Friday (Day Eight):
Charlie Swan took a large bite of his slightly burnt toast, wiping crumbs from his mustache before he reached for his glass of orange juice.
There was a deep furrow between his brow and he glanced up at the ceiling for what seemed like the millionth time in the last five minutes.
'What's taking her so long?'
Finally, he heard footsteps on the stairs and he straightened his posture, pushing his plate away and wiping his face off.
"Mornin', Bells," he greeted his daughter when she came into the kitchen, "Edmund giving you a ride today?"
Bella huffed at him and he watched her go to the fridge.
"Edward, Ch—dad," she corrected and he rolled his eyes. Like it mattered, "And, yeah. He gives me a ride to school everyday. He's probably outside, waiting."
"Well," Charlie cleared his throat, "He can wait a little longer," he nodded towards the chair across from him, though Bella's back was still turned, "Sit down."
Bella turned to face him, a bottle of water in her hand and a frown on her face, "What?"
"Sit down," he pointed to the chair, "I-I want to talk to you."
Bella made a face and she glanced longingly towards the kitchen doorway, "Talk? Do we have to?"
"Isabella Swan!"
"Okay, okay," with a heavy sigh, she went to join him at the table, dropping her bag from her shoulder to the floor.
Charlie stared at her for a moment. She wore her hair down, like usual. Jeans, a long-sleeved shirt with a jacket thrown over it. Good, okay. She didn't look any paler. She just looked eager to go out and see her…boyfriend.
"Everything okay, dad?"
Charlie blinked at the question, realizing that Bella was staring at him, too.
He nodded quickly, "Sure, yeah. You goin' up to the hospital after school?"
Kit Algren. Bella's little friend who he had yet to make the acquaintance of. She was dating the big one of the Cullen kids—the one he hadn't approved of Bella seeing. How Blake and Everly Algren approved of it was odd to him, but Kit Algren wasn't his daughter.
Kit was a sweet girl. She dressed a little weird and her little sister—Violet or something like that—attended the elementary school.
Everly and Blake were young and worked as artists. Not very practical for a small town, but somehow, they made it work. The Algrens were a small family that had moved to Forks almost four months ago. They mostly kept to themselves, but socialized when the opportunity presented itself. They were well-liked. Good people. Always smiling and happy.
Which is why it was a shock to everyone when news traveled that Kit had downed their medicine cabinet in an attempt to end her life. There was a short and brief rumor that it could have been a drug problem, but as a long-time police officer, Charlie had never heard of anyone downing a whole bottle of Advil to get high; and Kit didn't seem the type to get into drugs. According to Bella, Kit had quite the future ahead of her.
So, what could have made Kit throw that all away? What on Earth could have happened in their town that would make a sixteen-year-old child try and kill herself?
"Yeah, I am," Bella's face was solemn and she looked tired.
Charlie nodded, "How's she doing?" he hadn't been to the hospital.
"Um," Bella chewed on her bottom lip, then shrugged, "Not well. She caught pneumonia."
He winced, "That's not good."
"I know that, dad!"
"Sorry."
It was silent and he reached for his orange juice glass, thought better of it, then returned to resting his hands on the tabletop.
"So…what did you want to talk about?" Bella asked impatiently.
He felt his face color and he cleared his throat, "Well…I know you have your friends and your boyfriend and all that, but—I mean, you know I'm here if you…ever want to talk?" it came out as a question.
"Oka-
"Do we need to talk?" he interrupted, making his voice firm, "About anything?"
Bella was biting her lip again and she frowned at him, her own cheeks pink, "Is something wrong?"
"I just need to know if I need to worry about you," Charlie exclaimed, "Are you—are you depressed?"
Bella's eyes widened and she looked hurt, then angry, "So, that's what this is about? You think I'm going to kill myself!?"
Charlie opened his mouth and closed again, "I-I have to ask, Bella. What happened to Kit is scary! No parent was to find their baby like that!"
His voice cracked and he had to turn his head away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bella shift uncomfortably in her chair and heard her sigh. Neither of them were good with all of this touchy-feely, heart-to-heart stuff, but it was a conversation that they needed to have.
Bella spoke, and in an irritated voice, she mumbled, "You don't need to worry. I'm not going to kill myself. Promise."
