Look out for the <>!

Day 9 of going to the hospital and waiting for something to change. Kale was still in a comma and it was starting to kill me. I wasn't going to give up hope, but I would be lying if I didn't say it was hard. Just seeing him like that, not moving, still, like death.  But I was determined that I was going to stay by his side until he woke. I was so close to having him back into my life but yet I was so far from it.

I walked out of my bed room early that day. I put my hair into a bun and started to put some shoes on to leave for the hospital. "Rori, have some breakfast." Sherlock said from the kitchen. There was a smell of food coming from the kitchen.  He was cooking what looked to be eggs. I was amazed he was even cooking that much. He never cooked anything.

I looked at the food and turned my head away from it. "I'm not hungry." 

"When was the last time you ate?" Sherlock frowned at me.

I thought about it for a minute, not really remembering when the last time I ate was. I remember having a salad for lunch yesterday but I don't think I have had anything else all day long. "Yesterday afternoon." I said honestly. I have given up about lying about this.  He always saw through my lies anyhow.

"Ok, so sit down and eat. You need food."

I held back a laugh. He was the one talking to me about eating? He never ate. Why did all of a sudden he cared? I looked at the food that was on two plates and felt sick to my stomach. I wasn't hungry, at all for it. "I don't want it," I said and put a sweater on.

I could hear him sigh but I couldn't see his face because he turned his back to me. He clearly didn't want to fight me on this matter and honestly I didn't either. "I'm not going to force you to do anything."

I nodded my head in agreeance. He was right, and that's the way I wanted it to stay. "I'll be home late tonight." I said before I walked out the door.

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I walked down the long white hospital hall to Kale's room. I had walked this hall every day for the past nine days. I would come in at visiting hours and leave when hours were over. This had been the pattern for days now. It started to become a habit. I ran my hand down the wall as I walked down the hall. the wallpaper felt rough against my fingertips.

Everyone said that he was not going to wake up, that I should just give up. But I couldn't. I just needed to be with him. I thought he was gone forever but he wasn't. He was here all this time. I was determined to stay here as long as I could because even though everyone had given up, I wasn't about to.

I walked into his room and smiled at his sleeping body as if he could see me. "Hey Bud. How was your night?" I asked as if he would respond to me.  "Yeah, my night was cruddy as well. It would be better if you were right beside me." I sat down by his bed and grabbed a hold of his cold hand. With my free hand I flipped open the book that I left here yesterday. Honestly, I didn't really care about the story but it kept my mind busy.

Hours went by and before I knew it, I have finished the book I was reading. I put it down back on the side table. I needed to return it back to John. Maybe if I was lucky, he would let me take another one. He always had loads of book on hand.

I heard a knock on the door that brought me attention to Molly who popped her head in. She smiled brightly at me. "Hey, I brought you some dinner if you want it." she said cheerfully and put a tray with some soup and bread right beside me on the side table.

I forced a smile. "Thanks." Sherlock must have texted her.

"No problem," she said and sighed as she looked at Kale. She probably gave up on him as well. She was going to tell me the same thing that everyone else has. I braced myself for an argument that I didn't have the energy to keep up. "You know yesterday, I thought I saw him move his hand after you left."

I hid the shock from my face. She still had hope for him. She wasn't like the others. "Really?"

"Yeah. I know that he's still in there. He just needs to fight a little harder to come out." she paused and smiled at him and then at me. There was a minute of silence as I tried to find the right words to say to her. I wanted to tell her that I appreciated her but the words weren't making sense in my head. "Well I'm heading home for the night. Do you want to come with me?"

I looked at the clock. It was only six in the evening, visiting hours didn't end until eight. "Nah, thanks though."

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow then," she said and left the room.

A few minutes after she left I got up to go to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My cheeks had thinned out and my eyes were a little blood shot. I was starting to look like I was wasting away. Maybe I should force myself to eat a little. Kale wouldn't be happy to see me like this when he woke up. I needed to think about him too.

While I was washing my hands I heard an urgent beeping sound come from the other side of the door. I knew it was Kale.

 I threw the door open and ran out into Kale's room to see a whole bunch of people around him. They were talking in a fast pace. I wasn't sure what they were saying until one said, "His heart stopped."

"Make room.... Clear," said another

Without saying anything I pushed myself into the corner and did not make a sound. I knew no one would notice me here in the corner, out of sight out of mind. I could stand here quietly as I watched him die, again. How many times did I have to see him die? I felt my eyes well up with tears. Kale was on the bed dying and this time it looked like there was no hope in saving him. He was dying again and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I dug my finger nails into my hand until I only could focus on the pain I was in flicking on myself.  Please, make this stop. Please. Make this only a dream.

