#“reluctantly” holding her hand to keep her from picking at the iv port

[staycalmandhugaclone]

Thunderstorm woke me up at an ungodly hour, so, of course, I'm contemplating the usual things: how far away the lightning is, how few hours remain before my alarm goes off, if it's really just a bit too silly to use Crosshair's shoulder stabby mount as an IV hook in my current WIP....

[thesubjectandthescientist]

Hopeless: Let Me Go

Part two of the two-part short of the Hopeless Subject’s death. Again, there isn’t much violence in this one, just a death...

...

 She spitefully yanks the IV out of its port. 

 “Stop doing that,” he mutters as he slaps her hand and carefully puts it back in place, “Do you want to die?”

 “Yes!” She glares at him and yanks it out again. He sighs heavily and holds her hands. 

 “Please, you need this,” he says as gently as he can, “It’ll make you feel better.” He puts the IV back in place. She leaves it alone this time. 

 “It hurts,” she mumbles, “Everything hurts. Just let me die.” 

 “...No.”

 “Let me die!” she yells as loud as her weakened lungs allow. “You win! Okay?? You win! I lived my entire life stuck in this room! I never got away from you! You were right! Please, just let me go already!” 

 “...You’ll be gone soon enough,” he responds, quietly, turning away from her. He pretends to go through the box of medical equipment he brought in but he’s just trying to hide his emotions. She starts coughing. 

 “I...can’t...breathe,” she whimpers, “My...chest...hurts.” 

 “Slow, deep breaths, kiddo,” he says, still pretending to look through the box, “Serves you right for yelling at me like that. Do you want to spend your last few hours yelling at me?”

 “Y-yes,” she manages to mutter between breaths. He smirks. Even while dying, she’s still trying to fight him. He gets a cup of water for her. 

 “Here.” He tried to hand her the cup but her hands are shaking too hard. “Uh, I’ll just-um-“ He holds the cup to her mouth and carefully helps her drink. “Good?” She nods. She raises her arm and points to the IV. 

 “It’s not working.”

 “It takes a while to work.”

 Her arm flops back down on the bed. She looks around the room as angry tears come to her eyes. 

 “I hate it in here. I hate it,” she whispers, “I...I don’t want to die in here.”

 He stares at her quietly for a moment. He knows that her time is very limited. 

 “...Do you want to go outside? I can carry you.”

 She immediately perks up at the suggestion. 

 “You don’t have to carry me!” she exclaims, trying to get out of bed. Her legs fail her and she falls into him. 

 “Sure, kid,” he chuckles, sitting her back on the bed. He removes the IV and wraps her blanket around her. “It’s cold outside,” he mentions as she tries to pull the blanket off. 

 He scans his hand to open the door before picking her up. She tenses at his touch. He hasn’t hurt her since she got sick but years of abuse have ingrained caution in her brain. 

 He holds her carefully as he goes up the stairs and into the hallway. He pauses at the front door to shift her weight to one arm so he can scan his hand. He quickly opens door and steps out onto the porch. He sits down on the porch stairs and sets her in his lap. 

 “There,” he smiles, “We’re outside, see? Isn’t it nice?” 

 She tries to push herself off his lap but she’s too weak. She sighs in frustration and reluctantly looks out into the woods. She frowns. She clenches her jaw as tears sting her eyes. 

 “Are you...crying?”

 “N-no.”

 “What? What’s wrong?!” he exclaims, “I thought you wanted this! I’m doing something nice! Why are you crying?!”

 “It...it’s so nice and I didn’t get to see it enough,” she mutters, her sorrow turning into anger, “You kept me in that horrible room!”

 “Aw, give me some credit, kid,” he chuckles, tears coming to his eyes, “I’m not letting you die down there, am I?”

 “Shut up!” she snaps, weakly fighting to get out of his arms. “Let me go! I want to get away from you! I have to get away from you...please, just let me...get away from you.” She tries to catch her breath but her chest is burning. 

 “Shhh,” he mumbles, still keeping his arms tightly around her, “Calm down. Just...look at the trees, huh, kid? Let’s just sit here and-“ His voice cracks. She twists her head to look up at him. He’s staring off at nothing but she sees tears trickling down his face. 

 “Are you crying?” she asks. He tries to answer but the lump in his throat stops him. “What? Gonna miss me?” she mutters, “Gonna miss our fun little games?” 

 “I don’t want to lose you,” he whispers. 

 “...Why? It’s not like you care about me-“ she goes quiet as he hugs her closer. She can feel him shaking. Her eyes widen. 

 “You...” she starts to laugh, “You care about a thing? How pathetic are you!? I’m just a thing! You shouldn’t care about me, you idiot!” Her laughter gradually turns to crying. “Let go of me! You don’t care about me! You don’t! You’re horrible and I hate you! Let me go! I don’t want you to care about me...just...l-“ Her voice fades out as she gasps for air.

 She can’t breathe. Every breath ignites a new fire in her chest. 

 “Shhh,” he mumbles, starting to rock her back and forth, “Please, for once in your life, don’t fight me.” 

 “No!” she yelps, still trying to push him away with what little strength she has left, “Let me-“ She’s interrupted by a painful coughing fit. 

 “It...hurts,” she whimpers. 

 “I know,” he whispers, gently stroking her hair, “It’ll be over soon. Just relax.” 

 “N-no...wanna...fight...”

 He smirks as more tears spill from his eyes. 

 “Oh please, kid, fighting is pointless...we both know that I’d win.” She glares at him. 

 She cranes her neck to look into the woods. She had almost forgotten how beautiful it was. She wants to run. She won’t let herself die in his arms. She weakly punches her small fist into his chest. 

 “Let me go,” she croaks, trying to hit him again, ���Wanna...get...away...” 

 Her arms are getting heavy. She can’t move them anymore. She grits her teeth as the pain in her chest reaches a new high. 

 “L...let...me...go...” Her voice fades. 

 He feels her seize for a moment then go limp. He can’t feel her breathing anymore. 

 “Kid? Don’t...don’t go,” he whispers, “C’mon, you’re not gonna let yourself die like that, are you? I...I’ll let you go-just ask me one more time.” 

 She’s silent. 

 “Kid? Please, don’t-“ he chokes on his words. He eases his grip on her and looks at her face. Her eyes are open but they’re empty. “No, no, no,” he cries, “Come back. Come back. You can’t leave me like this.” He holds her close again. “Come back, kid. Please, come back.” 

 His pleas are futile. 

 She’s gone.

…