Chapt 7

"Jason? Micheal wants you to come eat with u- Oh-my-god-sorry!" Carly turned and walked straight back out of Jason's room, where she had awoken two very embarrassed people. She waited at the bottom of the stairs, and a moment later, Jason groggily trudged down them, yawning.

"What did you want?"

"Micheal, he wanted to know if you would eat with us... Sorry, about that, I uh, wasn't thinking." She bit her lip, knowing he wouldn't take kindly to her butting in.

"It's okay. Try to call first, next time though. Elizabeth is pretty mortified."

"Yeah. No problem." She said dryly, somewhat embarrassed herself. "I'll just let Micheal know your busy this morning."

"Thanks, tell him I'll come by later." He closed the door behind her. "You can come out now."

Liz walked down. "Well. Uh. Good morning."

"Yeah. It is." He stole a quick but intense kiss. "You hungry?"

"Always."

Elizabeth followed him into the kitchen, perching on the counter.

"Coffee or tea?"

"Tea please."

"Would you like toast with your eggs?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Orange juice?"

She nodded.

"I love you."

"Okay- wait... what?" She about fell off the counter.

He turned and looked her in the eye. "I love you."

"Oh Jason." Her breath caught. "Don't." He shook his head, uncomprehending. "Don't love me."

"It's not something I can change. It's okay if you can't say it back. I just wanted to tell you. I want you to know." Her head dropped, and her eyes filled at his generous, trusting offer of his heart. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way." He said again.

"Of course I do!" She burst out. "Of course I love you. How could I not?"

He came and stood before her. "Then why shouldn't I love you."

She couldn't meet his eyes. "You just shouldn't."

"Why?" His voice was steel.

Her reply was soft, almost unheard. "I'll break your heart."

He placed a hand beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. "Why."

"I'm dying, Jason."

The floor tilted, and he struggled to stay balanced. "What?"

"You know how you have this bad feeling? Well I had it too, and I went to the doctor, and he found something, a spot on my lung. They're still running test, but I know, I know, it's bad."

"It's not. It can't be." His voice cracked, and he pulled her off the counter into his arms. It couldn't be, he thought again. Why would he have had those dreams if there was nothing he could do to stop the outcome?

O O O

It was late afternoon, and Jason was sitting alone, Elizabeth having decided to take a nap. Teasing him that he had tired her out. Their humor was forced though. Both of them having spent the day pretending to be certain he test results would come back negative for cancer.

He was trying to remember his dreams. She said she was waiting for the results. That meant that "Call Doctor," in the second dream, had been a clue. He knew if he could put it together, it might help him. The first one, especially. He remembered the feelings clearly, the sense of loss, but he couldn't remember the date on the tombstone. He raged at himself, every other detail was clear, but that one eluded him, danced out of reach. He jerked as there was a knock at the door.

Micheal danced in before he could say anything. "Look Jason! Look what I'm gonna be for Halloween!" The little boy drew his pretend sword.

"A pirate. Very cool." He smiled; Micheal's joy was infectious.

"Micheal!" Carly appeared in the door. "What did I tell you?"

"Sorry mom." Micheals voice was cheerful, rather than filled with remorse.

"Get back over there now. I told you; Jason will come over later, when he's ready. Now go." She said firmly.

"Bye Jason!" Micheal skipped out.

"Ug. What am I going to do with him?" Carly jokingly asked Jason.

"He's excited."

"Yeah, just wait till he's eating all that candy on Sunday. He'll be bouncing off the walls." She sighed, and left, her voice trailing behind her. "Bags of candy. Oh yeah. October 31st, every parents nightmare."

October 31st. Jason stared after her. That was it. That had been the date. Four days away, Elizabeth was supposed to die. He closed the door and stumbled to the chair. He had to remember more. The details. Surely they meant something. Surely it had to be something he could prevent. You wouldn't die of cancer in six days? Would you? No.

He sat, motionless, focusing on the first dream. What had happened? Slowly, he focused on the few solid details he could recall. A wooden box, the rose, the glass, the coaster from Jakes, with his number, soda crackers, shoes. It didn't make sense. Or it did, but he didn't know what kind of sense in made.

Clearly they were clues. He remembered "The Wind" and she had handed it to him, wrapped exactly as it had been in his dream. The book had never been returned. She was working on a painting of Pomegranates. But they were only markers. Proof that things were moving in a direction. Nothing about how to prevent anything. Nothing.

"What are you doing?" Jason's lurched with shock, so deeply in his thoughts had he been.

"Just thinking." He said, as soon as he regained his breath.

"Any luck with that?" She joked.

"Not so much, really. I've been trying to figure out why you might be in danger, but so far it's useless."

She looked confused. "Jason, isn't the possibility of cancer enough?"

"Well," He drew her down on the couch with him, "I've been having these extremely vivid dreams, and the things I see in them have been repeating when I'm awake. Strange as it sounds, I think they might be connected."

"Like an omen?"

"Right."

"Why does that mean the cancer isn't it?" She asked.

"Well, in my dream, your headstone says you die on the 31st. I don't think a spot on your lung, even cancer, can kill you in three days." He waited for her to mock his reasons.

"Okay. Any idea what does get me then?" she said it offhandedly, as if it wasn't really an issue.

He responded with frustration. "No. I've been trying and trying, but it's useless. Things only make sense once they happen."

"Well, why don't you tell me about what you remember, and I'll see if it means anything to me."

Jason related his dreams, in as much detail as he could. Shortly after he started, Liz stopped him briefly, leaving and returning with a pen and paper, noting things down as he spoke.

-The Wind

-Pomegranates

-Rose

-Box

-Shoes

-Red Glass

-Jakes

-Old Number

-Green Sweater

-Lucky

"Well, you're right, there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern." Liz admitted, looking at the list.

Jason ran a hand through his hair. "It's just so stupid, what's the point if it doesn't mean anything."

"Well, maybe we're being too literal." She said.

"How?"

"Well, maybe, um, ok, Pomegranates. Maybe it's not just my painting, it could also mean winter," She said excitedly. He raised an eyebrow. "Because of the Greeks." Now Jason was even more confused. "In Greek mythology, Persephone in kidnapped by the god of the underworld, and eats pomegranate seeds while she's there, meaning she has to stay there six months out of the year. Her mother, Demeter, is so depressed that when Persephone is in the underworld, it becomes winter. You see?"

He nodded. "But how do we know that's what it means. Can't it be something else then?"

"Well sure. We just have to work the clues as best we can." Elizabeth's phone rang. "Hold on." Jason watched as she answered. "Hello? This is she. Uh huh. Yes, I understand. Thank you so much." She hung up. A huge smile lit her face. "You're right. I don't have cancer!" She flung herself into his arms, and he held her tightly. Despite his projected air of confidence, he had been unable to breath since had she told him she might be dying. Now, even if she was still in danger, at least it was something he could see, something he could fight, not some phantom in the dark.

TBC