Hello people! It's been a while since I've posted anything and I hope I don't disappoint with this story. This story probably won't be as long as my other story but we'll see. This story is also more angsty (is that even a word?) than I usually write. I don't own anything except my ideas in my head. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1:
Chapter Songs:
Wings by Birdy
Little House by Amanda Seyfried
Where the Road Meets the Sun by Katie Herzig & Matthew Perryman Jones
Clary:
"Well, Clary….I'm afraid I have some bad news. One kidney has completely failed and the other one is not going to last long on its own. We're going to have to send you to live at a facility that will provide you with the medical attention you're going to need until a match can be found and a transplant can be scheduled. I'm so sorry." Dr Branwell informs my mother and me.
I sigh and tune the rest of the conversation out. My kidneys have been a problem all of my life. We always knew my kidneys would not hold out forever and a transplant would be needed. For the last year, I have come here every 4 weeks to get checked out and get my medications adjusted. My health has progressively gotten worse each time I come. I see my mother look over at me and stand up. She has tears in her eyes and I have to look away from her. I can't stand the thought of leaving her. I've come to terms with my imminent death, but it's just us and I don't want her to be alone. She puts her arm around me and we walk out of Dr. Branwell's office.
"Don't you worry, honey. We'll find a donor and everything will be alright." she says smiling sadly. I just nod and get in the car. We drive home in silence and when we get home, my mom turns to me and takes my hand.
"We need to pack you some things and I'll drive you over to the institute Dr. Branwell was talking about. The good thing is, it's not like a hospital. It's more like a house. It has an outside garden area and a music room, a game room, and a place for all the residents to eat together. And it's only a few miles from here. I'll come see you every day. Luke will come too." mom says trying to make this situation better.
I decide not to be bitter about this. I mean what's the point anyway? I smile at my mom and squeeze her hand.
"It sounds great mom. When are you and Luke going to admit your feelings for each other and start dating already?" I tease.
"We're just friends, Clary. Come on. Let's get you packed. As much as I don't want you going anywhere, they're expecting us soon." she explains as we get out of the car and go in to my house to pack my things.
Thirty minutes later, we're back in the car driving to the place I will call home indefinitely. We pull up to a large building called The Institute. How original. My mom parks in front of the doors and two men in scrubs come out to get my bags. They lead us inside and have us sit in a room right inside the door. My mom sits beside me and pats my knee. A few minutes later, a tall, slender women with dark brown hair wrapped in a bun at the base of her neck walks in with a gentle smile.
"Hello. You must be the Fray's. I'm Maryse and I run The Institute." the woman – Maryse, greets and holds her hand out to my mother. My mom stands and takes Maryse's hand and shakes it.
"I'm Jocelyn and this is my daughter, Clarissa." my mom introduces me and I fight to roll my eyes at the use of my full name. I hate it.
"Clarissa, it's nice to meet you. I'll show you your room and let you get settled in." she says while shaking my hand.
"Please call me Clary. I don't really care for Clarissa." I state scrunching my nose at the name.
Maryse laughs and mom glares at me. "Of course, dear. Right this way." Smiling, she leads us to my new room.
On the way, she points out different rooms and informs me what's in them. She comes to a door near the end of a long hallway and pushes it open. It's not too big but the bed looks comfortable and the best thing is the window seat overlooking the garden. I also have an in suite bathroom so I don't have to cart around toiletries with me every time. I smile at my mom and Maryse.
"This is really nice. Thank you." I say and go over to my bags and begin to unpack them. Maryse and my mom leave to discuss my treatment plan. Once everything is put away, I grab my sketchbook and sit down in the window seat and start to draw. A little while later, mom comes in to tell me good-bye.
"I guess it's time for me to go, honey. Maryse wanted me to tell you dinner will be ready soon. I love you and everything will work out, you'll see." Mom says sniffing. She wraps her arms around me and holds me for a minute before letting go and backing out of the room. At the door, she turns back to me and gives me a small sad smile.
"I'll be fine here, mom. Go. I'll see you tomorrow." I say trying to fight back the tears I feel coming.
"Bye, honey." And then she's gone. I take a deep breath and decide against dinner and change into my pajamas. Climbing into bed, I plug my earbuds into my ipod and fall asleep.
~o.O.o~
Jace:
"You are sentenced to three weeks community service. Case dismissed." the judge bellows out and slams the gavel down before exiting the courtroom. I sigh and stand up and face my adopted father who is also my lawyer. He sits there pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Jace. I hope you understand how lucky you just got. Next time will be jail and I will not help you. This is the last time I will put my ass on the line for you. You have got to learn to control your temper and stop with the fighting." He stands up abruptly making the chair scrape across the floor. I follow him out and get in the passenger seat.
