CLUELESS

Chapter 14: Remembering... The Wrong Things

Doctors and nurses kicked Rory out of Ethan's room in intensive care. They were about to move him but they took the tubing out of Ethan's mouth which was helping him breathe while he was unconscious, since he was breathing on his own now. They then checked all his vital signs before one by one doctors and nurses left the room, leaving Ethan and his primary to themselves for her to ask him a few questions. "So Mr. Morgan you really don't know what happened to you?" Ethan shook his head. "What is the last thing you remember?" She asked him. Ethan shrugged his shoulders, "Can you talk?" the doctor asked, Ethan hadn't said a word since they took the tubing out.

"I guess so." Ethan said groggily. He looked to see the doctor awaiting an answer to the former question, "The last thing I remember is being at my house with my friends, Sarah and Rory were about to go home, Benny and I were about to watch a movie downstairs."

The young doctor nodded her head with a "hmm" sound following, "Did you get in a fight with these friends? Although I've seen them around here everyday, especially that blonde kid outside, they don't appear to be the type."

Ethan then asked her, "What day is this?"

"It's a Thursday, you've been unconscious four, five days; it's expected in your case." She answered flipping through Ethan's chart. "When your little blonde friend brought you in you were covered in blood and were soaking wet. With severe blood loss you were covered head to toe with contusions and abrasions, a few cracked ribs and injuries to the head and back corresponding with blunt force trauma. And to top it all off, you've had fever between 100 and 102 the past few days, but that's what happens when you brawl in the rain." The doctor looked at Ethan who was paying attention to her. "You understand this fully?"

Ethan nodded and hoarsely answered, "I do pretty well (cough) in health class. (cough) I don't remember brawling."

"With the injuries to head you've had, I'm very surprised you know who you are." The doctor had a smile on her face, Ethan did not; "It's just a mild case of post-traumatic amnesia."

Ethan coughed before asking, "Isn't that what happens to women in soap operas? They (cough) never remember!"

The doctor chuckled, surprised that Ethan had a sense of humor, "You must not be that great in health class, the women in soap operas have retrograde amnesia whereas you have post-traumatic amnesia, you'll likely remember what happened soon; it'll either start as bits-and-pieces or either you'll just remember the whole event."

"Swell." Ethan said flatly.

The doctor then told him, "We're going to move you to your own room on the 5th floor and out of intensive-care, unless you want us to stick the tubes back in your mouth?" she joked, Ethan shook his head. "Okay, in the meantime I'll contact your grandmother and I'll let you have a visitor, one that insisted on being by your bedside, he even skipped school today."

"He?" Ethan asked her suppressing a cough. He thought that Sarah would have been by his bedside.

The doc answered walking out of Ethan's room to call "his grandmother", "Yeah, a nice blonde kid, he really was hoping for a speedy recovery I think." Before she exited she said, "He's a little better than your brown-haired friend, at least he's not trying to flirt with every female nurse on staff."

"Benny." he said quietly, a smile on his face.

Not soon after the doctor went out, a nervous and excited Rory came bursting in, "Ethan! Duuuuddeee whaaazzzup?" Rory immediately hugged Ethan.

"Rory (cough), Rory (cough), too tight... hurts." Ethan tried to say tugging on Rory.

Rory quickly let go of Ethan, but gently. "Sorry." Rory said smiling at his friend. "I would say you look great dude, but I would be lying through my fangs." Rory joked. But Rory then was serious, "Dude what the hell happened to you?"

Ethan blinked at Rory and said lowly, "Dude, I have no idea. (cough) Doc says I got amnesia and likely (cough cough) the flu or something, it's going to be a while before I remember fully." Rory nodded in understanding, "The doctor said you brought me here, do you know what happened?"

Rory shook his head, "Only you and your attacker know." Ethan got an irritated frown on his face and forced his head back onto his pillow. "Careful E, that bandage is wrapped around your head for a reason."

"I've been racking my brain here for the past few minutes, Rory; I really can't remember... and I don't think I want to." Ethan replied, snot coming out of his nose. Rory saw a Kleenex box on a table across the room, he got one and handed it to Ethan. "Thanks." he said accepting it, "And thanks for rescuing me too."

Rory smiled, "They don't call me Vampire Ninja for nothing!"

"Yeah well you were a little late (cough), but better late than never I suppose." Ethan said blowing his nose into the tissue. He then looked up to Rory, "Now I have a question for you, why the hell are you skipping school, are you nuts?" Ethan then coughed violently.

Rory hated hearing the coughing, to him it sounded like someone fighting for their last breath, "Dude, do you want to see if I can get you some water or something?"

