Disclaimer: I do not own the show Angel or the song "Time Lapse Lifeline" by Maria Taylor.
A/N: I was literally on the couch when I thought, "Hey, what was that song in the episode of Bones where there was the otter and something?" So I found out that the episode was called "The Beaver in the Otter", and the song was called "Time Lapse Lifeline". Since I'd been thinking about doing a fic about Cordelia's last words to Angel this just fell into my head. It's not her last words, but her death from an outsider's perspective. It includes the phone call when Cordy disappears after kissing Angel and he realizes she never actually woke up.
I'm keeping up, keeping up with the time lapse lifeline
And they can run, they can run, from the farm to the last ride
The nurse sighed as she tidied her workspace, preparing to go home. It had been a long shift, with the usual strange injuries; neck trauma, bite marks that didn't resemble any animals she knew, poisoning that didn't make sense…L.A. was the strangest place to work in. Things happened that no one could understand.
"Hey, Linnie." One of the other nurses, Marge, said. "I'm supposed to be meeting my husband for dinner in twenty minutes, can you check in on Cordy for me tonight?"
"Sure, no problem." Marge was getting over some problems with her husband, and Linnie desperately hoped they could make up and move back in together so Tyler wouldn't be sad anymore. He was their six-year-old son. "I hope you two—"
"I know." Marge said, scooping up her purse. "Me too. I really, really hope so."
"Bye!" Linnie called as Marge disappeared around the corner. She finished what she was doing, then headed down to the wards where they kept coma patients.
Cordy was another one of those unexplainable occurrences. One day three men and a small, wispy-haired girl had brought her in, panicked. They had said she had fallen or something, they hadn't seen what had happened. The girl, named Cordelia (but everyone called her Cordy), had no mental trauma. Her head was perfectly fine and yet she was in a deep and seemingly permanent coma. It had been so hard to tell the group, but the strangest part was that they actually weren't that surprised by the fact that their friend didn't have any concussions. They sat and cried, then left. Flowers were sent to the ward from time to time, but it was like it was too painful for Cordy's friends to come back. What were their names? Linnie couldn't remember anymore. Cordy had been here for nearly a year now.
The strangest thing was that Linnie could have sworn she saw Cordy's friend here earlier. They had met some brunette girl, and headed out. Maybe she was a sister or a cousin…?
In the room Linnie did the usual; checked Cordy's vitals, made sure all the machines were working, and wrote it down on a piece of paper. She was the same as always.
Linnie didn't leave right away, choosing to sit down and smile at the little bouquet of roses next to Cordy's bed. Maybe they'd found the courage to come back. Linnie thought that it helped if the coma patient's family visited, telling them they needed to wake up. Sure, they couldn't hear a thing, but it seemed to provide a soothing atmosphere and slow their heart rates a little, temporarily dragging them from the nightmare worlds they inhabited.
Cordy's monitor made bleeping sound, like it did every second. Her heart pumped away, like clockwork. Or, it usually did. Linnie's own heart began to beat faster as she counted two seconds between the next beat, then four, then ten, then fifteen. Cordy was dying.
There was not much she could do. There was CPR, and electric paddles, but it didn't work. It wouldn't work. Linnie knew that all coma patients would die eventually, like Cordy was now. After trying both of the aforementioned things she stood back, watching as the monitor slowed the beeping until it was silent.
And we can hear, we can hear the first beat to the flat line
Linnie unattached all the wires and needles from Cordy's wrists and chest. "I'm sorry." She was always sorry. She was always sorry when she had to stand by and watch the beats of someone's heart slow until they were gone. She didn't even know why she stayed to watch; it wasn't like they knew she was there. It wasn't like she could offer any comfort. It wasn't like she made their inevitable fate any different.
She headed down the hall to one of the last doctors there. "Dr. Gregory?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"Cordy…she died." Linnie said. What were Cordy's friends going to say? They would be so devastated. The friends were always devastated.
Dr. Gregory sighed. "That's too bad. Call it in, and then make sure someone contacts her relatives or friends. I'm leaving for the night."
"Yes, Dr. Gregory." Linnie said, going to the nearest phone. After calling the morgue she took a deep breath and flipped through a large book of numbers, stopping at one labeled "Wolfram and Hart, Angel's office". Angel. That was the tall man's name.
She dialed. Ring, ring, ring. "Hello?"
"Mr. Angel?"
"Yeah."
"Your friends, Cordelia…she died a few hours ago." Linnie braced herself for an onslaught of emotion. There was a pause.
"Are you sure? I thought she woke up."
"No, she never woke up. I'm sorry."
"She didn't? But she's—" there was another pause, like Angel had moved his head away from the phone. "Never mind. Thank you."
The hollow click cut off the call.
I'm keeping up, keeping up with the time lapse lifeline
And once it's done
Oh, we dream of life
It was just like that, was just like that
And just like that, and just like that it's done
Oh, we dream of life
It was just like that, was just like that
And just like that, and just like that it's done
A/N: yeah….what can I say? Cordy was so kind and loving, and she was accepted by people her loved her, then boom! Possessed, in a coma not soon after. It just wasn't fair! Review, please?