Charlie nodded frantically and snorted, scrubbing at his face. He turned his head back around and took a big gulp of orange juice.
"Good."
"…Can I go to school now?" Bella asked desperately, "And don't you have to go to work?"
"Yeah, yeah," Charlie waved her off, but then another thought struck him, "Hold on a minute!"
Bella had made it out of the kitchen and he heard her groan before she slumped back into the room, leaning against the doorway.
"Is there something I need to know about her?" he inquired, "Kit?"
Bella frowned, blinking furiously, "What do you mean?"
"I'm a police officer, Bells," he reminded, turning in his chair to fully face his daughter, "I know you think your old man is—well, old, but I don't know any sixteen-year-old little girl who would just take a handful of drugs for no reason. Her family's only been here a few months. I thought things were going well?"
Bella shrugged, "They were."
"And…?" he pushed.
"Gosh, dad, I don't know!" Bella cried and Charlie felt his nostrils flare, "Ugh, it's not my business."
"Hey, watch your tone, young lady," Charlie warned, "It's my job to question these things. In fact, I need to talk to her parents, anyway. There might be something suspicious involved."
"Dad, leave them alone," Bella begged. Her cheeks colored further, "Maybe they don't want the police involved and prodding into their lives."
"Well, that's their right," Charlie finished off the last of his juice, "But I still have to ask. In any case, we have to rule out foul play."
Bella shook her head, "I'm going to school."
This time, Charlie let her go without stepping in and he winced when the front door was shut with a little more force than necessary.
The set of his shoulders slumped and he sighed very heavily, leaning back in his kitchen chair.
After a moment, he stood up to bring his dishes to the sink. He had to get to work and schedule a time to go to the hospital and speak to Blake and Everly.
It was sad that he had to meet the parents of his daughter's friend under these circumstances, but there was probable cause that something serious had happened.
And he was going to get to the bottom of it.
"Nice job today, Willa!"
Willa smiled warmly at Jessi, who was taking a drink from her water bottle.
She placed her dance bag on the bench in the changing room. It smelled warm, like sweat. Which was another word for hard work. It had been a tough class and she had fallen out of her turns twice.
She hadn't done great, but she would accept the compliment, "Thanks, you too. You did great!
"Ugh," Jessi rolled her eyes, "Whatever. I sucked! If I ended up dancing like that in auditions, I'm never going to get into intensives."
Her voice had turned whiny and Willa bit her lip. If anyone had a right to be stressed over auditions and intensives, it was Jessi. Dance had the potential to get Jessi a full ride to college and that would finally get her off the Reservation.
It's not something that her friend often liked to talk about.
"I bet you danced great!" Willa insisted, beginning to unlace her pointe shoes, "Acceptance letters come out the first week of June. It's almost May. You'll find out soon enough."
"True," Jessi agreed, her tone wry. When she gasped, Willa looked up to see Jessi taking off her toe cover.
Her feet looked awful and Willa knew that hers were no better. They were probably swollen, bleeding and purple in some places.
Jessi caught her looking and said, "I'm hoping I can soak them when I get home."
"Me too," Willa agreed, "Or massage them."
Jessi was currently massaging hers, "You think you would get used to it, dancing for so many years. Ow, they hurt so bad, I could die-
She sucked in a sharp breath to cut herself off and Willa tried to pretend that she hadn't heard, taking off her other pointe shoe.
"Kit isn't dead," she chuffed, throwing her shoes into her bag.
Jessi was clearly embarrassed, nodded, busying her hands by removing pins from her hair, "Yeah, yeah, I mean…yeah, I know that. She's—sorry."
Willa flicked her eyebrows up, beginning the process of taking down her own hair.
"Um," Jessi spoke again, but Willa didn't look at her, "Are you doing okay, though?"
"Yeah!" Willa heard the high pitch in her voice, "I'm fine."
She heard Jessi sigh, "It's not your fault, Willa."
Willa lapsed into silence. Once her hair was down, she tossed her hairpins in her bag just to avoid conversation. She would regret that later. It would take her forever to find every single pin.
"I don't want to talk about it," her tone was clipped.
When she had gone to visit Kit the first time, she had made a fool of herself by bursting into tears.
Why wouldn't she? She felt incredibly guilty. The last thing she had said to Kit had not been kind, and that was going to stick with Willa forever.
