Goodbye, Angel – Part 2
Author's Notes: This is the sequel to Goodbye, Angel. This is Kris's last seven months, months she spends with people she cares about and who care about her.
"Are you sure about this?" Kelly asked, concerned, as she watched Sabrina help Kris pack up to go home. "I think you should stay here for a couple more days."
"Kel," Kris said with a sigh. "I don't want to die in a hospital. If I'm going to die, I want to die where I'm comfortable. Surrounded by friends, family... People I love. I want to enjoy the few days I have left given to me. And I can't enjoy it in a hospital. If my condition worsens then I might go back in. But until then, I'm getting out of this prison."
"She's right," Sabrina concurred. "It's best for her to be home."
But home was not where Sabrina intended to take her friend. Not her San Francisco apartment at any rate. She was going with Sabrina to Modesto.
"So what time is Frank picking you up?" Kelly asked.
"Oh, no, Frank's not picking her up," Sabrina said slowly, a grin on her face.
"What?" Kris asked. "What do you mean he's not picking me up?"
"We're picking him up," Sabrina replied, still smiling. "And then we head home."
"What?" It was Kelly who asked this time. "Am I missing something here?"
"We're picking Frank up at Kris's apartment, then from there, we're hitting the road and heading for Modesto," Sabrina said. She'd had it all planned out.
"Modesto?" Kris said, incredulous. "What in Charlie's name are we going to do in Modesto?"
"You're going to live there. With me," Sabrina answered.
"Thank you very much, Sabrina," Kris declined. "But Frank and I have an apartment of our own."
"And I have a guest room in my house just for the two of you."
"We really must insist, Bri," Kris said, shaking her head. "Thanks for the handsome offer, but..."
"No buts, Kris," Sabrina said, with a hint of being offended in her voice. "I won't take no for an answer."
Kris smiled and nodded. "Alright. If that's what you really want, then I'll stay with you."
"Good," Sabrina said, smiling. "We can't afford to have another falling out."
Kris laughed. "No. No, we can't."
Sabrina then turned to Kelly. "And I have a guest room just for you. So feel free to stay."
"Thanks, Bri. As much as I'd love to stay and be with two of my closest friends, I can't. I have work waiting for me back home."
"Dad can take over for you," Kate said. She had just come in. "Isn't he the VP?"
"That is true," Kelly thought. "He could cover for me. Or I can work from—from Bri's place."
"I'll ask Dad to send you your files and your laptop," Kate said, nodding. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help any way he can. I mean, Ms. Munroe—"
"Aunt Kris," Kris said, smiling.
"Aunt Kris is your friend. So is Ms. Duncan. I'm sure he'll understand."
Kelly nodded.
"That settles it then."
"Oh, and I'll have to stay there as well," Kate said. "Just until I can arrange a flight back to Santa Fe. Just for a few short days. Would that be alright?"
"You're welcome to stay anytime, sweetheart," Sabrina said.
"Thank you, Ms. Duncan," Kate said with a smile.
The drive to Modesto, which was normally just an hour, took 45 minutes longer. Kris had to be woken up when they finally reached Sabrina's place. She had fallen asleep during the trip.
"Kris, honey?" Frank said, waking her up. "We're here."
She opened her eyes slowly and smiled.
"Did I fall asleep?" she asked.
"You were snoring," Frank teased.
She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Shut up. You have a beautiful house, Bri. It's ranch, isn't it?"
"Mmhm," Sabrina said, nodding. "Originally built in the 60s. My kids helped me renovate it. You should see the inside. Spacious but warm and cozy. Perfect combination, isn't it?"
"Oh, I bet," Kris said, getting out of the car.
Frank helped her out and handed over her crutches, which she accepted with a mouthed "Thank you" and a smile.
As she looked around, Kris noticed a familiar object and pointed it out to Kelly.
"I never noticed that when I came here last time," Kelly whispered. "Is that...?"
"That's not the same Pinto," Sabrina said, laughing, overhearing their whispered inquiries. "I decided to buy one because I missed the Pinto horribly, decided I hated the color, had it brought in to a friend's shop and painted orange."
Kris and Kelly laughed.
"For a second there, I thought it was the Pinto," Kelly said. "I thought it must be old by now."
"It is old. That's why my ex-husband and I sold it."
"Ex-husband?" Kris asked. "How many times have you been married...and divorced?"
"Married twice, divorced twice," Sabrina said with a sigh. "You?"
"Married twice, divorced once, widowed once," Kris said. "Now I'm happily living with the man I love."
You mean the boy you love, Sabrina thought but didn't say it.
"How about you, Kel?" Kris asked. "Did you ever get divorced?"
"No, thankfully not. I mean, Cotton and I had our problems—and we were actually close to a divorce—but we fixed things. And we've been happy since."
"I remember when we thought you and Dad were getting a divorce," Kate chimed in. "Jane used to cry herself to sleep. Sometimes I would come into her room to comfort her. David let his grades slip and got into trouble at school, Jeff became rebellious..."
"I remember David was always getting into fights during that time," Kelly said, nodding.
"Divorce is an ugly thing, I can tell you that," Sabrina said, as they stepped inside. "Here. Let me show you your rooms."
