Chapter 33 (Not proofread, so please ignore any mistakes:') ).
Harley snorted, nudging the back of my head with his muzzle. Waving him off, I took one last look at the bench.
“If it takes a turn for the worst, you’ll probably see me back here soon,” I whispered down to the memorial, running my fingers over the smooth wood at the top of the bench.
The memorial of my grandparents had suffered pretty badly in the storm that we’d had the night before, resulting in broken branches and a small amount of flooding. I’d only really gone out there to try and talk myself through the court case and the decision I’d made about Ana.
Eli had kept to himself about his mum the day before, no matter how hard I tried to pry. In the end, I gave up and allowed him to mope as I treated us to dinner to celebrate a step forwards between us. What I didn’t tell him was that I rang Spencer to ask how Ana was doing.
Spencer had told me that she’d taken a turn for the worst and was moved out to an institute on the outskirts of town and that Dean had the phone number for them. After getting Dean’s number from Spencer, I made the nerve racking call and asked about her. Dean didn’t seem as spiteful as he was when I first met him and had offered to take me out there to see her. Of course, Eli didn’t know that. If he didn’t mind going behind my back to help me, I was going to help him. She had become a friend of mine, as well, which is probably why Dean offered to take me out there.
Harley nudged me again, almost as if he knew that I had to get going. With a grumble, I swung myself into the saddle and clucked my tongue. I looked over my shoulder at the bench before pushing forwards, allowing Harley to go faster through the trees.
The air seemed to be coming in thicker the further we got from the cliffs and I sighed, slumping in the saddle to twirl the bottom of Harley’s cream mane through my fingers. He let out a noise and slowed down into a frisk walk, his shoulders moving in a gentle rhythm that could’ve easily put a baby to sleep.
When we emerged from the trees, I did a quick spot check for Eli. I’d seen him that morning but he’d left just after lunch to go and ‘run some errands’ and still wasn’t back. With a sigh of relief, I pushed Harley forward into a steady canter to take his field fence in a jump. He was more than happy to oblige, probably eager to stretch his legs out properly.
I managed to get Harley un-tacked and my bag packed by the time Dean pulled up in the same sports car that Spencer always used to give Finn a lift to football practise in. Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to the car and let myself into the passenger side, careful not to scratch the paintwork or get my muddy feet on the interior.
Dean said nothing as he pulled out of the space and back into the country lanes. I knew it would be awkward but the tension couldn’t even be cut with a knife, it was that thick. The only sound to be heard was that of the wheels over the mud and Dean’s fingers on the steering wheel.
“Eli said your next court case was soon,” he started and I winced. Out of all the conversation topics out there, it had to be that one. I forced a neutral expression to my face as he spoke.
“Yeah, it’s in a few weeks,” I replied. Dean rolled his lip into his mouth, the same nervous gesture that both Carter and Eli always did.
“Look,” he said, taking a breath before glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I couldn’t help but notice a faint similarity between Dean and Eli. Their bluntness when talking and the silvery fragments to their eyes. Although Dean looked more like Spencer than he did Eli, up close, you could tell that they were related.
“I am sorry for how I treated you when we first moved over. It was a new school, new kids and new rumours,” he paused, looking pained. “And I guess that when everyone told me what a great guy Finn was and how your parents didn’t like you as much as they did your brother.” He stopped talking for a moment again, seemingly mulling over his words.
“Back in Australia, Eli was literally Mum’s career. He did everything for her, doted after her, even. I used be her favourite, I don’t know why but she loved me. I made everything so difficult for that woman and she still treated me better than she did him.” I nodded to let him know that I was listening when he stopped for the traffic queue out of the village.
“So one day Eli told Mum that I’d beaten him up. To this day I don’t know what happened, but the kid came home cut up like hell. He looked like shit. Mum believed him and I went down for six months in juvie for assault,” Dean said with gritted teeth, shaking his head. I watched carefully as he unclenched his knuckles from the wheel and sighed, leaning back in the seat.
“What I’m trying to say is... I could kinda relate to the story that Finn was giving off. All in all, I didn’t mean to judge ahead, I get now that you went through something... well, something...” he trailed off, obviously feeling awkward. I offered a small smile in return.
“It’s fine. It’s not as if you were the only one doing it,” I said, shrugging. A pitiful attempt at carelessness.
“Nah, it was kind of the whole school vs Kat Price and various others,” he said with a small smirk. I rolled my eyes and smiled, relaxing back against the seat a little bit.
The trip from the village to the outskirts of town wasn’t an awkward silence, just a silence that was only evident because the radio in his car wasn’t working. When Dean had something to say, he would say it and vice versa.
When Dean pulled up outside a large white building that resembled a hospital, my heart jumped into my mouth. He took one look at me and chuckled.
“You don’t have to go in. Just go and get a coffee or something. I need to see her, anyway.” Although I appreciated his attempt, I shook my head, pushing the car door open.
“I want to go see her. If I know what’s going on, maybe Eli will talk to me,” I said, closing the door. The door of Dean’s door closing shortly followed my own and when I looked over he was leaning on the roof of the car.
He spent a few seconds looking over my features, studying me before he finally sighed.
“You’re something different,” he muttered before walking around the side of the car, handing me a visitor’s pass. I looked down at it, swiping my finger over the laminated plastic. “Anyway, I should probably give you a warning,” Dean said, leaning against the car. “She’s not the happiest when she’s in here. It’s normally because she got a bit aggressive or upset so she’s not going to be the same woman that you met when Eli introduced you, okay? Don’t take anything she says personally, if you’re going to, you may as well stay out here because she’ll probably hurt your feelings.”
