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It had been several days since Lynda had brought up an injury that had been bothering her, which was pain in her chest. At the time, her husband, Strip Weathers, didn’t think much of it and neither did she. But, as it got worse day by day, he had decided to go with her to get it looked at.
It was so much worse than he initially thought. As time went by in the hospital, they wanted Lynda to stay for a few days so they could monitor her and see how she was doing as the days passed.
This led to Strip occasionally visiting her, excited to see her and happy to be around her again after many restless nights. To be quite frank, he couldn’t stand waking up to the bed being colder than his own body temperature, he felt the absence that she left him with as she was in the hospital’s care. It was a very sudden moment.
“Hey, honey! How’re you feeling today, my love?”
“I’m feeling alright, the doctor’s said I should be ready to go home in the next few days.. Isn’t that great?”
“That’s absolutely amazing, love! God, the bed is so cold without you there.. it’s also very very lonely and I just- I miss being able to wake up in your arms.. it’s so comforting to me and every time I wake up, I want to think you’re there but you’re not there.” Strip chuckled shyly, his cheeks growing rosy as he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.
“Oh I know, sweet little dove, I know.. Just one more night, I promise.”
“Do you think the doctors would let me stay with you past visitation hours? I know it sounds like a stupid question but I want to be able to fall asleep with you again, and I certainly cannot wait until tomorrow night.”
This caused Lynda to giggle and shrug.
“So, hon, what did they say was wrong? I cannot remember what they said but I do know they mentioned something with how bad your coughing has been. I just wish we came here sooner to get it checked out and taken care of..” He muttered, internally beating himself up for not catching onto the severity of his wife’s potential illness that could be lethal and either of them would have no idea until it was too late.
“The doctors had said it was pneumonia. They just wanted to keep me here so they could regulate how my vitals were regarding my body’s reaction to the medicine that they’ve been giving me, that’s all.”
“Oh okay, I see. That makes sense though, are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be alright, my darling, just gotta take it slow to make my recovery.”
“Okay, Lynda. I love you.”
“I love you too, Strip, I really do.”
Strip had smiled at this and giggled quietly. “You remember the time Roger thought I had died or something because of that one fight we got in with some random group after one of your races?”
Lynda smiled bright at the memory. “Oh yeah, I do. You know how I was outside of your hauler while you were getting ready?”
“I do.”
“Well, I told him that even though he didn’t approve of me being around you, he’d still see me again and again and again even if it meant you sneaking out late at night to come visit me.”
“Yep. Do you remember the time he had noticed that we had matching rings on our ring fingers?”
“I absolutely do, love. It was fun to explain to Roger that I had decided to marry you a month after we reunited. Lynda?”
“Yes, Strip?”
“I love you. I remember how awestruck I was when I saw you in your wedding dress for the very first time. With the way it hugged all of your curves and made them stand out, I couldn’t stop admiring you before the ceremony and after the ceremony. I knew that I had made the right decision in making you my wife.” He spoke with tears of love and passion in his eyes.
“I love you too. I remember how many unholy thoughts I had gotten when I had looked at you for the first time in your wedding suit. The deep navy, the white collared button up, the deep navy blue dress pants and what made it even better is that you married me in your combat boots.” She giggled.
“That was the best part. I remember fighting tooth and nail with Tex to allow me to wear them. He would let me but I had fought tooth and nail to be able to wear them and I am glad he did.”
“Me too, my love.”
There was a sweet moment of silence as Strip let out a yawn.
“You tired, my love?”
“A little.. I know I should probably get going, it’s getting to where visitation hours are over.”
“Yeah.. you probably should get going, my love.”
This was the turning point that neither of the lovebirds saw coming. A doctor came in to do the routinely check on Lynda and do what she needed, this was where it got fascinating.
“Mr. Weathers, the other doctors and I have decided to let you stay overnight tonight with her because we’ve noticed how you often come by every day to check on Mrs. Weathers.”
Strip turned to his wife with the brightest smile and looked to her excitedly.
The doctor had walked out and dimmed the lights so it would be easier on the couple to rest that night. Strip lovingly curled up next to his wife, resting his head on her chest, smiling warmly as she combed her fingers through his hair.
“I absolutely adore you, Strip.”
“I can lovingly tell you the same.”
Lynda gently combed through her husband’s hair, smiling warmly as she occasionally kissed the top of his head.
“I want you to know how proud I am of you, Strip. You’ve been through so much through such a short period of time and you deserve the love and care you have been craving for so long. I am so so so proud of you, you never fail to impress me, my love. You are one hell of a fighter on and off the track, you’ve pushed yourself so far. I love you. You mean the world to me, my darling hawk.”
