Author: StargazerUK.
Email: dj.meade@btinternet.com
Category: A/I & C/C.
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these Roswell characters, I have borrowed them.( If I did Alex & Isabel would be living happily ever after. )
Author's Note: This is set post “Graduation”. It is in response to a challenge, of sorts, so credit goes to “Biged”. It’s quite a simple premise for this story - Is it possible that when they left Roswell at the end of “Graduation” they left someone behind?
I have no idea how long or involved this will be. From what I have gathered so far I feel this will be quite short, certainly less than ten parts.
Thanks to Kath7 and Cookieman1234 for being who you are and doing what you do.
Chapter 1
Liz simply allowed the sensation of being wrapped in Max’s strong arms wash over her. It was one of the few positives left in her life at the moment and she was determined to make the most of it while she could. They had all been through so much over recent months, and in the last few weeks in particular. Saying goodbye to their families in the manner that they did was never the plan, nor was it ever going to be easy but their actions had been forced upon them. Now they found themselves living out of bags and cases, travelling further and further away from their homes and loved ones, a clapped-out van there only means of transport. It wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel and it was only with the help of alien powers that it had made it this far. At least it didn’t draw any special attention, which was probably its main advantage they had all soon realised.
“I have to get up.” She moaned, regret evident in her voice.
“Just a little while longer.” Max pleaded.
“You can’t believe that I want to get up.” She stated incredulously to her spouse. “I could stay here forever given the alternatives and I’m shocked and maybe even a little hurt that you would think otherwise but you know I have to go and check on Isabel, see how she’s doing.” She finished. The slight smile that played on her lips informing her companion she was only feigning hurt pride.
“How is she doing?” Max asked solemnly as he planted a kiss on Liz’s forehead. He didn’t want to move on from their playful banter but he knew they had a bigger problem to deal with first before they could allow themselves some much needed alone time.
“She’s no worse.” Liz offered in a failed attempt to turn a negative into a positive.
“Which is code for she’s no better.” Max countered, tightening his grip on his partner. “I wish there was something I could do but she’s been like this for weeks. I want to help her but I don’t know how.”
Liz partially lifted herself up from where she lay fully clothed with Max on their motel room bed, the fading evening sun leaching through the broken blind that Max had promised to fix before night fall. She looked down on the man she had recently pledged her life to and all she could see was the anguish that he was trying to conceal behind his beautiful amber eyes. She knew he was hurting for his sister, as they all were, but none of them knew how to help her, which left Max feeling responsible somehow. As he always did.
“Max, I’m afraid the only thing that is going to help Isabel is time. In the last year or so she has realised her true feelings for Alex only to have him snatched away as she was beginning to act upon them. Then in some kind of knee-jerk reaction to his death she threw herself into what wasn’t exactly a loveless marriage but it was certainly ill advised and not based on mutual love and honesty as it should have been.” Liz let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “Now, not only do we have the FBI on our trail but Isabel had to say goodbye to the thing she held most dear, namely your parents, so it is only natural that she should feel depressed and a little lost at the moment.”
Max reached up and started to run his fingers through Liz’s long, silky hair. “I understand all of that Liz, really I do, but I can’t help feeling that there isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel. I know why she is upset and I understand but I’m worried we don’t have anyway of pulling her out of her despair. She needs something to love, something to care about. Even something to fight for as long as it’s something she cares about. She needs to give her life meaning again, a purpose but for the life of me I don’t know where something like that will come from.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~
At the same time 600 miles away
“Any change?”
“No, Doctor.” The nurse replied, a smile suddenly playing on her lips.
“Have I said something to amuse you, Nurse Brown?” The specialist enquired. A smile of his own now apparent, informing the junior staff member he was in no way annoyed at her unexpected change in demeanour.
“No, Doctor.” She shook her head vigorously. “It’s just I still find it heart warming that you are so optimistic with regards to Adam’s condition after all this time.”
