a/n: in this chapter there will be medical mentions, none of which that i am educated in. do not take my word as gospel if you are dealing with similar health issues. i tried to make it as accurate as possible based off of sources from google.

enjoy the chapter loves xx
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"You could never lose me, Vox. I love you too much to want to leave."

➳

"𝐈'𝐌 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘..." 

You smile, kissing his cheek tenderly. "You already are. Always have been—don't you remember? You used to say how crazy you were for me." 

"I am crazy for you, sunshine," he gives a crooked smile. "You're my girl. My...beautiful, beautiful girl," he says the last part in a hoarse whisper, holding your cheek with a loving hand. You nuzzle into his touch, kissing his thumb.

"Will you play me our song again?" you ask, closing your eyes. "Please?"

"Of course," he says, and begins to pluck at the kalimba.

➳

"Patients around this time tend to see things they wish were there..." the doctor informs Velvette, as the two onlooked the scene before them through the glass. "I'm not surprised. Vox liked (Y/N), am I correct?"

"No, he... he really was really in love with her," Velvette says softly. "Will he ever stop seeing her?"

The doctor is silent. "It's hard to say. Schizophrenia is not curable, unfortunately, but it can be treated. At least Vox is seeing something happy... but it most certainly isn't healthy. Given what you've told me, I'm not sure he'll be up for seeking treatment just yet. But it is something we can work to progress towards."

"Can I go in?"

She pauses. "Go ahead," she says, opening the door a crack. "Mr. Alden? Velvette would like to come speak with you."

Vox looks up at her. "Hi."

"Hey," she says, sitting where (Y/N) was. Vox's smile fades to see the figure of his love evaporate.

"No..." he whimpers. "Sunshine? Sunshine, please come back..."

Velvette squeezes her eyes shut, her heart moaning in pain. "Vox. Stop. She's not here. She's not...fucking coming back."

Vox freezes, sitting up in the hospital bed. "Don't say that! She'll be back. She will!" He swallows a lump in his throat. "She told me she'd come back to me."

She closes her eyes. "Please, Vox. Tell me you don't believe that."

"She told me! That day she told me she'd come back."

"She's dead, Vox."

He is silent. 

"I...she's...not coming back," he says quietly. 

Velvette gives a little nod.

Vox sets the kalimba aside, weeping silently to himself. "Sunshine..."

This was real. Heartbreak was fucking real. It's wrong to say that Vox had initially killed (Y/N), but if he hadn't wasted his time setting up the Vincenzo persona and beat around the bush—she would still be alive. If he just told her about their marriage in the living world, the car accident, Viette—all of it, he'd be holding (Y/N) in his arms instead of rotting away in a hospital bed, talking to things that weren't there.

"Come on, Vox!" you say, watching as your husband mopes on the couch. "What are you sulking about?"

Vox looks up at you, looking around the household that surrounds him. There is no hospital bed, there are no doctors, there is no death. He's here...with you. 

"S-Sunshine?" he asks, breaking out into a smile. "You're here."

You tilt your head. "Of course I am. I'm always here. What are you talking about?"

His smile widens and he just shakes his head. "Nothing...absolutely nothing, darling..." he sighs and takes your hands in his own, kissing the tops of them. It takes him a moment before he realizes you're wearing a wedding dress and his eyes widen. "Sunshine?"

"Yes?"

He is speechless for a moment, and he spins you around gently, enjoying the way the fabric sways hypnotically as you move with him. A tear rolls down his cheek, and he rests his chin on your shoulder. "You're so beautiful... I thought I had lost you." 

You smile. "You could never lose me, Vox. I love you too much to want to leave," you assure him, rubbing your hand sensually up his spine.

"And we're getting married..." he breathes out.

"Finally... Remember what you said? Things were finally going to turn out the way they were always supposed to."

"And...they finally are," he looks teary eyed down at you, lifting you up by the waist and spinning you around in the air. "My sunshine...my darling, my dream... my love," he whispers into your ear.

"Vox," Velvette says.

Vox squeezes his eyes shut, more tears running down his face as he shakes his head.

No...no...no...

I was hallucinating again.

"She was there," he sobs.

"I know..." Velvette nods, wiping the few tears that shed from her eyes. "I miss her too."

He looks down at his wedding ring, reading over the words engraved along the side.

Velvette wets her lips, pulling out her phone from her pocket. "I have something I want to show you," she says, entering the passcode before clicking on her camera roll. Vox's eyes widen to see a young girl sitting on her bed, looking at the wedding pictures of you and Vox as humans. 

"Is...that...?"

Velvette gives a little smile. "Viette."

The two are silent as they look over the Viette's face, and Vox smiles softly.

"She looks just like her mother."

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The End.