(Recap)
“Pity, would have been interesting if you had a girlfriend.”
“I don’t have time for girls. They’re just a bunch of dead weight” D laughed at that and slapped me hard on my back, making me stubble a bit.
“I had forgotten how funny you are Ethan. Dead weight. That’s a good one.” He got into his car and waved, calling,
“Don’t be out too late you hear? I’ll be waiting for the rest of my parcels from you kids later.” Then he sped off down the street.
I sighed, as I watched him drive off down the empty street. So he knows something is up, I just hope that I had bought us some time. We need to distance ourselves from the girls before he figures it out.
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Chapter 8
Violets POV
After the guys left, the girls who I was slowly started remembering, Vicky and Van, rushed towards me, looking beyond happy. I glanced at the sleeping woman with surprise that she hadn’t woken up by their shrieking. They followed the direction I was looking and they started to quiet down. The doctor also came into the room, with a clip board and a small smile on his lips.
“Miss Spenser it’s nice to finally see you awake. I’m Doctor Ryan Marks. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“No, of course not.”
He fired a few questions at me, more or less the same thing the guys asked me. What’s the last thing I remember? Do I have any headaches? Is my vision blurry? Blah, blah, blah.
He had also done a few tests as well, checking my reflexes, as well as shining a bright ass light in my eyes and in my ears and finally checking the wound on my stomach. He kept taking notes as he accessed me. When he was finally done he said,
“The police will be here tomorrow to ask you a few questions about the robbery. I had notified them that you had woken up and they would just need your statement.”
I nodded my head then before he left he checked my mom’s vitals and temperature.
“So how you felling? Everybody at school sends their wishes… especially Kyle.” Van said with a smirk.
“Who’s Kyle?” I asked, looking at them a little confused.
They both looked a little concerned and Vicky said, “He’s in your maths class… he also recently confessed his undying love for you. He’s been here a few times to visit you.”
"He hadn't confessed his love for her. He just said he has a crush on you." Van said
"Same difference." Vicky said shrugging.
“Oh.” Was all I said. Is he my boyfriend or something?
“But seriously, how you doing? You must have been terrified when that lunatic came in pointing a gun at you. I’m just glad you didn’t…” Van said reaching out to take my hand. I sighed and said
“I’m fine, I don’t remember much of that night. Except a dream I had.”
They nodded, looking both worried and slightly happy that I don’t remember much.
“We were so worried Vi, I couldn’t believe something like this happened to you… in our town. There’s never any robberies like that, that would happen here. First Jason dying on that field and now you being attacked. What’s happing to our quiet town?” Vicky sighed.
No-one replied to Vicky’s question. I didn’t even know what to say to make them feel better. I could see this was upsetting them, that so many bad things were happening in this town, but I really didn’t know what to say.
“So what did I miss?” I asked trying to change the subject.
Vicky and Van knew me so well already that they picked up that I was trying to change the subject and they both gave me grateful smiles as Vicky said,
“Well Kim is dating Danton now, and that means she’s automatically bumped up to the popular table. Sadie is pregnant, we taking bets who the father is, I said its James Weston,but Van here thinks it’s Preston Miles because they hooked up at Mel’s party and the numbers add up, but James is always with her and he was also with her at Mel’s party. And what else… Oh Mrs. Mornington gave birth, there is a hot sub teacher in her place and let me tell you-”
“Wait, wait a sec wasn’t Mrs. Mornington seven months pregnant, was the baby premature or something and how do you know Sadie's pregnant? Mel’s party was yesterday, I’m sure it takes more than a day to know if that’s happened.” Vicky and Van looked at each other with concerned faces, until Van said,
“Violet… Mel’s party was two months ago. You’ve been in a coma for nearly two months.”
“What?”
I’ve been in a coma for two months. TWO MONTHS. How badly was I hurt? How can a shot to the stomach put me out for two freaking months? Oh crap, my scholarship. I’m going to lose my scholarship. What am I going to do? I’ll have to take extra projects on, maybe do some sort of internship and definatly extra credit. I’m sure they would understand, I could still catch up, I mean I’m a good student, so I won’t be able to socialize much, not that I was doing any of that-
“Violet, snap out of it.” I felt myself being shaken by the shoulders and my stomach protested in pain. I winced and reached for my wounded abdomen.
“Sorry Violet. Did I hurt you?” Vicky asked sounding a bit worried.
