Burnout

Chapter 11.

Riza's POV:

"Next stop, Central Station!" Says the voice over the intercom.

"Ok, Kallie, time to wake up!"

Her beautiful brown eyes flicker open.

"Ready to meet Daddy?" I whisper to her.

She lets out a happy squeal.

We get off the train and head to the hospital. I can't afford a taxi, so I have to walk.

Which way was it again?

I step out of the station into the bright sunlight.

"Riza?" I hear.

"Jean?" I ask.

He embraces me in a hug.

"Riza, we've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Jean."

He looks at Kallie and pauses.

"Who's kid is that?"

"Uh," I start, thinking of a way to explain this to him.

"Hello there, sweetie, what's your name?"

"Jean," I breath, "this is Kallie, my daughter."

He chokes in his cigarette smoke.

"What?!"

"It was an accident, I got drunk one night, and..." I splutter.

"Who's the father?" He asks.

"Uh, I haven't told anyone yet."

"Riza, who is it?"

Silence.

"Riza, who is the father?"

"It's Roy, ok? That's the whole reason I left. I thought that he hated me, so I resigned and left. I moved South and the Rockbells took me in until I could afford my own home. I lived there for the last year."

He stands there, stunned.

"Riza, he loves you more than anything. For the last year, all he's talked about is how much he missed you, how much he wanted to be with you. He wouldn't shut up about how he was gonna marry you when he was Fuhrer!"

I gasp.

"He said that, about ME?"

"He's loved you forever, and when you were off, he wouldn't shut up about you."

"Really?"

I'm shocked. He loved me? Was I too blind to see it?

"Jean, I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

"I'll drive you. Since you left, I got promoted, so the pay is a lot better."

"That's good. I have to apologize to Roy. This is all my fault."

"He'll understand."

"I hope you're right."

Roy's POV:

I can't get up.

The doctor said that I have to stay in bed for a few days, even though be almost made a full recovery.

The military must have told them to keep me here.

I'm completely fine, yet I continue to have to stay here, letting myself he weak.

I am not weak.

Then a picture of Riza flashed through my mind. It's the one of us when we were younger, when she wore her hair down.

A wet substance crawls down my cheek. Is it raining, no I'm indoors. Is the roof leaking? No, I'm n the bottom floor. I touch my cheek.

I don't believe it. After all of those years;

I'm crying.

I grab my knees and let all those years worth of tears flow down my cheeks, on to my blanket.

I cry until I feel a wetness on my legs.

The tears have soaked through.

I thought that me and Riza would get married, become Fuhrer and queen, and have children.

Though I may not seem like it, I've always wanted a child. Someone to take after me, someone who will forever look up to me.

A child of my own.

That dream is long gone now. The only one suitable to have my children is Riza. And she's gone.

And she's never coming back.