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Chapter Twenty
"Kim? It's Dr. Gerandy."
Kim gripped the phone, and beckoned Abby over, mouthing, it's the doctor! Abby dropped the teddy she was waving in front of Jimmy into the play pen and rushed over. Kim held the phone so they could both hear him.
"Yes, Dr. Gerandy, I'm here," said Kim.
"And Abby?"
"Here, Doctor."
"Good. Well, I'm pleased to tell you the surgery went excellently," the Doctor said. They could hear the smile in his voice. "In a couple of days we'll do the scan but I'm pretty sure we got it all out."
"And that's it?" Kim asked.
"The test results came back negative for having spread," Dr. Gerandy said. "We caught it in time."
"Oh thank god," Abby said, crossing herself.
You're Catholic? Kim mouthed.
Abby shrugged. Can't hurt.
Kim almost laughed out loud but Dr. Gerandy was speaking.
"Your mother will be getting released from hospital in a week," Dr. Gerandy said. "We'll wait for the results of the scan to see if your mother requires any further treatment."
"Okay. I was reading...on the internet," Kim said, a little sheepish, "that surgery for cancer is usually followed by chemotherapy or radiation to make sure the tumour doesn't come back. Is that...will that be necessary here?"
"It probably will," Dr. Gerandy said, "strictly as a precaution. But I can't tell you how long until we do the scan and we can ascertain the results of the surgery."
"Is that why you didn't tell us about the chemotherapy before?" Kim said, a slight bite to her voice.
"Yes, Kim," Dr. Gerandy sounded a little contrite, which helped. "Had you been an adult, I would have laid it all out, but Kim, you are the daughter of a patient. I decided that it would be best to tell you what you had to deal with at the time. I'm sorry if you feel that this has been sprung on you, but I did what I thought was best."
"Thank you, doctor," Kim said. "For everything. Can we see our mom tomorrow?"
"Absolutely," Dr. Gerandy said. "She'll have a room to herself – CCU doesn't get many patients in a small place like this – so I'll arrange for you to stay as long as you like."
"Even overnight?" Kim asked eagerly.
"If your mother will let you," Dr. Gerandy said, "and you don't tire her out, then I don't see a problem."
"Woohoo!" Kim threw up the phone, hugged Abby, and forgot to catch the phone, which, in typical Karma-like fashion, cracked her on the head when gravity took hold of it. "Ow! Buggeration!" Kim clutched her head while Abby swooped down to grab the phone.
"Kim? Kim, are you alright?" Dr. Gerandy sounded worried.
"She's fine, doc," Abby said. "Just showing solidarity with her mom by smacking herself on the head with her phone."
"Oh, well, tell her that needing stitches won't get her to see her mom today, so don't try," the doctor said, amusement in his voice.
"Will do, doc! HEY KIM! DOC SAYS EVEN IF YOU NEED STITCHES, YOU STILL CAN't SEE LEANNE!"
Kim, who had staggered into the living room swearing a blue streak, making Jimmy giggle, yelled back, "I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE! BUGGER MY HEAD!"
"EW, NO THANKS!" Abby cackled.
"AH, SHOVE OFF!"
"Tsk, tsk, that language." Abby realised she and Kim had been yelling down the phone. "Oops, sorry, Dr. Gerandy. Thanks for everything."
"No problem," said Dr. Gerandy, rubbing his ear where two screaming teenagers almost made his ears bleed. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! Bye!" Hanging up, Abby waited until she heard the dial tone, then speed-dialled a number. "Paul! Paul, tell everybody! Leanne's okay – the surgery went well! We're seeing her tomorrow!"
"Aw, fuck, Abs, that's great! Ow, Mom!" Paul winced when his mother slapped him upside the head with a rolled up newspaper. "I'll tell Sam who'll make the rounds."
"Excellent. God, I feel like a party!" Abby said, smiling brightly.
There was a scuffle on the phone then, "Abby, Abby it's Celeste."
"Oh, hi, Celeste," Abby said, nervously smoothing her clothes as though Paul's mother was in front of her not on the phone. "What's up?"
"Well, you said you felt like celebrating so I was wondering if you all wanted to come over, just for a little get together," Celeste said. "I'll get everyone organised. You three come over about six o'clock."