"I'm sorry, dad. It won't happen again." I try to apologize, but he's not buying it.
"That's what you say every time." he sighs.
"I mean it this time. I don't want to go to jail and put you and mom through this. I'll do better this time, I swear." I plead as he pulls up in front of the institute my mom currently runs. My community service is working here with the patients - or residents, as my mom calls them, and help out wherever I'm needed. It could be worse and it's only for three weeks. I can handle this for that long I think. I get out of the car and go inside to mom's office. I knock on her door and hear her say come in.
"Ah, Jace. I hear you got community service hours to fulfill and you chose to do them here." I nod my head and she continues. "Just so you know, I'm not happy about this. I don't know where we went wrong. I thought we were providing you a good, stable home. We tried to make you feel like part of this family. I tried to treat you exactly like I treat Alec and Isabelle, but I guess I was wrong."
I lower my head and try to figure out something to say. I don't want them to think that. They've been so good to me and I feel horrible about my behavior. "I'm so sorry, mom. You and dad are the best parents. I promise this won't happen again. I know I've said that before but I swear it won't."
"Okay, Jace. Just go check on the residents and see if they need anything. We'll talk later." mom says tiredly. I nod and turn around and walk out of her office feeling like a total loser.
I walk down the resident's hall and check on each one. When I get to a door near the end of the hall, I hear a guitar and a soft voice singing.
I love this place, but it's haunted without you.
My tired heart is beating so, slow.
The door is cracked open and I peer inside to see a girl around my age sitting in the window seat, strumming the guitar and singing. I don't think I've ever seen someone so young here before. All of the other residents are much older than this.
To light the night,
To help us grow, to help us grow
It is not said, I always know.
I stand there mesmerized by her voice. I study this girl. She has really long red hair that hangs in big soft looking curls down her back. She sits in the window seat with one leg tucked under her while playing the guitar in her lap. I can only see the side of her face but from what I can tell, she is very pretty.
You can catch me, don't you run.
Don't you run.
If you live another day, in this happy little house, the fire's here to stay.
To light the night,
To help us grow, to help us grow
It is not said, I always know.
Please don't make a fuss, it won't go away.
The wonder of it all, the wonder that I made,
I am here to stay.
I am here to stay.
Stay.
She finishes her song and turns toward where I'm standing. When she sees me, she gasps.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I took the guitar from the music room. I was going to bring it right back." she quickly explains. Her eyes are so green. They look like shining emeralds. I find it hard not to stare into them.
"Uh….I'm not here about the guitar." I lamely reply.
"Oh." She looks confused, her eyebrows pulling together.
"I'm Jace and my mom runs the place and she asked me to check on the residents to see if they need anything. So, um, do you need anything?"
"Actually, I could use another blanket on my bed. I got really cold last night." she says and smiles shyly at me.
"Sure. I'll be right back." I back out of the room and sprint down the hall to the supply room. I grab a big blanket from the shelf and run back to her room. "Here you are." I say as I come back in the room.
She comes over to me and I notice how short she is. She takes the blanket from my hands and walks over to the bed and starts unfolding it. I walk over to the other side of the bed and help her spread it out.
"Thank you. I think I'll be warm and toasty tonight." she says smiling brightly. "I'm Clary, by the way."
"It's nice to meet you Clary." I reply with a genuine smile, not a smirk like I usually give. For some reason, I don't want her to know me like that. "So how long have you been here?"
"Oh, just one day. I came last night. Do you work here?" she asks as she goes and picks up the guitar and sets it on her bed.
"No, but I'll be here for a few weeks." I clear my throat and sit down at the desk in the corner.
"Cool. Hopefully I'll see you around. Everyone else around here is at least twenty years older than me. It'd be nice to talk to someone closer to my age from time to time." she smiles and sits down in the window seat near me.
"How long are you here for?" I ask hoping not to upset her. I know she's sick or she wouldn't be here.
"I dunno." she says with a shrug. "I need a kidney transplant fairly soon, but they're having a hard time finding a match for me. So….I'll be here until I get a transplant or my kidney fails like the other one." she says this like she's commenting on the weather. So calm.
"I'm sure they'll find you one soon." I say trying to be optimistic for her. She just nods and smiles. We spend about an hour talking and laughing together and I find myself really enjoying her company. Maybe my time here won't be so bad if I get to hang out with Clary.
