Driving Home
Car rides, with Nancy and Craig, have always been weird for Chloe. Being in a car with flirty thirty-somethings was not Chloe's idea of a pleasure trip. For the last few months, the flirty banter was replaced by an eerie silence. This morning was no different from previous mornings, except today, their visit to the hospital finally yielded a conclusive answer and the gravity of it was slowly sinking in for the Wesleys and Chloe. When Nancy sniffled, Chloe leaned forward and touched her shoulder. Nancy touched Chloe's hand, patting it reassuringly, as Chloe leaned back in her seat. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Sarah Vaughan CD. She looked around the floor of the car, but couldn't find the player. She leaned her head against the window and stared at the cover. Sighing, she placed the CD in her pocket and looked out of the window, watching the trees pass her. She slowly closed her eyes.
*********FLASHBACK**********
Chloe sat in the doctor's office as his words reverberated in her ears. 'Chloe, you have leukemia'. Chloe tried to sweep away his words and her parents' reactions, but somehow, everything that was said got through.
N: You told me that she would be okay.
Chloe tried to focus on her Julliard audition. Not getting into the master class would be the end of her world, at least, that was what she thought before her appointment.
N: …cancer that has been eating away at her for months? Cancer, that my husband, the chief of staff, couldn't detect…
More than anything, Chloe needed silence, but it was the last thing she got.
N: My beautiful baby… Don't touch me or my child, Craig. Left in your hands, she would be dead…
Why wasn't it happening? Why wasn't it, whatever it was, protecting her? Did she squander it during her daily run-ins with Salem High's best and brightest?
Cr: (quietly) I love her, just as much you do. And for you to say I was careless or negligent…
At that moment, she realized that her safety net was gone. Like her health, her ability to ignore hurtful moments was failing her. She searched within herself, for anything to distract her from this. She tried to picture herself on stage at the Met, looking out at a captivated audience, but all she could see was a desk, littered with her test results. She tried to go to Last Blast, where she and Phillip revealed their connection publicly, but she could only see Nancy and Craig's connection degenerating. She tried to go to the gazebo, where she and Brady goofed around amid fragrant, flowering trees, but she could only see her parents emotionally imploding, amid a doctor's sterile office.
N: (weeping) I'm sorry, Craig… I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it…
Where was Nancy's optimism? The last thing Chloe needed was for Nancy to be as cynical as she was. Clarence. Why was she thinking about him and that movie, 'It's a Wonderful Life'? It's not like it's her favorite movie. At least it was something else to think about, besides leukemia. What did he say? ' Each man's life touches so many other lives. And when he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole.' That was a perfect description of Nancy's optimistic, upbeat attitude. For so long, it was inconsequential to Chloe, almost like background noise. It was the first thing she encountered when she came home with Nancy. And while she could take Nancy, in small doses, she got used to it from Belle, Shawn, and Phillip. But now, the absence of Nancy's made every exposure Chloe had to positivity, disappear. It was as if Belle never offered her a shoulder to lean on, as if Shawn's arms didn't pull her away from the falling bucket of chicken blood, or Phillip never uttered the words that distracted her from the dead rat hanging in her locker. All at once, the abuse from her foster parents, the harassment from her classmates, the putrid smell of chicken blood, and the smell of the rotting rat besieged Chloe and a wave of nausea washed over her.
Ch: (standing up) Excuse me.
Nancy and Craig watched as she left the room. As she walked hastily away from the doctor's office, she bumped into a blond-haired man in a blue tie.
Ch: (rushing away) Excuse me.
She heard someone call her, but she desperately needed to be near natural light. She headed to the skywalk. Her brisk pace evolved into a run, until the wheelchairs in the hallways, the orderlies wheeling in patients, and the echoes of her running slowed her down. She stopped and took some deep breaths. When she reached the skywalk, she slowly walked through it. She felt strange, as if she wasn't alone, as if she was being followed. She slowly turned around and saw a shadowy figure at the other end of the skywalk. The figure slowly walked toward her. She squinted, trying to see who it was and began to walk toward it. Still squinting from the distance between them and the glare from the windows, she felt an unexpected sense of calm. Shielding her eyes, she halted, waiting for him. She could only make out flaxen hair and a slight, crooked smile.
Ch: Brady, what are you doing here?
The glare from the windows made her shield her eyes. Brady grabbed her elbow and guided her to a shaded area. She relaxed as the darkness relieved the sting in her eyes. She gently rubbed them, trying to focus on Brady.
Ch: (sighing) Brady, what are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come.
Br: I know you did, but… I needed an excuse to get out of the office, so I wanted to drop by and…(sighing) I'm sorry. I just needed to be here.
Ch: (looking at him) Oh.
She lowered her eyes to his chest.
Ch: (rubbing his tie) Nice tie.
Br: (looking down at her) Thanks.
Ch: What color is it?
Br: Blue.
Ch: (annoyed) I know it's blue, but what shade?
Br: (looking down) I think the saleswoman said it was peacock.
Ch: Well, it's gorgeous.
Br: Thanks.
Ch: (staring at the tie) It really brings out the blue in your eyes, not that your eyes need any help.
Br: Don't they?
Ch: (detached) What?
Br: Well, how do you know that this tie brings out the blue in my eyes, if you're not looking into them?
Ch: (quietly) I just know.
Br: Prove it. Look in my eyes.
Chloe sighed and slowly looked up, noticing his jaw line, covered in new stubble, his baby soft lips, the gentle slope of the bridge of his nose. She closed her eyes.
