|
|
Carly rolled her eyes, pushing past him, intent on heading toward the
cafeteria to indulge herself in oh-so-delicious coffee and bagels.
Before she could make it to safety, Monica grabbed her by the arm.
"Carly? Carly Roberts? What are you doing here? Do
you know Jason?"
Carly heaved a sigh, pushing her hair off of her forehead. The
last
thing she was going to say in front of Jason's *former* family was
that
she slept with him on a regular basis. "Um, Monica," she muttered,
looking at her feet. "Yeah, it's me."
Monica stared at Carly expectantly. She put her hands out, wanting
more
information. "Do you know Jason?" she repeated, looking back
to be sure
her family was behind her on this.
Indeed they were. Every single one of them stood behind her, including
Keesha, and were staring at Carly as though she had the answer to the
meaning of life. Carly cleared her throat, trying desperately
to come
up with a suitable answer. 'Yes' just didn't seem like it would
cut it
with these silver spoon sucking vultures. There was no way she
was
telling them the nature of her relationship with Jason. It was
none of
their business, and Jason, Carly knew, believed they had no right to
know a thing about him. She wasn't about to spill the details
of his
life to a family he wanted nothing to do with.
Carly glanced up at the group, then back down to the carpet. She
cleared her throat again, and shook her head. "Yeah, I know Jason.
I
met him back when I was here before, and we became friends. Then
I left
town, and now I'm back and we're still friends."
She looked back up, hoping it would be enough to satisfy their interest.
Apparently not. The questions started in faster than Carly could
blink.
"Friends? What do you mean, friends? Jason doesn't have
friends!"
Edward shouted, pointing his finger accusingly at Carly.
"Who exactly *are* you? How did you meet him a year ago?"
Keesha
asked, ignoring Edward's comments.
AJ stepped to the foreground, his hands on his hips, looking
suspiciously at Carly. "I remember you from a while ago," he
began, his
eyes traveling from her face to her toes and inspecting every part
in-between. Carly felt naked.
"You and Jase were practically inseparable. You're the only person
he'd
give the time of day to. Then you left, and he got even nastier
than he
was. So that had some kind of effect on him. Now you're
back? What's
this about? What exactly is going on, Carly?"
Carly stared at AJ, open-mouthed. She had been trying to keep
her cool,
but felt control slipping away. "And who exactly are *you*?"
she
growled, glancing from AJ to Ned. "You don't--"
"I'm Jason's brother!" AJ interjected, pointing a finger in Carly's
face.
Carly cut herself off, laughing at his sudden outburst. "His
*brother*?" she scoffed, an evil glint coming into her eyes.
"To *you*
maybe, but not to him. Jason doesn't think he has a family.
Except
maybe now Sonny. And blood doesn't mean anything if the love's
not
there. And it's not. When I first met him, he had no idea
what love
was, and do you know why?" Carly was shouting now, shoving her finger
in
AJ's face. "Because the "love" you showed him when he was in
the
hospital, scared and alone, not knowing anyone or anything, was not
love
at all! It was expectations! Expectations that he couldn't
live up to.
As a son," she sneered, gesturing toward Alan and Monica, "as a
brother," she pointed at AJ, "and as a boyfriend," she finished,
flailing her hand vaguely at Keesha.
Monica gasped, turning toward Alan for comfort. The rest of the
room
was silent. Carly couldn't stop her rampage. All of the
anger she
harbored toward this family she didn't even know was surfacing.
And it
was all based on her feelings for Jason. How much they'd hurt
him. How
they didn't let him be the man he wanted to be. No one did, except
for
her and Sonny. And Carly was pissed.
"That's right! He doesn't know love from you. That's why
you never see
it. That's why you think he's incapable of love. He'll
never show it
to you because you don't deserve it. And you don't know what
you're
missing!"
Bobbie's voice cut through the waiting room, interrupting Carly's rant.
"Carly!"
Carly spun around, her breath coming in hard gasps. She blinked
at the
sight of her mother, unaware of how she was going to deal with this.
