The chapter you've all been waiting for, ladies and no gentlemen! :D Hehe, I won't ruin the surprise and tell you what exactly you were waiting for. That'd be mean. Right, you had better thank FreedomTruck for this, she told me to do it. I asked and she said to do it. Or she'd flatten me with her hair rollers.
Vote and comment, and don't forget to swoon over Rhys if you're into that kind of thing. :)
Also I had to delete the proper chapter and replace all the naughty words with good words as the original was rated R. The original is going to be posted on my profile separately. :D
Chapter Twenty-Two – “Really, Annie? Wouldn’t Have Guessed.”
I woke up to a pounding in my head, and wearing a weird gown. I blinked a few times confusedly as I took in where I was. Hmm, clean room that smells like vomit, a heart monitor and a jumpy Rhys by the window? Must be a hospital. Then I remembered what had happened, with me falling into the plant pot and ruining the Harry Potter baby prank.
“I’m sorry for ruining your prank.” I spoke, shattering the silence with my hoarse voice. Rhys’s body turned to me, and he sighed in relief before chuckling quietly.
“You crack your head open on a plant pot, and the first thing you say is that you’re sorry for ruining my genius Harry Potter prank? Unbelievable, really. The woman was more surprised about the baby than you bleeding on her doorstep.” Rhys replied, smiling softly.
He moved to sit in the chair beside my bed, which squeaked when he touched it, and I asked the one question I was dying to ask, “Do I still have to go to my support group? And was I seriously hurt?”
“No, you don’t if you don’t want to. And seriously hurt? Well, you have four stitches on your knee.” Rhys laughed, gesturing to my bandaged knee. On my thigh there was a wad of tape and steri-strips. Lovely.
“Wait, I hurt my head, right?” I frowned, and Rhys nodded amusedly.
“Yes, but you got a lovely pointy rock stuck in your leg when you blacked out. It was quite beautiful actually.” Rhys pondered, and eyed my leg as well.
“And why am I wering a hospital gown? And stop looking at my leg, it’s unsettling.”
“You’re wearing a hospital gown as Tyson insisted on ripping your pants off to see how badly your thigh was hurt. Your pants are still on that woman’s doorstep, I do believe. Then I called an ambulance and when they arrived they questioned why you had no pants on instead of doing anything about your leg. And we end up here; Tyson’s just gone to the bathroom.” Rhys explained, watching me closely.
If anyone had seen us, we must have looked like a right pair. Me with a weird flappy hopsital gown and Rhys squeaking away on his chair while Tyson was relieving his bladder. Baby Harry Potter was perched on the edge of my bed, and I didn’t even question it. I knew better at this stage, this was just the way things were.
“When can I leave?” I thought out loud, and at that exact moment Tyson reappeared.
“When the doctor sees you. They want to talk to you, and then we can go.” Tyson answered, ruffling my hair. “But I have to admit, the footage I got today was epic, thanks.”
We sat in silence, and after a few minutes Rhys offered Tyson his chair, “There you go, it’s your turn for the chair.”
“And what are you going to do, just stand there? Last time that happened, you moaned because your legs were sore.” Tyson snorted, shaking his head but taking the chair any way.
“I’m going to cuddle. With Annie. Because I can and she isn’t dead yet.” Rhys grinned, happy with his solution to the seat dilemma. We launched himself at me, and belly flopped onto the bed. Baby Harry Potter fell off the bed, and Rhys released a shriek of anguish. “Oh shit! My baby fell off the bed! Oh man, what if he’s dead?! Annie, oh man!"
I laughed as Rhys crawled over my legs and peered over the edge of the bed worriedly. He lifted Baby Potter up, revealing a huge dent in the dolls head, “I killed a child.” Rhys deadpanned, before dropping Baby Potter back onto the floor and wriggling towards me. “Help me get over my grief by laying my head upon thy heaving bosom.” Rhys bawled, placing his head on my stomach yet avoiding my thigh. Good boy.
And then we noticed the doctor standing in the doorway with a ‘what the hell’ face. Tyson sniggered, and quickly recomposed himself. The doctor stepped into the room looking at the three of us carefully, “Good evening, I’m Doctor Ashen and I’m here to see an Annie Brady?”
