18. In the end of the story, whose deathwatch did Ralph end up hearing?
From Quiz Insomnia
Answer:
His own
As the surroundings changed to his mother's kitchen, the figure Ralph once knew as his mother began to form into one of the manifestations of the Crimson King. In this case, to back off a childhood fear of Ralph's, the King took the form of a Kingfish. Ralph, knowing that time is short, thinks fast and plunges one of Lois' diamond earrings into the eye of the fish, and uses his imbued arm, shoving it into the fish's mouth to destroy it with its aura. After the king was incapacitated, Ralph found himself back inside the cockpit of Deepneau's plane, and minutes before reaching Derry, he dropped back to the physical level to pull a few wires out of the control panel. Ed, realizing that Ed had appeared on his plane, fought back to stop him from interfering, but when Ralph took a nearby picture of Natalie and Helen, Ed went berserk. Ralph attempted to use Lois' other earring, but it proved ineffective, simply puncturing Ed's cheek. Ralph punched Ed in the throat, slowly killing him, before turning the wheel of the plane and crashing it into the nearby parking lot. Ralph managed to leave the plane on another level, and he arrived back at the park.
The Community Center was saved, but the explosion caused its own chaos. The crash of the plane shattered the windows of the center, decapitating Susan Day during her big speech. Leydecker, on patrol during the speech, was nearly killed, but was instead knocked across the lobby during the explosion. Patrick Danville was saved. Along with his mother, they left shortly after the crowd was dispersed. The picture that he was drawing at the time depicted a large tower and a man with two guns holding a rose, foreshadowing the events that were to unfold as he grew older.
At Strawford Park, Lois and Ralph reunited and said their goodbyes to Clotho and Lachesis. When they made their way back to Harris Avenue, both of them went to Lois' house. After a few moments, they went to bed, and fell asleep. Twenty-two hours later, upon waking up, Ralph and Lois found that the auras had begun to disappear. A week later, they were gone.
Less than a year following these events, Lois and Ralph were married. Ralph sold his house to live with Lois. On their first Christmas together, Lois bought Ralph a puppy. He named it Rosalie. As the years went by, Ralph and Lois never remembered what happened to them during the events surrounding the Derry Community Center attack. The two lived in happiness, going through daily life and taking care of Natalie Deepneau while Helen worked at Derry's library. After five years, however, Ralph began to hear a deathwatch, much like he did when Carolyn had begun to pass away, only this time, it went to the beat of his own heart. It was at this time that Ralph had trouble sleeping again.
A few weeks later, the auras had returned, and Ralph began to have recollections of what had really happened. Knowing his the all-important day prophesized by Atropos would be coming, Ralph prepared for what needed to be done. On the day of the event, Ralph attempted to leave the house without Lois knowing, but somehow, she knew to come along with him. Although she only had faint recollections of what had been going on, Ralph quickly filled her in on what he had seen, and what he needed to do. Natalie Deepneau would be killed by the Random, Atropos, if he didn't intervene, but doing so would cost him his life.
Quickly, they made their way down Harris Avenue to the Red Apple Store where Ralph saw Natalie with Rosalie at the curb. With Helen inside, no one was watching Natalie as she attempted to bring Rosalie home to Ralph and Lois. As she began to cross the road, however, a student driver swerved out of the way to avoid hitting Rosalie. Unfortunately, this pointed him in the direction of Natalie. Ralph quickly threw himself into the way of the car to save the girl, foiling Atropos' plans and stopping the Random death. As he laid in the street, with his objective complete, Lois sat by his side. Clotho and Lachesis had also appeared on their level at his side, and as his last request, Ralph asked them to let Lois know that everything would be alright. As Lois discovers this, Ralph's deathwatch ceases to tick.