As Kris had guessed, it was a ranch style house, but inside, it was spacious. The living room, or what Sabrina's ex-husband called "the Great Room", could fit two living rooms in it. A flatscreen TV was mounted on the wall above the fire place.
To their left was a bedroom complete with bathroom—Kelly's room, a formal dining room for black-tie parties, which Sabrina converted into her office and library after her divorce, the kitchen, and the dining room.
To their right, arranged in an L shape was Kate's bedroom, a bathroom, laundry room, Kris's bedroom, a game room and bar, and the master bedroom—Sabrina's bedroom.
The game room housed a pool table, poker table, and a chessboard. On the wall was a floor-to-ceiling mirror, riddled with bullet holes.
"Oh, my God!" Kelly exclaimed. "What happened to that?"
"I shot an intruder," Sabrina lied.
"When did this happen?" Kelly asked.
"Just last week," Sabrina said. That was the only truth she said. Everything else was a lie.
"Did you get him? Did you call the police?" Kris asked.
"Of course, I did! Call the police, I mean. I didn't really want to hurt him. It was just to scare him off."
"Did they catch him?" Frank asked.
"I hope they do," Sabrina said. "He was gone before the police came! He ran so fast I doubt the K9 units would catch him. You know those German shepherds are fast—but this guys was faster—you should've seen him go."
Kelly raised an eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest. She wasn't buying it.
While Kris slept, Kelly slipped into the game room and poured herself a glass of scotch, then poured another for Sabrina.
"Scotch?" she said, as her friend entered.
"On the rocks," Sabrina said. "You wanted to see me?"
"Take a seat, Sabrina," Kelly said. Sabrina did as she was told and accepted her scotch. "Alright, Bri, I know you. What's this really about?"
She motioned with her hand to the mirror.
"What's what really about?" Sabrina said, playing innocent.
"The mirror. There really wasn't any intruder, was there?"
Sabrina sighed. "There was."
"Sabrina—"
"It's called My Pride," Sabrina continued. "I was trying to silence the stubborn little voice that prevented me from making peace with Kris."
There was a long silence and then Sabrina broke down.
"What am I gonna do?" she wailed. "Four wasted years!"
"Bri," Kelly said with a sigh, taking her hand. "You have to learn to forgive yourself."
"How? I can't!"
"By making most of the time we have left with Kris," Kelly said soothingly. "I'm sure she'd be upset if she saw you crying like this. She wouldn't want this."
"Isn't it why I'm doing this?" Sabrina said defensively. "I want to enjoy the rest of the time I have with Kris."
"No, you're doing this to punish yourself," Kelly corrected her, sounding like a psychologist. "Yes, you want to enjoy your time with her, but you also want to make it up to her for all those wasted years."
Sabrina nodded.
"You don't have to."
"But I want to," Sabrina said. "And I do feel like I have to. All those years... We could've stayed friends—"
"You are friends. You just had a falling out," Kelly assured her. "Now, please do me a favor and let's not talk about this. Don't even think about this. You're not making it up to Kris, you're making the most out of the time you have left with her. Don't ever think of this as penance."
Sabrina sniffed and sighed. "I'll try my best not to."
"Good," Kelly said. "Don't be like those guys in the Philippines who whip themselves every Lent."
Sabrina made a face. "Ugh! What is up with that? I've never seen anything like it before. It's...weird. And they have themselves crucified too?"
"Hey, it's their tradition—who are we to judge? The point is: don't whip yourself like that." Kelly reminded her friend gently. "You don't deserve to be whipped—if you know what I mean."
"I won't," Sabrina said. "I promise. And I do know what you mean."
"So we're good?" Kelly said.
"We're good," Sabrina answered.
"By the way... This didn't happen, we didn't talk about this," Kelly said, meaning that the discussion was over and Kris was not to hear a word of it.
"Gotcha," Sabrina said with a wink. "By the way, do you have any plans for tonight?"
"No, why?" Kelly asked.
"See, I was thinking... Soon as Kris wakes up, I take her and her boyfriend to the movies, while—"
Sabrina was interrupted, however. The doorbell rang and Sabrina excused herself. The sounds of muffled happy greetings being exchanged could be heard in the hallway outside. There were three voices. Sabrina's... And two others'... Who was it?
Kelly would have the answer shortly, as two friends and former Angels walked into the room.
"Tiffany! Julie!" Kelly said, running over to give each a hug. "It's good to see you. What are you two doing here?"
"Ask Sabrina here," Tiffany said, laughing. "Not us. We're just accomplices."
Kelly raised an eyebrow at Sabrina.
"Bri? What's going on?"
"As I was saying," she said, as though they were never interrupted. "When Kris and her boyfriend wake up, I take them to the movies. You ladies, on the other hand, decorate the house while we're gone. When we get home, the lights will be off. I'll turn on the lights and you pop out to surprise her. I've got everything planned out already—since last week. Even the 'Welcome Home, Kris' banner. All you'll have to do is the decorating and the hiding. Got that?"
"Got it," Julie said.
"Sounds like a plan," Tiffany said.
"Kelly?" Sabrina said, looking at her friend questioningly.
"I'm in," Kelly said, nodding.
"What if Kris sees us when she wakes up?" Tiffany asked.
"Be sure she doesn't see you," Sabrina warned. "Stay right here. In this room. This won't work if she sees you two. Get it? Got it? Good."