Tyson’s sniggers increased as Rhys turned to him accusingly, “Dude, why?” Rhys demanded.
“Because you two are married, remember? Geez, did you hit your head too, Rhys?” Tyson teased, oblivious to the doctors annoyed stare.
“Please leave, sir. This is a private consultation and seeing as Annie’s husband is here there is no need for your presence.” Doctor Ashen ordered snappily, and Tyson gaped at her for a few seconds before hopping out of the chair and striding out of the room. She turned to the two of us next, “Would you like to many yourselves more, eh, comfortable before I start?” She pried, observing Rhys’s compromising position.
“I’m grand.” Rhys replied, waggling his eyebrows at me suggestively. Once a pervert, always a pervert.
“Well, Annie as you know you have leukaemia, and it has progressed significantly in the past few weeks. I’ve never seen it take over so fast myself.” She paused to take a breath, and Rhys’s hand slid into mine. “You’re going to start to rapidly deteriorate in a few weeks, maybe a month and a half, and once that starts you’ll have to come back here for the last two weeks, I’m sorry. From now on, you’ll notice little things, tiredness, short of breath, more likely to get sick and generally feeling like crap.”
I snorted at her use of the word crap, “Okay, I know that’s going to happen. I’m sick and I’m going to die, I have accepted that.” I told her calmly, feeling Rhys’s thumb trace soothing circles on my palm of my hand.
“I’ve been told of your decision, and I respect it. However, I have been told to tell you of a centre in London who will be able to help you if you go to them.” The doctor began, but I cut in.
“I’m not interested.” I pointed out, and I felt Rhys stop breathing for a while.
The doctor shrugged easily, as if seeing me slowly die didn’t bother her, “Okay, I’ll see you in a few weeks, Anabelle.” She saluted, and then left the room without a second glance.
“Please, Annie.” Rhys murmured, and I knew what he was talking about instantly. When I didn’t reply, he spoke again, “Please, just please consider it. I can’t bear to see you do this to yourself.”
I lifted my eyes to the ceiling, blinking away the tears that had started to form there. It had finally sunk in, I was going to die. I was sick, and I was going to leave behind this place and all these people. Up to now, it had all been fun and games and nothing had truly hit me.
A ragged sob escaped my throat, and the tears began to overflow. I could feel Rhys shifting our position stance so I was curled up into his chest; he was cupping the back of my neck to his shoulder and rubbing my back slowly. Another sob followed that one and I could feel a wet patch developing on his shirt. And to top it all off, my nose had started to run.
“Shhh, it’ll be okay, I promise. You have me, and Tyson and Miranda; we’re all here for you. We’re not going anywhere, and you can talk to us about anything, you know that right?” Rhys breathed, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence. Hearing his voice crack made me tears fall faster. If Rhys couldn’t be strong for me, I was doomed.
Eventually, my sniffles died down, and the tears stopped falling. I didn’t move my face from Rhys’s clammy shirt that was damp with my tears, I felt humiliated. There was no need to do that, or to waste my time crying pathetically.
“You know, that was the first time I’ve seen you cry in years.” Tyson quietly told me, and we both knew what he meant by that. The last time I had cried was when dad had died. I didn’t know long Tyson had been there for, and I didn’t care either. I lifted my head from the darkness of Rhys’s shoulder, and wiped my eyes of the bottom of Rhys’s shirt. Hey, I had my snot on that shirt; I was allowed to do that.
“C’mon, don’t we have a bucket list to complete?” My smile was watery, and the words were feeble but I could feel that it had lightened the atmosphere. And when Rhys smiled at me, I knew that it really was going to be okay.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
The borrowed sweatpants kept slipping down past my hips, and I was beginning to regret asking Rhys to take me to the nearby park. They had a little hut there, and inside the hut they sold any type of ice cream you could think of. And I wanted ice cream. But these damn pants were annoying me. But I wanted ice cream. Oh, the hardships of my life.
“If those pants are bugging you, just take them off.” Rhys suggested cheekily. I was happy to see that we had seemingly returned to our usual weird selves and that we weren’t drilling the doctor’s words into our skulls.
