Five Minutes
When I told Chopper Kei and I were going to be out for a bit, he only told me to be back in time for supper. We had received our small clothing allowances from the base we landed at earlier in the week in the form of prepaid cards. After Kei and I picked ours up, we walked out to the car we were using for the few days we were here.
"Let's get some actual clothes first," I told her tugging at my own shirt. "It's weird wearing someone else's."
"I hear you on that one," Kei responded, looking down at her own borrowed apparel. We drove off to an all-in-one store that had just about everything you could need and bought some necessities. After paying for the clothes and going back to change in the changing rooms, we were on our way again. I began to head downtown as Kei spoke up.
"So, this Whitney," she began, turning her whole body to me in her passenger seat.
"Yeah?" I asked when she didn't add anything else.
"What's she like?" Kei asked as if she had already asked it.
"To be honest," I began, "I haven't seen her in a while."
"So you can't tell me anything about her cause you haven't met in a while?"
"We were friends for as long as I've lived in Osea," I began as I turned down a street. "My family and hers always did stuff together. Camping, cards, New Years, that kind of stuff. We even ended up going to the same college together without really planning it.
"Did you tell her you were coming?" She asked as I pulled into a vacant spot.
"It wasn't necessary," I told her as I pulled into a parking garage that was across the street from a hospital.
"Caden, this is a parking garage," Kei told me as if I didn't know.
"Yup."
"Is she a hobo?" She asked almost jokingly.
"Nope," I replied with seriousness. Kei's smile almost melted away in an instant. I parked the car on the third level of the structure and got out of the car. Kei lagged behind for a moment as she grasped at what we were doing.
"Where are we-?"
"How about I just show you," I said cutting her off much to her annoyance. I wasn't trying to get on her nerves, but being this close was starting to bring back the feelings and too much prodding would just make it hurt more. "I promise all of this will make sense soon, but for now, just trust me." Kei stopped what she was just about to say and just looked at me while we walked to a covered bridge that was over a street connecting the parking garage to the hospital.
"I always trust you, Caden," she said softly as we walked across the bridge. "I'm just curious about this girl you've never mentioned until now."
"Like I said," I replied as we walked into the hospital. "It's deep and personal." Kei continued to look at me with billions of questions floating behind her eyes but resisted the clear urge she had to ask them. I walked up to a receptionist but before I could even ask a question, she happened to look up at me before I reached her.
"Caden?" the forty something woman asked me. "Is that you?"
"Hey Dora," I replied as I reached the counter. "It's been a while."
"I'll say. She's only had her sister, Kim, coming in the last couple of months. She's here now, in fact. It'll be good for her to see she's not the only one who comes." She looked me over again as if I had changed in the half a year she hadn't seen me. "Thought you had gone off and deployed somewhere. Knew you were still alive when the payments kept coming but still..."
"Well, you were right about me getting deployed," I said smiling a little. "I'm on... leave right now, thought I stop by and drop in."
"Well," Dora said stepping back from around the counter with a kind smile. "I'll take you to her. Who's your friend?" she said looking over at Kei who seemed to have even more questions on the verge of escaping her lips.
"Dora, this is Kei, my wing-mate. Kei, this is Dora. She's the nurse who looks after Whitney and some other patients here."
"Pleased to meet you," Kei said shaking the hand of the woman who offered it to her.
"Same here," Dora said with a kind smile. "Well, let's go see what the Elsworth girls are up to." She began to walk off as me and Kei fell in behind her. She pushed open a pair of doors with large block letters above them that read; LONG TERM CARE FACILITY. Kei looked over at me again but I continued on. She would know soon enough.
"The doctors are holding out hope," Dora began as we walked down the very quiet halls. "They aren't going to move her until January, provided your payments keep coming through. They say she has been stable and that there have been slight improvements every so often. Nothing big enough to cause her to be moved, but still..."
"Caden," Kei finally broke. "Why does she keep saying, 'your payments'?" Dora stopped walking and turned towards me with a shocked face.
