Chapter 3

You stare at the plants, gifts, and balloons adorning the room, but you don't see them. All you see is the vase of daisies on the windowsill. You know they mean something; you just don't remember what, but I do. I'm just not going to tell you. If I do, they'll lose their meaning.

Derek could hear the stampede the moment his family got out of the elevator.

George Venturi knocks on the door of room 227 a single time before his wife flings it open.

Derek smiles softly at his stepmother. "She's stable, Nora. I haven't left this room since she got here. The doc should be back in about forty minutes. They just did an MRI about two hours ago."

Nora nods and puts an arm around Lizzie, who was staring at her sister's sleeping form on the bed, blood tinting the bandages on her forehead and arms.

Lizzie flashes a glance at Edwin, who was turning green at the sight. In a synchronized movement that could've been a part of Casey's favorite ballet, the two teens lunge for the bathroom, emptying their stomachs in turn.

A hit of a smirk appears on Derek's face, but Nora doesn't miss the way he looks haunted as his eyes examine his stepsister.

George settles into a chair in the corner as a monitor steadily beeps out his step-daughter's heartbeat.

"So," Derek's voice cracks at the attempt to sound light and cheerful. "I'm gonna go back to campus."

"Derek."

"Dad. I want answers. I need answers."

"I understand that, but—"

"Dad. I can't be here any more. Two times, I fell asleep and woke up, sweating like crazy, scared that she'd—"

The bathroom door creaks open and Derek snaps his mouth shut.

Lizzie grits her teeth as she looks at Casey and promptly exits the room.

Edwin stares after her, looking between the door and the bed on which his oldest stepsister sleeps.

"I'll go," Derek stands, pulling his chair out for Nora.

"Hey."

"Figured you'd find me," Lizzie mutters, fingers threading through the grass on which she was sitting.

Derek sits beside her. "She'd want you there."

"She'd want you there too. Ed and I heard you announce that you were going to leave."

"Lizard. This is my fault; if I hadn't said I lo—"

"You can say the word, Derek. I'm old enough, you don't even have to; I can tell."

He rips up a clump of grass and smiles sheepishly as his little stepsister glowers at him. "Sorry."

"S'okay. Mother Nature may forgive you."

He chuckles. "I told her, and she called me a freak. I think I cussed a few times, before telling her was a coward. I… I left her in the center of the Quad and then…"

"It happened?"

"Yeah. In a split second, everything was pandemonium."

"What… Did they find anything on the MRI?"

"They think she may need surgery. That's why they did the MRI. They couldn't tell me much else, and that was an hour before you guys got here. The doc thinks shrapnel lodged itself beneath her skin and may have caused brain trauma."

"Brain surgery?"

"Yeah."

Lizzie chokes off a sob. "Sorry. I… I know you don't do… tears."

"Oh, Liz," he says, gathering the tomboy into his arms. "Shhh, shh. Your sister's strong and a pain in the neck. She'll make it. Shh."

Five or six minutes later, she pulls away and wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"Better?"

"I… I still can't be there for her. I'm not that strong, Derek."

"I understand. Why do you think I'm leaving?"

Lizzie giggles softly. "Thanks, bro."

"No problem. Go upstairs."

"You are leaving, aren't you? Right now?"

He ruffles her purple and blond hair gently. "Tell your mom, okay? I… I'll call Marti."

The teen nods. "Goodbye, Derek."

"G'bye, Lizard."

He stands and brushes off his jeans and strides into the parking lot.

Lizzie signs and stands up, heading back to room 227.

…

"Hi, Mom."

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Abby asks. "I… I only told George I moved to L.A. last week."

"I made some calls. Can I come in?"

The older woman sighs. "Yes, dear."

His mother buzzes him in and Derek walks to the penthouse apartment so much grander than the one he lived in with Casey.

"Derek, I want you to meet someone."

"Oh?"

He walks up the stairs and she opens the door wider.

"Hi, Derek."

"Dennis?"

Abby pushes a strand of red hair behind her ear.

Her son looks between the two, picking out the hint of blush coloring his mother's cheek and the peculiar way Dennis kept staring at him, as if wanting to flee the apartment.

Stealing a glance at Casey's father, he sees a flash of Casey in the grass, covered in her own blood, and he's mad, furious, in an instant.

"How could you?" He curses at her.

"Derek!"

Derek glowers at Dennis for the outburst and switches to Spanish.

"¿Sabes que su hija está en el hospital? ¡El hospital! ¡Hubo una explosión! Ella podría morirse si yo no estuviera allí para ella. Y vosotros estáis aquí."

"Derek," Abby snaps.