She decided she had to calm down, that was for sure. Jason wouldn't
appreciate her telling his personal things to the Quartermaine’s, and
she knew she had to stop before she said something he had told her
in
confidence. Not that she hadn't already, but it could definitely
get
worse. If Carly knew anyone, it was herself, and what she was
capable
of. She certainly knew what she was capable of ruining, and it
*wasn't*
going to be Jason's privacy.
Before Carly could respond to her mother, Edward pushed his way to the
front of the group, and stood directly in front of Carly. "Now
you
listen to me, little girl," he growled, pushing his chest forward like
a
pompous peacock. "That boy in there is my grandson. He
is *damaged*
and doesn't know how to love. That is indeed a tragedy.
He works for a
mobster, and that is also a tragedy--"
"Oh save it," Carly snapped, twirling back around. "Jason knows
*exactly* what he is doing. He knows how to love--"
"And how would you know that?" Keesha interjected, her eyes flashing.
"You’ll just have to use your imagination!” Carly spouted without
thinking. She closed her eyes, instantly regretting it.
Why did she
have to make herself out to be a slut in every possible situation?
It
was only said to get under this self-righteous Keesha person's skin.
She couldn't for the life of her imagine Jason dating this girl.
It
seemed as far-fetched as Carly dating AJ Quartermaine.
The room silenced at her personal outburst. "You little tramp!"
Monica
sneered, taking a step toward Carly.
"You shut your mouth!" Carly defended, leaning in toward Monica.
Bobbie put an arm up in-between her best friend and her daughter.
"Okay," she said calmly, looking from Carly to Monica with a warning
gaze. "Okay, ladies, let's just stop here."
Carly rolled her eyes, twisting a piece of hair in-between her fingers.
Monica pursed her lips. Bobbie heaved a breath, dropping her
arm and
positioning her body where it had been.
"Carly," she said quietly, taking her daughter by the arm. "May
I speak
with you privately please?"
Carly shrugged her arm away, ready to refuse, until she saw the
Quartermaine's, every single one of them glaring at her with hatred,
over Bobbie's shoulder. Carly nodded instead, turning away from
the
group and putting her head in her hands.
Bobbie shuttled her away, glancing back at the Quartermaine’s as they
regrouped and recovered from Hurricane Carly blowing into their lives.
Bobbie could empathize, that was for sure.
"Carly," Bobbie began as soon as they were out of earshot from the
Quartermaine’s. "What are you doing here?"
Carly rolled her eyes again, pointing to Jason's room. "Jason's
in the
hospital, Bobbie," she said with pointed impatience. She knew
that
wasn't what Bobbie was asking, but didn't feel like having a
mother-daughter bonding moment just then. It was all too much
to bear.
The Quartermaine’s, that wretched Keesha, Jason being shot,
Bobbie...Carly wondered if she should have ever come back.
She stole a glance at the silver ring on her right hand and decided
that
no matter what bad things came her way, it was worth it to have spent
the time she did with Jason. And *would* spend with him, she
reminded
herself. She had to think positive. She had to. It
was the only thing
keeping her from up and leaving again.
Bobbie put her hand on her hip, tilting her head in impatience.
"You
know what I mean Carly," she said. "What are you doing *in town*?"
Carly looked at the ground, not sure she wanted to explain herself.
She
took a breath, vowing not to blow up at Bobbie as she had at the Q's.
"I needed some time away to work out some things. I came back
when I
was ready. It happened to take me, like, eleven months.
It's no big
deal."
Bobbie nodded her head, remembering their first conversation.
She had
told Carly that if she felt she needed to take off, she could, and
Bobbie wouldn't try to stop her. She'd given Carly her business
card,
in hopes that she would make the move to come to her. She hadn't,
and
Bobbie had accepted that, as hard as it had been.
When Carly was in the hospital, Bobbie was under the impression that
they had made some progress, but once Carly disappeared, Bobbie had
chalked it up to temporary relationships built under trying
circumstances. It happened all the time.
"I'm glad you're back," Bobbie offered, putting a hand on Carly's arm.
