Knight of Dawn, Chapter 10 [NYTF]
tw: parental death
It was still dark outside when Piers woke from their fitful sleep. Grady was frantically shaking them.
“You need to go to Adele. Now. Marcie said she’s fading fast.”
Piers had never run that fast in their life. The short elevator ride took an eternity, and they almost wiped out when they rounded the corner. The guards stepped aside as they shoved through the doors. Marcie kneeled at one side of the bed, holding Adele’s hand, gently squeezing it. David was beside her, talking in a hushed voice. On the other side stood Dr. Panya, maskless. Xe tried to seem unconcerned, fiddling with the IV and checking her vitals, but xir hands shook and xir nervous tics couldn’t be hidden. At the end of her bed sat Dubois. He was stoic, looking at something on his lens.
Piers wanted him gone. He didn’t belong here.
“Mom?”
Everyone except Dubois looked up when they spoke, and Marcie motioned for them. Piers slid to their knees beside her, and they took Adele’s hand.
“Hi mama…” They whispered, and she smiled, weakly squeezing their hand.
“Hey Jilly-bean.” Her voice sounded far away, and Piers wasn’t sure if it was her or their rising panic.
“You’re gonna be okay, right? You’re…this is just another one of those episodes?” Piers asked, and Adele shook her head. They ignored her, continuing, “You’re gonna get better, remember? You’re gonna help me with.... You’re gonna tell me about my family. You’re gonna…gonna..” Piers trailed off, tears starting to well in their eyes, “Please. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to do this alone.”
“You are not alone. I promise you. You aren’t gonna be alone. There’s others, others who love you, others who care about you, others like you. Do you hear me?” Adele squeezed their hand with a surprising strength, and Piers nodded.
“I…I don’t want you to go.” Their voice cracked.
This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real.
She was getting quieter, but they leaned in, barely able to hear her speak. “I love you. I’m proud of you. You’re going to do great things. I know…”
Her voice trailed off, and her hand went limp in theirs. Piers choked on their tears. They held onto her, burying their face in her bedspread which still smelled like her perfume.
The god-awful apple perfume.
No one said anything for a while, as they cried. She couldn’t be gone. This had to be… this was just a bad dream. This wasn’t real.
“Sweetheart,” Marcie slid a hand between them and the bed, trying gently to pull them away, but they just held on tighter. Adele hadn’t been the best mother, but she was their mother, and she had tried.
“This isn’t funny. I wanna… you gotta…” Their voice trailed off as they began to sob even harder. She couldn’t be dead. Marcie moved her hand to their back, gently rubbing in circles. Even David, stone-cold as he normally was, put his arm over their shoulders, hugging them.
“What do we do now?” Dr. Panya quietly asked, and Marcie shushed xir.
“We need to start planning now. We’ll be in danger the moment-” Dubois spoke up. Piers jerked upright, staring at him with pure venom, and he fell quiet.
“Piers, I know, it’s gonna be hard, but you need to let her go.” David gently tried to pull them away again, but they just couldn’t. This would be the last time they ever saw her. The last time they ever got to hold her hand. Everything had changed when she’d abdicated, but they didn’t want her to be gone. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be.
Marcie spoke up, “Come on sweetheart. We’re right here for you. You need to let go.”
“Fuck off.” Piers cried, squeezing Adele as tight as they could as now both Marcie and David tried to pull them back. They didn’t want to let her go. David got up from his spot, and someone else took his place, an arm around their shoulders and a quiet voice in their ear.
“Jillian, you need to let go. I promise. It’s gonna be okay.” Dubois seemed calm, but they could hear the waver in his voice.
They weren’t going to listen to someone they had no reason to trust.
“Please, let go.” Marcie got a little firmer, yet her voice was still wet from crying, “It’s not going to make it feel any easier or better for you, I promise.”
No.
Dubois wrapped his arms around Piers’ midsection, and they held onto the bedspread and Adele as tight as they could.
“Jillian, let go.”
“No!”
Forcibly, he pulled them back, and they fought and kicked and cried, but he didn’t let them go. Dr. Panya gently closed her eyes and covered her with the sheet.
“No! No! No! Let me go!” Piers cried out, but he held them tight against his body. “Please! She’s not-She can’t-Fuck….” Finally, after giving it everything they had to get away, they went slack, body heaving hard with every sob. Dubois shifted his hand, holding the side of their head against his chest, so they couldn’t watch. They didn’t want to. Instead, they held onto his shirt tightly, crying like a child. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, and they listened.
WIP PAGE
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