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Elizabeth wasn’t quite sure what to do to mark the six month anniversary of their escape.
It felt like an occasion that needed to be celebrated, they practically escaped hell, but what do you do for that? ‘Congrats you lived through the worst experience of your lives, here’s a party’?
After talking with a few of the others, she landed on taking a trip out of the hospital.
Most of them would be able to be discharged anyway, but they had all agreed to stay until all of them were well enough to leave.
She had gotten lucky, being Pomni meant she was practically human anyway. Adjusting back to human life was fairly simple.
Jacques and Annabelle got used to their human bodies fairly quickly as well, but after being in the circus so long it was more of a mental adjustment. Routinely they had to stop themselves doing something that only worked with cartoon logic.
Rue was the other one who would be eligible for discharge even if it took a bit longer. Being made of ribbons for years made it difficult to get used to the weight of a human body but she figured it out eventually.
Forest and Abel were having a harder time. When they escaped, most of them had returned back to their original body with the only change being age, but Forest had been missing one of their legs and was struggling to adjust to the prosthetic. Abel was taking physical therapy with him, re-learning how to walk and use his arms. Both of them stayed in a wheelchair most days.
After finding a place that could properly accommodate all of them (which was an annoyingly little amount) the four of them went to Forest’s room where the physical therapy sessions tended to be held this time of day.
The therapist seemed annoyed that they were being interrupted but didn’t comment, quickly packing up and leaving without much of a goodbye.
They quickly filled Forest in on the idea but…
“Where’s King— Abel?” Elizabeth asked, glancing around the small room like he would appear.
“He hasn’t been showing up to these things for a week,” Forest told them. “Haven’t seen him.”
“And you’re telling us this now?” Jacques asked judgmentally, getting a glare in return.
“It’s fine,” Annabelle said before an argument could start. “Let’s just check his room.”
Rue started helping Forest to his wheelchair as Jacques walked out, Elizabeth quickly following to make sure he didn’t talk to Abel alone. Annabelle hesitated but decided to follow them instead of waiting.
Elizabeth knocked on the door but didn’t hear a response. She waited a second before Jacques knocked, much more aggressively.
“Abel?” Annabelle called as there was still no indication they had been heard.
Without even waiting for a response that time, Jacques swung the door open.
Abel was indeed there, sitting on the edge of the cot absentmindedly spinning his wedding band. He didn’t even glance up as they awkwardly shuffled into the small room.
Jacques waved his hand in front of the man’s distant eyes and he finally seemed to notice the company, looking away from the golden ring and giving them a tired smile.
“Hey Abel,” Elizabeth said, scooting Jacques to the side to stand in front of him. “We were planning to go on an outing to celebrate escaping the circus if you wanna come?”
“Oh, no thank you. I’d rather stay here today.”
“You sure?” Annabelle asked, not getting a response as an unrecognizable doctor walked into the room along with Forest and Rue who were both visibly shaken.
The doctor was mildly startled at all the extra people but didn’t shoo them out, instead telling them to take a seat. Annabelle and Elizabeth hopped onto the cot, Annabelle gently taking one of Abel’s hands in her own to stop him from biting his nails. Jacques stayed standing, impatiently tapping his foot.
“The scientists inspecting the circus you all came from have managed to locate the basement holding all the ‘abstracted’ members,” They led with. Jacques’ stopped his foot tapping and if he was still Jax his ears would be pricked. Elizabeth felt a glimmer of hope at the prospect of meeting everyone. Annabelle and Abel held each other tighter, bracing for the news.
“They managed to remove them from the circus, however all of them were declared dead at the scene. Proper funeral arrangements are being made currently, if there are any requests please inform a staff member.”
The doctor left after that, Rue and Forest quickly walking away as well. Elizabeth felt the hope flicker out, guiltily thankful she didn’t get to know any of the abstracted members.
Everyone else wasn’t so lucky. Jacques had that stupid smile on his face that hadn’t been there since they escaped, hollow snaps of laughter occasionally slipping through. Annabelle wiped at her eyes under the glasses, trying to stop the flow of tears that refused to. Abel stared at the small calendar they had all been given, looking at the date that had been labeled as ‘Wedding Anniversary’.
Elizabeth hadn’t even noticed that before. She wanted to rush out and yell at the doctor to break the news literally any other day than today. That they should be alive and it should be a nice reunion and not funeral plans on a day that was meant to be happier than any other for him.
“I thought… we could see them again,” Abel mumbled, not taking his eyes off the calendar that had two wedding rings intertwined he had drawn.
“We can,” Jacques said and it was entirely Jax. “In ‘heaven’ or wherever we end up after we all die.”
“Jax!” Annabelle yelled on instinct, not even bothering to correct herself as she scolded him. Elizabeth tried to rest her hand on Abel’s shoulder but he flinched harshly away, nearly dropping the band that he had slipped off his finger.
She silently ushered the other two out of the room, glancing back to see him back to staring at the ring before closing the door.
Elizabeth didn’t get much sleep that night. She was tossing and turning for hours, trying to forget the fact that people did die because of the circus. Because they went insane trying to find an escape she got to use after not even being there for that long.
It was almost sunrise when she heard commotion from outside her room. She wanted to keep trying to sleep, she finally felt comfortable on those awful cots, but she pulled herself from it to crack the door open.
Jacques and Annabelle were there, arguing incredibly loudly. The words finally registered to her brain and she hated them.
“Do you ever think about what you say?! Do you know this is your fault?!”
“This is his own fault! I didn’t make him take the pills! I didn’t tell him to make his wife abstract because he forgot her!”
Elizabeth slammed her door shut behind her, getting the other two to finally shut up. “What the hell happened?”
“Kinger killed himself,” Jacques spat as Annabelle choked up with tears.
Doctors came rushing having heard the yelling. They ushered the other two back to their rooms. Elizabeth barely registered it above the ringing in her ears.
People filtered in and out of her room occasionally. Jacques begging her to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. Annabelle telling her the funeral plans. Doctors asking if she was okay. Rue asking if she knew what happened. Forest sitting in silence next to her just to not be alone.
The funerals happened a few days later, one after another. Some of them had families, others just had the four of them in attendance.
Annabelle spoke at all of the ones she could, through mountains of tears. Forest would usually say a few words for the people she knew. Rue stayed in her seat, sobbing. Jacques didn’t show.
The last funeral was the joint one between Abel and Anastasia. Annabelle didn’t speak, shaking with silent tears as she held a letter in her hands. Forest and Rue said short apologies. Elizabeth stuttered through a speech that broke into questioning ‘why’ as she stared at the letter addressed to her.
They watched as the two were buried next to each other, finally together again.