Shield - A New Species Fanfiction (Wild at Heart Chronicles, Book 1)

Chapter 32

          

CHAPTER 32

Paige trembled as her fingers struck the chords of her guitar once more, searching desperately for the right note, but each time they did a sob racked her entire frame with so much force she was certain any moment her legs would buckle and she'd collapse to the floor.

She couldn't play.

She couldn't sing.

This was the only thing her mother wanted, yet her stupid fingers refused to cooperate and the knot inside her throat had taken her voice prisoner.

Standing five feet from the foot of the bed, Paige couldn't summon the strength to grant Natasha Delaney's last wish.

They'd placed her in the same hospital room as the night the NSO rescued them from the testing facility, although neither Justice nor Darkness remained after Paige arrived. Natasha was hooked to a respirator, looking small and frail amidst the surplus of pillows at her back, her eyes gazing toward the window which Paige had opened at her request.  A cool breeze ruffled the curtains, filling the room with the scent of maple and fresh soil. Above, the sky was slowly turning from a deep indigo to a soft robin's egg blue, tinged with hues of orange and pink.

Beneath that, an endless forest.

A breathtaking sight.

And one her mother would never gaze upon with her again after today.

As the realization struck her, Paige dropped the guitar, where it clattered on the floor before she burst into tears. She heard voices murmur out in the corridor beyond the closed door, among them Shield's anxious growl and Bishop's snarled response.

"On your feet, baby girl."

Paige stilled at her command, not a harsh whisper but more of a soft reproach.  Lifting her head, she ignored the voices and focused only on her mother. Her eyes widened when Natasha lifted her hand to remove the oxygen mask.

"Mom, don't—"

"Hush, Paige," she said, dropping the mask on the bed. "I want to enjoy my concert without this stupid thing on my face."

Paige scrambled to her feet, feeling a surge of panic. She shook her head, more tears spilling from her eyes and croaked, "I can't."

Natasha held her gaze for a beat.

Then, something happened.

It began with a hum, the sound of her mother's voice so low Paige almost missed it. She concentrated on her lips at first, then on the words. Finally, she closed her eyes as Natasha Delaney delivered a solo of her own, the lyrics to Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart" filling the silence between them.

Filling a hollow so deep, Paige felt the knot inside her throat disappear.

Still, she withheld her voice.

With Natasha taking the stage, it wasn't necessary.

Picking her guitar from the floor, her fingers no longer trembling, Paige strummed the chords with ease this time and committed the moment to memory, locking it away in a corner of her heart until the end of her days.

A sky filled with color.

An interminable forest.

And a mother's last farewell to her baby girl.

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Author's Note: Yes, I cried while writing this chapter. Natasha was an awesome character, and I actually didn't think she'd make it all the way until the end.