Taboo

Keywords: Artist's, Ch., 12, The, Wolf,

Chapter Twelve: Never Give In

The waiting room of the hospital was so quiet that the silence seemed to buzz in Tifo"s ears. It was almost four in the morning and Gabriel was still in surgery. Forrester and Quill had come back after dropping off Aislinn. Quill"s gang had stayed with him for awhile, but eventually all but Forrester had left. Now he was sitting in the chair next to Tifo, munching on a candy bar he"d gotten from the vending machine. For awhile Forrester had kept up an attitude of optimism, but it was fading as the night waned.

The nurses, at least, were sympathetic. They were much less agitated now, and only the one who had given Aislinn the sedative was irritable. Unfortunately the nurses knew nothing of Gabriel"s condition at the moment and could provide no information. Tifo was shifting constantly between anxiety and annoyance, and he wondered how Aislinn was holding up. He imagined that the sedative she was given would have mostly worn off by now.

"If…if he…you know…" Forrester stammered suddenly. "Um…what…what are you gonna do?"

"Find the bastard who did it," Tifo growled in reply. "And give him a taste of his own medicine."

"I wonder if Aislinn saw anything," Forrester murmured. "She didn"t say…"

Tifo sighed. "This isn"t good, man. I don"t know what we"re gonna do for her if he…if…"

"He won"t," Forrester said firmly. "There isn"t a man on earth who"d leave behind a girl like that."

"She"s something, all right," Tifo agreed. "Perhaps a little uh…emotional…"

Forrester stared at him.

"Okay, very emotional," Tifo amended. "But man…to have someone love you that much…Gabe"s a lucky man…"

Forrester sighed heavily, crumpling up the empty candy bar wrapper. He was getting really bored and tired, too, but he wasn"t going to leave. Instead he wiled away the hours sifting through old magazines left on the waiting room table and occasionally, when he could get him to speak, talking to Tifo. Eventually Forrester drifted off to sleep, and when he woke up, the sun was shining in through the hospital windows.

"What time is it?" He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Almost ten in the morning," Tifo answered, sighing heavily. "No body"s told me anything!"

Forrester opened his mouth to respond, but never got the chance. A doctor was coming towards them now. His face was grimly set and he looked exhausted. Tifo rose immediately, and so did Forrester. Nerves made his heart pound deafeningly in his ears…

*****

The theory goes that misery loves company. For Aislinn, her consuming despair and fear was something she wanted to be left alone with. When she had woken up and found out where she was, what had happened, and that it hadn"t all been a horrible nightmare, she was both angry and terrified. She had wanted to go back to the hospital, but her parents had taken possession of her car keys and they refused to drive her. Aislinn might have walked, if she could have found the strength.

For hours she could do nothing but cry. Eventually her tears ran dry, but she still sobbed quietly, hiccupping now and again. She was curled up on her bed, her pillow clutched to her chest. Several times her parents had knocked on the door, asking her if she was okay, if she needed anything, but she hadn"t answered. Even if she had an answer, Aislinn wasn"t sure she could speak. Her throat was raw and aching from screaming and all her strength seemed to have fled.

The shrill sound of the telephone ringing downstairs cut through the fog of her despair. The house was so quiet that she heard everything; footsteps, the phone being picked up off the cradle, her mother answering the phone. For a moment Aislinn considered covering her head with her pillow, so she wouldn"t hear. So far every time the phone had rang, it hadn"t been the hospital, but it was making her jumpy.

"Yes, I"m her mother," She heard her mother say. Aislinn stilled, listening closely.

"Uh huh…I see. Yes, I understand. Yes…thank you, doctor. I"ll tell her. Have a good day."

Aislinn heard the phone fall back into the cradle, then the sound of her mother climbing the stairs. Her heart pounded loudly in her throat. I can"t hear this, she thought frantically. I can"t, I just can"t! She could already feel her heart falling to pieces. Despite the fact that she knew her mother was coming, Aislinn nearly jumped out of her skin when she knocked.

"Aislinn, honey?" Her mother called.

Aislinn bit her lip. She wasn"t going to answer. Maybe her mother would go away. She"d locked her door so no one could just walk in.

"Aislinn, listen to me," Her mother continued. "That was the hospital calling…Aislinn, they wanted me to tell you…"

No, no, no! Aislinn thought, shaking her head. She didn"t want to hear it, she wouldn"t hear it. Maybe if she closed her eyes she could convince time to turn back. Maybe she could keep the dreaded news from coming.

"Did you hear me, Aislinn?" Her mother asked. "Do you understand? He"s been asking for you…Aislinn?"

