Spider

Spider...Chapter Eleven & Epilogue

CHAPTER XI: (Song: Broken)



Cameron stirred in her fitful sleep, unable to stay under for more than an hour or so at a time. Angered and fatigued, she threw the covers back and walked across the hall to the bathroom. Once there, she brushed her teeth and jumped in the shower. Luckily, it was Saturday, meaning that there was no school. As she let the warm water loosen her stiff muscles, she sifted through her To Do list.
First, she would stop by and talk with the manager of Renn's Records to see if she could save her job. Then would come the tedious and nerve wrecking task of seeing Jack and talking things over with him. After all of this was done, her Aunt Sherry would take her to the doctor to confirm or negate their suspicion. Cameron got ready as quickly as she could, wanting to get everything over with so she could go come back home and cry if she felt the need to. Aunt Sherry called up to Cameron as she was applying her makeup.
"You ready, sweetheart?" As ready as a person possibly could be in this situation, she thought nervously.
"Yes, ma'am," she answered. She descended the stairs after throwing on a Edward Scissorhands jacket and brushing through her wavy hair. They both climbed into the car and pulled out of the driveway. The drive was silent, save that of Aunt Sherry humming, trying to calm Cameron's nerves.
It took only fifteen minutes to reach the music store. Cameron sighed, got out of the car--her Aunt Sherry remained in the car--, and pushed open the bell-riddled door to enter the music-filled room. Cameron trudged, as quickly as her combat boots would let her, over to the front desk. A new guy was there, clad in black and chains, not to mention piercings galore.
"Can I help you?" He smiled, his lip rings brushing against his white teeth. He looked infatuated with Cameron, though she paid little attention to him.
"Yeah. Where's Fred? I need to talk to him." Cameron placed a hand on the counter, signifying that she was there for business only. The employee walked through the beads and into the back. He reappeared seconds later.
"He's not here. Sorry." Cameron rolled her eyes, not buying his story. She knew Fred, knew he didn't want to be seen by complaining customers.
"Tell him it's Cameron. I need to talk to him," she repeated, tapping her fingers against the glass rapidly. The man gave a nod, and then re-entered the back room. A fairly short, pudgy man with half-inch ear plugs and a ripped-to-fit Iron Maiden tee-shirt came through the door beads, then, smiling gleefully at Cameron. She mustered up a fake smile in return to his kind gesture.
"Cammy!" He had given her that nickname her first day on the job. He threw his arms up and laughed. "What's been up, woman?! I haven't seen you in weeks! And speaking of missing employees, have you seen Jack? He's been missing, too...." he scratched at his goatee in thought, before Cameron interrupted the process.
"Well, I haven't been feeling very well. I think I caught pneumonia. Jack probably has it too....but I'm just getting over it, so, I was wondering if I still had a job here....?" He calculated momentarily, taking in Cameron's appearance.
"You must be doing some serious meds to get over it looking so well....and yes, you both still have a job here. I wouldn't give you guys up because of some sickness!" Cameron breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Fred. You don't know how much I appreciate it, really--" she stopped to fake a cough.
"Just tell Jack I said hey. I know you guys must be seeing each other," he paused to grin at Cameron, "just get better, kiddo."
"Thank you, Fred. I'll be in on Monday...I think..."
"See ya, Cammy!" Cameron nodded and walked out the door and back toward her Aunt's waiting car. Once she closed the door, she gave a weak smile to her Aunt and held her thumb up. Her Aunt sighed with relief, and started the car.
Cameron wrapped her arms around herself to get rid of the cold sickness in her stomach. "Aunt Sherry?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Can you drop me off at the bookstore down here? I kind of want to talk to Jack alone, if you don't mind. But I'll call you when I'm done...if I need you to come..." her Aunt smiled warmly, placing a gentle hand on Cameron's shoulder.
"Of course. Just please call me if you need me to come get you, if it gets too rough for you, kay?" Cameron nodded, and pressed her face against the cool window. Moments later, Aunt Sherry pulled into the store's allotted car space on the side of the road and let Cameron get out before pulling off. Cameron pretended to walk into the bookstore, waiting on her Aunt to vanish out of her sight. Once that was accomplished, Cameron walked back onto the sidewalk and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed Spencer's number, thankful that Jack had given it to her just in case she needed someone when he wasn't there. It rang three times, and then a voice.
