Illusion of Sin
Recap
Sark opened the door slowly, “may I come in?”
Rory shrugged nonchalantly and he entered.
“Is the room okay? Do you need anything?” Sark asked looking around.
“Its fine,” Rory answered, her tone sharper than she had intended; she was angrier than she realized.
“Aurora,” Sark moved towards her. “May I sit down?”
He seemed nervous, she thought. Reluctantly she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest
Sark sat down on the newly created space on the bed. He sat for a moment staring at her feet. This was not a situation he was accustomed too.
“What you did... going back for Cale’s pictures; that was an incredible brave and stupid thing to do. I don’t know how I can thank you for that; if they had found the pictures, her life would be in danger. Thank you.”
“Welcome.”
“I know I am not good at this… talking with you,” he elaborated. “Even with Cale, I spend so little time with her, that when I do, sometimes, I just don’t know what to say to her.”
“It doesn’t matter what you say to her, you just talk,” Rory shrugged. “Do you tell her about her mother? Things like that, she should know.”
“We talk about her mother, very little,” Sark admitted. “She is a wonderful girl, I love her very much, and it’s just hard to keep her so far away. I just hope that she knows I love her…“
“Do you tell her?” Rory interrupted.
“Perhaps not as often as I should.”
“That is easily correctable.”
“It is,” he agreed. “I apologize that I have been so distant today. You’re all grown up and I didn’t know what to say, to thank you for risking your life for her, it just isn’t enough.”
“Sure it is,” Rory sighed. “I didn’t think; I just did it. She’s my family too, she’s my sister.”
Sark stood and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly. He stopped in the doorway and turned back. “You are my daughter too, regardless of your upbringing, you are my daughter; I love you.”
Rory was silent, she couldn’t say anything; words would not come.
“We will be leaving first thing in the morning,” he said lastly. “We are going to Taipei; Your father is being held there. Goodnight Rory.”
~ ~ ~
“Dad?” Rory used her arm to brush the hair back from her face; she left a streak of blood across her face. “Please stay awake! You’re going to be fine! Please.” Rory pressed her hand over his wound. “Just hang in there, a few more minutes.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the traces of blood. His lips were starting to turn blue; lack of oxygen.
She turned to Irina, “what do I do, tell me what to do!”
“Aurora,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “I saw her. I saw your mother.” He coughed, blood sputtered from his lips. “She wasn’t herself; she was Julia, be careful!” He coughed again, Rory felt the spray on her face, and he could hardly breathe.
“Rory… I love you, ‘member that.”
“Dad?” She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. “Dad! No!”
Part 19: To Grieve
Rory picked at the dried blood coating her hand. There had been so much blood; so much blood and nothing she could do about it. Her father had died in her arms and she felt nothing. She felt nothing as he closed his eyes closed forever. She was numb.
Her gaze shifted to the medic and her other father, the one who had lived. “How is he?” she asked.
The medic looked up at her and shook his head, “its not good miss.”
She covered his hand with hers praying they would reach the hospital in time. A medivac would meet them at the airport in LA and transport them to the hospital; if he lasted that long.
* * *
“I’m going.”
“You are not going Aurora.”
“Yes, I am.”
“You will stay with Irina in the van.” Sark’s voice was firm, there seemed to be no way around his decision.
“He’s my father!”
“And that is precisely why you will not go.” Sark checked the clip of his gun before sliding the weapon into the waistband of his jeans.
]
She had tried to reason with him, but nothing she did or said would make Sark change his mind. So she waited; she sat just outside the van. They were parked in front of the next building; the cold night was pitch black around them. Irina was on coms with Sark as he searched for Will, but she couldn’t bear to sit there and listen, holding her breath to find out if her father was dead or alive.
Her thoughts were all jumbled up in hear head. She was scared. Scared to find out if her father was dead and scared for Sark who was alone in his search for Will. She rubbed the shoulder of her broken arm, it was aching and the cast felt so heavy weighing down her arm.
She would catch a word or two here and there from Irina’s conversation with Sark, but not enough to discern if her father was alive.
Then she saw him. Sark wore a black ski hat, to help conceal his identity. He was supporting, or nearly dragging Will as they walked towards the van from the dark alley.