The smile slowly fell from the middle-aged consultant’s face as he turned to look at the young man who was laid out on the hospital bed in the high dependency unit. It wasn’t lost on him, the irony that this unidentified man had ended up with an almost permanent bed in the high dependency ward when in truth he required less attention than most standard patients. The fact that they had fewer requirements for high dependency beds than they did for normal hospital beds was a testament to the standard of treatment and care they afforded their patients. The off-shoot of this was that when it came time to find a long term bed for Adam a compromise was reached and he was moved to his current location. It gave them both time and space to help with his rehabilitation, such as it was. His mind may not have been functioning but the staff worked long and hard to keep his muscles and joints in constant use to prevent further damage from being done.
It had been over a year since the unconscious body of a solitary man had been found out in the wilderness that surrounded Roswell. If memory served him correctly he seemed to remember the mention of some day trippers finding the ravaged body of his young patient somewhere out in the desert on a well known hiking trail. Unfortunately that area of land was famed for its harsh climate and unforgiving landscape and it was only sheer luck that he had been found at all, let alone still clinging to life by a thread. By the time he had been discovered he had been so near death from both the ravages of the ferocious sun and also whatever it was that caused his underlying medical problems that no one believed he would survive the night let alone an entire year.
The fact that he had been found on a tourist trail and there was no indication of a local boy in his late teens being reported missing meant they focused their hard work on finding his true identity using a national database for missing people with specific efforts made in the nearby larger towns and cities such as Santa Fe, Albuquerque and further a field to places like Austin and Phoenix. Sadly, they had encountered no success.
Upon his arrival at the local hospital his initial treatment for exposure and extreme sunstroke simply delayed the diagnosis of an even more alarming condition. After being transferred to the better equipped medical centre at Santa Fe several brain scans and numerous examinations had left the medical community with little, if anything, to go on other than this young patient had endured a severe head trauma that was now manifesting itself as a persistent, vegetative state.
“I am right aren’t I, Peter?” The nurse interrupted his thoughts, her switch to using his first name confirming the personal interest she had taken in this particular case. “The chances of Adam regaining consciousness are slim at best?”
“Sadly, I’m afraid you are right, Eve.” Peter confirmed. “It’s been known to happen but is incredibly unlikely for someone to suffer such a trauma, whatever it was that caused his problems, and to come through unscathed. I still deem it a minor miracle that he has held on this long. It’s true to say his brainwave patterns are nothing like we have seen before but there is no indication that there is anyone left inside. I’m sorry to say that whatever and whoever this young man was we are not likely to see it again.”
“But didn’t you say there had been a change in the pattern in recent weeks?” She pressed. “Isn’t that an indication that he might be waking up?”
“Again, I’m sorry Eve but it is extremely unlikely.” The Doctor countered ruefully, sad at having to quash her optimism. “We have never before seen brainwave patterns like those exhibited by Adam over the last year and although the change did cause us to re-examine his situation I’m afraid there is nothing to suggest any sort of recovery. For all we know if he does ever wake up he is most likely already lost to us. I find the term ‘Vegetable’ very distasteful but in this case I’m sorry to say it may well be apt.”
The young nurse turned her attention to her motionless patient after the practitioner had left to continue his rounds, her only distraction now the sound of the heart monitor as it registered his steady heartbeat. Pausing for a moment she thought back to that fateful night when she first encountered her mystery man. She had been working the night shift when his burnt and battered body had been transferred from Roswell to the medical centre. After the initial flourish of treatment his bodily ailments were brought under control but it soon became clear that a much longer journey was in store for their unidentified casualty.
It became apparent very quickly that she would be seeing a lot of her new charge, they were both in this for the duration, so when it came time to christen him she fought long and hard not to simply allow them to tag him with the standard ‘John Doe’ moniker along with an attached number. With a name like ‘Eve’ she could only see him as her very own ‘Adam’ and she finally convinced the senior medical staff, claiming she picked Adam simply because alphabetically it was one of the first boys names you could come up with. She ignored the knowing looks she received from the staff who knew her on a more personal level, which meant they knew the true story behind their patient’s new name.
“Good evening Adam.” She greeted her patient tenderly. “I can sense we’re going to have another night of scintillating conversation and witty banter.” She joked.
“Hey Eve.” A familiar voice called.
Eve turned to see her fellow nurse, Sarah Larson, entering the secluded section of the ward. “Hi Sarah. How are things?”
