And now... for the last chapter... IN THIS STORY (dun dun dunnnnnn!)
I'd like to thank every single person who has ever read this or any of my other stories. Knowing that I'm posting something people not only like, but nearly beg me to update (cough-cough bookgirl cough-cough), makes me the happiest fanfiction-writing maniac in the entire world (and believe me, there are plenty).
Further acknowledgements and important A/N down below...
And now, without further adieu...
Chapter 23!
Chapter 23
I had to leave a few hours later. Whitney had kicked me out, claiming that she and Tory needed to have a little talk. Tory had gone pale when she said that, so I figured it'd be better if I wasn't there anyway.
Cain was waiting for me on the front porch. "Mom wants to talk to us," he said. "And I think I know what it's about."
"What?"
He glanced around, as if anyone would bother to eavesdrop. "You remember me telling you about how she's always texting someone?"
"Uh-huh." Not fazed, I tried to go inside. He stopped me.
"She went out last night and didn't come back until right before I came here."
That caught my attention. It wasn't like her to stay out all night, unless she was at work. And it wasn't her turn to take the night shift yet- she was a nurse at both Lowcountry and at Coastal Pediatric Associates. The former was a more part-time job than anything else. She mainly focused on secretarial tasks there, while she was on the floor most of the time at Coastal.
"Did she say anything?"
"Just that she'd be out late. When she came home this morning, all she told me was that she wanted to talk, and that you and I should come over around one. I think she wants us to meet her new boyfriend."
I didn't know what to think of that, so I said nothing.
"You wanna get going? It's half past noon."
"Sure." I ducked into the house and grabbed the keys to Sewee. She had survived the crash, miraculously, with just a few scrapes. Easy to fix. "You don't get seasick, do you?"
"You kidding? Every spring break me and my buddies would go down to the beach and sail." He arched a brow. "You're going to let me touch your precious baby?"
"I can't exactly chain you to the back and drag you along."
"Can I drive?"
"Hell no."
He rolled his eyes and said, "Can I at least sit in the co-captain's chair?"
"No." That's Tory's seat.
"God, what a killjoy."
I rolled my eyes and pointed to the bench. He plopped down with a dramatic sigh, reminding me of Hiram. I steered Sewee, careful not to hit any of the rocks that were in the area. We arrived soon, and I jumped off, tying her in. Cain helped.
Mom met us at the door. She looked nervous.
"Hi, boys. Safe trip?"
I nodded, while Cain muttered a "Yeah."
She wrung her hands. "Why don't we sit down in the living room? You guys hungry? I can make just about anything. I have bread, if you want a sandwich or grilled cheese. Or if you want chicken, I have-"
"I'm fine, Ma," I said, cutting off her rambling. Something was definitely up.
She took a breath. "I'm seeing someone."
Cain nodded, as if he knew it all along. "Who is it?"
"His name is Paul." She seemed relieved that he was taking it so well. "He's a doctor."
"Where?" I asked, not quite sure how to feel, what to do.
"At Lowcountry."
My jaw clenched, my fingers dug into my leg. "A gynecologist? Is he your doctor?"
She nodded. "Ben, he's very professional. Nothing has ever happened during my appointments."
I shook my head. This was so unprofessional. Not only did they work together, but he was her doctor. Her lady doctor. I didn't even want to think about that. "How long?"
"A few months. We've known each other for a few years."
"Why are you telling us now?" Cain inquired, glancing at me.
She ran a hand through her black hair. "He and I have started to get more serious."
"Does Dad know?"
She shook her head. "I don't know how to tell him."
I felt like I was betraying my father somehow. He still cared about Mom. He wasn't exactly in love with her, but it was like a part of him believed that they should have stayed together. And he felt extremely guilty for cheating on her.
He and Mom had been in the middle of a pretty big fight. He went out and then came back the next morning. I remembered how he'd smelled strange, like cheap perfume. And I remembered how Mom had cried for so long. That was when she'd started drinking. I was four. She stopped six years later, when Dad threatened to take full custody of Cain and me.
"You know he's going to find out sooner or later."
"I know." She smiled and looked at the two of us. "You know, this is the first time I've seen you two together and not fighting. You have no idea how happy this makes me." Tears welled up in her eyes as she embraced Cain, then me. I rolled my eyes. "You sure you don't want me to fix you two some lunch?"
I swear, it's like it's her lifetime goal to make me fat.
"I'm not hungry, Ma," I said.
Cain sighed. "I'll take a grilled cheese."
Her eyes lit up as she strolled into the kitchen. "You still like tomatoes and mayonnaise on it?"
"Yup."
"Some things never change, Cainny."
"I can't believe you eat mayonnaise on your grilled cheese," I said, reaching for the TV remote and turning on the baseball game.
"I can't believe you watch baseball."
