More Than That - Chapter 38: Love and Forgiveness (Gwen/Luis)
 by Jamie Witter
 
 

Chapter 38: Love And Forgiveness

Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
-- Robert Heinlein

“She’s doing better, I think.” Sheridan stood in the doorway with a tray of lemonade, hidden as she listened to, Julian, Ivy, Gwen and Ethan talking in the living room. Ivy was filling the latter two in on the Europe trip. “She had lots of energy and wanted to see everything just one la…just one last time.”

After what sounded to her like an uncomfortable pause, Julian cleared his throat and laid down the brutal truth. “What are you talking about, woman? She was miserable! It was plain as day. She was hurting beyond compare.”

Ivy huffed as Sheridan smiled ruefully at Julian’s bluntness. “Yes Julian, but I have something called tact. Gwen doesn’t need you to make her feel so bad.”

“No it’s okay,” Gwen protested meekly. “I’m fine.”

Rolling her eyes at the dysfunction, Sheridan clicked her heels purposefully against the floor to signal her guest of her arrival and then smiled brightly as she entered the living room. “Hope everyone’s thirsty.”

The other four turned and smiled brightly, Ethan immediately coming to her aid. “Let me get that for you.”

“You’re my guest, young man,” Sheridan chided. “I will serve my guests.”

She chatted with her guests on small, insignificant topics for fifteen minutes, Julian stood up and cleared his throat, sending Sheridan a knowing look. “Well we must be off, Sheridan dear. Ivy and I have to attend a gala at the Seascape.”

Ivy nodded eagerly. “Yes, I haven’t even decided what I am going to wear!”

Ethan stood up, made some excuse and then followed his mother and Julian out the door. Laughing Sheridan turned to Gwen. “Subtle, aren’t they?”

“Oh yes,” the brunette replied and placed her glass on the coffee table. “But I’m glad that they’re gone. I have things I need to say to you and I’d much rather do it privately.”

Sheridan nodded and the sat down on the couch next to her. “So would I.”

Gwen straightened her skirt and folded her hands on her lap nervously before she looked at her and cleared her throat. “I know you asked me not to say this, but I’ve been thinking about what else I could say after you called me two days go. And I couldn’t come up with anything else…well nothing else that didn’t sound like it in the end.”

“I know.”

“No,” she shook her head softly. “You don’t know because I’ve never said it to you face to face. I am so sorry. For lying to you, for causing you any pain – especially when you were going through something I couldn’t even begin to understand. But I didn’t mean to. It’s lame, I know but it’s true.”

Sheridan clasped her hand over her friends’. “Oh I know that, Gwen. If there’s anything I know, it’s that you can’t control who you fall in love with and blaming you for that would just be completely stupid of me. I know what it’s like to be in so deep that you don’t even realize it until it’s too late.”

“I shouldn’t have lied.”

“Yes, that you shouldn’t have done,” she answered with a regretful smile. “That’s what hurt me more than anything else. But you know if I was in your position…I probably would have done the same thing without realizing how much it would hurt you to not know the truth. You were being a friend and you wanted to shield me…I know that now. Thank you.”

Gwen smiled, tears in her eyes and then threw her arms around Sheridan, laughing and crying at the same time. “No – thank you. For just being so amazing.”

Sheridan laughed. “Well, that can’t be helped.”

The two women pulled apart and smiled, wounds healed and trust and friendship restored. Wiping away her tears, Gwen reached for the tray and started to stand up. “I’m going to go put this away. Then we can go out for dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sheridan agreed as Gwen walked into the kitchen.

Sheridan stood up and then immediately grabbed her head, a dizzying sensation running up her spine and shooting in her head. The front door opened and Ethan walked in. She faintly heard him talk about his keys over the pain.

“Sheridan?” he called out worried but she clutched her stomach and lost her footing. “Sheridan! Gwen, help!”

She heard the clicking of heels against the wood before everything went black.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“So this is your new home,” Theresa said as she looked around the apartment Luis had just moved into earlier in the day. “It’s nice. It just screams bachelor for life.”

