Jealous Guy
Chapter 2: How we operate
(Freddie's POV)
Sam and I walked silently into the nail gun store as she rubbed her hands together perniciously. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking at her wide-eyed.
"Uh oh, last time you had that look, Gibby got shot in the butt by your paintball gun."
"Not my fault that Gibby didn't understand what 'get the hell out of my way' means, besides, a little color never hurt anyone" She snorted a laugh and shrugged it off like no big deal as we started looking around. The newest edition of nail gun, the Newton, was set on display in the center of the smallish store.
"Oh man, Sam!" I yelled as she was looking at different nails near the front of the store. "They got the Newton gun in stock!" Sam has been waiting for this particular nail gun ever since the store first opened and she saw it in the catalogue, and quite frankly, so was I. IT was love at first glance. The gun itself was called the Newton because of Newton's third law of motion: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Not only did this mind-blowingly defy that law completely, but it made the gun more like a person with emotions than an inanimate object. You shoot hard, the gun hits you just as hard on the backside, sending you flying backwards like the cowboy's in the movies. Whenever they did that with a regular shot gun, it was incorrect. A regular gun could never propel that kind of reaction, it was the law. If they ever made a cowboy movie with this nail gun, however, then I'd be able to accept that Newton's law was being broken.
Sam walked over slowly with a smile on her face. "My precious" she said in a raspy voice, evilly brushing her fingertips together and grabbing a box. She stroked the box and hugged it to her like a child. Her face fell when she saw the price tag.
"$375!" she made a 'hmph' sound affect as she was about to put it back. I grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Don't worry, I got this" I pulled out four 100 dollar bills from my pocket. Sam nearly flipped her shit the whole time we checked out at the register. The only time the gun left her hands was when the cashier scanned it for the price. Once in the bag, Sam grabbed it from the bagger and held it to her just as she had before. I let her carry the bag as we left, watching her skip like a little kid that just got a new toy. For Sam, this was the equivalent, until she got a text message. She halted about 100 feet away from me and giggled in her reply back.
"Who's that?" I asked, catching up to her. She handed the bag back to me calmly.
Her face was slowly beginning to form a blush. "No one."
I smirked as I realized I'd just begun to crack something with her. "No one, huh? I see. You know what else I see, giggles? Your face is getting beat red." Her face got redder, just as I predicted. The redder it got, the more antagonal my smirk became.
"Wipe the look off, chip boy!" She growled, smacking me upside the head.
"You can't call me that for long. I'm getting it out tonight. Dad's taking me to the hospital tonight to do it."
"We woopdy-doo. Congratulations to you" she spat. Her attitude was slowly beginning to descend downhill.
"Sam, quit stalling..." I cornered her as we got on a vacant elevator in the mall to meet Carly at Gloria Jean's on the next floor down. "No one is definitely someone."
"Well, it's kind of awkward to talk to you about...since we used to date and all...but, I just made it official with this guy yesterday. Joey's his name."
"Joey, huh?" I crossed my arms as the bag hit my thigh a few times. "He sounds like a stand up guy" I perked a corner of my mouth up and wagged my head as I said that, over exaggerating my obvious joy for her, not.
"Awwww, you jelly?" she talked in a baby voice and threatened to pinch my cheek.
"Nah, I'm just playin', Puckett" I perked my voice up a bit as I bopped her in the shoulder with my shoulder. "No, seriously, if he makes you happy, I'd like to meet him. I'll be shacked at the hospital for a few days, so you can tell him you beat me up and put me in there for an ego boost if you wanna."
Sam laughed as the elevator doors opened. "Not necessary. He knows I can kick anyone's ass for any reason. I made that clear the second we met. Plus, I already told him about us when we hung out yesterday. That's when he asked me to be his…well"
"Girlfriend? It's ok, the word's not gonna eat you." I laughed and stuffed my hands in my pockets.
She gulped as if she was scared to ever say that word again. "Yeah, girlfriend, whatever. He asked me to be his girlfriend right after we talked about you and the rest of the crew."
"Anything bad about me?"
She looked down at her feet when she answered me. "No, mostly about how you and I were friends first then-"she stopped in mid sentence to answer her phone.
"Joey? Hey, baby! I was just talking about you..." her face lit up like a birthday cake as she plugged her ear to hear him in the middle of the noisy mall.