She stilled. I…couldn"t have heard right, she thought, barely able to hear herself above the pounding of her heart. I"m only hearing what I want to hear… But Aislinn kicked aside her covers and tossed her pillow away. She struggled off the bed; she had changed at some point into old pajama bottoms and a light sleeping camisole, but for the life of her she couldn"t remember it. Aislinn unlocked her door and threw it open. Her mother was standing outside, tears shimmering in her eyes, but a smile on her face.

Without waiting for her to speak, Aislinn pushed passed her and raced down the stairs. She heard her mother"s laughter, then her footsteps as she followed.

"Put some shoes and a coat on, at least," Her mother admonished. "Then I"ll give you your keys and you can go, if you promise to drive safely."

"I…could you drive me?" Aislinn asked, fighting back tears. "I don"t think…I"m shaking so badly, I…"

Her mother smiled. "Of course, dear. Get your shoes and coat on, and let"s go."

Aislinn shoved her feet into a pair of lined clogs that were sitting by the door, and grabbed her jacket from the hook. She yanked it on, then turned to look at her mother expectantly. She tapped her foot impatiently as her mother collected her car keys and coat, then raced out the door.

*****

Tifo and Forrester met them in the waiting room when the arrived. Both of them looked tired, but relieved. Aislinn was ancy; she wanted to get in to see Gabriel right away. Tifo had to hold onto her to keep her from running off.

"Gabriel is asleep right now," Tifo told her. "However, the doctor said you can go in and sit with him."

"Why is he asleep?" Aislinn asked, dragging Tifo towards the corridor.

"He was really upset," Tifo replied. "They were afraid he was going to reopen his wound, so they gave him a sedative. He was so pissed off…he kept demanding to see you."

Aislinn smiled. "Then he"s fine."

"He is," Tifo agreed. "He stopped breathing once more during the surgery, but the doctor says there isn"t any lasting damage. Aislinn…"

"There"s a "but", isn"t there?" Aislinn sighed.

"He"s not out of the woods yet," Tifo warned. "He was really lucky…the bullet missed his spine by a fraction of an inch, and his heart by about an inch and a half. There"s still a chance he might not…"

Tifo let the sentence trail off, but she didn"t need him to finish it. I won"t think that way, Aislinn thought. He"s going to be fine, and I refuse to believe otherwise. When she actually saw him, though, her resolve suffered. It seemed as though he was hooked up to so many machines. Gabriel"s face was pale, his hair was lank and tangled, and he looked oddly thin and diminished. Aislinn"s heart pounded as she stepped to his side and gingerly touched his hand. It was cold and slightly clammy.

The steady rise and fall of his chest was the only thing that reassured her. There was a chair next to the bed, and she sat there. Aislinn carefully gathered Gabriel"s hand in her own and held it. I won"t let go, she thought fiercely. No matter what they say or do, I won"t let go of his hand. I promised…

"He"s quite the fighter," One of the nurses said. "I"m sure he"s going to be just fine."

Aislinn sighed, her heart filling with relief. The nurse was right. Gabriel would never stop fighting. I love him so much, she thought, gazing at his sleeping face. And he said…he said… Her heart thumped loudly. Aislinn closed her fingers tightly around Gabriel"s and smiled. She really couldn"t wait until he woke up.

*****

Gabriel struggled for awhile to come out of his drug induce slumber. A blur of images met his eyes the first few times he got them open. At last he managed to keep them open, and began a slow scan of the room. A nurse was puttering around, taking care of something or other, but he didn"t care much what. It was dark outside, too, so, his still foggy brain concluded that it must be night.

Then he realized that someone was holding his hand. Gabriel turned his head slowly and felt his heart leap as he studied the figure in the chair next to his bed. Aislinn was asleep, her head tilted back against the wall. Her hair was a tangle mess and her clothes, pajamas in fact, were much rumpled. She"s okay, he thought, relief flooding through him. She"s alive, she didn"t get hurt…thank god.

"She"s been here all day," The nurse said quietly. "Usually we don"t let guests stay over night but…well, she locked her heels around the chair legs and refused to budge.

Gabriel chuckled. "She"s…stubborn…" He rasped. His throat was sore from having a tube down it.

"You"re not kidding," The nurse agreed. "When they brought you in, they had to sedate her. She was…really worked up."

Gabriel smiled. At that moment he felt very warm and pleased. Gazing at her face, he realized he wanted desperately for her to wake up. He shifted his fingers against hers, or tried. There was so little strength in them, he could really only twitch them. The nurse was watching closely, and she must have realized what he was doing, because she walked over to Aislinn and gently touched her shoulder.

Keywords: Artist's, Ch., 12, The, Wolf,