Lessons in Humility
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N:
Chapter 25 (Redemption Song)
A new fire lit within, Tori explained on all her social media platforms that she would be deleting her accounts and no longer associating herself with the celebrity world. Her heart was pounding as she followed through with that promise. The good thing also about all her social media was Facebook and Twitter both had improved over the years and given the user a choice of also wiping their entire history clean if they so chose.
Tori did just that, erasing all of her past posts, comments, likes and whatever else she had. Fans and followers alike were sure to be confused, but this was the way it was. She had no interest in that world any longer and didn't want to remain a part of it. Granted there were some things out there she would never truly erase; but it was her social media that mattered solely.
She was opening new accounts, however, that were going to be private. Friends and family would be the only ones she gave that out to. She'd use a different name as well, a name that was used during a childhood game she and Trina played. It was a form of the old Cops and Robbers, but they liked to don characters. She went with one that she used when she was on the robber's side.
After closing down the laptop and leaving the hospital cafeteria, Tori traversed the hallways with her head held high. She made her way to the room that Rachel was in. The child was still asleep, her ever faithful stuffed toy lay by her side. The bed was adorned with balloons, flowers and cards from the kids, staff and volunteers at the orphanage.
Trina was sitting in a chair nearby, her legs crossed and hand resting on her uppermost thigh. That hand clutched a cell phone, and Trina looked somewhere between surprised and amused. "So," Trina began, "I just got friend requested by a Lady Evangeline Burgess, the ever snooty jewel thief with 'a taste for crime'."
Tori smirked. "No way does her profile say all that." It didn't, because that was just a trait they made up during the gameplay. It was also a favorite character of hers to play in their games, so Lady Burgess, her grace, would make several appearances in the dastardly attempt to foil Chief Katherine Launcet-otherwise known as Katrina Vega. "But let me see!"
She took the phone, laughing lightly as her sister smiled at her. "Care to explain, or are you having some more mental issues?"
"You have to add me. The others aren't going to accept my friend request if you don't add me."
"Oh I'm adding you. I'll tell the others about Lady Burgess."
"I had to." She handed the phone back to Trina and sighed. "Nobody else knows that character or that name, so it's the safest bet. I don't want anyone to tie me to the celebrity world. Fame was a drug, so I'm cutting it off."
"A bit extreme, but I like it." Tori beamed with pride and turned her attention to Rachel. She could see the bottom side of the dog and exhaled softly at the newly stitched portion of the toy. "Tori?"
"Yes Trina?"
"I love you, you know that?" Her heart rose and she flashed a smile at Trina. "I'm proud of you."
"Love you too." She walked over to her sister and placed a gentle hand over Trina's. Trina leaned her head into her body and closed her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Scared. You have no idea the things I've been going through. If I lost you in there…"
"Strange." Her smile grew as Trina looked up to her. "I've never felt more alive." Trina laughed once and raised her head a bit. "You've got a lot to think about, I'm sure. Have you heard from the others yet?"
"I've gotten a few texts." Trina looked at Rachel with a sigh. "If they still had any doubts about you being selfish and all that, I'm sure they're glad to be wrong." While it did still hurt, she wasn't too worried about their approval of her. She was on cloud nine, and she wanted everyone to know. "I am curious. Despite the fire and everything going on, you actually look pretty good. You're almost glowing."
Tori flashed a grin and tucked her thumbs into her shirt to pull it forward a bit. "I got discovered, in a way." Trina raised her eyebrows and hummed, clearly skeptical. "By the fire chief on site." Trina's jaw dropped as Tori practically danced on the spot. "He wants me to go into the academy and join the squad."
"Oh my god." Trina shot up and grabbed Tori's hands, grinning from ear to ear. "That's great. What are you going to say? Do you even want it?" Trina's brow furrowed and Tori quickly nodded.
"I do." She took a deep breath. "Back there, I-I don't know how to explain it. Something in me just…it's like something in me woke up, Trina. I never felt surer about something, I've never felt more certain that I belonged somewhere. All those people." Tori chuckled again and pat her chest. "I helped save all those lives. Granted some of what I did was stupid, but I didn't care. Trina, I can see it now." Tori took a step back, puffed her chest out and raised her hand. "Tori Vega: Firefighter."
"It has a nice ring to it." Trina looked towards the child in the bed and a different look came over her. Tori felt a sense of serenity studying her. For the first time, she was seeing a near motherly look in her sister's eyes-one of tenderness and love. "You saved a lot of lives back there."
"Feels like the last one was the most important though." They were all important, but she understood that to an individual person there was none more important than their loved ones. "We lost one in a fire, you didn't need to lose another." Trina closed her eyes and let out a stuttering breath. "Back there, it wasn't about me. None of it was ever about me, I get that now."
