God, the bitch decked me. Didn't think she had it in her, Helena thought when she came to. She opened her eyes slowly and frowned deeply when she realized she was in the hospital. She'd thought she was still lying on the floor in the foyer of Shannon's house and that she'd gotten knocked out mere seconds ago. Obviously that was not the case.
Hunnigan sat in a chair by the bed, seemingly half asleep, the angle of her neck undoubtedly resulting in soreness the morning after. Emily was with her, sitting sideways on her lap, leaning against Hunnigan's chest, her head tucked underneath her aunt's chin. The tip of her thumb was in her mouth and Helena chuckled softly at the sight, it was so uncharacteristic of the girl who was usually so mature in her ways and words she could've passed for a teenager.
Helena sat up and reached over the edge of the bed to softly touch Hunnigan's forearm and the other woman opened her eyes.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Hey. What the hell happened?" Helena inquired, whispering as well so as not to wake Emily.
"You died."
"What?" Helena scoffed amusedly, not willing to quite believe it, but Hunnigan didn't appear to be joking.
I have died, but did I go to heaven or hell, I can't really tell. Hey, that rhymes, Helena mused, her mind wandering until Hunnigan spoke again.
"Shannon punched you in the chest hard enough to stop your heart. You were technically dead for almost two minutes before the EMTs zapped you back to life."
"...wow," Helena deadpanned, unable to decide what to feel. Happy to be alive, worried about the lack the notorious bright light at the end of the tunnel, disappointed that her life hadn't played out in front of her as a film like everyone had always said it would when nearing death. Mostly she just felt... dumbfounded.
"I know," Hunnigan agreed and blew out a breath, not quite sure it had actually sunk in for her either.
"Where's Shannon?" Helena then inquired.
"In lock-up I assume."
"She was arrested?"
"I had her arrested."
"Seriously?" Helena's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Well, since you died for a while there, I think what she did could be considered manslaughter. Or attempted second degree murder, depending on the D.A. I suppose," Hunnigan shrugged.
"I don't wanna press charges, obviously it was an accident," Helena shook her head. Things were complicated enough as they were, the last thing she needed was to have Shannon bitch at her for this, even if Helena did have every right to see Shannon locked up.
"It's not up to you, the D.A. decides whether to press charges or not."
"Well... shouldn't my opinion count for something?"
"I'm sure it will... not to mention that Ethan plays golf with the D.A. on a weekly basis, I doubt Shannon will actually get charged... but it doesn't hurt to let her sweat a little."
"You have a mean-streak after all, I'm beginning to see the family resemblance," Helena commented then and Hunnigan laughed softly.
"I think we get it from mom."
"How's the kid?" Helena then asked, nodding toward Emily who was still fast asleep.
"I tried talking her into staying with Ethan, but she wouldn't have any of it, so here we are," Hunnigan shrugged.
"At least she likes me."
"I like you."
"You know what I mean," Helena smiled.
"Yeah, you're her new best friend."
"She's a strange one. And I mean that with all my love," Helena then commented and Hunnigan chuckled, nodding a little.
"I know, but considering where she grew up, it's no wonder."
"I don't understand how you can be related to Shannon, she's such a... I don't even have a word for what she is."
"I know..." Hunnigan agreed slowly, "but she's not rotten to the core, she's got her redeeming qualities."
"I wish I could believe you, but I'm beginning to think that you're the kind of a person who tries seeing redeeming qualities in people even when there are none," Helena commented quietly, the implication that Helena considered herself to be one of those people with nothing good in her rather clear.
"Maybe I am," Hunnigan admitted. She had to be to some extent, unless she was willing to admit she'd stayed with Dean despite being aware of him lacking all possible good qualities, and admitting to something like that would just make her seem... well, pretty damn stupid if she was honest.
"But I'm also the type who doesn't forget favors done for her, and Shannon's done a few for me. Sure, not all of them completely unselfish, but she can be nice too. You two have that in common."
