Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

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MickLifeCrisis
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Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Disclaimer: I don't own Moonlight, its characters, or any of its dialog.
Rated: G
A/N: I've been wanting to write a new story for some time, but nothing came to me. Not a new MickBeth; not a way to get a partially written BJ story out of the mud its been stuck in for a couple of years; nothing. Until Josef came along and started poking me. And not just any Josef. Noooo, Mushy Josef. Poke, poke, poke. He wanted this story told.

Many thanks to PNWgal for the suggestions and checking it over for me. Love ya! :flowers:

This loosely follows Love Letter to Sarah.



Sarah’s Gift


“Eight ball in the corner pocket,” Mick said as he looked down the length of his cue.

“Fifty bucks says you miss,” Josef said as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his money clip. He peeled off a fifty dollar bill and laid it on the edge of the pool table.

Mick stood back up without taking his shot. “I’ll see that bet,” he said as he reached for his wallet. “Is that a new ringtone for you?” he added as the notes of “New York, New York” played from Josef’s pocket. “I haven’t heard that one before.” Mick looked up as he placed his own fifty on top of the other one. “Josef? Aren’t you going to answer that?”

Josef, looking paler than usual, stared at his phone. Then he stared at Mick. “Josef? What is it? What’s the matter?” Mick was truly concerned.

Josef swallowed and finally answered his phone. “This is Josef,” he said, with a crack in his voice. “What? What kinds of signs? Are you sure? I’ll be there as fast as I can.” He pocketed his phone and turned to Mick. “Take the money; I gotta go.” He turned on his heel and raced from the room.

“Josef? JOSEF!!” Mick yelled, running after him. “Wait a minute. Tell me what’s happened!”

“It’s Sarah. Something’s happening.”

“Is she waking up?”

“I – I don’t know. Polly said she’s… she’s showing signs of… of aging.”

“Aging? How? What does it mean?”

“I DON’T KNOW! Look Mick, I have to get to New York as fast as possible. Show yourself out.”

“I’m coming with you. Just let me call Beth…”

“No. Look, Mick, thanks and all, but I need to do this alone.” And he was out the door.


MLMLMLMLML


Josef paused outside Sarah’s bedroom at the Waverly Place townhouse. Afraid to open the door. Afraid of what he might find. What he might see. This is crazy, he thought to himself. I don’t get scared; I’m a vampire. I’m powerful. There can’t be anything in that room to frighten me. He slowly pushed open the door.

At first glance, everything looked the same as usual. Polly stood up from the side of the bed and came across the room to meet him. They walked back to the bed together, talking softly.

“Is she awake? Have there been any more changes?”

“No, Mr. Kostan, she’s still unconscious. But there have been changes since I called you. Notice her hair? It’s turning gray. It was just a few strands here and there before, but now it’s very noticeable.”

Josef gazed down at Sarah and thought she looked just as beautiful with gray hair. No, not gray. Not dull. It’s actually more of a silver. Shiny. Pretty. He had to chuckle that his best description was ‘silver.’

“Thank you, Polly. I’ll sit with her now.”

“Of course, Mr. K. I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

“Thank you,” Josef replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Sarah, but Polly had already closed the door softly behind her.

Josef lovingly stroked Sarah’s hair. He noticed some wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said softly. “It’s Charles. I’m here, darling, with you.” He picked up her hand and held it; it felt warmer than he remembered. “Can you hear me? Are you in there? It’s safe to come back. I’m right here.” He dropped her hand and reached into his pocket for the velvet pouch he had brought with him. “I brought your necklace – the locket. I’m going to put it on you.”

Tipping the necklace into his palm, he set the pouch on the nightstand. He reached around Sarah’s neck and fastened the chain. Settling back, he arranged the locket just so, and picked up her hand again. “There. It’s just the way you like it.” He stared at her hand in his, his mouth gaping. He had felt just the tiniest of squeezes. He was sure.

