V
The Unexpected
¡§No parent should have to bury their child.¡¨ [v]The day had been long, tiring, and exhausting on both the mind and body, so when Deanna arrived to her second home, and was offered the chance to take a nap on the second floor balcony on one of the nicest spring days in San Francisco since she arrived -in Will¡¦s arms- she did not need to be asked twice.
The wind blew gently, the sun shone in a way which reminded Deanna of Betazed, and the birds were chirping as if their morning catches had been pumped full of sugar.
They fell asleep instantly; Will¡¦s fatigue was mostly blamed on the accumulating sleep-deprived, literature packed week, while Deanna was just plain tired from the day¡¦s activities.
It wasn¡¦t hard to fall into that deep, silent place, in fact, it might¡¦ve even been easy, if not for the noisy, now infuriating chatter of the neighboring winged-creatures.
But Deanna had been barely awake when Will¡¦s comm rang inside the house.
~
The hospital was bustling with nurses and doctors doped up on caffeine, and while they tended to their patients, one of them lay in bed, with Will and Deanna by his side.
¡§I¡¦m sorry.¡¨
They were at the hospital near UCSF. Something went wrong at the Academy. And Andy took the worst of it.
¡§Shush Andy, there¡¦s nothing to be sorry about.¡¨
And now Will was faced with no hope and no future with his childishly bright, too young, too precocious, half-mutilated boy.
His son was dying.
Deanna sat near the window of the room, tears in her eyes, face in her hands, already having broken down, already having felt the magnitude of sadness surrounding the room. And as Will pushed back the tears, strong, too stubborn to give into his greatest fear, to see the image that would come with the passing days, of him, standing in front of another member of his already defeated family, with stupid flowers and stupid tears running down his face, he leaned close to Andy, who too limply, too tiredly, spoke to Will.
¡§Where¡¦s Deanna?¡¨
Will felt his day brighten, even if only by an ounce, but quickly dug himself into the darker emotions. It wasn¡¦t right, for him to be so happy, and so hopeful, while Andy lay in the hospital bed, suffering from burns and broken bones and bruises that pounded too inward for Andy to ever be the same again.
¡§Right here, Andy. I¡¦m right here.¡¨ She took his hand in hers, tears streaming down her face too strongly for her to control them, the sobs coming in too powerfully for her to choke them back. They were flooding over, like a cracked dam on the verge to cripple and fall.
The boy paused before he spoke again, face twisting into a mask of pain.
¡§I¡¦m going to ask for some morphine.¡¨ But Andy had a good hold on her hand, and Deanna didn¡¦t let go, for fear of breaking something else.
¡§Let it be.¡¨
¡§Andy,¡¨ Will panicked, still fighting with denial. ¡§Deanna has the authority to-¡¨
¡§You guys, let me,¡¨ He took a breath, surrendering to his new fate. ¡§die with some dignity.¡¨
~
The bed was empty.
The rest of the patients on the floor had been put to bed, and Will sat alone, with the lights turned off, as the nurses changed shifts, the doctors in the emergency room rushed to save another life, and as Deanna, at home, in her apartment, talked to an old patient.