Unwritten - Chapter 7
by Kadi
Rated: M
"Because this is not awkward at all." It was Ricky that voiced the thought. After leaving the hospital the three of them had driven back to the condo. Now, without their mother to act as a barrier, they were seated around the living room staring at one another. Silence had stretched between them for several long minutes until finally, unable to stand it, Ricky had spoken.
They had put on a good show at the hospital, but now it seemed they had nothing at all to talk about. Or rather, they did, but did not know how to broach the topic.
It wasn't as though they were completely unknown to one another. Ricky and Emily knew who Rusty was, and he them. They might not have met prior to that day, in the formal sense of the word, but they had spoken. Sharon's kids often called the house phone if they could not reach their mother on her cell, and Rusty had been present when Sharon skyped with them on weekends. There was at least a basic sense of familiarity. Rusty hated to think what might have happened otherwise.
The thing was, they were still strangers. There was a common thread tying them together, and she was currently, painfully, absent.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here," Ricky continued, still feeling a need to fill the silence, "and just say that this is probably not how mom planned for this to go."
"You think?" Emily made a face at him. "Wow, that Stanford education is really paying off, Mister Obvious." But she was smiling at him, to curb the sting of her snark. She sat back in the large armchair and folded her legs beneath her. "This doesn't have to be weird. We are three intelligent—" She stopped, tossed a grin at her brother, "reasonably intelligent adults. Surely we can figure out how to relate to one another without mommy looking after us?" She waved a hand at Rusty. "So, you're going to be part of the family, yes?"
"That's what I hear." Rusty was seated in his usual spot on the sofa. Like Emily, he had his legs folded beneath him. His laptop was in the cradle of his lap, but he hadn't opened it yet. "Sharon wants to adopt me, but now that I'm 18, it's sort of weird, and I don't know." He shrugged. "She uh…" He picked at a loose thread on the seam of his jeans. "She didn't think either of you would have a problem with it. And if you do, that's okay, I mean, I understand…"
"Pft," Emily waved a hand at him again and shook her head. "Knowing mom, she decided to keep you about five minutes after she brought you home. It's not up to us to agree or not, that decision is completely between you and mom. It doesn't effect us, not really. I mean, yeah we get a new brother, but as far as mom is concerned, we already kind of do. If making your decision has anything to do with what anyone thinks outside of you and mom, then you'll want to rethink your thought process." Emily smiled at him, and managed to look very much like her mother. "It's between you two, Rusty. Don't worry about us, or our dad, or anyone else. If you're going to stay, then stay. If you're going to leave, be up front about it. Don't hurt her." She shared a brief, knowing look with Ricky. "I think that's the only thing that we've been worried about."
"We don't know you." Ricky leaned forward. He was seated at the opposite end of the sofa. "I mean, we know what mom has told us and what we googled. Which isn't a whole lot. We don't know if you're using her, or if you genuinely care. We'll give you the benefit of the doubt, because you seem like a nice kid, and because mom cares about you so much. She's a pretty good judge of people, and that's good enough for us. It's weird," he admitted with a shrug. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. It's always been just the three of us, so, it's kind of… strange for us to suddenly share mom with someone other than each other." He paused for a moment. Then he shrugged again, because he had a lack of words to describe the situation. "Like Em said, it doesn't have to be weird. Not completely."
"I don't want to hurt her," Rusty said, almost at once. He looked between the two of them. "I…" He hesitated, because these were not things that he talked about with other people. Except maybe with Sharon, or Lieutenant Provenza. He talked to Buzz sometimes, and then there was Doctor Joe, of course. Rusty was still largely uncomfortable with other people knowing things about him. "No one ever really… took care of me before. I mean, I took care of myself, and I guess I wasn't as good at it as I thought I was." He found it easier to talk if he stared at the top of his computer. He picked at the edge of the lid. "I don't want to go anywhere else. Staying with Sharon has been like, the running theme of my life the last couple of years. Now that I actually have a choice… I don't want to be anywhere else. I've been thinking about the adoption thing since Jack told me about it, and the really odd part about it was… the first thing I thought was that I wished she'd thought of it sooner. So I guess… I'm kind of in, and I know," he looked at Emily, "that it's no one's decision but mine and Sharon's, but I don't want to cause any problems for her. I know that I have not always been easy to handle, but things are finally normal. Or as normal as they get for us, and you two having a problem with this would be a problem for her, and I am so done with causing problems for Sharon."