“No shit Sherlock. What were you thinking shacking a gunshot victim, like a pimp trying to shack up cash from his hooker?” Van asked Vicky while she looked me over.
“I’m sorry she was freaking me out and I-“
“Guy’s it’s okay, I’m okay. I was freaking out a little and I needed that. Thanks Vicky.” I smiled reassuringly. Still freaking out that I had been in a coma for two months. That’s two months of my life that I will never get back.
They were looking at me with sad faces and I said, “Go on what else did I miss while I was playing sleeping Beauty?” They both stared at me, not sure whether or not to carry on. Van sighed as she said,
“Well nothing much else happened except the football team is really pissed at that Red Clair football dude. They said he did an illegal tackle and that’s why Jason died. There were talks of pay back. There’s a whole investigation and the Red Clair guy was banned until further notice. I don’t like the way the guys are acting. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen or they’ll do something really stupid.”
“We just have to hope they don’t do anything stupid. I’ll talk to Kyle, see if he can’t talk sense into them. It was an accident after all, let the board handle it.”
“You’re right, maybe Kyle will listen to you… he does seem to be over the hill for you.” Van said smiling a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“What do you mean? He only has a small crush on me, its barely even there.” I said, totally convinced with myself.
“Nah-ah he’s totally in love with you Vi. He’s been here nearly every day, visiting you. Me on the other hand is getting nowhere with the Scottish hunk, but you girlfriend has been getting daily visitors, from at least two very delicious suitors.”
“Two?”
“The hunk-o-licious Mr. Universe that was just here a minute ago and the sexy drool worthy running back.” Vicky sighed and had a dreamy look on her face,
“They’ve been at the hospital almost every day since the… incident, and I’m pretty sure those two boys has got it bad for you, and they can’t seem to stand each other and I know exactly why that is.” Vicky said looking very naughty all of a sudden.
“You got it wrong. Ethan doesn’t care about me. He was there when it happened and he was just concerned about me.” I said, looking at both of them, suddenly not sure if what I was saying was true and I knew I wanted him to like me so much, but a part of me knew I was so far out of his league, that we might as well be two completely different creatures all together.
“Vi, if he was just concerned with your well-being, then why would he be here every day since the incident and stay here all day-by your side. Watching you as you… slept.”
“I…I don’t know… Do you really think he likes me?” I asked, uncertain now if he really had feelings for me. I didn’t really know him and wouldn’t know how he would act if he had a crush on someone, then again I really didn't want to get my hopes up, only to get them crushed.
“It’s as clear as the sky is blue Vi. That boy is totally hot for you. Trust me.” Van said and Vicky nodded her head to show that she agreed with Van.
Could he really like me? Me, the quiet shy introvert in our group.
“Violet?” I heard a croaky voice and looked towards my mother. She had tears in her eyes and was staring at me, the happiness clear on her face.
“You’re awake.” She scrambled to her feet and rushed towards me.
“Careful mom. You might hurt yourself, you need-“
“Hush, my baby was shot and you’re worried about me. I don’t care about me, I’m just glad you’re awake.” She hugged me and I wanted to say… I care. I care what happens to you, but the words never left my mouth, I just reached up, suppressing the pain I felt when I lifted my arms to hug my mother.
Vicky, Van, my mom and Lily chattered until it was time for Vicky and Van to leave. Lily was staying over at Amy's until i got back home. Before Vicky and Van left they told me that they would come around tomorrow after school and I told them to bring some homework, which they protested like I had asked them to become a member of Terry’s Flamingo’s, but they had reluctantly agreed in the end.
My mom and I chatted and she forbid me from working at the Quickie Mart and said if I needed money she would sort something out, but I wasn’t keen on asking her for money. She needed it more than I did. She also told me my Aunt Carry was going to be here by the end of the month. My Aunt Carry was my mom’s younger sister, they didn’t exactly get along. My Aunt was the immature and reckless. She had caught on a lot of trouble and eventually moved away from everybody. My mom said that she had been trying to get a hold of her sister since she found out the cancer was back. Aunt Carry was the last remaining family she had, my grandparents died a few years ago, so she was to get custody of my sister and myself, once my mom ...
She had only managed to get a hold of Aunt Carry a few days ago and she hadn’t told my aunt about the cancer. She didn’t want to tell her over the phone, she just said that she needed to come back home, it was important. She was reluctant at first, but I don’t know what my mother said, but she’s on her way now.
