A/N: Hello, dear readers. I have been meaning to write a disclaimer for like 8 chapters now so I'll put one here. Also, I am dabbling with exsisting plot lines that happened in the show (like for instance the Spanish Flu and Tom and Sybil). But that doesn't by any means mean I'll be following them at all as they happen. I hadn't realised how much I'd wanted to fit into this story so we aren't quite done yet. And also I'd like to add that I have up-most respect for fortune-tellers and so on, I hope I do their practises justice here (I did do plenty of research). Thank you again to all who review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of Downton belongs to Mr Lordy Fellowes. I am just turning things into a big warped ball of my own making. Enjoy...

9. Don't Want To Lose You

"You leave now, you'll regret doing it."

"I already regret coming here in the first place!"

"You won't... let's see what comes next. Please draw..." After some hesitation Robert sat back down and drew a new card. "Ah, the Emperor."

"Is it another omen?" Robert asked miserably.

"Of course not. No, this is you. Desire for rule over all... Not everyone benefits from your control, Mr Crawley... Pick again."

Robert grumbled but picked another card and flipped it over.

"Ooh..." the woman's eyes gleamed and she smiled. Robert turned a shade of crimson but quickly remembered his first card.

"Will whoever dies leave two people together?"

"I've already told you death does not always mean death!"

"Why is this card upside down?"

"It is the Lovers reversed, it is likely to mean the fool has acted on his whims with no real thought for the consequences of his actions... usually."

Robert was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable dabbling in the unusual practises going on before him.

"Can you tell me who'll die?" he asked.

"What have I told you?"

"Can you tell me if someone will die?"

"...Fine. As you're so intent on the finishing of things and not the life of things, I'll tell you what I read. I see a great deal of death here, Mr Crawley. Physically and otherwise. There are lots of endings coming soon for you and you cannot control them - not all of them, some of them you can. I see a very distinct finish that looms right above your head."

"Her pulse is very faint but it's there and it's constant. Would everyone vacate the room please? We're going to need some space. Miss O'Brien would you and Mrs Hughes please fetch more cold and hot water and towels and ask Mrs Patmoore if she has some bran or oats? Nurse, could you take care of the blood please?"

Doctor Clarkson began rolling up his sleeves while Sybil, Edith and Mary hesitantly made for the door.

"Come on papa, we have to let them do their job now," Edith said with a loud sniff.

"It doesn't feel right leaving her..."

"Lord Grantham, I assure you we'll do everything possible and keep you very well informed. You're welcome to wait just outside the door if you wish?"

"Alright..." Robert said slowly, squeezing Cora's hand before letting go. "I'll see you soon," he told her. She seemed to be murmuring something but Robert had no idea what and he had not time to find out as he was shown out of the room.

He waited on the landing outside her room for what felt like hours as people came and went from the bedroom. His thoughts swirled in his head, making him sick by his own imaginings. What could his future possible hold now? After checking on Cora's progress, he went about starting the first ending.

It didn't take long to find Jane. She was of the few staff unclaimed by the disease and so she was hurrying around all over the house delivering food or water. They bumped into one another near the staircase that lead downstairs.

"Oh... What can I do for you milord?"

"This might not be the most appropriate time but we need to talk."

"Alright," she nodded, following him into the library, still holding a bundle of towels. Robert closed the door and turned to her.

"I think we need to end things between us right now," he said without much care for being gentle or diplomatic.

"I... I see," she frowned. "But... but my Lord, only a few hours ago we were-"

"Things have changed considerably in the space of a few hours. I'd misinterpreted something... something vital."

"I thought," she bit her lip, trying not to cry. "I thought you loved me."

"I'm very sorry. I will give you what is owing to you plus a decent bonus. Once illness is out of the house I would like you to leave."

"I hope she gets better you know... I wouldn't wish anyone ill or worse. But I thought that you were unhappy... I could have made you happy."

"I believed that a few hours ago... This is the last time we will speak of this," he said flatly, making her quaver.

"Might I... Might I have one last kiss? To take with me..." Had Cora's health not been so precarious he might have considered.

