Chapter 28: The Late Bloomer
"Honestly! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Mozelle asked while she studied her manicured nails.
"They said you were dead." Frank said as he clutched the sheets on the bed.
"I am. Although I hope I look better than when you last saw me. I mean, your Phil's a cutie, but I prefer my own shape." She wiggled seductively in the chair near the door.
"Why can I see you if you're…you're dead." Frank knitted his brow in confusion, but it hurt and pulled too much on his swollen face.
"Seems like you're a late bloomer. It was my understanding that your kinfolk got their talents and gifts pretty early in childhood. Although, the way Eric talked, you were a bit late with other things too." Mozelle smiled smugly.
"That's none of your damn business!" Frank barked at the woman.
"Alright, alright! Get off your high horse!" Mozelle stood and approached the bed. "Look Frank. I've been talking to Eric. He doesn't know I've come to see you, but I need to let you in on something."
"You… talked to Eric."
"What? You think the only people we in the hereafter can talk to are the living? Please." Mozelle rolled her eyes, but then her face softened. "There's nothing here, in this life, for him to hang on to. You're the only thing keeping him from moving on."
"Moving on? You mean going to Heaven? He was a vampire, he had no soul. And he raped and tortured me! Or did he not bother to tell you all of that?"
"You know, I haven't had my dead card very long, but lemme let you in on a little secret. He'll be judged. Someone else will decide where and what his final destination will be. But this…" Mozelle waved her hands around, "can be a very painful place for those who have nothing to keep them here. He has no unfinished business, no loved ones who are drawing him in, but he does have an anchor. Guilt. And the sooner you can forgive him, the sooner he's released to go to his final judgment."
"What about you? Do I need forgive you too?" Frank narrowed his eye at the dead witch.
"Oh, naw Sugah. I don't have any real ties to you. Although I gotta say, it was fun being you for a night. If you ever let your hair down you'd have a helluva good time. You did Friday night."
"What?" But Mozelle shook her head dismissively.
"I've got enough unfinished business and ex-boyfriends to haunt to last me a long time before I'm ready to move on, and Emile's number one on my list. Sneaky sonovabitch." She smiled mischievously. "But you can't go and forgive Eric half-heartedly just to get it over with. You've really got to feel it in your heart. Or else Eric's just gonna be under your ass haunting you…"
"Haunting me?"
"Well, not rattlin' chains and going "boo" kind of haunting. But when you cross his mind, or vice versa, he'll be there. Not like a memory, but like you and me, right now. Of course, now that your new "skill" has opened up to you, he won't be the only one."
"You mean I'm going to start seeing ghosts?" Frank paled and his breathing speed up.
"Careful with the "G" word. We prefer "spirits." "Ghost" is reserved for those who've been hanging around for years and years and have gone kinda nutty. They're in total denial of their death and refuse to move on."
"How do you know so much about all of this if you haven't been dead that long?" Frank asked. Mozelle sat up proudly.
"My Mama taught me, she was a fine witch and knew a few mediums. Ya know, maybe you could get your Mama here to give you a few pointers."
"My Mom?"
…
Laura stopped the first nurse she could find as she hurried from Frank's room.
"Chapel? Where?" The nurse seemed startled by her urgent inquiry, but she knew the boy inside was pretty sick.
"One floor down, get off the elevator and it's to the left." Laura thanked the woman and dashed to the bank of elevators. Down in the chapel Laura slid into a pew and held her head in her hands.
No, no not Frank. Why? Hasn't he been through enough? The visions, she could understand that. But no, not channeling. How will he be able to handle both? Her mother could barely handle having two talents, and the channeling was the worst of them. It was because of those talents that she lost her mother to the Svartal. If Delebon had gotten his hands on Frank and these talents had come to light… Laura's stomach rolled at the thought of how the Prince of the Svartal would have used Frank for his own political and personal gain.