"Mom, it's Casey."

Dennis looks up sharply. "What?"

"Casey could be on her deathbed," Derek turns on him, "and you're here fraternizing with my mother."

Derek stands and exits his mother's apartment, slamming the door behind him. He drives off, not caring where he was going. Sitting in the Prince half an hour away from L.A., he stubbornly ignores the tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

His cell rings, Lizzie's name in the display.

"Hey, Lizard."

"Derek, what were you thinking? Los Angeles?"

"Mom called Dad, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. Also, Marti is beyond mad at you. She said you're not being Smerek, cuz Smerek is always with Smasey and always keeps his smromises. I think that was it. It was hard to make it out from between the tears."

The college student groans. "I forgot to call from the road. Crap."

"George wants to talk to you."

"That makes one of us."

"I'm giving him the phone."

"No! No. I'll, uh, I'll talk to Nora."

"Okay," Lizzie hesitates, handing her mother the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nora. Wait, don't give Dad the phone. I know he wants to talk to me, but… Nora, I want… no, I need to talk to you instead."

He hears her murmured 'excuse me,' as she exits the hospital room.

"Derek," she begins, a no-nonsense tone in her voice. "What is this about?"

"It's about Casey. What else?"

There must have been a hint of his feelings in his voice because his step-mom clicks her tongue pityingly. "Oh, Derek."

"That's not all. I'm in California."

"Yes, Abby called, said you were upset."

"You would be too, if you came in on her screwing your ex-husband."

Nora's polite cough soon gives way to laughter. "I… I'm sorry, Derek. It's not funny, at all. I just…"

He quirks a grin. "It's fine, Nora. I know you could use a laugh after a weekend like this."

"I… I guess I'm not surprised. They seemed to get on quite well at your graduation party, though I seem to remember that Abby had brought along some tequila. Dennis was always a sucker for a woman who could hold her liquor."

Derek tries not to snort, as his stepmother continues.

"And, I remember once—I must have been twenty-three—right after our…fifth date, I think, that he took me to meet his mother. Oh my goodness, hun. She was something else. Held onto that bottle of liquor like it was her baby. I'll never forget the way her bloodshot eyes studied me. I felt like a lab rat, but Dennis assured me that it was perfectly normal. Should've turned tail and ran then. Never would have made that mistake."

"Nora, you never would have had Casey or Lizzie either."

"Still, if I'd been smart, I would have finished school before marrying him. Didn't have much of a choice, though; I was pregnant."

"With…Casey?" He attempts to do the math in his head, but keeps coming up short.

"No. I lost the baby. I was too young, always out drinking with Dennis. I thought…" She pauses, as if remembering who she was talking to at the moment. "Are you sure you want to know this?"

"Honestly, Nora? This is the only thing that's keeping me from falling asleep and driving off the road."

She sighs disapprovingly, but goes on with her story, "I thought I was invincible. I wouldn't get pregnant; we were safe. Turns out we conceived the very first time he brought to his dorm. By the time I knew, Dennis had already introduced me to his mother and his friends as 'the one.'" Nora rubs her temples and leans back against the uncomfortable bench in the deserted waiting area. "I kept it a secret for nearly another three months. The man always was blind when it came to women," she chuckles humorlessly. "Four months after our first date, I told him, and Dennis proposed. I said yes, and we got married the next weekend. Me in my high school prom dress, and him in a sports-coat and tie, in front of some judge in Toronto… that was my wedding. That's why Mom refused to speak to me until Casey was born; I never invited her to it. Fast forward. It's a month before Dennis' graduation. I'm due in four or five weeks, and I have a doctor's appointment. And, they tell me, no, sorry. That I'd give birth to a dead child in a month. Stillborn. No baby. I couldn't even see straight, as I walked back to Dennis' dorm room. He was so upset. I'd ruined his life, you see, he told me. And, for no good reason. There was no kid. His mother was right, he shouted at me that night. I wasn't worth it. I was just trying to get my hooks into him."

Derek doesn't know what to say, so he merely stays on the line.

"Derek?"

"Yeah, Nora?"

"I'm worth it, aren't I?"

He hits the brakes. "Nora, you are the best thing that ever happened to my dad, do you understand me? You bring light and happiness into his life. Into mine, Ed's, and Marti's too. At your wedding, I couldn't remember seeing Dad that happy since Marti was born. And with Simon, he's like a new guy. I remember how he was, with me and Ed, before he and Mom started having problems. Marti was an accident, a last minute reason that Mom could tack on to her list of things to blame on Dad. The last straw was her trying to convince Dad that she should have an abortion or put the baby up for adoption. He told her that he'd let her stay until Marti was born, and then she'd have to decide where to go because, if she still felt that way about their child, she wasn't welcome in our home. You gave Marti a mom. You gave my dad another chance at love. You guys, as sappy as you two are, deserve each other's love. You are so worth it, Nora. I know Ed and I probably don't say it enough, but we love you like you were our own mom."

