One Heart

Brian's POV

At first I thought everything was fine, but as soon as the last verse played out I realised Nathalie's arm was slipping from my shoulder, her legs no longer moving in time with mine. As soon as the music ended her body just seemed to completely give way, my arms the only thing now holding her up. I shook her gently but she gave no response and it was right then, at that moment, that I knew something was wrong.

Someone was shouting in the background but I didn't take any notice as I laid Nathalie down, her head resting upon my knees as I pushed back the hair that had fallen out from her chosen style. “Nathalie? Baby please don't leave me now.”

“Brian, what the hell is going on?” Chloe asked frantically, dropping in front of me and taking her friend's hand in hers. Her voice grew higher as she continued. “Why is she like this? What's wrong with her?”

“Mummy?” Rae appeared next to her, her eyes widening from naivety as she looked from Nathalie's still body to my eyes. “Is mummy sleeping?”

Behind Chloe, Val gasped, who quickly turned to Matt and shook his arm urgently. “Quick, call an ambulance!” She then turned to the side, addressing someone else. “Take Rae and Mickey outside.”

The two kids were soon whisked away by Sophie and Alex, with Rae's confused expression the last thing I saw before I turned away and buried my face in Nathalie's hair, asking her to wake up. Matt walked over a few minutes later, squeezing my shoulder. “They'll be here soon, she'll be alright.”

True to his word a short time later the sirens screamed in the background with the paramedics pushing their way through the crowds circled around us. I barely even registered that they were trying to look Nathalie over despite holding her in my arms, pressing her against my chest as I subconsciously rocked, praying that she would wake up.

“Sir, we need you to let go,” the paramedic in front of me said.

“No.”

“Sir, we really need-”

“NO!” I yelled, clutching Nathalie's body closer to me. “You can't take her away from me!” My voice dropped to a broken whisper. “No one can. No one can.”

For a few moments they looked between each other, obviously wondering what to do, when something tugged at both of my arms, forcing my grip to loosen on her and watch as she rolled off me to the floor. I screamed at whoever was holding me back, struggling with every bit of strength I had to try and get to Nathalie as they piled her onto a stretcher, stretching an oxygen mask over her face and began to wheel her away to the exit. Chloe and Matt (Tuck) followed it out of the Club and got into the back of the ambulance with her, a place I should have had.

As soon as they were gone I wrenched my arms out of the steel grips on either side, turning to see who it was that prevented from going with my bride. One of them was Matt. The other shocked me.

“How could you?” I whispered, locking upon Jimmy as he backed away. “How the fuck could you do that to me?”

He held his hands up; a classical defensive pose. “Brian..I...”

Friend or not, right now, I didn't care. I slammed him into the wall, holding him in place with my hand on his throat. “How could you fucking hold me back? How could you stop me from going with her?”

“She needed to get to a hospital,” Jimmy choked out, his hands scrambling to try and dislodge my grip on his neck. Not that it would do anything. “Brian, you're choking me!”

“Like fuck I care,” I growled. “You deserve to-” Like before something hauled me backwards, but this time I was picked up from the waist, unable to do anything. “Get the fuck off me Matt!”

“Not until you calm down.” This statement was reinforced by his arms locking tighter around me. “Then I can take you up to the hospital.”

Knowing that there was no other way to get Matt off me other than to do what he said. After he was sure that I wasn't going to lash out again, he let go. This didn't stop me from glaring at Jimmy as he rubbed his neck.

I repeated my question. Calmly. “How could you do that to me?”

“Do what?”

I took a deep breath. Remain calm. Repeated myself. “How could you do that to me?”

Jimmy looked confused. “Do what?”

That was it. Fuck being calm.

I lunged for him again, but Matt caught me in mid-jump. Instead of putting my energy into breaking free, I used it to scream at him instead. “YOU FUCKING KNEW WHAT WAS WRONG WITH NATHALIE! YOU KNOW SHE HASN'T GOT LONG LEFT AND YET YOU STILL FUCKING STOPPED ME FROM BEING WITH HER!”

Everyone was shocked. Even Matt loosened his grip on me, his gaze snapping to Jimmy. “You knew this was going to happen?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I did but I didn't know what would happen today.”

Jimmy's back slammed against the wall again as I took advantage of the lax in grip, not bothering to speak as Matt took over that duty for me. “How the could you keep something like that from us?”

“She... she told me to.”

“Nathalie wouldn’t keep something like this from us.”

“Brian.” His eyes sought out mine, pleading with me. “You know she did. You didn't tell them either.”

“It wasn't like it mattered-”

“Just fucking stop it!” Val said shrilly, glaring at the three of us. “Brian, let Jimmy go.” It wasn’t like I wanted to but I reluctantly let go at her request, allowing Leana to run to his side and check him over. Val then turned to me. “Stop acting like a fucking idiot and get to that hospital. Nathalie needs you, so stop wasting time fucking around. Sort your differences out later, when she is alright. Here.” She tossed a set of keys at me. “Looks like your wedding present came in use after all. It's from all of us.”

