Let it Rain (The Umbrella Academy)

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: Accent

1970

Gill set a plate of food and a water bottle in front of me. "Ron, this has gone on long enough. You need to eat," he demanded firmly.

"Go ahead... A'm nae hungry," I exhaled in a raw voice.

"Pshh. Ronny, you "haven't been hungry" for ten days now. Talk to me. What's the matter? ...Please? I hate seeing you like this." I rasped a sigh and let him wrap his arms around me in a snug hug. My puffy red eyes burned but they couldn't shed another tear. "Cameron, you're scaring me."

"A'm fine, Fish. A'm juist tired." I exhaled then snuggled back under the covers.

"No. I'm sorry but all you've done is sleep for ten days, Ron. You need to eat first. You look like a corpse."

"Weel, Ah sure feel dead." I closed my eyes and he flung the blanket off of me. I softly huffed.

"No. You're gonna eat and tell me what happened. A week ago you were smiling and laughing and then all of a sudden it was like you were on autopilot... Did-did I do something wrong?"

"Nae, not at all. Ah juist..." I let out a fragile breath. "Ah juist miss them..." Ah miss Five... "And it juist... It juist hit me like a truck feeling th' weight of their loss fur some reason... All Ah wis doing wis walking, found a bookstore... The Kennedy Nine it read. Ah opened it and there were all of our pictures... Simple pieces of paper, but they sure cut like a knife. After all of these years A'd never had a big problem wi' it. Ah donnae regret mah decision, A'd make it a thousand 'n one times over but... Ah dunno."

Gilligan gently took the book and set it out of reach on the nightstand then took me into his arms. "We've got the case somewhere around here, you know... We could go back."

"Nae. A'm fine."

"No. No you ain't. Ron, please eat before you lose function and I have to take you to the hospital." I weakly half-rolled my eyes and looked at the plate in disgust, not because of the food, sometime during those days he apparently became a pretty decent cook, just the thought of actually putting food into my body. I looked at my husband's pleading eyes then tried to take a bite... and almost immediately puked before the food could touch my lips. Gill sadly sighed then brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my head. "That's it," he said then took the plate from my hands and picked me up in his arms.

"Whit are ye doing?" I questioned as he draped my arm around his neck.

"Cameron, you're practically dead inside. Few more days of this 'n I could lose you. Your body may not be able to die but you need substance. I'm takin' you to the hospital."

"Gill, A'm fine—"

"You're not fine. 'N once we get your body feelin' better we're gonna talk this through, all right? Ron, I adore you so much 'n it hurts watchin' you break away at yourself like this. I need to help. I need to do something 'n if I can't get you to keep food down then I'm going to people who can."

He brushed my hair behind my ears and kissed my forehead. This was the first time I'd noticed his red eyes. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothin' to be sorry for. Your hearts hurtin'. I know that. But we do need to get your body feelin' better too. We're gonna talk this out, okay? 'N if you wanna skip ahead—"