"A
Single Yellow Rose" – Chapter Fifteen
Out at the lake…after
homecoming game…the gang had just discovered Belle in the woods…
"What in the hell is Roseland?"
Shawn asked, conscious of the stiffness in Belle's muscles as she lay in his
arms.
"This is," Philip answered, looking
over his shoulder. "It's hard to tell with it being so close to Thanksgiving
but you are walking through Mrs. Kelly's prize winning rose garden."
"And we'll end up where?" Chloe
asked.
"Right here." Philip said pointing
to the low, one story building in front of him.
"What? You figure it's easier to
break down the front door of this shack than the main house?" Mimi asked as
they crowded on the small covered porch, stepping away from Jason the moment
she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.
"Don't have to break in," Philip
said, crouching down in front of the door. "All I have to do is push down on
this thing here and press up there and-" The door suddenly popped open and
swung inward. "Presto, we're in."
Philip walked in first and
immediately reached out for the light switch but after a few clicks of the
switch, they remained in the dark. "No power…here, let me see if I can find
some matches or something."
"Here," a bright spot of light
appeared over Philip's shoulder and he turned to find Jason with a lighter in
his grasp. "You know me…always prepared."
"Yeah, you're a regular Boy Scout.
Come, let's see if we can find some candles or some of those old oil lamps we
used to use out here."
Jason stepped past Chloe to follow
Philip farther into the cottage with Shawn close behind. Suddenly another wave
of dizziness overcame him. "Damn," Jason cursed, reaching out for something to
steady himself with but coming up with nothing but air instead.
"Philip!" Chloe cried, as she
watched Jason sway back and forth, the flame of the lighter coming perilously
close to the edge of those blond stands. "Look out!"
Turning and raising his arm at the
same time, Philip knocked the lighter out of Jason's weak grasp and again the
group of them was in the dark.
"Philip, Jason…are you okay?" Chloe
asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Nobody move…I'm
trying to find the lighter," Philip said, groping around on the floor.
"Jase…you okay?" Shawn repeated,
unable to see two feet in front of him. He was busy concentrating on Belle, who
hadn't said a word since he'd picked her up off the ground back in the woods
but she tightened her grip around his neck when the light went out.
"Yeah-" Jason stopped to clear his
throat, his voice strained, "yeah…I'm okay."
"Here we go" Philip said, finally
finding the lighter and seconds later the warm glow of light appeared revealing
Jason encircled in Mimi's arms, their faces on inches away from each other.
"Nice catch," Jason said, slowly
tightening his arms around Mimi's back, the soft material of his flannel shirt
bunching up in his grip, "Sorry…I thought this dizziness was gone."
"One to many beers I guess," Mimi
said as images of Jan wrapped Jason's arms flashed through her mind, forcing
her to step away from the solid wall of muscles and warm skin pressed against
her body. "I didn't want you plowing into Shawn and Belle here."
Silence filled the room as Jason
watched Mimi back away, refusing to meet his gaze. "Are you okay Shawn…Belle?"
"Yeah," Shawn replied, "we're fine,
let's just get some more light in here okay?"
"Wait here," Philip said, heading
into the main area of the house but Jason was right behind him. Minutes later,
they found four oil lamps and quickly lit the wicks bathing the room in plenty
of light. It was one large room with two couches flanking a large fireplace
with tall bookshelves on either side stuffed with paperbacks, knickknacks and
board games. They had entered through a small kitchen area with a bathroom off
to the back and the lone bedroom off to the right. "It's a little chilly in
here but its better than going over to Nick's."
Chloe joined them and took one of the lamps from
Philip's hand, pointing towards a closed door.
"That's
the bedroom right?"
"Yeah, but I haven't been out here
since before the Last Blast. I've got no idea what condition it's in."
Chloe just stared at Philip.
"I know what you're thinking and I don't mean it
THAT way. This was strictly a guy's place to hang out. No woman allowed. Bobby
and Bryant left just after the 4th of July for boot camp and they
said we could continue coming out here, they said their folks didn't mind. I
assume their mom cleaned up but I don't know." Philip looked over at Jason who
just shook his head.
"Last time I was here was when Philip was," Jason
said.
"As long as there is a place where Belle can lay
down, that's all we need." Chloe said, turning towards the room. "Shawn, let's
bring her in here."
Shawn followed Chloe through the door and after a
moment's hesitation Mimi started to follow.
"Mimi…wait," Jason called out. "Can I talk to you?"
Leveling a long stare at him Mimi peeled off Jason's
shirt with deliberate slowness and twisted it into a ball. "Here, you may need
this."
Jason caught the shirt she threw across the room
just before it landed on the floor. "What are you doing…don't you want this?
It's a little cold in here."
"You look like you need it more than I do…if not now
you soon will."