Her fighting with Kit hadn't helped anything; and when she had heard about Kit's overdose in her first period class, she had walked right out of the room and to the front office where she had phoned her parents to pick her up.
Her parents didn't quite understand it, but they were being as supportive as they could. That was okay. They were busy planning the move...
It was official, now. Most summer intensives usually began the last week of June and ended the last couple of days before July. If Willa got accepted to one, they'd be moving to Seattle in mid-September. If she didn't get accepted, they'd be moving the week after school got out.
She was happy about it. She really didn't like Forks, but moving was the last thing on her mind when her best friend was in the hospital.
She regretted the whole fight. If she could go back in time, she never would have gone to Kit's house that day. Or maybe she would have and simply been nicer about it.
"Willa, your toe pad."
"What?" Willa snapped out of her thoughts and looked down to where another dancer was pointing to the floor, "Oh, thanks, Rylee."
"Yup," Rylee said, "See you Monday!"
"K," Willa mumbled, but knew that there was no way Rylee heard her.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Jessi pushed, slinging her dance bag over her shoulder.
"Yes," Willa rolled her eyes, "You're just being nosy."
"Excuse you!?" Jessi glared, "Kit's my friend too!"
"You barely knew her," Willa accused, leaving the change room and heading towards the exit.
Jessi's angry footsteps followed her, "What's your problem!? Don't be mad at me because you treated Kit like shit!"
Willa turned around so fast, that Jessi almost bumped into her.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" her accent was thick and she wiped off the spit that had flown from her mouth, "I feel bad enough," she blinked back tears, "Stop talking to me!"
She walked off towards her parents' car, having nothing else to say. She hadn't told her parents about the fight, but they had questioned her behavior and it was easy to pass it off as grieving.
What if Kit did die? Or worse?
Willa had decided to Google the long-term affects of hypoxia and none of them were good.
She sniffled as she got into the car and tossed her bag on the floor instead of putting it in the trunk.
She barely registered her mother asking how dance was and shrugged in response.
"I just want to go home," she spoke in English, "I'm tired."
Emmett was panicking. Completely panicking.
"Emmett, honey, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet," Esme warned him gently, trying to stop his frantic pacing in the living room.
It didn't work.
"How much longer?" he growled at Alice, pausing briefly to look out the window.
Nighttime had long ago fallen, the moon having taken the place of the nonexistent sun, its silhouette blanketed by clouds. The trees had become charcoalized versions of their daytime selves.
"Three minutes," Alice said, her bell-like voice skeptical, "Calm down, he'll be here. Doesn't it make you feel better that he's with Kit? He's taking care of her."
"Whatever," Emmett mumbled, "Knock it off, Jazz!" he glared at his brother.
Jasper held his gaze, arching his eyebrow in challenge, he didn't relent on the calm he was pushing at Emmett.
"You need to calm down," Jasper said, his hand on Alice's thigh, "I know how you get."
Emmett shook his head and went back to pacing. At least Edward wasn't here, with Bella as he always was at night. He didn't need anyone rooting through his head, right now.
Flashback:
Thursday afternoon, per usual after school, Emmett pulled into the driveway of the hospital parking lot.
The locket in the pocket of his black jeans felt particularly heavy, today.
It had been a whole week since Kit had gone into her coma.
A whole week since he had heard her laugh, see her smile, kiss her, give her a hug, tease her, or listen to her say "I love you."
He trembled and leaned forward to rest his forehead against the steering wheel.
School wasn't getting any easier. In fact, it was getting more and more ridiculous. More posters were put up and as each day passed, it came to light that Kit had more and more "best friends". Apparently, she shared a class with everyone.
Lauren and her gang, for once, were oddly quiet. They kept to themselves and clamped their mouths shut whenever someone mentioned Kit—which was often.
He felt a little bad for Bella. Willa, too. Because only a handful of people were permitted to visit, the two girls got hounded constantly with questions about Kit that they refused to answer. At least Angela and Ben were polite enough to wait to be approached by the appropriate people.
He raised his head. He didn't have time for this. Kit was waiting and he had some stories to tell her. Funny ones that he would repeat when she woke up to make her laugh.
He got out of the car and made the trek up to Kit's hospital room and sanitized his hands. The scent of blood still bothered him and he held his breathing, reminding himself to move his shoulders.