If standing outside the medical building didn’t make me nervous, Dean’s speech sure did. I had been expecting him to say something along those lines and despite my irritation at him earlier, I was glad that he was going in as well.
After I said that I was still coming, Dean sighed and started off towards the doors. The lobby was extremely sterile, a lot like the place I went to go and get my medical examinations done. Everyone that I’d seen wandering around looked friendly but there were so many doors that I was sure I’d get lost in if Dean wasn’t there.
Dean took both of our visitor’s passes and handed them over the desk to the receptionist. She checked them and handed them back before asking us if we had anything on us that the patients could use to inflict harm. I shook my head, letting her know that I only had a pack of polo mints, my phone, my money for Dean’s petrol and hand sanitizer with me. I was considering explaining that I worked on a horse yard to prevent confusion but Dean had already gone through a door on the right that led to the ‘Beech Ward’.
The corridors were like a blank canvas, dull and empty. I just wanted to grab a paintbrush and paint all over them, give them some colour, some excitement. Dean looked over his shoulder to check that I was still behind him until all of a sudden, he stopped. I nearly went into his back but managed to save myself in enough time to look around his shoulder and see ‘Stone’ on the door sign.
“Ready?” he asked, hand poised on the doorknob. I nodded, swallowing the lump of nerves in my throat.
Dean pushed the door open, the light from the corridor mixing and blending with that in the room. He strode in like he owned the place and pulled out one of the black seats next to the white bed. It was almost as if it marked the intruders as impure, the white surrounding the patients acting as their sanctuary. I followed suit, snapping myself out of my thoughts.
Ana wasn’t wearing any of her eccentric make up, necklaces or rings. Only one ring was on her finger and it was a small gold one with ‘Mum’ in crystals on the front. She seemed tired, aggravated and just about everything that wasn’t Ana Stone.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, turning her back on us. I looked up at Dean uncertainly, who just rolled his eyes.
“Giving you a visit, Mum. If you don’t want to see anybody, I’m quite happy to bugger off home,” he drawled. Ana, although stubbornly at first, turned to face us, her eyes darting around.
“How are you doing?” Dean asked and Ana rolled her eyes.
“Haven’t you got any sensible questions? Why don’t you just ask the stupid women out there who keep me caged in here,” she replied. Dean held his hands up defensively.
“Right, that’s it. I’m going for my coffee. This has got to be a record, Mum. You have another guest,” he said, gesturing towards me. Ana glanced at me for a moment and then looked away, saying nothing. Dean looked up at the ceiling, counted to three and asked me if I wanted a coffee from the machine. I didn’t, so he left me there with Ana until he came back.
“The wedding was really nice,” I started, attempting to make conversation.
“You mean the one that Eli banned me from going to?” she spat. I winced and she shook her head, giving me an annoyed look. “Don’t you give me that look,” she started but I cut her off.
“Of all people, Ana, I will never give you that look. I don’t pity you, or feel sorry for you, I’m worried about you,” I said as confidently as I could, although my heart was beating against my chest like it did when somebody touched me. Ana’s face softened for a brief moment, a flicker of recognition before it hardened again.
“Don’t talk to me like those nurses do or like my son does,” she huffed. I leaned back in the chair, frowning.
“I’m sorry if I offended you,” I said. I took a deep breath, watching her ragged movements.
“Now you’re acting like Lyra, you’re just like all those little dirt bags he always brought home for me to meet,” she said, shaking her head with irritation.
“I’m not,” I insisted but she held her hand up.
“Exactly like them, they said the same before leaving here crying.” I closed my eyes, took one breath and looked at her angry eyes, seeing nothing but emptiness and sadness.
“I’m nothing like them because I’m not going to walk out of here, or leave,” I said. That seemed to stump her, she had nothing to say to that.
“Then you gain a little bit of my respect,” she said before turning her back on me once again. Dean came back a few minutes later with a coffee and looked at me, seemingly checking if I was OK.
I shot him a small smile, leaving him to talk – or try to talk – to Ana. She didn’t offer much as a cause of conversation, just gave the occasional grunt and insult. Dean eventually got bored and left, taking me with him.
What I didn’t expect was to find Eli outside with Spencer, just parking up. Eli froze when I came out and I winced. I’d been planning the conversation to happen, but not quite that soon.
Without a word, Eli approached me, his expression controlled. I met him halfway, folding my arms over my chest.
“Why are you here?” he asked after Spencer had walked past us, shooting me a small smile. Dean said something about waiting for me by his car so I nodded.
“I was visiting your mum. If you weren’t going to tell me anything, I needed to find out for myself, I was worried,” I replied. Eli let out a deep breath and it was clear that he was irritated.
“You had no right,” he whisper yelled. I narrowed my eyes.
“Just like you had the right to tell my mum about my past?” I retorted. Eli opened his mouth and closed it.
“I thought we got over that?”
“Forgiven but not forgotten. I opened up everything to you, laid it out on a platter and I ask one simple question and you won’t answer me? I was worried so I was checking up on it. You were worried, so you told my mum.”
Eli was silent for a moment and he ran his hand through his hair, clenching and unclenching his jaw.
“Okay,” he whispered, looking down at me. “I need to go and see her now but tomorrow, we need to talk about this,” he said. He must’ve noticed my panicked face as he slowly leaned down and pressed a small kiss to my cheek.
“I am not fighting with you again, I couldn’t stand it last time. Meet me tomorrow with Harley and we’ll go for a ride and talk this over,” he replied. I nodded, letting out a breath through my lips as I retreated back to the car with Dean.