We Live Forever

Chapter 6: Insanity

Hank's POV:

I'm bleeding. How am I bleeding? What is this cut from? Who stitched it? What happened to the wall? Where is my shirt? Whose shirt is this? Who dressed me? 

"What the fuck is going on?"

I pace around the room taking in the millions of details that make no fucking sense. That chair doesn't go over there. The meticulously organized tools on the counter are not in their rightful spots. My shoes are leaving bloody prints on the floor!

Have I finally lost it? Am I going completely insane? I never leave this room and yet everything is out of order. I would've remembered doing this; I should remember doing this? What could've done that damage to the wall? 

Am I going crazy? Would I even know if I was going crazy?

If one thinks they are going crazy that must mean they are sane, right? Crazy people don't think they're crazy, right? My questioning makes me sane? But now I think I'm sane, which means I could be crazy?

I realize just how far I've spiraled. I've thought myself into a paradox; never thought I'd do that. I need to come back to reality here. I glance around the room trying to take out five things I can see.

My lab coat, which I should be wearing.

The fluorescent lighting I shouldn't be staring directly into. 

The smooth tile floors that smell faintly of bleach. 

The mysterious giant dent in the wall. 

THE MYSTERIOUS GIANT DENT IN THE WALL!

Well, that didn't work. Shit. Shit. Shit! I need something else, oh fuck. In a moment of weakness and desperation, I go to my comatose wife. 

I get down on my knees beside the table she's laid on. I go to reach for her hand when I notice something. Her hand isn't in its normal position. 

"Who the touched you, my love?"

I know I didn't do this. Forget about the rest of it. I know that this one isn't on me. I wouldn't do this. 

Somebody touched my wife, and they're going to pay. 

"Love? Please come back to me. I need you, I always need you. I'm losing my mind without you. I love you so much, so please please come back to me."

I carefully got up off the floor and started to clean up the lab. I opened up my trashcan and saw a shirt inside.

My shirt...

Soaked with blood...

My blood?

I gently took the shirt into my hands and lifted it up, into the air. I saw the clean-cut in the fabric that matched with the cut on my chest. 

I desperately racked my brain for an explanation. Even the slightest hint of a memory. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

That Night

I got back to work. I couldn't give up. I just couldn't. I had to get my wife back.

So I worked and worked the entire day to produce a singular vile of yet another serum. Despite all the work put into it, I had absolutely no faith in it. I've tried dozens of serums and nothing has worked, why would this one?

Still, I filled a syringe with the serum and gently inserted the needle into her vein. I pushed down on the plunger and let the serum enter her bloodstream. 

I couldn't bear to even watch this time. Watch as nothing changed. 

I pulled the syringe out and went to dispose of it properly. I opened up the sharps container and heard a loud noise come from behind me. In an instant, I turned around and felt like I was dreaming. 

She's awake.

I dropped the syringe and ran as fast as I could to her. I wrapped her up in my arms, terrified to let go for fear she would slip away again. I held unto her as tight as I could, pulling her as close as humanly possible. 

"Please don't go. I love you. I love you so much. I never even realized I could anyone as much as I love you. You're my everything, darling."

I could already tell that I was crying. I didn't make any attempt to stop my tears. I let them flow freely. 

Finally, she spoke to me again.

"We need to go. Now."

Author's Note:

I made myself cry with this one.

At last, they are reunited. 

They can be happy now, right?

Right?