“Pretty quiet I’m pleased to report.” She smiled in reply. “How’s your Mr Wonderful?”
Eve looked back at her friend to see an amused look on her face. “Firstly, he is not my Mr Wonderful.” She countered. “And secondly, I’d really rather you didn’t say things like that as I feel we are being disrespectful to not only our guest here but my sometimes boyfriend.”
“Simon?” Sarah arched an eyebrow in surprise. “I thought he was long gone. I thought you said you were better off without him?”
“I was…I mean I am.” Eve corrected herself. “It’s just he was fine most of the time and it’s great to have someone to come home to but how can you get serious about a guy who feels threatened by a patient in a coma?”
“Beats me.” Sarah shrugged.
“Oh I wouldn’t look so innocent if I were you.” Eve chastised her friend. “I think you planted the seeds of doubt by telling him I spent each day giving a boy in his late teens who was tall and toned a sponge bath.”
“I was kidding.” She said defensively. “Who knew he was so lacking when it came to both self-confidence and a sense of humour?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“How is she?” Max questioned softly as he squeezed his returning wife tightly to his chest.
“Not good.” Liz replied, her voice little more than a whisper. “In spite of all that we have seen and battled against I can’t even begin to comprehend what she has been through. I know we all had to say goodbye to our lives and families when we left but she seems to have lost so much more. I’ve tried to talk to her about it, so has Maria, but she seems to be in this spiral of depression and I’m worried if we don’t do something soon we’ll never get her back.”
Max released his grip on his newly acquired wife and turned towards the door. “I’ll have a word, not that I think it will do any good.”
“Take it easy on her Max.” Liz gently instructed her partner. “She’s trying her best to hold it together and I don’t think it will take much to push her over the edge.”
With a final, solemn glance he opened the door to the motel room, stepped through and closed it behind him. When he stepped outside he was unsurprised to bump into Michael. “Keeping watch?”
“Huh?” It became clear that Michael was in some kind of daydream when Max’s simply question was able to catch him off guard. “What? Sorry, I was a million miles away.”
“Thinking about Isabel?” Max queried softly, not wishing to pry. “She’ll be back to normal soon enough and then you might not have to share with Kyle for much longer after that.” Max tried not to smile at that last comment.
“Trust me when I tell you that sharing with Kyle Valenti is the least of my worries, I have other things on my mind.” Michael stated firmly. “If I’ve lasted this long I can go another few months if required don’t you worry. All I’m interested in is getting Isabel back to her old self and if she needs time then that’s what we’ll give her.”
Max nodded silently to Michael’s heartfelt statement. The two young men stood in silence for a couple of minutes before Max took a deep breath, clearly readying himself for something. “Have you been in to see her?”
Michael shook his head slowly. “I tried but Maria stopped me before I got inside. I think both she and Liz were with her and she was having a particularly bad time if the pained expression on Maria’s face was anything to go by.”
Max raised a hand and patted his big friends shoulder in a show of solidarity before he moved off towards the next room, which contained Maria and Isabel. He tapped gently on the door before opening it and going in. The first thing that hit him was how warm the room was. Despite how noticeably warm it was, which was confirmed by the sight of Maria sitting up on one of the beds in what amounted to little more than shorts and a t-shirt, the sight that caught Max’s eye made his heart sink. He could see what could only have been Isabel hidden beneath a mountain of sheets and blankets. Only the tell tale sign of the blankets moving up and down in time with Isabel’s breathing gave her existence away.
“Hi Max, Do you want me to leave?” Maria asked softly as she dropped her magazine.
Max shook his head but remained silent as he moved over to the far bed and sat down, placing a loving hand on his buried sister.
“I’m fine, Max.” A muffled voice called. “I’ve tried to tell both Maria and Liz that I’ll be OK but I just need a little time to get myself out of this funk that I seem to be in. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cause you all problems but I need to get my head straight first.”
“That’s fine, Iz.” He tried to reassure his sister. “We’ve taken ourselves away from the immediate danger for now so if you need time to set things right in your mind then time is what you shall have but I’m getting a little worried about your new habit of hibernating under a mountain of blankets and that’s nothing to say of the heat in here. I’m also getting a little worried about poor Maria, she looks like she’s got heat-stroke.”