Luis gave her a withering stare and then took a sip of beer and scanned his new apartment from the sofa that was situated in the middle. He had talked to the landlord and within hours had secured 5C above Antonio’s own place. Boxes were still strewn around the entire apartment but his family had gathered to visit. “It’s almost exactly like Tony’s. And he’s not a bachelor.”

“What?” Pilar asked, immediately interested. “Antonio, are you seeing someone?”

“Thank you very much, Luis,” Antonio said, looking uncomfortable as his sister and mother started to pester him. “Mama, it’s not big deal.”

“You only say that when it is a big deal,” Theresa reminded him. “We’re only asking for a name!”

“No, you see it starts with a name and then you’re suddenly planning my wedding.”

“Oh this is just great,” Luis muttered under his breath. “I’m moving to get away from my family and I can’t even do that right.” Then out loud he said, “look, I don’t think there’s a nice way of saying this – so I’m just gonna spit it out. Please get out of my apartment. I need to get unpacked and then head over to the station and with all of you here - ”

“It’s okay mijo,” Pilar stated with a loving smile. “We’ll go. But first, let me give you a housewarming gift.”

She handed him a box, wrapped in bright blue paper and he gave her kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mama.”

Quickly he tore the paper and then grinned. “A toaster.”

“I was thinking potpourri but I remember the last time we talked about potpourri. You got upset.”

When she laughed, he managed a tight smile as thought about the last time the subject of housewarming gifts was breached.

“I, um, I’m don’t live at the mansion anymore. Before I left last year, I bought an apartment not far from here.”

He didn’t know why she was telling him. “Really? Where?”

“Crystal Point Towers. Do you know where it is?” Luis nodded and looked at her for some type of understanding. Why was she telling him and why was she so flustered about it. “I just thought…I figured you might…you might want to know.”

“I think it’s a very independent move on your part,” Luis answered awkwardly. What else was he supposed to say? “Maybe I’ll drop by with a housewarming gift.”

She smiled and he was shocked by what he said. “That would be nice. Haven’t gotten around to decorating it much.”

After a few more teasing quips from Theresa, his family left and he started to unpack in hopes of getting his mind off of Gwen. The ringing of his cell phone jarred him out of chores and it took him some time to locate it amid the mess. “Detective Lopez Fitzgerald.”

“Luis,” Ethan sounded worried. “Sher’s in the hospital.”

“What?” he asked alarmed and immediately started to search for his keys.

“We brought her in about twenty minutes ago. She fainted. The doctors are running some tests on her. I think you should get here.”

He found the keys on the sofa and he headed out the door. “I’m on my way.”

He rushed to the hospital, dodging traffic, breaking speed limits and also cutting through one red light. A sick feeling spread through him and he forced himself not to think of anything negative for Sheridan’s sake.

This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening, he thought frantically. At an intersection he looked heavenward and murmured a fervent prayer. “Please, let her be okay.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“She’s doing better,” Eve said as she stepped out of Sheridan’s room at the hospital. Ivy let out a relieved sigh. “But we’re not out of the woods, yet. She’s still weak, her blood pressure is low and her heartbeat it weak. We’re keeping her here overnight.”

“That sounds…wrong,” Ethan protested. “She was doing fine this morning.”

“I know, Ethan.” The doctor looked at her chart and then pocketed her pen. “She’s resting right now but she asked to see all of you. I’m making an exception but I want it to be quick.”

Gwen followed Sheridan’s family into her room and let out a small gasp when she saw her best friend lying against the awful sheets, looking pale and weak, hooked up to an IV drip and a heart monitor that beeped incessantly above her.

“Hey,” Sheridan called to them weakly. “Please, come here. All of you”

“Sheridan dear,” Julian said as he reached for his sister’s hand. “Please rest. We can all talk later.”

“Julian,” she warned him. “Don’t control me. I have a few things to say so I won’t be quieted down. Ivy, Gwen please pull up a chair. This might take a while.”

Feeling weak in the knees, Gwen pulled a chair up next to Ethan and reached for Sheridan’s hand, smiling lovingly. “Just like you to want us all to drop everything for you, Princess.”

Sheridan managed a weak scoff. “I’m spoiled. Now, I know this might sound an awful lot like me saying goodbye. But I wanted to do this since I got back from Europe…I’ve been given a chance to so I’m not going to pass it up.”

