Work Text:
Shhhh…
Sleep….
“Alianne? Where are you?” Heartman thought he saw her, out in the turbulent dark waters. He was already thigh deep in pursuit. “Where is Talia? Alianne!”
Water above his hips and cold, painfully cold, like knives in his flesh. And seemed to drag him further out.
Nicholas….
Heartman was crying. If only he could reach her. “Don’t leave without me!” Not again. Please. His chest ached with the loss and fear. He didn’t want to be alone.
Administering shock.
“Noooo!!” Heartman awoke sobbing. She was so close, had called out to him. His hands covered his face.
Maybe if he’d… extended his time on the Beach? Five minutes at a time? He could have reached her, by the time the shock came, he’d already be gone.
Tiny hands patted at Heartman’s arm, and on his AED. A happy giggle met his ears. Startled out of the state he was in, Heartman looked down at little Lou, sitting beside him where he’d laid himself on the floor.
Oh, that’s right… he’d laid down beside her before the timer ran out. She was looking at him with bright eyes and a wide open smile. She already had a tooth coming in, to the astonishment of all of her caregivers. She could sit up on her own, too, though she struggled to crawl even a little. Heartman turned on his side and continued to cry quietly as he let her grab his fingers in tiny hands.
“Thank you, little Lou. Sometimes you know just how to wake me up, so to speak.” She cooed at him and leaned forward, one hand extended to his face. She patted at his cheek, nose, glasses, and toppled forward and onto her side with a fit of giggles, no harm as the inflatable padded floor caught her gently. The gloom washed out of him as a smile pulled at his lips. How could he think of leaving behind this bright spark?
Heartman wiped away his tears and cleaned his glasses, and sat up. Sam must still be sleeping. It was time to feed Lou. “Are you hungry, little one?”
The responding enthusiasm of her pout and grabbing hands was answer enough. “Alright, then, feeding time it is.”
He moved his AED to fasten it on his belt, it was easier to carry her with it out of his way, and picked Lou up. She was still so small, they all worried about her muscle development, trying a variety of specially made formulas to help her build up healthy weight and bones.
Ten minutes until cardiac arrest.
As he settled on the couch, Lou drinking her formula and watching the snowfall outside his great windows, Heartman sighed and relaxed. This was what he needed, the simple task of caring for someone who needed him.
Lou always wanted to drink her formula quickly, but he tried to pace her, to keep her from making herself sick. And he talked to her quietly, mostly ramblings about art history or weather patterns and how they changed from the old world, what he could remember of space, the stars and planets. She drifted off to sleep moments after she was done with her bottle.
Two minutes until cardiac arrest.
Heartman got up quickly but carefully and took her to the bassinet he kept by his chair for this very thing. She slept on as he laid her down, only stirring enough to stretch out in the space.
He settled in his chair at the one minute mark and watched her until the last second.
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Shhhhh…..