Guardian Angel

Once out, Betsy released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She gasped, begging for her heart to slow down, for the memories to stop haunting her. But they couldn't.

It was how she remembered it to be. The same sign that read 'Oceanside Wellness Group', the same TV in the waiting room, the same curtains that covered the offices and exam rooms' windows. And Addison. Her hair was of a different shade of red, and she had a couple more wrinkles (maybe), but her eyes, and her smile, and her voice, they were all so familiar to the teenager that it caused her physical pain.

"What?" Melinda asked, in her sharp, detached, but still caring voice. An evident difference from Addison's sweet and loving tone.

"Nothing." Betsy forced herself to regain confidence. She had walked in that building to prove herself that she hated those people, to remind herself that they never cared, that they wouldn't recognize her, that her father was wrong in his admiration for his colleagues. But when she walked out, she had a little piece of her old self with her, inside of her heart. It was warm, and pleasant.

And there was nothing she wanted more than going back.

x

"Thank you for coming with me to that guy."

Betsy opened her eyes and stared at Melinda. Even in the dark she could see how her friend was hurting. Bleeding and cramps were normal after an abortion, and they knew it'd hurt more because Melinda was quite far in the pregnancy, but it was scary somehow and they had no one to talk to.

"Of course. Do you need anything?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay." she closed her eyes again. They stung from tiredness. She hadn't slept much in the previous week, busy with parties, new drugs to try, and her new boyfriend. She didn't really like him, but he liked her and he pleasured her, and it was enough.

"What are you thinking about?" Melinda talked again. "You've been acting weird all day. Spill it."

Betsy considered telling her friend about when she was little, and a day spent at work with her father was all it took to make her happy. But it would have made her sound silly and whiny, and she wasn't like that. Not anymore. "It's nothing."

Truth was, she was overwhelmed by an incredible amount of different feelings, which included resentment for all the adults in her life and at the same time love for some of them – and if she hadn't felt her father just a little more closer now, she would have hated herself for even thinking about taking Melinda to see Addison.

"Goodnight."

This time, the girl's eyes remained closed. She wanted to answer, but when her lips finally parted minutes had passed and it seemed pointless to wish Melinda a good night. Instead, she allowed herself to imagine a what if scenario, and the if's and then's built up fast and with no mercy for the fifteen-year-old. The questions were so many – what if Heather and Dell hadn't died, what if Violet adopted her, what if she'd stayed a little longer earlier that day, and actually talk to Addison. Little by little she gave in and fell asleep, as her mind kept flowing through false memories that pressed themselves against open wounds.

x

"That bitch, the redhead doctor, wanted me to give her your number. She said that she knew your parents or something?" Melinda had her typical skeptical look on her face, and Betsy lowered her eyes for a split second.

"No, no I don't remember her."

"She called you Betsy when she saw you." Melinda suddenly remembered.

"Really? Well, I don't know who she is. You didn't give her my number, did you?"

"No, chill out. Whatever. You're such a strange person."

The girl smiled shyly as she sipped the cappuccino she wasn't going to pay. If she hadn't built a tall wall around her heart she would have know that the grip she felt on her heart when Melinda informed her she didn't give Addison her number had been disappointment.

A/N: quite short, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless. Review?