Chapter Text
James stayed at the hospital in Silent Hill. Everyday was the same; work all day, spend the night in the hospital. He stayed for his wife’s last moments. That night, Mary dies peacefully in her sleep. James is a mess, crying over her body, holding her hands. He stayed with her for as long as he could, holding onto her, sobbing. Eventually, James is asked to leave. He couldn’t stay there forever. It’s almost 11pm. James heads to the parking lot, and gets in his car. He stays inside of it, breaking down, an absolute mess. Mary died around 10pm. By now, it’s close to 1am. James starts up the car, knowing he needed to get home soon. He pulls out of the parking lot and heads down the road. He felt like his emotions have subsided, but it hit him again. He passed by the lake, and stopped in front of it. The engine stayed on, humming as loud as ever in his ears. He stared at the water, tears streaming down his face. He revved the engine a few times; more than anything James wanted to put pedal to the metal and drive himself into the lake. At this point, James is disassociating, occasionally pressing on the gas, inching closer to the water. Suddenly, James hears a knock on his window. He jumps and looks to the side, seeing a man knocking with one knuckle. The man signalled him to roll down the window. James is hesitant at first, staring at who he now realized was a cop, though red bloodshot eyes. He eventually complies and rolls down the window.
“Are you alright, sir?” The man asks. James is squinting at him, his flashlight bright as hell in his eyes. The man lowers it after James doesn’t give an answer. “It’s quite late. What are you doing here?” He can barely get any information out of James; he’s not answering, nor seems like he’s coherent at the moment.
“Have you been drinking?”
James shakes his head, “no no no. I have not.”
The cop takes a step back and beckons James to get out of the car. He takes a moment, lap covered in tissues. He tosses it all aside and gets out of the car. He leans his back against his car.
“What’s going on?”
Despite having no energy to speak, he manages to tell him briefly. “Someone… special to me just died.” James wiped his eye with the heel of his palm.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” the cop responds. James nods at his apology. He knew there was nothing else the officer could say.
“Just a couple hours ago.” James paused after saying that. He sighs heavily. “Just a couple hours ago… I barely made it out of the hospital.” The officer nods while he’s talking. “She’s all I had. I have nothing left. She’s gone.” James is teary eyed again, wiping it away quickly. His eye felt raw from how frequent and how hard he was wiping his eyes. He looked off to the lake with a pained look in his eyes.
The officer watched him stare off. “What’s your name?”
James looks away from the lake and back over to the cop. He tries to find his words; after a moment of slightly opening his mouth to respond he finally speaks. “James.”
The officer stays patient. He nodded, and introduced himself as well. “Leon Kennedy.”
They are silent again, and James began shivering.
“Were you planning on ending your life, James?”
James stared back at the lake, then over to his car, the engine still humming. He sighed heavily and relaxed his shoulders. James tries to make light of the question, despite everything. “You’re not gonna take me away if I say yes, will you?” Even though it was a joke, James didn’t smile or make light of it visually, so Leon had a hard time figuring out what he was thinking. He smirked, hoping he was making light of it.
“Well. Technically, yes, I would have to take you with me.” Leon looks at the car, then over to James. “I’m going to take you to the station with me, James. Gather your things, please.” James sighs. “I’m okay, I’m… I’m just gonna go home, I will be fine.” He reached for the door and pulled it open, but Leon put his hand on his to stop him. “James, you need to come with me.”
James knew he was in too deep. He moved his arm away from the car door. He locks up the car after gathering a few things from inside. They leave the car to the side; James will get it eventually. Leon opened the back seat of his cop car and closed it once James was in comfortably. Leon got in at the front and drove off towards the station.
“What was her name?” Leon asked, looking in the rear view mirror to get a look at James. He noticed that James kept his gaze out the window. “Mary.”
Leon nodded. “How did she pass?” James did a sharp inhale then exhaled heavily. “She was sick… damned disease.”
Leon looked away from the mirror and onto the road. He genuinely felt bad for James. He’s a mess, looking like a kicked dog, shaking and whimpering. “Do you have any friends or family?” James takes a moment to respond, but all he really got out was a shrug. “No.”
“Parents?”
James shook his head.
Leon nodded. They sat in silence again.
“I know how it feels to lose someone special.” Leon looked at the mirror again and locked eyes with James. “Who?” James asked, wondering if he lost a spouse as well. Leon replied, “my parents.” They’re both silent again, until James speaks, “I’m sorry to hear that.” He said the same thing that Leon said to him earlier, knowing there wasn’t much else to say. Leon shrugs; it didn’t bother him that much anymore. The two of them stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Once they arrived at the station, Leon helped James with his things and brought him inside. They sat in a room alone together.
“When was the last time you’ve eaten? Drank water?”
James thinks for a moment. “It’s been days. I haven’t been able to keep anything down.” Leon left to grab him some food and water, and sat with him while he ate. It took some coaxing, but he gave in. They talk more, James venting and crying while eating. After a while Leon said, “I’m sorry but I’m going to need to take you to the hospital.” Right away James says no over and over again. “Please, the last place I need to be is in the hospital I’ve been there for weeks I can’t please—“ Leon hushed him and patted his arm. “It’s okay James, take a breath. Calm down.” They talked a little more, and James calmed down. “I’m okay.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Leon. Eventually Leon brings James home after he was convinced he would be okay on his own.
“Here—“ Leon gave him a card with his number on it. “Call me. I don’t care what time it is, call me if you need me.” James takes the card and holds it tight.
“Thank you… Leon.” They say goodbye and goodnight.