Carly looked at Bobbie's hand, surprised. She hadn't expected
it to be
so easy. Bobbie really was going to lay off. Let her come
around at
her own pace. Carly knew she owed it to herself, not Bobbie,
to build a
relationship with her mother if she wanted to. She'd learned
that it
was okay to want it, and okay not to want it. As long as it was
what
*she* wanted.
Carly smiled a bit, looking up at Bobbie through suddenly teary eyes.
"Is Jason going to be okay?" she asked meekly, not wanting to rehash
her
disastrous meeting with the Quartermaine’s.
Bobbie's expression softened, and she guided Carly to a nearby chair
and
sat down next to her. "I think so," she said quietly, thoughtfully.
"Physically, he should. But it's rough on your mind to
go through two
tragedies like he has, only a year apart. It's rough to go through
even
one bad thing, you know that. Much less two."
Carly nodded, finally able to understand why Jason wasn't waking up.
The world was a mean, nasty, scary place, and it was probably warm
and
safe and happy where he was. Carly wasn't sure that she'd want
to wake
up either. Hell, she wasn't sure she wanted to wake up every
morning.
"So I take it you two have been getting along fine since you got back?"
Bobbie asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Carly smiled, her cheeks coloring slightly pink at the reminder of what
she'd spouted off not only to Keesha but to every person in Jason's
family. She shook her head, brushing it off. If Jason wouldn't
care,
why should she? She wasn't embarrassed to be with Jason, in fact,
she
was proud.
Carly's smile turned wider as she looked up and into her mother's eyes.
"He's so wonderful, Bobbie," she gushed. "He gave me this."
She held
her hand out so Bobbie could see the ring. The two giggled, almost
like
friends, until Carly's smile suddenly faded. "I can't--I don't
think I
can handle it if he dies...” she murmured.
Bobbie put a hand on Carly's back, rubbing it softly. "Don't think
like
that Carly. He's going to be fine." She looked over at
Jason's room,
where she could see Sonny exiting the room and a guard holding Edward
back, who was insisting on going in. She rolled her eyes, deciding
that
scene was probably not the best situation for Carly to be faced with
right then. "Let's go get some coffee, okay?"
Carly nodded slightly, getting up and pulling her coat tight around
her.
She put her hand up to her hair, and could feel it falling out of its
clip. She realized she must look a mess. "Can you--can
you help me
clean myself up?" she asked Bobbie, smiling at her shyly. “I
can't even
imagine what my make up must look like, not to mention my hair.
And I
want to look nice in case Jason wakes up.”
Bobbie smiled too, nodding at her daughter. She felt a sudden
rush of
love and had to hold back from reaching out to Carly for a hug.
"Sure,"
was all she said, leading her toward the nurse’s lounge.
*~*~*
Sonny stood as he saw Luke approaching from the elevators. Luke
smiled
warmly upon seeing him, and cast a suspicious glance at the rest of
the
waiting room, which donned scattered Quartermaine’s.
“Hey Luke,” Sonny muttered, shaking his friend’s hand.
“Hey man,” Sonny said, clapping Sonny on the back with his other hand.
“How’s the kid?”
Sonny tipped his head from left to right as if to say, ‘so-so.’
He
closed his eyes briefly as he sat back down again, resting his elbows
on
his knee and his chin on his hands. He sighed audibly as Luke
took the
chair next to him, nodding at one of the guards.
“What’s with the Q’s?” Luke muttered under his breath. “Some sort
of
Rich White Folk convention going on here at the hospital?”
Sonny chuckled slightly, giving an appreciative smile to Luke.
He
didn’t have to explain what they were doing there, and knew that Luke
would understand how both Sonny felt and how Jason would feel about
their lurking.
“Where’s my little sister?” Luke asked instead.
Sonny thought for a moment, looking toward the nurse’s station for some
type of memory jog. “Um…she’s with Carly, I think they went to
the
cafeteria or the nurses lounge or something.”