"Are you sure?" asked Abby. "It's an awful lot of bother, especially at short notice."
"For you, it's nothing," Celeste said. "Paul's been a whole lot happier since you and him became...whatever you are."
"Mom!" Abby heard Paul whine from the background and snorted with laughter.
"Oh, shush, did you really think I didn't know? You lock your bedroom door a lot more recently."
"MOM!"
"Shhh! Yes, six o'clock, bring a bottle or something to eat and I'll see you later."
"Thanks, Celeste, we'll see you later."
"Okay, love. Here you go, Paul. Sweetheart, don't pout."
Abby was giggling away by the time a grumbling Paul got the phone back.
"Shut up, Abs, she didn't mean it," Paul said.
"Oh, so you don't...lock your bedroom door for me, then?"
Paul blushed. "No," he mumbled.
"That's a shame," Abby laughed.
"It is?" Paul's hopes rose.
"Yeah, I'm running out of things to tease you about," Abby said, oblivious.
"Oh, right," Paul's hope plummeted and his smile faded but he rallied for her. "I'll be sure to leave the baby album out for you then."
"Oh, I'd love that," Abby said.
"Uh huh. Right, babes, I got to go – Mom's flapping at me to go to the supermarket for tonight."
"Okay," Abby said. "Don't go overboard, though, will you?"
"I'll do what I'm told," Paul hedged. "I'll see you tonight."
"Later, honey," Abby trilled. She hung up and went to tell Kim about the plans for tonight.
"Are they sure?" Kim asked, balancing Jimmy, who was chewing his teddy's paw, on her hip. "It sounds like a lot of effort."
"They want to do it," Abby shrugged.
"And you want to see Paul again," said Kim, smiling at her.
"Yeah," Abby said, tickling Jimmy's cheek, making the boy squirm and giggle. "I miss him when I don't see him."
"Hmmm," said Kim, looking at Abby.
"What?" Abby said, putting a hand on her jutted out hip.
"Nothing, nothing," Kim said lightly.
"That's not nothing, that's the tone of something," Abby said, narrowing her eyes. "There's nothing going on between me and Paul."
"I didn't say there was," Kim said innocently, carrying Jimmy to the kitchen because he was fussing for crackers. Upon getting his hands on them, Jimmy put three in his mouth and began sucking them. Kim rolled her eyes fondly and plucked two out of his mouth, leaving him to cram the third in his mouth whole lest it too be taken away from him.
"Silly poppet," Abby said, patting him on the back gently when he began to choke on cracker crumbs.
"Good Lord, child," Kim said theatrically, getting him a beaker of water, "what are you doing to yourself?"
Jimmy sucked down the water, coughed one last time, spraying Kim with soggy regurgitated crumbs, and then settled back to eat his next cracker, the episode quite forgotten for him.
Kim, however, was not so quick to recover. Wrinkling her face with the resignation of a sibling that had been covered in other, worse, things, Kim handed Jimmy to Abby, who was busy laughing at her, and grabbed a cloth to wipe off her face. "Right, well, thanks for that, sunshine," Kim said to her brother. She dumped the cloth into the sink and took Jimmy back.
Abby sighed happily, the sound punctuated with a chuckle, and put on the oven to make her grandmother's mint chocolate cake. Kim sat at the table with Jimmy on her lap to watch her. Abby moved with confidence and grace around her kitchen, and Kim saw how different she was to the girl Kim had met months ago in September.
"What?" Abby asked, whisking the cake mixture with the bowl resting in the crook of her elbow.
"Nothing," Kim said, brushing the hair back from Jimmy face – he preened at the attention. "You're just different to how you used to be."
"Is that bad?" Abby said, the insecurity coming back.
"No," Kim said. "It's good – you're happy now."
Abby leant back against the kitchen counter, whisking slower now that her attention had shifted to the conversation at hand. "I guess I am. I mean, yeah, my dad's still not home, but compared to when we met, I am doing better. My dad's getting help, I have a family, in bond if not in blood. I have friends in you and Paul. And I've suddenly found myself in the middle of this huge group of people that look out for each other, like a family within the tribe or something. It's nice. I guess I was loner in necessity, not in nature."
"You're definitely a people person," Kim said, helping Jimmy to stand on her legs. "You have a gift, taking messed up people and making them better."