Baby? Pft. I tuned out to their conversation as we began the long walk over to Gloria Jean's, which was on the other side of the mall from the elevator. Sure, Sam and I weren't dating anymore, but we'd grown closer as friends in spite of it all. We could finally chill out together and be kinder to each other without Carly being out mediator. Dating didn't work out for us, but it sure as heck strengthened out our friendship. I had a right to be jealous, being her ex and all. It was a rule. I had the God given right to get green eyed about Joey. Something in my gut told me otherwise. It was possibly my conscience, but whatever it was, it told me to just smile and walk on just as Sam was doing.
So I did.
...
Carly had somehow managed to make up with Gibby and Spencer while Sam and I were away. The three of them were laughing up a storm when we were approaching. She ended her phone conversation with a quick and awkward 'bye' as she saw Carly at the table.
"Hey guys!" Carly spotted us and waved us over.
"Hey! Lookie what mama and daddy-o got!" She gestured to both of us then pulled out the nail gun for everyone to gander at. She was telling Carly about all the special features that the gun had and how she was plotting to use it on Mr. Howard after his deed of giving her a straight week of detention because she commented on his lack of hair.
"I figured if I shot him right in the middle of his back, he'd snap right in half! Like a twig!"
"Sam, you know it's not to make teachers snap in half. Even in a twig-like manner!" Carly was scolding her like a schoolchild. I knew in the back of Carly's mind she was giving me a death glare for even getting the gun for Sam to have access to. Spencer and Gibby began to edge forward to look at the gun.
"And no one with the name Spencer or Gibby is allowed to touch it!" Carly didn't even look at the two who slumped back into their seats as she barked the order at them. I got a vibration in my pocket.
From: Dad
Hey, you ready to start wrapping it up in about an hour? I gotta come get you and get you prepped for the surgery.
I texted a quick response back:
Yeah, I'll be ready in a few
I put the phone back into my pocket. Sam cradled the gun inside the box close to her chest.
"Hey, guys, not to break up the introduction of our gun child or anything, but I gotta head back to bushwall for my dad to pick me up. He's gotta get me back over to Seattle Grace-Mercy West to prep me and get the chip out."
"You're finally getting that out?" Spencer asked, turning the chair around and leaning on its back.
"Well, when your dad's a pediatric surgeon, you have special advantages" I wagged my finger at him sassily.
"Oh! So he's gonna crack your skull open and stuff? Can I watch!" Sam asked. I shot her a look.
"No, you cannot see me when I'm being operated on. Now, when I get out of surgery and am all hopped up on morphine…on second thought…Carly, make sure you don't let her bring a video camera."
Carly gave me a thumbs up and a Michelle Tanner impersonation, "You got it dude!"
I swung my head back to Sam after laughing at Carly's corny 90's impersonation. "Plus, I know you care too much about me to see my blood and stuff."
"Well, whatever vinegars your cucumber, Benson. But mama will look after Sally for you" she said, gesturing to the nail gun. I coughed out a laugh.
"Deal."
…
Sam and Gibby had gone upstairs to practice aiming the nail gun at a gigantic dart board we had in the studio after saying their goodbyes and prayers for my recovery. Carly and Spencer stayed downstairs with me until my dad came to pick me up.
"He should be here in ten. At least, that's what his text said. The traffic outside, however, says otherwise" I nuzzled the pillow on to the couch as I yawned and sprawled out on it. Spencer came over, lifting my legs up and sitting underneath them.
"I'm tired. Is it good or bad to be tired before brain surgery?"
"Good, because then you don't get nervous" Spencer said, patting my calf a few times before he rested his own legs on the coffee table. Carly sat on the chair adjacent from us, questioning my motives.
"Why are you even getting it done? The chip shorted out when we were at Nora's house last time."
I sat up and mimicked Spencer's sitting position, intertwining my own fingers together nervously. "I guess…I don't know. I've got this opportunity to kind of start things over again. A clean slate was given to me. I now have the ability to do things how I want. I've been craving for this kind of opportunity to arise for a while now. Plus, not having a GPS tracking device in my head will make me more…."
"Normal?" Carly finished for me, raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly!" I exclaimed. Spencer and Carly gave each other a knowing look and shook their heads. "What?"
"Nothing" they said in unison, both chuckling to themselves. Before I had time to interrogate, I got a text from my dad. He was parked outside and ready to take me to the hospital.
"I guess traffic wasn't that bad. See you guys after I get my skull cracked open, yay!" I shouted sarcastically, pumping my fist in the air and clicking my heels together whilst in the doorway.
Carly waved to me, "Bye-"
"OW! My buttocks!" a male voice shouted in a high-pitched squeal from upstairs. I stopped in the doorway and heard a thud.
"I told you I was gonna shoot!" Sam's voice bellowed from upstairs. There was wimpering and footsteps. "Are you gonna get up or?"