"Oh Nanae, please watch over Frank." Laura prayed fervently, "Please lend him your strength. He's going to need it."
…..
Dr. Schwartz was leaving Frank's room when Laura came back down the corridor. She had changed into purple surgical scrubs that had little peace symbols all over them.
"Good news Mrs. Hardy! Frank's fever has finally broken. We'll monitor him for a few hours to make sure it stays down and then we'll schedule the debridement. I'm shooting for just before dinner tonight. If this were a normal case I'd wait until morning, but I want to strike while the iron's hot to prevent any further tissue damage."
"Thank you Doctor." Bluma nodded and began to walk away but Laura stopped her. "Dr. Schwartz, I want to apologize for being so snappish with you last night. No one, save a handful of people, knows about me. My own husband and sons don't know. So, thank you for not giving anything away when you found out about Frank."
"You're welcome Mrs. Hardy." Bluma smiled genuinely.
Laura quietly stepped into the room.
"Mom?" She heard Frank say. The oxygen mask had been removed and he was back to receiving supplemental oxygen through the nasal cannula. "When did you get here?"
"As Joe would say, at the ass crack of dawn." His mother smiled and joined him on the side of the bed. Frank tried to laugh, but winced and groaned.
"Oh G-d Mom, don't make me laugh like that."
"Sorry sweetie. How are you feeling?"
"I think there's this one hair in my eyebrow that doesn't hurt." Frank smiled. "Where's Phil and Dad, I mean, I didn't dream it, did I? They are down here?"
"Yes, Sweetie."
"That's good. I've been having some really weird… dreams. They must have me on some pretty strong stuff. It's been kind of hard to tell what's been real, and what's not.
"High fevers can do that."
"Where are they now?"
"Resting at the room, them and Biff and Amy."
"Oh. Oh!" It was almost comical the way Frank's good eye widened.
"It's alright dear. Dad and I are pretty much up to speed now."
"Oh G-d." Frank groaned again and turned his head away from his mother.
"I'm not mad. Although I've got to say, if you were still living under my roof, we would be having a serious conversation about keeping things from me and your father. But you and Joe are adults, in less than a year you're getting married and Joe's going to become a father. So I'm sure you had your reasons for not telling us everything. I imagine it was to protect us, right?"
"Yeah." Frank swallowed thickly. "We figured the more you knew, the more danger you could be in. I mean, Eric… he was threatening my family, everyone."
"That's the funny thing about protecting those we love. We think sometimes the best way to protect them is to keep them in the dark."
"I'm sorry we couldn't be completely honest with you Mom." Laura sighed and patted his hand.
"Would it make you feel better to know that I haven't always been completely honest with you, Joe and Dad?"
…..
"Phil?"
"Mmm?"
"Phil! Wake up man, you gonna sleep all day?" Phil opened an eye and glared at the man standing above him.
"What time is it?" Phil rubbed his eyes.
"About five o'clock." Biff answered.
"Oh shit. Has Laura called?" He looked over to the other bed and found it vacant.
"Where's Mr. H?"
"He left about an hour ago. Capt. Bordenave called saying that Miguel guy is singing like a bird, so Fenton went down to listen in on the interrogation. I think he's going to turn state's witness against Louvel. And I just got off the phone with Laura, they're taking Frank down to surgery to clean out that wound." Phil clamored out of bed to put on some fresh clothes.
"You may as well slow down Phil, Frank's probably going to be out of it for a few hours when he comes out. Let's go get a bite to eat and bring something to Mrs. Hardy, I'm sure she's tired of hospital food already." Phil hesitated but Biff insisted. "I think nothing would please Frank more than you being well rested and fed and looking after his mother."
"When did you become such a diplomat?" Biff just smiled and plopped down into chair while Phil finished getting dressed. "Dare I ask how Amy's holding up?" Biff's smile dropped.
"She was taking it pretty hard last night. I've never seen her like that, I really didn't know what to do except to lay there and hold her." Phil chuckled at Biff.
