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 Up and Down PG
| | Posted: August 22, 2007 | This a futuristic story so all seasons and the mini are fair game.
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Up and down.
The movement was rhythmic. With each breath came the rise and fall of his chest. It was expected. Life demanded the body to perform this involuntary action. Days went by when a person would not even spend one second thinking about the function that sustained it?s life. She did too. She never thought to stop and think that she was breathing. It just happened and she expected it to, but watching him in the silence of their quarters she couldn?t help but notice how fragile life was. He was sleeping. Unaware of what his body was doing for him to take in that next breath. The great John Crichton lying there helpless. It scared her. They had no control over when that function would stop. When they would cease to be and be laid to rest with the countless others that went before them.
Up and down.
Life had no guarantees and John had taught her that. They had cherished every second, every moment. Life had been good to them. They had lived in...relative peace most of the time. They had brought four children into the world. John had talked her into the magical number of three and just her luck, the last one had been twins. Just her luck...John and her had kidded each other on the ex-Peacekeeper turned mother of four. But they both knew she loved them more than anything. And if they hadn?t of had twins, they wouldn?t have had their daughter. Something Aeryn never knew she wanted until she had it.
Up and down.
The children were grown now and had children of their own. Well...most of them. They had lost one. Talyn, their youngest son had died shortly after his eighteenth birthday. No words. No anything could ever describe the grief they had all experienced at his death. But time went on as time does and life went back to normal as much as it could. Now it was just a dull ache in her heart that on a planet in another galaxy there was a lone grave that John and her would visit only once a year now. Her other three children were also on three different planets, raising their own family as John and her had done. After they had left Aeryn had gone through what John called ?empty nest?, another thing he would playfully kid her about. But they had both felt it. The silence of a ship that had been filled for so many years with laughter and even tears.
Up and down
They were used to the silence now. They had learned to enjoy it. Their relationship was far past needing to fill the silence. No, they were fully content to simply be in the same room and say nothing. She lived for those moments now. When one of them would join the other on the terrace and they would simply stare at the stars, the matchmakers that had brought them together. When they would speak they would remember. ?Remember when this? and ?Remember when that?. Reminding themselves of life and times before marriage and children and life after. If you would have told her thirty years ago that she would spend her evenings this way on a Leviathan with a strange man from a planet called ?Erp?, she wouldn?t have believed them. But no dream, no wish, no life came close to the joy the life he had given her had.
Up and down.
Which is why she could lie here next to him and watch him breathe. It is the simple things she enjoyed now. She placed her hand softly on his chest and let it rise and fall with him.
?Your so beautiful when your asleep.? She whispered, not wanting to wake him.
?Even after all these years your just as beautiful, John. You always said you were the lucky one. To look as you call it ?old? and to have a gorgeous wife to wake up to. But your wrong. I?m the lucky one. I couldn?t imagine waking up this morning anywhere, but here and with anyone but you beside me.?
Up and down.
She stopped speaking, trying to control her rising emotions. The rise and fall of his chest was just a little shallower then it was. Not that she hadn?t known this was coming. They both knew that his failing health would not come back this time. His human body was simply doing what it was meant to do. They both understood and at the same time hated it. He didn?t want to leave her and she didn?t want him to leave. But that was the nature of life. She would follow the same path one day. But today was his day. She didn?t know how she knew, but when she had opened her eyes this morning and looked at him, the thought crossed her mind that he would not open his eyes today. He would not speak to her in that deep southern drawl he had acquired over the years. He wouldn?t fuss at her when she tried to help him do something they both knew he was too old to do. He would not stare at her why she did things, thinking she didn?t notice. No. Not today. Today he would sleep.
Up and down.
?Remember...that first day. You said I could be more. You were right. I have done and been more than I could ever imagine. But it wasn?t me that brought that out, John. It was you. You made me more and whatever I am today it?s you who brought me here. You have always been my guide and constant, the center of my life.? His chest fell with another breath and it was a long moment between the next. She pulled herself as close to him as she could, her hand still on his chest. She tried to stay calm as she felt his time nearing, but she couldn't contain herself. This was it. Her last moments with him
?Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being my husband and for our kids. For everything. You gave me everything.? Again there was a moment between breaths. She placed her lips on his forehead and kissed him softly as her tears fell onto his cheeks.
?I love you. I love you so much. Please don?t...don?t go. John, please. Oh God please.? She kissed him again this time on his lips and her hand pressed against his chest harder to help her feel his shallow breaths.
?It?ll be okay. I love you. Always and forever I love you. Remember. Remember that I love you? She felt his body shudder as it fought to keep living.
"I love you, John. So much. So much..." She placed her other hand in his and squeezed it. She wanted him to feel her presence as much as possible. She was there. She felt a small squeeze back. Whether it was him or an involuntary action, she did not know. Did not care.
"Goodbye...John." She kissed his forehead again, a continuous kiss. Just letting her lips press against him. Unable to speak anymore. She simply laid there, her face pressed against him as she felt the soft air expel from his lips and her tears running down his skin.
Up and down
Up and down
Up and down
And then nothing, because that was the nature of life. |  | | |
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