The police came the next day, bright and early. They asked me the standard questions like what happened? Did I recognize the guy that shot me? Could I describe in detail the events that unfolded? Where was my boss? Had I seen the guy before? Was he alone? Blah, blah, blah… He asked about Ethan as well and said that they had questioned Ethan and his cousins already and they had confirmed my story.
They also told me that the guy that shot me tried to get away, tripping in the process and the Slushie machine fell on him and there was an exposed wire which got in the melted water of the machine and electrocuted the guy. They said that this was pretty much an open and closed case. The guy had apparently robbed another store a few towns over as well as a convenient store in the Red Clair town.
I thanked the officers before they left me alone. Lily was at kindergarten and my mom was getting a scan done, so it was just me and my thoughts.
I kept thinking about the dream I had, just before I work up. I dreamt I was surrounded by blackness; it was so dark I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I had a feeling of drifting, almost like I was floating in a river. I felt underneath me but I didn’t feel any water nor a floor. I remember seeing a tiny speck of light and being drawn to it. It was like an invisible rope was tied to me and someone was pulling me in that direction.
As I neared the light, it got brighter and bigger, I used my hands to shield my eyes and before I saw anything I heard someone call my name in a whisper “Violet”
I looked around my hand and saw a silhouette of a man, I couldn’t make out any of his features but his voice, I recognized his voice.
“Violet.” I saw him reach out to me and I got a sense of peace, of love, of safety. I smiled at him and reached for him.
“Dad.” I was so close, so, so close to taking his hand when I felt myself being yanked back into the darkness. “DADDY!”
“Violet… NO!” I watched as my father’s silhouette got smaller, he was still reaching out for me and then the warm light vanished, and then I woke up here.
Was it really just a dream or did I actually did see my father? I was so close to seeing him, I miss him so much. I could even smell his familiar aftershave in that darkened realm. Or maybe it was just a really vivid dream.
The doctor came back the next day, he said it was a miracle that I survived and that I was recovering fast. I could be released by the end of this week. I was really looking forward to getting out of this place.
After he left , i was back to being bord so I idly flipped hrough the channels, looking for something to take my mind off of the dream that seemed to consume my mind since I woke up.
In the corner of my eye I saw something move by the door and I looked up. There was a little girl standing there holding a teddy bear, sucking on her thumb watching me. I put down the remote and smiled at her, she must have been lost.
“Hey there, what’s your name?”
She looked a bit taken aback and a little confused, like she wasn’t sure I was talking to her. She looked around as if there might have been someone standing behind her that I might have spoken to.
Then she looked back at me and pointed hesitantly at herself. I giggled and nodded my head,
“Yes you. What’s your name.”
“M-my name is Anna. Anna Elizabeth Heart.”
“Anna… that’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you.” She was still standing by the door holding her teddy and I gave her a warm smile.
“Come on in. I won’t bite. Is that your teddy bear?” She slowly walked over and sat in the chair next to me, still clutching the teddy bear.
“Yip, his name is Tedster.” She beamed holding up her teddy bear so that I could see.
“Tedster the teddy bear. That’s a rather cool name.” I smiled
“My brother helped me come up with it.”
“That’s really nice of him.”
“Ya he’s the best brother in the whole world.” She beamed as she held onto Tedster, then she got a sad look on her face like she was remembering something
“Hey, what’s with the long face?”
“Nothing, its just that he is so sad now.”
“Why? Is it because you’re in here?”
She nodded her head, “I wish he wasn’t so sad anymore.”
“Don’t worry Anna, you’ll get better and then he won’t be so sad anymore.” She didn’t say anything, she just held onto Tedster a little tighter.
“So, Anna wanna watch some cartoons with me?” I asked hoping to cheer her up. She smiled and nodded. I made space for her next to me and patted the space to allow her to sit next to me.
We watched cartoon network and I started to drift off. When I woke up, Anna was gone and my mom was back from her tests. The TV was on some talk show, but it seemed that she wasn't really watching it. She looked like she had something else on her mind.
“Hey mom how did the tests go?” I asked as pulled myself into a more comfortable position.
“It went well. The doctor said that it hasn’t spread.” I nodded. I hadn’t failed to notice that there she said that there had been no progress and the disease was still eating away my mother’s body.
After that we avoided the topic, like avoiding it would make everything better, but sometimes it was just better to pretend that she wasn’t sick.