You Make Me Feel Alive , Again .

Chapter Twenty Four : Don't Go .

Fionna's Point of View

I really didn't mean to cause him to black out .. I just wanted him to leave me alone , I wasn't in the best mood to deal with anything at the time . I completely take responsibility for what just happened , I probably pushed him too far and he finally reached his limit ..

I really do feel guilty for causing all of this . All he ever did was take care of both Ariel and I after Marshall left , he literally took us under his wing ; and , this is how I repay him .. By putting him in the goddamn hospital !

Marshall and Ariel just got here from getting ice cream , and they immediately can tell something's wrong by the tears rolling down my cheeks . I never wanted Ariel to experience things like this at such a young age , that's why I always tried to be strong ; ever since she was born , I've been over-protective over her because I don't want anything bad to happen to her . I've been hiding her from real life , from real life problems and now when she's experiencing it , and I don't know how she's going to react ..

I can't even look into her eyes , I feel like she would just look right through me ; she knows me too damn well , and she can tell that I'm not okay . And , I'm sure she knows that this is about Gumball . " Mommy , where's daddy ? " She whimpers , looking around the room . She looks both broken and confused , which breaks my heart instantly ; I feel like I failed as a mother , as a friend , as everything . Ariel knows something is wrong with Gumball , and I can see tiny tears forming into her light blue eyes . She's barely cried before , and it pains me that she's crying right in front of us . " Mommy-- " She stops talking as she spots a room down the hall , the only room that's lit up from the inside . She quickly uses her vampire abilities to run fast down the hall , and starts banging on the door ; she knows Gumball is in there , and I can't do anything about it ; I'm so choked up that I can't even stop my own daughter .

" Daddy ! Please , open the door ! " She bangs both of her fists on the door , loud cries and screams coming out of her mouth . Marshall quickly runs after her , taking her into embrace ; I'm really glad he's taking care of her , because God knows that I can't even react right now . I'm in a state of shock , from everything that happened . The way Gumball fell to the ground , the way he started stuttering , the way he was shaking before he blacked out ; that version of him is stuck in my mind and I can't seem to get it out . " Marshy .. My daddy , he's-- " She starts crying into his chest . It's unbelievable that she cares so much about him , even though he's not her bilogical father . But , he's pretty damn close to being it ; he basically raised her with me . I just wish , she didn't have to witness all this pain .

After a few moments , the door opens and the nurse comes out . Ariel stops weeping and looks up , just like the rest of us . The nurse looks down at Ariel , and she immediately remembers her ; she was there when I had her , and she can tell that she's going through a lot of pain . " Hey , sweetheart . You can go in now " She watches Ariel run into the room , Marshall following her . I want to get up and go in there , too , but I don't know if Gumball wants to see me or even speak to me after what just happened ..

I slowly approach the door . As I walk in , my eyes immediately catch a glimpse of what Ariel is doing ; she's standing beside Gumball's bed , her hand wrapped around his . He's not awake , his eyes are closed and his breathing is very unstable . There are tears rolling down her cheeks , as she walks closer " Daddy , please don't go .. I need you here with me " She holds his hand tighter , afraid to let it go . I'm really hurting for her . She was never supposed to find out about this , she was never supposed to experience pain like this .. Maybe , I protected her too much , that's why she's reacting like this .. But at the same time , she has every right to be upset .

" Honey , come here " I softly say , opening my arms wide for her . She looks up at me with watery eyes , then she looks back at Gumball . She sighs as she comes into my embrace . Ariel , sweetheart .. I'm so sorry for being such a horrible mother . I hug her tight , kissing her forehead a few times . I feel a light squeeze on my shoulder from behind , I look up and see Marshall giving me a closed-mouth smile . I've been hard on him , too . He's really trying to make things right between us , between him and Ariel , between him and Gumball .. And , all I've been doing is pushing him away like I don't care about his existence .

I do still care about him , I feel like that's never going to change but I don't know how I feel romantically . He was the love of my life for a long time , before we had Ariel .. but all of that disappeared when he left . It's like , he took all them happy memories and good feelings away when he left . I am grateful that he came back into our lives , but I'm just not mentally okay .. I know I should let all of it go , move on and be happy with my daughter and Gumball .. but , there's this feeling deep inside of me that calls out to him , that has a tiny bit of hope left that he might still love me like he did before . But knowing him , he probably doesn't .

Gumball is a really amazing person , and I really can't thank him enough for everything he's done for us . He's been so helpful , he's been so kind to us , he basically took the position of being a father to Ariel after Marshall left . Not everybody does that , but he did ; because .. he loves me , and he loves Ariel . And , he also promised Marshall that nothing bad would happen to us after he left .. and he kept it , he really did .

I don't know what I would do if Gumball died because of him . Maybe it wasn't entirely my fault , but I was the think that ticked him off and due to that , he had a full on black out .. because of me . If he dies , I'm sure I would never forgive myself . And , I don't want Ariel to go through someone's death at such a young age . Come on Gumball , you have to keep fighting .. I'm not giving up on you that easily .

" How is he , doc ? " Marshall speaks up , breaking the killer silence between us . The doctor appears in the doorway , clipboard in hand . He sighs as he takes off his glasses and looks at us , then back at Gumball . He walks up to him , checks him pulse and checks a few other things .. then , he backs up and looks at us again . " Did you know he was taking energy pills and not sleeping " I gasped as soon as he said that .. I could've never imagined that Gumball was into some sort of drug . He slept sometimes beside me , but I hardly ever felt him beside him .. Was he working too much ? There are too many questions surrounding my head . " Due to too much stress at work and in his personal life , the pills and not sleeping .. all of that caused his body to overreact and shut down immediately . He'll live , but I don't know when he'll wake up " I sigh as I hear the expected news . I should've told him to slow down , he was always working and not ever taking a break .. He didn't like to show weakness , especially in front of Ariel . He may be was tired , but he always had energy to be with my daughter .

I can't help but to blame me for all of this .. I just really hope you wake up soon , Gumball .. can't you see that we need you here ?