For the past week, when he and his family came to visit, Everly would jump up, kiss their cheeks and greet them with hugs.
She didn't do that this time and when he saw Kit, he understood why.
There was another needle in her arm and the oxygen concentrator had been turned up. Way up.
"I-I thought she was doing okay?" he hated how weak his voice came out.
"She has pneumonia," Everly choked out.
"But," Blake piped up, trying too hard to sound optimistic, "It was caught and they're pushing antibiotics. Her temperature has all ready gone down a couple degrees."
Emmett managed to keep his expression cool, "Okay."
He went to Kit's side and brushed his fingers gently across her forehead. She was warmer than usual.
"Hey, babe," he managed a small smile, "This has been the boringest week of my life and you need to wake up because I just used boringest and that's not a word."
He heard Blake let out a light chuckle.
"School went okay," Emmett continued, "Mrs. Goff asked about you. She says hi."
He stopped talking. His voice sounded hollow and he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Emmett?"
"Yeah?" he didn't want to take his eyes off of Kit, but looked at Blake, keeping his hand on Kit's hair.
Blake looked conflicted as he clutched Everly's hand which she squeezed. Emmett was aware of how Kit's father felt about their relationship. He hadn't approved at first and Emmett probably made it worse by being in the house when he wasn't supposed to be.
Blake began to run his thumb over Everly's knuckles, "We're glad that she has you."
Emmett blinked. Too fast, but he was so surprised by this that he couldn't help it.
He nodded, much slower, holding eye contact with Blake.
"I'm glad that I have her, too."
End Flashback:
It had been a nice moment to know that he was accepted by Kit's parents. He wondered if Blake would still be able to get his birthday present. Kit had been so excited about it and it had taken her weeks to finalize it.
"Seven seconds, Em," rang Alice's voice, snapping Emmett out of his thoughts.
It was the longest seven seconds of Emmett's life.
Esme looked nervous as she darted to go and meet Carlisle at the door. Greeting him with a kiss and a hug.
"How was work?" she asked, though everyone knew what she was really asking.
Carlisle sighed softly, "It went okay. When I left, Kit's fever had gone down some. I'm on-call if there's an emergency, tonight."
Emmett could feel eyes on him. He should have felt elated by the news, but he wasn't. He didn't feel any kind of way towards it.
Because it didn't matter if Kit had pneumonia. It didn't matter that she was in a coma. This whole thing had been drawn out and dramatic when there was such an easy solution. A solution that stared him in the face every single day. Something that had been a main conversation in their family ever since Bella had moved to Forks. It was in Alice's vision—at least for Bella it was and that was enough for Emmett. It was that solution that was the very sole reason why he and every single member of his family, was alive.
"I want you to turn Kit."
He saw shock color Carlisle's pale and handsome face and his black medical bag dropped from his fingers.
"Emmett," Carlisle said sadly, "You can't make that choice."
Emmett scoffed, "Well, neither can she!"
'Neither did any of us,' he added as an afterthought, but didn't say it aloud. He wasn't going to pretend that he didn't enjoy his life as a vampire.
"I want Kit to be one of us," Alice admitted, "It'd be nice, but-
"No!"
At the sharp exclamation, Emmett's face became rigged, jaw clamped tight and teeth grinding.
His eyes flashed towards the stairs, where Rosalie stood, glaring at him. They hadn't spoken in over a week and avoided each other at every possible moment.
"Shut up, Rosalie!" he snarled.
"No!" suddenly, she was in front of him, "Turn her now, and the Volturi will slaughter us. There's too many compli-
Emmett wouldn't let his sister get a word in, "It's none of your business!"
"It's my family!" Rosalie argued, "I get a say," she whirled to face Carlisle, "Don't I get a say!?"
Carlisle's lips moved as though he couldn't figure out what to say first, "Yes, you get a say, but-
"You don't get a say!" Emmett insisted heatedly, "Not about Kit. Not. Ever."
"Jasper, do something," Alice whispered to her husband.
"No, let them hash it out," Jasper murmured.
Rosalie hissed, "It's her fault-
That was the breaking point of Emmett's patience.