The night was dark, it was difficult to tell whether or not Will was alive, but once she saw Sark’s lips move and then her father’s head tilt upwards, she knew. He was alive! One father had saved the other. She suppressed a cry as the realization of what this meant hit her and she could understand what Sark had done and why. He loved her. Sark was her father and he loved her enough to risk his own life in order to save her other father, the man who’d replaced him in her life.
She took a step forwards and gasped when she saw the blood. It was running down Sark’s hand and dripping off the tops of his fingers. She had to help him. Sark held up his hand and she stopped suddenly so did he. Sark turned looking behind him. It was then that Rory heard an alarm and Sark shouted something that she could not hear. He started to run towards her dragging Will with him and held up his hand warning her not to come. Gunfire suddenly filled the air and then the world seemed to explode into fire right before her eyes. The sound was deafening and the force of the explosion slammed her back against the van and onto the ground as shards of glass and bits of concrete rained down upon her face.
Seconds later she heard the sound of a motorcycle speeding away and she saw a blur of red speed out of the alley and past her. Sven, the driver pulled her to her feet.
“Are you alright Miss?” his accent was thick and her ears were ringing making it difficult to understand him.
“My dad,” she struggled against his hands seeing Irina already running to where the two men had been. Sven allowed her to go, and she rushed towards them. They could hear shouts from inside the semi-damaged building. Irina was picking through the rubble searching for Sark and Will. They were located quickly.
“We must get them into the van, quickly,” Irina ordered.
Sven grabbed Sark under his arms and dragged him towards the van. Rory helped Irina pull her father to the van where Sven lifted both men into the back. The shouts were growing louder and as Irina pulled the back door closed, shots pinged off the steel.
The van lurched forwards as Sven revved the engine and his heavy foot hit the gas hard.
Rory was scarcely aware of the blood pooling onto the floor as she turned her attention to her father. “Daddy?” she said softly taking his hand. “You’re going to be okay.”
Will managed a smile, his fingers brushing over her knuckles. “Rory,” he whispered, his voice sounded raw and pained. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry princess.”
It was this moment she had waited so long for; she had him back. His vibrant blue eyes flickered a few times before closing. “Daddy,” she cried out shaking his arm. “Daddy!”
Irina checked his pulse. “He’s lost consciousness,” her voice was clipped.
As Irina spoke Rory felt a flood of relief and then became very aware of the blood at her knees and the trail across Will’s face. “But the blood…” She lifted her arm; blood had stained the plaster of the cast.
“It’s not his.”
Rory turned to look at her and saw the blood soaking her clothes, and then for the first time Sark.
“Call in for a second extraction,” Irina ordered Sven.
She looked at Rory. “The helo will take you and Mr. Tippin to the airport. A jet will take you to Los Angeles. I will arrange for a medivac to meet you. Aurora-“ She looked up at Rory.
“The blood,” Rory was stunned. She looked to Irina’s hands; they were pressed tightly over a large gash in Sark’s abdomen.
“Hand me the gauze.” Irina instructed gesturing with her elbow to the kit behind Rory.
With trembling hands Rory grasped the package she’d taken from the first aid kit and opened it spilling the contents over Sark.
Irina grabbed the material and pressed it to the wound. She took Rory’s uninjured hand, placed a wad of gauze in it and pressed it over the gunshot wound on his shoulder. “Hold it tightly.”
“Is he going to be okay?” she asked knowing the answer was not good. Irina did not answer. Sark’s skin was pale and greyish in color; his lips were tinged with blue. Nothing Irina was doing seemed to stop the flow of blood from the gash on his abdomen. A shard of metal or steel lay nearby coated in his blood.
Sark’s eyes flickered and his hand reached up to grasp hers. He whispered something she could not hear and bent her head closer.
“In my back pocket-“ his voice cracked and wavered. “-a disc, you’ll need it, get to Sloane.” He coughed weakly. “’Rora—“
“Don’t,” her eyes were filled with tears and they splashed down her cheeks. “You’re going to be fine, Dad.” The word seemed to come from somewhere inside her. It wasn’t just a word, it was a feeling, and using the word had never felt so right. He was her father, not the one who had raised her, but the man who had sacrificed everything for her, and she loved him for it.
