Chapter Seven: Christmas Bash
"You wanted to know if I was going to the Christmas bash?" Heather yelled. "We were calling for hours we thought you died!" Matt's girlfriend said truthfully. Heather put her head in her hands, she had refused to take off Shannon's shirt and was not walking around in shorts and the shirt. "Well, are you going?" Matt asked. Heather glared at Matt and said, "Fine." Shannon smiled and held Heather's hand. "But I wont promise I'll stay." Matt frowned and his girlfriend said. "Why? Are you going straight edge? Hmm? Going to be a good girl?" Heather never liked this new girlfriend of Matt's. "You might not like C.M. but he is my personal friend. I'm not going to go to a Christmas party and get hammered. Beer and wine taste horrible to me. My father smoked all his life and I saw how hard it was to quite. I'm far from a good girl, I'm sorry if I'm smart unlike you and don't go sleep with every guy under the sun." Matt's girlfriend shut up and turned to Matt. "Come on Matt, she obviously doesn't know how to party." Matt looked to Shannon who was looking at him and sighed before getting up and leaving with his girlfriend in tow.
Two weeks passed and Heather was still saying she was going to go to the party. Shannon, Matt, Heather, Jeff, Beth, and Carley (Matt's girlfriend) were sitting at El Chupalo and everyone was eating. Heather was eating just like she was one of the guys. Beth and Carley looked like birds eating not even half of the food given to them and even then they shared a plate. Heather sat back and placed a hand on her stomach with a sign. Shannon laughed softly as Heather played with the ring on her finger. She and Seshama had already started to plan. Beth and Carley made a disgusted look. Heather walked into the bathroom and came out with a heavy sigh. Shannon made a worried look to Heather who smiled brightly. Jeff looked at Heather and then to Beth and Carley and nudged Matt. Seeing the girls glare at Heather he said. "Shit! Shannon I just remembered! Andrew wants to talk to me about a new Hardy show episode, Jeff you need to come too." Jeff stood and sighed. "Alright, Shannon see you at the party!" Matt stood as well. "See you at work Shannon." Beth and Carley stood looking thankful. "Shouldn't I come too?" asked Shannon standing. "No man, you need to be at the next meeting." Matt said, Shannon nodded and watched the four go. Heather stood and said, "Lets go..." Shannon sighed and walked with Heather out of the restaurant.
Two weeks later it was the night of December 24th, Heather and Shannon had just gotten home from a seafood restaurant and Heather had clearly gotten food poisoning. Shannon sighed as he held Heather's hair. The phone rang and Heather sat up from the toilet. "You gotta get-" She was cut off by another wave of sickness. Shannon got up off the floor and answered the phone. "Come on man! Get over here! We can't start without you!" Heather walked out of the bathroom holding her stomach. "Heather are you feeling better?" Shannon asked. "Yeah" Heather said hugging Shannon. "You going to the party?" Shannon asked. Heather shook her head and sat on the couch. "Hello?" Matt yelled into the phone. "Yeah, I'm coming." Shannon said before looking to the couch, walking around it he saw Heather sleeping. He sighed and went into the bedroom for a blanket. Coming out with Heather's favorite blanket he laid it on her. Tucking her in he kissed her forehead. "I'll be home." Before leaving.
Heather woke up about ten minutes after Shannon left and took a small box into the bathroom with her. After Heather came out of the bathroom she laid back down wrapping up in the blanket breathing in Shannon's scent. The phone rang loud though the air. Heather looking at the clock read 4:30. "Who the hell calls at 4:30 in the fucking morning?" Heather getting up answered the phone. "Mrs. Moore." Heather's heart skipped a beat with happiness at being called Mrs. Moore. "This is she." Heather said listening to the unfamiliar voice on the phone. "Are you sitting down?" asked the man. Heather's heart sank. Where was Shannon? "What's wrong?" Heather asked her voice quavering. "Mr. Shannon Moore has gotten into a large car crash, would you please come down to whispering pines hospital." Heather dropped the phone. She sat there for only about ten seconds before jumping to her feet and grabbing her keys and her phone.
Before she got out of the drive way she took a deep breath and told herself that she could not get herself into a car crash. At a good pace she made it to the emergency room in ten minutes. Running to the desk she saw a doctor there. "Mrs. Moore, I must tell you the damages first. Mr. Moore has a broken leg, both of his arms are broken, three ribs are cracked." The doctor sat her down and sat down next to her. "The worst is that his head has a small amount of bleeding. We will have to operate immediately. If we operate not he will be fine, he will only have a few scars and we will have to shave a section of his head." Heather could feel the stares of many people in the emergency room. "But, he will be ok?" She asked scared for his life. "Yes, he wreaks of alcohol, we will give him a test, but if he was intoxicated he will be put on trial." Heather sat back and put her face in her hands. "Go operate, don't waste valuable time." said Heather. "Your husband put mine in intensive care because he was drunk!" yelled a woman. Heather looked to the woman and said. "I am truly sorry. I will pay for the hospital bills and any fees, even if he needs to see a specialist. Therapy everything I swear." The woman's eyes softened and she said. "I'm sorry...I guess it is just stress of Christmas in a hospital." heather nodded and sighed.
Hours passed and still no news for either the family or Heather. Finally a man came out and said, "He will be fine...we had an officer give him a breathing test and they said no alcohol was consumed tonight." Heather looked to the woman and said, "And the other man?" The doctor smiled. "He is just getting stitched up he will be fine after a few months of physical therapy." Heather smiled to the woman and walked over to her. "Your husband will be fine, my husband had no alcohol tonight but I will still pay for all the fees." The woman hugged Heather and said, "Thank you." Heather was then led back into the room which held Shannon. Looking down upon his broken and bruised frame she took his hand in hers and squeezed carefully. Heather could see Shannon's heavily bandaged head and underneath his eyelids his eyes moved in recognition to the soft, "I love you." Heather whispered.
