Flashback to Now
Chapter 15
Swimming. That was the feeling, she thought. A near drown. In dark, muddy murky waters. She was swimming, not quite drowning, but was getting nowhere. Like she was tethered to a post and it was not letting her get away. But from what? She didn't know. She tried to distract herself away from reality but coming up with the perfect analogy for her feelings, choking back tears, not wanting her pain to show. She was walking the halls of the hospital, trying to get away. Far, far away from the room, now empty, with the machines there, the lights out and the familiar whirring and whooshing nonexistent. Those noises, she thought, I hated those noises, they annoyed the hell out of me. What I wouldn't do to hear those noises. She shook her head. Back to the analogies, she thought, concentrating hard. Ok, I'm swimming, tethered to a pole, in dark, muddy, murky waters, and....and....As she walked through the ambulance bay she felt herself breaking down, she had not gotten five feet down the sidewalk when she finally gave in. She nearly collapsed, sitting on the curb, sobbing as though she had never once cried in her life, and the tears she had held back were now, finally, escaping.
"Maybe I should talk to her?" Ty questioned, not quite knowing what to do. "Liz? No, no I think its about time we had a talk, Ty," Sully said quietly. "I've avoided her long enough." "What is it, Sully? What makes it so you don't want to see her?" Ty asked. Sully was quiet, looking away from Ty's eyes. "Its not her going away, is it Sul?" Ty asked. "No. No, not anymore. It was, and I still feel angry at that. Now...now it's the way that she looks at me." "Looks at you?" Ty questioned. "Looks at me. Looks at me like she used to look at her father," Sully said, almost defeated.
It was after his shift, and he had resolved to go see her. She needed him now, he was sure. Ty had told him that Pete suffered another stroke, he knew that Liz was going to struggle with that. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his brown leather coat, he approached the ambulance bay. He was about to walk through the doorway of the Emergency Room when he saw the small figure sitting on the sidewalk, body shaking with sobs. He approached her carefully, not wanting to scare her, but still not quite sure he wanted her to know that he was there. "Liz?" He finally said. Her tear streaked face looked up. "Papa Bear," she croaked. Sully nearly smiled, he hadn't heard that name in so long. "Sweet Pea, what's the matter?" Sully asked, concerned. Liz gave a hard sniffle, and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Her voice was almost childlike when she said, "Pete. It's Pete. He's gone, gone away." Sully tried to understand the meaning behind that, and said, "No honey, he just had a stroke. He's still here." Liz gave a raw, guttural wail as she cried out, "No! No! Pete's gone! He...I...The doctor, he pulled the plug. I mean, I told him to. I mean, I mean....Pete died. I took him off life support." Sully sat down beside her, with feelings rising inside him, meshing together in a sick, horrible way. Guilt, sadness, anger, emotions he could not name surged inside him to the point where it was painful. "There's no one left, Papa Bear, he's gone," Liz cried. "No one? Sweet Pea, Liz. I'm here," Sully stuttered, surprised. Liz looked him straight in the eyes, and her feelings towards him were suddenly clear. Her pet name for him came out of her grief, nothing more. "You're not here," Liz said coldy. "You aren't the same man, not anymore. There's no one left." Liz looked at him again, stating simply before getting up and leaving, "No one."
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Lee, Lauren and Karlie: Thank you very much for your kind reviews, I am glad you are enjoying this story. I realized today I posted Chapter 12 in place of Chapter 3, I apologize for the inconvenience and I have fixed it for you. Thank you again and I hope you continue to enjoy the story as it goes, if there is anything you want to see happen or change, let me know! I may end up surprising you in the end, but I love your input!
