Running Out of Time

Chapter 12 - Laurens Interlude

"Okay," Peggy slumped onto a couch in one of the break rooms, "so that didn't work."

The had spent just over four hours trying time after time to get Hamilton's ghost to stay inside his body. Nothing had worked. Collectively they exhausted all their options. Despite the lack of progress, no one was ready to give up. Lafayette, Mulligan, and Peggy were still keeping their heads high. Hamilton didn't seem to be as enthusiastic but he pretended so he didn't drag anyone else down. He had been starting to lose some of the hope he had when all of this started.

Jefferson hadn't explained exactly how much time was left for Hamilton, that had probably been for the best. Still, Hamilton was worried that he might not get back in his body on time. He felt that there may have only been a few days, he didn't see that as possibly being long enough to figure anything else out. There were no solutions left for them, it was all over.

"Any luck," Eliza leaned against the door frame. The three shook their heads, "I'm sure you'll get there. Maybe it just needs a little time." Eliza was always good at being the positive attitude when they needed it. It was one of the many qualities Hamilton liked about her. She didn't seemed to be the least bit worried about the situation. Hamilton couldn't determine if her confidence in them was real or not, it was possible that she was doing it simply to make them feel less defeated.

"So," Hamilton heard a voice that didn't belong to anyone in the room, it was Laurens'. "This is what you're going to do, and you are going to do it because you won't like me if I find out you didn't listen. Alright, I'm guessing that, because it's you, you can't stop thinking about all of this. Whatever this is, you can't get away. I know you're doing this and I know it's just how you do things but you need to stop for a second."

Hamilton managed to sneak out of the room almost unnoticed to find Laurens. He could tell that Eliza was still talking to them but he couldn't hear her, it was clear to him that Eliza had been sent to keep everyone in the room. Hamilton thought it was a pretty decent plan.

"You might be holding yourself back. Maybe if you stopped thinking about waking up and all of that, you might be able to do it. I have no idea how this thing works, I don't know if you're here, I don't know if you can even hear me but, I do think this might work. I'm not sure I'm totally sold on the entire idea of you being a ghost but if anyone could do it, it would be you."

Hamilton made his way down the hall towards the room that his body was is, that was where he figured Laurens would be. It would explain why he could hear him. For some reason, the hallway seemed to be much longer than it was at any other point in the day.

"But, if it doesn't work, if none of this works at all, I want you to know it's okay. It's okay if you don't wake up. I don't think anyone else has told you that but it's how it is. You don't need to wake up."

Hamilton stood in the doorway. He could tell by clothes that this was not a regular work day for Laurens, he was just here for Hamilton. It was a nice. Hamilton hadn't expected it, he wasn't aware that Laurens knew what room he was in.

"I want you to try, just for a second at least, to not think about any of this. Don't think about the ghost thing, don't think about waking up, don't think about a single thing."

Hamilton did as best he could not to think as he walked closer to where Laurens was sitting beside the bed. He wanted to listen to Laurens, he really did, but it wasn't easy. The only thing Hamilton had to do was think. Although it seemed impossible, he had managed.

"Everything is going to turn out okay. I just want you to keep that in mind, it'll be alright."

Hamilton reached out but let his hand hover above Laurens' shoulder. He couldn't actually bring himself to try and touch the man, he didn't think it would work anyway. Quickly, he pulled his hand away as Laurens stood up to leave. However, just before he left the room, Laurens turned to look back at him. Hamilton could almost feel a pain in his chest, he didn't want Laurens to leave. 

"You can go if you need to."

--

Hamilton was still standing in the same spot when Peggy finally found him. He wasn't sure how much time had gone by, it could have been an hour. She tried to get his attention but he continued to stand there and stare at where Laurens had been sitting. He could still hear the words in his mind. You can go if you need to. Hamilton focused on only those words. He felt as though he was missing something. Hamilton had the feeling that something was wrong, he couldn't place what exactly it was.

"Hamilton?" Peggy stood closer. This time he looked at her, he could always think about this later. "I'm heading out," she paused, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll wait in the car," Hamilton walked passed her and left the room in a little more of a hurry than he intended.

Peggy wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not but it seemed that Hamilton might have been connecting with his body. She didn't know what had happened to him but it must have been important. She had noticed that it almost looked as though he had been crying or at least that he was upset. As she looked at his body she could see that some of the area around and under the eye was wet. This could have been a sign of something good. It was possible that this meant he was closer to waking up.

--

"Peggy," Hamilton was very close to her, "Peggy wake up." It was basically the first time he had spoken to her since they came home. He had been fairly distracted the whole day, Peggy didn't want to pester him about it, she could tell that he was stressed.

At first, she groaned, it was the clearly middle of the night. She didn't understand why he was trying so hard to wake her up until she heard her phone ringing. She patted around until she found it. She answered without checking the name, "hello?"

"Hey Peggy, are you busy right now," Laurens asked, he didn't sound great.

"No," she rubbed her eyes, "it's like three in the morning."

"Can you," she heard him groan, "can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need," she sat up. Hamilton was right next to her ear listening in. Peggy could tell that Hamilton was pretty worried.

"I think I need to go to the hospital. I don't feel good at all."

Peggy was already out of bed and getting dressed, "I'll be right there."