Louis suddenly let out a gasp as he realized what his son had to be trying to do. "Elmer, no!" His voice was weak but as firm as he could make it under the circumstances. He struggled to force his fingers to move, to try to remove the IV line. No, he couldn't let Elmer do this. He had already given too much blood to Lona. If he lost much more....

"Don't move. Just stay still, okay? You're going to be fine.
You're going to be feeling a whole lot better in just a few minutes, I promise." Elmer could already feel the rush of dizziness as the blood drained from him but he struggled against it. He had to stay awake,
couldn't let his dad down now, not like he had disappointed him so many times before. He tightened his grip on his father's hand slightly, keeping him from trying to pull out the IV line. "Dad, just lay still. I know what I'm doing."

"Elmer, no!" Louis struggled to free his hand, knowing he was too weak at this point to succeed but having to try anyway, having to try to protect his son. He couldn't let Elmer do this. "Elmer, please, it's too late. Don't do this."

"It is not too late! You're going to be fine!" Elmer could feel the pain welling up inside, mounting grief at the thought of losing his father mingling with the dizziness of bloodloss to almost overwhelm him.
"You're going to be fine! Please, dad, just hang on for me, okay?
Please?"

"Elmer...." He couldn't free his hand, was too weak. No, he couldn't.... He could feel himself starting to slip towards unconsciousness but he struggled against it. If he passed out now, if he didn't get that IV line out before Elmer lost too much blood.... "Elmer,
don't do this. I've had a good life and you, you're life is just starting.
Don't risk yourself for me. I'm ready to go. Please.... Elmer, I love you. Don't do this."

"What if I'm not ready to let you go?" Elmer demanded. How could his dad expect him to not try to help him, to just let him die? "What if I'm not ready to loose both of my parents in the same month? Dad, please"
Elmer chanced releasing his father's hand for a moment to reach out and touch his face. He was cold, so cold, his lips starting to take on the bluish tinge that Lona's had before he had fixed her lung. Sudden panic washed over him. His dad had hit the wall hard. Had that happened to him as well? "Dad, are you hurting anywhere?" He didn't dare risk any sort of poking about for injuries with the problem the warfarin was causing.
"Dad?"

Louis shook his head slowly. Although he told himself that he would be okay with pain as long as he would have the chance to say goodbye to his son, to tell him how much he was loved, he was glad none the less that it seemed he had been spared that. Everything was blissfully numb and he could feel himself slipping away like falling into a welcome, eternal sleep.

"Dad, no, stay awake!" Elmer cried as he saw his father's eyes starting to slip closed. If his dad passed out now, then Elmer felt sure that there would be absolutely no chance of saving him. "DAD!" He felt himself beginning to hyperventilate as he frantically thought, searching for something, anything, that he could do to help his father. The dizziness from the blood being steadily drained from him was suddenly gone,
totally pushed aside by the overwhelming fear. "Dad, you said you loved me! If you mean that, then stay awake for me! Please!"

Suddenly, Elmer head a faint moan from the table where Lona was lying causing him to look up. "Lona?" he called out for her, even more fear if that was possible hitting him as she moaned once more, weakly but as if she was in serious pain.

"Elmer?" Louis forced his eyes open once more at the sound of that moan. Was something wrong with.... No, nothing could happen to Lona.
Despite what his son was feeling right now, Louis knew that Elmer would recover from the his loss after a time. If Lona died, though.... He knew all too well the pain that losing the woman you loved could bring. He would not let that happen to his son. "Elmer, go. Take care of her. She needs you."

His father's words cut through him like a knife. How could he not do anything that he could to help Lona? She was the love of his life,
despite the fact she still seemed to think that his feelings were just a crush. Yet, he knew if he moved from his father's side now, if he stopped the transfusion and went to tend to Lona, it would mean his dad would have no chance of survival at all. How could he choose between them? The woman he loved or his father? How could he pick one over the other to die?