He hears a watery chuckle through the phone. "I don't know about being your mother, Derek, but I… I am proud to be your step-mother."

He laughs. "Me too, Nora."

"Derek, you should come back."

"I-"

"Derek, our family needs you. Your sister needs you."

"Oh for crying out loud, Nora. She is not my sister. She was never my sister... If she was... well, Dad would be trying to put me in jail."

"What? ...Oh. Oh, Derek."

He chuckles dryly. "Yeah."

"I... I..."

"Nora, you don't have to accept it, or even understand it. I just figured someone should know." He clears his throat. "Nora," he asks, pulling out onto the highway again. "How is she?"

"Still out. They've given her a sedative so she wouldn't wake up. The MRI showed that there are lacerations on her frontal lobe and at least two pieces of shrapnel in her left hemisphere. They say that her surgery is scheduled for Monday."

"We have to wait another full day?"

"Yes. Something about a level of… something being out of balance."

"Did you tell them our Klutzilla's always out of balance?"

Nora laughs. "No, I didn't mention that, Derek."

"How's Lizzie?"

"Edwin's been with her. She just hums and holds Casey's hand. I don't know what you said, but at least she's not locking herself in the bathroom anymore."

"I have to go, Nora."

"What?"

"I'm still driving and I need to stop. I haven't slept since after the explosion."

"Derek, that was nearly 52 hours ago!"

"I napped in the Prince before crossing over into the States, so it's only been two days."

"Only. Hmmph, who are you and what have you done with my stepson?"

Derek laughs. "Sorry, Nora, but I'm a changed man. Go back in, Nora. Tell Dad I'll talk to him once I get there."

"Okay, dear. We'll keep you updated."

"Thanks," he replies, hanging up his phone.

…

"I want you to take the kids home."

"What? No!" Derek snaps at his father. I just got here. You wanted me to be here."

"Son, that's not why you came back. You came back because you wanted to be here. Punishment is taking away what you want. QED, you're driving the kids back to London.

Derek sighs and shoves a hand through his hair, making it stand up at odd angles. "What about school?"

"You can drive the kids there every day."

"My school, Dad!"

George sighs. "I called the Dean's office. It'll be another week before classes start up again. We'll... reevaluate then."

"Fine. I'll be in the car."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your sister?" Nora asks.

A shadow of his smirk crosses Derek's face. "Marti's coming with me, isn't she?"

"Derek."

"Dad, she's a vegetable. Casey will never remember me not saying goodbye."

"You will, if she..."

"Dad! I... I know. But I can't."

George sighs and claps on a hand on Derek's shoulder. "Okay. I'll get the kids. Emily brought Simon and Marti earlier this week."

Derek nods, his throat tight. "Thanks, Dad."

"Smerek!" Marti shouts, running to him.

"Hey, Smarts."

Lizzie smiles softly as Derek winks at her and tackles Edwin from the side in the car.

"Hey, Ed. How's it going?"

"It's goin'."

Derek smiles. "That's something at least."

"Derek."

He turns to Nora, who seems ashamed to look him in the eye. He steps forward and kisses her forehead gently. "How are you holding up?"

She sends him a wobbly smile. "I think... we'll make it. How... how about you?"

Derek reaches for Simon, taking him from her arms. "I'll survive."

"I think she would want you to live, Derek, not just survive."

"As long as she does the same, Nora."

"Keep the faith. Your sister will pull through."

"Step-sister."

She sighs, frustrated with him. She turns to kiss the toddler in his arms. "Buh-bye, Simon. Mommy's going to stay with Casey and Daddy."

"Wanna stay with you."

"Hey, bud!" Derek hefts him higher up on his hip. "You get to spend some time with me!"

"But..."

"No buts. We'll even play your CD in the car first."

Edwin groans and Lizzie merely chuckles.

"I call the front seat!" Marti yells.

"Why does she always get the front seat?"

"It's a rule," Marti answers Edwin with a grin.

"It shouldn't be," Edwin grumbles as they pile into the car.

Derek can't help but look back in the mirror as he pulls away from Kingston General Hospital. George had gone back inside, but Nora stared after them, arms crossed, and Derek knows that she had wanted this punishment for him, just as much as George had. And he was afraid he knew why.