* J *

Part Twenty-Five: Chapter 187: The Oscars

Beep.....Beep.....Beep.....Beep.....Beep..... Harley sighs, she's so damn tired of that damn machine that constantly beeps, telling her each time the heart beats. The sound had become exhausting. When her Mistah J was hooked to it she couldn't stop listening for every beep. It had been a comfort to her, it told her he was still alive. But now the beep has no meaning and it was working on her nerves. It's time to get rid of that fucking machine.

Since Clayface arrived he's been on various things Ivy concocted to keep him sleeping. Today was the day that they would stop administering it to him. When he starts to wake Ivy will give him something to reduce his respiration and make his heart so faint that he would sound dead through a stethoscope. He will have to be buried alive, but Ivy assures him he will be just fine. Ace would be there to dig him up.

Then the hour came. Harley watched as Ivy injected the drug into the IV. She took a step back and waited. Within a few minutes the machine that beeped changed its intermittent beeping to one long, never ending, beeeeeeeeeeee...But the P never comes. Harley and Ivy look at one another. Now it was time to earn their Oscars.

Harley grips Clayface's hand, "Puddin?! Oh my god no!! Mistah J!! Red do sumthin!!" She acts panicked.

Ivy quickly leans over Clayface and sticks a stethoscope to his chest. She repositioned it several times. She really couldn't find a heartbeat. She could neither see or hear his breathing. Jason could try to find a pulse, but there was no way he could.

"Oh puddin!" Harley cries out and throws herself over Clayface and sobs.

Ivy rushes from the room. She knocks on the office door, knowing Jason was inside. When he opens the door he finds Ivy crying. Jason can tell by her appearance that J was gone. He finds himself swallowing hard. His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"J?" He asks softly.

Ivy nods as she wipes a tear off her cheek. Jason pushes past her and goes to the bedroom. The machine was still giving its constant beeeeeee... Harley sobbed loudly as she held on to the body. Jason hesitated in the doorway as he realized what the noise meant. He watches Harley's genuine display of affection and loss. For a second he finds himself thinking that she would never feel like that for him. But he pushes the thought aside. He'd find a way to make her.

Jason slowly approaches the bed. He stands over his brother, looking down at him. There was still so much he wanted to learn from J. But now he couldn't. A part of him wished that they could have spent more time together before he died. He still had so many questions.

At least it was all over now. Waiting for someone to die is a tedious and stressful vigil that you usually hope doesn't end. Every minute becomes a blessing. Every day a miracle. You don't want to sleep because you didn't want to miss a second. And that's because you know that that inevitable end is near. You address everything you wished you could have told them. You expire every happy moment you ever shared. Then you think of every cross word, everything you hated about them, because you hope being angry with them would make it hurt less when they're gone. Then you do it all over again.

Behind all the regrets, aside from any anger, beyond the pain, there was a feeling of relief. It was over now. Their pain was over, even though yours had just begun. Sometimes that's a peaceful enough way to look at it. It was part of the circle of life. It was just the way things worked. With time the pain can turn into cherished memories. But, some cases are different. Sometimes you never get over the pain. You can't let them go. You can't move on. You just want to join them.

Jason reaches out and rubs Harley's back. In this situation he understands that her reaction is warranted. She loved J. She was his wife. It's only right that he tries to condone her. J was gone. He was out of the picture. The grieving widow was now his wife. His to love, cherish, and protect. He would learn how to make her happy. She would learn to love him. That happened a lot in arranged marriages. This was definitely one of those.