"It's time for dinner. Maryse got upset with me for skipping dinner last night so she made sure I didn't skip any meals today. Do you want to come with me? I'll take the guitar back to the music room on the way." she asks as she grabs the guitar and heads out the door. I scramble out of the chair and follow her.
"Yeah, I'll come with you." I say as we walk down the hall side by side. After taking the guitar back to the music room, we walk into the dining room and see everyone sitting down to their meals. I see my mom look up at us and walk over.
"I was just about to come and get you, Clary. I see you've met my son, Jace." my mom says smiling lovingly at Clary.
Clary glances over at me and smiles. "Yes, Jace has been nice to talk to this afternoon. I've enjoyed his company."
"That's great. Oh, your mom called and she wanted me to tell you she's sorry about not being able to visit today. She'll make it up to you tomorrow." mom informs Clary.
"Thanks, but I was fine. I keep telling her she doesn't have to come here every day. I want her to live her life and be happy. It just makes her sad to be around me." Clary says biting the inside of her mouth and looking down at her feet. Seeing her do this makes me want to wrap her up in my arms and make her feel better.
"Clary-" mom starts but is cut off by Clary.
"I know. She just wants to spend as much time with me as she can before it happens. Why don't we go sit down and eat?" And with that Clary walks over to an empty table and sits down. I look at my mom and see her staring after Clary with worry evident in her eyes.
"Mom?" She looks back at me and gives me a small smile.
"Clary said you're having trouble finding a match. I was just wondering why it's so hard?" I ask glancing over at Clary and back to my mom.
She sighs. "Clary has a very rare blood type. We just can't seem to find someone who's a match for her. One kidney has already completely failed and if I don't find a match soon, the other one will fail as well."
Mom looks back at Clary and with a defeated look, she walks back to her office. I look over at Clary and make my way to her. I sit down across from her and smile. We eat and talk about everything and nothing. When it's time for her to head back to her room, I walk with her. We stop outside her door and she turns and looks at me.
"Thank you for hanging out with me today. I don't have anyone my age to just sit around and talk to, you know?" she says with a sigh.
"None of your friends from school will come and see you?" I can't help but ask.
She shakes her head. "I haven't been to school in a long time. I've been home-schooled due to my frequent trips in and out of the hospital over the years. I don't even know what the inside of a high school looks like. I mean, if I was a normal, healthy teenager, I would be in the eleventh grade and driving and maybe even play a sport or join a club or something." She shrugs her small shoulders and looks up at me. "Sorry. These are just some of the things I dream about. They probably seem silly to you."
"Not at all. Everyone should get to experience those things. Maybe those dreams will come true for you one day." I say wishing I could make them come true for her.
"Maybe." she says with a small smile. "I should probably let you leave now. Thanks again for today."
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I hope she wants to see me again.
"Okay. Goodnight, Jace." she says as she opens her door.
"Goodnight, Clary." I say softly and watch her go inside and close the door. I stare at her door for a second and then turn back down the hall. My house is right next door to the institute, so I walk home.
When I get there I run into Isabelle, lost in thought.
"Excuse me, Jace! Don't let me get in your way or anything." she says sarcastically. I look up at her.
"Sorry. I didn't see you there." I reply back and go around her toward my room.
"Jace? Are you alright?" she asks with worry in her voice.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"
"Well, you didn't smart off to me. What's wrong?" she asks, studying me intently.
I sigh and run my hands through my hair. "Would you do something for me?" I ask suddenly thinking of an idea.
"Sure. What is it?" Isabelle asks me with curiosity burning in her eyes. I never ask her for anything and she knows it.
"Will you come by the institute tomorrow and meet someone? I think you'll really like her. She's very easy to talk to and she would love to hang out with people our age." I explain.
Isabelle narrows her eyes at me. "Who is she and why are you doing this for her?"
I look down and think about Clary. How unfair her life is and how short it could be. "I just want her to experience things a normal teenager would. She might not get the chance to do them. I don't know Iz, I just want to see her happy. I can't explain it." I say honestly.
She stares at me for a while and then agrees to meet Clary. I smile widely at her and hug her.
"Thank you. We'll go together after school." With that, I turn and walk to my room and fall asleep thinking of ways I can make things better for Clary.
So there's the first chapter! Let me know what you think and if I should continue with this storyline. Also thank you to m1129 for your encouragement to post this story.
Please review!
Until next time. . . .