"Gibby?...Sam?" Carly began to panic, flying up the stairs. Spencer looked over at me, as if to expect me to be able to telepathically know what happened. Well, my hypothesis consisted of Sam with the nail gun shooting and Gibby…well, being Gibby.
I sighed loudly, making eye contact with Spencer. "I'll text my dad saying we've got one more for the ride to the hospital."
…
Awkward rides to the hospital are always fun, not! Carly, Spencer, and Sam had to fit into the backseat with Gibby sprawled on top of all their laps, dorsal side up. Spencer was rubbing his shoulders to calm him down until the pain meds my dad administered from his handy car first-aid kit kicked in. No one spoke for the first thirty minutes of the car ride.
"He got shot in the butt with…what!" My dad finally asked, trying to ration how this all happened.
"A nail gun" I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the head rest. "Yes, I realize how crazy that sounds…but that's Gibby for ya."
"And who shot him?"
"Me" Sam waved. I opened my eyes and saw my dad eye the back seat via the rear view mirror.
"And that's Sam for ya" I answered calmly, closing my eyes again.
"I thought so. Freddie's told me so much about you guys, especially you, Sam."
My face began to turn red. "Oh really, now?" She smirked. "And what did Fredward tell you?"
My dad kept flickering his eyes into the rearview mirror, "That you're a spit fire…and clearly, he was spot-on" his eyes gestured to Gibby in the back seat, groaning. We pulled up to the hospital. My dad ran inside and came back about five minutes later in his scrubs on and a stretcher to put Gibby on as he was giving instructions to another doctor and nurse that came out with him.
"Gibby, age sixteen, got shot with a nail gun penetrating the gluteus maximus and possibly hitting bone. No exit wound. Heart rate is 170 over fifty-three, everything else is stable" Gibby moaned and groaned as he was lifted and put face-down on the stretcher.
"Bye, Gib" we all waved sympathetically. He retorted with:
"Uuuuurrrrrggggghhhh"
…
My dad came back out to the lobby to give us an update on Gibby.
"Your friend's gonna be fine. Dr. Torres is our finest orthopedic surgeon. It didn't hit any bone, luckily. We got the nail out, but Dr. Torres says he won't be sitting or walking around comfortably for quite some time."
Carly and I glared at Sam, who was sitting in the middle of both of us.
"I'll go apologize to the kid later. Let the guilt set in, would ya?" Sam waved her hand down, grabbing a fatcake out of her jacket pocket. My dad just raised his eyebrows and gestured me to come with him.
"Ok Freddie, ready to get prepped?"
"Yes sir!" I bounced up and waved to Carly, Sam and Spencer as I followed my dad. He led me into a peds room that had a pink separator curtain in the middle.
"This'll be your pre-op and post-op room. Until he gets discharged tomorrow, you'll have Gibby as your roommate" he opened the curtain to show Gibby sleeping on his stomach, moaning. "Then you'll get a new roommate as of tomorrow, cool?"
"Coolio."
"I also put down that you're seventeen so you'd be able to be admitted into peds and I can keep a closer eye on you. I won't be doing your surgery myself, but the best brain surgeon in Seattle, heck, the whole country, Dr. Sheppard and the best peds surgeon, Dr. Robbins, will be. They'll be here in a few to evaluate you and answer any questions you have, good?"
"Great."
…
I just laid on the OR table, exposed in my hospital gown. While there, I thought of every possibility of a complication during my surgery. What if I died on the table? Even if this Sheppard guy is God and Robbins is the best there is, they can make mistakes No one's perfect, they're people. Simple operations can go astray all the time; I've seen plenty in my days of watching videos my mom brought home when she worked at Seattle press.
Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Robbins came into my field of vision a few moments later, followed by my dad who was to only observe.
"Okay, Freddie. It's a beautiful day to operate" Dr. Sheppard said shyly as he smiled at me, easing me a bit.
Dr. Robbins leaned closer to me. I could tell she was smiling, even though the surgical mask. "Let's get at it then. Count backwards from ten slowly, please?"
As the anesthesia mask went over my face, I almost forgot to count.
"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six"
My eyes had drifted closed.
But suddenly they had opened again. I continued my counting in an echo.
"Five…four…three…two" I pointed in front of me. My camera was on my shoulder, but I was pointing to darkness. I was about to speak, but then I heard someone else counting down from five behind me. I turned around.
"In five…four…three…two…one" the guy shakily pointed to Carly, Sam and Gibby in front of him. He was also holding the camera by the bottom with no support on his shoulder at all.