"No (clears throat), you gonna answer my question?" Ethan asked.

Rory evading the initial question, "I'm not nuts...", Rory saw Ethan's facial expression was blank and he just blinking. "O-okay so I skipped school, would you have wanted to wake up in the hospital alone and confused?"

"I still am confused Rory? What are you going to do when your parents find out?" Ethan said, his voice having low strength. He then looked at Rory with a shocked expression, "Your parents, what about (cough) mine?"

Rory lightly chuckled, "Benny covered that; you've got a double a school right now being you! How sweet is that?"

"You guys don't learn." Ethan stated, "The last time Benny let doubles get created, they wanted an evil takeover."

While Rory continued, "Well this one's not evil; he's keeping your folks from worrying about you, he's doing your homework, chores..." Ethan blanked out, while Rory continued his rambling. Ethan was noticing something about the blonde boy, he was pale, paler than usual and he looked weak out of the eyes. "...Ethan are you paying attention to me?" Ethan blinked rapidly before nodding. "How do you feel?" Rory asked him.

Ethan sighed looking at a bruise on his upper arm, "Like I've been in a fight with a strong circus freak, and then cooked in an oven set to 450 degrees." He heard a light chuckle from Rory. "Has everything been, the usual?"

"A regular strong circus freak or a mutnat strong circus freak?" Rory asked him goofily. Ethan titled his head to the side. "Nothing tried to take over the school, the town, the people; it's been relatively quiet. Except Principal Hicks is still trying to figure out who stuck bologna and pencils on the ceiling in his office last week." Rory answered laughing.

Ethan asked him, "Didn't you do that?"

"No." Rory answered quickly.

Ethan shook his head and said quietly, "Rory, Rory, Rory... what are we gonna do with you?"

"Nothing can be done about this vampire!" Rory bellowed more goofy. Ethan just shook his head. As much as he wanted to yell at Rory for being stupid and skipping class, he didn't, nor could he. He would have taken a preference to Sarah's company, or even Benny's; but he wouldn't complain, Rory being there beats being alone. Rory then went from being goofy to being serious again when he asked Ethan, "You sure you don't remember what happened to you?"

Ethan sighed, "Rory, I don't remember, unless you know a way to jump-start my brain," he then saw Rory was about to make a suggestion, "And not how people's brain's are "jump-started" in some sci-fi film."

"Do you guys think I'm always thinking and doing things idiotic all the time?" Rory asked him, slightly irritated.

Ethan answered, though he could barely talk loudly, Rory heard every word, "Well, it is how you operate. You never listen or think (cough) things through. Usually bad things happen; you're a vampire, you one time stuck a radio in my chimney (cough) dead and possessed animals coming out of the walls of my house, you fell in love with an animated doll, you were possessed by an angry (cough cough) tree spirit, we had to try to keep you away from Doug Mackowski before he found out you were a vampire, and do I need to remind you about the ghost you let out of the board game a few months ago?" Ethan coughing afterwards.

Rory felt the need to retaliate; "Why are you blaming me? Benny was trying to impress Della and gave dead animals angry spirits in the first place! Benny left his spell book in plain view for anyone to get at it, your little sister animated her Debbie Dazzle doll, I thought she was some random hot girl! For the record Doug never figured out I was a vampire, he found out Sarah was! Me becoming a vampire, being possessed by a vengeful tree spirit, and the ghost that came out of the game board is my fault, but you guys are as much to blame!"

Ethan stared at Rory, shocked at what he had just said, which was all in retrospect, the truth, "Listen Rory I-"

"Forget it!" Rory snapped, to Ethan's shock. "I'm glad you're okay Ethan, but I don't want this now." Rory grabbed his backpack.

Ethan was confused, perhaps he pushed the wrong button on Rory, "Dude (cough), you're leaving?" Rory didn't answer him, he just walked out of the room. "Rory!" Ethan tried to scream, a hacking cough to come afterwards. Ethan shook his head, "What the hell did I just do?" he asked himself.

It was lunch time at White Chapel High, Sarah and Erica were at a table to themselves and a few other girls sitting next to them. Sarah and Erica weren't eating, more talking, and more Sarah talking. "Am I boring you, Erica?" Erica's attention was elsewhere; Erica simply looked at Sarah, confusion on her face. "I'm trying to tell you about a guy who just broke up with me in a text message and you're daydreaming!"

"I was listening Sarah! Derek broke up with you in a text, he'll get his." Erica answered sternly. Sarah's eyes were blinking rapidly, "I'm not gonna make him dinner if that's what you're worried about; I was talking about taking a more humane approach."