After a momentary pause there was much shuffling about beneath the mound of bedclothes before a bedraggled looking Isabel slowly surfaced by sticking her face out of the side of the bedcovers. “God! Do I look that bad?” She queried, after seeing the look on Maria’s face as her friend stared at her.
“Sadly my dear sister...” Max gave her a sympathetic look. “…I think Maria might be holding back as she is your friend. I don’t wish to be mean but I don’t think you should go anywhere near a mirror at the moment.”
Upon hearing that Isabel threw back the bedclothes and marched into the bathroom. “Oh My God!” She screamed, running back out into the bedroom just in time to see Michael pile in through the front door.
“What the hell’s happening?” Michael cried, ready for anything.
“Have you seen my face?” Isabel yelled.
“Your face?” Michael echoed as he looked at Max. “Your face?” He repeated as he now turned to look at Maria. “You have got to be kidding me!” He cried as he slammed the door behind him as he left.
“I’m no expert.” Max gently offered. “But I think a long, hot shower followed by a change of bedclothes might be in order.”
“We have clean bedding.” Maria cut in. “They left it earlier when Isabel refused to leave the bed.” She pointed at the pile of fresh sheets that sat on the table.
Isabel couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed when she heard that. She turned to her brother. “Max, do you mind if I take a shower while you go and send Liz back in so I can talk to her and Maria? I don’t mean to be rude but it’s a girl thing.”
“No that’s fine.” Max smiled as he lifted himself up off of the bed. “Michael, Kyle and I can go and get some food and we’ll leave you to it.”
Max left the girl’s room feeling a million times better than when he had gone in. It was true to say he hadn’t exactly done an awful lot while he was in there but Isabel out of bed and asking for Liz and Maria was a huge step forward. Plus it meant the boys could finally go and get some much needed food.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Don’t let them catch you in here.” Sarah warned Eve. “I know you’re on your break but I don’t think you are supposed to spend it in the company of unconscious patients.”
Eve shrugged and smiled at her friend. “It’s so quiet and out of the way back here that I doubt anyone who actually does any work around here would ever find me plus I find his presence somewhat reassuring.”
“Really?” Sarah questioned, now fully intrigued by her friend’s statement.
“Don’t you?” Eve asked in surprise when it became clear that her comment was news to her friend. “I mean look at him. He’s in his late teens, maybe early twenties. He’s tall, lean and attractive and seems to have led a good life if outward signs are anything to go by. Doesn’t it fascinate you…wondering who or what he might be?” She pressed. “He could have been the captain of the football team or the world’s biggest loner. He could have gone on to invent a cure for cancer or ended up at the top of a clock tower with a rifle. His life was one of endless possibilities and yet here he lies and if Peter Ellington is to be believed he will never wake up.” Suddenly she looked mournful. “I mean it all seems such a waste and I can’t believe that no one has come to claim him. There has to be someone out there that wants or needs this young man. Someone must have loved him.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“How do I look?” Isabel asked her two friends after she finally stepped out of the bathroom having spent the better part of an hour getting washed and cleaned up.
“As long as it doesn’t get me vaporised for my comments I have to say that it’s a vast improvement on Isabel circa an hour ago.” Liz admitted. “Sadly, Isabel, you have set yourself some pretty high standards when it comes to how you look so your slight dip in recent weeks has come as somewhat of a shock to all of us.”
“We all have bad hair days.” Maria interjected. “We’re just not used to seeing them from you.”
“Speaking of bad hair days.” Isabel gazed at her friends with a pensive look firmly planted on her beautiful features. “I’ve been thinking…” She allowed herself to trail off.
Liz swapped looks with Maria before looking back at their friend. “Thinking what?” She pressed gently.
“Thinking this.”
As both girls sat in mild confusion Isabel took a deep breath to steady herself and lifted her hands to engulf her forehead where her hairline began. As her two friends watched in near disbelief Isabel slowly but deliberately pulled her hands back over her head and as she did so she not only changed the colour of her brown hair to a more familiar blond hue she also lengthened it down to just below her shoulders.
