CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
THIS IS GOING TO KILL YOU

THERE was something nauseating about the obnoxious beep of the heart monitor. Thea couldn't help but, in a way, get a sense of deja vu. For years, especially as a newborn, she'd found herself imagining the hospital as her savior.

If she'd been here when she'd had her baby, maybe she wouldn't be here now.

But here she was, masking the ages of her immortality in a building rooted with the ripeness of mortality and its death given as a gift.

Thea's golden eyes blanketed Arthur's resting body in the hospital bed. His heart beat at a smooth rhythmic pace and it was the only thing to keep her from driving insane at the current moment. 

"You're getting too emotionally involved with Arthur. It won't end well, Thea, and I think deep down you know that."

"No." Thea shut her eyes. Quiet. Everything is fine. Unaware of her hold on the arms share, she began to break into the wood, leaving a split traveling up the middle.

The sound of a cough interrupted her racing thoughts. While it was rather rough, the feeling of sandpaper or glass dragged across his throat, making the inside raw.

Thea jumped to her feet a little too quickly but she didn't care. "Here, drink." She softly demanded placing the straw of ice water near his lips. He hums at the satisfaction of the cool liquid taming his burning throat.

He pulls away, further opening his eyes to be a sick yellow. He seems to flinch at the bright light above. "Too much light?" Thea didn't skip a beat, she turned off the light directly shining above him but kept the furthest one on, laminating a warm yellow.

Arthur takes a seem breath before smiling his same warm smile that made Thea's heart beat again, "Old age, am I right?"

Thea crosses her arms, fighting a silly smile to express her concern. "Arthur, this isn't a time for jokes."

"This is the perfect time for jokes." Arthur chuckled but it shifted into another rough cough, Thea offered him more water and a silence was quick to settle over them both.

In the moments of silence, a nurse strolls. "Mr. Dalton, I'm Nurse Garren, how are you feeling?" She comes with a polite smile on her face, one that, unfortunately, out Thea on edge.

"I've seen better days." Arthur's voice weakened from all of the coughing, raspiness was clear.

Thea makes her way into the conversation, "Is everything okay?"

"That's what I'm here to find out," the nurse grabs a chart from a table before scribbling down Arthur Dalton at the top. "You must be...his daughter I suppose?"

Thea grinned faintly. Oh, the irony.

"More of a close friend." Thea corrects, feeling herself cringe as she says it.

"Oh, my apologies," Dr. Garren points between the two with her pin, "I saw similar features and immediately assumed. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about your symptoms leading up to this."

Arthur lifted his head slightly to show he was attentive.

"Have you had any recent weight loss, fatigue, or possible change or lack of appetite?"

Arthur nods, his words stuck in his throat, "Yes, loss of appetite and fatigue. Haven't been able to get out into my garden as much as I would have liked."

The nurse scribbles down on the chart as he confirms his symptoms. "Try identifying your other symptoms for me, if you don't mind."

Arthur tries pushing himself up on the hospital bed but he feels far too weak. Thea placed her hand on his shoulder. "I have these moments of sharp pain?"

"Where at?"

"In my abdomen."

Thea frowns, "You never told me that."

"Because it was nothing I was worried about."

"When did these sharp pains start?" The nurse cuts their conversation short.

Arthur takes a deep breath as he thinks, "I would say, maybe, the beginning of this year—all of my symptoms. It would start small. I just thought maybe it was food poisoning or just old age being a pain in my behind."

"Are those all your symptoms?"

"Yes ma'am, I believe so." His southern mannerisms are prominent.

"Mr. Dalton I'm gonna have to run some blood tests if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Arthur lays his head back on the pillow but Thea has her eyes set on the nurse.

"Is everything okay?"

"You already asked that," Arthur whispers.

"And I'm asking again." Thea raises her brow at him before turning back to the nurse.

"I can't be sure but we should know something once these tests are run." She confirms.

"And how long is that gonna take?"

"I would say about two days." The nurse makes her way to Arthur, wrapping a tourniquet around his arm with precision. "Is there a number when can call? Preferably a family member."

Arthur's eyes dim slightly, knowing he had none, "Um..."

"You can put mine down." Thea answers.

After the nurse had drawn the blood, she glanced at Thea, "Please know that he needs to be watched as much as possible, if you can't make time we can always arrange—"

"I have all the time in the world." Thea gave a tight smile.

"Okay then," The nurse gave one last polite smile "Mr. Dalton your vital signs are stable, you'll be prescribed a few medications for your symptoms and come back in two days for the blood test results. So we can go ahead and discharge you. Have a good rest of your night." She leaves.

Thea's smile immediately fell.

"Why'd you do that?" Arthur's eyebrow knit into one.  "I don't need you taking care of me."

"Someone needs to make sure you don't pass out in the middle of your home again." Thea crosses her arms, "it's not an issue, trust me."

A small knock came from the door and who walked in made Thea straighten up some.

"Harper," Arthur smiled brightly at the vampire. 

"Hey," Harper waltzed in wearing a grin, "brought you a fruit basket."

Arthur hums gratefully, "That's sweet but I won't be here too much longer."

"Guess you'll have to take it home with you." Harper placed it on the table beside him before looking over to her older sister, who was eyeing her suspiciously.

Harper gave a faint pull of her head, signaling towards the door.

Thea looks over to Arthur, "I'll be waiting outside." She follows Harper into the hallway and they walk silently down the halls.