This drew out a quiet sniffle from her husband, his warm honey brown eyes looking towards her beautiful sapphire blue eyes. She smiled warmly as she cupped his cheek and lovingly wiped his eyes from any potential tear shedding. He knew that she loved him even if he had struggled to say it aloud. She knew that she had scored with the perfect husband.
Strip had cuddled closer to her chest and knew that she understood that he struggled with telling her how much he loved her. When he had begun to fall asleep, Lynda had begun to fall asleep with him tucked closer to her chest. As she began to fall asleep, he quietly began to sing Yellow.
“Your skin, your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful, do you know.. I love you so. Oh, I love you so.” He cooed quietly as he brushed his fingers through her hair comfortingly.
“Your skin, your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful and you, for you, I’d bleed myself dry..” He went on quietly, feeling her fall asleep with her in his arms. As he got towards the end, she fully fell asleep. This caused him to drift off to sleep in her grasp.
Both of the lovebirds slept soundly that night and way before the morning sun shone between the curtains, he glanced over to his wife’s vitals monitor, noticing it went flat, showing that she had passed away in their sleep together.
He thought he had another night with her, he thought that they’d make it out of the hospital together but.. life had other plans for the duo, now a single. Strip had held her tight in her arms, burying his face into her chest, clinging close, quietly muttering how thankful he was for her and how happy he was with her.
He knew that there were several more things to do, his voice quiet and heartbroken, his warm and happy hazel eyes becoming muddy and quiet, the light drawn from them as he learned that she was indeed gone. It was for the better. He knew that Lynda was suffering so he was glad that he was there for her passing.
Before he gave her a final kiss on the lips, he held her in his arms.
Strip knew what he had to do as a final send off, knowing that her spirit would be there to listen to his last sorrowful song.
So, he cleared his throat and did everything he could to keep his composure together.
“It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope, which then turned into a quiet thought which then turned into a quiet word, and then that word grew louder and louder 'til it was a battle cry, I'll come back when you call me.”
He croaked quietly, biting back as many tears as he could, trying his best to keep himself together.
“No need to say goodbye, just because everything's changing, doesn't mean it's never been this way before. All you can do is try to know who your friends are as you head off to the war, pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light. You'll come back when it's over, no need to say goodbye, you'll come back when it's over, no need to say goodbye.”
Strip went on, his voice wavering and wet.
“Now we're back to the beginning. It's just a feeling and no one knows yet, but just because they can't feel it too doesn't mean that you have to forget, let your memories grow stronger and stronger ‘til they're before your eyes, you’ll come back when they call you.
No need to say goodbye.. You'll come back when they call you, no need to say goodbye..”
He finished, finally reaching his breaking point.
“I love you Lynda, you mean the world to me.. I’ll do my best to keep going for you, I promise..” He quietly muttered as he covered her respectfully with the bedsheet on the hospital bed, quietly closing the door and headed home.
How was he going to tell Cal? Cal only knew that she was sick.
As he got into his street legal car, he sat there for a minute and texted Cal.
“Hey, when you have a moment, call me.”
There was an immediate response with a call from Cal.
Cal’s voice rang through the other side of the phone. “Hey, is everything okay? How’s Lynda?”
Strip took a shaky breath in, letting out a quiet sniffle.
“She passed away last night.. I- I had been holding her and I sang her to sleep, but she passed away in the middle of the night.. I’m so sorry, Cal..”
This broke Cal’s heart, he knew that Lynda’s passing would be incredibly hard on his uncle because Lynda was like his number one supporter, she had been there for him when nobody else wanted to or dared to be there, he knew that Strip would take this harder than anyone else did because Cal knew that she meant the world to him.
“I- I don’t know what to say.. I’m so sorry, Strip.. I know how much she meant to you..”
“I’m sorry too, Cal.. I’ll try to keep going for her, but I don’t know how much you’ll see of me after this even though you kinda live with me.” He chuckled dryly.
“That is completely understandable, I’ll let Tex know so he doesn’t get too worried about you, okay?”
“Thank you, Cal.. I’m going to be on the way, I probably am going to isolate myself for a while so if you have any better plans with Lightning and Bobby, absolutely do it. Do it for Lynda, okay? I love you Cal.”
“I love you too, Uncle Strip.”
This led to a three beep notification and he put his phone down, driving home with teary eyes. When he got home, he had noticed Cal wasn’t home and he smiled tiredly before he wrapped himself up into a blanket and broke down into tears, resting his head against Lymda’s side of the bed, growing quiet after some time, not aware that he had indeed cried himself to sleep.