"What does that mean?"
"Because hell is going to have to freeze over before
I ever speak to you again." Mimi answered closing the bedroom door.
"What in Christ's name did I do?" Jason asked,
slumping back on the arm of one of couches. "And where is the shirt I had on
earlier?"
"Nice try Jase," Philip said, setting the other oil
lamp he held in his hand in the middle of the low, square coffee table
separating the two couches. Waking back his friend, he took the two lamps out
of Jason's hands and moved over to set one on the half counter that separated
the kitchen from the living room. The other he placed on the round, scarred oak
table where he'd lost many of Kiriakis dollars to the Kelly brothers who were
always better at poker than he was. "You can't bullshit your way out of this
one. She saw you man."
"Saw me do what?" Jason asked, folding one arm across
his chest and resting the other on top of it, pinching the bridge of his nose,
praying the slight headache he had wouldn't develop again into that awful
pounding he experienced earlier.
"You really don't know?" Philip asked, seeing the
confusion on Jason's pale face.
"This easily recognized and very familiar stupid
look on my face is for real bro."
Walking over, Philip bent at the waist seriously
studying his friend. "What the hell is the matter with you tonight?"
Jason eased back, plopping down on the cushions, his
legs still hanging over the arm of the couch. "I don't know man. I've felt like
crap before but all I've had tonight is three…maybe four beers at the most. I
have no idea why I am feeling like this or why I am walking around half naked."
Philip went over to sit on the opposite sofa,
crossing his legs at the ankles on top of the table. "Well, you gave Belle your
jacket after you…well, after you found her."
"Yeah…Belle." Jason stretched his arms out over his
head along the couch cushions. "I can't believe that happened here…to someone
that we know…that it happened to her…"
"He
really worked her over good," Philip said, staring at the closed door wondering
what was happening on the other side and how Chloe was dealing with it.
*****
"Here Shawn," Chloe said, setting the oil lamp down
on the dresser before reaching for the blankets on the double bed, pulling them
back. "Put her down here."
Bracing his knees against the mattress, Shawn leaned over and as gently as he could, set Belle down on the bed. As soon as her body touched the covers, Belle released her arms from around his neck and quickly rolled away, reaching out for Chloe who sat on the edge of the bed. Shawn tried to swallow the pain that rose in this throat at the sight of Belle withdrawing from him. Her beautiful hair lay matted and tangled against the pillow and he naturally reached out to brush the back of his hand against those golden locks wanting desperately to comfort her.
"Don't…touch… me," Belle whispered hoarsely, drawing her knees up close to her chest and scooting closer to Chloe who held her hands tightly in her own.
Shawn's hand froze in mid air.
"Maybe you should go out in the other room Shawn." Chloe said, quietly as she watched the tears leak out from underneath Belle's tightly closed eyes.
Shawn jerked his head in response and let the room closing the door behind him. Chloe and Mimi shared a long look before both turned their attention back to Belle.
"He's gone now Belle. We need to take a look at you," Chloe said.
Belle only shook her head in response.
"We want to help you honey," Mimi said, coming closer to the bed and reaching out for her friend, "but you've got to meet us halfway. Come on, let's take off that jacket."
Belle only moved away from her touch.
"Belle, I know the last thing you want in the world right now is for anyone to see you…even us. But we need to know what your physical injuries are."
When they didn't get a response from her again Chloe knew that she needed to reach Belle on the most personal level there is…as someone who had once been in her shoes. "Why don't you see if you can get some warm soap and water Mimi? I know Belle would really like to get this dirt off of her skin."
Belle's eyes suddenly opened and locked onto Chloe's gaze and held it. Mimi looked back and forth at her two friends before moving over to the door. "Okay, I'll see what I can find in the bathroom."
Chloe waited until Mimi had closed the door behind her before she spoke. "I know what you're going through Belle."
"There's no way you can," Belle whispered.
"Yes there is," Chloe answered, "I've been where you are…in fact I'm not too far past from where you are. It wasn't a drunken teenage boy…one of my foster father's…he…he abused me. It started when I was just a little girl…"
****
Shawn walked over to the couch and
sat down next to Philip. Jason righted himself on the other sofa, groaning as
the motion caused his head to start throbbing again.
"How is she?" Philip asked after
shooting a concerned look at Jason's direction who now sat with his elbows
braced on his knees, holding his head in his hands.
"I don't know," Shawn asked, staring
at his hands laced together in his lap, "she won't look at me, she won't let me
touch her…"
"I guess that's understandable."
Philip said.
"Not to me."
"Shawn, she's been through a
nightmare tonight that she hasn't even started to deal with yet. The last thing
she needs is you coming on strong with her."
Shawn let his head drop back.
"You're right…I know you're right. I just want her to know that I'm here for
her."
