Chapter 36

When they took me back to Catherine's house there wasn't a welcome home party waiting for me. I didn't get balloons and a cake. There were no 'I'm glad you're feeling better' wishes. When I got back the house was empty and silent. Catherine was carrying my bag and we walked into a dark house that felt purposely abandoned.

Nikki ran away as soon as we stepped through the door and Catherine and I were left alone. My brain might really be messed up but I'm not exactly brain damaged. I can smell a set up when it comes out and smacks me on the back of the head.

"So what's going on?" Catherine's been staring at me probably waiting for me to say something to her, what with the ominous silence we got sucked into.

"We wanted to give you some time to get settled." That answer sounds a little over-practiced. She must have gone in front of the mirror and prepared for this moment.

I throw the small and only bag Catherine and Nikki allowed me to carry on the floor. "I'm settled so everyone can come back now."

For some reason I expect a deranged clown of some sort or maybe a vampire to jump out of the darkness. There are things going on here that I'm not so much following, and crazy things jumping out of the shadows would almost make sense right now. At least, it would make more sense than Catherine's attitude at the moment. I'm back and well, it should be a room full of happy, right?

"They're giving us time." It sounds like some kind of confession from Catherine, but whatever it is she's confessing to, I still don't get.

"Time for what?" Something is happening and crazy little me is not in the loop.

Catherine keeps her distance from me even though she seems she wants to approach me. We haven't gotten that far into the house and we both keep looking at the closed and locked door. Though, Catherine's probably looking at it so much because I'm practically staring a hole through it.

"We've debated whether or not to tell you this, but I don't think we could avoid it."

I don't want to know. I've decided because I think I feel another flashback coming on. The doctors said they had a higher chance of reappearing when I was under a lot of stress. They say the stress makes my brain do funny things.

Catherine puts aside whatever it is keeping her away from me and puts a soft hand on my arm. "We found your biological father."

"My what?"

"What you did," Catherine looks at my arms and I know she wants to stop talking but she's the only one here to explain what's been happening, "it made the news, Mel. He saw you. He came to the hospital."

"He who?"

"Sara recognized him when she saw him in the emergency room."

"Him who?"

"He donated his blood to help save you, since you lost so much."

"He what?" I don't like that idea at all. He's not entitled to save my life, and couldn't they have waited to tell me this when I was settled. Why is it so important for me to know this right now?

"Sara wasn't sure she could get through telling you this, but she wants you to call her when you can. If you want to."

I look down at the bandages that still cover my arms. This whole situation is really messed up. "So why tell me this? Why ever tell me this?" Maybe it's okay for them to have secrets.

"He wants to meet you."

"And you support that?" I don't believe that either of them support even entertaining the idea.

Catherine shakes her head. "We don't like the idea at all, but it's not our decision to make. It's yours."

"Why didn't you tell me about this when I was in the hospital?" Like when I was tied down and drugged out of my mind and had close access to drugs that could make me forget we ever had a conversation like this.

"We thought you could handle it better when you got out."

I wonder if better is actually supposed to be euphemism for more stable. I don't think I'm all that stable right now. There's no way I'd be making bets in my favor at the moment.

"You couldn't have waited a little while to tell me. A month would have been good, maybe a year or ten."

"I'm sorry," Catherine releases a heavy sigh. "We can't wait. He's threatened to go to the courts if we don't let him see you."

There's something terribly wrong with that. "Why isn't he in jail?" That is where he belongs isn't it?

"The statue of limitations ran out," Catherine doesn't sound too happy about that.

"So what?" I'm really at a loss here. "Do I start running around calling him Daddy or something?"

"Don't do anything you don't want to."

I should have stayed in the hospital. That seems to be what would be best. "I want to talk to Sara." I step away from Catherine and her hand falls from my arm. "I won't make a decision until I talk to her."

Catherine nods and pulls out her cell phone. I don't think I've ever seen her without her phone. What would she do without it?

It doesn't matter. There are other things floating around that I can think about. I move over to the sofa and take a seat. My arms have started to hurt but I'm thinking that's not only because of what I did to them. They're throbbing. The blood is pushing through my veins and it hurts, because it's not my blood. It's my fathers. Type O. He must be type O. That's what I am.

"She's going to come over," Catherine is standing in front of me.

"She should have been here in the first place." I can't be convinced otherwise.

In her constant defense of my mother, Catherine takes a seat next to me and opens her mouth to defend Sara once again. "You're right, she should have."

I wasn't expecting that at all. That didn't sound so much like a defense.

"But it's really hard for her, Mel. I don't know if you could imagine it." There's the defense I was expecting.

"Cause I've never been raped?" My body's been used just like Sara's. Maybe rape wouldn't be the right word, but sometimes it sure felt like it.

Catherine shakes her head. "No, because you've never been a parent."

I'm not sure how that fits either. "And that means?"

Catherine lowers her head and stares down at her lap. "That means you've never feared the loss of a child."

Well that's obvious.

"Sara fears losing you, Melinda. We both do."

She still should have been here. She should have been the one to tell me. When she shows up I'll tell her that. Then, I'll have no choice but to get over it because there are bigger things going on.

My father, who by all counts is a real asshole, wants to meet me. He wanted to help save my life, apparently. So why did irony have him watching the early morning news when they reported some crazy girl losing it? And more importantly how the hell did he know I was his daughter? Did Sara fill him in on that part? All this time, did he know I existed?

What happened while I was asleep? For that matter what happened while I was in the hospital? What has happened while I've been losing my mind?

Because right at this moment I'm starting to feel like recovering my sanity might not be in my best interest.