"You haven't told her?"
"I really haven't told anyone except Kim," I admitted as I rubbed my neck.
"Told Kim what?" Kei asked again. "Who's Kim?" she added. I knew she must've been going nuts.
"Honey," Dora began speaking to Kei. "Mr. Irving here is pretty much covering all the expenses to keep Whitney here. Kim, Whitney's sister, contributes what she can, but it's mostly been Caden who's been keeping her here and not some nursing home. Or worse..." she said trailing off.
"But why keep her here?" Kei asked again, knowing she was getting answers from Dora. The nurse looked over at me.
"How much have you told her?" Dora asked in a somewhat annoyed voice.
"Nothing," I mumbled as I looked anywhere but the woman. She looked over at Kei and then at me with a scowl.
"You're driving her mad, you know that?" Turning her attention back to Kei she began again. "Honey, Whitney's been in a coma for a little over half a year now. She was transferred here because we have the best doctors for people with her condition." Kei looked even more confused now. Just as Dora was about to speak again, Kim came out of a room near the end of the hall and froze when she saw us. She slowly approached our now silent group as if we were some dangerous thing she was unsure of.
"Caden?" she asked when she was no more than four feet away.
"Hey Kim," I said, raising my hand in a half hearted wave. What she did next surprised everyone in our group. I was suddenly engulfed in a hug that was quickly being soaked with tears from Kim. Dora looked at us for a moment before taking Kei's shoulder and leading her back out the doors of the hallway. The whole way out, Kei kept glancing back at me, a multitude of questions clouding her face. Once they were out of the hall, Kim cried and hugged for another minute before she cooled down.
"Sorry," she said, removing herself from the embrace she had initiated.
"Are you okay?" I asked her. She sniffled in and wiped her eyes before nodding the affirmative.
"It's just been hard. Dora told me that I wasn't the only one who visits but she never told me who the other person was. I think she thought I was still... you know..." she began trailing off.
"It's nothing," I began but she suddenly cut me off.
"It was too something!" She yelled causing me to jump a little. "That way of thinking, the way I treated you, that was what got my sister like this," she cried out waving towards the door she had come out of. She was silent for another couple of moments. Finally, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you when we were kids. Osean or not, you're one of the kindest people I know, and I think I knew that back then. It's probably why I hated you. You were supposed to be all these bad things and you weren't any of them. I know I have no right to ask it, but can you forgive me?" she asked with another bout of tears ready to fall.
"I forgive you," I told her as I gave her another hug. After a few moments of silence, we separated again. Kim began to dry her eyes again and looked me over.
"So, where've you been?" she asked trying to regain normalcy.
"Deployed," I responded.
"That's...?" she asked unsure of how I felt about it.
"Good. It's been good," I replied.
"Who was that with you and Dora?" she asked after a moment.
"My wing mate. I thought I'd bring her here to help explain some things." Kim nodded and took another deep breath.
"You mind if I visit with you guys? I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet."
"Yeah, of course," I replied. "She's your sister, you've got more of a right to her than I do." Kim almost laughed.
"I think the one who's paying to keep her here has the call over that."
"It's nothing," I responded. Dora poked herself through the swing doors again.
"You two good?" she called out. Once we both nodded, she brought Kei back into the hallway with her. Once Kei was at my side she proceeded to punch me in the arm. As I grunted at the sudden pain she spoke lowly to me.
"If I had thought you father being Mobius One was big..."
"Sorry," I muttered out. We began walking towards the room again, Kei and I following Dora and Kim. Once Dora reached the room she looked at us and held open the door.
"I'll leave you here. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
"Thanks Dora," I said as we walked into the room. It had been well over seven months since I had last visited Whitney, yet she looked exactly the same as the last time I had seen her. There was no longer any evidence of the physical trauma she had received that night, but that had been taken care of almost within three weeks of the attack. The mental damage... that was still recovering and hopefully, would continue to recover until she was up and walking again. Kim took the chair next to Whitney's right while Kei took a seat by the window. I choose to stand for the moment at the foot of the bed. Her brown hair was around her head, somehow curled even after months of her not touching it herself.
