Title: Between Life and Death
Author: Chickiee-Dee
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias or its characters.
Summary: Vaughn is injured on a mission, now Sydney must decide whether he lives or dies. Syd POV.
Authors Notes: I thought up this the other night when I was cleaning out my drawers. I hope you like it. Tell me what you thought and feel free to criticise. There is going to be a sequel to this and I also want to write the sequel for Unexpected Consequences soon as well. I'm taking a bit of a break from writing A Not So Simple Life cos I'm out of ideas, so if anyone had an idea for what the next chapter could be about, I'd appreciate it. I'm going to try my absolute hardest to post a new chapter on Three Little Words soon, I have it planned, I just have to write it. Ummm I'm also having a bit of a break from Summer Lovin' I have chapter 8 planned, so I'll have that written in a couple of weeks. Every things crazy at school right now and I'm intending to re-edit A Life Not Worth Living for a short story competition, and I wanna get that done, so if anyone wants to review it, I'd appreciate it. Anyway here the story, enjoy and please review.
Between Life and Death237 days. 5688 hours. 341280 minutes. That's how long its been since I saw his sparkling green eyes. I sit here, his pale limp hand in my own and I silently wonder if I'll ever get the chance to see them again. I blame Kendall entirely for this, if he hadn't have made us… this never would have happened, we would be sitting on the couch, arms wrapped around each other, laughing at Weiss's jokes, but no… he had to send us on that mission… didn't he? We'd just gotten back from our honeymoon, three weeks in the Carribean. Three weeks not thinking about the CIA even once. Three weeks of pure bliss, but it all came crashing down the minute we walked back into the Ops Centre…
"Agent's Vaughn, I was just going to call you in. I have a mission for you." I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue "You will be leaving for Arkhangelsk in two hours. You are to retrieve these documents" he hands me a folder, I take it, not bothering to look at its contents "from the office of this man" he hands me a photo, I slip it in the folder and wait for him to continue "You two are on point, Agent Weiss will be assisting, there is no room for failure on this" We nod and watch as he turns and walks away. Sighing, I take Vaughn's left hand in my own and we head off towards Op Tech, looking for Weiss.
We arrived at Arkhangelsk and got into the office fine, it was on our way out that we encountered trouble. They hit us from behind, shooting Vaughn before we had the chance to react. The bullet hit him in the chest, he staggered back and one of the guards hit him over the head, knocking him to the ground. I screamed and started to run towards him, but a guard stopped me, hitting me with a baton of some sort. I heard a loud crack and pain shot through my shoulder. I fought my way out of his grasp, and after several minutes of intense pain and fighting, I knocked them out. The next few moments were a blur. I screamed into the Comms that Vaughn was injured and that I needed immediate assistance, I didn't much care for my injuries, all I wanted was to get him to medical attention.
We were taken to a Russian hospital because they wanted to make sure that Vaughn was stable enough to travel. I don't really remember the trip back to LA. Weiss told me that they wanted to fly Vaughn back to LA for surgery and leave me in Russia for a couple of days and I told them where to go, stating that I wasn't going to leave him under any circumstances. They tell me that I was given a sedative and the next part I clearly remember was waking up in a hospital room at the Stafford Naval Hospital. The doctors told me that I had a broken shoulder but I was going to be ok, when I asked about Vaughn, he started to twitch nervously, before telling me that he was in ICU. I demanded to see him, but they wouldn't allow it and it was three days later that I was finally allowed to see my husband.
Seeing him shocked me, I just started crying. Lying before me was the man that I loved more than anything, the one person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and he looked so helpless. He had dozens of tubes coming out from almost every part of his body and he was on a ventilator. I was told that the bullet collapsed his lung and that he had suffered brain damage. The doctor told me that it would be almost impossible for him to be the same as he was before Arkhangelsk.
Since then, I've spent every waking hour by his side. I rarely leave, in case by some miracle he finally wakes up. Weiss is in here almost everyday, he has been such a great friend through all of this and I know he misses Vaughn almost as much as me. Dad's been in a few times, he usually comes in a couple of times a week, offering me support and a shoulder to cry on, its awkward though and he rarely stays long. I don't mind being alone with Vaughn though, I can spend all day telling him about nothing in particular, but every night before I go to sleep, I kiss his cheek and tell him how much I love him and that I can't wait till he wakes up cos then he'll be able to say it back.
