Chapter 10: Inaccurate Papers
The overly sanitary room is engulfed in silence as Ava lay on her equally as sanitary hospital bed rubbing her stomach. Chris is sat in the chair to her left, with Jonah looking over his shoulder as he fiddles with his phone and his feet propped up on the unoccupied space at the end of the Ava's bed. Katie is to Ava's right, giving the little girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze every now and then. There's nothing to be worried about and Katie knows that, however, she feels is necessary to tell the doctor. Naomi, staring out the window with her arms crossed, is being carefully observed by Emily who has long since abandoned trying to look casual by attempting to mimic Chris's method of entertainment through her phone. There's only so much you can do on a phone before it bores you, and only so much you can do to try and ignore Naomi. After a minute she quits and takes up an activity much more captivating. An activity involving a blonde beauty who was obviously swimming in a deep river of thoughts and wasn't coming out anytime soon.
It was safe to openly stare at Naomi, Emily decided, since she was definitely too lost to even know where she was at the moment. Chris was distracted by some game involving pissed off birds, Katie was playing the role of the over protective mother bear, and the DeLonge children were much too young to notice themselves. With the assurance of not being caught set aside, Emily's brain could now focus all its strength onto solving the living puzzle that stood by the window.
Even with that task taking up a good proportion of her brain power, Emily was also trying to convince herself that she wasn't perving and that this was purely professional observing. They weren't in a session and Emily wasn't treating Naomi as if they were. She is simply observing someone –who happens to be one of her patients– while they're not in the confines of her office. People usually tend to let their guard down when they feel the atmosphere is casual.
But Naomi needs safety.
From her spot against the wall and next to the door, Emily breathes heavily out her nose. The complications that come with this blonde woman are overwhelming her.
Then why does she still welcome the complications?
Naomi is still staring out the window, actually thinking of nothing. She feels someone's eyes on her but holds no courage to see who it is. She bites her lip and doesn't move. The redhead continues to stare and is becoming more and more convinced that whatever had allowed her to read Naomi so easily today was just a rare moment of vulnerability, and she would have to wait for another one if she wanted to read the blonde that easily again. As Naomi bit her lip, Emily began to give herself reasons as to why what she was doing wouldn't be considered perving, but then her sister's voice stopped her train of thought dead in its tracks. Especially since she was speaking twin, something they only did if the conversation was private.
"You know Emsy," Katie said, "If you take a picture. It'll last longer." Katie's lisp was ever present as she spoke their secret language which ironically consisted of many "s" sounds. Emily turned towards her sister to see Katie with an expectant and challenging look. The redhead has one foot firmly on the floor and the other up against the wall. She brings the one that is against the wall down and gives her sister a hard look.
"At least I'm not trying to get into her pants." Emily motions towards Chris and raises her eye brows at her sister. Katie huffs.
"Yeah, not yet." Emily rolls her eyes. "And I'm not trying to shag Chris, loser."
"The fuck is that?" Chris' voice interrupts the twins' private conversation. "Ya know, at first I thought Katie was just on something. But then when you started talking like that Emily, I thought maybe you were both dropped on ya heads when you were little." The sisters exchange a look that captures the attention of everyone present in the room. Even Naomi has turned away slightly from the window, looking curiously at Emily.
"Miss Katie…" Ava whispers as she tugs away at the hem of Katie's shirt. "Mr. Chris said another naughty word! Are you gonna bop him again?" Katie shoots Chris a warning look.
"Do you not understand that we are in the presence of little ears?" Naomi and Emily both glance at each other hoping that the other has caught their little joke as well. When their eyes meet and it is clear that they have both remembered Emily's spot on imitation, the redhead grins widely as Naomi conceals her laughter with coughing. The older Fitch's eyes flash from her sister to Naomi, and she narrows them on the blonde. "Something funny Campbell?"
Naomi looks up innocently and contains her laughter. She shakes her head but no one would believe her with that grin on her face. Chris and Jonah don't seem to care about whatever Naomi is laughing at, since they go back to their game after Chris apologizes to the little girl for using a naughty word.
"Whatever." Katie says unconvinced.
"Miss Katie…" Ava wines, "Can I go now? I want to play." Chris's feet come off of her bed and he leans forward, pointing his phone at her.
"Not with a stomach like that you're not," He shakes his head, "I'm sorry Av, but I can't have ya runnin' around ready to blow! One second you could be fine and dandy, and the next BAM! Ya just puked on a cancer kid." When Chris looks up, he is met by five astonished faces.
