For both of us
Title: For both of us
Fandom: The Painted Veil (2006)
Characters: Dr Walter Fane, Kitty Fane
Prompt: 087 - Life
Word Count: 283
Rating: PG
Summary: Walter has contracted chloera.
Author's Notes: AU ending. Movie spoilers
“..Forgive me.”
Kitty could not believe what she was hearing. Forgive him? She was the one who should be begging him. The man was on his deathbed - his deathbed, thinking that made her feel so lost inside - and he should not be begging anyone for anything.
Least of all me. She should be begging him.
She gently touched the side of his face, heated and clammy. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
His blue eyes focused on hers for a moment, alive, clear. He heard me. I know he did.
At least, she prayed he did. Then he went still, so perfectly still, and Kitty’s heart stuttered.
But it was only for a moment. Fear, the icy hands of it, gripped her, but then withdrew as Walter blinked, his blue eyes once again finding her gaze and locking on to it. His voice seemed steadier as he said, “We have much to forgive each other. But…” His hand, still a little shaky from the sudden bout of cholera his body had been subject to, moved towards her and settled on her stomach. “I think we should look at this as a fresh start. For us both, Kitty.”
He called me Kitty. She blinked away tears. He hadn’t called her by name in such a long time. “For us both,” she agreed, delighted beyond words that the cholera hadn’t claimed him. She’d seen the graves along the river. Hundreds of them, the fresh earth and markings, just another body taken by disease, ravaged, hidden by neatly turned, dry brown earth.
I’m so glad you’re still with me, she thought as she pulled the blanket over him and rushed to fetch him some water. I love you.
Fandom: The Painted Veil (2006)
Characters: Dr Walter Fane, Kitty Fane
Prompt: 087 - Life
Word Count: 283
Rating: PG
Summary: Walter has contracted chloera.
Author's Notes: AU ending. Movie spoilers
“..Forgive me.”
Kitty could not believe what she was hearing. Forgive him? She was the one who should be begging him. The man was on his deathbed - his deathbed, thinking that made her feel so lost inside - and he should not be begging anyone for anything.
Least of all me. She should be begging him.
She gently touched the side of his face, heated and clammy. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
His blue eyes focused on hers for a moment, alive, clear. He heard me. I know he did.
At least, she prayed he did. Then he went still, so perfectly still, and Kitty’s heart stuttered.
But it was only for a moment. Fear, the icy hands of it, gripped her, but then withdrew as Walter blinked, his blue eyes once again finding her gaze and locking on to it. His voice seemed steadier as he said, “We have much to forgive each other. But…” His hand, still a little shaky from the sudden bout of cholera his body had been subject to, moved towards her and settled on her stomach. “I think we should look at this as a fresh start. For us both, Kitty.”
He called me Kitty. She blinked away tears. He hadn’t called her by name in such a long time. “For us both,” she agreed, delighted beyond words that the cholera hadn’t claimed him. She’d seen the graves along the river. Hundreds of them, the fresh earth and markings, just another body taken by disease, ravaged, hidden by neatly turned, dry brown earth.
I’m so glad you’re still with me, she thought as she pulled the blanket over him and rushed to fetch him some water. I love you.