intheheart: A picture of Henrik Asheim in a suit against a stone-laid floor, smiling at the camera. (in the heart : lars : henrik asheim)
intheheart ([personal profile] intheheart) wrote2012-01-02 04:13 pm

Acceptance

Title: Acceptance
Rating: PG
Summary: Thea starts coughing again.
Date: Summer 2004
Notes: Thea is Lars's mother, and went into remission from lung cancer approximately nine years prior to this.


The coughing starts up again, viciously, one warm summer night.

Thea folds against the bathroom sink and thrusts her arm against her mouth, to muffle the coughs. She doesn't want to wake Henrik. She knows it's back, but she'll keep that knowledge from him and their children for one more night.

It subsides, eventually, and she has a sip of water, then looks into her own eyes in the mirror. They are huge and grave in her pale face.

Last time she was lucky. This time, she knows she will not be.

This time, Thea knows she's going to die.