“Sarah? Sarah, can you hear me?” Josef started to sound panicked. “It’s Charles. Come back to me, please? It’s okay – I’m here with you. Sarah?” Another faint squeeze and - Josef couldn’t believe it – her eyelids fluttered. “Sarah!” he cried again. He stroked her face. “C’mon, Sarah. You can do it! Please!”

Sarah tried to open her eyes, but squinted with pain. “Damn,” Josef muttered and quickly turned off the bedside lamp. “There, the light is off. Try again, Sarah.” She tried again, tentatively. And for the first time in over 55 years, she stared into her lover’s eyes.

Josef had tears running down his cheeks. He didn’t even care. He didn’t try to wipe them away, because he didn’t want to let go of her. “Sarah,” he whispered. “My darling, you’ve come back to me.” He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them tenderly.

“Charles,” she said, though her voice sounded weak and hoarse. “Charles, it’s really you.”

“Yes, it’s really me.”

“It – it didn’t work, did it?”

Josef couldn’t stop the tears. “No, my darling, it didn’t. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” He stroked her cheek with one hand, holding her hand as tightly as he dared with his other. “Can you sit up?” She nodded and Josef carefully helped her to sit up a little bit, stuffing more pillows behind her. She looked around the room and then back at Josef.

“It’s been a long time.” A statement, not a question.

Oh god, no, please no. Don’t tell me she’s been aware of the passage of time. Not lying there, for years, for decades… “Yes, it has been. Do you… did you…” He couldn’t find the words. “Could you tell? Do you know, really? What… what was…”

She smiled at him. “No, I don’t know, not really.” Her voice was getting stronger. “It was like sleeping; a very peaceful sleep. And every so often I would dream that you were here, next to me. I could hear your voice. You were reading to me. I don’t remember what you said, but I remember it made me happy. Did that really happen?”

“Yes, it really happened.”

“And then I would drift away again, until I heard your voice the next time. It could have been hours, or days or years. But something, something tells me it went on a long time, though it never really felt that way while I slept.”

“I wrote you love letters, Sarah. Every Valentine’s Day. And I read them to you.”

“Did you really? How sweet! How many?”

He pulled open the drawer in the nightstand and pulled out several stacks of envelopes, each stack tied with a red satin ribbon. “This many,” Josef replied as he choked back a sob. “Fifty-five years.”

Sarah gasped. “Oh my! Oh, oh, my!” With tears in her eyes, she stared at Josef and reached up to wipe his cheeks. When she saw her hand, she gasped again. “My hand! What’s happened?” She looked at both of her hands, turning them over, back and forth. “What’s the matter with my hands? They’re all wrinkly!”

Josef reached for them again and held them both in his own. “Sarah, sweetheart, while you were, asleep, you were, how can I explain this. You were caught in the middle, between human and vampire. You remained as you were when I tried to turn you. But,” Josef paused to compose himself. “But when you began to wake up, you started – you started to age. You are becoming a human woman. A 76 year-old human woman.”

“Seventy-six?” Sarah broke down in sobs, and Josef drew her into his arms.

“And you are still just as beautiful to me as the day we met,” he whispered into her ear. He held her for several minutes, until the sobs subsided.

“And you looked after me, all this time? Why didn’t you just, just…”

Josef pushed her away so he could see her face. “Of course I did! I have never stopped loving you, Sarah.” He hung his head. “I will admit, that after several years, I – forgive me - I did move away. I couldn’t bear to keep seeing you like this. I would come a few times a year to see you. I kept hoping that someday, something - medicine, technology, a miracle – something would bring you back to me.” He climbed up next to her on the bed and drew her into his arms once again. He laid his cheek on top of her now white hair, and they sat there in silence, just holding on to each other.

“Sarah,” Josef spoke at last. “What changed? What happened? What made you decide, if in fact it was a choice, to come back?”

“I can’t really describe it. Something pulled at me. Somehow I knew that if I went along, I would wake up. But if I let it pass me by, I wouldn’t have another chance. I would remain in that peaceful oblivion. I don’t know how I knew that; I just did. And I chose to go along, no matter what happened, hoping you would be here.”