"What is it?" Thea questions, knowing her sister all too well.

Harper crosses her arms, thinking about her words carefully, "This is not a good idea."

"What are you talking about?" Thea questions although she already knew.

"Being his...caregiver, his best friend—"

"I'm his mother." Thea corrects her.

"You are a vampire!" Harper whispered quite loudly to which Thea slightly flinched. She looked around the empty halls afterward, and she proceeded to scold her calmly, "You're a vampire, Arthur is a fragile human. Thea, God, I understand why you're doing this but it's not safe for you or him. He's never known you, he's healed and what? Are you gonna tell him what you are? Who you are? How do you think this is gonna end Thea?"

Thea didn't even realize she had her hands in a tight fist lazily next to the sides of her body. "I can help him." She whispers so quietly that Harper almost doesn't hear her, "I can finally be here."

Harper shakes her head when she sees her sister's golden eyes. So vulnerable, like a puppy caught doing something wrong, "This is going to kill you." She walks away without further explanation.

Thea clenched her teeth, fighting off an expression of discomfort.

✸

The next morning after Thea returned to her sister's home and made her way to her bedroom, she'd gotten on the phone with Alice, who was in complete shock from what Thea had just told her.

"That's why you've been so distant. You found your son. Why didn't you tell me?"

Thea, who was sitting on the window frame, watched the snowfall, "I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Scared that it wasn't real," Thea admits, her eyes falling to her lap. "I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be sorry, Thea." Alice chuckles, "But is everything okay?"

Thea raises a brow, "Yeah but isn't that what your visions are for?"

Alice went silent on the other end. "Hello?"

"My visions haven't been working, not for you at least. Which is pretty scary."

Thea would be lying if she said that didn't put her slightly on edge, "I'm sure everything is fine."

"Yeah," Alice agrees, "The only time something like this ever happens is with the wolves."

"Well, I'm not around any wolves." Thea grins, releasing a faint laugh.

Thea found the wolves quite...weird. Which is ironic coming from a vampire.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, I love you." Alice chimed.

"I love you." Thea felt some weight lift off her shoulders.

✸

"What's taking them so long?" Thea peeks at the reception desk one more time.

Arthur watched Thea stand impatiently, her foot tapping against the horribly colored carpet of the waiting room. He smiles, "It takes time."

Thea huffs, "I know."

"Then why are you rushing it? You're making me nervous." Arthur fixes the folded part of his jacket.

Thea sparred him a small glance and her pacing was quick to slowly come to a stop, "I'm sorry." She sits down, clasping her fingers together and sitting them on her lap.

For a second, even Thea didn't understand why she was so nervous until she thought deeper. Her heart was protected by an immortal shell that was unaffected by any possible illness or infection as a vampire.

But now her heart was on the outside of her body, it was more mortal than ever.

Arthur chuckles, confusing Thea. "What?"

"You're in your own little world, aren't you?" Arthur grins almost proudly for guessing it. Thea lets out a faint scuff, "I understand, I'm the same way. Sometimes I get so lost in my head I can't find my way back to reality."

"Mr. Dalton." A female doctor finally called them.

"Finally," Thea muttered and they followed her back to a private exam room. Arthur took a seat in a chair while Thea continued standing.

The doctor sits down across from Arthur, her expression serious but empathetic.

Thea felt her nonbeating head beat out of her chest.

No.

Everything is fine.

"We've reviewed your blood tests and the imaging results thoroughly. I need to let you know that you have pancreatic cancer, and it's at Stage 4, which means it has spread to other parts of your body."

She lets the words settle for a moment before continuing, her voice steady but soft. "Pancreatic cancer can be very aggressive, and unfortunately, by the time symptoms appear, it's often in an advanced stage. Based on what we're seeing, the cancer has likely been developing for some time—perhaps several months to a year—but it's hard to pinpoint exactly when it began."

Arthur seemed oddly calm, having the exact expression Thea had when staring at the wall in the waiting room. "What exactly does this mean?" he asks quietly.

The doctor leans forward slightly, her tone gentle and eyes growing softer. "Arthur, I wish I had better news. With Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, the average life expectancy is often a few months, sometimes longer, depending on how your body responds to treatment and how we can manage your symptoms. Right now, I'd estimate that you may have around three to six months, but it's important to remember that everyone's journey is different. Some people surpass that timeframe, while others may not."

When people go through something traumatic they often say they lose their sense of hearing. Everything grows silent.

This, unfortunately, didn't happen for Thea.

Everything grew louder. Too loud.

She could hear the vents and the air stirring, she could hear the blood running through their veins, and she could hear the doctor's lips touch ever so slightly when telling Arthur his life was over.

Thea could hear everything.

But she proceeded so little of it.

The doctor pauses to give him space to process. "I want you to know we'll do everything we can to keep you as comfortable as possible. We can explore treatment options, like chemotherapy, to slow down the cancer. If you prefer to focus on quality of life, we can explore that as well."

Arthur was silent.

"Would you like a minute alone?"

Arthur spared a glance at Thea, who was yet again, in her own little world. He turns his sights back to the doctor with a smile that he failed to upkeep, "Yes, please."

When the doctor is gone, Arthur turns his attention to Thea. "Thea?"

She walks out, not a word leaving her mouth.

ragerwrites, Would've felt bad if I gave this to y'all on Thanksgiving so here you go.😭

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