Aislinn felt nothing.
She heard nothing.
She saw nothing.
So this was what it was like to die. Aislinn wanted to do a lot more things in her life, but Isabella saw to it that she never saw another day.
"Mama! I can't believe you did that!"
Aislinn frowned. That sounded like Bret. Or was it Chet? Wait. Why was she hearing the twins when she was dead? Then she felt her arm sting from her gunshot wound. She's not supposed to feel pain since she was dead.
Aislinn opened her eyes expecting to see nothingness. What she did see however, was something that would be burned into her memory forever.
Once-ler was standing in front of her, with blood running down his right side.
"You will not hurt her!" Once-ler said, through gritted teeth.
Isabella was standing, with the handgun still raised, with a look of shock on her face.
Aislinn saw that Bret and Chet and even Grizelda was glaring at Isabella. She was glad that they were now seeing that Isabella wasn't perfect like they thought.
"You won't get my money or my Thneeds!" Once-ler said, blooding flowing faster out of his side. "You need to leave this valley and never come back here."
Isabella looked like she was about to protest when her face paled. She was staring behind Aislinn and Once-ler.
Confused, Aislinn looked behind her.
Standing behind her and Once-ler was the Lorax, Pipsqueak and all the animals of the valley. They all were growling and baring their teeth at Once-ler's family.
"I would listen to Beanpole if I were you," the Lorax said. "Cause if you don't, then we will make you listen."
Once-ler's family began backing up toward the RV. But Isabella stood her ground.
"I will not leave just yet," Isabella said, but her trembling voice gave away her fear. "I won't leave till I get what's rightfully mine!"
"That's the thing," Aislinn said, standing beside Once-ler. "None of this is rightfully yours. Once gave you a chance, and you screwed it up. Now it's time you learn a lesson in life. Everything isn't always handed to you. You have to earn everything you get."
Isabella's eye twitched and she began to argue, but then the animals started to slowly move toward her. Isabella's eyes widened.
"Isabella!" Grizelda called from the RV. "Just give up! They are right! You weren't entitled to any of this! Just come on!"
Isabella looked at Grizelda then back at the approaching animals.
"I would listen to her if I were you," Once-ler said, staring at his mother. "They don't like it when people disturb their valley."
Isabella sneered but turned and ran into the RV.
"I'll leave," she said from the driver's sit. "But one day you won't have all these creatures to defend you. And that's when I'll get what I want."
Then Isabella started the RV up and sped off.
"Make sure they actually leave the valley," the Lorax said to some Swami-Swan's.
The birds nodded then flew off after the RV.
"Thank God that's over," Aislinn said.
She glanced over at Once-ler, who had gotten real quiet. He had his head slightly down to where she couldn't see his eyes.
"Once?" Aislinn asked. "Once, are you alright?"
Once-ler then slowly began to fall forward. Aislinn screamed and managed to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Once-ler?!" Aislinn cried.
"I'm fine," he mumbled back, trying to stand up again, but not succeeding.
Aislinn then remembered the blood she saw earlier. She panicked. She had completely forgotten about that.
Aislinn quickly looked where the blood was coming from, and her face paled. It was a gunshot wound. It was in his right side, just below his ribs. Aislinn tried to remember the anatomy in that area. Intestines, gallbladder, liver? Was that it? She couldn't remember!
She began wishing Gran was there to help her. A light bulb went off in Aislinn's head.
She could get Gran here! She could have Sun-Ray go get Gran and Melody. But first she had to get Once-ler in the tent and at least slow the bleeding.
Pipsqueak was standing beside Once-ler with his little arms wrapped around Once-ler's leg, and the Lorax was looking worriedly up at Once-ler's face.
"Lorax," Aislinn said, getting the fuzzy creature's attention. "I need you to go make sure the door to the tent is open. Pipsqueak, I need you to go with Lorax and get all the towels and rags out of the closet. I need those. Lorax, after you open the door I need you to get all the big pots and fill them with water and put them on the stove and start them to boil."