"What happened afterwards?" Kei asked after a couple of moments of silence. "Dora told me about the attack but just enough that I wasn't going crazy anymore." I took a deep breath, collecting my thoughts that I had kept buried for a long time. I noticed Kim looking at me as well, wanting to hear everything from my perspective.
"I was taken to the police station in Oured. It was only after Bella convinced them that I wasn't the culprit but the rescuer that they let me out of the temporary holding cell. Then they realized, along with myself, that I was injured. I had been so high on adrenalin and feelings that I didn't realize the wounds I had got. When I had jumped a fence to get into the housing complex, I had nicked my thigh at the top of the fence. Turns out, a half an inch or so to the left and I would've hit my femoral artery. Then, when I had my scuffle with Charles, He had kicked me in the gut. That one bruised my liver and cracked a couple of ribs. Bella had been the only one that was able to walk out of the apartment that night. Ginna..." I remembered hearing it myself that night and being overcome by insurmountable guilt. "Three hundred seconds," I simply said, dropping my head.
"What?" Kim asked from beside her sister. I looked up at her and then to Kei. They were both wondering what I had meant.
"They told me that Whitney had been struck about five minutes before I arrived, that Ginna had..." I took another calming breath of air, fighting emotions that were welling up in my throat and eyes. "That Ginna had passed about five minute before I got there." I chuckled morosely. "Impossible to think of time as so valuable a commodity until you realize what can happen in the span of three hundred seconds." The two women were quiet as they just looked between me and Whitney. After a couple of seconds of silence, I continued.
"Charles was charged with it all, you could probably count the things he didn't do illegally on one hand. There was supposed to be a trial about six months ago."
"Supposed to?" Kei asked. "Are you telling me that monster is still out there?" she said waving out the window. It was Kim's turn to speak up.
"He was killed before it could happen."
"Kim," I began looking at her and sighing. "It was a suicide."
"That's the 'official' story," Kim said emphasizing the word official greatly.
"What do you mean?" my wing-mate asked, getting confused.
"It's nothing-" I began only to be cut off by Kim.
"About a month after Charles gets transferred to a more secure holding, he winds up dead hanging in his cell," Kim began telling the facts of the story first. "It all looks to be a regular suicide at first, until you look deeper."
"Kim-" I tried to begin but was cut off again.
"Caden! There was no way for him to get himself up there! Third party autopsies even show defensive wounds! Why don't you want to believe it?"
"Because who would do it to him? The only person who had access to that room, via retinal scan none the less, was the police chief and he had been at the charity banquet giving a speech at the time of death. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he'd get convicted and with the charges against him, it was either going to be a life or death sentence. Either of those would be enough to make someone do what he did."
"Maybe someone wanted to make sure he got death," Kim mumbled turning back to her sister on the bed. I took a deep breath. I didn't come here to argue, I came here to share with Kei. But I needed to cool down before I could do any more of that.
"I'm going to get something to drink, either of you want something?"
"I'm good," Kim said softly without looking up.
"I'll take some green tea if they have it," Kei said just as softly. I nodded and left the room with the two women who were virtually strangers alone together. I had a brief thought of weather that was a good idea or not but the need for a beverage quickly overwhelmed the small thought. As I walked back into the reception area, Dora saw me and walked over to me as I approached a counter with drink mixes and water.
"How's it going?" she asked as I found some green tea bags hidden behind other boxes of drink mix.
"I'm beginning to wonder why I came here," I replied with yet another heavy sigh as I poured hot water into a Styrofoam cup and placed the tea bag into the water. "I thought I would come here and see Whitney and just get over all this crap that's going on with me, but it just seems to be bringing up more crap," I finished as I made myself some hot coco. Dora just nodded silently as she peered up into my eyes.
"Why did you bring your wing-mate?" She asked after a moment.