People kept on talking around me but I forced them out of my head. I forced every thought from my mind I only saw Kale, smiling at me.

"And so Sherlock will be back in two days and after that we need to have another plan. You can't stay here anymore when he comes back. That would be odd. And...dang... this water is hot," I said as I washed the dishes. I took my hands out of the water and shook them to cool them down. There was a soft music playing in the background and sounded like violin classical music. Kale picked it.

"Rori?" Kale asked me as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt his breath on my neck, and it sent shivers down my back.

I smiled at the sink as I felt my ears grow hot. I couldn't think clearly when he did that. He knew that as well. He thought it was funny. "What?" I breathed, my voice getting caught in my throat.

"Let's not talk about that now. Can I dance with you instead?"  he asked as he spun me around to face him.

I frowned and looked back at the sink as if it was calling me. "But the dishes."

"Oh forget the dishes, forget everything for a minute. Let's dance," he said and pulled me into him. I let him sway me around for a minute and then pulled out of his arms.

"But the dishes will pile up," I said, unable to leave a job half finished.

"And let them." Kale said as he kissed my neck as he brought me back into him.  

I couldn't catch my breath. I suddenly didn't want to finish the dishes anymore. I just wanted to enjoy this minute with him. "Mmm...ok. just this one dance."

<><><>

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I looked out at the field of green full of stone markers. I was here for a reason, although I didn't want to be here. I rather be somewhere else then here at the resting place for the dead. I looked up at the sky and saw rain clouds ahead. I frowned. So much for my sunny day. I was enjoying my morning just fine without the clouds. I just had to do what I needed to do and then I could leave. I told myself what I had to do was easy, so why did it seem so hard?

I shook my head. I had seen so much sadness and it all ended here. I lost so many people in a place just like this, it was hard to count how many now. I wrapped my sweater around my body and stood up from the bench I was sitting on. Sherlock told me I just needed to spend 5 minutes here. I looked at my phone. I had to be here for another two more minutes.

"Looks like it's going to rain," a man's voice rang out behind me.

I turned to face a brown hair freckly faced man. He smiled as he came up to me with two cups of tea in his hands.

I looked at him and smiled. "Yeah." I looked around my phone again, one more minute left. I wanted to get out of here. Forget what Sherlock needed. I was starting to feel sick.

He gave me a cup of tea. He nodded in agreement and took a sip of his tea. He caressed my face with the back of his hand lightly. "You look beautiful today."

I blushed. "Kale, I don't even have make-up on."

"But that's what's so amazing. You are beautiful without it."

I smiled at him and walked back over to a park bench I was sitting at to begin with. I sat there in silence for a minute, trying to remember what Sherlock asked us to do here after the 5 minutes were up. I knew it was important to him, but I couldn't remember.

Kale sat right beside me on the bench and kissed my cheek. "So I was thinking, do you want to go to Paris?"

I smiled at him. I liked this idea already. But then I frowned lightly, remembering that he had work tomorrow. He had been checking the bank security systems all throughout England and I thought he had to go up north tomorrow. And there was a case I was helping Sherlock with, I couldn't just pick up and leave with an open case on the table. "You have work tomorrow, don't you?"

"I already asked for it off." 

"How about my case that I am on with Sherlock."

Kale shrugged again as if he had already planned every detail. "I helped him solve the case while I was getting the teas." He said as he held up his cup.

"So you are saying we don't have to be here any longer?" I asked, ready to leave ASAP. I stood up from my seat, excitedly.

He nodded.

I smiled again. "I haven't been to Paris in forever."

A smile came to his face as if he knew something that I did not. "How about we go now?"

I laughed out, "now?" He had to be kidding. We had things to do here in london.

"Yeah why not? Life is too short for waiting. Let's just go now."

I looked at him to make sure he was serous. He had a straight face. He really did want to go, right now. I took a deep breath and for the first time in forever, I didn't think about it. I didn't read into it, I didn't think about the outcome. For the first time in my life, I just let go. I took his hand and nodded. "Lets go."  

ANNNDDDDD there you have it! the last chapter in the book! I hope I didn't shape it into some kind of horrible ending. ;) But I would like to get your input. AND you guys thought Kale was dead???? HA.. no! I had you guys going didn't I? I couldn't get rid of the love of Rori's life that easily. But there you go. The story of putting up with Sherlock is at it's end.

Thanks for putting up with all the cliff hangers and Rori's attitude. Most importantly thanks for reading and commenting. I love you all,

Darla H