"No," he shook his head. "I do that and you might be the last person I kiss in Cora's lifetime. I won't live with that. Excuse me, I need to get back to my wife."

"How is she?" Robert asked. "Can I see her?"

Doctor Clarkson had come to the door, wiping his hands on a towel.

"If Lady Grantham survives the rest of the night, best chances are she will live," he told him honestly. "She seems a little better but her condition is still unstable. She needs plenty of fluid and lots of rest."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course. Lady Sybil is with her."

"Thank you," Robert said sincerely. The doctor nodded and moved out of the doorway for him. Robert went in, bracing himself for the vision of few hours earlier. She was sleeping, and to his relief she looked peaceful. Her long deep breaths a solid and welcome assurance of her life. Sybil smiled and got up from where she perched next to Cora. O'Brien got to her feet and left to go and get some fresh water, giving the three of them a moment to themselves.

"It's awful isn't it? How something like this makes you realise how trivial some things can be," Sybil said, watching Robert sit down beside Cora and take her hand. Robert nodded in agreement. "You'll get on better won't you, papa? Only... I know you and mama haven't been like usual for a while."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not entirely... Maybe just a little."

"We will go back to how we were," he said with a renewed confidence. "I think we'd lost sight of each other for a while there... You know all I want for you is to find what we've got, don't you? I just want you to be absolutely certain..."

"Oh I am certain, papa. Absolutely."

Robert nodded and then sighed.

"Well then. If you're really sure... You have my blessing - our blessing."

"Thank you papa. I know you'll like him once you get to know him," Sybil said, trying to hold in her excitement.

"Mm, we'll see..."

The doctor came back in for his medical bag.

"I'd best take my leave now," he told them. "If you keep someone with her until morning to continue treatment processes, then everyone might do well from trying to get some sleep."

"Alright, I'll go tell the others, they're in the drawing room," Sybil got up, giving Robert a reassuring smile as she left. The doctor collected his bag and left, content to show himself out. Robert stayed beside her, taking the oppurtunity for a moment alone.

"Thank you..." he whispered. "Thank you for holding on for me... for us."

He stroked her hair, careful not to wake her.

"I'll forgive you anything and everything you ask if only you open those eyes again and ask it," he told her, trying to stop from welling up. "I can't do this without you, Cora. Wake up for me in the morning," he pressed a kiss to her temple and sat back in his chair, quietly observing her until O'Brien returned to keep watch over her for him.

"Madam Magie, with all due respect, is there a chance your readings are... well, wrong?"

"Mr Crawley, I am not popular for getting things wrong. You must remember that when consulting cards, positivity will do well for what we interpret from them. Draw another one if you feel the need. If not, three cards will do well."

Robert considered the horseshoe fan of cards she offered as well as the three already placed on the table. He felt drawn to a particular one at the edge of the pack, so he took it and slowly turned it over.

"The Star," he read.

"Oh good."

"What does it mean?"

"Individually, it often can mean hope. Calm after a storm, soft waves."

"...Right," Robert said a little skeptically though remaining quietly pleased to have pulled out a good card, he felt the urge to pick another. He drew one more with Madam Magie giving a nod in consent. Robert revealed the card.

"The Empress..." the woman announced, a thin eyebrow rising at this as she took the card and placed it with the spread."Care to draw another or are you content with the cards before you?"

"I don't want to push my luck... I think that'll do," he said gruffly, sitting back in his chair and awaiting her analysis while keeping a wary eye on the Empress card.

"Alright," she put the other cards aside, slightly altering the position of the cards Robert had picked, her hands hovered over each of the five spread cards in turn. Death, The Emperor, The Lovers reversed, The Star, The Empress. "The fool - that's you by the way-"

"I thought I was the Emperor?"

"You can be more than one thing, you know..." she said wittingly. "The fool has loved and lost and will love again. A significant finish will give all rise to a great calm... But it will not last. The Lovers still love. An outsider draws close with a lasting effect. The fool's ruin leaves another's owing..."

"Can you be a bit more specific?"

The madam gave a highly unimpressed look.

"I see a lot of recent anger in you," she said. "Some to come. Some to fade. Some to stay. What has already been done cannot be undone, for what is done is done."