Disclaimer- Obviously, no tengo un Michael Vartan. Damn.
Author's Note- This is sad. Very sad. It's made people cry. You have been warned.
Feedback- Reply here, or e-mail me at kdirectorate@mindless.com
Jogging In Place
Chapter Two
Chloe
Michael watched his wife. Her eyes were wandering, taking in the details of the room. Her room that she had spent months decorating. It was perfection within four white, silk covered walls. Her head turned back to him. Her eyes stared at him. Slowly she turned away and walked out of the room, on her journey through their house.
He put his head in his hands. He had lost his wife for a year once, he wasn't going to do it again. Their bathroom medicine cabinet was proof of the fact that his wife had once gone astray, leaving him to wish she was with him. Bottles of Prozac and Celexa piled in, surrounded by mega- strength ibuprofen, with bottles of sleeping pills thrown in the strew. Most of them were half-full, except for the depression medicine. Those had been emptied time and time again, always replaced with a new bottle. The dates on those bottles were recent, as if to say Sydney wasn't strong enough. She would always need them. Each bottle told a story, each bottle held the contents of a horrific time in Michael Vaughn's life.
Three years and eight months had passed since he had first heard the news. Her face had glowed with a radiance that could only be described by one word. Motherhood. They had been nervous at first. Telling Jack that Sydney was going to be an unwed mother for a while scared both of them, but Jack had received the news well. He was smart, and he knew Michael would never leave his daughter. Laura, also took the news well. She had been released from custody and was living a regular life, and was ecstatic that she would be a grandmother. Alex also was overjoyed that he would be an uncle. Even Francie and Will were delighted at the news. No one could ever top Michael and Sydney's joy however.
Nine months later, he found himself face to face with his tiny bundle of joy. Chloe Jacqueline Vaughn. His very own daughter. She had her mother's chestnut hair and her father's hazel eyes. She was a fast learner, walking at nine months, talking by twenty months. She surprised both her parent's by her apparent advanced mind. She had always been an angel, never crying or screaming. There were no tantrums at the local grocer, never a time out at home. The flower girl at her parents wedding, she had looked like an angel in the pale pastel pink dress, roses in her hair and baby's breath and lilies in her basket.
They never knew exactly what had happened. Sydney had been making Jell-O for a cookout later that week and had turned on the stove to boil water. Being the mother she made sure to turn the handle away from the edge, even though Chloe knew to stay away from the stove. Chloe was always safe, repeating the word hot when her mother used the stove, as if warning Sydney to stay away. The phone rang and Sydney went to answer it. Turning away to look at the calendar in the room adjacent to kitchen, she heard the scream. Apparently, Chloe had slipped on the rug next to the stove. Trying to catch herself she grabbed on to something. How she grabbed the handle, we'll never know. Sydney turned to see the scalding water cascading down Chloe's body.
He got the call at work. He was in a meeting with Devlin when he was told to go to the emergency room. Something had happened to Chloe. Upon arriving he was whisked to the Burn Center in the Intensive Care Unit. There was his angel, covered in gauze. She fought for thirty-eight hours, until her dance with death ended. Throughout it all, she never cried. It was as if God had taken away all her pain.
As soon as she died Sydney was thrown into deep depression. Blaming herself for Chloe's death, she didn't eat for days at a time. Within a month of Chloe's death she had lost nearly 50 pounds, and was very ill. It was then that Sydney began to receive medicine. Even with it, she wouldn't talk or sleep. When she did sleep she was haunted by nightmares and spent half the night screaming uncontrollably. She pushed Michael out of her life, feeling it was the only way to protect him. They were that way for a year, and then Sydney began to open up to him.
And now she was closed off to him again, and this time he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't take the pain away, and sooner or later she was going to ask questions. How was he going to explain the last year to her?
Author's Note- This is sad. Very sad. It's made people cry. You have been warned.
Feedback- Reply here, or e-mail me at kdirectorate@mindless.com
Jogging In Place
Chapter Two
Chloe
Michael watched his wife. Her eyes were wandering, taking in the details of the room. Her room that she had spent months decorating. It was perfection within four white, silk covered walls. Her head turned back to him. Her eyes stared at him. Slowly she turned away and walked out of the room, on her journey through their house.
He put his head in his hands. He had lost his wife for a year once, he wasn't going to do it again. Their bathroom medicine cabinet was proof of the fact that his wife had once gone astray, leaving him to wish she was with him. Bottles of Prozac and Celexa piled in, surrounded by mega- strength ibuprofen, with bottles of sleeping pills thrown in the strew. Most of them were half-full, except for the depression medicine. Those had been emptied time and time again, always replaced with a new bottle. The dates on those bottles were recent, as if to say Sydney wasn't strong enough. She would always need them. Each bottle told a story, each bottle held the contents of a horrific time in Michael Vaughn's life.
Three years and eight months had passed since he had first heard the news. Her face had glowed with a radiance that could only be described by one word. Motherhood. They had been nervous at first. Telling Jack that Sydney was going to be an unwed mother for a while scared both of them, but Jack had received the news well. He was smart, and he knew Michael would never leave his daughter. Laura, also took the news well. She had been released from custody and was living a regular life, and was ecstatic that she would be a grandmother. Alex also was overjoyed that he would be an uncle. Even Francie and Will were delighted at the news. No one could ever top Michael and Sydney's joy however.
Nine months later, he found himself face to face with his tiny bundle of joy. Chloe Jacqueline Vaughn. His very own daughter. She had her mother's chestnut hair and her father's hazel eyes. She was a fast learner, walking at nine months, talking by twenty months. She surprised both her parent's by her apparent advanced mind. She had always been an angel, never crying or screaming. There were no tantrums at the local grocer, never a time out at home. The flower girl at her parents wedding, she had looked like an angel in the pale pastel pink dress, roses in her hair and baby's breath and lilies in her basket.
They never knew exactly what had happened. Sydney had been making Jell-O for a cookout later that week and had turned on the stove to boil water. Being the mother she made sure to turn the handle away from the edge, even though Chloe knew to stay away from the stove. Chloe was always safe, repeating the word hot when her mother used the stove, as if warning Sydney to stay away. The phone rang and Sydney went to answer it. Turning away to look at the calendar in the room adjacent to kitchen, she heard the scream. Apparently, Chloe had slipped on the rug next to the stove. Trying to catch herself she grabbed on to something. How she grabbed the handle, we'll never know. Sydney turned to see the scalding water cascading down Chloe's body.
He got the call at work. He was in a meeting with Devlin when he was told to go to the emergency room. Something had happened to Chloe. Upon arriving he was whisked to the Burn Center in the Intensive Care Unit. There was his angel, covered in gauze. She fought for thirty-eight hours, until her dance with death ended. Throughout it all, she never cried. It was as if God had taken away all her pain.
As soon as she died Sydney was thrown into deep depression. Blaming herself for Chloe's death, she didn't eat for days at a time. Within a month of Chloe's death she had lost nearly 50 pounds, and was very ill. It was then that Sydney began to receive medicine. Even with it, she wouldn't talk or sleep. When she did sleep she was haunted by nightmares and spent half the night screaming uncontrollably. She pushed Michael out of her life, feeling it was the only way to protect him. They were that way for a year, and then Sydney began to open up to him.
And now she was closed off to him again, and this time he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't take the pain away, and sooner or later she was going to ask questions. How was he going to explain the last year to her?