A/N: All righty, so I'm back with the sequel. Didn't take long. I'm glad several people enjoyed the first one, I hope this one does not disappoint. So, Rowan is dealing with the aftermath of the car crash, lots of angst. Her fate as a Keeper is touched upon in this story, I haven't forgotten about that. There is a new romantic interest for Rowan in this story. Her and Reid's getting together won't be *that* easy. :o) But I promise not to turn their developing romance into a soap opera. No sleeping with people just for spite. I hate when people do that, ya know? Let's see...thinking if I forgot anything...
Disclaimer: I own nothing that appeared in The Covenant.
I. Final Destination
I escaped my final moment
But it's turning back at me
Every second I can hear it, breathing
I can't stand the fear inside me
Cause it's leading me astray
And it will be my ending.
-Within Temptation
Sophomore Year
Abrasive granite.
The screech of tires.
Rubber burning. Gas leaking.
Sirens. Screams.
The bitter taste of blood, copper drink of death.
Chaos…
"Rowan!"
She was having trouble breathing; something had slammed into her diaphragm.
"Rowan!"
Her eyes snapped open like a tortured rubber band. She saw her brother Caleb looking at her with a worried face. He'd turned on the dim lamp by her bed and she had to blink for her eyes to adjust. Her sides hurt every time she took a breath. Was it real pain or psychosomatic? Like the throbbing in her right hip that trailed down to her toes. The ache in her left clavicle, and the booming on the right side of her skull that had been traumatized in the crash. Those bones had healed, but whatever had been crushed deep in her core had not, that part of her was crippled.
Absently, Rowan scratched the scars around her mid-section. Some of them were lighter than others, but the eight inch one on her lower back was the worst. The doctors said she was lucky not to have any spinal damage. Sure enough.
"You okay?" he asked her, touching her forehead with the back of his hand.
"Yeah," she said, her voice scratchy.
Bruce Lee the ferret skittered across her lap. He was a new addition to their eccentric family. A dark sable coated critter who liked to wrestle with Bubbe and steal things from around the house, and cuddle with Ernie. But that was a ferret for you.
Caleb didn't buy her "yeah." He didn't blame his sister for being depressed after the car accident. Depressed and scared. Rowan had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed anti-anxiety medication. She'd also been given pain-killers which she never took. Caleb knew because when Rowan wasn't around he would go into her room and count them. He knew he should trust his sister, but a part of him deep down worried that she would take the same way out of pain as his mother. Evelyn had remained sober for most of the duration of Rowan's recuperation. But after Roz and Gabriel left back to New Orleans, Evelyn's nightly drinking and resumed.
"I'll get you some water." He went into her bathroom and filled the glass by her sink with cold liquid. He went back and handed it to her, sitting on the side of her bed. Bruce Lee made his way on his lap and turned over so Cay could scratch his belly.
"Thanks," she said.
It was raining outside and that was all the sound there was for a few minutes.
Rowan cleared her throat. "I'm not going to check out on you, Cay," she said. Her head tilted to the side. "I know you've been counting those pain killers the doc gave me."
Something like a rueful chuckle came from him but he didn't apologize.
"You're worried. I know. But I don't like anything with a sedative effect." And she didn't. She didn't mind the anti-anxiety pills because it helped her from going bat-shit every time she had to get into a car, but the pain killers…no. It was too easy to slip into that oblivion, not because she wanted to kill herself, never that, but because she would have killed for a good night's sleep. "I'd never do that, Caleb."
He nodded and took her hand. "Yeah, I know."
"I think I'll be off for a while. But I'm trying." She was. Rowan hated freaking out if she had to get into a car. She drove herself on her motor scooter whenever she possibly could, even if it was raining, and no one was going to stop her. She could manage just fine on the streets on her bike, but not in a car. Caleb had gotten his driver's license almost a month ago and she'd yet to take a ride in his silver clown car as she called it. She would start falling into that dark place where those memories of the car crash were stored, and a panic attack would follow. Sometimes she didn't even need to see a car, or hear a backfire, or smell gasoline or burnt rubber for that to happen.
Rowan had only started school two days ago, which had been a Monday. After she'd woken up from her three week coma at the end of June, she had stayed in the hospital until some of the casts came off. Then came the painful and intense physical therapy. Her hip, her tibia, ribs, clavicle. Her physical therapist came to her, and it was at times like those where having money came in handy because expensive equipment could be brought to you. Anything to avoid getting in a car, she told herself.
So her doctor had deemed her fit to return to school. She'd missed the first three weeks but she wasn't too behind. Homework helped her focus even though her mind wandered in class. She was used to people staring at her and whispering. Some people were dying to ask about the crash, Rowan could see it in the pulsing energy around them, but they were waiting an appropriate amount of time, however long that would be. Surely they'd read the details in the paper and seen it on the news. The rescue had been televised.
