Shane's Point of View
For the next few days, Shane made a real attempt to control his emotions and managed to avoid any further outbursts. It was hard for him, but he knew it was what Claire needed, so it was worth it. Shane knew the chemo was the only chance Claire had to survive, but it terrified Shane to think of Claire going through it. This made her recovery from the sepsis feel bitter-sweet as meant the chemotherapy would start sooner. Shane was glad of the support from Eve, Michael and Claire parents. Which is what made him so surprised when Claire had suggested her parents to go home.
He was sat next to Claire, half watching the hospital tv and half-listening to the conversation between Claire and her parents. His focus suddenly snapped back to the room when he heard Claire sweet voice telling her parents "you know we appreciate you coming, but you don't need to stay. I've got plenty of support here, and I'm sure there are things you need to do. And Dad, you've missing your golf! I mean it, I'll be fine."
The three of us stared back to Claire, equally confused. Claire's mum managed an awkward laugh and mumbled about the golf not being important. Claire's Dad turned to Shane, for a moment he open and closed his mouth before beginning "You! Did you make her say that? Are you trying to get rid of us", then stopped seeing how confused Shane was. He thought a moment before asking "you didn't know about this, did ya, son?".
Shane smiled at the rare occasion his father in law called him son, at least that meant he believed this wasn't Shane' s fault or idea. "no Sir, this is clearly Claire's own idea" Shane answered cautiously. Claire's father patted his son-in-law's shoulder, and he turned to Claire. "So, Claire, you want me and your mother go?" asked Claire's father. "yeah" answered Claire "well no, I don't want you to go, but I just think it's time you did. I'm recovering, and then they can start the cancer treatment. Which yes, that's scary and gonna be hard. But it also going to take a long time. This is going to be a long uphill struggle for all of us, the last thing I need you you tiring out now. Or giving up everything for me, you know that would hurt me all the more if you all did that. You guys need to live for me! Please" Claire's voice broke as her sentence finished. Shane pulled her into a cuddle and did his best to comfort her. Despite his shock, Shane could understand why Claire was trying to send her parents away. She had always done her best to keep a distance between her parents, and safe the vampire ran town. Claire had adapted amazingly to living in the town, she had even thrived here. Her parents, however, had never managed to adapt to the town, even when they knew of the
Eventually, Claire's parents left saying they needed to think, giving Shane the chance to talk to Claire in private.
"Next time you try to get your parents out of the town, how about a heads up? Let me get my boxing gloves on before your dad swings at me or something, yeah" said Shane gently, trying to keep the tone light. Claire smiled and held back a giggle "I'm not trying to get rid of anyone, but we need to be realistic. This is going to be a long illness. I'm not just going to get better. I'll get worse then hopefully if we are lucky, better. We all need to be ready for that. Michael and Eve need to work, and so do you. My parents deserve to enjoy their retirement, if they stay here, they will end up being my carers! Not my parents! And that cant happen. I'm not losing my parents, my friends, my husband, to be my full-time carers. I can't and I willn't." tears ran down Claire's face, but her voice stayed steady. Shane know Claire was stubborn and unlikely to change her mind on this, he always senses she had been thinking about it for a while. With a sigh, he gave up the argument and pulled Claire tighter into the hug. Within minutes Claire fell to sleep against his chest.
Shane thought about how much work he had missed the last few days, Claire was right, he did need to work. Not just for money, but he would go crazy doing nothing all the time. His current job was far from ideal with long, hard days which would limit the time he could spend with Claire. He hadn't particularly enjoyed working their ether, but he knew he would struggle to get many jobs with such limited education. After all, he hadn't even finished Morganville high school. With Claire ill, it did seem a ridiculous time to try and change that now. No, he did need a more flexible job, ideally where he could work at home occasionally. Using his phone, he loaded a job search page to hoping to find the job that sat in the centre of a vein diagram of his limited skills, lack of education and flexibility around Claire's needs. This search made even hard given he was searching in a tiny town where he was known for trouble. Morganville only had a few businesses which Shane didn't have some sort of history with the owners or bosses. It wasn't going to be easy, but Shane would find something better.
Thankyou for reading! You are all awesome! feel free to leave any comments.
Also, we are in some very odd times. I hope everyone is safe and well. Stay as strong until this is over.
DISCLAIMER: DO NOT OWN CHARACTERS NOR THE MORGANVILLE STORIES.
