Chapter 10

Shan sat up in his hospital bed looking around the room. He had been here for a little over two weeks. The room was getting old to him and he was ready to go home. The small room was filled with all sorts of flowers, balloons, cards, a trash bag of fan-mail, he could only imagine what was waiting for him online. The media always had their way of sticking their nose in and making private matters known. They were calling him heroic, he didn't feel heroic. All he did was attempt to protect his best friend, the woman he loved on many levels, and that didn't seem heroic to him. It seemed only natural.

Shan smiled when Kody came into the room. She lit it up even more than the flowers and balloons and bright cards did. She had been so good to him coming to visit every day. He was now off most of the machines and had been breathing on his own for a while now. His throat still hurt from having that tube stuffed down it and his voice was still a bit scratchy.

"Hey!" She bounced over excitedly. "They said you're going to go home today!"

"Sweet."

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, just want to go home. The food here sucks." He laughed.

"Well once you get home I'll make you something special, whatever you want, okay?"

He smiled at her.

"Enough about me, how are you doing?"

She sighed and shrugged.

"Not bad…it's still kind of tough being in the house and everything. I'm just trying to keep busy and that's helping a lot. Things are a little strained between Jeff and I. He was awesome at first but then things just sort of…he's started to act different. I mean I guess I was a little distant at first because it was hard to cope with but I've been trying to make an effort to be closer but now he's the one seeming distant. I think it just upsets him because he wasn't there to, y'know, play superman and save me or something. He's blaming it on himself."

A nurse came in with a smile on her face and informed them that he could go whenever he was ready. Kody drove him home and fussed over him once they got to his place. He had all kinds of messages on his cell and answering machine from people wishing him a speedy recovery to news people wanting to do stories.

Kody sat down on the couch where Shan was propped.

"Shannon, thank you." She said in a near whisper. She smiled and her eyes welled with tears.

"Don't thank me, I'd do it all over again…only I'd bring a fucking bazooka."

He smiled when that made her laugh.

"Keep this right here." She put his cell phone on the coffee table. "And call me if you need anything day or night don't hesitate okay?"

He nodded. She got up to leave, but before leaving she bent and kissed his eyebrow.

Kody came home all smiles. Today the house didn't even bother her. She was just thrilled that Shan was now doing well enough to go home. She even decided to cook a meal for her family. She pulled out a recipe card. It was Jeff's favorite. She turned on the radio and hummed to it as she put the food together and put it in the oven. She turned to see Stella come in the front door.

"Hey, Sis." Stella said coming over to greet her sister with a hug. With Stella living in the house and especially after both of them dealing with their respectable issues, they had finally become close as sisters.

"Hey, Stell."

"You seem really happy today." Stella remarked as she rummaged in the fridge to find a Mountain Dew.

"Shan got to come home."

"Awesome!" Stella came up with her soda and popped the tab.

"I'm really glad for you too Stell, I'm proud of you. I'm glad you got on at that security place. I know I'm going to miss you around here but I'm also glad you're out looking at apartments."

Stella swallowed a gulp of soda and nodded her blond head.

"I feel like this stuff is finally starting to lose it's grip. I know I'll never be able to shake it completely, but I can restart my life. I found an apartment too, I just got done filling out the papers and I should be moving by the end of the week."

Kody wrapped her arms around her sister.

"I'll throw you an apartment-warming party."

"No, don't do that." Stella sniffed the air. "Mmm…Jeff's favorite?"

Kody nodded.

"Yeah, it's--" Kody stopped for a moment and looked up at the clock, remembering she had to keep track of the time. "Wait, hold on a minute Stell I have to check something."

Kody bit her lip.

"What's going on?"

"I think I might be pregnant…I'm hoping not. I mean Jeff and I were trying but now's not the best time."

Kody left Stella in the kitchen and made her way to the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Harley sitting on the edge of the vanity with a white bottle in his hand. He popped open the cap with his other hand which was still wrapped in a lime green cast. He didn't notice his mom in the doorway. He peered into the bottle.

"Harley!"

She grabbed him off the vanity and sat him to his feet.

"What, Mommy?"

She pried the bottle out of his small hand.

"Don't ever get in the cabinet, that's big people stuff and it can hurt you! Why would you do that?"

She held the bottle in one hand she held out her other so Harley could drop the cap into her open palm.

"Well Dad ha-has it sometimes an' I guess I ju-ust thought i-if Daddy has it then how comes I ca-an't has it too." He dropped the cap into Kody's opened hand.

Kody blinked at her son. Her voice was caught in her throat. Her mind pictured him laying on the bathroom floor, staring coldly up at the ceiling, clutching an empty bottle. But he wasn't thank God he was standing right here in front of her. He looked up at her innocently with his big green eyes, his curly hair pulled back from his face, he chewed nervously on his lip ring thinking he was in big trouble.

"This is grown up stuff." Kody found her voice, though it was a bit squeaky, and went on. "It's for headaches and stuff. Don't mess with this ever again, okay sweetie?"

Harley nodded. Kody hugged him and then let him go. She shook her head at him as he disappeared down the hallway to his room. She breathed a huge sigh of relief and then went to cap the bottle. She stopped, looking closer into the bottle. This was not aspirin.

Dad has it sometimes…Daddy has it how comes I can't has it too?

Kody remembered all the times she had came into the bathroom as Jeff removed the aspirin bottle right in front of her nose. She didn't need any explanation, he had a headache or some old injury was nagging him. This whole time he had been hiding this from her. He knew she wouldn't find it because she would have no reason to open the aspirin bottle, she was allergic to it. She felt worried for Jeff, hurt, angry, betrayed. She capped the pill bottle and went out to the living room. Her purse was lying in a chair near the door and she stowed the pills away in there. Neither Jeff nor Harley would be into those again. Her hands were shaking as she went back into the kitchen and pulled the oven door down to check on her food. Tears started to sting at her eyes but she held them back. His secret was finally revealed.

"So Kody what did it say?" Stella asked eagerly from the table. Kody closed the oven door and looked up at her sister with an oven mitt in her hand.

"Huh?"

"The pregnancy test, what did it say?"

"Oh…I got distracted." Kody tossed the oven mitt to Stella who looked at her sister knowing very well something was wrong. Kody disappeared again. This time she was going to the bathroom and she wasn't going to find her son with a bottle of pills in his hand. She was going to find out if she was expecting another child. She held the wand in her trembling hand and sighed heavily. It revealed to her that she was pregnant.