The Lorax nodded and gently pulled Pipsqueak away from Once-ler and quickly made their way to the tent.
"You sound like you've done this before," Once-ler tried to joke.
Aislinn smiled a little.
"I've heard stories from Gran," she answered. "Now come on. We are going to slowly make our way to the tent and get you to lie down on the bed."
Once-ler nodded and they began to make their way to the tent.
When they finally made it, Once-ler was panting and his face was pale. Aislinn was grateful to see that the Lorax and Pipsqueak had done what she had asked.
Aislinn gently let Once-ler lay on the bed, then she ran and wrote to Gran on a small piece of paper: 'Once has been shot. Right side, below ribs. I need your help please! Sun-Ray will show you how to get here. Please hurry!'. Aislinn then grabbed her whistle for Sun-Ray and blew it. Sun-Ray was there in an instant.
"Take this to Gran," she said to the Swan. "And be quick about it! They need to follow you back so wait for them! Now go!"
Sun-Ray nodded then quickly flew away. Aislinn watched her for a minute before, turning back to Once-ler. He had his eyes closed and he was still panting some, and blood was still flowing from the bullet wound. Aislinn grabbed a towel and placed it over Once-ler's wound.
"I'm sorry Once," she said. "But this is going to hurt."
Aislinn pressed down and immediately Once-ler's eyes shot open and he gritted his teeth in pain.
"I'm sorry!" Aislinn cried, feeling tears come to her eyes.
This was all her fault. He got shot because of her. He was bleeding because of her. They were in this whole mess because she had to go and ask the Lorax to send them back in time. This whole thing was her fault. Aislinn felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"Don't even think that," Once-ler's soft voice cut through her thoughts.
Aislinn looked up at him confused to what he meant.
"I can see it on your face," Once-ler said. "You're blaming yourself for all of this. It's not your fault."
"Yes it is," Aislinn whispered looking back down at her hands that were holding the towel. "It's all my fault. I should have never asked the Lorax to send us back in time."
Once-ler frowned. He then slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"What are you doing?!" Aislinn nearly shouted. "You need to lay down!"
Once-ler ignored her, and instead wrapped his arms around Aislinn and pulled her close to him.
"I for one am glad you asked the Lorax," he whispered in her ear. "You saved the valley, the animals, and this whole area. And you saved me. You saved me from myself. You were there when I had no one else, or when I didn't have any hope."
Aislinn held back a sob, as tears rolled down her face.
"I'm so thankful you were willing to help me and the valley," Once-ler said.
Aislinn buried her face in Once-ler's bare shoulder, cried. Her whole body shook from her sobs. She wasn't exactly sure why she was crying so much. It could have been she was holding everything back, or it could be because Once-ler said that none of this was her fault. That Aislinn no longer needed to feel like she was bearing that solely on her shoulders.
Once-ler let Aislinn cry. He felt like she needed that. He was still in pain, yes, but he needed to have told Aislinn that he was grateful to her. He will always be grateful to her.
After awhile Aislinn's sobs went to little sniffs. When she lifted her head, her gold eyes were red and a little puffy from all her crying, and her nose was slightly red.
"Great," Aislinn sniffed, wiping her face on a nearby rag. "I look like crap now."
Once-ler smiled.
"No you don't," he said. "You look beautiful."
Aislinn laughed a little.
"You must have lost too much blood," she said. "Cause I think you're imaging things!"
Once-ler chuckled then winced. Aislinn frowned slightly.
"I think you should lie back down," she said.
Once-ler shook his head.
"Only if you lay down with me," he said.
"I'll hurt you," Aislinn said. "Besides, I'm keeping pressure on this till Gran and Melody get here."
"You've been through a lot tonight," Once-ler said, staring at Aislinn. "And besides you haven't even looked at your arm."
This was true. Aislinn could feel the burning and stinging coming from her arm still. And she guessed the warm trail going down her arm was blood. The bullet must have grazed deeper than what she had thought at first.