Gwen felt her tears sting the back of her eyes as Ethan pushed a strand of hair away from Sheridan’s face. “What do you mean?”

“I can feel something…coming to me. It’s my time. It’s hard to explain.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Julian admonished.

“You’ve always said I had nine lives. They’re all up now. Please let me say what I want to.”

“Very well.”

“I’m going to give you some last free and valuable advice,” she replied firmly. She turned to her brother and touched his cheek with her hand. “Julian, thank you. For reaching out to me in time…even when you weren’t sure there was anything in our relationship left to salvage. I never thought I’d be able to say this to you again but I love you.”

Julian closed his eyes and then kissed the palm of his sister’s hand. “Oh dear. I love you, too.”

“Somewhere deep inside of you, there’s something that remained untouched and I know that with the right amount of courage and support you’ll be able to turn yourself into man I’ve known you could be ever since Mother died. Don’t let that part go to waste.”

“I’ll try. I promise.”

“And Ivy,” Sheridan stated with a small laugh. “You’ve been the one I could relate to, trust – since I was little. Take care of my brother for me. I know you see in him what I do and with your love…he can change. Love can’t be perfect and all we can hope for is something like it. Don’t let it go.”

A tear slid down Ivy’s cheek. “You’ve always been a wise woman, Sheridan.”

Slowly, Sheridan turned her head to the other side and looked at Ethan and Gwen. “And you two. My partners in crime. Ethan – I’ve always thought of you as family – as my nephew, my brother, my friend. I’d like to think that I somehow influenced you in becoming the man you are today.”

“It’s true,” he responded softly. “You’ve been one of the most important people in my life – sometimes the only person I felt was on my side.”

“I’ve felt the same. Remember that when something goes wrong, or you’re feeling sad or angry or upset…or just when you could use a friend. Talk to me. Wherever I am, I’ll answer,” she stated and then pulled his face closer to hers for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Before she could say anything else, the door opened and Eve walked in. “Sheridan, if you’re done talking to everyone else, then I suggest that they should leave. You need your rest.”

Reluctantly Julian, Ivy and Ethan started to walk out, but Sheridan held Gwen’s hand firmly in hers. When Gwen stared at her questioningly. “Just one more minute with Gwen. I wanted to talk to her.”

“But you should rest,” she started to protest as Eve nodded and left the room.

She ignored her. “You see I figured something else out. It’s amazing the perspective you get on life when death is staring you in the face.”

She coughed and when Gwen let go of her hand to get her some water, she waved it away.

“Just listen. I learned that love isn’t perfect and that you have to feel your way through it. And that loving someone means letting go and wanting to see them happy. And it also means forgiving them – no matter how difficult it is for you. What I am trying to say is that I love you.”

“I love you too,” Gwen choked out, understanding that this was Sheridan’s way of forgiving her with words. That this was her moment of redemption.

“Life is precious Gwen. Live it with all the passion and courage I know you have in you. Don’t let any moment pass, don’t let any opportunity drift by,” she stated and then looked at her, her voice becoming soft and weak but Gwen felt as if she were looking right into her soul. “And when you get the chance, say ‘I love you’ because if you don’t – it will just pass you by.”

And this was her way of saying it was okay. Accepting the blessing, Gwen nodded and looked down at their clasped hands.

Sheridan put her finger under Gwen’s chin and lifted her face up. “If there’s anyone I want Luis to spend the rest of his life with – it’s you.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against Sheridan’s hand. After a few minutes, she responded softly. “Thank you.”

Sheridan didn’t answer and let go of her hand. Gwen’s eyes shot open, startled and she saw her friend’s faraway expression. Sheridan looked at her, smiling a little before her eyes started to drop and her breathing became erratic. Panicking, Gwen stood up and opened her mouth to call for Eve when Sheridan let out a short breath, the heart monitor beeped …and then flat lined.

Gwen stood still, tears falling down her cheeks – trying to grasp the situation. She opened her mouth again, this time managing to let out a choked sob. Her knees gave way and she feel backwards, but instead of landing on the floor she felt two hands grab her elbows, steadying her.

Luis.

Without looking, she knew turned to him and hugged him, crying hysterically against his chest.

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