Chapter 14: She Loves Him… Not

So now what?

This was Stephanie's first thought when Sportacus walked into the room. It was now Tuesday afternoon; two days after Robbie had come to her with his plan. Sportacus was standing at the foot of the hospital bed, nervously waiting to hear what she had to say, a slight glimmer of hopefulness in his eyes, since she had said before that she never wanted to even see him again. Things were already going according to plan; Stephanie had even planned out exactly what she was going to say. There was only one problem: there is a BIG difference between planning to pretend to apologize and be nice to the one person you actually hate and actually pretending to apologize and be nice to the one person you actually hate… Stephanie wasn't sure if she could do it. I have to… I did tell Robbie I would… Not that I care about keeping a promise to him, because he's not worth it… But still, I don't want him to think I'm incapable of doing something as simple as this… Oh come on Steph, suck it up and talk to him already.

"I…You… Sportacus, I'm not going to yell at you, so relax." She did her best not to sound annoyed.

"Steph I – "

"No, just listen. I have something to tell you, and I don't want you to interrupt." She interrupted him in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Sportacus nodded and she continued. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," She said slowly, trying to keep her voice confident and steady. "I shouldn't have… reacted the way I did. It's not your fault. I'm sure…I'm sure you did everything you could. I…" And here it is, the biggest lie of them all. "I don't hate you, okay? I said that on impulse… I was angry; I didn't mean half the stuff I said." His face brightened considerably; he looked suddenly very hopeful, as if he still had a chance. Yeah right… You're just leading him on… You scheming bitter little witch. A strangely sneering voice in her head told her, and for the first time in a long time Stephanie actually felt slightly guilty for the way she was acting… for what she was doing.

"But wait." Sportacus' cautious, quiet voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked to see that his facial expression had changed again, from hopeful to now skeptic. "You seemed pretty sincere on Saturday when you said that… If you're playing with me Steph, if you're just trying to… Please don't Steph; I don't think I can handle it, not now especially." He looked sad now, as if she had already given him and affirmative answer, and Stephanie felt another twinge of guilt. It was gone in an instant, though, as thoughts of her mother and her injury filled her mind. No, he's the one who should feel guilty, not you. He's the overly energetic, annoyingly healthy blue elf who should have saved your mother, but didn't. Now look. She broke her spine and she may never even wake up again. It occurred to her, not for the first time, that she really did sound like Robbie Rotten. Wait a minute when did that happen? When did you actually become 'Robbie-ette'? Something's fishy here Steph, maybe you should slow down and think about this…The subconscious voice in her head was now warning her to slow down before she did something she would shook her head slightly. No time for that now.

"I'm not playing with you, I promise. It's just… So much has happened in these past couple of weeks. I just need time to sort some things out, okay?" She somehow managed to sound truly convincing. Sportacus nodded hesitantly. "I'll… see you later then?"

"Yeah I… ok." Sportacus was reluctant to trust her fully. Oh, come on, It's Stephanie, what's not to trust… She said that she didn't mean what she said. You know that words said out of anger are never from the heart… He felt slightly suspicious of her. He had a bad feeling that there was a lot there that he shouldn't trust. There was something about her… something about the look in her eyes that told him she wasn't as sure of herself as she sounded. But why? It doesn't make sense… What if… Robbie was the one who told me she wanted to talk to me. I didn't even know she had talked to him… Could she possibly be scheming with him – of all the people she could go to… No, just because she momentarily hates the world doesn't mean – no. It's still Steph, even if she has 'grown up'. She wouldn't do that. He looked up at Steph and smiled genuinely. "I'll visit you again in a couple of days, ok?"

"Uh, yeah, alright. Bye Sporta –dork --" Stephanie's eyes opened wide at the slip up. Stupid, stupid, stupid. " Ooopss, sorry, spent too much time around Robbie I guess…" Her eyes got even wider. Stupid, stupid, stupid, shut up now, stupid, stupid, stupid… "I meant to say 'bye Sportacus'." She smiled nervously.

