(Oh hi again. So as you can probably tell I am extremely inspired tonight. So in this chapter we will be reviewing the alternate ending to 'Unexpected'. I really like this ending and it's actually what I first plotted out before I even typed the story. However the character that was going to make this whole thing go down was never introduced. She was actually later evolved into Ms. Adams. So our antagonist here is a young lady named Ansley Archer. Now Ansley has been plotting for about a year now to get with Mr. Peabody. Her ultimate goal was to become his personal assistant, seduce him, and ultimately have him marry her. Eventually leading her to become extremely rich. So obviously Marina goes on vacation with Peabody, she gets the PA position and is invited to the Christmas party. And that is where our story begins ladies and gentlemen. Prepare yourselves for an emotional ride in the chapter I would like to call "Unexpected Love")
They walked into the main ball room, arms linked. The room was decorated with wreaths and many christmas lights. Like Peabody said there was a large ball floor with many pairs already dancing on it. An orchestra was playing Christmas carols elegantly.
Peabody spotted his business partner sitting at a table and began to walk towards him. Their arms still linked, Marina was forced to go along.
"Good evening Mr. Rhodes." Peabody said as he shook Mr. Rhodes' hand.
"Mr. Peabody! It's great to see you!" He greeted with a large smile. He turned to face Marina. "Who is this lovely young lady?"
Marina partially hid behind Peabody's back. Her heart began pounding and gripped his arm. She never considered that she would actually have to talk to people. She didn't want to be an embarrassment, though. Taking a gulp and a deep breath she forced herself to talk. "I-I am Marina, sir. Marina Goodwin."
"She is my..." Peabody clamped his mouth shut. What was he to her? Did she feel the same way about him as he felt for her?
Marina noticed Peabody's loss of words and answered for him. "Assistant. I am his personal assistant."
"Yes, she is my assistant." He added quickly, slightly disappointed.
"Well may I say you look lovely this evening, miss." Mr. Rhodes said as he gently took Marina's hand and kissed it.
"Thank you sir." Marina said timidly.
"You're welcome." Mr. Rhodes said with a smile. "Why don't you two go enjoy yourselves, this is a party after all."
Marina smiled. "Yeah, I will go get the drinks I will be right back."
Peabody nodded and make his way over to a table where other business partners were chatting. All was well and good until Peabody felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, hello Mr. Peabody." A woman with shoulder length blonde hair said. Her eyes dazzled with mischief as her red lips curled into a smirk.
"Oh, good evening Ms. Archer." Peabody replied. He held out his hand for her to shake.
"Oh Mr. Peabody, enough with the properness. You can call me Ansley." She said smoothly. She swirled the cup of wine in her right hand as she continued to eye him like a predator. "And instead of shaking hands would much rather do something more" She leaned in "Intimate." she said with a purr before pecking him on the cheek.
When she pulled away, Peabody looked wide eyed and genuinely confused. "M'am, I do believe you are unaware that I am here with a date." Peabody said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ansley let out a light chuckle before leaning in close to Peabody. "If you are trying to convince me that you are here with that silly Ms. Goodwin-"
"Actually." Peabody cut her off sternly, grabbing her by the shoulders to push her away. "I am telling you I am here with Ms.-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ansley wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. As fate would have it, Marina walked upon the scene at that moment. Both glasses she was holding fell to the ground in a crash. causing glass to scatter everywhere. The sound of the glass breaking caused Peabody to snap out of his shock and push Ansley away.
Peabody looked around frantically to find the source of the crash when he finally made eye contact with Marina, a few feet away. She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "I guess I wasn't all that special in the first place." She said, before she started to sob. He tried to make his way to her, but business partners began to crowd him asking him about the incorporation. On top of that, staff tried to clean the glass before there were any injuries. By the time Peabody finally made his way through the crowd, Marina was no where to be found.
That is when he heard it. Sirens. His heart immediately began to speed up.
"Oh my God. My husband just called me on the phone. He said there has been a huge accident. A young woman just got hit by a car!" An older woman exclaimed.
"No…Oh my goodness no." Peabody whispered to himself, he began to panic as his heart pounded against his chest. Something told him he needed to look for Marina, and she wasn't at the party. Peabody sprinted out of the building, making sure to go the same direction as the sounds of the ambulance sirens. He pushed through people frantically as he ran without stopping. His lungs burned and his heart raced but he pressed on.
Finally he came across the scene of the accident. A huge crowd already gathered around the scene but Peabody managed to push his way through. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he approached to where the paramedics were treating the victim. There, laying on the concrete, was Marina. Peabody let out a gasp as he felt tears prick at his eyes. She was covered in blood and obviously had a broken leg. Her beautiful red dress seemed dull as it was covered in dirt and blood. The paramedics were holding either sides of Marina's head, trying to get a response. He managed to overhear the conversation amongst the medics.
"I can't see her breathing and I am not getting a response." One said.
"I have a pulse but it's very faint, we need to get her to the hospital." The second one said with urgency.
Snapping back to reality Peabody ran up to the paramedics as they put Marina in the stretcher. "Wait! Wait!" He yelled before they managed to get her in the ambulance.
"Sir, this patient is in critical condition any delay could cost her life." The man said sternly.
"I know, I know. I am a doctor. It's just. Marina, her name is Marina, she is…my girlfriend. I need to go with her." He said frantically and out of breath. His head was spinning and felt as if he was going to pass out. He slightly stumbled "I need to be with her." He repeated, breath becoming raspy.
