Heart of Steel: B. Bradshaw

Seventeen: Tethered

Steely woke up in the warm arms of Bradley Bradshaw. It was really early, she could tell by the lack of light coming through the curtains. Her stomach was in knots from the second she opened her eyes and she didn't know why.

Suddenly her phone blared out into the silent room and she recognized the tone as her dads. She wiggled her way out of Bradley's arms and picked up her phone.

"Hi dad."

"Hi sweetheart....it's Ice," her heart plummeted into her stomach when her dad finished his sentence. She scrambled out of the bed which caused Bradley to wake up. His brows knitted together with confusion at her hasty get up.

"Yes i'll be there soon, please tell him i'm coming," she hung up the phone and ran to Bradley's drawers to find some too big sweatpants.

"Steel what's going on?" Bradley was now sitting up and watching her rifle through his drawers.

"Ice is in the hospital," her voice cracked with the oncoming tears. "I don't know how much longer he has left."

"Come on i'll take you," it was Bradley's turn to fly out of bed and get dressed at record speed.

They arrived at the hospital soon after and met Steely's dad in the lobby. He took them to the room where Tom was in. Steely gazed with wide eyes at the state he was in. She had never seen him so devoid of life and it absolutely devastated her.

"Steely," Tom called her over with a soft voice. She could tell how weak he was. Steely pulled up a chair and leaned to rest her chin on his chest. He looked down at her and stroked the top of her head softly.

"My darling sun," for her whole life Tom had always called Steely his "sun" which helped form her callsign. He seemed to whisper this so that only she could hear.

"Please don't leave me," silent tears were poking through her eyelids. Her chest was so tight she almost couldn't breath.

"I would stay by your side forever if I could sunshine but you know I can't."

"I won't be able to survive without you," Tom stayed silent as Bradley, Ron, and Sarah excused themselves from the room.

"Of course you will. You have your dad, Bradley, and all your friends and family who will support you. No matter where you are I will always be with you," he reached forward and tapped the spot of her chest where her heart laid.

"But you're my family."

"I will always be your family Steely whether i'm here or not."

Steely just stared at him. She couldn't bring herself to say anything because she knew the tears would come the moment she opened her mouth. He watched her with sad eyes.

"Are you scared?" she surprised herself with the question. Toms lips stretched into a small smile and he kissed her forehead.

"No sunshine, I just feel...okay. Not scared or sad just okay."

"I love you," it was hard to hold herself together that this point.

"Steely Kerner, you are my proudest achievement in life. Everything I have ever done doesn't even come close to the honor of raising you. I thank god every day that I was chosen to be apart of your life for this long. You have grown into a woman that I could only ever dream of and you are my daughter no ifs, ands, or buts."

"You are so special and I want you to know that I love you more than anything in the whole world. You are my sun, you make my world spin around," they both were crying once he finished. Steely couldn't describe the feeling she had in this moment. She was so scared but it comforted her greatly to know that he wasn't.

"I can't do this, it hurts and I can't breathe," Steely was up and out of the room before he could respond. She paced back and forth through the hallway in front of the door. She watched as Iceman called Bradley into the room and the door shut. Their faces gone from her sight.

Steely's dad didn't say anything to her. He watched with tear stained cheeks as she slowly unraveled. The string that wound her up tight started to untangle as she paced a whole in the hospital floor.

Bradley poked his head out of the room and called the three of them back. Steely begrudgingly followed them in. Iceman patted the space beside him in bed. She all but ran to his side and he welcomed her with his open arms.

"When tomorrow starts and i'm not here with you I don't want you to be sad. I want you to dry your eyes and continue on without me. I want you to fly that mission with the skills I know you posses. I want you to get married and have kids. I want you to complete that bucket list of yours and I need you, I beg you to smile. To laugh. To find joy in your life again," he paused and brushed the tears off Steely's cheeks "I don't want you to be sad when you see things that remind you of me. Live your life my little sun, live it for me."

The room was silent for a few more minutes before a horrible sound shattered the atmosphere. The machine connected to her uncle blared a solid, flatlining noise.

The wail that left Steely's mouth was absolutely guttural. The whole room broke down in tears, each person holding onto the other to keep them grounded and present. Steely's whole body fell numb, her vision clouded over and she became completely unaware of her surroundings as she clung onto the warmth he still had left.

Bradley stumbled over and cradled her face into his chest trying to pull her away from her uncle. She held onto him with an iron grip as Bradley bent her body towards him.

Sarah and Ron were grabbing onto each other as they watched in horror as Steely sobbed with everything in her. Bradley was the only thing keeping her alive. His whole body shivered with a awful feeling as he watched the Steely he once knew  fall apart in his hands.

Ron and Sarah came over. They all said their goodbyes earlier but they couldn't stop themselves from grabbing on to him. Everyone needed to touch some part of their friend, uncle, and husband. Although he wasn't the same as they knew him anymore.

Steely was inconsolable with her hand still intertwined with Ices. Just like that her rock, her tether to herself, and the man who gave her so much love was gone. She looked at his body and couldn't recognize him.

He had the same face as her uncle, he smelled like her uncle. But his smile was gone, the soul and light in his eyes were gone and a massive piece of Steely left with him.