Abby laughed, "Are you on something? You're exaggerating!"
Kim shook her head, rubbing noses with Jimmy. "No, I'm not. You did it with my whole family. You did it with Paul. You're just...a joy-bringer."
Abby laugher again, harder this time, "Joy-bringer?"
"It's what my mum calls them!" Kim explained. "A special breed of angels she said."
"Aw, now I'm an angel, good day for my ego," Abby said, pouring melting chocolate into the cake mixing and stirring thoroughly.
"Yeah, yeah," Kim said, Jimmy trying to use her for a climbing frame. "Whatever; I've heard what Paul calls you."
"Paul calls me a lot of things," said Abby, pouring the cake mix into a greased cake tin.
"Yep. Angel. Love. Ducky. You're going to have to explain that last one to me," Kim said with a smile.
"When he came around while you and Jared weren't talking, he asked me how I was doing and I said I was just ducky. Since then when I'm tired, or out of sorts or something, he calls me ducky and it always makes me smile."
"Paul making someone smile," Kim said, raising an eyebrow, "imagine that."
"Oi, you," Abby said, whipping at her legs with a tea-towel, "he's lovely!"
"Oooh ooh," Kim said, "remind me not insult Paul in front of you."
"You been insulting me, Kim?" came a deep voice.
Paul was leaning against the doorjamb of the open back door, smirking at them.
"Paul!" Abby said, kicking the oven door closed on the cake and running to hug him.
Paul's face lit up as she came over and swooped her up into a bear hug. He kissed her cheek as her feet came off the floor.
"Not insulting per se," Kim said, smiling at the pair of them, making a face at Jimmy who laughed.
"Hi Pol!" he cried.
"Pol? Really?" Paul asked Kim.
She shrugged. "He's got the wrong vowel sound, that's all; he'll grow out of it."
Paul put Abby back on the floor. "Doesn't matter to me," he said, coming in to sit at the table, ruffling Jimmy's crow-black hair as he sat. Jimmy grinned, leaning into the huge, warm hand.
"Ack!" he cried, losing his balance and falling hard against Kim's arm. Paul instinctively jumped to make sure Jimmy didn't fall.
"Whoa, Jimmy! It's okay, we got you!" Kim said, settling him back into her lap. She stroked his hair soothingly until Jimmy nestled back into her. "There we go, baba," she murmured. "Time for a nap, I think," she said to Paul and Abby. "I'll be back in a moment." She got up and walked out of the kitchen, rubbing Jimmy's back to keep him pacified.
"You guys alright?" Paul asked, putting his hands on Abby's hips and bringing her to stand between his legs.
"Yeah," Abby said, putting her hands on he's shoulders. "We're okay."
"Really, because this morning you were told Kim's father was getting to La Push in a few hours," Paul said. He kissed the inch of skin exposed from where Abby's top had ridden up above the waistband of her jeans.
"Which is why your mom's invited everyone around all of a sudden," Abby said with a knowing smile.
"I might have told her everything," Paul said. "But it keeps Kim and Jimmy surrounded by Protectors like Charlie wanted."
Abby stroked his cheek, leaving her hand cupping his jaw. "It does indeed. Have I told you how grateful I am?"
Paul kissed the centre of her palm – he couldn't stop touching her any way he could right now, though he knew he was beyond pushing the boundaries of friends. "You can tell right now if you like."
Abby smiled softly and dropped a kiss on his mouth. "I'm so grateful that you're here."
There was a squeak on the linoleum. Kim had walked in, seen the kiss and tried to beat a hasty exit. Unfortunately, hasty didn't mean quiet.
"Kim," Abby said, standing up straight again.
Kim turned, "oh, hi!" she said, brightly. "I was just...getting a drink, and then going to watch some TV. In the lounge."
"Kim, what's with you?" Abby said. "You're acting weird."
"I am? Well, yeah, I am...but I just meant...I've lost my touch at subtle, haven't I?"
"Not to put too fine a point on it, but yeah," said Paul. He wrapped her arms around Abby's waist, resting his cheek on her stomach.
"Sorry, I just didn't want to interrupt. But, uh, now you mention it, can I talk to you for a moment, Paul?" Kim asked.
"Uh, sure," Paul said. He stood up and dropped a kiss on Abby's cheek as he moved her back to leave the kitchen.