“I take it you are going for a retro look with your hair.” Maria stated rather breathlessly having just seen an impressive display of alien power. “But can I also say it’s a welcome return to a very good look for you.”
Isabel grinned broadly at hearing the exact reaction she was looking for from her friend. She turned to look at Liz, her face taking on a more apprehensive look as she waited for her much needed second opinion. Her heart sank when she saw what almost looked like a tear come to her friends eye.
“No…no you misunderstand.” Liz called, as she quickly leapt to her feet and wrapped an arm around her friend once she was within reaching distance. “You look beautiful Isabel, your best look as Maria said. The reason for the tears was that as soon as you took on a more familiar look it made me think of one person and rather strangely I don’t mean you.”
Instantly all three girls were thinking about the same, absent friend. Liz reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her tall friend’s ear. “He always thought you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and I know he always loved how you looked with your long blond hair and immaculate make up but you were so much more to him than that. I’ll be honest and say I was sad when you changed your hair but I understood you were starting a new passage in your life and you were looking for a fresh start.”
“After what we have been through recently I feel the need for things that comfort me.” She explained. “I’ve had long blond hair for most of my life and it feels like a welcome return.”
“Don’t forget that any description of you now is with short brown hair so you win both ways.” Maria added cheerfully.
Unexpectedly Isabel threw her hands to her face and burst into tears.
Maria turned to look at Liz, a pained expression on her face. “What did I say?”
“You didn’t say anything.” She tried to reassure Maria as she moved Isabel to her bed and motioned for her to sit down. “I just think things are getting a little too much for Isabel at the moment and she’s feeling a little over-awed.”
Maria moved silently to the other side from where Liz was standing and sat down, pulling one of Isabel’s hands into her own. She didn’t look to say anything, she simply wanted to let Isabel know she was there for her in any way that she needed. I squeeze of her hand from Isabel told her that the message had been gratefully received.
Eventually the tears began to subside and Liz finally sat down next to Isabel, offering her friend a much needed tissue. “I’m not looking to force you Isabel but we all know something has been going on with you, something that you have been keeping to yourself. Initially I thought it was simply what has occurred over recent weeks and months. God knows it would be enough to push anyone to the brink of despair but I’m beginning to think there is more to it than that. Am I right?”
Liz got her answer when Isabel silently nodded in agreement.
“You know we love you Isabel and if there is anything that we can do to help you we will. You know that, right?” Maria queried.
Again they received a silent nod.
“In your own time Isabel just talk to us.” Liz offered. “Whatever it is that is playing on your mind we want to help. Is it Jesse or your parents?”
This time Isabel shook her head but it also became clear she was about to speak. “I feel so silly and such a fraud as we have all been through the same thing but I seem to be the only one who is struggling to come to terms with it.”
“No one’s judging you, Isabel.” Maria countered. “We each deal with what has happened in our own way.”
“That’s just it.” Isabel interrupted. “I understand and agree with the things you are saying but it will probably surprise you to find out that what is causing my problems isn’t anything to do with those things you have mentioned.”
“They’re not?” Now Liz was really confused. “We just assumed you were upset about leaving your family or leaving Jesse. Are you saying they aren’t what’s upsetting you?”
Isabel sat quietly for a moment and let out a heavy sigh. “You’re only going to say I’m going mad or that my mind is reacting to the trauma of what we have been through.”
“Isabel.” Maria cut in, tightening her grip on her friend. “Just tell us.”
Again Isabel paused but this time it was only for a moment before she began to explain. “After Alex died I used to see him.”
“What?” Liz asked in amazement. Maria stayed quiet as Liz had beaten her to the exclamation of disbelief.
Isabel smiled softly when she thought back to his visits. “It only happened a few times. Even Alex himself told me he was just a figment of my own imagination. My subconscious had summoned him up when I needed him most.”
“But?” Liz pressed gently but firmly.
“But now I’m not so sure.” Isabel shrugged. “Things have been happening that I can’t explain, things that have never happened before and I’m beginning to think its Alex.”