"Hello?"
"It's Cameron. Where are you at?"
"On my way to the hospital. You okay?"
'Yeah. Can you come pick me up and take me with you?" Cameron bit her lip, hoping he wouldn't ask her a million questions.
"Yeah. Where are you at?"
"The bookstore on Fifth and Gilmore. How long will you be?"
"Give me five minutes, max."
"Okay." Cameron hung up the phone and walked around to get her blood flowing. Her Aunt had given her some 'special pills', as she had said they were, to ease the nausea. It was working, but Cameron didn't know how much time she had until they wore off. Then, after a few moments of fidgeting and twitching from the cold, Spencer pulled up. Cameron quickly got into the warmth of the car and pulled her seatbelt on.
"Jack's gonna kill me if he finds out I let you wait in the cold." Cameron looked out toward the sky, not wanting to push the conversation. "You know, he's been talking about you for weeks, Cameron. He misses you... a lot. He feels bad about what he did...what we do." There was that pang of guilt again, and it hit Cameron hard. The acid in her stomach churned, causing her to gasp once and hold her stomach. Spencer looked at her, alarmed.
'You okay?" Cameron nodded and turned back toward the window, discretely wincing in uncomfortableness.
"Yes. I'm fine. How much longer until we get to the hospital?" She needed a bathroom, and quickly.
"Not even a minute. We're at the entrance drive now." Cameron nodded and wrapped her arms around her torso. Once they were parked, Cameron followed Spencer into the hospital's front desk. There were three nurses, only one of which looked up at Spencer from under her glasses.
"You know where to go. Don't cause any trouble." The nurse eyed her as they walked by her and into the back area where the rooms were located. Sudden nervousness smacked Cameron in the gut, making her take a deep breath.
"Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?" Cameron looked at Spencer, waiting for an answer.
"Uh...yeah. Down this hall and to the right, I think. Do you want me to wait on you?"
"No. Can you just tell me what room he's in?" Cameron was becoming impatient with the sickness inside of her...the possible child inside of her.
"He's in room 348. If you are coming back from the bathrooms, then it will be the hallway to your immediate left. Then it's the third door to the right."
"Thanks." Cameron quickened her pace and found the women's bathroom. Luckily, it was empty.
Afterwards, she made her way to Jack's room, taking a deep breath before she entered the room slowly. Spencer held up a finger, as if to tell Cameron to be as quiet as possible. She nodded, and walked forward to sit down on an empty reclining chair that was next to the bed. She looked at Jack, who was sleeping, and she couldn't help but feel more comforted by his presence, though he was unconscious at the time. She pulled her legs onto the chair, resting her chin on her knees. She was mere inches from Jack, and felt the need to brush her fingers through his hair, which was veiled over his face, concealing his eyes. Keeping her hands to herself, she watched as Jack began to snore. Spencer chuckled at Jack from across the room. Cameron rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. As the nausea rose, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the last two of the pills her Aunt had given her. She crammed them into her mouth, chewing them quickly so they would have a faster effect.
"So now you're popping pills cause you're mad at me?" Cameron turned to face the owner of the raspy voice. Jack was smiling at her, though his expression mellowed out, not wanting to upset her. Cameron stared at him in shock, and then without thinking she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She felt his hand on her back, soothing her. Cameron then snatched herself backward, slapping Jack in the face. He sighed, and cleared his throat. Cameron pursed her lips, fighting the already welling tears.
"I'm sorry, Cameron..." his voice was filled with immense sorrow, and Cameron's heart dropped. She sighed and dropped her legs back onto the tile floor.
"I...I actually came here to tell you something. It's serious, though...so please try to take it that way. I'm kind of scared that you'll flip--"
"Cameron," he interrupted her, reaching for her arm. "Just tell me. I swear I won't bug out on you." She sighed, breaking his gaze.
"Jack,....I'm....I'm pregnant...." she stopped to bite her lip and read Jack's expression. He became still and calculating, though Cameron took it as shock. She broke down, not caring that Spencer was gaping at her from the other side of the room. "I'm really scared..." she sobbed, covering her eyes with her sleeved hands to hide her red face. Jack reached over as far as his damaged torso would let him to rub Cameron's shoulder.