Luke’s eyes widened at Carly’s name. “Carly?” he repeated, the
name
coming out of his mouth slowly. “Are you sure it was a girl named
Carly?”
Sonny nodded, glancing at Luke with a bewildered expression. “Yeah,
Carly. You know, Jason’s Carly?” He felt a little weird
calling her
that, and knew that Jason would disapprove, but had no idea how else
to
explain her. His confusion melted away when he put the connection
together in his mind. God, he was being so slow about this family
thing
the Spencer's had going on.
Sonny ran his hands through his hair before looking back up at Luke.
“Man, I forgot, or didn’t realize, or whatever. She’s your niece.”
Luke tipped his head to look at Sonny, and grinned. “Hey, no prob
Bob.
I just will warn you right now that that little firecracker is not
going
to appreciate hearing her referred to as Jason’s Carly, or anyone’s
Carly for that matter.”
Sonny thought back to the scene she’d created with the Quartermaine’s
earlier. Luke was certainly on the button about Carly being a
firecracker. She’d laid into the Q’s in a way that would have
made
Jason proud. Sonny smiled a bit at this. He had no idea
what Carly and
Jason were about, or where they were headed, but he could tell that
she’d be a good girl for him. She’d stick up for herself and
her own,
no matter what. That was decent. And admirable. Carly may
be a little
on the brash side, but it seemed just what Jason needed. An equal.
Someone to even out his playing field. Most importantly, someone
who
could handle something like Jason getting shot. It wasn’t an
easy
business Jason was getting into. Sonny felt bad about that, but
he
wasn’t about to let Jason go either. Sonny knew one of the things
Jason
valued most was being allowed to make his own decisions: to guide his
own life. Sonny would honor that, and he could tell Carly would
respect
that too.
Monica’s gasp interrupted Sonny’s thoughts.
“Jason’s waking up!”
Sonny was first to his feet, Luke quick on his heels. They both
blocked
the door to Jason’s room, trying to prevent any other Quartermaine’s
from entering. At that moment, Carly and Bobbie approached and
balked
at the commotion.
“What is going on here?” Bobbie demanded, her hands on her hips.
“My grandson is awake and these brutes won’t let us see him!”
Edward
bellowed, casting accusing glances at Sonny and Luke.
Carly involuntarily grabbed onto Bobbie’s arm to steady her legs that
suddenly became weak. “Jason’s awake?” she gasped, her other
hand
flying to her open mouth.
“Jason does not need ten people in his room as he wakes up,” Bobbie
said
calmly, putting a protective arm around Carly. “The first thing
we need
to do is let Dr. Mattson in there to examine him and explain to him
what’s going on. Then we can let him decide who sees Jason first.”
With this, Bobbie pushed her way through the Quartermaine’s to where
Luke and Sonny were standing. “So, move out of the way,” she
instructed, sending a reluctant Edward back into the waiting room.
The
rest of the Q’s followed. Sonny and Luke also stepped aside but
stayed
by the door.
Carly immediately went to Sonny’s side and peered in the window at
Jason. Monica and Bobbie stood over his bed watching as Jason
struggled
to open his eyes. Carly could hear the page for Dr. Mattson on
the
overhead.
Sonny put a gentle hand on Carly’s back when he heard her whimper a
bit
at the sight of Jason waking. “He’s a fighter,” Sonny said in
a low
voice so only Carly could hear.
Carly looked up at him through teary eyes and smiled gratefully.
She
nodded her head in agreement, then looked past Sonny, noticing Luke
for
the first time. Luke was staring at her, an accusing look in
his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re doing back here Car-o-line,” he drawled,
dragging out her name and letting it hang in the air between them.
“But
don’t you hurt my baby sister anymore than you already have, you hear
me?”
Sonny snapped his head toward Luke, startled. He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t have a chance.
“Me? Hurt Bobbie?” Carly announced, laughing incredulously.
“That’s a
joke, Luke. Bobbie could end up in a world of hurt for years
and years
and we wouldn’t even be *close* to even! So don’t talk to me
about
hurting her! You just mind your own business!”