“No.” he sputtered, blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. “I won’t. Watch after Cale, she’s family.” His eyes closed.
“Dad?” Rory used her arm to brush the hair back from her face; she left a streak of blood across her face. “Please stay awake! You’re going to be fine! Please.” Rory pressed her hand over his wound. “Just hang in there, a few more minutes.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the traces of blood. His lips were starting to turn blue; lack of oxygen.
She turned to Irina, “what do I do, tell me what to do!”
“Aurora,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “I saw her. I saw your mother.” He coughed, blood sputtered from his lips. “She wasn’t herself; she was Julia, be careful!” He coughed again, Rory felt the spray on her face, and he could hardly breathe.
“Ror… love you, ‘member that.”
“Dad?” She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. “Dad! No!”
Irina called his name and shook his shoulder. She knew it was useless, he had lost too much blood.
“Do something,” Rory cried as Irina checked his pulse.
“I’m sorry.” Irina released the pressure on his abdomen. “He’s lost too much blood. She brushed strands of her silver hair back with her arm. “There really was nothing we could do. He’s gone.”
“NO!” Rory cried. “He can’t – you have to do something. Please!”
Irina shook her head and sat back against the side of the van defeated. “I’m sorry.”
Irina looked away and Rory wondered for a moment if she was crying. However, the idea seemed ludicrous. Irina Derevko did not cry.
He was dead. Her father, her biological father was dead. His death, though only moments ago seemed to create a void within her, a feeling of emptiness, which did not make sense. She’d barely known the man. Rory focused her attention on her other father; the one who had lived. Will was a pale yellowish color, his lips tinged with a slight blue and his breathing raspy. He had been through a terrible ordeal that much was obvious. His hands and fingers were all swollen and bruised and his body bore the scrapes, burns, and abrasions of his capture.
“What will you do?” Rory asked softly. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“You will take your father home.” Irina wiped her hands on a handkerchief. “I will take Sark—Julian back to Ireland and bury him in his family plot near Tearmann.”
“And Cailynn?”
“She’ll stay in school. It is safest for her there.”
“Will you tell her?”
Irina shook her head. “It’s best she doesn’t know just yet. Before we left, Sark told her he wouldn’t be able to speak to her for several weeks. I have arrangements to make. I will speak to her in a week or two and go see her at Spring Break.
“I promised him,” Rory’s voice trembled. “I promised him I would go to her. I should be the one to tell her. This is my fault.”
“You are not to blame Aurora.” Irina reached over and began wiping the blood from Rory’s face with a clean handkerchief. “He has looked for Sydney for years, we both have. In his own way, and not just because of you, he loved your mother. He would have done whatever he could to find her, whether you were involved or not.” She squeezed Rory’s hand. “If you want to go to Cale, that is your decision, but give it some time. Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.”
Irina gazed at Sark for a long moment before bending over him and gently kissing his forehead. She whispered something in Russian, Rory did not understand and then pulled her coat up over him. She turned to Will and checked his breathing and pulse before lifting his eyelids. “If you are of faith,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Pray for him.”
Rory swallowed hard, not daring to ask which man she was referring to. Out of the window she could see the sun starting to peek over the horizon and could hear the low rumble of a plane growing louder as they approached the private air strip. She stifled a yawn, her entire body was exhausted, but she knew there would be no rest for quite some time to come.
• * *
Rory walked quickly down the hallway her hand resting on the gurney. Her father had remained unconscious for the entire journey in the jet and then the medivac from the airport to the hospital. She had called Vaughn from the air to let him know they were on their way in. She had asked him about Zack, but there wasn’t any change in his condition.
The medivac attendant spoke rapidly to the doctors as they walked updating them on Will’s condition. He had remained very tight lipped about her father’s condition during the quick helo ride to the hospital and Rory wasn’t sure he was doing as well as she had initially thought. Rory stumbled in her efforts to keep up with the gurney as they went through door after door, eventually she was stopped as they entered an exam room. She was forced to wait outside peering through the tiny window as the doctors worked on her father.
“Aurora.”
Rory whipped her head around to see Jack striding towards her. He was the one person she did not want to see at the moment. Nervously she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, realizing as she did it that her hands were still covered in blood.
“Are you alright?” he demanded scrutinizing her appearance.