"I'll be fine," Aislinn answered. "Right now I'm more concerned with you."
Once-ler sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this. So he decided to compromise.
"Fine," he said. "Then how about you lean against the headboard and then I'll lean against you? You can wrap your arms around me and keep the pressure on here, yet I'll be more comfortable. Is that alright?"
Aislinn thought about it for a minute, then slowly nodded her head.
"You'll have to put pressure on this till I can," she said.
Once-ler nodded then put his hands on the towel and pressed down. He gritted his teeth in pain again.
Aislinn carefully crawled onto the bed behind Once-ler and put pillows up on the headboard so she could lean on them. She got as comfortable as possible and leaned back on the pillows.
"You can lean back now," Aislinn said.
Once-ler gently laid back into Aislinn. His head coming to rest on her chest. Once-ler sighed in contentment and relaxed a little. Aislinn wrapped her arms around Once-ler's waist and placed her hands on the towel. Once-ler removed his hands and placed one on Aislinn's forearm and the other simply laid on the bed. They sat there in silence for awhile, as the Lorax and Pipsqueak watched for any signs of Sun-Ray, Gran or Melody.
"Can you sing for me?" Once-ler asked, breaking the silence. "You used to sing all the time, and I loved it. It helped me relax."
Aislinn's singing voice was like a Truffula Tuft; it was softer than silk, or at least that's what Once-ler thought. Her voice always soothed Once-ler whenever he was stressed, depressed, or just needed to relax enough to fall asleep. He had realized that he hadn't heard her singing in months, and he missed it.
Aislinn laid her cheek against Once-ler's head.
"Sure," she whispered. "How about I sing a song Mother use to sing to me and Melody? It's a little sad when you listen to the words, but the melody is soothing and beautiful. It would nearly put me and Melody to sleep when Mother used to sing it too us."
Once-ler nodded his head. He just wanted to relax and sleep. That would help him recover from this whole mess faster.
Aislinn slowly took in a breath and began to sing.
"I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Don't you dare look out your window
Darling everything's on fire
The war outside out door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when the music's gone
Gone
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh ohhhh
Ah Ahhhhhh
Ah Ah Ahhhhhh
Oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh ohhhh
Ah Ahhhhhh
Ah Ah Ahhhhhh
Just your eyes
You'll be alright
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Oh oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhhh
Ah ah ah ah ahhhh
Ah ah ah ah ah ahhhh
Ah ah ah ah ahhhh
Ah ah ah ah ah ahhhh
Oh oh oh oh ohhhh
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhhh
"
The last note hung in the air and Once-ler was almost asleep.
"I missed that," he mumbled, his eyes nearly closed.
Aislinn smiled a little.
"I'll be sure to do it more often," she said.
"Promise?" Once-ler asked, lightly squeezing her forearm.
"Promise," Aislinn said.
"They're here!" the Lorax shouted.
Aislinn raised her head.
"In here Gran!" she shouted in relief.
Gran and Melody came running into the tent. Both looked out of breath and it looked like they just threw on some clothes. Gran's shoulder length silver hair was down and messy looking and so was Melody's blonde mid-back length hair. Gran was carrying a big bag, which she sat on the floor.
"What happened?" Gran asked, going over to the sink and using the hot water to wash her hands.
Aislinn summarized the evening's events.
"We'll deal with them later," Gran said, talking about Once-ler's family. "I need to examine you Once-ler. I'll be poking and prodding so this will hurt."
Gran gently lifted the towel and Aislinn was grateful to see that the bleeding had slowed some. Gran looked up at Aislinn and gave a silent warning in her eyes. Aislinn got the hint and held Once-ler's arms down tightly. He glanced up at Aislinn questioning what she was doing, but then understood as soon as Gran stuck her finger in the bullet wound. Once-ler bit back a scream as he unconsciously bucked trying to make the pain stop. Melody flinched at the sight of Once-ler in pain.