"Do you not hear how the shit that comes out your mouth sounds or…?" Katie half questions, half spits.
" 'Fraid not," Naomi replies for her golden haired mate, "He says shit like that all the time."
"Shit like what?" Surprising everyone, it was Ava's voice who asked that.
"Ava!" Jonah exclaims.
"What?" She sees nothing wrong with what she just said and looks around the room for answers. "Miss Katie and Mr. Chris and Naomi say naughty words. Why can't I say naughty words too?" She holds up her hands and it serves as a reminder to everyone to just how young Ava is. "The only people that doesn't say naughty words-"
"Only person." Jonah corrects.
"Only person," Ava mocks her brother, "is Miss Emily. So tell me again why I can't say naughty words!"
"I don't say naughty words," Jonah reminds her.
"Yeah, but you're a pussy." Ava says flatly.
"Jesus Christ!" Naomi exclaims and steps away from the window and toward Ava's bed. "Ava, that is a very very naughty word…okay?" The little girl doesn't give Naomi the time of day, and merely sticks her nose in the air as she points to Chris.
"Mr. Chris says it."
"Woah woah woah!" The golden haired lad holds his hands up in defense. "I've definitely never said that in front of the kids. Specially not Ava!" Emily has joined Naomi at the foot of Ava's bed and elbows the blonde in the side. Naomi turns and gives her a questioning look that is answered as Emily motions towards her sister. Katie had been glaring at Chris and she looked just about ready to rip his teeth out.
"Just so you know," Katie says scornfully, "I blame you for all of this." His eyes widen.
"Me? Okay….okay. Before we go all pointing fingers and shi-….stuff..." He slowly corrects himself, "Why don't we explain to Ava why she can't say those words and we can."
"That would be nice…" Ava offers. Katie pats the small girls blue-black hair before replying.
"Ava sweetheart," Katie's voice is significantly softer than it was about a minute ago. "When you're old enough to buy fags, you can say whatever you want."
"Naw! Fuck that! Listen Avs," Chris drags his chair closer to her bed, "When you start to get hair on ya privates you can say whatever you want." Katie leans across Ava's bed and slaps Chris upside the head.
"Do you hear yourself!" She spits. "That's a totally different talk that we are not having now!" Both Ava and Jonah look equally as horrified and Emily and Naomi have watched the dialogue go back and forth like a tennis match.
Chris looks up, clearly ready for battle. "What about you! Telling her she has to buy fags to say naughty words? That's subliminal messaging right there, man!"
"Erm…" A somewhat elderly man in a white coat appears at the door.
"Doctor Gurdus?" Naomi asks and receives a friendly but somber nod. That simple nod was enough to cause uneasiness amongst everyone else in the room. They all exchanged uncertain glances and the mood was immediately changed. The loud and casual feeling that the room once held, had disappeared the second Doctor Gurdus gave his dramatic nod. Instead, anticipation and stillness had come to replace it.
Jonah leaves his spot next to Chris, and threw himself onto the bed next to his sister, ignoring the protest from his throbbing hip. His right hand clumsily grips Ava's left and their green eyes lock onto the doctor. Katie, Chris, Naomi and Emily all turn to mush at the sight of this simple gesture and all arguments between them are immediately forgotten. All eyes are on the doctor and he sighs as he feels the pressure in the room settle.
"Well out with it then?" Naomi says after the much too long pause.
"Is everything alright doctor?" Emily tries for a less than offensive response and successfully makes the air in the room a few degrees lighter. Naomi glances at the redhead next to her and wonders what classes in university people take to become a manipulator of feelings. How do you learn to not only be aware of what people are feeling, but also change whatever those feelings are into something better…or worse?
Doctor Gurdus shakes his head and many hearts drop.
"Would you like to step outside for some priva-"
"Whatever it is you gotta say, just say it doctor." Chris interjects.
"Don't be a pussy doctor…" Even though Ava whispered this as she shrunk into Jonah's side, the entire room heard it.
None of them corrected her.
Doctor Gurdus takes a few steps towards them and angles himself towards Katie. She watches him, her face tight and her hand clamped firmly on the armrest of Ava's bed. Both of the children see this, and their free hands reach over to her arm, attempting to calm the tense Fitch.
The plump, elderly doctor sets down a few papers that no one had noticed he'd been holding. No one except Emily, who had been taking in his every move since he appeared at the door. He runs his wrinkled hand through his white hair and it settles on the back of his neck. He sighs, then opens and closes his mouth various times. The suspense in the room grows until Naomi becomes tired of this on edge feeling and takes in a breath to speak. She is taking a step to move around Emily, when she feels the redhead's touch on her stomach. The blonde looks up and sees that Emily's eyes are still firmly set on the doctor. She looks back down at the petite arm that has blocked her way. Naomi understands Emily's implied message and decides against saying something to the doctor that she'll probably regret. Emily's hand soon drops and Naomi's blue eyes are once again on Doctor Gurdus.