It was three in the morning now and Rowan felt the dregs of her nightmare tapering off. She put the empty glass of water on the nightstand.
"I'll let you get back to sleep," Caleb said.
She gave him a tired smile. "Thanks."
Caleb leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Love you, Row."
"Love you, too."
----
Stepping through the doors of Spensers Academy wasn't as bad as it had been the first year around. Maybe because Rowan was dealing with things much heavier than what the school contained. Toby had been happy to see her, and vice versa. It didn't mean the school was any brighter though, just borderline irrelevant. Rowan headed to her first period class with Hunter by her side. She was favoring her bum leg. Rainy weather did not a painless body make. Oh well.
Hunter, Dizzy, and Pinkie sat with her on the lowest row so she wouldn't have to climb any of the stairs. The teacher droned on about something that happened centuries ago and Rowan's mind wandered. She wished there was a window nearby where she could focus her attention. Good thing Bruce Lee was here. He deftly exited her backpack and settled on her lap where the teacher couldn't see him. Rowan didn't care so much if someone behind her was looking, she just used a bit of a magic shield so anyone who had a problem with the animal wouldn't see. So all through class Bruce Lee kept her occupied. Her long hair veiled the ferret even more.
When the bell rang they had ten minutes to get to their next class. She had to go to her locker to change books and Hunter went with her as Dizzy and Pinkie's class was in the very opposite direction. Winding the locker combo by rote she opened it with a soft mental clang. Bruce Lee was wound around her neck and shoulder, her hair covering him.
"Did you really bring him to school?" Pogue asked.
Reid, Tyler and Caleb were with him.
"Well, you're not seeing things," she replied, not looking at him as she got her Chemistry book. The attention brought the ferret out and his head was sticking out from her hair. "Don't excite him," she warned. "You know how he gets."
Reid snorted a laugh. "You know…he could give a good scare to…"
Rowan looked at him drolly. "No."
"Miss Danvers!"
She groaned in irritation, but turned to the school counselor with at least an amiable look on her face. "Hi, Mr. Saunders." He was a certified psychiatrist who'd fallen from grace at his last school, his sordid history hidden from the students and their parents, probably most of the faculty. Her brothers didn't know as she hadn't bothered to tell them…or anyone for that matter.
Mr. Saunders smiled at her. Most of the girls at school thought he was one of the hottest adults around, and the guys thought he was cool.
"Remember to come talk to me before lunch, all right?" he reminded her with a grin.
Rowan nodded. "I didn't forget."
"Great," he said. "Study hard, you guys."
"You don't like him much, do you?" Tyler asked when the adult was out of earshot.
She shrugged nonchalantly. Why upset them with the news? "He's one of those shrinks who write on a yellow pad and ask 'how does that make you feel'? I prefer my group therapy. At least they know shit." Her profanity was a rare thing. Something that had been emerging more often since the car crash. She shut her locker and spun the dial.
Rowan wasn't paying attention and practically collided with Aaron Abbot when she backed up. Her book fell to the group with a heavy thud.
"Watch where you're going, Abbot," Reid snapped.
"My fault, I wasn't watching where I was going," Rowan said. She was ready to retrieve her book but Aaron had already snatched it up and was handing it back to her.
"Here. Sorry," he said, and was walking away before she could say anything back.
"Okay…what the hell was that?" Reid uttered.
"I'm a semi-cripple, Reid," Rowan said as if he didn't know. "You can't be mean to a semi-cripple."
"You're not a cripple," Tyler said.
Rowan smiled. "I know."
Images flashed through her mind, making her step falter.
"It's cool, Row," Hunter said in a low, soothing voice. He had his arm around her waist to steady her.
She did know she wasn't a cripple. She was luckier than the other three people in the car crash. Diana, who was driving. She had been three days away from getting her veterinary technician's license. She had died instantly, leaving behind her two year old son and a husband who had been holding down two jobs so she could go to school. Then there was Dan who had been in the passenger seat. He was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Rowan still spoke to him occasionally and he was keeping positive. And Lisa had been sitting next to Rowan. Nineteen years old and in school to be a veterinarian. She had hung on for a couple of days in the ICU, but didn't make it.
"Do you want to go home?" Caleb asked her, but her breaths were coming in short, and her eyes were filling with tears right in front of everyone.
"I'm okay," she sniffed. "I'm fine." She wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her school blazer and kept walking, knowing her brothers had those concerned looks on their faces, but not seeing them. Hunter's arm around her waist told her she was still here, the five guys surrounding her, and the ferret around her neck a tangible sign that she wasn't alone.
I have a pic of Bruce Lee the ferret if you're interest. LOL.