"Shh....it's alright, Cam...we'll get through this. Okay?" She swallowed and wiped her face, looking into Jack's calm eyes.
"You mean...you're gonna...stay with me? You don't want me to get rid of it?"
"Of course I'm gonna stay, Cameron. Why wouldn't I? And, no, I do not want you to give it up. We'll keep it and take care of it. We're parents." Jack smiled and touched Cameron's cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear. "I mean it, babe." Cameron sniffled and hung her head, thankful that she wasn't going to be ditched after all.
"I'm sorry I was mad at you..." she apologized as best she could.
"It was my fault. I'm willing to change, though, for you....for our baby..." Cameron's heart beat faster. She liked the way he had said 'our baby'. She smiled slightly and sat up in the uncomfortable chair. Jack laid back down on the bed, wincing in pain. Cameron was curious.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yeah. Like a bitch...but I'll get over it..."
"Why did you get into a fight?" She was entering dangerous territory now.
"...it's a long story..."
"I want to know. We can't keep things from each other if we're gonna be serious, Jack."
He sighed. "You're right. I was with some friends at a bar...I wasn't drinking...a lot..." he paused to look at Cameron. He continued, only after observing that her expression was still collected. "Anyways, so we ran into some old...foes, who we argued with like stupid fucking idiots...then it escalated. I told one of the guys to meet me outside so we could fight, and he agreed, though it wasn't too fair: he had a gun. And so he shot me in the stomach. Barely missed my liver." Cameron was silent in response, picturing his story in her head. Jack attempted to lighten the subject, "wanna see my battle wound?"
"No thanks. Keep your gown on, please." Jack laughed, as did Spencer, who was recovering from Cameron's breaking news. Cameron smirked and rolled her eyes at Jack. "So..." she started another conversation, "when are you getting out?"
"They said it should be anytime between next week and the beginning of next month. But I can go home and have a doctor come to me, if you want me to--"
"No! You need to stay here and get better," she admitted, though she wanted Jack to be there, with her, as much as possible. Then, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, snapping her out of selfish thoughts. She quickly retrieved it from her pocket and flipped it open. It was Aunt Sherry. She pressed the talk button.
"Hello?"
"Hey, honey. How is it going so far?"
"Good." Cameron didn't want to sound melty and gushy, so she left it at that, one word.
"That's great, baby. Are you ready to go see the doctor?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess so. Better get it over with, right?" Her Aunt was silent.
"Okay. Where do you want me to pick you up at?"
"Uh...I can walk to the place, if you--" Jack shook his head, and gestured toward Spencer. Spencer nodded and got up out of his seat, walking over to where Cameron and Jack were. "Actually, a friend's gonna drop me off, I guess." Cameron twisted around to mouth her thanks to Spencer. He nodded and smirked. Jack sighed with impatience. Cameron rolled her eyes at Jack and finished her phone conversation with her Aunt.
"Okay, then, honey. I'll be there ASAP."
"Ditto. Love you," she waited for her Aunt to repeat the cliche, and then closed her phone, shoving it back into her pocket before standing up. Jack pulled on Cameron's arm, making her fall onto the small hospital bed.
"Jack," she protested, "I could've landed right on your stomach, dummy!" He just chuckled, pulling her face to his. Their lips met, but the show of affection was short lived; a nurse walked in, laughing at the sight of teenage intimacy.
"Ooh, Jack! Can't keep the women off of ya' can you, child?" She guffawed, throwing her head back and flicking her wrist. "You'll need to move for a moment, sweetheart," she turned her attention to Cameron, "it's time to clean his injury, and make sure he didn't pop a stitch." She chortled wholeheartedly and advanced toward Jack's bed. Cameron slid off the edge and stood next to Spencer. The nurse moved her large form over to where Cameron had been sitting and unlaced Jack's hospital robe. She was careful only to uncover the torso area, and nothing else. Cameron peeked at the wound; she saw a dark purple bruise around the hole, which had been stitched up. There was some blood, though the majority of it was dried and caked on. Cameron shifted her eyes over Jack's somewhat muscular stomach and up to his rib cage. There, she spotted a long, elaborate tattoo of what looked to be the goddess Athena, robed in black with the color of flesh the same as Jack's own. Her eyes were white, no pupils, and she bore an emotionless, structured face. Jack met Cameron's gaze, smiling humorously at her.