"I can't believe you used that as a retort."
"Dumbass."
"Jockstrap."
"I'm glad Tory's doing okay, Ben," Nancy said, jotting something down on The Clipboard. "And from what your mother's mentioned, your relationship with your brother has also improved."
I nodded.
"That's very good. What changed?"
When your girlfriend's been shot, almost everything else seems unimportant. Besides, it was nice to see Tory's face light up when she found out. And then, of course, she said, "I told you so."
"How much longer will she be on crutches?"
"About a week." And she wouldn't miss them. Neither would I. Too many times had I been snapped at for 'babying' her. I just wanted to make sure she used the leg as little as possible in order to avoid unnecessary discomfort. When I'd explained that to her, she'd rolled her eyes and told me that there was a difference between 'helpful' and 'overprotective.' Then she'd sighed and told me that at least my intentions were good, but to please let her take care of herself.
Nancy glanced up for once and watched me carefully as she said, "And are you two planning to celebrate at all?"
She'll probably want to do something. "We might go out."
She nodded. "You two are still close?"
"Yes."
"But you're being careful."
"Yes." I was being extremely careful with her, more so than she wanted me to be. I was terrified of injuring her further, no matter how many times she insisted she was fine. That didn't mean that we hadn't spent any quality time together, though.
"That's great to hear." The five minute warning went off, and she frowned. "You're starting school in a few weeks. You're going to be a senior. How do you feel about that?"
I shrugged.
"Do you know where you're going yet?"
"I applied to Trident Technical."
"And?"
I shrugged again. I hadn't gotten a response and wasn't really expecting one.
"I heard that you'd gotten a perfect score on both your ACT and SAT tests. I'm certain that they'll be impressed with that, and your grades themselves are very good."
But I've been kicked out of a school and helped a serial killer try to kill the very people I care about above all others. Those details are hard to miss and won't really help me get in.
She must've gotten better at reading me, because she said, "Just because you've had some bad publicity doesn't mean you won't get accepted. You're highly intelligent, and a lot of schools will recognize that."
The timer went off and I opened the door. These weren't getting any easier.
"Ben, wait."
I stopped, but didn't turn.
"You have shown some improvement, so I'm going to change your schedule to every other Tuesday. Keep up the good work."
I might get out of this yet, I thought. It only took ten miserable months.
"And tell your brother goodbye for me. I understand he's going back to Florida soon."
"In a week or so." It'd be nice to have peace from his dumb quips and incessant stories and jabs. Three months had been long enough. There was only so much of him I could take before I lost my mind entirely.
Nancy held out a slip of paper. "You should be almost out of your anti-depressants. I've lowered the dosage on these."
I took it from her hand. I still hadn't taken any of the other pills she'd given me. Didn't feel the need to. I was fine.
Some things never did change.
Acknowledgements:
My mother for putting up with my bullshit for the past nine months (I've been working on this for a while)
My lovely editors/beta readers: WingedArcher01 (previously known as Virls101) and viralsisamazing, also for putting up with my bullshit for almost as long.
My laptop for always playing good music to write to (except for when it doesn't)
School for being a pain and assigning homework on the nights that I need to write.
My friends at school, again, for putting up with my bullshit.
My guitar teacher for putting up with my bullshit.
(There's apparently a lot of bullshit.)
I feel like I have to mention WingedArcher01 twice because she has been there since day one and has become so much more than an editor to me. She's easily one of my closest friends now.
To THIS STORY for turning out not nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be.
To Brendan and Kathy Reichs, for causing so much unrest among fans that we feel like we must write fanfiction to fill the void. (Seriously, though, this place is going to explode once Terminal comes out.)
To Google Drive, for keeping my story safe.
To my dog Gonzo, for all of the warm snuggles, listening to me talk to myself, and just putting up with my bullshit in general.
And, lastly, TO YOU GUYS! I wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for you. Thank you to everyone who read and took the time to review. I love you!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: (Important!)
I am currently writing a story. (As mentioned several times before.) I'm not done writing it yet, so it will take longer for me to post. Typically when I post stories that aren't finished yet, I update every eleven days. It gives me time to write and edit while juggling this, work, and school (but I cannot argue with 16 hour work weeks because that's some nice money coming in!). So feel free to review and tell me how much you hate me... you just won't be getting any virtual cookies!
The first chapter will be posted THIS SATURDAY.
Secondly, I have some... we'll just call them 'lost chapters' that had to be cut once I ended my story early. I'll be posting them as one-shots, like a few of you had wanted. The first one will focus on Ben's relationship with Ronnie, just to give you guys an idea about her before Saturday, because she IS the central character. The one-shots won't be in chronological order of any type, but I'll probably give you a general idea of when it is if I don't think it's mentioned clearly enough in the story.
Love y'all lots,
-WiccaChick98