"She knows that," Jason muttered,
still staring at the floor, "she let you carry her here."
Shawn stared over at his friend. "I
never thanked you for what you did tonight…I don't know what I do if things had
gone any farther…if you had never shown up. Thanks Jason."
Jason nodded his head in response,
rubbing his eyes. Reaching over for the shirt Mimi had thrown at him earlier,
he put it on but left it hanging open. "I'm glad I got there in time…at least,
I think I got there in time."
Mimi suddenly walked out of the room
and headed straight for the kitchen without a glance in the boys' direction.
Shawn and Philip watched as Jason's eyes followed her every move, as she pulled
down a large plastic bowl from a high shelf and then she grabbed the oil lamp
off the counter and headed into the bathroom.
"Why did you take off with Jan?"
Philip asked.
"What?" Jason's head snapped back
around.
"That's only the beginning of what
Mimi is so upset about, you know." Shawn said. "She saw you walking away from
the dance floor with Jan."
"Jan? I don't remember…" Jason's
voice trailed off as he racked his brain for the memory. "Wait, I was standing
there, watching Mimi dance when Jan walked up behind me and started in on her
usual crap. I was trying my best to ignore her but you guys know how difficult
that can be when she gets going."
"So you decided to take off with her
instead? Not the smartest move Jase."
"No it wasn't like that…damn, how
come I'm having such a hard time remembering?"
"That's not the worst part you
know," Shawn continued. "She saw the two of you going at it."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, I guess your shirt was off,
Jan's too practically and the two of you were all cured up together," Philip
said.
"No, no…something is not right
here." Jason protested, rising from the couch to pace back and forth across the
length of the room. "Jan is last girl I want to get close to…something is not
right."
"He is really out of it," Shawn
said, leaning close to Philip.
"But he's not as bad as he was
earlier when we first found him down at the edge of the woods. First he asked
Mimi why she ran away from him and then he was staring right at you but telling
you he needed to find you…"
"I know, I swear he's been out
playing in the snow, if you know what I mean."
"What…drugs?" Philip hissed,
lowering his voice. "You're crazy! Jason would never take drugs."
"Then you explain this behavior
because we've both been out partying with him before and he can drink both of
us under the table. I only saw him have one beer tonight. When he walked away
with Jan he was double fisting it but both cups were still full."
"Look, I don't know what's going on
but Jason would never take drugs."
"Hey Philip."
All three looked over to where Mimi
stood near the bathroom. "I need your help for a minute."
Rising from the couch, Philip
stepped over the table. "Sure, what do you need?"
"We're lucky the water coming out of
the tap is warm. Chloe wanted me to get some soap and water for Belle so we can
help her get cleaned up but I can't carry the towels and the bowl too."
"Just show me what you want me to
do."
Philip followed Mimi into the
bathroom and the both of them reappeared again. Mimi walked over to the door
and gently knocked on it and waited for Chloe's response before cracking it
open a bit. Mimi saw that Belle was sitting up and had taken off the jacket and
replaced it with one of quilts from the bed. Motioning Chloe to the door, Mimi
entered the room her hands full of towels as Chloe reached out to take the bowl
of water from Philip's hands. He could tell she'd been crying and he ached to
comfort her but he knew Belle needed her right now.
"You okay?" he asked, capturing her
fingers with his against the rim of the bowl.
Chloe offered a small smile to his
question. Was only a few hours she was hoping she could find a way to get him
to stop asking her that? She knew that he could tell she had shared her own
story with Belle just as he knew the renewed pain it had caused.
"I'm okay and Belle will be too as
soon as we get her cleaned up."
"He didn't…I mean, it didn't go too
far…"
Chloe shook her head. "No. But she's
had it pretty bad none the less. I think she will feel better after she gets
cleaned up."
"Are you sure we shouldn't at least
call her folks?"
"I tried that Philip and she really
freaked. I think we need to try and keep her calm, get her clean up and maybe
she'll feel differently afterwards."
Philip nodded and slowly closed the
door. Heading back to the sofa he saw that Jason had stopped pacing and had sat
back down again. "How you feeling man?"
"Like I'm in the twilight zone here.
What the hell happened tonight?"
Drugs, Shawn mouthed as Philip
looked over his shoulder but again, Philip refused to even consider the fact
that Jason would take drugs…at least intentionally. An idea quickly formed in
his head. "Hey, Jase…why did you leave the dance floor with Jan?"
Jason heaved a long sigh and
concentrated on the events of the last couple of hours. "She was ragging on
Mimi…really bad and some of the other kids hanging around were joining it. I
knew the only way I could get her to shut up was to get her out of there and I
figured it was time to let her know I was sick and tired of her sticking her
nose in my business."
"Then what?"
