xD This story is becoming a laugh a second. Honestly, I long for the days of the senile sweater lady. Maybe I'll add her later on. This thing needs some comedy before it ends, geez.

And yeah, there's a lot of swearing, more so than any of the other chapters, but my mood right now is awful. How is it getting so late so quickly? This is effing retarded! I wanted to play some games, but maybe I'll bore myself with css before bed. xP

Hot tea is hot. :x -burns mouth and does my 'holy crap that was effing hot why did I take a big gulp' dance-


One Life Faltered

by D. Ant

-Twenty Nine-
Hours had passed, Lori still not coming back. 'Probably at some relatives house,' Jigen thought.
During that time he started wishing he hadn't gotten angry. He wished that he didn't have such a short temper and that he would have just talked to her.
"I guess I could call her..." He sighed, staring down at the phone. After a long hesitation, he forced himself to pick it up and call her. He wasn't too happy to hear her phone ringing in the kitchen. "Damn it," he sighed, setting the phone down and rubbing his face with both hands.
He wanted to stay up for when she came back, if she ever did. And if she ever did leave him for good, she'd have to come back for her stuff. "And then I'll tell her then..." he muttered, now half asleep.
He yawned, his eyelids growing heavy.
The next sound he heard was a knock at the door. He opened his eyes, the clock by the television reading a little past four in the morning. "I'll be there in a minute," he said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. He let out a long sigh, opening his eyes and getting himself into his wheelchair, making the short trip to the door. "Yeah?" he asked in hesitation, two cops standing outside his door.
"Is this the residence of..." The officer looked down at the small notebook in his hand. "Lori Glynn?"
"Yeah. What is this about?"
"Are you her husband?" the cop asked.
"Boyfriend." He looked at both the officers, the one in the back looking like he wondered why he was brought along. "What's going on?"
"Your girlfriend was involved in an accident. She didn't make it. I'm sorry." His words came out slowly, the cop hating this part of his job.
"What?" Jigen asked, looking up as he took in the officers words. "This...no..." He looked down, shaking his head. Everything suddenly hit him and he broke down crying.
The two cops stayed for a few minutes, talking to Jigen, offering to take him to see her.
Jigen declined, saying he wasn't ready. He told them he'd see her when he could face her.
The cops glanced at one another and then took their leave, offering one last apology before heading to the cruiser.
Jigen closed the door and turned around, his eyes scanning the living room. They rested on the entrance to the kitchen, as if waiting for Lori to come out like she did so many times before.
"I should have talked to you," he said through his sobs. "I'm so sorry, Lori. I'm so sorry..."

It was now five hours later, Jigen sitting emotionless on the couch, his eyes staring at the wall by the front door. He had spent the last few hours crying, apologizing, blaming himself and calling him every name he could think of. And then there was the small part of him that waited for her to come through the door, hoping that it was all just a bad dream.
The phone next to him rang for the sixth time in the last hour. And once again he didn't hear it, his mind too deep in a blank void.
Five minutes later the phone rang again. But this time it broke Jigen from his trance. "Yeah," he answered it, his voice hoarse.
"I was starting to worry," Miller said on the other line. "Is everything okay? You sound awful."
"Lori...she's dead," he managed to get out before once again crying.
Miller gasped. "I'll be right over," she said before hanging up.
Ten minutes later, she had pulled up to the curb, rushing from the car and to the house. She immediately reached for the door knob, not even thinking, and let herself in. Seeing Jigen on the couch, she ran to him, sitting next to him as the two embraced each other, both crying but for different reasons.
"It's all my fault..." Jigen said in a low voice. "If it wasn't for..."
"Hey, come on," Miller said as she tried to calm him. "Stop blaming yourself."
"But I am to blame," he said. "I had to get all pissed off and..." He sighed, pushing himself away from her and looking off to the side.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She knew he did, but needed some persuading. "What happened?"
"We had an argument and she left. She was driving too fast...the road curved and she lost control." The more he thought about it, the more he hated himself. He knew that if it wasn't for him, she'd still be alive.
Miller looked down at her lap. She knew the argument was over her. She could tell Lori didn't like her. 'That kiss probably didn't help any,' she said as she kicked herself inside. 'If I hadn't have come here...' "I'm sorry," she said with a sad sigh.
The two sat silently for a few minutes, both staring off in separate directions, both feeling bad and blaming themselves for what had happened.
"Do you have someone who can help you?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"I can manage," he answered, knowing full well he couldn't.
He knew that Goemon and Lupin and even Fujiko would help him with anything he needed, but he didn't want their pity. For now he just wanted to drown himself in guilt. He felt that was all he deserved.

Miller had stayed until that night, helping Jigen in any way she could. He tried to stay sane for her sake. She didn't need to go back into a war zone with something nagging on her mind. So, he mourned on the inside, laughing and acting calm on the outside.
"It wasn't your fault, okay?" He looked at her, very seriously, in the eyes. "I overreacted. This is on me, all right?"
Miller sighed and stared down.
"All right?" he repeated.
She nodded.
"I wanted you here and I'm glad you came. I'm just an asshole sometimes." He sighed.
"Sometimes?" she said, trying to lightening her mood by teasing him.
"Yeah, sometimes." He gave a slight smile. "You should hurry before you miss your flight."
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"
"I'm sure," he said.
Miller stood and started slowly towards the door. Leaving him was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to stay, to help him, but the last thing she wanted was her superiors on her ass about abandoning her duties. She turned towards him, rushing up and giving him one last hug, neither saying anything as she rushed out the door.
"I'm an asshole," he muttered, staring at the door. "Just like you said, Lori." He sighed, plopping himself on his back onto the couch and staring off at the ceiling.

His dreams that night weren't any different. They were the same nightmares that usually frequented his mind as he slept. But this night he was aware of it, waking up screaming in a cold sweat, his heart racing as he gasped for breath.
And this night, when he wanted to share it with someone, when he needed someone to talk to, there was nobody else around but him.
Needing to release his feelings, he began to talk aloud to Lori, talking as if she was there next to him. He then laughed in the middle of telling his dream. "She wouldn't even want to haunt me," he said. "How did I fuck up so bad?" He stared off, the tears once again coming, his mind once again wandering as he blamed himself for everything that ever went wrong.
He spotted his bottle of vicoden near the TV set, sitting up and getting him into his wheelchair. "Fuck this," he muttered, grabbing the bottle and then making his way into the kitchen and grabbing an unopened bottle of scotch. "What's the damn point anymore?"
He made his way back to the living room, back to the couch. "I'm sorry, Lori..." He opened the bottle of vicoden, pouring them into his mouth, downing them with th whole bottle of scotch. He then layed down, waiting for the two to work their magic, hoping to fall in a long and endless slumber as he closed his eyes.