Sayonara, anata

Disclaimer:  I make no attempt to own any of the characters within the following story except for my own.  All Ranma ½ characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko and Viz Video.  Please don't sue; you won't get much.  Very AU, and potentially dark, so if you don't feel like reading further, or disagree with the author's ideas, you are in no way, shape or form obligated to read.

Flames will be used for heating.

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The young wife sat in the hospital room where her husband was.  His form was barely discernable amid the machines beeping and whirring.  Bags of fluid provided her husband with necessary nutrition and vital fluids; another machine sustained his breathing while a third monitored his vital signs.  What didn't the stark white sheets cover was covered with bandages over the scorched flesh.  This gave the impression that the patient was just a man-shaped lump of cloth, which wasn't too far from the truth at this point.  "Why?"  She asked her husband, tears running down her face.  "Why didn't you back off when you had the chance?"  Her only answer was the steady, rhythmic sound of the respirator breathing for her husband. 

She dried her tears and began to babble about her day, how both families were handling his hospitalization, how the manhunt on two continents was progressing—one of his assailants was found dead, apparently by her own hand.  She talked about how her little sister still can't cook, of how much she enjoyed the honeymoon, and how in eight months there would be an addition to the family.

Alarms began to sound as her husband's heart began to fail and go into ventricular fibrillation.  Immediately the crash team ran into the room.  He was taken off the respirator, and CPR was begun immediately.  "Charge 250," the doctor ordered.  The defibrillator hummed as the capacitor was charged.  She grabbed the paddles.  "Ready.  Clear!"  The patient had a jolt of electricity through his heart, trying to jump start it as it sat quivering, not providing any life sustaining blood.

"Still in v-fib," a nurse said.

"Epi, and charge to 300."  Artificial adrenalin was pushed, as the capacitor charged higher.  "Ready.  Clear!"  A higher jolt of energy passed through the patient's heart.  The monitor showed it trying to stabilize, but remained in v-fib.  "Charge at 350.  Ready.  Clear!"  The third charge shot through his heart, stabilizing it for a moment, but the damage was too severe.  The heart's electrical nodes shut down, causing the heart to shut down.  And when that happens, no amount of defibrillation will restart the heart.

The doctor looked at the monitor.  "Flat line," she simply stated.  "Time of death, 2130 hours."  The crash team disconnected the defibrillator and other equipment from the patient.  The recently widowed wife moved from the corner she occupied and walked to her husband, tears easily rolling down her face.

She knelt next to his bed, and took her husband's limp arm.  "I always loved you.  From the moment you walked into my life, I loved you.  I was scared when I foisted you off on little sister when you showed up, but she corrected that mistake.  And for that simple act of kindness, I will forgive her for all the abuse she put you through for two years.

"And I will make those that did this to you pay, and pay dearly."  As she stood, she leaned over and kissed her late husband's forehead.  "I will see you in the next life, as soon as my quest is done," she vowed, before she stealthily left her husband's room.  "Sayonara, anata."