“Oh Sweetie.” Maria wrapped an arm around her distraught friend. “No one wants Alex back more than I do but Max tried to save him and couldn’t, he saw the body. We went to his funeral. Please don’t do this to yourself. Wishing for something that is never going to happen is only going to make your problems worse.”
“Don’t you think I know?” Isabel exclaimed as she pulled herself free from her friends grasp and stood up. “Don’t you think I know how mad I sound, how stupid I must seem to you now but I know something is happening. The further I move away from Roswell the stronger the feelings I have calling me back. Alex has always been there, deep in my mind but I always thought he was playing some kind of Jiminy Cricket character…you know, like in Pinocchio. I thought he was acting as some kind of little voice of reason…like my conscience. I never doubted that he died last year, not until now that is.”
“Isabel, I know you’re upset but this is just madness.” Liz was trying to hold back but she couldn’t allow this to carry on. “He’s dead and that’s all there is to it!” She stated firmly. “What more proof do you need?”
“That’s exactly my point, Liz.” Isabel now focused her attention on the one person it would be most difficult to convince of her argument. “It’s not like we are normal people living a normal life. If we were, a dead person would be a dead person and there would be no two-ways about it. But we’re not normal. Don’t forget that we are the people who live in the twilight zone. Think about the things we have seen, the things we have done. You of all people can’t forget what Max can do and more to the point what Tess could do. She could make us see anything she wanted us to see. Did Max really climb into the back of that van? Was it really Alex in that car crash?”
“Isabel, I love you and your words are breaking my heart because God only knows how much I want him back but this is just wild, wishful thinking on your part.” It was clear now that Liz was close to losing it. “All you’re doing by building up your hopes and the hopes of those around you is setting us all up for a huge fall.”
“Then you tell me!” Isabel insisted. “You tell me what is going on in my head. I’ve been dreaming each and every night for the last few weeks but when I wake up I can’t remember a thing. I can’t remember anything about it. It’s just a blank slate…completely black.”
“And from that you deduce that Alex is trying to contact you?” Liz asked curtly.
Isabel looked at her petit friend before letting out a heavy sigh. “Do you not think I know how mad I sound, how ludicrous I appear but what am I meant to do, ignore it? What if Alex is really trying to contact me, how would I feel if I simply ignored him and I wasn’t there for him?”
“But how are you going to prove otherwise?” Liz asked, the scientist within her rising to the surface.
That question brought Isabel to a grinding halt. Tears were now evident in her eyes. “Do you think I want this?” She asked as she started to cry uncontrollably. “Do you think I haven’t tried to deny what I have been feeling? I have no answers, only questions. Maybe I am losing my mind but you asked me to tell you and I did, for whatever its worth.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“She thinks Alex is trying to contact her?” The disbelief was unmistakable in Max’s voice.
Liz nodded. “I know it sounds like madness and so does Isabel but I think something is going on with her while she is on the dream plain and it’s causing her to come up with all these outlandish ideas.”
“Did she say what it is, this problem while she is sleeping?” Max questioned.
Liz shrugged lightly. “She mentioned that she has been dreaming but when she wakes up she can’t remember anything. She said it was like a blank slate…just black.”
Max frowned. “Well, which is it? She either can’t remember anything or it is blank, it can’t be both.”
“I know.” Liz nodded. “I was thinking about that and the only thing I can come up with is that when she is dreaming, wherever she is going, it’s just a void. There’s nothing there. That’s why she can’t remember anything, there’s nothing to remember.”
Max scrubbed at his face with his hands. “God! I knew something was wrong but I never imagined anything like this in my wildest dreams, poor Isabel.”
“Well at least it is now out in the open.” Liz couldn’t hide her relief at being able to make that statement. “It would have only festered if she had kept it to herself but now we know we can try and help her interpret what she is feeling. Find out what is really going on.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Isabel lay on her bed looking up at the ceiling. It had been a few hours since she had told Liz and Maria about her feelings and the more she thought about it the more stupid she felt. What had she been thinking? Telling them that Alex was alive. Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part but clearly she should have kept it to herself. She glanced to her right and found Maria sitting upright in bed reading. “Do you think I’m ready for the Looney bin?”
