My dear little broccolis💚💚💚,
💚 So, this is me doing a favour to the same someone who PMed me and asked to upload two of my stories with the FSOG names. I already did it for Forbidden Fruit, and now, here comes the second. The original fic is published under the Mortal Instruments franchise. If you're one of my old readers, well, you already know this story, so only read it if you want to read it with other characters in mind; if you're a new reader, well hang on and let's see how this Ana and Christian work in here.
💚 As a fair warning, there will be some angst for the few following chapters, because ... well, logic. Hope you will like how it will all go. Let's go back to Ana's PoV. Let's see what's happening in that little brain of hers...
Chapter 22 ~ When Life Catches Up On You (2,2K)
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Ana's PoV.
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I can't believe it. I can't believe what I heard just a few minutes ago. This is just too much to take in. I can't. I'm doing my best not to cry my eyes out, but it's really difficult right now. All I want to do is cry. Cry because of the complete hurricane of emotions I'm drowning in now, cry because of my absolutely unfair life.
I wish I could just go back to when I was a child. To that sweet time when everything was just normal and fine. To that precious time when I didn't have to fear going back home after school, to the time when there was no obstruction from saying what I wanted to say for fear of dinner deprivation. Back to that wonderful time when I could trust people and when I wouldn't be deceived by them.
I don't know what's worse: Franklin never telling me that he was my father when he knew that he was, or Christian breaking his promise of keeping my burden to himself. I told Christian about my nightmares, my hopes and fears, and there he repeated it all to his boss- his boss, who happens to be my biological father.
I know that he never really agreed with me about not wanting to press charges, I mean, he even admitted it. But he always assured me that he would let me come out on my own (as if that would ever happen). And now, I learn that he told everything to his boss, probably so his boss could do what his promise was preventing him to do.
Men are worthless. And liars. And dream-breakers. And I resent Franklin and Christian so bad that I feel like a whole other person. I've never felt so angry in my life. Not even when I saw that my mother couldn't care less about what was happening to me. I was too broken at the time to feel angry, so I only felt betrayal. But now, I am feeling both.
With a repressed sob, I look through the window of the bus I am in, wishing that the bus would start driving already. The sun, still present, illuminates the red sky, with a few wisps of clouds drifting past.
I bought a ticket that will lead me next state. There, I will buy a proper plane ticket to Canada and build a whole new life there. A life without men, or friends, or anything remotely close to social life. I will just do my baking, and live my lonely life since I am apparently doomed to only have traitorous relationships otherwise.
I won't lie, I do want to cry. I do want to cry about the fact that I will never have a family. Because my mother doesn't care about me, and my father doesn't want me as his daughter. I do want to cry because I have been lulled into a sweet illusion of a life that isn't real. I do want to cry because no matter what I wish, I could not go back to that life. I mean, I had a job that I loved, friends that liked me, and a sweet boyfriend. But it was all a lie.
After all, why did I expect anything different? I did lie to get where I was. I lied about my age. I lied about my parents. So, of course, anything coming after was bound to be lies. This is so depressing, and I swear, I'll never go through that again. Betrayal, anger and pain- they course through me, more powerful than ever before.
"Excuse me, miss. Can I have some ID?" A male voice suddenly startles me, freezing me from the insides. But I try to not let show, and confidently look through my handbag before handing the man my ID. You know, the fake ID that states that I am twenty-one now.
As the man looks at my card, I look at him and don't see anything threatening about him. He is wearing casual clothes, and I don't see a badge anywhere that could indicate that he is a police officer. He is probably just some guy working for the bus station to make sure everything is in order.
But then, all my hopes fly out of the window when I see that waiting outside the bus is Officer Banner. He found me! I never should have lost my time going to Christian! I lost the precious hour the officer gave me, and now, I am going to go back to the Hell Hole.
Suddenly, the tears that I desperately tried to keep in ever since the Officer Banner knocked on my door, burst out of my eyes as I desperately try to breathe in. I can hear the man who carded me calling me and urging me to breathe, but I can't. I'm going back to that Hell Hole! I can't think of anything else. Back at it with the food deprivation, and the bruised ribs, and the awful thing he did to me. Back at it with fearing the very shadow of the man. Back at it with feeling like the most worthless being on the planet.
I can't breathe, my eyes blur with tears. I can feel my heart drumming against my ribcage. I can't breathe. Air refuses to get in my windpipes. I can't breathe!
And as the fog takes over my mind, the only thing I can think of is hoping that I will never wake up.
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Beep. Beep. Beep.
I can hear whispers next to me. A man and a woman. And I can smell something rather awful. A smell of cleanliness, mixed with illness. A hospital.
I keep my eyes closed, trying to understand where I am as I am relying on all my senses but my eyes. I can feel something poking my left arm, while my right arm is strapped to something. The weird smell is omnipresent and oppressing.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Maybe the two people talking are a doctor and a nurse. Maybe, if I am smart enough, I can even escape before the police come back to take me back to that awful place. If I do so, I should not try to leave the State for a little while, or even the city for that matter. I should just bury myself in some part of town, and wait for things to calm down before leaving.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Slowly, I open my eyes, only to see Officer Banner, standing in front of my bed with some tall woman with dark brown hair and a grey work suit. They keep on talking very quietly, so quietly that I can't make out a word of it- but from what it looks like, the woman is disagreeing with him.
Honestly, I don't need to be a genius to know that she is a social worker. And maybe, just maybe, she will help avoid going back to that Hell Hole.
Officer Banner seems to be about to say something when he glances at me and clears his throat once he realises that I am awake. He gives me a small smile, before leaving the room, muttering about finding the doctor.