"I'll just...put the kettle on then," Abby said, bemused as she watched them go.
Kim let him upstairs to the end of the hall, away from the kitchen. "Okay, fess up – what the hell is going on with you two? Are you together or aren't you?" she hissed.
"She doesn't know," Paul said, "As far as she knows, we're friends."
"No, as far as she knows, she cares more about you than anyone else in the world but doesn't know why," Kim said agitated. "And she wants to know what's going on."
"And she said that to you," Paul said, folding her arms.
"Yes. Well, sort of. She wants me to tell her if there is anything that affects you, since she knows that she doesn't know the whole story."
Paul sighed, running his hand over his fuzzy scalp. "I'd hoped she hadn't noticed."
"How stupid do you think she is?" Kim demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't think she's stupid," Paul said defensively on behalf of himself and Abby.
"Well, stop treating her like she is then," Kim said, "or blind."
"Back off! I'm doing what I think is best," Paul said loudly. "Just because Jared told you everything doesn't mean I'm going to put this all on Abby."
"Excuse me?" Kim said, her eyes flashing dangerously. "So, you think you've got all the answers, huh? Funny, since you're the only one that hasn't told your imprint what has happened. What are you scared of?"
Paul's eyes narrowed. "I'm not scared of anything. Abby's not you and she's not Emily. She's got a mother whose just run off, a father in rehab. She needs a friend, not someone who'll run out on her!"
"She knows you won't run out on her!" Kim yelled.
"She knows that everyone who has loved her has left her!" Paul yelled back. "Her grandparents, her parents! I won't be like them!"
"You'll be the people waking up a napping toddler," Abby said from the top of the stairs. Paul and Kim snapped around to see her, oh shit expressions on both of their faces. "Jimmy was crying over the baby monitor," she explained, holding the white unit up, "but neither of you were with him. Now I know why."
"Abby, I-"
Abby held up her hand and Paul stopped dead. "I'm going for a walk," she said. She put the baby monitor on the top banister and turned her back on them. She hadn't even taken a step before Paul started going after her. Kim leant on the door behind her and rubbed her hands over her face, leaving them resting there for a moment. The monitor squawked. "I'm coming, Jim-bug," she said tiredly to herself.
Jimmy was wide awake and not happy.
"Alright, kid, let's get you changed." At two, Jimmy was toilet-trained but like most children, he still had accidents, especially when he was sleeping. She cleaned him up and got in out of his pyjamas and into some new day clothes. With Jimmy in one arm and the wet clothes in the other, Kim made her way carefully down the stairs. She put a wash on, put Jimmy in the play pen in the corner and took the cakes out of the oven when the timer dinged.
She was sat tapping her fingernail against the cup, resting her head on her other hand, when Abby and Paul came in. They weren't talking to each other but they didn't have an overly-hostile air about them. Paul sat at the kitchen table, sighing under his breath when Abby took the seat opposite him instead of next to him.
Kim didn't know what to say. "I'll make a fresh pot of tea."
"Don't bother, Kim, I'm just leaving," Paul said. He got up and left saying, "I'll see you guys tonight. Jared's picking you up."
"Bye," Kim said weakly.
The door closed and Abby put her head in her hands.
"So, what happened?" Kim asked, "After I opened Pandora's box by hitting Paul on the head with it."
"We talked," Abby said. "When he caught up with me. I get why you freaked out on Jared," she gave Kim a weak smile. "Shape shifter was so not even on my list of things I thought was going on with them."
"Tell me about it," Kim nodded. She put the cup of tea down in front of Abby. "You handled it better than I did. At least you weren't a complete bitch to him, breaking his heart for weeks on end before you couldn't pretend you didn't need him anymore."
"I think with your background you get a free pass," said Abby.
"And with your background and your reaction to this, you're a better person than I am. But I think I always knew that." Kim put her chin in her hand.
Abby let out a breath slowly. "Tonight isn't going to be as much fun as I thought it might have been. Me and Paul are on shakier ground than we were two hours ago. I keep wanting to talk to Paul, to feel better, and then I remember that Paul is the one that lied to me."
"He didn't lie to you," Kim said, "He...omitted to tell you...certain things, difficult things."
"That's not what you were saying when it was you and Jared," Abby said sharply.