“I’m so glad you chose to come back. I love you so much! I always have and I always will.” He turned her face towards his and kissed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips were still just as sweet – age couldn’t change that. “You have given me such a gift, Sarah. A chance to hold you once more. To kiss you once more. To tell you again how much I love you.” And… to tell you good-bye, Josef thought to himself. “Thank you for coming back to me.”

“Thank you, Charles.”

“For what? I failed you.”

“No! Don’t say that! I begged you to turn me; we both knew the risks. Thank you…thank you for loving me enough to take the chance. For staying with me all these years, near or far. I love you.” They kissed again. “Charles?”

“Yes?”

“Would you read me the letters?”

“Now?” Josef could tell that Sarah’s heartbeat was starting to slow down.

“Yes, please,” she answered. Josef reached for the bundles of letters as Sarah snuggled into his side. He untied the ribbon of the earliest bundle, and began to read.

“February 14, 1956. My dearest Sarah,” he began.

When he reached for the last letter, Sarah’s breathing had become very shallow. He knew it wouldn’t be long, now. “With all my love forever, Charles,” Josef finished. But he knew Sarah hadn’t heard him; she was gone. He kissed the top of her head, whispering into her hair. “Good-bye, my darling Sarah,” as the tears ran down his cheeks.


MLMLMLMLML


Josef remained on the bed holding Sarah and cried until the tears would no longer come. Even then he still held her, reluctant to let go. Now that his hope was gone, her body was all he had left. He heard the door softly open and close, but didn’t turn to look. He knew it was Polly.

“Mr. Kostan,” she said as gently as she could. He looked up at her. “Mr. K, it’s time. You need to let her go now.”

Josef nodded. He gave Sarah one more kiss on the top of her head, and arose off the bed. Without looking back, he walked across the room, opened the door, and walked out into the hall to find Mick and Beth waiting for him.

Mick stood up. “Josef, I’m…”

But before he could say another word, Beth flew to Josef and hugged him. And for once, Josef didn’t resist.


The End
Last edited by MickLifeCrisis on Mon Nov 20, 2017 3:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tigerpass
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by tigerpass »

Great to see a new story. Glad Josef gave you a little nudge!
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by Moonlightsonata »

Thank you so much for your story. I really enjoyed reading it although it was sad at the end, but at least Josef had one final opportunity with his loved one. Thank you again.
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

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Thank you for reading and commenting, tigerpass and Moonlightsonata! :ghug:

Glad you enjoyed it, even if it was a little sad. :bmoon:

:thanks:
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by Ella713 »

Oh my stars! This story had me tearing up just reading it! How horrible Josef must have felt! :comfort2:
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

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Ella713 wrote:Oh my stars! This story had me tearing up just reading it! How horrible Josef must have felt! :comfort2:
Oh, I didn't think Josef felt horrible. He was saddened, yes. But I think he felt relieved, you know, that the wait was over. Year after year he went on, his life with Sarah in limbo. And while it didn't turn out like he hoped, at least it has reached a conclusion. She told him she wanted to come back, regardless of what would happen when she did. They were able to see one another one last time, and that's something.

Thanks for reading and commenting, Ella!

(And if it's any consolation, I teared up while writing it. And with every re-read.) :comfort:
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by allegrita »

Oh, honey, this is really wonderful. I'm very glad Josef and Sarah got to have a resolution, and the one you've given us is so special. I like to think of them having that last time together, to remind each other how much they loved each other and to say those words once again. :heart: :hug: And how wonderful to know that she felt him visiting her all those years she was in a coma.

What better way for her to go than to hear the words of love her Charles had written to her over the years, while being held safe in his arms. :cloud9: Yes, you made me cry, but they were definitely sweet tears. :rose: Thank you for this story! :rose:
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Re: Sarah's Gift (G) One-shot

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Resolution! That was the word I was looking for! It fits better than "conclusion." :slaphead:

Thanks for reading and commenting, Alle. :comfort2: :flowers:
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