"Huh?"
"Was it for moral support? Or something else?" Dora asked ignoring my perplexed statement.
"I don't know," I began to which Dora gave a disbelieving glare. "She's important to me," I began quietly. Dora didn't seem to be surprised. "I figured that I should share an important part of my life with her," I continued. Dora nodded to let me know she was following me but her next question threw me off.
"Why is this an important part of your life Caden?" It was a simple enough question, but I had no Idea how to answer it. I had always felt that this was an important part of my life, but why? Seeming to pick up on my inability to answer her question, Dora offered her own explanation.
"This wing-mate, Kei, you said she's important to you too, right? Why is she important Caden?"
"Because she's a great person who cares for me," I replied without a thought. Even as I said it, I began to think through the seemingly brief amount of time I had known Kei. The little jokes we had, the trust we put in each other whenever we flew, the support we provided when it was needed. In only a couple of months, I had gained with her what had taken years to form with... Whitney.
"Are you seeing it now?" Dora asked, the trace of a smile only on her face if you looked for it. I couldn't look for it though. There was a lump in my throat so large that it demanded all my attention in order for me not to pass out from the flood of feelings and realizations.
"Why did you bring your wing-mate, Caden?" Dora repeated.
"Because I love her," I confessed just above a whisper.
"I think there's more to it than that," Dora said with her barely noticeable grin becoming only slightly more noticeable. "I think that Whitney and this wing-mate, Kei, I think they have more in common than you realize about how you feel about them. I think that's why you brought Kei here today. To show her that you're not going to hide anything from her, even an old flame."
I was just transfixed on my cup. Every word the nurse spoke to me resonated as true. How had I been so blind to it? Had Whitney known? Would Kei know?
"And I thought that psychology class had been a waste," Dora said to herself as she left me at the beverage station. I only noticed that Dora was gone ten seconds after the fact and decided I would go see how Kim and Kei were doing. Grabbing Kei's beverage, I made my way back to the room. I was just about to enter when Kim came out of the door.
"Hey," she said looking up at me. "Thanks again for stopping by and seeing her. I know it seems pointless sometimes, but it's the thought that counts with these types of things."
"It wasn't a problem," I told her. After she nodded slightly she spoke up again.
"Well, I hope I see you again some time. Take care Caden."
"You too Kim," I told her as she walked off. After she went through the swinging doors, I quietly walked into the room Kei and Whitney were at. So quietly in fact, that Kei didn't seem to notice me, and so continued what she was doing as if no one was there.
"So you were first..." Kei said softly as she stood by the woman she was looking over who appeared to be nothing more than asleep. "I don't know whether to be jealous or grateful of you," she continued. I thought about letting Kei know I was behind her, listening in, but I also wanted to know what Kei was talking about. "I mean, he did love you," she said, sounding a little hurt. "But you also opened him up to love. I don't want to even think about how long it would've taken us if you hadn't." She reached down and took Whitney's hand. "Thank you," she said quietly.
I took a couple of steps back and quietly opened the door and then cleared my throat. Kei spun around and dropped Whitney's hand rather quickly as she saw me entering the room for what she thought was the first time since I'd left.
"They had green tea," I said as I walked over and handed the cup to her. She smiled briefly and took the tea, sipping at the warm beverage.
"Thanks," Kei said after a few moments. I gave her a puzzled look before she expanded. "Thanks for sharing this with me. I know it couldn't have been easy.
"I realize that what I did with your book and personal thoughts was wrong. I know this doesn't make it right, but I want you to know that I wasn't trying to go behind your back. I guess I just want you to know that I don't want to hide anything from you. That's why I brought you here," I said, telling her what I myself had just realized a couple of minutes ago. Kei nodded, not saying anything. I looked at my watch and noticed it was already 1600.
"We'd better get back to Chopper's place," I told her. She nodded in agreement and left Whitney in the room. When we got into the car, I was afraid it would be a long awkward silence the whole ride back. But instead, Kei had some more questions.