Brother and sister looked at one another. It wasn't entirely hard to gauge what each other was thinking. They may not always understand where this had come from, how their mother had found this boy or why they had bonded so closely and so quickly. Or maybe they did get it. Maybe like them, it was a matter of having been abandoned by people that were supposed to protect and love him. Similar hurts, in an odd kind of way. Sharon had been abandoned by her husband, to his addiction and rambling lifestyle. They had been abandoned by their father. Like Rusty, they'd only had Sharon. Ricky tilted his head, Emily nodded.
"Then I guess that's all there is to say," Emily said, speaking for both of them. "Except maybe, welcome to the family, Rusty Beck." She paused, arched a brow at him. "She's not going to make you change it to Raydor right, because those two names—"
"No." Rusty exhaled, a bit relieved. He grinned, somewhat brightly at having all of that out of the way. It might still be awkward going forward, and they still didn't know each other, but at least the opportunity was there now. "We've had that conversation. She agrees that inflicting that on me would just be cruel and unusual punishment."
"Well, at least she learns from her mistakes." Ricky smirked at him. "Ricky Raydor? Yeah."
He snorted. "Sorry man."
"Yeah, me too." Ricky shook his head.
"So, anyone hungry?" Emily got up and walked toward the kitchen. "I am starving. I could eat a whole pizza right now."
"I thought ballet dancers were supposed to, like, starve themselves or something?" Rusty shifted on the couch, his gaze following her into the kitchen.
"Some of them do," Emily admitted. "The dancing world is full of unhealthy eating habits." She was opening cupboards, looking for snacks or something to eat. "Just like the acting and modeling worlds. Fortunately, we have met my mother, so it won't sound at all odd to you that she and me meeting with a nutritionist once a week from the time I turned thirteen until I left for Juilliard five years later." She stopped her search for a moment and leaned against the breakfast bar, facing him. "We have to be thin, we need to maintain a certain weight and body style so that not just the mechanics of the dance look right, but so that we can be lifted. During a show, it's strict dieting and exercise, but healthy dieting. I eat six small meals a day and exercise regularly to keep my metabolism high. When I'm at home, it's pig out time. So, what do we have?" She opened the drawer where the menus were kept and began flipping through them. "What I could really go for right now is a greasy cheese burger with onions and mushrooms, and oh my god, a huge order of chili-cheese fries."
"Throw in onion rings and a chocolate shake and I'll even go get it," Ricky said.
When they looked at him, Rusty wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Looked like he was getting his burger after all, but not exactly in the way he'd wanted it. He finally shook his head and decided to go with the part of him that thought it was cool Sharon's kids liked the same things he did. "Yeah, I could get behind that. There's a place a few blocks over—"
"Joeys!" Emily and Ricky chorused with grins.
"Right." Rusty shook his head. "I guess I keep forgetting that you two would know this neighborhood better than I do."
Emily giggled. "Maybe. I can tell you, we have been driving mom batty with Joeys for years." She took out a pad of paper. "What does everyone want? I'll call it in."
"Joey Special, all the way," Rusty told her. "Fries, large coke."
Her brows shot up. "All the way? Even jalapeños?" Emily didn't look convinced.
"Of course with the jalapeños," Rusty wrinkled his nose at her. "How do you eat your Joey specials?"
"I think I love you." Emily was writing it down. "Rick? Same thing, no mushrooms, right?"
"You got it," he got up and found his keys. "Don't forget the shake and onion rings."
"I'm not going to forget your shake and onion rings," She rolled her eyes at him. "See, this is me, writing it down."
Ricky leaned over her shoulder to make sure, and to annoy her. "You write like such a girl," he said.
"Uh, hello…" Emily lifted her head and looked at him. "I am a girl."
"Yeah, okay," he smirked at her.
Her eyes narrowed. "Richard, I know it's been a few months since Christmas, but let me remind you that I also fight like a girl…"
He put his hands up and backed away. "Okay, I'm going. I'm going to swing by the corner store while I'm out. Grab some snacks and sodas, and stuff. Need anything?" He looked from his sister to Rusty. When they both shook their heads, he nodded. "Back in a few."