"I'm always nice," Helena argued.
"You are impatient, tough and irritable..."
"Oh, gee, thanks," Helena interjected.
"...but you also have a softer side. You can be very gentle and dedicated, but no one knows that because you don't let a lot of people close enough to see it. Shannon's the same way, she does have a decent side to her, but it's not visible unless you get close enough."
"Still sounds like you're making excuses for her, but it's not really any of my business."
"She's my sister, you know how it works. I recall there being several occasions when you and Deborah didn't always see eye to eye, but that didn't mean you stopped caring or cut her out of your life," Hunnigan reasoned and Helena nodded slowly.
"Point taken," she said.
Emily shifted sleepily in Hunnigan's lap and she adjusted accordingly, tightening her hold on the child to keep her from falling.
"Look, you two head back home, I'm fine. Really," Helena assured.
"You sure?"
"Of course. Besides, if anything goes down with me, I think I'm at the safest place I could be for that. Go get some rest, I'll call you in the morning when I see what the doc says," Helena said. Hunnigan pondered on it for a while, obviously wanting to stay, but still understanding it was kind of pointless for her to sit here. There was nothing she could do about anything at the moment.
"All right," she finally agreed.
Helena had decided to take full advantage of being able to play the "I'm still recovering"-card (despite being cleared and declared good as new by her doctor) and she'd unfolded the couch in the living room to be able to laze away more freely. Judging from the way Catnip was lying in the corner of the couch, his paws sticking up and his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth, he supported her intention.
"Now that's how you do it right," Helena commented after looking at him and followed his example, going as far as to stick her feet up and poke her tongue out too, but that was merely for Emily's entertainment. It worked, the kid doubled over in laughter at the ridiculous display before hopping onto the couch as well.
"Pizza's here!" Hunnigan announced as she made her way across the living room with the box.
"Did you bring the-" Helena began to ask.
"Yes," Hunnigan interrupted, rolling her eyes and handed Helena the bottle of ranch salad dressing.
"Excellent," Helena grinned, rubbed her hands together like an evil villain and grabbed a slice of pizza. Hunnigan cringed as she watched Helena smother the pizza in salad dressing before proceeding to eat it. She cringed again when she witnessed Emily commit the same atrocious crime to her slice of pizza.
Hunnigan had to wonder if the girl really liked ranch salad dressing on her pizza like Helena did, or if it was a habit she'd adopted just because she wanted to be like Helena. Hunnigan had noticed a long time ago that if aunt Laina did something in a certain way, Emily had copied and mastered the mannerism within a day. It was kind of cute.
"Y'know, I never understood how you can eat junk food the way you do and not get fat," Hunnigan commented then.
"I should've had myself checked for worms while I was in the hospital," Helena laughed, "Or it's more likely that the excess just ends up in the right places," she then grinned.
"Lucky."
"Don't act like there's nothing in it for you too."
"Eh, you have a point," Hunnigan shrugged after taking a few seconds to glance over Helena's chest.
"What are you talking about?" Emily frowned, her cheeks stained with spots of salad dressing.
"Nothing important," Hunnigan dismissed.
"I disagree," Helena said under her breath and chuckled then, "Nothing you need to worry about," she said to Emily then.
They'd just finished eating when the doorbell rang. Hunnigan went to answer it, leaving Helena, Emily and Catnip in the cuddlepile that they'd formed watching cartoons. Hunnigan wasn't surprised to see Shannon, after all she'd informed her she'd be coming to pick Emily up, but she was somewhat surprised to see how drasticly her obvious change in attitude toward Hunnigan was showing. She'd visibly gone from somewhat indifferent to downright hostile, and she made no attempt at hiding it either.
"Emily, your mother's here!" Hunnigan called back over her shoulder.
"Okay!" the girl responded and began packing her things.
"Do you wanna c-" Hunnigan began to say, but Shannon spoke over her.