“I’m not taking my pants off; I’m in a public place.” I pointed out, huffing and pulling said pants up to my waist and tightening the string.
“Meh, fine.” Rhys laughed, smiling knowingly. I didn’t bother replying, and just inched closer to Rhys until I was close enough so that I could sneak my hand into his. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” Rhys muttered to himself.
We were right outside the small hut when we realized it was closed. I murmured a long string of cuss words; they would be closed the one time I was in dire need of ice cream. Rhys dejectedly led me away, picking up on my disappointment. He had become quieter out of the blue, and was bringing me in the wrong direction.
“Rhys, it’s the other way.” I hissed, and he cocked his head to the side.
“Really, Annie? Wouldn’t have guessed.” Rhys smirked sarcastically. He was leading us to the quietest place of the park, away from the screaming children and wary mothers. I was unsure of what he was doing, but I trusted Rhys.
Abruptly Rhys dodged behind a wide tree, pressing me against the rough bark. The wind was knocked out of me, and I gasped air in as Rhys smiled apologetically and waited for my breathing to return to normal. He stepped nearer, until his hard body was pressed against mine. His left hand lay on my waist gently. He bent his neck to angle his mouth closer to my ear.
“I want you to know that I’m never going to leave you, I’m never going to judge you, I’m never going to use you, and I’m never going to intentionally hurt you. I’ll always be there; I’ll always care for you, Anabelle. No matter how eager you are to get rid of me.” Rhys whispered leisurely, his lip gazing against my ear lobe as he spoke. I exhaled, flushing when it stuttered slightly.
Rhys leaned back, yet was still only a few inches away from me. Rhys raised an eyebrow expectedly, and when I didn’t say anything back it shot up further. His eyes drifted from my eyes, searching for any emotion on my face. I smiled, at the same time his eyes glanced at my mouth, and Rhys’s eyes returned to my eyes.
He began to move his face closer to mine, giving me time to move away if I wanted. And what did I do? I met him halfway. This is the twenty-first century and we have equal right, you know, might as well use those equal rights.
Rhys tasted like coffee, and it occurred to me then that this was my first kiss, oh man. What if I was so terrible at this kissing lark that he started laughing?
Rhys pulled away for a second and looked at me intently; it was only a chaste caress on the lips.
Then faster than he had pulled away Rhys leaned back in. I could feel his smile against my mouth as he began to kiss me, and I kissed him back. I let Rhys lead this one; he seemed to half-know what he was doing. Unlike me. When his tongue met my bottom lip, my mouth opened in surprise more than anything. The tip of his tongue touched mine, I opened my mouth wider. I heard Rhys moan quietly as he deepened the kiss, and it was my turn to smile.
Rhys finished it with a few quick pecks, and moved to rest his forehead against mine. He was panting slightly, and my breathing had quickened. All this exertion couldn’t be good for the heart. It would undoubtedly suck if I fell over dead right now all because I had a heart attack.
“Fuck, I’m definitely doing that again.” Rhys laughed, running a hand through his hair.
“Hell yes.” I grinned, returning his enthusiasm.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
“Honey, we’re home!” Rhys called as he pushed the front door open and shut it after us. It was chaotic, Maggie playing in the living room, Tyson yelling obscenities in the kitchen and Miranda running around. She passed us and stalled for a second before winking knowingly and dashing off to where Tyson was, clutching a first aid box like it was the Holy Grail.
We traipsed after Miranda, still hand in hand, to the kitchen. Tyson was sat at the table, huddling his finger in a cloth which had a red stain that was steadily growing. Miranda expertly applied some anti-septic cream, and bandaged Tyson’s finger within a few seconds. “You see, kiddies, this is why you shouldn’t play with knives.”
“What were you trying to do, you twit?” Rhys laughed, squinting at Tyson’s little baby cut.
“I was trying to make dinner in my own house for us all. Seeing as we all live here unofficially.” Tyson announced, gesturing at the stove were pans were boiling.
I bit the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from smiling, “Since when have you cooked?” I enquired, and Tyson blushed.
“Miranda was helping.” Tyson admitted, smiling crookedly at Miranda.
They’d make a good couple. Note to self: ask Miranda about it later.
