Everlasting

Chapter 5 (Final)

           Over the course of the next several days, the soldiers conditions had only gotten worse. And her memories slowly died. Many of her closest friends in the watch visited, paying their respects because they knew their friend, the person that they had fought beside was going to die. And that was a given. It was the sixth day, and Fareeha woke up in the bed and slowly attempted to get to her feet, but it only resulted in terrible pains shooting through her body. Her skin was extremely pale, and the black streaks that ran under her eyes only worsened. She was frail and weak, and her everything hurt. She called out gently as best as she could. "Angela..."
           Over those days the doctor's hopes of sleep were a thing of the past. Her only hope now was to develop some sort of cure. It was emotionally devastating that she had to watch the woman she loved grow worse by the day, and she was running out of options for what to do. She was at her wit's end on every aspect, and unfortunately all that could resolve Fareeha's pain was a premature end, but at this point it was not far from Angela's mind. Hearing the frail voice caused the doctor to snap from her exhausted trance as she stood up walking immediately over to the soldier doing her best to smile. The bags under her eyes were apparent as was the increased stress and burden of failure weighing down her entire demeanor, "I'm right here...do you need anything?"
            The soldier nodded and extended her hand out to the doctor the best she could. "Yes.. come here for a second, please." Seeing how tired the doctor was only hurt Fareeha more. She couldn't watch her lover go on like this. And it was all because of herself, that Angela was this way.
           Nodding a little Angela took a deep breath trying to calm herself as she stood by the bed of the woman. She hated seeing Fareeha like this...it only made her more guilty with each second as she studied her partner intently. "As you wish...did you need anything?"
           Taking the woman's hand she swiftly pulled her down into the bed, and in one quick motion she got to her own feet. Moving Angela so she was now laying in the bed. "Go to sleep. Now Angela."
           Staring at the soldier in disbelief Angela shook her head with a sigh, "I can't...you and I both know that."
          "It took more than I wanted it to just to get you down and to get on my feet... please I beg of you just sleep.. even for w little while." The soldier's voice was strained, and weak. She could hardly manage to stay steady on her feet. But she forced herself to.
           "Only...only if you sleep too, okay?"
           "I've been in that bed for 6 damn days Angela I can't be in it any longer please don't make me lay in that retched bed for another minute, I can't stand it.... I can't stand any of it, not right now."
            "You can hardly move as it is Fareeha...it's nothing against you. It's just what has to be done for now."
            "I can sit in one of the chairs Angela... please rest."
            "I...alright, will that really make you happy?"
            "It will make me very happy Angela. Trust me when I say this... it's all I want right now is for you to be safe, and for you to feel alright."
            "Alright...I'll do it then." Angela sighed as she laid in the bed. She shut her eyes in reluctance as eventually she managed to drift off to sleep.
            "Thank you..." the soldier whispered before turning from the bed and walking back to the lab area. Her steps were slow and painful, but she managed. Making her way to the medical bed she laid down on that and drifted off to sleep as well. She only had a slight amount of strength left, and she needed to save that, she didn't know what for. But she had to.
            Quite some time had passed as Angela finally rested, but her mind was still plagued with nightmares from guilt and her despair over Fareeha. It caused her sleep to be very restless as she finally awoke from her slumber still feeling as if she didn't even sleep for a minute. Rubbing her eyes to clear her vision she stood up walking over to the medical bed that the soldier slept on. Looking down at her, Angela couldn't help feeling that the solution to propose was the one she never wanted to. She didn't want this, but she knew that at this point Fareeha wouldn't live to see the cure anyways. She had to do it. She had to end this to stop her partner's suffering once and for all. In the end she did have one promise to keep. No matter how long it took, she would get to see Fareeha again someday.
            Fareeha was sound asleep, but she could tell that someone was present. Opening her eyes she turned on her side and looked up to see her lover. Offering a very faint smile she spoke up quietly. "Angela.. you got some rest, right?"
            Meeting the soldier's gaze Angela could feel her heart drop, but nonetheless she offered a smile as she replied gently, "I did...I'm glad that you were able to get some sleep to." The woman couldn't help running a hand through her blonde hair as the silence stuck for a moment, but she was still doing her best. 'I have to do this...it'll be for her own good.' Was all she kept circling through her mind as she spoke. "I...actually have some good news for you."
            "That's really good to hear Angela.. what is it?" the soldier asked as she struggled to sit up, but none the less she managed. She kept the smile on her face, and for once it wasn't forced. She was happy to hear of good news. And most of all happy to see her lover had gotten some rest.