“I’m fine.”
“And Mr. Tippin?”
“He’s…” her voice trailed off and she gestured to the exam room. “I don’t know how he is. He’s alive, but they messed him up pretty bad.”
“Where is Sark?”
Rory felt the lump in her throat swell as Jack asked the question. “Sark is gone,” she said quietly.
“Gone where”
“Gone,” her voice wavered. “Dead, he’s dead. He died saving my father.”
Jack was silent as he digested his granddaughter’s words, Sark; the elusive Julian Sark was dead. After so many years of being hunted by the CIA and various other Intelligence agencies, the search had come to an end.
The two watched in silence as the doctors examined Will and evaluated his injuries. A nurse had come to look after Rory and reluctantly she left the window for a few minutes to have her minor scrapes looked at and her cast examined.
Carrie and Marshall showed up at the hospital not long after having received a call from Agent Vaughn. Thoughtfully Carrie had brought Rory a change of clothes and she was grateful to be rid of her blood stained clothes.
After quite some time a doctor came out to speak with them. Will’s condition was serious but stable for the moment. He had many superficial scrapes, bruises and several burns as well as broken fingers and a broken wrist. He clearly had broken and bruised ribs, but it was his liver the doctors were most concerned with. He was responsive to light and sound, but remained unconscious. He had yet to undergo a battery of tests and x-rays to ensure there were no other problems, but his immediate condition seemed stable.
Relieved, Rory sank onto an exam bed to wait for a doctor to examine her arm. While she had been waiting for word on her father, Jack had forced her to go with an orderly to have her arm x-rayed. The doctor then decided it had healed well enough to be cut off and did not need to be recasted. Being free of the cast was a relief; she now sat waiting for the doctor to perform a physical exam to ensure the bones had healed properly. Marshall was sitting with her father in the exam room down the hall, while Jack spoke with Carrie just outside the door. It didn’t take long for the doctor to come; she supposed that was the reward of working for the CIA.
Agent Vaughn entered the room, but waited for the young doctor to finish before taking his chair and looking Rory in the eyes. “What happened?” he demanded. “Jack told me Sark is dead.” His voice changed slightly and grew quieter, softer. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged his words off. Julian Sark meant nothing to her, or at least he shouldn’t. “He found out where they were holding my dad and went in to get him; I waited in the van. They were on their way out and someone caught him. There was a lot of gunfire, he was shot in the shoulder, but they made it almost to the van and then there was an explosion.” Rory stopped for a breath and grasped her hands together realizing that they were trembling. She took a deep breath and then continued the retelling. “We pulled them to the van and-“
“Who’s we?” Vaughn interrupted.
Rory glanced at him, then looked away, there was no way getting around this answer. “Sark’s men,” She answered deciding it best to leave Irina out of it. She stole a quick glance at him, he didn’t seem convinced. “Sark was hurt badly,” she continued. “In the explosion, a piece of metal or steel had struck him in the stomach. He didn’t have a chance; I’ve never seen that much blood before.” Rory cleared her throat and looked down on the pretense of flexing her wrist, hoping that Vaughn hadn’t seen the tears gathering in her eyes. “One of
Sark’s men called for an extraction and here we are…” Rory stood stretching her fingers as she walked the room, glancing outwards at the busy corridor, Jack and Carrie were still deep in discussion
“Rory,” Vaughn said softly. “I am sorry about Sark.”
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. “He means nothing to me.” Were those words true? She didn’t know. “Vaughn, he told me something, before he died.” She spoke quickly, for fear she wouldn’t be able to get the words out. ”He saw my mom, before the explosion, he said he saw her and that she was Julia.” The silence between them was deafening, Rory continued. “I can’t be sure, but last week, Sark’s house was attacked, it was the Tryst, we’re certain. We got out fine, but it was close. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, I thought I was just seeing what I wanted to see, but… I think I saw her there. I’m almost certain now that I did. If I knew her voice, maybe I could be sure but…” she shrugged as her voice faltered slightly. “I haven’t told anyone about her, I think it’s best if we don’t.”
Vaughn nodded then spoke. “I agree. I’ll tell Jack, but I think the fewer the people who know the better. We don’t want to spook her.”
