Fall Apart Today
Chapter 4
It was the first time, the very first time that Arthur, point man extraordinaire, had ever walked out on a job. Ever. And Eames who'd followed right behind him wouldn't have hesitated betting that Arthur never would. And yet forty minutes later Arthur pulled up the curb abruptly and the two men wasted no time in climbing out the car and abandoning it on the sidewalk ignoring the security guards, who no doubt recognised them, as they all but ran towards the entrance of the hospital. Eames felt his heart hammering as he walked alongside Arthur and bounced on his heels as they stood at the elevator doors the point man jamming his finger repeatedly on the button bypassing the receptionists who barely blinked an eye. Like the security guards they recognised the two men who had been coming and going as they pleased for seven months. Both men cursed the elevators snail like speed as it slowly climbed up the floors leaving them to wait, suffocated by their own thoughts, frozen by their own memories and concerns. She was awake. After all this time. The ding startled both of them and they dragged themselves back into reality as they stepped out into the familiar intensive care unit and headed for the reception desk. Before they could, however, a voice from behind them stopped the point man and the forger in their tracks,
"Matthew!" the spun around only to met with a graying man who was Ariadne's doctor smiling towards them from where he stood by the doors. It was a stark change to see his face transformed instead of his normal solemn, grim expression that greeted them. Once the two men were in front of him he continued,
"Honestly I never thought this would happen" he said before ushering them through the doors that swung open with a swipe of his care before leading them into a nearby office.
"How did this happen Nick?" Arthur asked quietly, his voice terse, of the doctor. It was a long time since they'd been of first name basis – even if Arthur's name wasn't the one he usually went by.
"Unfortunately that isn't something I can answer with any degree of certainty" Nick replied remorsefully and Eames' struggled to stop his eyes from flitting into each of the patient rooms as he tried to do every time he visited Ariadne. Seeing the other patients with the same sickly coloured skin as Ariadne, hearing the horrid chorus of beeping machines; he forced himself to focus on the doctors words,
"She's asleep again now so you can see her in a minute" Nick said as he caught their hesitance to wait, their eyes flicking to the door at the end of the corridor,
"Asleep?" Eames asked his forehead creasing and Nick nodded before explaining,
"She's been in a coma for almost seven months it's going to take a good while for Ariadne to adjust to being awake for long periods of time" Eames nodded knowing the words made perfect sense, but hadn't they just told them she was awake.
"But she was awake, you're sure?" Arthur asked and Eames caught the guarded tone of Arthur's voice. Waiting to be let down, waiting to hear more bad news, to realise that none of it is real, that's it's just the universe beating him again. Eames looked towards the doctor not daring to believe it either, not until they saw her, awake, with their own eyes. It was, after all, difficult to imagine. Nick offered a small smile of understanding,
"Yes, Bec and I were in there doing a normal set of obs. It was when I checked for any muscular tension that she moved her fingers. She was awake for several minutes and while she wasn't fluid she responded well enough for someone who has been in a coma for this long"
"So what now, I mean what happens now?" Eames asked as Arthur took a long breath digesting the words,
"She stats right where she is. We've got a lot of work to do. She's going to need a high amount of care for a while and before anything we need to get a better understanding of how she is cognitively before we make any plans"
"You talked about…." The doctor frowned in confusion as Arthur trailed off and Eames waited, looking towards Arthur who cleared his throat and loosened his collard before continuing,
"You talked about brain damage before?" Arthur said quietly, reminding him and the doctor nodded before sighing,
"I did yes and I'm sorry to say that I can't rule anything out yet. She will need to be tested when she's awake once more" Arthur nodded and Nick smiled reassuringly,
"Would you like to see her" Arthur nodded once more. He needed to see her, he needed to make sure that it was true, that this wasn't just some cruel joke being played on him. The familiar beeping of a pager cut through his thoughts and Nick sighed in frustration as he looked down at it.
"I have to answer this, head up there and just knock. Bec's in there at the moment she hasn't left since she woke the first time. I'll be back shortly" Arthur and Eames nodded and the former thanked the doctor before they headed for the door in silence their eyes settling on the familiar door at the very end of the corridor. It was only when they stood outside that Arthur felt a heavy hand lay on his shoulder.