"It's, uh, ok, Steph." He looked a little hurt, but didn't seem to take it too seriously. "Bye." He walked out of the room and the pink one blinked in bewilderment for a moment before she burst out laughing.

"He is so – so – so naïve! It's unbelievable!" She shook her head, still smiling, and then jumping when another voice interrupted the silence in the room.

"Yes, Pinkie, he is. Are you really that oblivious, or did you realize that before? Oh and, you can relax. I'm not that scary."

"That's debatable… and yes, I did realize that before. I used to think it was kind of cute actually. Now I just think it's funny. How long have you been here?"

"I heard that whole conversation, actually. You were perfect. Very believable. Except for that little slip up at the end, but, eh, nobody's perfect right kid? Thankfully the elf's extremely gullible."

"Yeah, I guess so… So, what do you want now Robbie?"

"Why is it that you just assume that I want something?"

"Because the only reason why you'll willingly talk to me is because you want something."

"No, Pinkie, I don't really want anything… How much longer do you have to stay in this torture chamber?"

"At least another week, maybe two. Why do you care?"

"I'm just curious… I would have checked myself out regardless by now."

"I didn't even know that was an option…"

"They can't really keep you here against your will… Like I said, I would've by now."

"Yeah, well, I'm not you." Robbie raised his eyebrows at her.

"Ok, ok, the thought did come to mind. It is pretty lonely in here. And boring. And I would kill for something chocolate to eat… No, no, I'm not you. I'm nothing like you. I'm just – uh – not myself here lately which makes sense, considering…" She trailed off as Robbie started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You are as just unbelievable as Sporta – what-ever-his-name-is, do you know that? You tell me that we're nothing alike, and yet… Do you hear yourself? I mean, come on, you're scheming with me for crying out loud!"

"Yes, Robbie, I do hear myself. I don't sound like you. I sound like a girl who quite viciously had her heart broken by the man she used to love. I also sound like a girl who's spent nearly a month in the hospital and whose mother is also in the hospital near death. Not to mention the fact that all of it's my fault. I'm being incredibly selfish by thinking of only myself, come to think of it."

"Oh, yeah kid, because nothing could be worse than sounding like a semi-normal person… You don't need excuses you know; it's not a crime to be a little selfish sometimes." Robbie had not made this up, he realized to his own dismay, he was being sincere. He really did feel slightly… sorry for her? Yes, he did. He felt slightly sorry for her. Slightly, very, very, very slightly; but still. She, however, thought he was being sarcastic and glared at him.

"Go away Robbie. Now."

"Alright, alright, alright." Robbie threw up his hands in mock surrender, mumbling, more to himself than to Stephanie, though she heard it too:

"I wanted to go home anyways. This hospitals awful noisy, considering it's full of sick people. Besides, I need to stop talking to you so much before I go soft." He smirked when an idea suddenly came to his mind. "I could sneak in some chocolate for you next time I come, if you'd like."

"I… Why?" He gave her an odd look.

"Because I want to… Is it some sort of crime to be ni –."He choked slightly on the word. "Nice."

"With you? Yes. I mean, since I'm sooo much like you, I know that you'd never do something nice for someone else unless you were planning something." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Look, do you want something sweet to eat or not?"

"I already told you yes… I just don't trust you."

"Well then, since we're going to have to work together to get him out of town for good, I suppose I might as well at least try to earn you trust."

"I don't get it Robbie, why are you… Why do you even care? It makes no sense why it should even matter to you." Robbie just smirked mischievously and walked out of the room, leaving her question unanswered. She continued to stare blankly at the spot where he was standing, thinking about everything he had said, until Annie came into the room.

"What's the matter with you chil'? You look like you just got trampled by a whole herd o' cows…" Stephanie gave her an odd look, and then snapped at her.

"I've no idea what you're talking about… I'm fine."

"Ok, ok, don' need to bite ma head off…" She set a tray of food down in front of Stephanie, who began to eat it absent mindedly, not even thinking to put up a fight, and missing the triumphant smile on the nurse's face.