"Sir, it's a good thing you are here because I think you just went into medical shock." The other paramedic, a woman said, leading him into the ambulance.
Once they were both loaded marina was hooked up to a heart monitor that let out slow week beeps. Peabody bit his lip as he he listened to the beeping. Each beep seemed to be farther apart. Peabody was given water and was asked if he wanted to lay down but he refused. The whole ride to the hospital was a blur. He felt as if one second he was in the ambulance and the next he was being rushed out into the hospital as Marina began to go into heart failure.
Everything seemed to be too much. Mr. Peabody, the man known to keep a level head in any situation, was going into shock. The female paramedic slowly helped him out of the ambulance as he began to hyperventilate.
"Sir, sir. I need you to take deep breaths. You are going into a panic attack." She said sternly. She had her fingers pressed against his wrist as she took his pulse.
'Panic attack.' He thought to himself. 'Marina gets panic attacks all the time. Do they all feel like this? This is awful, I feel like I am going to die'
Peabody began to stumble as he tried to make his way to the hospital only for him to nearly fall. The woman caught Peabody and helped him stand back up. "Sir please, it's going to be alright. Just focus on breathing. My partner is going to have your girlfriend treated and try to help her, but I need for you to try to calm down."
Peabody took deep breaths as he tried to contain the panic attack. But the whole idea of a panic attack made him think about Marina, which made him worried, which made him more panicked. "I just…don't want her to die…" He said breathlessly. "I need her…"
"I understand that, but right now I need to get you inside. Can you walk?"
Peabody didn't respond as he stared off in space, mumbling Marina's name over and over.
The woman pulled up her radio on her belt. "Hello, I have a patient here who is in shock and is going through a panic attack. Can you please bring out a wheelchair to the Emergency Room entry way? Thank you."
Peabody sat in the waiting room, arms crossed and staring at the wall. His stomach twisted with worry and has broken into a fit of tears at least four times since he came in. He didn't even know who he was anymore. For Marina to be ripped away from him so terribly. He just, loved her so much. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
He was unsure of how long her sat there like that, but he must of spaced out, as it felt like seconds later a nurse came out.
"Mr. Peabody?" The woman asked gently.
Peabody shot up from his chair and walked over to her. He attempted to straighten his tie and suit to maintain his professional stature, but failed miserably, his shirt was horrible wrinkled and his hair was messy.
The nurse gave him a warm smile to show pity. Peabody was well known amongst the medical field, and to see him in such a state caused her heart to ache.
"Mr. Peabody. Currently, Ms. Goodwin is stable but unresponsive" The woman said forlornly.
"May I see her? Please?" He asked softly, almost in a plea.
"Of course you can sir." The nurse responded, leading him down a hall to Marina's room. She slowly opened the door to reveal Marina.
Walking in, Peabody studied her injuries. A compound fracture on her right leg, a brace on her left arm. Bruises seemed to batter every part of her body. There was a large gash on her thigh that was wrapped with gauze. Lastly, her head was bandaged around her forehead.
Peabody's heart ached at the sight. Just to think, not even two hours ago she practically dazzled with her red dress. Now she laid on a hospital bed, at the brink of death. He walked to the edge of her bed and dropped to his knees. He couldn't help but sob at this point. He gently held her hand up to his face. It was so limp, cold, and lifeless. The clammy feeling didn't compare to how soft and warm her hands usually were.
"Marina. I am so sorry. I am so sorry this happened to you. I promise I will never let anything hurt you ever again. You just-" His voice cracked."You just have to promise me you will come out of this."
Several weeks pass and every single day Peabody visits Marina. She ended up spiraling into a coma and it has been over a month since the accident. It wasn't unusual for Peabody to not even go to work for multiple days on end just so he can spend the night in the hospital. Every moment he hoped and prayed that she would just wake up.
To make the visits less depressing Peabody would bring instruments and play for her. Sometimes he would even sing for her. Once or twice, he swears he saw a ghost of a smile across her face. He even swears that the heart monitor would slightly spike after her would tell a pun. Small things, but they are what kept him going.
Peabody currently sat in a chair next to the bed. He has been at the hospital for four days and has barely slept. His collared shirt was unbuttoned at the top, untucked, and wrinkled. His bow tie was sat on the table next to his cot. Peabody mindlessly strummed a few chords on his ukelele. He knew that was Marina's favorite instrument. He continued to strum as he tried to think of a song. He mentally filed through a list of song as one caught his attention.
"Aha, I have got one Marina." He said.
He began to strum out the first few chords.
"Wise men say. Only fools rush in. But I can't help. Falling in love with you." Peabody began to sing, voice slightly scratchy from tiredness but he pressed on. "Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you. Like a river flows surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things, are meant to be~"
He could feel himself beginning to get emotional as few tears ran down his cheek. "Take my hand. Take my whole life too. 'Cause I can't help, falling in love with you. Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be.~" He sang, drawing out the last note. He paused for a second and sighed. He missed the sound of her voice so much. She sang so beautifully, he can hardly remember exactly what she sounded like, the memories began to fade. He needed to hear her. He continued playing the song. "Take my hand…Take my whole life too."
"Because I can't help. Falling in love with you." A small, weak, raspy voice sang. Peabody's head shot up to see Marina looking up at him, a smile across her face. He immediately gently wrapped his arms around her and covered her face in kisses.
"Marina, I love you. Please don't ever scare me like that again." Peabody plead, tears now running down his cheeks.
Marina smiled and wrapped her arms around Peabody. She faintly squeaked out, "I promise. Thank you for loving me back. I never thought I would find love in such and unexpected place."