What If? - Soccer Game Day Stabbing
Alternate World - Pain
Note: The playlist above is for this Alternate Universe, and the previous Alternate Universe for the stabbing.
Pain. Exhaustion. That didn’t begin to describe what Kai felt as he woke up in a hospital bed, how long he had been there, he didn’t know, but that was far from his concern. Elettra. Knife. Jess. Jess, where was Jess. That was all he cared about when he came to. Elettra stabbed him, but that was nothing. What mattered to him was Jess. She was dying. No, she couldn’t be gone. Kai wouldn’t be able to live with himself knowing Jess died because of him. Because his sister killed her. As soon as he saw the first nurse to come by his room, all he wanted to know was where Jess was. “Pierce. Jessica Pierce. Is she alright? Where is she?” It wasn’t easy to get word on where Jess was, but he did manage to find a room number. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to go visit her, but that didn’t matter. He needed to know she would be alright. That’s how he found himself face to face with Anna Pierce herself. “Let me see her.” As expected, Anna tried to keep him out, even by saying Jess wouldn’t want to see him after what his sister had done, and Kai nearly left, not strong enough to put up much of a fight, but then he saw her. Just a glimpse through the cracked door, but enough to give him the strength to push just a bit further.
“Hey stranger. How are you holding up?”
Kai was exhausted, not enough energy in him to even try to fight back against Daniel if he saw the pair together, but that didn’t matter. Kai was there with Jess. Sitting down beside her, no matter how he felt, he couldn’t hide a smile. “Holding up fine now, but I thought I lost you.”
Even as Kai spoke to Jess, the relief he felt emotionally, couldn’t counter the worsening situation physically. His mind was fuzzy, he had already been in pain from the wound itself, as well as weak and exhausted, but over time it only increased, especially when the time came that Kai had to leave and return to his own room. He had barely made it out the door and into the hall when he hit the floor. The wound was still stitched and bandaged, but if the bruising of his abdomen was any indication, there was a bleed. By the time Kai was rushed into an operating room, it was clear that there was severe internal hemorrhaging.
With the ongoing surgery to save his life, there was one place left Kai’s mind could go, what the future could be. His mind didn’t go to the wedding his parents had arranged, not even to New York, but to Jess. To Jess and a life they could one day have together.
Waking up each morning right next to Jess, laying there for a while, for no reason other than to feel at ease next to her. Then eventually getting up to make coffee and read the newspaper before returning to Jess’s side to finally wake her for breakfast. One day, even marrying her and having a child together. A little one that they would both love with their entire heart, even after that child was followed behind by siblings they loved just as much. They would be somewhere near the city, but far enough away at the same time, somewhere the kids could play without worry. Then, each night he could fall asleep with the person he loved most in his arms. It would be the life he wanted. None of the pressures put on him by his parents, a life away from the spotlight. He would have the people that mattered most to him, he would be completely himself, and he would be happy.
“Malachi Azure. Where is he? Tell me. I’m his sister.” It didn’t matter if nobody was going to take her seriously as just a young teen. It was clear to anyone that could see her there. She didn’t care, and nothing would stop Akielah Azure from finding out what was going on with her older brother. Though the words that came from the doctor’s mouth hurt the girl in a way that nothing ever had before. “You’re lying. You’re F**king lying.” Though all it took was a look on the doctor’s face to confirm that it was indeed true, and she couldn’t lie to herself. She was the little sister, but since she was 8 years old, she did everything she possibly could to look out for and even protect Kai. Now, there she was, standing in the hall of a hospital feeling more alone than she had imagined was even possible. That’s when the girl who kept her fears hidden from everyone, crumpled to the floor as she broke down and watched her own tears fall. Her brother was gone…
The odds were not in the favor of Malachi Azure that day, but Jessica Pierce, despite what she went through, the universe let her go on. As Kai would say, Jess must be like a cat with 9 lives. She’ll reach the end of her last life at some point, but this was not that time. It seems that she had enough lives remaining to spare one for herself to live after the 3 minutes and 13 seconds that she had been dead, as well as one for the growing child inside of her, one final piece of Kai.
Mentioned:
@benitz786 - Jess… and Anna, and Dan was in there too