"You checkin' me out, or what?"
"Shut up!" Cameron turned red in the face and looked toward the window, her mouth upturned.

......... (Song: Unforgiven III) .........

Cameron pulled her hood over her head and walked out to Jack's car. It had been three weeks since he had been admitted into the hospital for a gunshot wound. He came around from the driver's side and grabbed Cameron, pulling her into a hug. She was careful not to press against his stomach, though she rested her head on his shoulder. They parted, Jack wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her full on the lips. After a moment of intenseness, Jack broke the kiss.
"I was thinking..."
"Yeah...go on."
"Why don't you come stay with me for a while? It wouldn't do any harm. Besides, I've missed you a lot." He pressed his lips against hers again, and once more after that.
"Uh...I don't see why not...but I have to tell Aunt Sherry and Uncle Henry first," she eyed Jack wearily.
"That's cool. We can go talk to them now."
"No! I mean, Uncle Henry doesn't know that....I'm...with child." Cameron cursed herself for using such idiotic sounding terms to refer to her pregnancy.
"That's alright," Jack snickered. "I won't say anything about that. It would be better if I asked myself. Plus, I'll get to know your Uncle, so I can get on his good side before the news is out." Cameron wanted to laugh at his comment, but she didn't, in fear that he might not make it out alive after telling her Uncle something along the lines of, 'Hey, I was wondering if Cameron could move in. By the way, I got your niece pregnant.' Cameron shuddered at the thought.
"Come on," he urged her forward, toward her house. Once they were inside, Cameron took a seat on the sofa, Jack sitting beside her, while Aunt Sherry took the love seat and Uncle Henry reclined in his Lay-Z-Boy. Henry flipped through the TV channels, asking Jack what he thought about football.
"You for the Forty-Niners?"
"Nope. Mountaineers all the way, sir," he had said as Henry propped his feet on the coffee table. Aunt Sherry scolded him, though he just tittered at her and replaced his feet back onto the table when she wasn't paying attention.
"Now," Aunt Sherry started, "what brings you here, Jack?" Aunt Sherry was waiting on Jack to tell the truth, to reveal Cameron's secret, though she didn't want to anger Cameron. So instead, she would hint at it subtly.
"I figured I'd hang out here with Cameron for a while. I also wanted to ask you guys a question."
Uncle Henry smiled widely, "Go on..."
"Well," he began, and took Cameron's hand in his own, not caring that her Aunt and Uncle were watching, "I was kinda wondering if you two would let Cameron come stay with me for a few weeks. I haven't seen her in a while....since...."
"Since your hospital visit?" Aunt Sherry was the one to confirm. Cameron looked shocked that she knew. Aunt Sherry laughed, "yes, I know. Moving along...do you have a house of your own, Jack?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Didn't you just have a birthday, also?"
"Yes, ma--"
"And how old does that make you?"
"Nineteen."
"Wow. That makes you almost twenty." Jack laughed nervously.
Uncle Henry folded his arms, "I think I'm gonna need some popcorn. Sherry, stop interrogating the poor kid. Jack," he turned his chair so that he was facing Jack. "Would you mind if I asked you something?"
"No, sir."
"You'll tell the honest truth?"
"Yes, sir." Cameron could tell that Jack was becoming a little uncomfortable. Just as Cameron was about to protest against their questionnaire, Uncle Henry popped an unexpected one.
"Have you and Cameron had sex?"
"Pardon?" Cameron was crimson, even her ears burning.
"Oh my go--" Cameron started to get up off the couch, but Uncle Henry put his hand up.
"Relax, Cameron. Now, Jack, back to the question. Have you?"
"...yes, sir..." Uncle Henry, surprisingly, burst into laughter.
"Well," he wiped away his tears from the fit of hilarity, "I certainly wasn't expecting you to answer that one!" Jack cleared his throat and shifted in his position, grabbing Cameron's hand once again. Cameron gripped his tighter, a little pissed at her Uncle. He continued on, however. "So, Cameron."
"Yes..." she was clearly embarrassed.
"Anything you wanna tell me? While we're being so modest here?"
"No," she lied.
"Cameron," Jack looked at her, giving her a pushy expression. She inhaled deeply.
"Alright. Uncle Henry, promise you won't get mad at me?"
