A/N: Written for a mini fic prompt on Tumblr:#18 - you said when you were scared


Fear

As time wore on and Erik's strength waned, I came to dread any sign of illness. Each new ache or pain was cause for alarm. Every cough, an ill omen. He shrugged off his wife's overbearing attentions, quick to remind me that he had survived far worse than a head cold. Though he always meant it as a reassurance, there was bitter truth behind his teasing - I could recite the size and shape of his many scars from memory, and had wept to hear the tales he had told of their acquisition.

Still, I tried to take his words to heart. When Erik made mention of a slight fever, I demurred. Said nothing when he refused to join me for supper or complained about the heat of the fire from across the room. By the next morning, his burning body was wracked with chills and my mind with guilt, all of my pent-up worry rushing free in an overwhelming wave. Fetching a doctor was out of the question, so I did what I could - kept him cool with damp cloths, spoon-fed him the same herbal remedies I had used to soothe my father in his final days.

That night, exhausted, I joined my husband in the sweat-soaked sheets of our bed. There was nothing else to be done but wait and pray for the fever to break. When I awoke after a fitful sleep, it was with tears in my eyes, having dreamt that my worst fears had been realized. His thin frame was cool and still next to mine.

"What shall I do without you?" I sobbed into his chest, wringing his nightshirt in my fists and willing him to hear me. "I've forgotten how to be alone."

"As have I."

His voice was little more than a harsh rasp, but in that moment, it had never been more beautiful.