There was a change in his voice, a hope Rory had not heard before. “How is Zack?”
Vaughn’s expression changed became graver. “He’s stable. There hasn’t been any real change. The doctors say he has improved, the swelling in his brain has pretty much gone away, but he still won’t wake up. The trauma… they say he’s giving his body time to heal, but if he doesn’t wake up soon, he may never.” Vaughn watched her carefully seeing the sting of his words reflected in her eyes, and expression. “You should go to him, sit with him for a while, I’ll page you if there is any news on your father.”
Rory looked hesitantly out the tiny window on the swinging door. “If he wakes or if anything changes…” her voice trailed off.
“You’ll be the first to know,” Vaughn assured her.
“I won’t be long,” Rory decided not wanting to leave her father at all, but she so desperately wanted to see Zack, it had been so long.
The corridors were busy as Rory walked towards the elevator. Tons of families were visiting their loved ones carrying flowers and brightly wrapped gifts. The mid afternoon sun was peeking through the windows flashing bits of light as she walked by. Her steps slowed as she neared Zack’s room. She stood in the doorway for several moments blinking back tears as she saw his face.
He looked so peaceful lying there, as if he was simply having a short nap. The tubes were gone from his nose and mouth, the only evidence of his illness, was the pulse meter clipped to his index finger and the heart rate monitors stuck to his chest. She walked towards him and took a seat in the chair next to his bed. It took her three tries before she grasped his hand
and the moment she touched him, her tears started to fall.
Have you ever loved someone,
But you waited just too long,
To tell them what you're feeling.
“Hi,” she whispered running her fingers softly over his, touching every possible bit of skin she could, it had been so long since she’d felt his touch. “I have so much to tell you, so much I need you to know… I don’t know where to start. I don’t know if you can hear me, I hope you can. I hope you can hear me telling you to fight this, to come back to wake up, we need you here. Your dad needs you and Vaughn and the god damned CIA needs you too,” she laughed bitterly at the sound of those words, but they were true. How many operations had failed or been affected in the weeks he had laid unconscious in this bed.
Maybe I was just too proud,
To say I love you right out loud,
Found the words I must believe in.
On this night, it holds us both within,
Set me free, oh let me live again.
“I need you.” She brought his hand to her lips and kissed his palm cradling it in her hands. “I need you so much, I can’t do this by myself, I don’t know how to, I don’t want to. So much has happened, My dad is hurt badly, Sark is dead, my mom’s alive, I saw her! I need you to come back for me. I need to hear your voice, feel your touch. I love you Zackary Weiss. I want to spend my life with you; I need you to come back, please-“ her voice broke off as she tried to suppress a sob threatening to come from within her. She let go of his hand and wiped her tears away.
It’s you and me tonight,
With these feelings we can't fight,
Just two people lost but maybe found together,
And if we make it through,
Then tomorrow find the truth,
You know I would fall,
I would risk it all,
Just for you.
She stood and took two steps towards the door to go before changing her mind. She walked to the side of the bed and nudged his body with a gentle heave, pushing him slightly. She lay down on her side beside him, tears falling down her cheeks once more. Her cheek grazed the stubble of his chin as she snuggled against him, inhaling his scent and wishing with all her heart that he would just open his eyes. She glanced up towards the ceiling and beyond. “God,” she whispered. “If tonight is the night for miracles, we could really use one down here, for Zack and for my father; I would be eternally grateful.”
Gotta find a way somehow,
Cause all we have is here and now,
It can’t wait until tomorrow.
If the morning comes too soon,
We’ll run away and chase the moon,
Like a dream well you must follow.
If you go, I wont be in your way,
In my eyes, is all I have to say.
She opened her eyes and leaned over to kiss Zack, her lips lingering on his hoping to feel something, anything. There was nothing. She closed them again; she would just lie with him for a few minutes before going back to her father, just a few minutes.
Have you ever loved someone,
But you waited just too long,
To tell them what you're feeling…
“I love you.”
*****************
Clara Hawthorne walked briskly down the corridor performing her hourly checks of the patients and recording their present vitals. It had been a busy afternoon with three new admittances into the critical care ward resulting in a delay in her rounds. They were short staffed as the holidays usually were and all the nurses were pulling more than their weight.