"You go in and check with Bec, make sure everything's alright. I'll wait here for a second, Cobb and Miles will be here soon anyway" Arthur nodded at the forgers words almost mechanically as he stared at the door. A moment later he sucked in a deep breath of air and pushed the door open before walking in. Three steps later he froze mid step.
"Matthew" he swiveled around to see a woman in scrubs coming out of the bathroom with a handful of towels,
"Bec" he managed to choke out and even he didn't recognise his own voice. Without waiting for a reply he turned back to the woman lying on the bed. He didn't understand, they said she was awake. But nothing had changed, she looked identical to the last time he'd seen her. Shouldn't something, anything have been different,
"Bec, wh…."
"She's been in a coma for almost seven months Matt she won't be awake for long at the moment" Arthur nodded recalling the doctor saying the same thing only moments ago,
"But she was definitely awake" she added with a smile and he nodded before finding the chair that hadn't been moved from beside the bed sinking into it. He was silent for several minutes his eyes sweeping up and down Ariadne's motionless body,
"I just thought….I thought I'd see something different you know. I thought something here would be different" the nurse nodded at Arthurs words.
"I know, and it will be I promise. The tube will be out soon enough, probably the next time she wakes up" Arthur nodded knowing that he would be more than thankful to see the ugly plastic tube that had been placed into her throat taken away,
"You going to stay with her while I go grab her chart" Bec asked with a smile and he returned a small one before nodding,
"You can still hold her hand Matt, talk to her. She might need it just as much now as before" Arthur nodded and he felt his hand move towards Ariadne's and he threaded his fingers with hers. Bec nodded and smiled before turning around and all Arthur heard was the quiet click of the door. The nurse pulled the stethoscope from around her neck before sighing feeling her emotions roll off her shoulders. It was only then that she noticed another familiar man sitting in the hall,
"Mark" she greeted him with a small smile,
"Heya Bec"
"You're welcome to go in if you like" she offered but Eames shook his head,
"Thought I'd give Matt a few minutes first" she nodded before giving his shoulder a squeeze as she took in the pained expression that contorted his handsome features. She looked up hearing the doors swing open and smiled gently as she took into two more men heading towards them,
Eames stood once he saw them as well,
"I'll be back in a few minutes" she said before moving towards the desk to find her patients file. Eames nodded throwing a thankful smile towards Bec before turning to Cobb and Miles who were striding towards him with almost panicked expressions,
"How is she? Is Arthur in there? Have you spoken to her? Is there any damage?" Eames had trouble working out which questions were coming from who and raised a hand to rub his temples as the other two quietened,
" Arthur's in there, she was asleep again by the time we got here, they still don't know anything until she wakes up again" he explained and Cobb let out a long sigh before slumping down in one of the chairs. Miles and Eames followed suit,
"At least she's awake" Miles commented and the ex-extractor and forger nodded in agreement,
"I thought…." Eames began a moment later but couldn't finish. He had thought the worst. He had thought that the news that Arthur had been about to break to him had been the unthinkable words that they had all on some level been waiting to hear. It was cruel, nightmarishly cruel, as if someone was playing with them, toying with them. As if they were dangling her in front of the them, making them sweat and they were waiting for her to slip away. For someone to steal her away from them.
Doctor after doctor, nurse after nurse had told them of the slim chance their girl had. From day one they had heard that she had little chance of making it. That they had little chance of keeping her, of seeing her again. A small smile grew on his lips and he rejoiced in the feeling realising that he hadn't smiled at Ariadne, because of Ariadne for so long. For too long. It was high time for it happen again. Cobb nodded understandingly and the three of them knew that they didn't need to say anymore. They had all grown closer since everything had happened. Since everything had started. Since everything had changed among them. Since Arthur and Ariadne had changed and their world had exploded, shattering their lives and stealing everything that they had known with it.
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you had a lovely holiday and that you enjoyed this chapter! I know this is short and kind of filler ish but more is coming I promise!
Please leave a quick review! : )