"Well, if it was, you might've run out of that fire without thinking about any of the people in there."
"I'm not talking about them, Trina." Tori exhaled and leaned her head back a bit. "Or I am, but at the same time, I mean…I get it. All my life. We're just one person, the world doesn't revolve around any of us-and it shouldn't. We're a part of the whole world, we don't matter any more or any less than anyone else out there."
"That is true."
"You don't need to look after me anymore, Trina." Tori placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, giving her a slight smile as she passed her. "I will be okay, I'm not your responsibility. I never should have been. Never. I think…you have another responsibility to take on."
"Oh you do?" Trina chuckled softly and shrugged. "I guess." Trina looked around the room with a sigh. "Funny how everyone that once picked on you and stuff suddenly cares about you when you come close to death. Aside from the staff and volunteers, all these kids that sent stuff in to Rachel. Hard to say which is genuine concern and which isn't."
"Well at least one of those children let me know Rachel had gone back in after that dog."
"That dog…it's just a toy, isn't it?"
"You know it's not, and you know why, I think." Trina shut her eyes once more and bowed her head. Of course the woman knew just as well as Tori. That dog was the last thing from her real mother that she had to cling to, it meant more to her than her own life. "She's had a rough time of it. Maybe…maybe it's time for her real mom to come out of the woodwork and take her home."
"What if-what if her mother's too scared? Afraid of messing up, afraid she won't be good enough for her? What if she's afraid her daughter will despise her for leaving her?"
"Then her mother would be letting her fears control her and keep her from making the decision that would be best for her and for Rachel. At the same time, I don't think her mother would let those fears stop her now."
Fresh tears rolled down Trina's face and she let out a soft whisper. "No. She probably wouldn't, would she?" With that, she walked off, deciding to leave Trina with Rachel. She was glad to see the child was doing well, but wanted to give Trina some extra time alone with her. She placed a hand on the open door and looked over her shoulder, smiling softly as she watched her sister kneel beside the child's bed, fold her arms on top of the mattress and rest her cheek on them.
Trina slowly stretched out a hand and gently rubbed Rachel's arms, and for a moment, Tori thought she saw the child's eyes flutter.
She closed the door gently behind her and peered down the hall. Gloria's room was on the end. The woman hadn't been injured by the fire, but when she was found, she'd been in the beginning stages of a heart attack. Yet another close call.
"I'm going to go check on Gloria," she whispered to herself, "See how she's doing." Tori was surprised to see Jacob walking around the hallways, he was the one that let her know Rachel was still inside. One of the older kids as well, perhaps older than Rachel by a few months, he had short brown hair and a soft complexion. There was a kindness in his eyes as well, and Tori had never seen Rachel get picked on by him as she did the other kids.
"Hi Miss Tori." Jacob smiled at her. "I came from Gloria's room. Is Rachel okay?" She nodded and Jacob took a deep breath.
"She never talked much or came to the cafeteria to eat, but I always left a cupcake at her door." Tori chuckled softly and knelt down to his level. "I'm glad she's okay, and she's not alone right now."
"You were very brave back there." Tori looked into his eyes and pat his shoulder. "I'll be sure she hears how instrumental you were in saving her life." She winked and watched as Jacob's face turned bright red.
"Yeah, well…" He looked down and shrugged. "She doesn't deserve to be stuck in an orphanage."
"No one does. Gloria tries to get everyone home in the end." Jacob rubbed his neck and sniffed.
"We were all scared to see her taken to the hospital. She's really the best, and she's also the one that makes the decisions. I was trying to keep everyone calm outside, I'm actually the oldest kid at the place you know? I know how it feels, and though Rachel and I rarely talked, I wish she knew that I get it. Some of us do, anyway."
"I don't think she'll have to worry about that much longer." Tori stood up and poked a thumb over her shoulder. "She's asleep in there. My sister's with her at the moment. Give them about five minutes or so, then knock on the door and go ahead inside."
"I will." Jacob moved forward and turned around, waving his hand in the air. "Thanks." She waved back, her heart rising a bit more. It seemed as though Rachel would have a friend in him, if she so chose to pursue that friendship.
She paused in front of Gloria's door, peering in through the window. Gloria was sitting upright in her bed and had a laptop open in her lap. More astonishing were Cat and Robbie's presence. Putting on the best smile she could, she opened the door a bit, knocked, and poked her head inside. "Hey, can I come in?"