She stopped outside Zackary Weiss’ room pulling the chart from his door and knocked softly before entering. She was surprised to find he wasn’t alone. The girl was back. Clara hadn’t seen her in several weeks, but now she was back lying in the bed beside him, her head resting on his chest and her arm draped across his stomach. She smiled to herself, to be young and in love, she could only hope that this would have a happy ending, but in reality so many weren’t. She recorded his vitals then reached over and brushed a lock of hair off the girls face. Her cheeks were red and tear stained, her expression in sleep showing the exhaustion she must have felt. She knew she should wake the girl up, hospitals did have their policies and undoubtedly this went against one of them, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Some rules were just meant to be broken.
She checked the patients IV then leaned forwards noticing something strange, his cheeks were wet. She touched one feeling the dampness on her fingertips. They were tears. Seemingly they came from his eyes, she noted the tracks down his cheeks, but one never knew, they could have been the girls. She’d never seen it before, a man in a coma cry, was it possible? She made a notation on his chart, and then left the room quickly, the door banging behind her.
Rory sat up with a start groggily wiping the sleep from her eyes. She glanced around, forgetting momentarily where she was. What was that sound, had someone been in the room? She glanced down at Zack at his even respirations in and out. How long had she been asleep, she wondered with alarm checking the clock on the wall. Two hours! She could feel panic welling up inside her. Her father, she had to see her father. She rushed to the door then stopped abruptly turned back to Zack and kissed him. “I love you,” she whispered against his lips before heading out the door at a near run.
The moment the elevator doors opened to the emergency room, she knew something was wrong. She could see Jack ahead, his face grave as he spoke with a doctor. Vaughn was nearby and she called his name running towards him.
“We paged you have half a dozen times,” Vaughn said his face slightly ashen grey.
“What is it, what’s happened to my father?” She ignored Vaughn speaking directly to the doctor.
“His liver and kidneys are failing,” the doctor explained. “We are taking him to surgery, hopefully we can repair the damage, but I’ll be honest, his condition is very serious. It appears he was given several different narcotics that damaged his organs. We are running blood tests to determine what he was given, but it will be some time before we know.”
“Is he going to be alright?” she asked fearfully.
“We’ll do our best,” the doctor promised. “You can come up and stay with him for a few minutes while we prep for surgery.”
The waiting seemed endless, it wasn’t long, twenty minutes or so by her watch, but felt more like hours. She sat in a chair beside his bed, watching his face for any change, but there was none. A nurse poked her head into the room and Rory looked up, “we’re going to take him in just a min-“ her voice broke off as alarms began sounding from Will’s monitors.
“Daddy?” Rory shook his arm, “Daddy!”
“Stand back,” the nurse ordered. The tiny room seemed to fill with people in seconds, doctors, nurses; everyone was crowding around her father pushing Rory back. Her eyes darted first to the heart monitor, then the nurses performing CPR and the doctor preparing the crash cart. They shocked his heart once, then twice and still Will did not respond. Rory began to slowly back out of the room. She could feel the panic rising within her, her father was dying and there was nothing she could do about it.
Her legs seemed to overpower her brain. She knew she shouldn’t but, all she could do was run. She pushed through door after door, down corridors, past nurses and doctors to Zack, she needed to see him. Rory, opened the door to his room and entered, surprised to find it empty. An orderly looked up at her, startled to see Rory standing in the doorway.
“Can I help you Miss?” she asked.
Rory glanced around at the bare bed and the sheets bundled into the orderly’s arms. “Where’s… Zack?” she stammered.
An expression passed over her face, “I’m sorry…”
“No…” Rory backed away, her breath coming in gasps. She stumbled through the doorway tripping on her feet. She caught sight of Weiss out of the corner of her eye and froze. He was sitting on a hallway chair, bent over his head in his hands as he spoke with Zack’s doctor.
Zack was dead. This she knew for certain; his father was crying. She had never in the past months that she had known Agent Weiss, ever thought possible that she would see him cry. His son was dead, Zack was dead.
Rory turned and walked briskly down the hallway, she was on auto pilot. She could think of nothing other than getting out of the building and away from the destruction she had caused. Zack was dead and her father could very well be next and there was nothing she seemed to be able to do about it. He deserved better than her; so had Zack and in the end, she had gotten him killed.