Gran pulled her finger out of the wound and Once-ler instantly relaxed.
"Well I have good news and bad news," Gran said.
Aislinn felt the color drain from her face.
"Bad news first please," Once-ler said weakly.
"The bad news is I don't have any numbing medicine," Gran said. "That's what took me and Melody so long to get here. What I had had long ago expired."
"Good news?" Aislinn asked, hopefully.
"The bullet didn't travel far inside," Gran answered. "And it didn't seem to hit anything important. I'll have to check once I can see inside better."
"What does that mean?" Once-ler asked, slightly afraid of what the answer was going to be.
Gran looked at him sympathetically.
"I'm going to have to open the wound up a little more," she said. "I need to get the bullet out and make sure nothing got damaged."
Once-ler stiffened and Aislinn pulled him closer to her, trying to comfort his fears.
"We need to do this fast," Gran said, looking around. "I see you got all the towels and rags and even boiled water. You were paying attention to some of my old stories."
Aislinn smiled a little.
"Now Melody," Gran said, looking at Melody. "Remember what I told you on the way over here right?"
Melody nodded.
"Get everything set up then," Gran said, going back over to the sink and washing her hands in hot water.
Melody went and opened Gran's bag and pulled out what looked like drapes, a knife, some forceps, a huge flashlight, and some needles with threads on them. Aislinn remembered Gran called them sutures. Gran and Melody quickly placed the drape on Once-ler, where he was covered up except for his wound. This left only Aislinn's head exposed above the drape. Then Melody tied the flashlight next to Aislinn's head and turned it on and aimed the light on Once-ler's wound. Gran then placed all the instrument's Melody got out on a tray she found in the kitchen.
"Put those instruments in that boiling water," Gran instructed Melody.
Melody quickly did what she was told and brought the instruments back after she dried them off with a clean towel.
"Alright I believe we are ready," Gran said, looking real serious.
"Wait!" Aislinn said, thinking of something. "Melody go get my leather belt out of my suitcase."
Melody nodded and came back with a simple brown leather belt. Aislinn took it and looked down under the drape at Once-ler, who was looking nervous.
"Bite down on this," she said, gently placing the belt in his mouth.
His eyes looked at her gratefully and she kissed the top of his head.
"It'll be alright," she whispered to him. "I'm right here with you."
Aislinn then looked over the drape and nodded to Gran.
"Here we go," Gran said, grabbing the knife and positioning her hand.
Once-ler's hand found one of Aislinn's hands, as he braced himself.
Gran placed the knife in the wound and pulled up a little. Once-ler tried not to move but his hands squeezed Aislinn's hands as he bit down on the belt in his mouth. Gran then grabbed some forceps and reached in slightly, and pulled a small shiny object out. Gran simply put it on the tray. Gran then took two of her fingers and pulled at the ends of the wound. Once-ler let out a muffled yell and Aislinn squeezed his hands, letting him know that she was still there. Gran looked into the wound, and then gave a satisfied nod. She then removed her fingers and grabbed a suture and another forcep.
"I'm nearly done Once-ler," Gran said, while she began to stitch the wound closed. "I'm stitching you up now."
Once-ler began to relax some but he never let his grip go on Aislinn's hands. Finally
Gran finished, cut the thread, and cleaned up around the wound where blood had gotten.
Gran and Melody removed the drape and the light. Gran took the tray of instruments from Melody and went and placed them in a different pot of boiling water. Gran washed her hands and came back over to the bed where Aislinn was taking the belt out of Once-ler's mouth. Once-ler was a little paler and panting from the whole experience.
"Good news," Gran smiled. "Nothing was damaged on the inside. Which means you'll heal up just fine with rest, but you'll have a little scar."
"That'll just be something to attract the ladies," Once-ler mumbled, smiling slightly.
Aislinn rolled her eyes and playfully and softly hit the top of his head, making Gran and Melody laugh.