"No, it's YOUR FAULT!" Emmett bellowed and Rosalie took a step back in shock, "This is all your fault!" he shoved a finger in her face, "You treated her like shit every fucking day and you always called her worthless and told her how much of a burden she was!"
Burning rage hissed through his body. He had never been so angry at Rosalie before. He never thought there would be a day when the sight of her made him sick.
"And if she dies," he took a deep breath, his voice dangerous, "If she never wakes up. I will hate you for the rest of my existence," he thought for a second, then added, "More than I do now."
Rosalie gasped and Emmett clenched his fists. His whole body shaking. He needed to turn away now. He needed to get out of the house before he did something that he would regret.
He darted out the back door, wrenching it off its hinges, and into the night, through the blackened trees and wet grass. The scenery was a blur behind him and he only stopped when he could no longer hear the voices of his family.
He slaughtered a whole herd of deer and a bobcat before he could control himself again, feeling the blood slosh around in his stomach.
Clothes torn and bloodied, his hair wild, he plopped to the ground, forming his own crater and shaking a few trees.
He didn't regret anything that he had said to Rosalie and he had meant every single word.
As angry as he was, he hoped he wouldn't have to go through with his promise. He couldn't lose Kit. The mere thought was unfathomable.
And maybe he couldn't turn her. Not yet, anyway. As much as he hated to admit it, Rosalie was right in some aspects. The situation was too complicated and if Kit was turned, Everly and Blake would still lose their daughter and Indigo, her big sister. That wouldn't really fix anything.
Kit would be unhappy. Sure, she'd be safe and healthy, but her family was the most important thing to her and he knew, that she would never want to be turned if she had to be taken from her family like that. But Kit's unhappiness was not an option. Her family would have to be turned too.
And that was a whole other mess. More newborns to keep Kit happy? And Indigo would be an Immortal Child. She'd have to be destroyed and that would destroy Kit.
Emmett shook his head. Yeah, it was way too messy. He and Kit had never talked about her being turned. It had never come up in conversation. Unlike Bella, Kit had never shown an interest in becoming a vampire and Alice had never had a vision of a red-eyed Kit, solidifying that future for her.
Alice had yet to have any kind of vision, solidifying any part of Kit's future.
He tilted his head back, looking up at the night sky and the stars that glittered there. Kit was religious. She believed in God and all that. She had dedicated her time singing about Him and reading the Bible.
Emmett would think that after all that, God would cut Kit some slack and not put her through this.
'If there's a God,' he thought hesitantly, not sure who was listening, 'Please, let her wake up.'
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Whoosh.
Blake sat, his eyes on Kit. His Kit Kat.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Whoosh.
Her temperature had spiked again. Said by the nurses who had come to move and massage Kit's body on the two-hour mark.
He looked at his wife. Her elbow rested on her knee and she held her forehead in her hand, rocking her body back and forth as she tried to stay awake.
Blake reached over and rubbed Everly's back, "Darling," he whispered, "It's getting pretty late."
At the sound of his voice, she jerked up out of her sleepy reverie and looked back at him.
"M-mhm," she nodded jerkily, then went back to her position, rocking and rocking.
Blake watched her. He could see her continuing to close and open her eyes. She looked so tired, he worried she'd collapse out of her chair.
He pushed himself to sit at the edge of the chair, placing his hand on Everly's back, his other hand going to rub her arm.
She didn't startle this time, but lifted her head slightly.
Vanessa's phone call from the day before, replayed over and over in his mind. He felt like a horrible person.
What father, had to be reminded that he had two children, not just one? And his other child was so much younger. It broke his heart that she was crying for her parents.
Indigo needed them, too. Her first mother was in a coma and her second mother hadn't seen her in eight days. He barely saw Indi. Feeling more like he was a private chef than her dad.
What if this came back to haunt Indigo later in her life? What if she felt so unimportant that she carried this feeling forever and became depressed or resentful and got into drugs or eating disorders?
He swallowed hard, "Darling…you know—um, how about you go home and stay with Indi and I can stay here tonight, hm?"
Everly raised her head more fully and he leaned back to look at her. They stared, eyes a mirror of each other—soft with grief and worry. Blake opened his mouth to add something, but even in her exhausted state, Everly was quicker.
She shook her head, "M-m'okay."
There was silence for several long moments.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Whoosh.