"Sometimes, that's all someone needs, just a shoulder to cry on and an ear to hear them out."
"Ugh, slaying seems so much simpler than this relationship stuff."
…..
Late Wednesday morning found Phil holding Frank's hand, and wincing as Frank squeezed it tightly. A nurse had removed the film that covered the wound vacuum and was applying a fresh dressing to the tears on his side. Frank was still taking the pain killers the nurses offered even though Phil had slipped him a vial of the vampire blood. The infection from the werewolf mauling had been a tough one to beat, but things were finally looking up. This was the second time since Sunday that the wound vac had been applied and the tears were looking much less red and angry. Frank was going to have scars there for sure, but Phil insisted they would make Frank look more "bad ass" when he took his shirt off at the beach.
"Like Key West or Fort Lauderdale? Do either of them strike you for a honeymoon destination?" Phil was trying to do his best to distract Frank while the nurse finished applying the sterile dressing.
"I… I guess Phil." Frank squeezed his hand again as a fresh wave of pain radiated through his side.
"There you go Mr. Hardy, all done." Tess gingerly placed Frank's hospital gown back down over his side and pulled the bed sheet up to Frank's chest. "Dr. Schwartz will be around before lunch time with your discharge papers and orders for your doctor in New York."
"Thanks Tess." Frank said quietly.
Mr. and Mrs. Hardy had been waiting in the hallway while Frank had undergone the negative pressure therapy. They entered the room smiling. Laura was waving her cell phone cheerfully.
"Joe just called. Vanessa's being discharged this afternoon too! They did an ultrasound this morning and the placenta has moved up and is in the clear!" Laura did a little happy dance in the middle of the room that had Fenton and Phil laughing. Frank simply smiled, a relieved look gracing his features.
"Do they know what they're having yet Mom?" Frank smirked and gave his mother a pointed look. Laura straightened her shoulders.
"No Sweetie, it's too soon to see that. But the twenty-week ultrasound has been scheduled for just before Christmas." Laura answered sweetly and Fenton squeezed her shoulder.
"I've got my money on a boy." Fenton added. "Of course I'll be happy with whatever the good Lord blesses us with, but my gut is telling me it's a boy."
Frank and Laura shared a secret smile.
"Oh, are we starting the betting pool now?" Phil chimed in. "I'm thinking a boy too."
"Listen to the two of you! You never bet on anything Fenton!" then Laura grinned. "But if you're seriously starting one, I'm in for a girl."
Frank shook his head at his mother and rolled his eyes. He glanced at the door and saw an elderly gentleman in a maroon bathrobe and light blue cotton pajamas. The older man caught Frank staring at him. He smiled and waved, then walked away, through a wall. Frank blinked and then rubbed his temples. The swelling had gone down a little where Emile had hit him, but his face was a ghastly collage of purple, black and red.
This was so totally fucked up, Frank thought. As if his world hadn't changed enough this year, with the newfound knowledge of all things supernatural, but now there was this new twist. His mother had tried to explain that it was pretty common to receive this gift in early adulthood. At least he didn't have the challenges of having foresight and the ability to channel the dead while he was a child, like his late grandmother had, she had said. But what a hell of a time for all this to show up! He was sick, injured, miles away from home and recovering from being kidnapped and sexually assaulted.
Speaking of which, Frank hadn't even told Phil to call Dr. Berber, his psychologist, and set up an appointment for after they got back to Bayport. He hadn't even told Phil about what happened in that basement. What Eric had done in order to save his life, what Dolon had done to him during his inspection.
"Frank, Babe?" Phil said gently.
"Hmm?"
"You okay? You look like you're a thousand miles away." But Frank gave his hand an assuring squeeze.
"I've just got a lot on my mind."
…
Author's Note:
Ugh, this chapter! I've rewritten the second half of it about three different ways. Plus, RL has been crazy, so apologies for the delay in the update.
