When Tomorrow Comes

Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Enjolras," a voice whispered softly in his ear.

"Five more minutes, Madame..."

"Enjolras, open your eyes... It's me, Eponine."

Enjolras opened his eyes in a flash. But he was quickly disoriented. He wasn't at the hospital anymore; he was lying in his bed, at his place.

"Come on, Monsieur, we're late. I'll go get Gabby."

"Gabby? Who's Gabby?"

Eponine laughed.

"Our child, silly. Now, stop fooling around, Marius is waiting."

She grabbed his jacket and threw it at his face before heading towards the hall. Enjolras rubbed his eyes. He didn't understand a thing. He got up hesitantly and caught a glance of himself in the window. He gasped.

"I'm..." he stuttered. "I'm..."

"Handsome?" Eponine shouted from the hall. "Yes, I agree."

"No," Enjolras replied. "I'm different..."

"You look pretty much the same as yesterday, Monsieur. Are you sure you're awake?"

"No," Enjolras muttered. "I'm pretty sure I'm not."

But then a small figure with long blond hair jumped right on him.

"Papa, come on!" she said.

When Enjolras laid eyes on the little beauty in his arms, his heart skipped a beat.

"Gabby?" he tried.

"Well, duh..."

She jumped back down and grabbed his hand.

"Hurry, Papa! I can't wait to see uncle Marius!"

"Uncle Marius?" Enjolras let out with a laugh.

"Don't mock," Eponine said, grabbing Gabby's hand. "He's practically family anyways."

She headed out the room with Gabby and Enjolras couldn't help but stare at them. He noticed Gabby had Eponine's eyes and his nose. He smiled. If that's what life had in store for him and Eponine, he certainly wouldn't say no.

"Papa!" Gabby insisted.

"Coming!" he shouted, grabbing his jacket.

***

A few minutes later, they were knocking at Marius' door. A woman opened it and Eponine instantly lost her smile.

"Cosette..." she muttered under her breath.

"Mademoiselle," Cosette said, looking at Gabby. "Oh, you've grown so much!"

"Not that much..." Gabby pointed out.

"Yes, well... Such a beauty! Thank God you look exactly like your father."

Eponine cursed under her breath.

"I thought you were away with your Papa," Eponine told Cosette.

"We came back early," Cosette replied.

"Lucky us," Eponine mumbled.

"Who came to see uncle Marius?" a voice suddenly said from behind Cosette.

"Me!" Gabby shouted, jumping up and down.

"Well come on here and give me a hug, sweetheart!"

Marius came out from behind Cosette and extended his arms. The little girl jumped right in as Marius started to spin her around.

"Oh, so heavy!" Marius said, pretending to lift a very heavy weight. "Enjolras, stop giving her so many treats!"

"Hey!" Gabby protested.

Marius laughed.

"Good to see you, Monsieur," he told Enjolras, extending one hand while he was holding Gabby with the other.

But Enjolras just stared at Marius, examining him.

"What? Do I have a bug on my face?" Marius asked with a smile.

"No, I..." Enjolras stuttered. "Never mind."

"Come on in," Cosette said, letting Enjolras, Marius and Gabby pass.

She subtly closed the door right in Eponine's face. Eponine sighed.

"This is going to be an awesome night..." she mumbled to herself before opening the door again.

***

"So, Gabby," Marius said, "have you heard the story about the horse and the dog?"

They were all sitting around a wooden table, eating dinner. All were laughing and drinking, well all except for Enjolras who barely touched his plate.

"Something wrong?" Eponine whispered in his ear.

"I don't feel so good..."

"Monsieur, do you want to go back home and rest?"

"What's this I hear?" Marius interrupted. "Everything alright?"

"Enjolras doesn't feel so good," Eponine explained. "He's been acting weird since he woke up."

"Oh good, then it's not the food," Marius exclaimed, joking around.

"Oh if I were to put something bad in it, it certainly wouldn't be in Enjolras' plate," Cosette replied.

Marius started to laugh, but Eponine swallowed crooked, looking down at her plate.

And then the weirdest thing happened: Gabby just disappeared. Enjolras looked at the empty chair in shock.

"Gabby?" he asked.

"Who's Gabby?" Eponine asked him.

She then continued the conversation she was having with Marius, as if nothing had happened.

"Ok, calm down," Enjolras told himself. "This is completely normal."

And then Eponine turned to face him again. Enjolras gasped; her dress was stained with blood.

"Mademoiselle!" he let out.

"I took the shot," Eponine said. "The bullet went straight through my chest..."

Enjolras backed away in panic.

"It's a dream," he whispered to himself. "This is all a dream..."

"Our friends are dead," Marius let out.

Enjolras looked at them in shock. Suddenly, they were young again, wearing the clothes they had on the day that the barricade fell. Enjolras looked down at himself; he had his student clothes back on.

"What does this mean?" he cried.

"If I die," Eponine said. "Gabby never exists."

"What? No," Enjolras replied. "You don't die. You can't die."

"I'm fading away, Enjolras."

"No! Stop it!"

Eponine suddenly started to slowly become transparent.

"Eponine!" Enjolras shouted.

"Tell them to check my back..."

And then she was gone, just like Gabby.

"Eponine!" Enjolras cried again. "No!"

"That's life," Grantaire said, appearing out of nowhere. "Watch it kill the dream you dreamed..."

"Watch it kill your future," Gavroche added, now standing beside Grantaire.

"Watch it kill the ones you cared about," the rest of the boys said in unison.

"Like me," Eponine's voice resonated in his head.

And then Enjolras woke up in a flash in his hospital bed, sweating and panting. The nurse came running over.

"Are you okay, Monsieur?" she asked.

"Check her back," he quickly answered, still panting.

"But Monsieur, she's fine..."

"Check her back, now," he ordered.

The nurse rolled her eyes as she gently turned Eponine to the side. But then she let out a gasp. The sheets were stained red. The wound had opened up again.

"I need help!" the nurse yelled. "She's bleeding out!"