Satellite

Chapter 26 - Vent

      Not even Dell knows the full story. (Y/N) was too afraid to tell her best friend everything without facing the music herself.

      But the only person here right now was Drake. The asshole who was ordered to protect her. Yet he was still here willing to hear her out.

      (Y/N) sighed as her fingers fumbled with a dead leaf. "Do you ever wish you could just... go back in time? Change what you did in the past?"

       Drake let her words sink in before he found a way to respond. "Sometimes."

"Like what?" She asked, not really expecting him to answer. She just needed someone to talk to.

       The sergeant fell silent as he looked away from her. There were many things he wished to change in his past. But one event in particular that he wasn't comfortable enough to say.

       His silence didn't surprise her. She was expecting it after all. "I wish I could just... When my grandpa died, it... it broke me."

       Her heart grew heavy again and she wished it wouldn't. But even the mere thought of her grandfather just turned up so many negative emotions in her. Drake chose to remain silent and let her speak. This was clearly something she needed to get out.

"He was all I had. Both of my parents were gone. My mom died in labor and my dad drank himself to death after. All I ever knew was grandpa..." Her voice was small and shaky but she did her best to keep her emotions in. The heavyweight she kept on her shoulders was slowly tipping off.

"He raised me and taught me so many things. Even when my grandma passed, he stayed strong just for me."

      A tear trailed down her face as the emotions she held back soon rushed forward. She was so grateful for her grandfather and everything he had done her for. He lost both his son and his wife but that didn't stop him from helping her be the woman she is today. Which only made her heart hurt worse.

"Then I just fucking abandon him..." She whimpered as her sobs soon filled her throat.

      It was tough to watch the nurse who he saw as a bother suddenly look so small and helpless. He wouldn't wish this type of grief even on his worst enemy.

      But... she abandoned her grandfather? How can you abandon someone if you love them this much?

"What did you do?" He carefully asked, seeing the guilt clear in her face.

      (Y/N) wiped her tears and hesitated to speak. But if she was being this vulnerable in front of someone she... hates.

"I..." She started, taking a deep breath so that her voice was clearer. "Grandpa always had this vision in mind. He wanted the radio station to stay in our families. His and Rockman's."

'A will?' Drake thought to himself.

"All my life he taught me how to use the radios. He showed me how they worked, what to do when they didn't work, how to broadcast, how to have a radio persona when on air. They were... special moments to me." She sighed, her fingers twirling the ends of the leaf in between her fingers. "But I always wanted to be a nurse. I didn't want to do radio."

      The sergeant had a sense of where this was leading to. Her grandfather taught her everything about the station and wanted to keep it in the family. But she had different wants for her future.

"We almost never argued but when we did, it was always about that. He wanted me to take over for him after he retired like Kelly was to do with Rockman. But I didn't want that." She glanced back over her shoulder in the direction of the station, seeing the tips of the radio tower poking through the treetops. "As much as I love the station, it's not where I was supposed to be."