Sarah replied with a quiet 'uh-huh' before asking her, "What is so important over there that you're almost ignoring me?"

Erica sighed, "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm worried about Albert Einstein over there." Erica pointed.

Sarah's face grew a smile when she looked to see who she was pointing at, it was Benny, who was sitting alone at another table across the lunch room, reading a book that for once wasn't his spell book, "Ah! So you do care about him a little bit!"

Erica yelled, "No! I just... I tried to make him feel better about the lead ner- Ethan." She answered.

"What is wrong Erica admitting that you care about him, even a little?" Sarah asked. "Is your rep around the school really that important to you?" Sarah then whispered to her getting up, "You used to be a geek too."

Erica scoffed, "Yeah, used to be, and where are you going?"

"To sit by my geeky friend; I'll save you a spot when you change you mind." Sarah answered walking over to the lonely Benny and sitting in front of him. "How ya doin' Benny?" Sarah asked compassionately.

Benny put down his book and sighed, "I need E, Sarah."

"I know Benny... I do too. Where is RV?" Sarah asked looking around.

Benny simply answered, "Haven't seen Count Dorkula all day. Not looking for him. I guess in times of great stress even Rory can change, even if it's for the worse." Benny felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and shook his head when he saw who sent him a text, "Speaking of Count Dorkula, wonder what he's up to now."

Sarah smiled and shook her head at Benny's comments but she saw his facial expression change from an aggravated one to a shocked or surprised one. "What's Rory saying?" Sarah asked him curiously.

Benny looked up at Sarah, with a smile. "Vampire Geek may not be as much of a geek as we thought. He skipped school to go to the hospital... he says Ethan's AWAKE!" Benny shouted happily handing her his phone to read Rory's text, a smile creeping on Sarah's face, she was so relieved to hear the news. "I think I'm going to dance on the table!" Benny yelled.

Sarah grabbed his arm and shook her head, eyes bulged. "Dance on a table at home, not here!"

"Gram-ma would kill me if I danced on a table at home." Benny answered.

Sarah replied sternly, "I'm going to kill you if you dance on one here!"

Benny just chuckled nervously and awkwardly before asking her happily, "What's the plan?"

"Buy Ethan some flowers and a card and go to the hospital and talk to him. Then see if he can tell us who tried to kill him." Sarah answered determinedly.

Benny nodded his head at her, "I agree with that plan!"

Meanwhile Jesse's plans were still in play; months ago after Ethan let the souls free from the cubile animus Jesse needed a back-up plan, at a cemetery outside White Chapel, Jesse was kneeling by a grave, his grandfather's grave. It could be told by the grave's engraved writing and stone rubbing. "Oh Pa-pa how proud of me you would be... but at the same token you might be ashamed of me. Seeking power and immortality from a vampire, starting a cult, but it's taken me over 200 years but in a matter of days... I might just be the most powerful being to ever walk this planet... too bad I have to overturn the ground by your final resting place to get what I want."

Jesse then reach by a tree where a shovel was and started quickly digging. Jesse then stopped to say, "Besides, you were just another human." Jesse then began whacking at the ground hard with the shovel in anger, "Just another stupid (whack), pathetic (whack), weak (whack) human (whack whack)!" Jesse then hit something with a loud thud. Jesse threw the shovel and dug around in the damp dirt and pulled out an old carved wooden box. This box wasn't the cubile animus, more like a box built by hand and thrown together with oak or pine. Jesse saw an old book in the box, he opened it and it was cut out in a square shape to fit an object, but Jesse was angry that what he was looking for was not there, just a note which was scribbled with a feather-pen.

Jesse shook his head, "Find conjector. Find animus latro." (Find seer. Find soul robber/stealer) Jesse then slammed the box onto the ground, it breaking into pieces. Jesse sneered, "Grandfather you always were a fan of riddles, sadly I am not." Jesse just continued to look at the message before commenting, "I know a seer... too bad he's in intensive care." Jesse then began grinning, "No reason why I can't check up on his condition." Jesse kicked the broken box back into the ground before taking the shovel and putting dirt back over it. "Guess you wanted your "soul stealer" out of the wrong hands Pa-pa, bet you'd never think your own blood would be said wrong hands, but then again, maybe you did." Jesse chuckled, still placing dirt back over the broken box.

And there goes chapter 14, bet no one was expecting the chapter to end this way. Jesse's up to something evil (when isn't he?), and Rory, you can't blame Rory for being Rory; Ethan's learning that the hard way. Small Benny/Erica (Bennica) there. Chapter 15, it's gonna blow my faithful readers away if they haven't already been; to see what I've got planned, you must review!