"You don't say the one!" I whisper-yelled. "When you say the one, the camera picks up on your voice and it continues into the audio. And you hold the camera like this" I stepped forward towards the mysterious camera man to reset the position of the camera, but walked through him instead. "What the!" I pushed my arm though him. I was transparent!
"Whoa" I tried self-soothing myself with a calm voice.
"You're ok". I was pushing my arm in and out of his torso; I pulled it back to me. The camera that was on my shoulder had vanished as well, giving my other hand a chance at freedom. Everything about this unsettled me as I continued watching.
Carly jumped in front of the camera with a perky smile on her face, "Welcome to the webernet show we like to call ylraCi!"it sounded like jibberish, but I remember the gag from talking to her earlier this week. They were doing this week's episode of iCarly!
"I think you meant…iCarly" Sam nudged her side playfully, clearly being a part of the banter. "Nevertheless, we have some new for you guys! It seems our technical producer, Fredward Benson, has just vanished into thin air!" She snapped for effect. What! I have not vanished! I'm right freakin' here.
"NO!" I snapped right back, waving my arms as I snapped. "I'm right here!" I jumped up and down, hoping for her to notice me. "Sam! Carly! Gibby!"
"It's true, one minute; he was getting surgery, the next minute, BAM!" Gibby clapped his hands together and silenced himself. Carly and Sam leaned forward and turned their heads to the side.
"And?..." Sam added on.
"Oh! Oh uhhh, I dunno, he got hit by a bus."Gibby shrugged. What!
"Hit by a- hold up!" I walked onto the set, standing in front of all three of them, making a commotion.
"Guys! I'm right here, don't you see me" I hopped around nearly every square inch of the studio. "Look, I'm still here. I didn't get hit by a bus, I'm alive and…transparent!"
"Say hello to our new tech producer, my boyfriend, Joey Bates! Woooo!" Sam pressed the applause button on her remote as Joey set down the camera on the cart.
"Switching to the 'E' cam?" he questioned himself, pressing a button on his belt.
"V CAM!" I screeched. He walked right through me, discombobulating me. He and Sam met in the middle of the studio as I regained my balance.
"Oh baby, you're so cute. But it's the V cam" Sam corrected him politely.
"Who cares?" He shrugged. Sam shrugged back
"I guess not" she said as he pulled her forward in a furiously passionate kiss. I felt my heart sink. Overfilling with disgust and fury, I fell to my knees. Carly and Gibby also began kissing; I could hear all their thoughts in-sync.
"Freddie who?" They all chanted, mocking me. All of them stopped kissing each other and each set of their eyes pierced through me. I actually felt the pressure and the pain.
"Freddie who?"
"No…no…no" I felt myself frozen, unable to get up from my kneeled position. I pressed my hands to my ears, hoping to drown out their voices, but it was no use. They had infiltrated my mind with the sense that they didn't care where I was. They never cared at all whether I was alive or dead. "NO!"
A sudden floating feeling came over me as I felt pressure on my upper body. I had been pulled to my feet.
"It's hard, isn't it? Being forgotten" the voice was feminine and familiar. I turned around and saw the figure of my mother before me. She appeared tired and worried, just as always.
"Mom!" I gasped, running to her at full-force. She held on to her half-smile, which was fading as I came closer to her until I finally ran past her, and through her. I whimpered, just as she did. I pushed my arm through her just as I had done with Joey.
"I'm sorry" she hung her head low. She was sorry I couldn't hug her, like it was her fault.
"It's not your fault, mom. I'm transparent too."
"I'm sorry" she repeated. "I'm sorry for leaving you so suddenly."
"But, mom, you died. There's no controlling that."Suddenly, a stroke of pain hit full forced against my chest. My heart beat that I'd been feeling this whole time in my throat had disappeared. I gasped for a breath. For the first time, my mother could actually physically touch me. She held me up and rubbed my back as the episode came to a halt before becoming transparent again.
She picked up right where she left off as I felt my heartbeat in my throat again. "I know, but as your mother, your caregiver, I should feel some kind of responsibility for leaving you alone. You're lucky your dad took you in. He was a good man, Fredward."
"Is" I corrected her. "Unless…wait, am I dead!"
"Of course not, sweetie. This is all in the midst of your imagination. But I did have to come back. Freddiebear, I came back to remind you of something: me. You have forgotten who you are, and so you have forgotten me" she frowned, rubbing her hands together. There was no worse feeling than not being able to comfort your mother physically when she's in pain like this.