Luke glanced at Sonny and just nodded, sauntering away. He turned
and
looked at Carly over his shoulder before disappearing into the elevator.
Carly let out an aggravated sigh and turned away from the Quartermaine’s
who were staring at her in disbelief. She leaned toward Sonny
and
whispered, “sorry,” intent on leaving it at that.
The Quartermaine’s, however, had another idea. Ned approached,
pulling
Carly around by her arm to face him.
“What exactly was that about?” he asked, crossing his arms over his
chest and eyeing Carly suspiciously. “You are definitely the
mystery
guest of the day. Who are you?”
Carly scowled, shooting the Quartermaine’s behind Ned a dreadful look.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me when I was talking to Luke,” she said, loud
enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. “Mind – your – own
--
business!” With that, she spun on her heal and stalked to the
other end
of the hall, flopping on a chair and burying her face in her hands.
*~*~*
Carly nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She’d
been
alone in that corner of the hallway for at least 45 minutes.
That
suited her just fine. She didn’t want to have to deal with anyone
anyway. The only person she wanted was Jason. And he was
shot. Laying
in a hospital bed with a bullet hole in his stomach. It was so
typically Carly’s luck that she was near laughing about it.
“I’m sorry, Carly, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Bobbie said, her voice
quiet and soothing. She kneeled down in front of her daughter
and gazed
at her, concerned. “Are you okay? I heard about what Luke
did and I
want to apologize…”
Carly cut her off with a burst of incredulous laughter. “You want
to
apologize for *him*?” she snapped, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You
guys are too much. Why would I ever want to be a Spencer when
all they
do is make excuses for each other? Luke was out of line, there’s
no
getting around that. He doesn’t need to spill my business to
the public
either. I can’t believe you would—“
Bobbie put up a hand, cutting Carly off. “I am not defending him,”
she
said, her voice firm and convincing. “I am sorry that he hurt
you and
made your business public. He needs to do his own apologizing,
you’re
right.”
Carly stared at Bobbie, her mouth open. She shut it quickly though,
and
changed the subject. It was the easiest thing to do. She
knew she did
it often around Bobbie, hell, she did it often around everyone, but
there *were* more pressing matters at hand.
“How’s Jason?” Carly asked, smiling slightly to let Bobbie know she
appreciated the effort to smooth things over between her and Luke.
Bobbie smiled as well, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “The
doctor’s done examining him, and he decided to let *Jason* decide who
he
wants to see, and limit his visitors to just that. It’s better
if Jason
doesn’t get all worked up, you know.”
Carly motioned swung her hand in small circles in the air, indicating
Bobbie to hurry up with it. She wanted to see him so bad she
could
taste it.
Bobbie laughed, nodding in understanding to Carly’s impatience.
“He
wants to see you! First name out of his mouth.”
Carly's mouth widened into a huge grin. She jumped out of the
chair and
hurried down the hallway where the doctor was talking to the
Quartermaine’s in a hushed tone. They seemed none to happy with
what he
was telling them, which was presumably that Jason was picking his own
visitors and he wasn’t picking them. Carly breezed past them,
and stuck
out her tongue as she caught Edward's eye.
She squeezed Sonny’s shoulder and smiled at him, pausing by the chair
he
was sitting in. All of a sudden she felt sort of bad that Jason
had
asked for her before Sonny.
Sonny nodded, smiling encouragingly at the sight of her. “Well
don’t
keep him waiting,” he said a hint of laughter in his voice.
Carly frowned a little, still feeling guilty. Sonny picked up
on this
and patted her hand that was on his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t
feel
bad,” he said, nodding at her. “I’ll go see him when you’re done.
I’m
just glad he’s okay.” With that, he pulled out his cell phone
and
showed it to her. “I’m going to call Mike and let him know.”
Carly nodded, finally smiling again, and took a deep breath as she
approached Jason’s door. Bobbie was standing next to it, and
Carly
glanced at her apprehensively, biting down on her lower lip.
Bobbie
reached out and smoothed a stray piece of hair behind Carly’s ear.