"He is already getting back to his usual self," the Lorax said.
Aislinn had forgotten that the Lorax and Pipsqueak both were in here the whole time.
Pipsqueak carefully walked up to the side of the bed and put a little fuzzy paw on Once-ler's arm and gave a worried whimper.
"I'll be fine buddy," Once-ler said softly, finally letting go of Aislinn's hand and petting the Barbaloot's head.
Pipsqueak's little tail wagged a little.
"Me and Melody will stay here for a couple of days," Gran said. "I want to make sure Once-ler does alright."
"I've got some spare clothes in there if you need them," Aislinn said. "And since we never used all the towels you can take a shower if you'd like."
"We packed clothes," Melody said, smiling at her sister. "And that shower does sound nice, but I think I'll wait till in the morning."
"Technically," Gran said. "It's already morning. It's 2:45 in the morning to be exact."
"How do you know?" Aislinn questioned, glancing at the broken clock.
"A watch," Gran grinned, holding up her left arm.
Aislinn rolled her eyes.
"Got anywhere we can sleep sis?" Melody asked, picking up Gran's huge bag.
"The couch pulls out into a bed," Aislinn said, pointing into the living room. "The sheets are already on it and the pillows are in the closet by the bathroom."
"Thanks!" Melody said, while she and Gran went into the living room.
Soon the couch was made into a bed, and Melody and Gran were asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
Aislinn smiled and said a small prayer thanking God for letting her have an awesome sister and grandmother.
Aislinn looked down at Once-ler and saw that he had fallen asleep while she had been talking to Gran and Melody. Aislinn gently lifted Once-ler up, trying not to hurt him anymore, and tried to quietly get out of the bed.
A hand grabbed her arm and squeezed it gently.
"Stay," said a sleepy voice.
Aislinn looked down and saw Once-ler's pale blue eyes staring at her.
"I don't need to lay here with you tonight," Aislinn whispered. "I might hurt you."
"I can't sleep unless you're here with me," Once-ler whined. "Please stay."
Aislinn frowned slightly. She needed to get up and sleep somewhere else, but the look in Once-ler's eyes told her that he wouldn't sleep if she wasn't there.
"Alright," Aislinn mumbled, leaning back against the headboard again and getting comfortable.
"You never did get Gran to look at your arm," Once-ler whispered.
Aislinn winced. She had completely forgot about her arm.
"I'll get her to look at it when we all get up," she said. "Her and Melody just fell asleep. I don't want to wake them up."
"Promise?" Once-ler said, looking up at Aislinn.
"Promise," Aislinn smiled. "Now get some rest. That's the only way you'll get better."
Once-ler smiled a little and relaxed against her. He found one of Aislinn's hands and intertwined his fingers with hers.
Aislinn began to run her fingers of her free hand through his black hair and hum the song she had sung to him earlier. Once-ler was asleep not long after.
Aislinn stayed awake, still humming and running her fingers through Once-ler's hair. She glanced down and saw the Lorax and Pipsqueak sleeping in the Lorax's bed. But Aislinn didn't feel like sleeping, yes she was tired but she couldn't fall asleep. She had a lot on her mind. Once-ler's family, Once-ler declaring that he wouldn't sell anymore Thneeds, Once-ler getting shot because of Aislinn, and then to top it off, Isabella acting like she was still going to make Aislinn and Once-ler's life a living hell.
Aislinn looked out the window of the tent and saw a faint glow peeking over the valley. The sun was starting to rise, which meant it was probably around 6:30. She hadn't realized that she had been thinking for nearly four hours. She needed to sleep but her mind wouldn't let her. Finally, Aislinn just forced her eyes to close, and she began to fall asleep to the sound of the Humming Fish waking up to greet the day.
Author's Note:
I don't own The Lorax or the Once-ler or his crazy family
I do OWN Aislinn, Melody, and Grann
Thanks for all the reviews guys! And the Favorite's!
I really appreciate it!