"I'm afraid there's not much we can do…it's a lost cause…" The doctor hangs his head as he shakes it and stares at the polished floor.
Chris stands up, wanting to say something, but having no idea what. The DeLonge children say nothing, just look to the adults in the room for an answer. Emily and Naomi are wearing identical expressions. Confused and worried.
It is Katie Fitch however, who sheds some light.
"What the fuck are you on right now?" She demands.
The doctor's head snaps up and he looks at her wondering if perhaps maybe he should be asking her the same question.
"She had nausea, not a seizure!" The doctor looks frantically at the faces in the room who are just as confused as he.
"Nausea?" He asks slowly. His eyes go wide and before he can even reach for his papers, they are snatched into the clutches of a much quicker Katie Fitch. She starts reading them and although the entire room waits for a devastated reaction, it's definitely not what they get.
"You have the wrong room Doctor Girdle!"
"Gurdus…"
"Whatever!" Katie shoves all of the papers except for two in his face. "You can pretty much fuck off now." She spits.
The doctor doesn't ask about the two papers that Katie has kept, and rushes out of the room. Katie rolls her eyes.
"Good for nothing piece of-"
"What are those?" Emily gestures toward where her sister has the papers gripped firmly in her hand.
"This," Katie holds out one paper for Emily to read, "Is the paper he was supposed to fucking give us. And this," She hands Naomi the other, "Is the paper he thought was for Ava." Emily and Naomi read and exchange the papers they were handed. Katie turns to the children on the bed and her voice goes back to the kind motherly form. "You're going to be fine Ava. You just can't be picked up and thrown around like a doll." Katie gives Chris a pointed look.
"Ay, I won't lift you ever again," Chris says, "Not even after you're better. I'm not taking any chances on you!" Ava pouts and crosses her arms, effectively swaying Chris's decision. "Alright…maybe after you're better…"
Jonah sits up and lets go of his sister who had been clinging to him in horror during the events that had taken place.
"I thought doctors were supposed to be smart?" He asks.
"Yeah well," Emily says holding up the paper she currently held in her hand, "That one thought your sister had a tumor." Jonah wrinkles his nose.
"Okay, well she doesn't so I'm gonna go play!" Jonah goes to jump off the bed but his sister grabs his shirt, causing him to be pulled back to the bed in midair.
"No! You're staying here for the ice cream!" He rubs his neck and squints at his sister.
"What ice cream?" Her little hand points to Naomi.
"Naomi said she would buy me ice cream after I got better! Remember Naomi? Before the…the trans….trans…"
"Transplant." Jonah finishes for her.
"Yes! Trans…plant!" She stands up on the bed and goes to jump, but upon hearing her brother groan and rub his hip from the movement on the bed she's caused, she slowly sits back down.
"I do remember that…" Naomi recalls the day Ava is referring to, "But you're not allowed to leave yet Ava."
"Nooo!" The little girl slams her head back into her pillow and covers her eyes with her palms. "You promised Naomi!"
"I said when you were all better…you're still not all better." Ava sits up and sticks her tongue out at the blonde.
"At least she didn't stick something else up…" Chris states and receives three hard looks. "And that's my cue to get the fuc- uh fudge out." He starts to get up but is stopped abruptly by the screams of a four year old.
"No! I want my ice cream!" The sudden authority in Ava's voice leaves everyone in the room unsure on what to do. Jonah however, knew exactly what to do.
"Ava!" He whispers, "That's not polite!"
"What is?"
"Asking for food. Mum and dad said so!"
"Mum and dad said accepting food when people ask if you want some isn't polite either…" Ava grumbles. "It's like they want us to starve!"
"Av," Chris joins Katie by the side of the bed, "I say, take any food. Even if it's not offered to ya."
"Shut up Chris, you're not being a good influence." Katie says as she shoves him away.
"Can't you get some here?" Emily asks but the idea is immediately tossed out the window as Ava makes a disgusted face and a gaging noise.
"The ice cream here is like bat droppings." The mental image has successfully made every face in the room scrunch up in disgust. "Sorry…" Ava laughs, not sounding sorry at all.
"You know what?" Naomi says looking thoughtful, "I'll get you some ice cream Ava." The little girl's green eyes light up and she throws her hands above her head.