I examined the keys, turning them over and laughing quietly at the insignia there. “You got us a Veyron.”

Val smiled. “The second time it is driven, it will be Nathalie beside you.”

–

With the wedding cut short everyone (except Sophie who took the kids home) piled into cars and followed me up to the hospital, although they did have a hard time keeping up with the speeding machine I was driving. I couldn't park close to the front so I ended up sprinting the rest of the distance, reaching Nathalie's room a good twenty minutes before any of the others showed up, including the time I used asking a nurse for directions to her room.

Chloe and Matt were already there looking into the room, watching as a few doctors and nurses fretted around her bedside. She was still in her wedding dress; still my perfect angel.

“They said something about her breathing,” Chloe murmured, her cheeks stained with tears. She turned to me, her voice breaking. “What's wrong with her?”

I didn’t have the heart to lie. Not now.

“She's got cancer.”

She wasn't expecting that one. “Cancer?! When? How?”

“Ever since she returned; probably some time before that. It's why she came back,” I replied, not taking my eyes off Nathalie. “She wanted to make sure that Rae didn't have to live without both parents.”

“All this time and she didn't tell me,” she whispered, speaking more to herself than either Matt or myself. “Why didn't she say anything?”

“She didn't want you to worry,” Matt replied, both of us turning to him. “This is the sort of thing Nathalie would do. She would rather die quietly to ease our pain than voice it and see everyone worry about the last remaining days she had. Especially not when telling everyone would ruin her own wedding day.”

“And yet despite it all, she lays here on her wedding day even with all her hard work,” I bitterly stated. “It's not fair.”

The group of doctors and nurses walked out then with one staying behind, looking between the three of us. “Are you family of Miss. Taylor?”

“Mrs. Haner,” I corrected, stepping forward. “We got married a few hours ago.”

“Right, my apologies,” the doctor replied, realising our outfits were not merely costume. “And these are..?”

“Matt, her cousin and Chloe, her half-sister,” I lied, knowing that no one other than family gets into a patient's room in a critical situation like this. It wasn't that unbelievable. “Please, is she alright?”

The doctor sighed. “Her breathing is very erratic and she is showing advance signs of body deterioration due to the leukaemia spreading. It is extremely aggressive but we are trying as hard as we can.”

“Can I... can I see her?”

They nodded, offering a small smile. “She is conscious, but she may or may not respond to you or even know who you are.” Approaching me, they placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Make this time count.”

They left soon after, allowing me to gingerly walk into the room, trying to disguise the growing fear inside me as I sat in the chair to the side of the bed, holding her hand in both of mine. “Hey babe. Remember me?”

For a moment I was scared that she didn't know who I was; her head rolled slowly to the side and her brow furrowed as she looked at me. Then she smiled. “How could I forget the man I married?”

Chloe and Matt walked in next, standing at the end of the bed, acting as if they shouldn't be here. Nat soon picked up on this, asking me to help her sit upright in bed after finding she no longer had the strength. She was a former shell of the burning light she used to be, and it made be ache inside.

“Chloe, Matt, stop standing there looking like a bunch of lemons,” she said. “I'm not going to break just because you might feel the urge to sneeze.”

Chloe held a small smile as she edged to her side, sitting on the edge of the bed while Matt took it upon himself to sit on the windowsill. “Sorry Nat. Just a bit shocked that's all.”

She raised an eyebrow at the comment. “Well if there is anything I can do to help you overcome this then just let me know.” She pointed to the oxygen mask next to the pillow, obviously from where she had taken it off herself, probably against the doctor's wishes. “Always got the oxygen if you feel you can't breathe.”

“How can you sit there and smile, pretending everything is alright?” Chloe murmured, her gaze fixated upon her hands.

“Because pretending is the only thing I have left.” She sighed. “Where are the others?”

“Knock knock,” Jimmy said as he knocked on the door at the same time. He crossed the room but tactfully decided to sit upon the opposite side of Nathalie to me. God knows what I would do to him if he had the audacity to come near me any time soon. The others soon followed as Alex waited outside, talking to the doctor. “How are you?”

“I'm alright. Would prefer to get out of this frilly wedding dress though as it is quite hot,” Nathalie answered, “but I guess I'll live.” She laughed to herself, adding, “Somewhat.” After realising that we didn't feel comfortable with this humour, she sighed again. “Could we at least try not to make me feel like I am about to die any second now? If you wouldn't mind, that is. Of course if you feel you cannot, then I completely understand.”

Everyone’s gazes disappeared from hers at that very moment, almost as if we couldn’t help but make her feel that way. It was a few moments after this that Chloe spoke up again, a part of her previously bubbly self breaking through her sombre exterior. “Hey Nat?”

She turned to Chloe. “Yes?”

Chloe grinned. “You are so lucky you chose me as your maid of honour.”