bookblather: Jared Harris staring at the camera. (in the heart : henrik : jared harris)
bookblather ([personal profile] bookblather) wrote in [community profile] rainbowfic2012-04-11 01:41 pm

Daffodil 8, Fuzzy Wuzzy 2, Blush 9: Heartbeat

Author: Kat
Title: Heartbeat
Story: In the Heart
Colors: Daffodil 8 (young love), fuzzy wuzzy 2 (sleep cute) with shadowsong's paint-by-numbers (i wake up the morning after our first time and see you and smile), blush 9 (hearing your heartbeat) with Isana's paint-by-numbers (Henrik and Thea Warmind, from beginning to end.).
Supplies and Materials: Canvas (the first four), photography, miniature collection, feathers (your character is abruptly seperated from someone s/he cares for), modeling clay (strong), seed beads (Lars's parents).
Word Count: 505
Rating: PG.
Summary: Henrik and Thea, to the end.
Warnings: death from cancer
Notes: Isana's fault.


1)

She'd taken his hand outside the restaurant, and hadn't let go once on the long walk to the bus stop. It might have been clingy, on a first date, but she didn't even seem to notice that she'd done it.

Anyway, holding Thea's hand felt comfortable, and right in a way Henrik hadn't experienced before. Their hands just seemed to fit, Thea's smaller fingers sliding neatly between his, her palm flat against his, the pulse in her wrist a gentle rhythm against the heel of his hand.

He slid his thumb along hers, just for the sake of her skin.


2)

Thea was sprawled across him when he woke, the taste of her still in his mouth. He'd been a little afraid that she'd be gone when he woke, only that taste to remind him what had happened, but she was still there, her heartbeat fluttering against his tongue when he bent to kiss her neck.

Last night had been amazing-- her lips, her hands, her thighs, the sharp, sour-sweet taste of her as she tensed and cried out under his mouth. He'd be happy if he never tasted anything else in his life.

She stirred above him, and he smiled.


3)

He listened to Thea's belly for hours on end, straining to hear the baby's heartbeat. He'd heard it once in the doctor's office, standing awed above his wife as the beat sounded in his ears through the stethescope, and he was determined now to hear it for himself.

He never did hear it. He heard Thea's heartbeat, all the time, and he heard the baby moving-- he got kicked in the ear too many times to count. But he kept trying, right up until the day their daughter was born.

Thea laughed at him, but she always let him try.


4)

Henrik hated the scent of hospitals.

His sister Mathilda had been in one, long ago, when she had appendicitis. The smell hadn't changed since then-- the antiseptic burn in his nostrils, the scent of dying flowers, rubber, and chemicals. In Thea's ward it smelled of sickness, talcum powder and vomit.

He didn't have to be there. He could have stayed at home, caring for their children and waiting for the call to come get Thea. But he'd never left her before-- he wasn't about to leave her now.

He kept his hand on the pulse in her wrist, and waited.


5)

She was dying. Thea was dying.

He'd tried so hard not to believe it. She meant so much to him that she couldn't possibly be dying. It was his heart beating strong in her chest, propelling the spikes and sharp beeps of the EKG meter. His heart would keep her going.

Except she was dying, a little more each day. He could hear the EKG meter going slower and slower, his pulse keeping time in sympathy. He could hear her raspy struggles for breath get harder and harder.

She was dying, and there was nothing he could do to save her.


6)

It's just his heart now.
leia_solo: (anne h)

[personal profile] leia_solo 2012-04-12 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my heart. The end is just so sad.
settecorvi: (Default)

[personal profile] settecorvi 2012-04-12 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
So I'll blame
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<user=isana>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

So I'll blame <user=isana> for the tears, then? Or do you want to claim my delicious grief?

I adored the connecting thread of pulse in the strict drabble setting, until it cuts off abruptly in the sixth bit. There's no description of life there, just a heartbeat, and the starkness underlines his loss.
isana: Allesoma (allesoma)

[personal profile] isana 2012-04-12 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, I love tears. They're so good for flavor, don'cha know. XD

settecorvi: (Default)

[personal profile] settecorvi 2012-04-13 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
Better than sea salt! :p
isana: (lanterns)

[personal profile] isana 2012-04-12 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I ACCEPT BLAME AND REGRET NOTHING. NOTHING.

Just, how the heartbeats and the hand-holding and how it all connects, and how Henrik and Thea are in love from beginning to end. Such a strong and deep love.
kay_brooke: Stick drawing of a linked adenine and thymine molecule with text "DNA: my OTP" (Default)

[personal profile] kay_brooke 2012-04-12 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
This is sad, but the last line brought actual tears. It's like a sudden punch to the gut. Very effective!
sarcasticsra: A picture of a rat snuggling a teeny teddy bear. (Default)

[personal profile] sarcasticsra 2012-04-12 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, god, sweet to heartbreaking in seconds flat. This is lovely, but ow, that last one. Great job.
dark_kana: (Books)

[personal profile] dark_kana 2012-04-13 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
Oh gosh! This is just so sad and heartbreaking and they love each other so much and it was so bittersweet and ... *brushes away some tears*
shipwreck_light: (Default)

[personal profile] shipwreck_light 2012-04-14 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
Besides stabbing most of RBF in the hearts over the past few nights, you really brought home the hospital smell.

And the little baby ear kicks.

And the EKG getting slower and quieter and... oh.

Lovely job.
clare_dragonfly: woman with green feathery wings, text: stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories (Silly: kissing book)

[personal profile] clare_dragonfly 2012-04-15 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Curse you, then, [personal profile] isana! Because that was so sweet and sad and heartbreaking.
clare_dragonfly: woman with green feathery wings, text: stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories (Default)

[personal profile] clare_dragonfly 2013-03-20 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
::checks entry date:: It really did take you almost a year! XD That's quite all right.