"I know," Kim said. "But like Paul said, you and him aren't me and Jared. He did what he thought was right. You have so much going on right now, Abby, he didn't want to add to it."
"That's what he said," Abby said tiredly. "He said what I overheard was right. That he didn't want to be another person to love me and leave me. I never thought he would be. I thought, hoped, really that he did love me. He never said it, but I wanted him to."
"Do you love him?" Kim asked.
Abby took a sip of tea, looking drained. "The answer isn't as simple as I'd like it to be."
"I'm all ears – easy is not something I know. I think that if things were easier I'd be waiting for the other shoe to drop," Kim said.
Abby leaned back in her seat. "I think that Paul was right after all. Knowing he was my friend was easy. But knowing that he feels this way, that there's some mystical force that chose me out of everyone on the planet to be with him...well, it just makes me feel sorry for him to he honest."
Kim laughed. "Been there."
"Before I was his friend," said Abby, "And now I'm this fated mate or whatever. He told me about what they hunt and I started to think that I can't patch up my werewolf lover after he's gotten into a fight with a vampire! Then I realised what I was saying and burst out laughing from the sheer ridiculousness of it!" Abby laid her head on the table.
"Do you care more about how stupid it is than about him?" Kim asked.
"No," Abby said.
"Think that every day until it doesn't feel weird anymore," Kim said, patting her hand. "It helps."
"I can deal with the werewolves," Abby said, "I can deal with the vampires. I can even deal with the fact that I'm The One for one of these werewolves. But, as petty as it seems, I can't deal with the fact that this changes the relationship between me and Paul. You know when you spin around really, really fast and everything else is a blur but there's that one spot that you focused on and it kept you from falling over?"
"Yeah?"
"Paul was that point for me," Abby said. "And now he's spinning faster than everything else."
"The Beatles were high when they sang all you need is love," Kim said. "Otherwise the song would have been called 'All You Want Is Love but It'll Lead to You Needed a Large Mallet and a Bottle of Whiskey'."
Abby gave a tired laugh. "I think all this is coming from the fact that I don't know where we are anymore."
"But you said you hoped he loved you," Kim reminded her.
"And I did. But he didn't tell me all this himself," Abby said.
"He was trying to protect you," said Kim gently.
"I know that, too," Abby said. "And that's what worries me – he was so busy protecting me from the bad aspects of his life that he went without the best parts. What makes me different to you and Emily? Do you think he supposes I'm weaker than you?"
"No!" Kim exclaimed. "He doesn't think anything of the sort, honey. But your family is going through a big upheaval right now. He just wanted to be there for you rather than have you have to be there for him."
Abby managed a small smile. "He really is a surprise. If he doesn't want to know, nothing will make him talk to you. But if he cares...he'd walk through hellfire if you needed him to. And I don't want him to do that for me; I just want him to be okay."
Kim took her hand in both of her and kissed it before holding it on the table. "I know this is scary, Abby. You've just found out that all the nightmares you've ever had are real, and the person you love in on the front line fighting against them. It's okay to not feel alright about this."
Abby nodded, her long hair falling to create a curtain between them. Not wanting Abby to hide from her, Kim tucked the hair behind Abby's ear, and her hand under her chin and pushed gently until Abby looked at her. The same tears that had fallen from Kim's eyes when she had finally comprehended what this all meant were making Abby's eyes glitter.
"He can't die, Kim," Abby said, her voice trembling, "I wouldn't survive if he died."
"I know, honey," said Kim. She pulled Abby close and hugged her. Abby hugged her back, needing to hold onto something.
When Abby had gotten a better hold on herself, becoming once more her less annalistic self, Kim took Jimmy into the living room for a story, leaving Abby to ice the cakes.
But her mind was only half on the story about a good dog that wiped his muddy paws and a bad dog that put his paws on the furniture. Instead she was thinking about how things would be this summer. Easier, she hoped. Abby's dad would be home, and hopefully six months sober; Leanne would be healed from her surgery and tumour-less. And, if Fortune had decided that Kim and Abby's families had had enough bad luck for their lifetimes, Carl would be gone (permanently?) and Abby's mother would have made some sort of decision as to what she was going to do with the rest of her life and would be sticking to it.
Let's dream, Kim thought, turning her attention solely to the book and making Jimmy laugh with all the different voices.