhaled slowly and sent whispers of comfort on the wind, even as she resolved to let him go . . .
Her fingers delved into the sand in an attempt to occupy them, looking for answers in their depths, even as the grains slid from her hands back to their original positions in a fruitless task.
She looked up when there was a flash. Francie continued drawing in the sand, seemingly oblivious.
"What's that?" Sydney asked, pointing at the bright light.
Beeeeeeeeep
Francie turned to look. "What?" she asked, her voice sounding far away.
"She's going into cardiac arrest! Prep the crash cart!"
The bright light was coming closer and Sydney stood up to meet it.
"Clear!"
A figure emerged.
"Charge to 200 . . ."
"Emily?"
"Clear!"
"You're not supposed to be here Sydney . . . You have to go back" Emily said softly even as the light enveloped her form, making it hard to see . . .
"Charge to 300 . . ."
"But-" Sydney began, shading her eyes.
"Clear!"
She needed to find Francie . . .
"Charge to 400 . . ."
"I can't lose you . . ."
The whisper, so broken, reached her ears and her heart clenched.
"Clear!"
It pulled her home against her will.
Beep Beep Beep Beep
"Please . . ."
"We have a rhythm!"
~silence~