Unforeseen Circumstances: Chapter 13
Sorry for the long wait. I was away for the weekend so I had no time to write. Please forgive...
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine
He looked around him; he felt oddly relaxed and content, despite his intense confusion.
He was lying in a wide, green field, surrounded by blooming white and yellow daisies. The sky was giant and blue, the air filled with birdsong and bright sunshine.
How did he get here?
He wanted to stand up and look around, but the sun made him lazy – seemingly too lazy to move – so he just kept lying in the fresh field, staring up at the sky, squinting from the sun.
"Patrick..." He heard her voice. It made his heartbeat race.
"Angela?"
His head turned and he saw her lying beside him, smiling at him with those sparkling eyes, bluer than the sky above them.
"Hi Patty."
"Ange, what are you..? I thought-..?"
She didn't reply, rather stopped him mid-sentence with a meaningful nod.
His head turned back. "Oh."
"Oh? You seem less than happy, Patrick. I thought this was what you wanted? You kill Red John and then spend eternity with me? With Lottie?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "I thought so too."
"But you're not. Happy, I mean?" She said, rather than asked. "I know why, you know. And you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings or making me mad. I love you, Patrick, and I understand that it's been a long, long time. A long time that you've been lonely. And Teresa's a really great woman."
"Teresa?" He looked at her again, eyebrows furrowed. "You know about her?"
"Of course." She smiled.
"And you're not..?"
"No, of course not. I want you to be happy, Patrick. And I've seen how happy she makes you. In fact I'm amazed it took you so long..."
Their eyes met again, his pleading and apologetic. "I'm sorry, Ange..."
"No, no! Patrick, aren't you hearing what I'm saying?" She reached out and touched his hand. Her hand was so, so warm. "I'm happy. I never wanted you to wallow like you did. It broke my heart seeing you trudge around day in and day out, in full tunnel vision over that excuse of a man... I wanted you to move on. I wanted you to be happy. And I'm happy that you finally realized that you deserve it. Especially if that happiness is coming from a good source, like Teresa Lisbon. She's a very decent person, and she has a good soul. Beautiful, too."
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" He couldn't help the small smile from spreading over his face at her words; he knew her well enough to know she was being sincere. Angela never could hide jealousy; there was no maliciousness of anger in her voice. But his smile quickly faded away, and merged into a regretful sigh. "Whatever. It's too late now, isn't it? I'm here, in this beautiful place, with you. Like I always wanted to be."
He could hear her smile even though he couldn't see it. Even his view of her from the corner of his eye faded into a kaleidoscope of green grass and white daisies and sparkling blue eyes.
"It's never too late, Patrick."
X
Suddenly the birdsong morphed into a steady monotonic beeping; the yellow sunshine became a bright fluorescent glow that stung his eyes.
He blinked once, twice, attempted to adjust to the light, dispel the fuzziness his vision had taken to and recover from this dizziness that made the room spin violently.
He gasped for breath – the air in this place was thin and clinical, it burned in his lungs.
Slowly but certainly, he forced himself to relax. The beeping in the background slowed as he calmed down, and as the adrenaline and the chaos and the fear subsided, he became more aware of where he was.
A hospital room. The familiar all-too-white walls, the scratchy starched sheets beneath his fingertips and that light... So harsh and so white.
But despite all these things, he felt happy and relieved.
He was back.
Once his breathing had stilled back to normal, he began to laugh. Not loudly, or even that audibly; his throat was dry and scratchy and the only sounds that came out were raspy breaths. But he laughed none the less, ecstatic for his second chance.
It was then that he saw her. The sound of his raspy laugh had made her stir, shift in her sleep and groan just a little bit.
She was wrapped up in a blanket printed with the hospital's logo, cuddled up with her knees pulled up to her chin. Her hair was mussed up, portraying her sleepless night of worrying. But even so, she seemed the most beautiful sight he's ever set eyes on.
The smile on his face widened.
She shifted again and her eyelids started to flutter. When her eyes opened, the giant pools of blue-green, he saw the sleepiness grow into confusion and then happiness.
"Jane." She rasped and sat up.
"Teresa..."
She jumped up now, as if realizing for the first time that this was real and not a dream, and rushed to his bedside. "You're awake." She looked over her shoulder. "I should get the nurse."
He grabbed her wrist before she could get up. "Don't go." Her wrist was so warm, and his hand slid down to interlace their fingers.
She didn't go and sat back down next to him.
"Where's Rob?" He asked.
She looked down, her honest eyes betraying the guilt she felt. "He's at home."
"Didn't like the idea of you rushing to my side?"
She didn't reply at first, just looked into the distance. Until she hesitantly ventured to explain, as if he didn't already know. "I don't think Rob and I are going to work out. We still need to talk about it, but... I think we both know that we're not meant for each other."
He squeezed her hand warmly.
They stayed like that for a while, quiet and content.
She was the first to break the silence, with a quirked eyebrow and the dry wit he loved her for.
"If you drink and drive again I'm gonna kick your ass, you know that right?"
He chuckled just a bit. "I can be pretty stupid sometimes."
"I know that." She said, and lowered her head to kiss him so lightly it took his breath away. "But I love you anyway."
So next chapter will obviously be the epilogue. I'm gonna deal with the issue of Rob a little more, but there won't be any more drama so far I think. Hope you guys like it! Review, for old time's sake?
Much love, Zanny