Chapter 11:

He still hadn't said it.

He had gone in. He had talked to Velma just like everybody else. He had said his Velma-we-need-you speech.

But he still hadn't said it.

And time was running out.

He still felt the shock from the call he had received. He had been dreaming, serenely tucked away in his tranquil bed, when the phone rang at 1 a.m. He had sat there, numb, as Dr. Georgis had explained Velma's condition, as he explained the prognosis. Words like "life support" and "critical" bounced around meaninglessly as Shaggy pulled on his clothes while holding onto the phone. Shaggy had jumped into his car and sped off, way over the speed limit, but miraculously no police officers were paying attention. The world was asleep as Shaggy whizzed frantically down the road.

Shaggy pushed the word "asleep" out of his head, despising the word's use as a euphemism. The entire world was not asleep; it couldn't be. Across the globe, in China, or New Zealand, or Siberia, people were wide awake, going about their business. People were awake; people were alive; people would be alive...

A bright display window temporarily blinded Shaggy as he rounded a corner. What kind of place is open at this time of night? Shaggy wondered vaguely. At any other time, he might have assumed it was a food place and eagerly pulled over; those days now seemed as foreign as China, or New Zealand, or Siberia.

He caught a glimpse of the store's name before it was too late:

Joy Welsh, 24-Hour Jeweler.

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He rushed into Velma's room, not even bothering to deal with that rotten receptionist, just barely taking the time to put on the proper mask and coat as he zoomed down the hall.

Two doctors raced out and parted in opposite directions, the meaningless charts on their clipboards flapping as they ran. Shaggy peered in nervously at the room where only two people remained: Velma, of course, and Dr. Georgis, who simultaneously appeared to be monitoring fifteen different things. Although his back was turned, he still noticed Shaggy.

"Mr. Rogers, I understand--"

"Thanks, but like, I really need to talk to Velma, if that's okay--"

"Look, Mr. Rogers, it is, but I don't want you to have to go through being here if..." His voice trailed off at his lapse in bedside manner.

Shaggy was brave. "Dr. Georgis, I need to talk to her. Now. And if she dies," He swallowed. "If she dies I'd rather be here than leave without saying goodbye!"

Dr. Georgis sighed. "Very well, then."

At that point, Shaggy forgot Dr. Georgis was there. He talked, simply talking.

"Velms," he told her. "Velms, I know you can hear me. And I know you aren't doing so well. And I bet you're afraid; I know I'm terrified.

"But I know we've all said it and I'll say it one last time: You have to pull through, you have to fight this! Velma--" He wiped tears from his eyes. "Velma, there's something I really want to tell you, and I'm mad at myself for not realizing it sooner. But it's been eating at me and if I don't let you know now I won't be able to live with myself. Velma-- I love you!"

Shaggy breathed and leaned back in the chair by Velma's bed, ignoring Dr. Georgis's startled expression completely. "Velma... you know you were more than my partner for mysteries, right? I liked you, I loved you..." Here came the hard part. "And...like instead of being my partner for mysteries... how would you like to be my partner for life? Because I'm sure right now neither of us needs to be reminded that it's really, really short. And I doubt either of us wants to miss it while it's here."

He pulled out the ring. He slipped it on her finger.

"Velma... I wish I could ask you to marry me; I really do. This isn't a wedding ring, or even an engagement ring, unless you want it to be. If you wake up and don't like it, you can take it off and forget the whole thing ever happened. But right now..." He tried to recollect himself. "Right now, all it has to mean is that I love you. That if you die five seconds or fifty years from now, you will die loved, because I will never stop loving you. And I want you to know that."

There.

Velma knew.

Somehow, Shaggy knew she knew.

For three blissful, silent seconds, relief and bliss flooded his veins.

Only three.

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There was that sound.

That sound on Dr. Georgis's monitor.

It was a high-pitched beeping; it may as well have been a low, solemn church bell. At least that's how it felt to Shaggy.

Dr. Georgis pushed a button. Fifteen or so doctors and nurses swarmed in, each with a different piece of alien-looking equipment.

And Shaggy stayed as long as he could amidst the confusion.

"Velma?" he whispered while he still could. "Velma... remember what I told you?"

He was pushed out of the way.

"Velma, does it make a difference knowing that I love you? Will you pull through... now that you know I love you?"

He uttered those last words just before being shoved out the door.

"I love you, Velma. Please wake up.

"Please, Velma."