"Well, I had my hands full because
Shawn and I had just come back from the bar. We had each gotten two beers so I
was pushing her along with my arm and then we got sidetracked my some of the
guys on the team talking about our chances for the game next week."
"I remember that part," Shawn said,
"you and Jan leaving together. And now that I think about it…it kind of looked
like you had your arm around Jan."
"And Mimi saw that?"
Shawn nodded and Jason could only shake his head
against how that must have looked to a girl he was arguing with earlier about
wearing his jacket.
"Okay, so you were talking with the
guys," Philip said, "did you drink anything that someone else might have
there?"
"No, I wasn't really into the convo
because I wanted to talk to Jan. I got away from them and I tried to find a
quiet place to talk but it seemed no matter where we went there were people
there."
"Did you share one of your beers
with anyone? I mean, hand it off and then get the cup back again?"
"No…what are you getting at Phil?"
"Jase, you've been acting really
strange tonight. You're complaining of being dizzy, short of breath, you're
having a heck of a time remembering anything that has happened but so far you've said you only had one
beer."
"You make it sound like I'm popping
pills or doing lines of…you're not suggesting what I think you are suggesting
are you?"
Philip held up his hands, trying to
keep his friend calm. "No…I'm not saying you did anything tonight…at least not
knowingly."
"So I'm taking drugs without my
knowledge?"
"It doesn't take much to slip
something in someone's drink…especially at parties this size."
"But that's crazy…those cups never
left my hands. Jan and I ended up down near the water in this round wooden
thing and I…God, what did I say?" Jason raised his eyes to the ceiling, raking
his brain to allow him to remember. "I don't know…the next thing I remember is
being with Mimi. We were talking and I was telling her how glad I was that she
was giving me another chance and how she made me feel…"
"That's impossible Jason, Mimi told
me and Chloe how she found you and Jan all wrapped up together."
"No," Jason refused to even consider
the possibility, "no way would I be with Jan when I feel the way I do about
Mimi."
"Okay," Shawn said moving to the
edge of the couch, "you said you were talking with Jan and then the next thing
you remember is being with Mimi…what happened in between? How did Jan leave and
Mimi get there?"
"I don't know!" Jason roared in
frustration rising from the couch. "I mean, one minute I'm telling Jan she to
stay out of my life and she accuses me of jumping on the Chloe bandwagon and I
tried to tell her what a nice person Chloe was and you know Jan, she can get
anyone riled up. I was waving my arms around, spilling my beer and she-"
"She what?" Philip asked when Jason
stopped cold in his speech.
"What'd she do?" Shawn asked.
"She took the cups out of my hands."
Jason answered.
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I remember now. She said
something about getting all wet or getting drown…I don't know… but she took the
beer away from me."
"What did you do?" Philip demanded.
"I was just so pissed at the moment
I couldn't even stand to look at her so I…" Jason jaw went slack when the
realization hit him full force. "Oh shit."
"What?"
"I turned away. I turned my back on
her."
Shawn and Philip exchanged long
glances.
"No…that's crazy" Jason said, "she
couldn't have done that."
Look, let's just go on from there
okay?" Shawn said. "What happened next? You must have turned back around."
"I did but it took me a few minutes
to get my temper under control. That girl really know how to push my buttons ya
know?"
"Yeah we know."
"She came by behind me spouting off
more her wise ass remarks and I remember all I wanted was a drink so I turned
around, took the cups back from her and down one of them."
"And then?"
"Then nothing…we kept fighting. But
I was getting really warm so I took off my jacket and then I started feeling
dizzy…" Jason's felt his knees give out and he dropped back to the couch. "I
can't believe she did that to me."
Philip moved over to sit next to his
friend. "She must have set this up and then made Mimi think things were getting
hot and heavy between the two of you."
"But how could she have known Mimi
would be walking down near the lake just as she was putting her plan into
action?" Shawn asked.
"I don't know…maybe it was dumb
luck." Philip answered before turning to Jason. "You really thought you were
with Mimi?"
Jason nodded his head silently,
still unable to come to grips what Jan had done. "I told her how Jan made me
feel like a piece of meat and how she, meaning Mimi, made me feel like a better
person."
"Well, I bet Jan hadn't planned on
hearing that come out of your mouth."
"Yeah," Jason rubbed his hand along
his jaw, wincing when he hit a tender spot, "speaking of mouth, I think she
nailed me a good one."
"Did you drink both cups of beer?"
"I can't remember…I don't think so."
"It's a damn good thing you didn't,"
Shawn said, "or else you never would have been there for Belle."
Jason nodded in agreement.
"Well, at least now you can explain
all of this to Mimi," Philip said.
"Yeah right," Jason said, dropping
back against the cushions, "take a look at the calendar guys and let me know
what day hell is scheduled to freeze over."
To
be continued…