Rusty waited for him to go before he, carefully, ventured. "When you say that you fight like a girl…"
"I will scratch your eyeballs out, pull your hair, and slap you silly," Emily looked up and winked at him. "My momma taught me to use what I have. I am little, but I am mean, and if you make fun of my ballet shoes, I will knock you over the head with them." She started giggling. "Ricky and his friends used to torment the crap out of me. They were so mean! So finally, one day, I go in the house—" She paused, "We used to have a house, mom got this place after we left home, anyway!" Emily shook her head because she was getting off topic. She walked around to sit on the other end of the sofa, facing him. "I went inside, crying, because Ricky and his jerk friends were making fun of me and I was all of twelve. Mom decided that being diplomatic wasn't working. She told me to handle it the same way she used to handle her brothers." Emily grinned widely. "I fought back. They didn't bother me a whole lot after that."
"Bullies usually move on after you fight back," Rusty agreed. "Sometimes you just have to show them you're not weak. I like it," he nodded. "I don't see Sharon advocating violence, but I can see her telling you to stand up for yourself."
"Well, I got in trouble, but it was worth it." Emily shrugged. "There are consequences for our actions, and mom did warn me about that before hand. The choice was either to put up with the crap they were dishing out, or to fight back, but every action has a resulting reaction. For Ricky and his friends, it was getting the snot slapped out of them. For me it was spending a week grounded. There was a lesson in it for all of us, for me, it was that sometimes doing what is right for yourself doesn't always come with a reward. But that's mom for you."
"Yes," Rusty nodded with a grin. "That does sound a lot more familiar."
"Indeed." Katie swept her thumb across the face of her phone. "Now, I better order this if we want to eat it." She dialed the number for the cafe from memory.
"Right." Rusty stood up. "I'm going to go pull out the air mattress and stuff. You're taking Sharon's room, right?"
"Yes," She told him. "She sent us both that list of things she needs, so don't worry about it. I'll go through the underwear drawer."
"You are just not right." Rusty shuddered as he made his way down the hall. He shook his head when the echo of her laughter followed him down the hall.
MCMCMCMC
When the door to her hospital room opened at a quarter to five the next morning, Sharon was already awake. How anyone was expected to rest while in the hospital, she would never know. Especially with a nurse or aid coming into the room every hour, on the hour, and waking her for a vitals check. Or to give her medication. Honestly, if she was sleeping, and had the morphine pump, then why did she need to take the oral pain meds? It was really rather ridiculous as far as she was concerned. After being awakened at four, she found that she simply didn't have it in her to try and sleep anymore. Instead she pulled out the spare pair of reading glasses she kept in her purse and was utilizing her cell phone's book app.
She had raised the head of the bed, and was reclining against the pillows. She had brushed her hair and pulled it back from her face, so that it was secured in a clip. Her injured leg was propped, the knee elevated. She had managed to be coherent enough around midnight to ask about the damage there, during one of the many times she was awakened by the nursing staff. She managed to break the leg, where her foot had been pinned beneath the car's console. It was a fairly clean break, the bone had snapped just an inch above the ankle, but with her age, they'd placed pins to help facilitate healing. The force of impact to her knee had caused a dislocated patella, it was now surgically repaired. There would be some healing time for both injuries. The rest was a myriad of bruises, scrapes, and cuts. The gash in her side was the worst of that, but had taken only six stitches to close. The metal had not protruded far, for which she was exceedingly grateful. While she was in some pain, there was nothing overtly debilitating or life threatening.
She looked up when the door opened, expecting to be once again disturbed by the staff, but instead a smile lit her face. Andy stepped into the room carrying a tray with two, steaming cups of coffee from their favorite all night cafe, and a brown paper bag that if she was not mistaken, also contained breakfast. While Gavin had promised to feed her when he arrived, she was far more touched by this gesture.
Sharon put her phone down as he approached. "You are up entirely too early," she told him. "What are you doing here? It's not even five yet."
"Well, if I wanted to see you before going to work, I thought I'd better get here early." He pulled the hospital tray over and set the coffee on it, along with the takeout bag. Then Andy shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it across the back of the chair near her bed. Then he bent over the side of her bed, one hand was braced against the bed rail while the other slipped into her hair. He tipped her head back and traced her bottom lip with his thumb before lowering a kiss to her lips.
She hummed in approval and delight. She touched the tips of her fingers to his jaw, and leaned toward him as the kiss lingered. Warmth spread through her, chasing away the chill of the too sterile hospital room. Her lips curved into a smile when he leaned back. "Hi."
"Hi." He kissed the tip of her nose before drawing the chair closer and sitting in it. Andy reached for her coffee and handed it to her. "Double shot, skim milk, extra foam."
