due South snippet: "Waiting"

[luzula]

Title: Waiting
Pairing: F/K
Rating: R
Length: 296 words
Prompt: smooth
Summary: There was nothing to do but wait, now.
Warning: Angst. Character turning into zombie.
Notes: This is for akamine_chan, for obvious reasons (namely, her fascination with zombies). Thanks to keerawa for beta reading. The poem quoted is November, by Walter de la Mare.


Fraser turned the key on the handcuffs that held him to the sturdy frame of the bed, then threw the keys into the living room.

The cuffs were cold and smooth against his wrists. Nothing to do but wait, now.

There was a letter on the table for Ray, in case Fraser couldn't speak by the time Ray came back. Fraser didn't know how quickly the symptoms would progress.

If they would--he wasn't sure, yet. If he had been, he would've shot himself with his service revolver.

She had looked so young, and he'd thought she was lost. He'd looked up from his wood-chopping, to tell her the way to town.

She'd struck, fast as a coiled snake. A struggle, her clinging arms, the axe falling. She lay still.

Afterwards, he could see her grey-tinged skin, the crusted blood around her mouth, and the damage the axe had done. It took away one's mind, he knew that, and she hadn't been human anymore. Still, nausea rose in him. In the letter, he'd asked Ray to bury her body.

Fraser looked at the bite marks on his arm--deep, but not quite enough to draw blood.

The light had moved minutely over the bedroom floor. Why hadn't he put a book within reach before throwing the keys away? With his feet, he managed to fetch the poetry book on the bedside table.

He read, and waited for time to pass.

There is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was.

Fraser blinked, losing the thread of the words. He tried to focus.

Nought warm where your hand was.

Soon, the letters were only black squiggles on the page, and he couldn't make sense of them. Fraser slowly put the book down.

Silence where hope was.

For now, please comment at the LJ entry.

Comments

[mizface.livejournal.com]

What really breaks my heart in this is that Fraser losing the ability to read is how we see the symptoms progress. That was just brilliant.

And that he's alone just tears at me too.

This is gorgeous, start to finish, and so, so sad.

[luzula]

What really breaks my heart in this is that Fraser losing the ability to read is how we see the symptoms progress. That was just brilliant.

Thank you! That was the first part of the snippet that came to me, actually. And yeah, it was kind of heart-breaking for me, too.