"Of course!" Gloria chimed. "Come on in, sweetie." Tori made her way inside and looked at the couple standing at the bed. Robbie had an arm behind Cat's shoulders, his hand resting on the shoulder opposite to him. Cat's hands were clasped in front of her lap. "You've met Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro, haven't you Tori? I think you've missed them a couple times at out facility."
Her eyebrows rose and she gasped. "What?" She moved a hand up to her chest and looked at her friends, who were giving her coy smiles. "You've been by the site?"
"We mentioned that we were thinking about adoption," Cat replied, "We've finally decided to take that step."
"We're going with one of the older children," Robbie added. "Remember when Cat babysat for a while?" Tori squinted, having almost forgotten the fact. She nodded and Robbie cleared his throat. "Cat would like to adopt a child that's closer to their teenage years."
"Absolutely nothing wrong with that," Gloria remarked, "I think couples like you are a rarity; but a rare gem indeed." The woman was typing furiously, her eyes intent on the page. Somehow, even her hair had been groomed to look professional. "They're adopting little Jacob." Tori's jaw dropped and her hands moved up to her face.
"Oh my god, that's amazing!" Tori quickly hugged them, thrilled with the news.
"He's very outgoing," Cat replied, "Which is great. We've spent some time with him during our last few visits, and we've grown fond of him." Cat seemed very happy, her body relaxed and her eyes full of eagerness. "He told us about the fire too, that he was scared, but he was the first one to cross that gap to get to you and we know he was outside trying to calm the other kids down."
"He is a very good kid, looks after Rachel from time to time apparently."
"Yes," Gloria replied, "He hasn't been at our facility long either. He's going to a good home. In fact, I'm getting a lot of calls from people who want to take our children to good homes, younger and older. Whoever said tragedy doesn't bring people together?"
"Be careful there Gloria." Tori pat the woman on the shoulder, looking concerned as Gloria turned her head up towards her and pulled her hands from the keys. "You don't want to give yourself another heart attack. Shouldn't you be resting right now, not working?"
"Bah, taking care of the kids and finding them a good home never stops, and I'm not sitting in this hospital room doing nothing. I'll go crazy with boredom."
"Boredom can be a good thing. Just don't overdo it…I'm glad to see you're okay."
"I've never felt better. I'm so glad everyone made it out of there safely." Gloria let her hands slide to the bed and exhaled. "Interestingly enough, your sister came to see me earlier." Gloria grinned from ear to ear. "Wanted to see how I was doing and also wanted to talk about Rachel."
"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows and smiled as she crossed her arms. "Did she now? Did we lose in files in the fire, by the way?"
"Oh we lost some paper material; but everything's digital these days." Gloria smirked with pride and winked at her. "So no, I found Rachel's file intact, birth family and all." Tori sat on the edge of the bed, crossed her legs and folded her hands on her knees. She looked up to Cat and Robbie, who shared an intrigued look with one another.
"So what did you find?" She looked back at the older woman, who seemed to be puffing up with pride.
"Exactly what we expected to find. Trina wanted to discuss adopting her daughter, so I interviewed her here on the spot." She motioned to the chair in the room. "Of course, I've still got more work to do before we get the adoption process rolling; but I did get in touch with your father, and I know you personally."
"I can attest to her character if need be. So can Cat and Robbie here." The couple nodded in agreement.
"Fantastic! I'm letting Katrina take Rachel in as a foster while we get the adoption process rolling." Tori could have sworn she saw happy tears glistening in the woman's eyes. "With luck, Rachel will have a permanent and loving home within a few short months. And so fitting that it would be with Trina. She told me the circumstances for having given her baby up, and I understand perfectly. Sometimes, you have to do what you think is the best choice for those you love, even if you don't want to. I believe she will do a very good job raising Rachel."
"I think so too. They've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Oh of course. That little girl's been through the fire, figuratively and literally, when it comes to families; but I've never had a better feeling than I do here." Gloria cleared her throat then waved them out of the room. "Now go on, I've got more work to do here."
"Please take care of yourself, Gloria."
"I appreciate the concern." Gloria laughed. "I will be just fine dear." Despite the smile on the woman's face and the gentle eyes, she knew well enough not to annoy her any further. She quickly got up from the bed and urged the couple with them. They nodded, both giving Gloria their last few well-wishes before walking out the door with Tori.
Just as the door shut behind them, Cat removed her phone from her purse and studied it with a furrowed brow. "Hey…who is Lady Burgess?" Robbie leaned over, his eyebrow rising up while Tori simply smirked with pride.
It's far from over, but this is definitely the aftermath of tragedy. What are your thoughts here? Oh Gloria, woman really needs a break; but my aunt is a bit of an inspiration for her character. Aunt Dee helps everyone and must take part in everything XD.