Things continued on in this manner until Annie was about to leave, and Stephanie decided at the last minute to ask her a question.

"Hey… How much longer do I have to be here?" She blurted it out without really thinking, and then, realizing how odd and random it sounded, amended herself thoughtfully. "I'm just wondering if you know. I'd like to get out of here soon so that I can actually visit my mom, since you guys won't even let me out of this room." Annie gave her a slightly curious look, but answered anyway.

"Well, you're burns are healing very well, and we're done with the skin grafts, so it actually shouldn't be too long… I can go get Dr. Carter if you want, I'm sure she can give you a more exact time period."

"I…" Stephanie wanted to protest, but then she also wanted to know just how much longer she had to be there. "Yeah, alright. Go get Dr… What's-her-name?"

"Carter, it's Dr. Carter, and I'm sure she'll be here in not too long, then." She walked out and, to Stephanie's surprise, Dr. Carter walked in about five minutes later.

"Hi Stephanie."

"Oh – uh – hi." Dr. Carter raised a curious eyebrow at her, since the pink one seemed surprised she was there. Stephanie blushed slightly and added. "I just didn't expect you to be in here so quick. This hospital seems to have too many nurses and too few doctors."

"That it does, but, you caught me at just the right time."

"Oh, ok then. I just wanted to know how much longer I have to be in here. Annie said that it shouldn't be too long."

"She's right, it shouldn't…" She paused and sighed at the hopeful look in Stephanie's eyes. "Alright; look, I can have you out of here tomorrow. But you must promise to do exactly as we tell you when you're at home. That's the only reason you're still here; I don't trust you. That virus that you contracted from you're burns has weakened your body quite a bit; you still need to be taking it easy." She gave Stephanie a stern, no-nonsense look. Stephanie sighed in slight annoyance, but consented anyways.

"Alright, I promise… I suppose if it's my own fault I'm still here it'd be silly of me not to do as you say."

"That's a very good point." Dr. Carter smiled. "I'll call your uncle and by this time tomorrow you'll be out of here and back in Lazytown." Stephanie just smiled as the doctor walked back out of the room. Yes, finally, no more of this stupid hospital… Maybe I'll start feeling more like myself once I'm… Back at my uncles house. She sighed. How nice it would be to be able to go back home. I wish… No, don't even go there. You've got money remember. Tons of it. You can buy a new house, a better house, one much nicer than your old one. She shook her head. Somehow, that notion did not comfort her one bit… Suddenly, and very randomly, her attention was drawn to the flowers still sitting by her bedside. They reminded her of the garden that used to be in front of the house, and she smiled slightly. I can't believe these crazy things are still alive. They've been her for almost a month, along with me, they should be dead by now. She picked one out and, imitating something she used to do as a little girl just for the fun of it, she began to pick off the petals one by one.

"I love him, I love him not. I love him, I love him not." She continued on in this manner, picking off the petals one by one… "I love him, I love him not. I love him, –"She paused as she got to the last one, remembering a time when she had done this out of sheer boredom as a child, only using Sportacus instead of herself. Suddenly she felt the slight twinge of guilt come back as she picked off the last petal, sadly saying: "Apparently, I love him not."

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Meanwhile, at about the same time back in Lazytown, Sportacus was quite literally jumping for joy. She doesn't hate me… She's still not herself, but who cares, because she doesn't hate me. His thoughts were interrupted as he nearly tripped whilst trying to avoid stepping on a flower bed in the park.

"Oh, woops. I need to pay more attention… It'd be kind of hard to save my own self if I got in trouble." He chuckled slightly at the thought, then smiled and picked one of the flowers from the bed, picking the petals off one by one. He paused for a minute, noticing just how silly and childish a thing it was to do, but then began again when he realized he really didn't care.

"She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me, she loves me not." He jumped up to sit on a wall and continued on for several minutes. "She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me, --" He frowned, slightly annoyed by the outcome that his silly little flower was giving him. He felt the slight suspicion come back, and he gave a surprisingly bitter snort as he said: "Probably, she loves me not."

I think the title for this one is rather perfect… Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!