Maria dropped her book and turned to look at her friend, a broad smile on her face. “Isabel, if anything I think you’re the most sane one amongst us. You are the only one who knows what you have been going through these last few weeks. You’re the only one who can interpret what you see on the dream plain, not even Max or Michael can help you there. As for Tess, you are preaching to the choir on that one. Who knows what she made us ‘think’ we saw. But…”
“I knew it was going too well.” Isabel joked. “I knew there had to be a but!”
“…we can’t let her win.” Maria finished. “We could spend the rest of our lives second guessing exactly what that bitch did to us and all it will achieve is to allow her to get at us from beyond the grave. We have to break free from her clutches and make sure she doesn’t win.”
“So you don’t think I am losing my mind but you also don’t think I am right.” Isabel surmised.
“With the exception of you I don’t think there would be anyone happier than me if we ever found out that Alex was still alive but you’d need proof.” Suddenly Maria looked sad. “As I firmly believe that Tess killed poor Alex I really don’t think you will ever find any.”
Isabel felt tears stinging at her eyes as she turned away. She knew Maria was right, just as Liz had been earlier but it hurt all the same. ‘Maria’s right’ she thought to herself. ‘I need to put this to bed once and for all.’
She thought about reaching into her bag where she kept a picture of Alex discreetly hidden but she realised she didn’t need it. If this was going to work she wouldn’t need a picture. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. What she was trying she had only done once before. That had been when Max had been held captive in the White room. It had been the only time when she had tried to contact someone who wasn’t in a dream state. Taking Maria’s words to heart she knew she had to either put up or shut up and if she wanted to get on with her life she needed to leave behind fanciful thoughts of her long dead boyfriend being alive.
Suddenly Isabel got a fright. She was no longer lying on her bed so she had clearly entered some kind of dream world, or something similar. The reason for the fright was it was completely black, as it had been in her dreams…it was simply a void. She suddenly realised that she didn’t know what to do next. Was she meant to call out or command his appearance? She didn’t know.
Now feeling rather ridiculous given her current position she felt like leaving but just before she did she thought she should at least give it a try, no matter how foolish it made her feel. She owed Alex that much at least. She opened her mind fully, concentrating on just one thing, the only thing that mattered to her, Alex. She simply sent out all her feelings of longing and love that she still held for the young man. Feelings she knew she would always have. She no longer felt self-conscious as she promised herself, given past actions, never to deny what she felt for her erstwhile boyfriend. She simply stood in the open void and willed him to her.
For a moment, but only for a moment, she thought she felt something. She thought she could feel him reaching out to her in an attempt to connect but then…nothing.
Finally, and rather unsurprisingly, the reality of the situation hit her and she went straight back to feeling foolish. What had she been thinking, that she could simply command her long dead former boyfriend back to life simply because it would solve so many of her problems? She tried not to let the tears flow, simply letting the thought that she had tried her best to comfort her as she moved back to consciousness, her night’s adventure now behind her and her thoughts of a living, breathing Alex now put to rest. It was clear that she wanted him to be alive and well more than anything else in this or any other world but it was also clear that it was never going to happen.
The final thought that sat with her made her heart break. She knew, as did those that had met him, that Alex was too good for this world. They say that only the good die young and unfortunately Alex Whitman was testament to that statement. It was time for her to move on and make something of her life in the way that Alex would have wanted her to. If she couldn’t force herself to get on with life for her own sake then she would do it out of love and respect for the only man she had truly loved. The only man she would ever love. In fact, the only man she had ever let in.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eve walked along the silent corridor as she carried the two cups of coffee she had gone to the staff lounge to collect. When they worked together both she and Sarah took it in turns to get the coffee but it seemed that her turn came round more often than Sarah’s, which was odd. She smiled to herself at that thought.
Suddenly she was surprised to see Sarah coming the other way, a look of panic on her normally calm features. “Eve, have you seen Doctor Ellington? I need to find him urgently!”
A cold shudder ran through Eve’s body, something was desperately wrong. “Sarah, what it is it, what’s happened?”
“It’s Adam! I think he’s waking up!”
To be continued…
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. ( It's a good job it's going to be short. )
. Cheers, David