"So, what was she like?"
"Who?" I asked, not sure of whom she had meant. She had met three different women today.
"Whitney, what was she like?" Kei said with a slight smile on her face. "And don't be like you were on the way here either. Real answers." This line of questioning I expected just as much as finding out Grimm had an extra arm he was hiding from us. To say I was unprepared was an understatement.
"Well, uh... she liked camping," I began, remembering all the times our two families had gone on outdoor adventures. "That put her at odds with Kim a lot of the time. Kim didn't like the outdoors."
"Did she and Kim fight a lot?" Kei asked.
"I don't know, if they did, they did it away from everyone."
"What else?" Kei asked after a moment of silence.
"She knew a lot about past conflicts, which, you would never expect. She picked it up from hearing stories from her family more than actually searching for it but she always had a sharp memory. Her hand writing was very girly." I said glancing at Kei as I emphasized very. She had a wide grin on her face that told me she was actually enjoying the conversation. I quirked an eyebrow at her. "What are you so interested for?"
"Well, the way I see it," Kei began with a mischievous smile. "When she wakes up, we're just going to have to be friends. She'll know all these great stories..." I lost color from my face at the thought of Kei learning some of the embarrassing stories Whitney could tell. "Great stories indeed," Kei finished the smile not leaving her face as she looked back out onto the road.
We arrived at Chopper's place a couple of minutes later and were both in a better mood than when we had left.
"Hey you two," Raenay said from the kitchen as me and Kei came in.
"Uncle Blaze! Aunt Edge!" Vicki cried out as she ran from the kitchen into the hallway Kei and I were in.
"Hey there!" Kei said with enthusiasm as Vicki ran towards us. "You can call me Kei if you'd like," my wing-mate said as she hefted the small child.
"Okay," Vicki said without a second thought.
"And you can call me Caden," I told the child. Hopefully she would-
"Nah," she replied with a giggle that Kei mimicked. I put my hands on my hips in mock frustration.
"I see how it is," I told them both, only making them laugh harder.
"Aunt Kei, I have to show you something!" Vicki cried out, scrambling back down to the floor and out of Kei's grasp. Once she rounded a corner, Kei turned back to me.
"Well, it's better than aunt Edge," she told me with a small smile.
"Aunt Kei?!" Vicki called from around the corner.
"Coming," Kei said sending me another smile before departing towards Vicki's last known location. I began to walk towards the kitchen I had heard Raenay call out of and found her cutting up some tomatoes.
"Sounds like you to kissed and made up," Raenay said without looking up from her work, for which I was glad; I was beginning to turn the color of the bright red food.
"I don't remember kissing," I muttered out.
"Oh, even better," Raenay said with a little smirk, making me turn even darker.
"It wasn't like-"
"Hey Kid!" Chopper said as he entered the kitchen with a dark green apron on that said 'kiss the cook' in bright red cursive and a burger flipper in his right hand.
"Hey," I replied, relieved that Chopper had relieved me of his wife's torment. Or so I thought.
"Did you and Kei kiss and make up?" My flushed appearance came back within seconds.
"He said he doesn't even remember kissing," Raenay said teasingly to her husband.
"Way to go Kid!" Chopper said holding up the burger flipper in his hand.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" I shouted out, red as... red as the most red thing you could imagine.
"Right, got it," Chopper said slyly as if he were catching on to a secret that he thought he should keep. "So, you up to some grilling? You were pretty good at it back on Sand Island."
"You were drunk," I said cooling down a little at the change of subject. "I could've dropped the burgers in the ground and you would've liked them."
"Well it's that or help Ray-"
"Where's the grill?"
"Oh, I see how it is," Raenay said sticking the knife she was holding right into the wood cutting board.
"Ray," Chopper said in a whiny tone as he walked behind his wife. "That ruins them."
"Sorry honey," she replied as she turned around and hugged her husband. It started out PG but I began to get uncomfortable shortly after.