“Are you trying to kill us or something?” Rhys joked in mock horror, and Miranda smacked the back of his head hard.
“If you don’t behave and play nice I swear to God.” Miranda threatened, wagging a finger at us. Rhys grinned at her, seeing her threat as an empty one. “Now, I’m going to speak to Annie. Alone. About smurfs.” Miranda directed, pushing me out the kitchen a bit.
She shoved me through the doorway and slammed the door shut with her foot; Tyson’s protests could be heard through the wood. Miranda hauled me into the living room, locking that door behind her now, “I don’t want to be disturbed.” She explained, practically throwing me onto the sofa.
“Do you have a thing for Tyson?” I blurted, wanting to speak before she dug into me. Miranda’s mouth opened and closed a few times, before she cleared her throat and crossed her legs primly.
“No comment, I shall not tell you anything to do with anything between me and your brother.” She blustered, turning her eyes into slits as she watched me carefully, “Now, tell me what happened. I demand details, just don’t make it sound like a sappy romance novel.”
I sat back haughtily, “No comment, I shall not tell you anything to do with anything between me and your brother.” I laughed, throwing her words back at her. Miranda’s face fell, and she kicked the edge of the sofa in frustration.
“Please!” She begged sounding like Rhys.
“No, you won’t tell me, so I won’t tell you. Even stevens.” I quipped, lounging back and enjoying her flabbergasted expression.
“No, I do not have a thing for your brother, it’s complicated.” Miranda muttered, crossing her arms across her chest defensively. “He’s having some problems, and I’m having some problems. We understand each other, and that’s all.” She elaborated, and I was surprised. I could have sworn they were together. I digested that, and shrugged. “Now it’s my turn! So, what happened? You were ages coming home and Tyson was about to go out looking for you, then you come home and Rhys is running around like a monkey on drugs and ice cream. He’s smiling at me; I’m not used to it.” Miranda pounced, and she had that smirk of hers plastered on her face.
“Uhhhhhh, well. Yes, something did happen. And we weren’t ages coming home.” I argued, feeling myself begin to blush furiously.
“Tell me or I swear to God I’m going to tell Tyson lies about you.” Miranda squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. She was too hyper as well. We needed to cut sugar out of all their diets.
“We might have kissed.” I hinted, and I watched her eyes grow wide and mouth open.
“Oh Bejaysus, it’s about time. I was wondering if he’d ever man up. All the hesitation and deep questions about how, when and what were starting to piddle me off. He was such a girl about it.” Miranda rambled, rolling her eyes.
“I can still hear you, you know!” Rhys yelled from next door, and Miranda giggled.
“That was the point!” She retorted, shaking her head.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. But it was fruit-looping awesome.” Rhys hollered, and I knew Tyson had kicked him or something when a grunt followed what he had said. “I take it back, I take it back. Oh man, that hurt.” He whined, his voice getting louder as he walked to where we were.
The doorknob rattled as Rhys tried to get in, and he stepped away. I knew he’d be waiting for me whenever Miranda decided to let me out and had finished asking questions. She was so gossip hungry, and I wasn’t any better.
“Meh, I’ll talk to you later, lover boy is getting antsy out there. Go satisfy his big boy needs, young one. Go, go, go, go!” Miranda cheered, shaking imaginary pom-poms in the air and jumping up and down. She skipped to the door, opened it and nearly walked straight into Rhys. They were nearly the same height, Rhys being just a little bit taller. He stared her down, and Miranda was beaming at him.
“I know what you did this afternoon, and you enjoyed it. So thank me, and then kiss my shoes and lick all the dirt off. I demand it.” Miranda suggested, slapping Rhys’s cheek playfully.
Rhys swatted her hand away, “Shut up, and give me Annie back, I have tension I need relieving.” I’m sure I blanched then, but neither of them were paying any attention to me.
“But I want to play Barbie’s with her and plait her hair and discuss how cute you are with her!” Miranda pouted, and Rhys raised an eyebrow.
“ Hand her over, I have a spare half hour.” Rhys laughed, trying to dodge past Miranda.
Miranda stepped in front of him, “Say please and I’ll consider it.”