A
look of panic crossed Carly’s face and she reached up to touch her
hair.
“Is it falling again?” she asked, fiddling with the clip.
Bobbie smiled, pulling her daughters hand gently away. “You look
beautiful, Carly,” she assured her, pushing open the door to Jason’s
room and moving aside so Carly could enter.
Bobbie smiled to herself and watched Carly and Jason for a moment
through the window. Regardless of what happened between herself
and her
daughter, she wanted Carly to be happy, and it was apparent that Jason
Morgan made her so. She only hoped nothing ever happened, organized
crime or not, to take that away from her.
*~*~*
Jason looked asleep when Carly entered his room. She tiptoed to
the
bed, using her hand to measure the space between his body and the edge
of the bed, then assessing whether there was enough room for her to
sit
on it. She chose the chair instead, pulling it over to the side
of the
bed and grimacing as it made a loud screeching noise as it dragged
across the floor.
Jason turned his head toward the noise, his eyes fluttering open.
He
blinked a few times, then smiled a tiny smile when he saw Carly.
“Took
you long enough,” he muttered, taking her hand and squeezing it.
“I
fell asleep again waiting for you.”
Carly beamed at hearing his voice. He sounded strong, even though
he
looked the exact opposite. He’d taken the hospital gown off,
and was
lying there, bare chested, with a large white bandage covering his
midsection from his ribs down to his stomach. The sheet was pulled
up
far enough to cover most of the bandage, but Carly leaned over and
touched it gingerly anyway, making a face at its presence.
She felt tears begin to fill her eyes but stubbornly refused to let
them
fall. “Are you in pain?” she croaked, her voice revealing the
fact that
she was dangerously close to sobs.
Jason scowled a bit, looking down at the bandage where Carly’s hand,
the
one he didn’t have grasped in his, was tracing the lines of the bandage
where it wrapped over itself. He shifted a bit, as if trying
to assess
how to describe the pain.
“It hurts, sometimes,” he finally said, unable to describe it any better
than that. “They’ve got some pain stuff dripping in through that
though,” he conceded, pointing at the IV. The needle was secured
by a
band of tape wrapped at his elbow in the arm farthest from Carly.
She
shivered looking at it.
“Some nurse I would have made, huh?” she joked, wiping a stray tear
that
had found it’s way onto her cheek.
Jason smiled at her, unsure of how to respond. Instead, he rubbed
his
thumb in small circles over the back of Carly’s hand and tackled a
subject he was dreading.
“Carly, I’m sorry if it scared you…me getting shot.”
Carly laughed at the simplicity of this question. It *had* scared
her,
of course, it would scare anyone. But the real question was,
could she
handle it? He got shot doing what he does for a living.
And it didn’t
seem like he would likely stop.
A look of confusion passed over Jason’s face at Carly’s laughter.
Carly
recognized this, and immediately stopped. “I’m sorry,” she said,
looking down at his hand where he was still tracing languid circles
over
hers. “It scared me, Jase, of course it did. When you were
lying here
not awake, I was nearly out of my mind worrying. But I handled it…”
Carly smiled as she thought of the Quartermaine’s. “Quite well
I
think.”
Her smile quickly faded when she remembered the tawdry little detail
of
the nature of their relationship she’d revealed to Keesha, inadvertently
of course. She hadn’t actually *admitted* anything, but the implication
was plain as day.
“I had a run in with the Quartermaine’s,” she conceded, twisting her
face into a slight scowl and rubbing her free hand over the back of
her
neck, massaging it slightly. Before Jason could comment, she
continued.
“They’re a pain in the ass, really.”
Jason smiled at this, and began to chuckle until his face contorted
into
a mask of pain. Carly immediately reached for him, cupping one
side of
his face in her hand. Her forehead wrinkled in worry.