"Yeah. Go on," he was surely getting a kick out of all of this, something Cameron didn't see coming at all.
"I'm...I'm pr..." for some reason, she couldn't get it out.
"She's pregnant," Jack finished for her. Uncle Henry's eyes widened as the words exited Jack's mouth.
"I really hope you're kidding..." was his response, his glassy stare fixed on Jack, and then on Cameron. Cameron, feeling now a bit of unease, swallowed over the lump in her throat and fidgeted with the end of her skirt.
"No, sir..." Jack reassured her Uncle. All was silent for moments and when the clock had ticked and tocked for forty-three seconds, Uncle Henry chuckled easily, his amusement growing.
"Well, I guess you're not," he let his large feet fall back onto the floor before sighing and standing up. Walking over to where Jack was sitting next to Cameron, he held out his hand. "You better be good to her, you hear?"
"Yes, sir," Jack smiled, and the fear for his life which had built inside of him was gone, replaced with tenderness from being accepted. Jack shook Henry's hand firmly, standing himself.
"Well," Henry turned to speak to Cameron, "I suppose you need to get some clothes and all that good stuff, right, kid?"
"Uh..." Cameron was still a little overwhelmed with Uncle Henry's quick adaptation of the situation. "Yeah," and she went upstairs, Jack following, to gather a good lot of her things for the temporary move to Jack's house. After a long goodbye to Aunt Sherry and Uncle Henry, Cameron climbed into Jack's car, and he took her to his house. Hayden was there, watching over Daniel until Jack's return. When Daniel saw Jack and Cameron, he ran across the room to gve them both hugs.
"Hey, Jack," he had yelled with jubilance, "I got a A on my homewoak for Weading! Miss Turne' gave me a wowwipop, too!"
"That's great, Danny," Jack praised his brother. Cameron smiled at Danny, who blushed and grinned back.
"Hey, Camawen. Are you gonna stay the night again?"
"Actually," Jack spoke in her place, "she'll be staying with us for a lot longer, bud. Go get cleaned up, and I'll put a movie on for you."
"Okay!" Danny ran off into his room down the hall, where thuds from throwing things around could be heard through the walls. Hayden left, then, snickering and shaking his head. Jack and Cameron sat down in the living room, and when Danny was finished washing up jack put in a cartoon movie to keep him occupied.
Jack stretched out his arm, placing it behind Cameron's head. She leaned onto Jack, the side of her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed his lips to the crown of her head. While Cameron drifted off into sleep, Danny played with Ninja Turtle action figures and watched the movie. After the movie was over, Jack coaxed Danny into his bed for the night and gently woke Cameron up.
"Hey," he whispered as she sat up on the couch.
"Hey," her voice was groggy.
Jack laughed, "you wanna go to bed?" Cameron nodded and followed Jack down the hall and into his small bedroom. As she kicked off her shoes and pulled her jacket off, she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Jack crawled over her, and laid down himself. He pulled Cameron back so that they were embracing each other, in a way, and he wrapped his arms around her as she fell asleep.

EPILOGUE

Cameron and Jack attended school quite regularly, even as her belly became swollen with the growing of the child inside of her. After a while, Cameron was glad that she need not worry about being ridiculed because Jack was there with her. There were problems, however.M Cameron had long since stored away her corsets and tight-fitting shirts and traded them for extra large band tee-shirts. One day, also, Jack approached Cameron with a list in his hands.
"So, I was thinking about what we should name her. We've only got two weeks to come up with a name, you know." Cameron rolled her eyes and took the list from Jack's hands. Pursing her lips in thought as she looked it over carefully.
"Hmm....what was your mother's name?" Cameron smiled at Jack, waiting on him to reply with something other than the shock and joy which blanketed his face then.
"...seriously?"
"Uh, yeah," she giggled at his expression, and small pangs of pain hit her randomly. "So what was her name?"
"Laina" He smiled brightly, and then made an effort to calculate Cameron's thoughts on the name.
"Then her name will be Laina. That's a pretty name..." Jack thrust his arms around Cameron, pulling her into a bear hug. She gasped, and pushed against Jack.
"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?!" Cameron shook her head, catching her breath. Suddenly, she winced in pain and slouched forward, into Jack's arms. "Cameron! What's the matter?"
"I think...I think my water just broke."