Blake was stuck. He didn't know what to say to that. He clearly couldn't take Vanessa's approach to this subject.
"Vanessa called me, yesterday," he admitted, his voice flat, "Indigo's really upset. Vanessa said she hasn't been listening and her teacher's concerned. She won't eat anything."
Everly's face paled and he waited patiently as she pondered what he had just said.
"I—," but she couldn't finish and shook her head again.
Blake squeezed her arm, "You sure? Indigo needs you."
She bit her lip and lowered her gaze from his, making Blake sigh. He supposed that was his answer.
Keeping his hand on her back, Blake pushed himself to his feet and he pressed his lips to the top of Everly's head, pulling away to go stand over Kit.
He touched her forehead and began to stroke her hair. He leaned down and kissed her warm forehead, letting his lips linger for a few seconds.
When he straightened up, he felt his eyes start to burn, "Night, Kit Kat. I'll see you tomorrow."
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Whoosh.
The only sounds came from the machines and he exhaled softly, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. It was raining as it usually was and the poor weather didn't help anyone's mood.
He had almost made it to the doorway, when Everly croaked out, "I'm sorry!"
Surprised, he whirled around just as her face crumpled.
"I'm sorry," she gasped out again. She covered her face with her hands and Blake went to comfort her.
"Darling, it's okay," he promised, rubbing her back, but she shook her head.
"It's okay," he said again, leaning down to hug her.
She continued to shake her head, "No!" she sobbed, "No, it's not okay!"
She slouched down in her chair and Blake crouched in front of her. She hid her head in her hands, part of her face shielded by knotted hair that had fallen from her ponytail. She opened her mouth, but it appeared that the words were stuck in her throat and she let out another sob.
Blake's hand reached through the space between her arms, his fingers gently touching her chin.
She dropped her hands, having to bite her lip to look at him, fighting back loud sobs as she managed to speak.
"I-if I," her voice quivered, "Th-that's why we kept them—" she choked on a sob.
"What?" Blake muttered.
"Y-your b-back hasn't," she gasped, "It ha-hasn't hurt in years, but I thought—I should have thrown them away," she sniffled, "I thought we should h-have kept all the medication in our room, but wh-what if K-Kit g-got a headache or h-ha-had bad cr-cramps!? A-and Indi k-knew better—
"Everly," he tried to cut her off, placing a hand on her thigh.
"K-Kit said she hated school," Everly continued, "I-I didn't think she'd over-
"Listen to me," Blake cut her off firmly. His heart broke for his wife, "Darling, this is not your fault. I knew Kit was just as upset. I knew the pills were there and didn't move them. I had taken some Advil, that morning, okay? Do you think it's my fault?"
Everly shifted in her chair and Blake smiled tightly as Everly threw her arms around his neck, bursting into louder sobs.
He wrapped his own arms around her, shifting slightly when he felt a tear drip down his shirt as she shook her head frantically against him.
"You sure?" he pressed.
"I-It's not your f-fault," Everly promised.
"Okay," he whispered, beginning to rub her back again, "We're good parents," he promised her and felt that he needed to hear it too, "A-and I'm going to find out everything that happened. I've…" he paused, wondering if he should bring up the conversation with Emmett, "You're a good mom," he said instead.
At that, she lifted her head to look at him skeptically, tears dripping down her face.
"You are," he insisted. He reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, "Okay?"
She groaned and shrugged one shoulder, then nodded, looking at Kit as she tried to calm herself down.
Blake watched her for a moment. There was so much more he needed to say, but his wife looked so tired and the crying hadn't helped.
"We'll talk more, tomorrow," he told her, straightening up again, "I love you."
More tears welled up in Everly's eyes, "I l-love you too."
He touched her hair, then walked out of the hospital room. He wished he could stay. He wanted to stay, but he had to get home to cook dinner.
He slipped on his jacket as he got outside, ducking his head to avoid the rain hitting his face while he walked towards his car.
The ride home was silent. He tried to keep his mind focused on Indigo. He had no plans for dinner and they weren't a family who ordered takeout often. Something that seemed to lift Indi's spirits was cooking together.
Maybe they'd do something a little more fun and make tacos together. He was pretty sure there was some leftover mushroom risotto from the other night. That would be a good side.
