Vivian moaned softly as she started waking up. What a strange dream she had. She could've sworn she dreamt that she met Ted in the honey bar. The dream was hazy, but she could remember Ted kissing her and taking her to a motel.
"Mmm… what a great dream" Vivian smiled as she stretched.
She opened her eyes, freezing as she looked around. That dream…. Vivian took in her surroundings, finding herself in a dark motel room. She looked down in shock to find her dress gone, discarded on the floor.
"Ted?!" she gasped turning to the other side of the bed.
To her surprise, Ted was gone, leaving nothing but a bundle of sheets on that side of the bed. The room was completely empty except for her. On the nightstand laid a single piece of paper. Vivian wrapped the sheets around her as she sat up and picked up the note.
Viv,
Sorry about last night. The honey made me vulnerable to weaknesses. It was fun while it lasted.
Ted
Tears rolled down Vivian's face as she crumpled the note in her hand. she couldn't believe him. Ted basically treated her as a one-night stand. Vivian pulled her dress on and sobbed as she ran to the car, grateful to see it was still there. She started the car as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"That stupid…. stubborn…. fuzz ball!" Vivian grumbled as she stepped on the gas.
She had just about had it with him. She had just about had it with everything. Ted just kept hurting her and hurting her. Using her like this was the last straw. Vivian sped through the countryside as far as she could, not caring if she got in trouble with the police.
"Viv!"
Henry stood at the entrance of Country Bear Hall watching her speed by in his car. She seemed to be unaware of everything happening around her.
"Vivian, what are you doing?!" he yelled to her.
"What I should've done before!" she yelled.
Vivian kept her eyes on the road as she drove past the hall. Coming up was the river. She turned the car off the road, driving toward the water.
"Vivian!" Henry yelled.
He watched helplessly as the car went over the edge. Vivian held onto the wheel as the car sank in the river. She opened her mouth, letting out the last breath of air she had. This is what Ted wanted a long time ago. Vivian was going to make sure it happened this time. She looked down at the bottom of the river and up at the rippling sunlight as everything started to fade. What a way to go out.
Goodbye…
The last image she could make out before everything went black was the shadow of a figure jumping into the water, swimming toward her.
Ted…?
Ted was walking along the road, hoping to hitch a ride to the next town. He just had to leave after what he had done. What he and Vivian did was wrong. They were over, and had been for a long time. There was no excuse for what they did. Ted had to leave before he did anything stupid.
"Vivian!" he heard.
Ted raised his head in surprise as he heard the sound of a car. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Vivian was in Henry's car, driving the fastest he had ever seen. Ted watched as she swerved off road… toward the river!
"Vivian!" Ted yelled as the car hit the water.
The car was sinking fast and Ted saw no signs of Vivian getting out. Either she was stuck in the car, or she did this on purpose. Whatever the reason was, he couldn't let her do this. Ted ran toward the water and jumped in after her. The sight of Vivian stuck in the car nearly caused him to release his breath. She was stuck between the steering wheel and the seat. Her fur floated about her as she remained still. Ted wrapped his arms around her and pulled her out of the car. His lungs started to burn. He was running out of air and had to get to the surface. Holding Vivian close, Ted kicked his way to the surface. Taking deep breaths, he looked around to see what help was there.
"Ted!"
Henry raced into the water, helping Ted pull Vivian's limp body onto dry land. Sirens could be heard approaching as the police and an ambulance arrived.
"What happened?" Ted asked.
"She said she was doing something she should've done before", Henry said. "She hadn't done anything this crazy since…"
He watched as the paramedics rushed to Vivian's aid. Her body was swollen with water and she looked like a large drowned rat. Vivian hadn't done anything this stupid since Ted's last letter. Now that he was back, she suddenly went off the deep end.
"What did you do?" Henry asked turning to Ted.
"What?" he asked pulling his gaze away from the paramedics trying to revive Vivian.
"What did you do to her? What did you say to her?"
"Henry, I had every intention of leaving town", Ted said.
"Leaving town after you did this to her? Look, I have no idea what Vivian ever saw in you, but I'm not going to let you hurt her anymore. Just leave her alone."
Ted looked at him speechless. He never thought he would hear Henry say something like that. He looked down as he heard the paramedics continue working on Vivian. This was for the best. Ted turned as he walked away. The only thing that set him at ease was the paramedic's words.
"We got her…"