"Mom-" I was cut off again by the sound of my heart beat dying. I gasped for air once more. My mother was able to touch me again. This time, I clung to her, almost hugging her. I actually felt her tears embed themselves in my hair. Once I could feel the beating again, just as before, she became transparent.
"Never. I'll never forget who you are, mom."
"It started to feel like you were. You never seem to pray to me anymore."
"You're the biggest part of who I am, and I'll do my darn best to remind both of us that every day with the decisions I make. I know I don't pray to you like I did the first week you were gone. Mom, it's because I miss you so…damn…m-much. Every time I'm reminded that the only time I can talk to you, you can't talk back. It hurts me, mom."
"I know, dear. I know. And all I can do is hope that you'" she smiled at me and reached for my head.
"Mom, you can't-" I warned.
"Shhhhh…" she patted my head. I felt contact with my mother for the first time without being in pain and having my heart stop. Her hand swept down my face and cupped my shoulder, gently shaking me. "Freddie…listen to me. It's time to wake up. Wake up, Freddie."
"Wake up" a deep voice instructed me. The grip on my shoulder grew stronger. The hand that was on my shoulder felt different too. Bigger. My eyes shot open. Everything in the room appeared fuzzy and distorted. Did I just come out a dream?
"Freddie" the voice echoed once again with a little hint of panic. My nostril's flared and my breathing became rapid and shallow. The monitor's beep progressively caught up to the pace of my breathing. The room started to get fuzzier as I cringed and hyper flexed my neck and shook against the back of the headboard. The same feeling in my chest I'd experienced twice in the dream was flooding back.
"Breathe! You need to breathe!" The feeling of hell had stopped. Something was now on my face, an oxygen masked I presumed. My heart rate and breathing rate came back down to normal. I could see clearly now, too clearly. My dad's panic-stricken face breathed a sigh of relief when I made eye contact with him. Sweat from his head was wiped off by his hand as he put something down on the table next to me. They were paddles for the AED machine. If my heart rate had gotten too out of hand, I could've flat lined.
"Oh thank God" I heard him whisper, appearing next to me again. Burying his head on my stomach, he shed a few tears and shook his head, mumbling something inaudible. After his moment, he took regular medical precautions and began a post-op exam on me, checking my eyes with a bright light that made me squint.
"What…what happened?" My speech was slurred, but understandable.
My dad tried to explain it to me as calmly as he could. He still had a bit of shake in his voice. "Some complications arose when you were opened up. Sheppard and Robbins found some bleeding that we had no idea was there. Mistakenly, we didn't bother to take an MRI beforehand. Did anything happen that could've caused it?" He grabbed a chart next to me as I thought about any possibility of injuring my head. Then, I remembered.
"Well, I was at the gym with Gibby and Carly last week. We were all going hardcore on the stair steppers. Carly lost her balance on the stair stepper next to me, so I reached out to grab her and ended up losing my balance and hitting my head on the hand grip near the side. I didn't think much of it besides the slight headache I had afterwards. Could that have caused it? It was such a little fall."
"Freddie" my father was about to get super serious with me. "You have to get checked out every single time you injure yourself, especially in the head! I'm not gonna lecture you, but just…come to me next time. Use better judgment."
I'd never felt such disappointment from a parent before. The new feeling had me gripping at the sides of my bed.
"Because of the bleeding, we couldn't get the chip out, and we won't attempt it a second time. They had to restart your heart during this surgery…twice."
"Twice?" I squeaked. I sighed and sunk into the hospital bed, pulling the blanket up to my chest. My father nodded and silently made a note in the chart. So that's what I'd felt whenever pain struck me in the dream. My mother was only able to touch me because I was on the line of death. But how did she touch me right before I woke up?
"We're keeping you under observation for the next 24 hours. Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Robbins just want to make sure the bleeding is stabilized and get an MRI. You are to stay in this bed where I can keep an eye on you."
"Daaaaad" I moaned, closing my eyes.
He pointed his index finger at me. "You're staying right where I can keep an eye on you, capeesh?"
"Uh huh" I replied dryly, rolling over.
"Maybe having that chip is a good thing, Freddie. It makes you…different. Being different it good" My father smiled at me.
"That's the nice way of calling me abnormal."
"Abnormal isn't such a bad thing either" He left the room with my chart and headed down the hallway. Snoring came from the other side of the room as Gibby drooled on a pillow in a hospital gown. On his bottom, there was some bandages and dressing to cover his gunshot wound.
I had to quietly chuckle to myself as I spotted a blow-up doughnut waiting beside the bed. Poor Gibby. Once that morphine wears off, this injury will literally be the biggest pain in the ass he'd ever dealt with, besides Sam.