"Yes!"
"No…" Jonah groans and Naomi smirks at his failed attempts to train his little sister.
"Aw come on Jo!" Chris playfully ruffles his hair. "Don't be such a party pooper man!"
"It's alright Jonah, I did promise her." He nods, looking defeated. "I'll get you some too if you'd like?" His eyes shoot up to the blonde.
"Really?"
"Really. What kind?" The two children debate on which flavour they want and Katie gives her input on why ice cream is strictly designated as food to only be eaten when you're in an emotional emergency. Naomi listens as Chris insists upon cookies and cream and Katie reminds him that the ice cream isn't for him.
"I'll go with you," Emily leans over and says this softly to Naomi.
Of course, Naomi thinks, she may not pester me with questions, but she'll pester me with her presence. Even though the blonde had said this all in her own mind, she herself felt that sounded meaner than Emily deserved. The redhead hadn't done anything bad to Naomi, so she felt it unfair to even think unkind thoughts about Emily.
She sighs. "Alright, just as soon as they agree on something for us to get."
"Chocolate."
"Vanilla…"
"Shut up Jonah! Chocolate!"
"Ava…please be quiet…vanilla!"
"Uptight pansy!"
"Mannerless slob!"
"Woah! Before you two pull out ya shanks," Chris interjects, "Av, how about you get your chocolate and Jo, you get your vanilla. Yeah?"
"There is such a thing as separate orders…" Katie adds.
The way both children frown at each other makes them look like twins for a split second.
"Fine." They say in unison.
"Great," Naomi breathes, "let's go Emily." Katie's eyebrows come together and she gives her sister a questioning look. The younger Fitch shrugs in response but their silent conversation went unnoticed by anyone else.
"Miss Emily!" The redhead spins around just as she and Naomi are going through the door. Ava scrambles to get off the bed, and eventually, Katie has to pick her up and then set her down on the floor. The little girl dashes over to Emily and, with her index finger, motions for the redhead to come down to her level. Emily looks back at Naomi who is of no help. Ava urges her again.
When Emily finally bends over, Ava whispers something in audible to the rest of the room into Emily's ear.
"When you get the ice cream…" Ava had said, "Make Naomi run back with it so it doesn't melt! I want to eat the ice cream. Not drink it."
It's hard to believe that just this morning, Kieran had been strapped to a table and been branded. Several times. It felt like ages ago because now he was crawling through the sewers. The distance between him and his prison, growing. He could see the sunlight. He knows it's only been eight days since he's seen the sun, but it feels like ages. Kieran longed for the suns warmth, he would welcome it by ripping open his shirt and letting its rays hug his bare flesh. He picks up his pace as best he can with his sore knees that are just about ready to give out. The sunlight gets closer and closer and he can feel himself get warmer...and then it's gone.
It was as if the sun had been turned off, or whisked away to another more deserving soul.
"No…" Kieran croaks out, and his hand reaches to where the sun was at moments ago. His knees can take no more, and he feels them collapse beneath him, causing his entire body to hit the cold putrid floor. Bringing his hands to wrap around himself, Kieran tries to sob but the tears don't flow down his cheeks like he expects them too. Instead he feels a much thicker liquid coming down from his eyes. With the sun gone, Kieran is in complete darkness and doesn't even try to see what color the liquid is, but the faint smell of iron makes its way into his nostrils.
Blood.
The blood trickles down his face and onto the floor, making a disgusting splat sound. He's ready to give up. He's ready for it to be over. This would be an acceptable place to die. He would be completely alone. But then he feels an excruciating pain in his arm. It's like a thousand needles are imbedding themselves into his arm, only to pull themselves out and dig in again. He grits his teeth and slams his head on the floor in attempt to not have the pain coming from a single place.
He gets his wish.
The needle like pain starts to spread. They go from their place in his forearm to up his bicep and onto his shoulder.
"What the fuck…" Kieran says, out of breath. He grabs his shoulder and tries to isolate the pain in one place and stop it from spreading. Lifting his arm up in hopes that stopping the blood flow will help, Kieran lets out a desperate wail as it seems to help the needles break through the blockade he has made in his shoulder. His back arches and the needles are everywhere. His arms. His legs. His torso. His neck and head are the last remaining body parts that have not been taken over by the needles. All hope is lost when Kieran feels the swarm of needles start to inch their way up his neck. His neck is now a vibrating bridge between his already infested body and his soon to be taken over head.
