Life After High School - Ten Years Later
By Risty and Silver
Disclaimer: The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Nnnooooooooooooooooo.
Summary: You've read this far . . . man.
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(Benny's POV)
Even though he wouldn't talk, I knew that Damon was not happy about Jaime's visit. I wasn't either and since I knew who had told them, I swore that when this was over one way or another, I would find her and kill her. As if Damon didn't need enough stress, I knew that Billee, Legolas, Elrond and Emma's brothers would never forgive us if they knew that Jaime had been up before them. I shouldn't have let them in, and if I had been more with it then I would not have, but lack of sleep was draining me completely.
The doctors performed many tests on her in the next few hours but they told us little more than I already knew. She responded to sounds and occasionally to people's voices, although she did not seem to recognise any particular voices, or words for that matter. All that told them was that her brain was still working and that she could hear things although at times she seemed very unresponsive. It told them nothing about whether or not she was brain damaged and she was still in a coma so we still had no way of knowing. The bleeding in her head had stopped, but when we were sitting there with her that night, she began to have some sort of fit. Both of the machines for her brain and heart were bleeping and she was once more rushed into surgery. Maybe she had been fighting, but there is little that can be done for a serious head injury. Once more they drained the blood and told us that she was stable, but once more they stressed that the chance of her pulling through was slim. It seemed like even faith would not be enough any more.
"You know" Damon said quietly, in the early hours of the morning. "I don't know what to do, Benny. I have to make the decision of whether of not to end her life but what if…what if I make the wrong choice?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know that it is unlikely," he said carefully. "But what if she does get better. Completely better. After all, there is a very small chance; at least that is what the doctors said. To deprive the children of their mother…I'm not sure that I can do it. But I keep thinking…what if she wakes up and she is brain damaged? If she has temporary memory loss, she's going to have to go through all the crap she has been through in the past again. Her father, that stuff with Gimli and Randy, Boromir, Jaime. The depression, the suicidal feelings. And she isn't the only one. Me, you and the children. We are all going to suffer. But what if it is even worse? Benny, what if her memory loss is so bad that she does not know who any of us are? And what if she comes round, but she can't do anything for herself, if she never remembers. I…I couldn't cope with that, Benny."
"It's all right," I said gently, putting my arm around his shoulders and hugging him hard. "It's all right."
We sat there for a minute, just comforting each other. Finally, Damon stood up and gave a sigh.
"Thank you, Benny," he said. "I've made my decision. Can you…can you call Billee and tell him, Legolas and Elrond to come up here? And Kivan and Ranger of course. And maybe…Randy, Gimli and the others. The children…the children have a right to say goodbye to their mum. But tell the front office that they are not to let any hobbits in. I won't have Jaime and your 'old friend' interfering. This will be hard enough as it is."
He turned and walked away down the corridor and I knew that he was crying. I knew…I knew exactly how he felt. This was a difficult time for all of us, but it was Damon's decision to let her go and we had to respect that…