Br: (softly) What's the matter, Chloe?
Ch: (eyes closed) Nothing.
Br: Then why are you afraid of looking in my eyes?
Ch: I'm not.
Br: Prove it.
Annoyed, Chloe slowly opened her eyes and looked into Brady's. She expected to see the clear blue eyes, she's seen thousands of times, with maybe a hint of peacock in them. Before she could manufacture a smile, it disappeared when she saw the darkness in his eyes. Before she could frown, she saw the familiar glint, which intensified as his crooked smile curled. She smiled as she looked at his tie, then at his eyes. As she stared, something drifted across them, something that she couldn't touch or understand. Nervously, she backed away.
Br: (feigning cockiness) So, the Diva is flirting with me?
Ch: (holding in the tears) Yeah. It's one of the things I promised to do before I… go to Julliard.
Br: Was it everything you hoped it would be?
Ch: (feigning coyness) Honey, I barely scratched the surface.
Br: (trying to smile) Well, there's plenty of time to delve into this.
Ch: (coolly) That's what you think.
Chloe turned away from Brady.
Ch: (quietly) What is it about you, Brady?
Br: Diva, you need to be more specific.
Ch: (turning to him) Why is it you're always there, at my lowest moments?
Br: Maybe I'm your bad penny.
Ch: Except, the majority of the bad stuff happened before I met you.
Br: Hey, it's a two-way street. In the two years I've known you, you were ringside to every awful experience I had.
Ch: (muttering) The trend continues…
Br: What was that?
Ch: Maybe I'm your bad penny.
Br: Don't say that.
Ch: It's the truth. (looking at Brady) Why didn't you do as I said? Why didn't you stay away? I thought this day couldn't get any worse and now… you're here. Please leave.
Brady stood there.
Ch: (frustrated) For God's sake, is there any situation that you would do what I ask you to?
Br: Yes.
Ch: What?
Br: (walking to her) I would do anything for you, especially if it was a matter of life and death.
Defeated, Chloe lowered her head. Brady carefully wrapped his arms around her. She tried to push him away, but crumbled in his arms.
Ch: (tears flowing) Brady, I would give anything for you not to know, especially since your mother… I think I'm going to be sick. (taking a breath) I have cancer. I'm going to die.
Chloe felt Brady jolt, as if he was kicked in the stomach. She began to tremble, or maybe it was him trembling, she couldn't tell anymore. He squeezed her tighter, as if he was trying to squeeze the cancer out of her. He took some labored breaths, trying to compose himself, as he rubbed her back.
Br: (quietly) Did the doctor really say you were dying?
Ch: (looking up) Brady, I have leukemia.
Br: But did he say the words ' Chloe, you are going to die'?
Ch: (softly) No.
Br: Then I don't want to hear that from you. (looking in her eyes) Don't you ever say that to me again, do you understand?
She nodded as he embraced her.
Br: I can take your cynicism, hell, I even admire it, but not now. You have two enemies, leukemia and negativity, and you're the only one who can defeat them. You will have help, from your doctors, from your parents and from me, but the burden is on you.
Ch: (voice cracking) I don't know if I can do this.
Br: Of course you can, Chloe. In the past, I've teased you about the 'Diva' thing. Now, it is time for you to take a Diva-like attitude toward this. Nothing can bring you down, not even leukemia. Aside from a Diva-like attitude, you have your opera training, which has taught you discipline, endurance, and focus. You already have everything to beat this, now you need to use it. (lifting her chin) Besides, you have no choice, Chloe. Until now, everything that plagued you, the abuse, the harassment at school, your on-again, off-again relationship with Phillip, have been unfinished business, loose ends, that you decided not to tie. You can't do it this time. You have to go back to that office and find out what you need to do to beat this. (taking her hand) Come on.
Brady guided her down the hallway.
Ch: (quietly) I don't want anyone else to know about this. I don't want Belle, Shawn or Phillip to know.
Br: Okay.
Ch: It's not that I don't trust them, but… they don't seem to understand…
Br: …that there are people who would place bets on your date of death? I think they are slowly realizing that.
Ch: But there will always be a part of them that will have misplaced faith in people. I can't risk them testing it out, with my situation.
Br: Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, not even my dad.
Ch: You're willing to do that, for me?
Br: Yeah. (sighing) I can't believe that I'm saying this but, are you sure you don't want to tell Phillip?
Ch: Believe me, Brady, I know what I'm doing.
Brady and Chloe stood in front of the doctor's door.
Ch: (whispering) Brady, I want you to go home.
Br: Are you sure?
Ch: Yeah. And this time, please do what I ask.
Br: (reluctantly) Okay.
Ch: I'll call you later.
Brady kissed Chloe's forehead tenderly and slowly opened the door. Nancy and Craig stood up as Chloe cautiously entered the room.
N: (composed) Thank you for bringing her back.
Br: No problem. (looking at Chloe) Call me.
Chloe nodded as Brady closed the door.
Ch: (turning to the doctor) Okay, Doctor. You said that I have a good chance of surviving this. Personally, I think you're full of crap. So… how are you going to prove me wrong?
**********END OF FLASHBACK**********
Cr: Chloe.
Chloe roused from her thoughts.
N: Sweetheart, we're home.
Ch: (unbuckling her seatbelt) You guys, can you give me a few minutes alone with Brady?
N: (looking at Craig) Sure.
Nancy and Craig watched as Chloe entered the house. Nancy leaned on Craig's shoulder.