The needles hammer at his skull and Kieran feels ready to die. They swarm faster. He doesn't care what happens to him. They are drilling into his skull faster than ever and he is sure death is going to come any moment now, until he jolts forward and his face hits a table.
"What…?" He rubs his blood free cheek and instead finds sweat. Looking down at himself, he is sitting on a chair and in the rags he was given to wear by David's goons.
He's not being attacked by needles. He's fine. He's not dying. He's alive…but more importantly, he hasn't escaped.
"Dammit." He lets his head drop onto the table. Kieran lifts it and slams it back down a few times until he decides he's ready to take in his surroundings. He sighs and looks up to see he's in a small room. Not his cell but not David's office either. The only things in this room are the chair Kieran currently sits in, the table in front of him, another chair for a person who would sit opposite him, and what was supposed to pass for a mirror but Kieran knew was a one way window. When he waves sarcastically to whoever is watching him, he hears a clicking sound and a door opens. The door is practically invisible when closed and even with Kieran's quick scan of the room, he had not noticed it until now.
Whoever the woman is that is entering, isn't facing him, she walking backwards and her heels are the only sound in the room. She shuts the door closed and Kieran takes notice of her cat-like body. He only knows one person whose body like that.
"If I haven't told any of them anything, what makes you think I'll tell you?" The woman turns around and smiles at him. Her eyes are the same grey, lifeless pools that he remembers them to be.
"I wanted to surprise you," She sits down on the chair, "you ruined it."
"You may have dyed your hair but I'd know that body anywhere." He says feigning friendliness. "And that voice…oh that voice! Who wouldn't recognize that softer than a babies' bottom voice?" The woman counters his fake affection by putting her hand to her heart and putting on a touched look on her face.
"Still as charming as ever I see."
Kieran looks up at the ceiling and nods appraisingly. "You've got…" His head goes from side to side, "Two minutes until I wring your neck. And they started the second you walked in here."
"Lovely." She says and intertwines her hands on the table. "Where is she?"
Kieran snickers. "You'll have to be a bit more creative than that."
"Well you said two minutes…kinda don't want to waste time." The Irishman stares blankly at her then leans back, still saying nothing. "I want you to take a look at these." She pulls out three papers, but she has them turned over so Kieran can't see their contents. "I want you to point to the most accurate one."
"One minute." He says in reply.
She turns over the three papers, one revealing a young woman, with blue eyes and black hair. The second, the same young woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. The third, with red hair.
Kieran has seen pictures like this and he knows it an aging program, and obviously they were using one to get an idea of what Naomi currently looks like. The young woman that the computer has composed doesn't look like Naomi, not even in the picture with blonde hair. It was a very vague and non-specific attempt to guess what she looked like. Kieran keeps his poker face and points to the one with the blonde hair.
"Right," The woman nods and holds up the picture for herself. Placing her index fingers and thumbs on the top edge of the paper, the woman tears it into two pieces. She continues to rip it until there is no way someone could put it back together. While this happens, Kieran looks on without any hint of emotion readable on his aging face. "I know you Kieran. I know you would point to the wrong one to throw us off." She smiles. "Cheers. You've given us a fifty-fifty shot."
"Fifteen seconds," He replies.
"Au revoir Kieran!" The woman waves at him with her three fingers as she opens the door and disappears into whatever is beyond it.
He wants to laugh at how absolutely ridiculous she and everyone else working for David is, trying to be two steps ahead, but his face remains completely serious. He lays his head on the table, wanting to escape the torture that is this reality.
Strangely enough, Kieran finds himself wanting to be back in the sewer. Back to a place where there is no emotional pain, all the pain is physical. That place sounds nice, he thinks. Anywhere is better than here.
A/N: I was gonna make this a little tiny bit longer and go into Naomi and Emily getting the icecream BUT you guys gave me so many lovely reviewws that I was like FUCK IT, they get it now. See what happens when you review? ANDREA GETS SHIT DONE. Anywaysss. Another chapter will be up sometime this weekend. If you guys havent noticed, I update in the weekends. Uh...thank you to everyone who reviewed and...uhm...I know I'm forgetting something because I always forget to put something here and it bugs the shit out of me. Whatever? SO. Did you like the chapter? Katie? Chris? Ava and Jonah? The beginning of Naomily? Finally right? I felt you guys getting antsy last chapter because we we're going into chapter 9 with barely any Naomily shit...WELL ALL IN DUE TIME. I dont want to talk about Kieran's stuff because I'll give shit away...anyways, continue to ponder and wonder and if you wanna tell me your predictions, BY ALL MEANS GO AHEAD! So that means review...