"Hm." She moaned happily while inhaling the aroma. "You are wonderful. I take back every report I ever wrote about you." Sharon lifted the head of the bed a bit more and shifted, getting more comfortable. "What's in the bag…"
She could be rather adorable when she was wheedling. Andy grinned at her, but opened it slowly. He took out two styrofoam cartons. One of which was laid in front of her, along with plastic wrapped cutlery. "I thought you might actually be hungry by now."
"Maybe." Sharon lifted the lid, carefully. She laughed when saw the contents. It was the egg white vegetable omelet and whole wheat toast that she always ordered when they had breakfast together. She pushed the lid completely open and then smiled up at him. "I adore you."
"Good to know," he winked at her. He sat back with his own breakfast, which was a little less healthy. Vegetarian omelet and breakfast potatoes, with regular toast. "Speaking of being up early," He arched a brow at her. "Did you sleep at all?"
"More or less," she made a face. "Between being awakened by the lovely staff here. I'm wondering who I'll need to bribe to let me go home today. If I'm going to be stuck in a bed I want my own."
Andy frowned at that. "Rushing it a bit, aren't you?" He studied her closely, she was a bit frayed around the edges, it was the pain, he knew. She was less glassy than she had been the previous evening. That meant she was laying off the pain medication, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. "Sharon, you were just in a pretty significant car accident. You might want to give it a day or two before you actually start bullying the staff to release you."
"I wouldn't say bully." Her nose wrinkled. "What am I going to do here that I can't do at home?" She shrugged. "It's a leg, not a head injury. I'm okay," she said. "Honestly, Andy, it hurts, yes… but none of my injuries were in anyway significant. I'll rest much better at home." She pouted at him for good measure.
"It's not me that you've got to sell it to," he shook his head at her. Andy flashed a crooked grin. "I get what you're saying. No one can rest in a hospital, but if they say no, then they say no. Okay?"
She sighed. "Agreed." Sharon reached for her fork and took a bite. "Good thing people have a hard time saying no to me…"
Andy snorted. "Lady, you are something."
"Yes." Her face lit, eyes warm and a bright smile curving her lips again. "But you love me for it."
He looked up, face softening into a smile. "I do," he agreed. Then he pointed his fork at her. "Eat."
Her lips pursed, her head tilted. "I think I like you bossy," she drawled.
Andy changed his mind. Perhaps she was still a bit high from the pain medication. He couldn't help but grin at her. "So the kids are coming by later this morning?"
"Yes," she practically moaned her relief. "With a change of clothes, a few toiletries, and something to keep me from going out of my mind with boredom. Although, I'm a bit more concerned with how they made out last night. I was almost tempted to have Lieutenant Provenza take Rusty home with him, leave the kids with the condo, but…"
"They've got to get used to each other at some point," Andy pointed out. "Maybe a little forced togetherness is just what they need. The older two didn't seem so bad," he added. "They managed to put on a pretty good show at getting you to not worry about them."
"Which will never happen," Sharon shook her head. "I appreciated the effort, but I had hoped to acclimate Rusty with them in stages. One at a time, and with limited exposure. Together they can be… a little exuberant."
"A little?" Andy inclined his head at her. "If that was your definition of a little, then it will be interesting to see what they're like when they really get going."
She laughed. "They were both surprising well behaved, actually." She shook head. "No, they're good kids, both of them. It's just that… everything that's happened lately, with Rusty's mother and now Jack. He's not feeling as secure as I'd like. His mother really shook him up, and he was just starting to deal with that when Jack decided to be the ass that he is. I know that it will work out, and Rusty will be okay, but…"
"You worry." Andy smiled gently at her. "I know, but like you said, Sharon. They're good kids. They are the people that you raised them to be, and I think, between the two of them and Rusty… it will be okay. Let them figure this out. You concentrate on getting well. Stop taking care of everyone around you for a little while, and maybe, let us take care of you."
"I will do my best." She smiled warmly at him. She really did adore him. Sharon concentrated on her breakfast for a moment, and then she added… "But if I'm at home, you can take care of me better."
"Good grief woman," he laughed. It was no more than he expected of her. She was stubborn, there was no doubt about that. He loved everything about her, even when she was being willful. Andy gazed at her, with her eyes sparkling, and her cheeks flushed with amusement, even bruised she was absolutely beautiful. "I'll make you a deal, the minute you're released, I will personally drive you home and tuck you into bed."
She pointed her fork at him. "I will take that deal." That was more incentive than ever to get herself released. At least in her own bed there was more room for her to curl up in his arms. "Keep that phone at the ready, Lieutenant, I plan to be out of here by noon."
Somehow, Andy decided that he wouldn't put it past her.