It was only one hour ago
It was all so different then
Nothing yet has really sunk in.
Looks like it always did,
This flesh and bone
Is just the way that we are tied in
But there’s no one home.
I grieve for you
You leave me
So hard to move on
still loving what’s gone
Say life carries on
Carries on and on and on
She walked until her feet ached and the sun had sunk low over the horizon. She walked the boardwalk and the beach through sand and waves trying to process everything in her mind. It seemed like hours, but after checking her watch she found that it had only been just over an hour. The shrill ring of her cell forced her to stop. It was Vaughn.
“Where are you?” Vaughn demanded.
“I had to get away…”
“You can’t keep running away, this isn’t like you.”
“My dad?” she held her breath awaiting his answer.
“He’s in surgery. It’s serious, but he is stable enough or they wouldn’t have gone ahead with the surgery. You need to come back; you need to be with him.”
Rory stood repeating his words over again in her mind. “No,” she said softly coming to a realization. “I know what to do, I know what he needs. I have to do this.”
“He needs you!”
“No, he doesn’t.” Rory wiped her eyes with the back of her hand her voice trembling as she spoke. “Don’t come after me Vaughn, don’t do anything. I have to do this.”
Rory closed her phone and then switched it off. Her decision was final and she had to follow through. She had brought nothing but pain and harm to her father since he had come back to LA with her; it seemed she’d done that to everyone. Sark was dead, then Zack. Cailynn was without a father and Weiss without a son. Now her father might follow that. She knew what she had to do.
Did I dream this belief
or did I believe this dream
Now I will find relief
I grieve
I grieve for you
you leave me
~ ~ ~
The street was quiet that was one thing she noticed as she walked down the empty sidewalk, her coat wrapped tightly around her, shielding herself from the cold. The houses lining the street sparkled from decorative lights adorning the porches and bushes. She held a scrap of paper torn from the public phonebook in her left hand, but she didn’t need it. She turned on to the main path and crossed the street, passing a single car as it drove past her. She paused on the sidewalk watching through the front window. The sign on the door was dark, but several people inside told her they were there as she expected. The twinkling lights of a Christmas tree flashed against the glass illuminating the room, the presents, some wrapped and some unwrapped resting nearby, children’s toys abandoned for dinner time and a dozen or so people sitting around a large table.
Rory approached the front door and hesitated twice before knocking softly. It was a few moments before a middle aged blond woman woman came to the door and opened it a few inches.
“I’m sorry we’re closed for a private function,” she said apologetically indicating to the closed sign.
“I know,” her voice shook slightly as an elder woman approached the door. “I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I need to speak to you, Marie.” She glanced first at the elder woman and then to her daughter. “To all of you really.”
“Do we know you?” the younger of the two women asked.
“No,” Rory shook her head. “We’ve never met.”
“I’m sorry,” the elder woman opened the door several more inches. “What is it we can do for you?”
“I need to talk to you about your son.” Rory’s throat seemed to close up slightly watching the elder woman pale, the pained expression on her face. “I know what you’re thinking, what you were told, but he needs you.”
“My son is dead, you must be-“
“William Daniel Tippin.” Rory spoke his name softly. “I know what you were told, that he died over 20 years ago in a fire, but he is alive. I won’t go into the details of why, but he needs you, now. He has been hurt badly he’s in surgery and I can’t be with him now. He needs you.”
Marie was visibly shaking and Amy gripped her mother’s arm holding her upright. “Is this true?”
Rory nodded. “I’m sorry, I know this comes as quite a shock but he had his reasons for not coming to you himself, I wouldn’t be the one to do it, if I didn’t think it was important that you be there for him. He needs his family.”
“Where is my son?” Marie’s voice was hoarse, her eyes glistened with tears
“He’s at Angel of Mercy, on the seventh floor. Please hurry, I pray it’s not too late.” Rory turned to go, and then stopped. “Don’t talk to anyone except Michael Vaughn.”
“Wait,” Marie held out her hand stepping down onto the step. “Who are you?”
“My name is Aurora, Aurora Bristow Tippin,” she said softly. “Please take care of my father.” Rory turned and left hurrying down the sidewalk and didn’t look back. "Merry Christmas."