His mind wandered from his short thought out dinner plans. It had only been a day, but he had yet to tell Indigo about Kit's pneumonia. He wasn't sure if he should. He didn't want to worry her, but knew she would ask how her sister was doing.
He pulled into the driveway and shut off the car, thinking back to his wife. He needed to tell her about his and Emmett's conversation. Eve would be furious if he kept something like that from her and it was eating him up inside.
He rubbed his eyes and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He felt like he needed a shower. Everly, sustained her hygiene by cleaning up in the hospital's bathroom while Blake brought her fresh clothes. Because it was such a small hospital, there were no showers or "sleep rooms" for the parents.
He threaded his hand through his hair and took a deep breath before yanking his keys out of the ignition and climbing out of the car.
Inside the house, he kicked of his shoes and pushed them aside with his foot, not bothering to straighten them out.
"I'm home!" he yelled.
"Just you?" Vanessa came into the room, carrying her signature cup of coffee.
Blake shook his head, "Cut her some slack. She had a really rough night. She blames herself for this and…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry," he didn't mention that they were completely panicking about the bills they would receive for Kit's care.
Vanessa looked solemn, "Me too. I had some time today while Indigo was in the shower. I found some…things in Kit's room."
Blake's heart stuttered, "Things?"
Vanessa jerked her head and he followed her to the kitchen. He needed to get dinner started, anyway.
"Indi has headphones in," Vanessa told him "I brought over a mini DVD player, Shelly don't use it anymore. She's watching Lilo And Stitch. She did okay, today."
Blake nodded and headed to the fridge to get the dinner fixings. He needed to make dinner. His hands shook when he reached for the container of risotto.
His stomach churned as he asked, "What did you find in Kit's room?"
"Her cellphone," Vanessa started, "Took me forever to find it. I hope you don't mind, but I bagged up her blankets. They've started to mold."
"Yes," Blake got out the cod fish and some sour cream, "That's fine."
He placed what he had gathered on the counter, looking anywhere but at Vanessa.
"I found food in her clothing drawers," Vanessa said, "Sandwiches, wraps, spat out pasta, candy."
Blake was not surprised by this, but it was still hard to hear. He forced himself to look at Ness.
"She has an eating disorder," he placed both hands atop the counter and Vanessa nodded slowly, "What else?"
She let out a ragged breath and her eyes softened. Blake figured that he must have looked pretty pathetic for she pressed her lips together and studied him very carefully.
"I found these baggies of pills in between her mattress."
"More of the ones she took!?"
"No, no," Vanessa looked off to the side, frowning, "I don't know what they are, but there's hundreds and hundreds of them in each bag. You can look at them. I put all the stuff I found in their own bags and it's all in one ZipLoc bag. You know, the big ones? I hid it in your bathroom wastebasket."
Blake felt dizzy and he lowered his head.
'Was she on drugs?' he asked himself, 'I saw her everyday. She never looked high. Her eyes were always normal and besides the vitamin deficiencies, her blood came back clean. I'll have to ask Carlisle.'
He shook his head and went back to getting the necessary things for dinner, feeling wobbly on his feet, "Thank you," he said sincerely. His voice quivered, "That helps a lot."
He could feel his adrenaline going. He had Kit's cellphone, the source of everything. Evidence.
"I'm sorry, honey…"
"Yes, well."
"I suppose I should get going," she mumbled, "I'll see you, tomorrow morning."
Blake paused in his reach for the basil, "I can't tell you how much Everly and I appreciate this, Ness," he faced her, "Seriously, this means everything. We really are trying."
"I know you are," Vanessa nodded once at him, "Goodnight. Oh, before you go, I'll let Indigo know you're home."
Blake placed the cutting board on the counter and went in search of a knife to chop the lettuce, "Thank you,"
"Oh," gasping, he abandoned the cutting board and went to get a frying pan. He preferred heating up the fish on the stove than in the microwave.
While the fish was heating up, he went back to chopping vegetables. His heart leapt in his chest when he heard multiple footsteps on the stairs. After a few seconds, he heard Vanessa call out another goodbye, and the front door shut.
'Brave face, brave face,' he thought, 'Be happy.'
"There's my favorite girl," he looked up from what he was doing and smiled at Indigo as she came to stand beside him, "I was wondering where you were. I thought you were gonna leave me to cook all by myself! Hungry?"