On the 238th day, the Doctor enters him room, since he does it everyday, I'm not fazed by it and I just continue telling Vaughn about when I was a little girl and how I loved to ride the carousel. I finish my story and look up, surprised to see Dr Menzies still standing there. "Mrs Vaughn, there is something I'd like to speak to you about." I nod and wait for him to begin, he doesn't "Out here if you don't mind" he says, gesturing to the hall outside Vaughn's room. I get up and kiss Vaughn on the forehead "Be right back sweetie" I tell Vaughn before following the doctor out.
"Mrs Vaughn, we have been preforming tests over the past few days, monitoring your husbands brain activity" I nod, and wait for him to continue "I'm afraid it seems that brain activity has ceased. Mrs Vaughn, your husband is brain dead, which means that he will never wake up." I step back from him, as tears fill my eyes
"No, no, your wrong, he's going to wake up, he, he, he can't be brain dead, we, we, we were going to have a family together, no this can't be happening, I don't believe you" I turn and go back into the room, picking up Vaughn's hand, "They say your brain dead, that you won't wake up, they're lying, you'll wake up, when your ready, won't you?" There's no response, although I wasn't really expecting one. Dr Menzies followed me into the room "Mrs Vaughn, you need to decide whether to switch off the Life Support system or not. I have to inform you that if you chose not to switch it off, there is no chance that he'll ever wake up from this." I look Dr Menzies in the eye, tears rolling down my cheeks, "How can you ask me to kill my husband?"
"Mrs Vaughn, he is never going to wake up. His brain isn't functioning, the only thing keeping him alive is the ventilator."
"Please go, I want to be alone." He obliges and leaves me sitting next to Vaughn, his limp hand in mine.
Weiss came in later that evening, it was obvious from the look on his face that he'd spoken to the doctor. I looked up at him, my eyes puffy from crying, "They told you didn't they? That he's never going to wake up?" he nodded, "They want me to turn off the Life Support, to kill my husband. I can't do it, I can't say yes, when I know that its going to end his life" I end my sentence with a squeak, as fresh tears roll down my cheeks. Weiss comes over to sit next to me, "Syd, if he's brain dead, he's not going to wake up anyway, right now he's trapped between life and death, just waiting for you to let him go."
"I can't do it."
"Syd, you have to let him go, unless you want to spend the rest of your life sitting here?"
I know deep down that Weiss is right, that I should let him go, its not fair for him, I'm just being selfish because I think that as long as he's lying here, then he's still alive and that he could wake up at any moment, but now I know that there's no hope of him waking up and the reality of this situation has hit me harder than I expected. Weiss stayed with me until late that evening, I still hadn't decided what I was going to do, Weiss didn't push the topic and I respected him for that. When I finally fell asleep that night, I dreamt about him,
"Syd, you know what the right thing is too do. I'm no more alive than a piece of paper. Please let me go. I'll be at peace, all I feel right now is pain. Remember that I love you, I always have and I always will. We'll be together again one day. I love you Sydney, please let me go." He blew me a kiss and dissolved from my mind.
I woke up suddenly and leant over, crying on his chest. I knew in my heart what he said was true, that I should let him go and be at peace. I cried myself back to sleep and woke up several hours later. I called Weiss and told him that I wanted to see him. He arrived later that morning, when he walked into the room, I ran over to him, crying "I'm going to do it, switch off the Life Support." He nodded, "I saw him in a dream last night, he said that it was time for me to let him go, that he was in pain and all he wanted was to be at peace, then he said he'd always love me." Weiss held me closer, allowing me to cry in his arms. Dr Menzies came into the room half an hour after Weiss arrived. "I've made my decision, I'm going to switch off the Life Support." The doctor nodded and walked back out of the room, returning a few minutes later, a nurse in tow. They began to unhook the machines and once the ventilator was switched off, Vaughn took one last breath, before his heart stopped. "Time of death, 2:37pm."
The End
A/N: There will be a sequel out in the next few days. What did you think? Was it good, bad, shocking? Review and let me know, until next time LOL Alyce :D