"I've seen you make some pretty stupid decisions in your lifetime, but I still never would've thought you'd choose some rabid bitch over your own flesh and blood," she hissed and Hunnigan's eyebrow quirked.
"Do you hear yourself? Because from where I'm looking at it, it seems to me that you are the one who is behaving like a rabid bitch, not Helena."
"Oh, please," Shannon scoffed.
"You almost killed her, literally! Do you understand that, how serious it is!" Hunnigan lost her temper at the obvious disregard Shannon displayed.
"I didn't mean to."
"That doesn't make it better! God, why would you even think that it makes a difference?"
"It would from a legal point of view and that's enough for me," Shannon shrugged.
"Get out," Hunnigan ordered and opened the door for her, "I can't even look at you right now."
"Fine. Tell Emily I'll wait for her in the car," Shannon said, turned on her heel and exited with sharp steps.
A few minutes later Emily followed her after saying bye and after informing her aunt that she was more than capable of making her way down the stairs by herself and didn't need an escort, the comment accompanied by an eyeroll. Hunnigan waited by the door until the girl disappeared into the stairwell before closing it. She then headed across the apartment and to the balcony from where she could see to the street. Shannon stood by the car, taking agitated drags from her cigarette, the cloud of smoke practically hanging over her in the still air.
"Okay, isn't it about time you told me what she has on you that's so bad that you let her be such a bitch to you?" Helena inquired, standing beside Hunnigan as she watched Emily emerge from the building and walk to the car. The girl glanced up, looking for Hunnigan's balcony and waved at the women once she spotted them before turning to throw her backpack into the car and getting in.
"It's complicated," Hunnigan said as she waved back before the girl and her mother drove off.
"Why does everything have to be complicated?" Helena sighed as they went back inside. Hunnigan shrugged, she didn't have an answer either despite all the times she'd asked the same question.
"What, did you spill blueberry juice all over your parents' new white couch and have Shannon take the blame for it or something?" Helena then tried prodding as she went back to the couch, settling to lie on her stomach.
"Something like that did happen, but we were in it together from the start. We took out all the frozen berries from the freezer and stomped them into the dining room carpet," Hunnigan shared as she moved to straddle Helena's butt and the younger woman laughed heartily at the mental image.
"I dread to ask, but why would you do that?" she asked through laughter.
"I don't know, we were like... ten. Or, seven and nine to be precise. Point is, kids do stupid stuff," Hunnigan said and leaned to rest her palms on Helena's shoulders, kneading the muscles slowly, running her thumbs up and down along the back of Helena's neck then.
"Deb and I once egged our own house. I don't know why we did it," Helena said.
"See? This is what I mean, kids do stupid things for no particular reason," Hunnigan commented victoriously and ran her hands down along the sides of Helena's shoulder blades, the gentle pressure massaging the long muscles that Helena always managed to get into knots somehow.
"Are you trying to distract me so that I'd drop the original subject?" Helena then murmured, sounding kind of sleepy.
"Is it working?"
"Kinda, but you should know it's only temporary."
"I'll take it," Hunnigan chuckled, running her palms up and down along each side of Helena's spine. For a moment she thought Helena had fallen asleep after she'd been quiet for a while, but then the younger woman moved, slowly turned around and sat up, capturing Hunnigan in her lap. She wrapped her legs around Helena's hips and slipped her arms over her shoulders.
"Hi," she smiled.
"Hey, you," Helena murmured softly and nuzzled Hunnigan's cheek, "Now come on, tell me what kind of mischief you were up to that you're still paying for."
"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Hunnigan sighed.
"Nope," Helena confirmed. Hunnigan leaned her forehead against Helena's and stayed there for a moment before pulling back and to be able to look at Helena. She was looked so serious Helena was beginning to think Hunnigan had killed someone and had Shannon take the blame for it. Helena dismissed the idea quickly; if it were something like that, Hunnigan would've just said so.
"Tell me."
Hunnigan exhaled deeply, stared into the amber eyes and nodded.
"...all right."