Indigo scrunched her nose and she leaned both her elbows on the counter, having to stand on her tiptoes to do so.
"I guess," she mumbled, leaning her cheek in her hand.
Blake went to put the lettuce aside, "How was school?"
Indigo shrugged, "S'okay, I guess," her nose scrunched in distaste, "I have math homework."
Blake chuckled. Math, of any kind, was not a strong suit in the Algren family.
"How about after dinner, I help you with it, all right?" he offered, "We can do it while we have some hot chocolate. With marshmallows and whipped cream. It's not a school night. How does that sound?"
"Okay," she drawled with a sigh and Blake looked at her somberly.
The scent of fish and garlic filled the room and he went to take it off the stove.
"Do you wanna rip this up for me when it cools down?" he asked, "Here, I'll get you a bowl. There are gloves if you want them."
"Daddy?" Indigo's voice was breathless, "Can I tell you something?"
"Yes, princess," he closed the cupboard and went back to stand at the counter, "Of course you can, what is it?" he made sure to look at her, giving his daughter his full attention.
Her eyes welled up with a sadness her young years should not possess, "Uhhhm," she bit her lip nervously, "I…I'm just scared," her chin trembled and she lowered her head as she began to cry.
Blake's head tilted and he opened his mouth to let in a small breath as tears welled in his eyes. He fought with everything to keep them from falling, but he couldn't control it.
"It's okay, Indi. C'mere," he knelt down and embraced his daughter, "It's okay, don't be scared."
Indigo sobbed into his shoulder and he sniffled into hers. He held her tightly, than placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her gently so that he could look at her.
"Listen to me," he urged, brushing tears from her splotchy cheeks, "Listen, Kit's gonna be okay. She is, all right?" he nodded at her, "She's gonna wake up, we're gonna get her home a-and," he swallowed thickly and pulled Indigo into his arms again.
He felt his face heat up and his shoulders began to shake, his tears bursting forth like an open dam.
He cupped the back of Indigo's head, pressing her face further into his shoulder.
"We'll get her home soon," he choked out and this time, it was Indigo who pulled back to look at him, her small hands on his shoulders and his on her sides.
"She'll wake up and maybe we can take a trip or something. Go to the zoo. We'll all do something fun together."
"M-m'kay," Indigo wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffling. A tear dripped from her chin.
"You can't worry about this too much," his eyes were pleading, "Kit wouldn't want you to worry, would she?"
More tears fell down Indigo's face, "M-mm-mm."
His thumb massaged her shoulders and he tried to brush Indigo's hair from her face, but it wouldn't stay put, swinging back into place.
She whimpered, "I miss mommy."
He nodded, though Indigo wasn't looking at him, her wet eyes trained on the ground.
"I know you do, sweetie," he kissed her head, "She misses you and loves you and I'm gonna try and get her home, too."
She nodded again, "K."
He pressed another kiss to her forehead and then to her cheek, "Why don't you go wash up for dinner? There's not much to do, anyway."
She nodded and Blake held her hand as she left until he could do so no longer.
When Indigo was out of the kitchen, he stood up and leaned his elbows on the counter, cupping his hands over his mouth to muffle his crying as he broke down again, sobbing into his hands unceasingly.
Author's Note: I decided to change the days of the week at the start of each chapter, to include the number of days that Kit has been in her coma. If I'm being honest, I was getting a little confused, myself and had to keep going back to count.
Also, I got a very irritating review from a "Guest" who decided to call out my "plot holes" because I'm having Kit "act like a Senior in high school." This made no sense to me and I wanted to acknowledge this particular review because it was so disrespectful.
I know a lot of people, who having started looking into colleges as a Sophomore in high school-even Freshmen, especially with it's a prestigious school like Julliard. Some parents have raised their kids and prep them for Harvard Law at a very young age. I never implied that Kit was actually applying to schools
I appreciate criticism and suggestions for my story, but I don't appreciate rudeness and being left reviews that, to me, are very condescending and are written out as if I'm a child. I know my characters, I know how to present them, and I know how to write them. I don't need someone pointing out to me that so-and-so is "obviously a Sophomore in high school." I already have a BetaReader.
Please be respectful to me and my writing.
Thank you,
FictionChic