“Jase…” she murmured, waiting for him to open his eyes. They were
squeezed shut and his mouth was twisted into a grimace. “Jason,
what is
it? Jase…”
Carly was about to press the nurse call button when Jason finally opened
his eyes again, breathing hard. “I’m okay,” he said, his voice
strained
and in obvious torture. “I’m okay,” he repeated, breathing a
large sigh
outward and blinking his eyes a few times. He smiled at the worried
look that had passed over her beautiful features. “I’m okay,”
he said a
third time, patting her hand to reassure her. “Don’t be funny.
Laughing hurts.”
Carly pushed out a breath that she’d been holding. “Obviously,”
she
lamented, rolling her eyes. She smiled a bit finally, gazing
into his
eyes. Her left hand still cupped his face, her right snuggled
in his.
They held each other’s gaze, the look saying so much even when both
were
silent. Jason finally let his eyes travel down to her beautiful
mouth,
and he unknowingly licked his lips, thinking about the taste of them…the
feel of them on his.
As if reading his mind, Carly leaned forward slowly, careful to keep
her
body from leaning onto his, and brushed his lips with hers. Jason
closed his eyes briefly, savoring the moment. Carly pulled away,
almost
too quickly, and Jason reached up and around the back of her head,
pulling her back in for a deeper kiss.
Carly let him kiss her, but forced herself away again when his tongue
slipped through her lips and began to tease her. “Jason,” she
breathed,
stealing a glance behind her to the glass windows. “First of
all,
there’s windows right there and lots of people beyond them. Second,
you
know when you kiss me like that I…well, I melt, and I don’t want to
*melt* right onto your sore spot.”
Jason smiled and nodded, wishing he was still kissing her, but knowing
exactly what she meant by melting. It was one of his favorite
things to
feel: Carly’s body pressing against him, her wanting him as much as
he
wanted her. It was magic. And he missed it already.
A quick knock on the door startled them both. Bobbie strode in
purposefully, unaware of what she had almost interrupted. She
picked up
the chart at the end of the bed and held it, eyeing them both with
a
slightly lopsided grin on her face.
“How are you feeling, Jason?” she asked.
Jason let his gaze fall from Carly, reluctantly, and settled it on
Bobbie. “I’m doing okay,” he muttered, squeezing Carly’s hand.
Bobbie noticed his annoyance at losing his private moment with Carly
and
decided she’d better make her reason for barging in known before he
decided to harbor a deep resentment for her.
“I came in to change the dressing on your wound,” she said, raising
her
eyebrows and putting the clipboard back on the hook at the end of the
bed. “Dr. Mattson asked Monica to do it, but I insisted.
I thought
you’d appreciate that.”
Carly looked from Bobbie to Jason, stunned. She was absolutely
shocked
that Bobbie would do that for him. “I’m sure that Monica didn’t
appreciate that very much,” she said, a smile crossing over her face.
Bobbie grinned too. “No, but I didn’t back down,” she admitted,
moving
over to the opposite side of the bed from Carly and pulling the sheets
down to the end of the bandages. “Now, Carly, this is going to
be a
little bloody so if you don’t want to watch, avert your eyes now.
You
too, Jason,” she added, smiling at him.
Jason was still staring at Bobbie, obviously as awe-struck as Carly
was
at her actions. Carly squeezed his hand, causing him to bring
his eyes
back to her, and she gave him a wide cheesy grin that spread across
her
entire face. Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows raised as she
tilted
her head back and forth like a jack-in-the-box.
Bobbie looked up at Carly, caught her gesture to Jason and smiled,
turning her attention back to her task at hand. It was nice to
see her
daughter so happy.
“Thanks, Bobbie,” she heard Jason mutter, then grimace and squeeze his
eyes shut as she pulled the bloody bandage from the bullet hole itself.
“For, you know…saving me from Monica.”
“Yeah,” Carly whispered, reaching a hand over Jason and placing it on
her mother’s arm. “Thanks.”
Bobbie paused in her work and looked into her daughter’s eyes.
It was
like looking in a mirror. Nothing else, just the eyes.
They were not
only big, brown and deep, but also held a pain from a childhood that
both would rather forget, and a hope for the future, that both mother
and daughter had longed for their whole lives.
Next
Part
Innocence
Lost Menu
Main
Menu