"I'm going to go find the grill," I told the couple as I made my way out of the room.
I found the grill soon after and David, Chopper's father, attending it.
"Hello again," he said with a smile as I joined him out on the large patio.
"Hello Mr. Davenport," I replied. "I was told I was to help you out?"
"First of all, don't call me Mr. Davenport. Makes me feel old. Sure, I may be that way, but I still don't like to feel it."
"Sorry sir," I replied.
"Don't worry 'bout it. Second, I've already got that Hans boy helping me out. Why don't you go see if Raenay needs any help?" I groaned internally as I resigned to my fate. As I made my way to the kitchen, I passed Chopper who was heading back to the patio where his father was. His lips were a much more noticeable red than I had remembered seeing them. Once I walked into the kitchen, Raenay looked up and saw me again.
"Sorry about that," she said looking only mildly embarrassed. "So, did you decide to help me out after all?"
"Grill was already fully staffed," I told her as I walked towards where she was. The kitchen was a wide open space with white cupboards and drawers and black granite counter-tops. It looked very utilitarian.
"Oh, so more forced to help me, is that it?" she said with a smile. "I know, I can be intimidating sometimes but I swear, I don't bite."
"So what am I helping with?" I asked her ignoring her remark.
"Well, in case you didn't notice, we're having burgers tonight. I'm cutting up some tomatoes and Vicki got enough lettuce leaves separated to last till new years so all you really need to do is set the table. Think you can manage that?" she added with a teasing smile. I just rolled my eyes and went to work setting the table.
"So," Raenay said after I had put ketchup and mustard on the table. "Where did you and Kei go today?"
"To see one of my friends," I replied. Raenay nodded as she finished up with the tomatoes and put them in a serving bowl. She then began to help me set the table.
"Are you ready for the fly by tomorrow?"
"Yeah," I replied as I put out the lettuce. "It'll be nice to fly without having to go off and shoot people down for a change," I told her. She nodded as if she knew what I was talking about. Catching my curious glance she elaborated.
"Alvin talks about how you don't like being all gun-ho all the time. It's refreshing to hear and see."
"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," I responded as I put set out plates for eight people. Vicki suddenly burst through the room with high pitched giggling. Almost as soon as she entered she was gone. Raenay and I looked at each other for half a second before an out of breath Kei popped in.
"Hey Caden," she said as she leaned on the entryway trying to get a breather. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a small child about yea high," she continued as she raised her hands to her waist. I then saw a small head pop around the corner. It was obvious to everyone in the room except Vicki that she had been spotted.
"Was said child a girl who was laughing?" I questioned, making the girl look at me and, as if it were some secret, put her finger up to her mouth for me to be quiet.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Kei said again with a grin on her face as she looked back at me, her breath and speech coming back to normal.
"Then in that case, I haven't seen her," I replied, winking where Vicki was. The small child laughed but realized she had 'given away' her position as her hands flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened comically.
"Who could that have been?" Kei asked knowing full well that Vicki was trying to hide from her. Almost immediately the little girl sprinted off towards a new section of the house. "Ugh," Kei cried out as she sat down on one of the chairs. "I give up."
"Good thing we're ready for dinner then," Raenay said as she grinned at the other woman. "Caden, why don't you go let Alvin, David, and Hans know we're ready for them." I nodded and left the room to let the other three men know we were ready to eat. Once we were all seated, we began a delicious meal that I had been craving for over a month.
"I'm so ready for tomorrow," Chopper said after we had all nearly finished our meals. "It's been forever since I've flown down here."
"I'm just honored they're letting us do the ceremony," Grimm said as he put down his glass he had been drinking out of.
"It's a testament to each of your skills," I reminded everyone. "We're here because each and every one of you played their part flawlessly. I couldn't be prouder."
"Here's to that," David called out as he rose his glass which was quickly followed by his wife's. Even Vicki raised her cup of juice to join all of us. When everyone was done eating and talking, we went to bed early. Tomorrow would be a big day.