I do not say a word, feeling the grey eyes of the social worker on me while the officer leaves the room; and I slowly sit on the bed, wincing a little as my head lifts up. I bring my hand to my forehead and feel a little bump forming on the right side of it, and I remember that I fainted on the bus, probably falling over something hard.
The social worker keeps as quiet as I do, apparently waiting for the doctor to come; and when he does, she stays in a corner of the room. I think about asking her to give me some privacy when I recall that I am a minor and that I actually need adult supervision in everything law related. I have seen enough movies with Kate to know that.
"How are you feeling, Miss Wilks?" The doctor asks with a benevolent voice. I shrug, not really sure of what I should answer to that. Because honestly, my mind is a wreck right now.
As he checks me, making me stick my tongue and all those ridiculous things doctors make you do, I look at him. He is really old. I am sure he could easily pass for Mrs Lincoln's father. Or even grandfather. His hair is white, and it looks so fluffy that I actually understand why people always want to touch my hair. I just wish I could feel if his hair is as fluffy as it seems.
Then, the doctor checks something on the monitor, and when he seems satisfied he explains to me that I have been suffering from a panic attack (of course he used some fancy doctor words to say so) and that I am to stay under observation until tomorrow morning because of the bump on my head.
As he leaves, I frown, wondering who is going to discharge me tomorrow morning. I mean, I am back to being Miss Wilks, which means that I am a minor again, and I need parental approval to be discharged. So … Did they contact my mother and that monster she lives with?
The woman waits for the doctor to close the door before she carefully walks to the bed and sits on the chair next to it. I feel so bad because of the way she looks at me. I feel … weak. I feel like a fragile little thing, and I don't like it one bit.
"I am Alice Evans, but just call me Alice. How are you doing, Anastasia?" She asks, her grey eyes looking at me carefully. I shrug, the same way I shrugged at the doctor, and she readjusts herself in the chair before saying: "I'm a social worker. I am here to help you, Anastasia and I need to know what made you run away in the first place, in order to make sure that it won't happen again."
I don't respond, looking down at my hands. I'd rather die than tell her anything. I've already made the mistake once of sharing my secret with someone who pretended to care, and I won't make this mistake again.
Alice seems about to say something, but she stops herself, fidgeting, as her grey eyes study me, making me uncomfortable. I try to ignore her, doing my best to know what will happen to me. Will I have to go back to my mother, or can I ask the social worker to place me in the system? I mean, it would only be a year. But if I ask her to do so, she is going to ask why, and I can't just say because I want so, she will need a good reason.
"Anastasia, your parents are here. Maybe you would like to see them," She proposes with a soft voice, but I simply shake my head. If I can delay my meeting with Michael and my mother as much as possible, I will do anything in this direction and wait until last second to see their faces.
"Your father is very anxious about you. I think it would do you both some good if you see him," She insists, and I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes as I point out:
"He is not my father!"
"I was not talking about Michael Roberts. I was talking about your biological father, Anastasia," The social worker specifies and for a second, I am speechless. Does she mean to tell me that Franklin is here, despite him obviously refusing to recognise me as his daughter- he is still here in a hospital? Why?
I look up to Alice, before getting up, glad that the doctor removed all that unnecessary nonsense from my arms. I noiselessly tiptoe my way to the door under Alice's grey gaze; and when I slightly open the door, she calls my name with curiosity. But I ignore her, and peep outside, on the corridor only to see many people there that I was not expecting to see.
Of course, there is my mother, but oddly, Michael is nowhere to be seen. There is Franklin standing at one end of the corridor, his back facing my mother with tensed shoulders, Lily seated on a chair, her hand up and apparently holding Franklin's.
There is also Christian who is sitting a few seats away from Lily, his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. But I don't linger on that. My breath catches in my throat when I see Officer Banner is staring straight back at me, even though I am still peeping through the tiny gap I made.
He is standing next to my mother whose puffy eyes are red and filled with tears. Slowly, he rests a hand on her smaller back and whispers something in her ear before he starts walking to my room. So I swiftly close it and rush back to my bed under Alice's even more intrigued gaze, my face flushed as it has never been before.
She's about to say something, when I cut her off, and say: "I don't want to see any of them. I want to be placed in the system. I don't want to go back."
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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚
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💚 Wow, yeah, Ana is feeling very angry, and very betrayed. She holds a lot of anger for the people outside the door of her hospital room, and I personally think it is completely understandable. Remember that no matter how mature she appears, she is only a seventeen years old girl who had been sexually and physically abused for several years. It is very easy for her to feel betrayal, fear for herself, and to just want to walk away from anything or anyone who has hurt her. And right now, she is very very much hurt.
💚 To this lovely person who likes to complain, without having all the facts, know that I do proofread and that Grammarly does it as well. The chapter doesn't get updated unless I have the little green tick from Grammarly. Moreover, as I have already explained, English is not my first (nor my second) language. And thirdly, next time you want to assume things about me, have, at least, the decency to do it without hiding under the "guest" review. And if you are the person who laughed because 'precipitation' means rain, well, go check the dictionary, because it has more than one meaning. But what do I know? I am not an English speaker, right?
~ Anyway, question times:
` 1. What do you think about Ana's trail of thoughts? Is she going to fight to be placed in the system?
` 2. Though we barely see him, what did you think of Officer Banner?
` 3. What do you think will happen next? Who's PoV do you reckon will be next? Hint, it won't be Ana's.
` 4. What was your favourite part?
Anyway, E.L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.
Love, Mina 💚s💚