Part 7: Sunday
Carol Hathaway-Ross awoke suddenly at looked at the clock. It was almost eight o'clock. She put on a bathrobe and walked down the hall knocking on two doors and opening the third. The bed was empty which was odd because Carol normally had a hard time getting Kate up in the morning.
"Mom," Tess called from the hallway. "Kate is sitting on the bathroom floor, and she doesn't look so good."
Carol opened the bathroom door and saw Kate curled up on the floor. "How long have you been here?" she asked crouching down onto her knees.
"Hours," Kate replied.
"Is it your stomach?" Carol asked feeling Kate's forehead.
"Yeah, I finally stopped puking because there is nothing left for me to puke up," Kate explained.
Tess was still standing in the hallway.
"Tess, go make sure Meg is ready for church," Carol instructed.
Tess left to make sure her sister had not fallen asleep again.
"Are you going to be all right if I leave for a few minutes?" Carol questioned.
Kate nodded and laid her head against the tile floor.
Carol walked into the master bedroom and changed her clothes quickly. She looked in the mirror as she pulled her hair back into a bun. She gave herself a once over and went to Doug's side of the bed.
"Doug," she said running her hands through his hair.
"Yeah?" he asked still half asleep.
"Kate is sick," she told him.
"Sorry, it's my day off," he told her.
"I need you to make sure she gets back to bed," Carol stated.
"Why can't you?" he moaned.
"If I don't leave now, we'll be late for church," she explained. "It isn't my fault you drank so much last night at the benefit."
"I'm getting up," he mumbled. He pulled a pair of sweatpants on over his boxers, and Carol hurried Meg and Tess out the front door.
Doug knocked on the bathroom door before he opened it a crack. Kate was still lying with her face pressed against the floor. Kate looked worse than Doug felt.
"Let me help you get back into bed," Doug said. He helped her off the floor and walked with her to her room. He pulled back the blankets, and Kate climbed into bed.
"I'll go get you glass of water," he told her before leaving the room.
He came back a few minutes later with a plastic cup filled with water and a large bowl. "Take few sips," he said gently.
She sat up and he held the cup for her.
"Try and get some sleep. I'll check on you in a little bit," Doug told her as he started for the door.
"Dad?" Kate called softly.
"Yeah," he answered.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked.
"No, I was never mad just disappointed," Doug replied.
"Will you stay?" she asked.
"Of course," he said pulling the desk chair closer to the bed.
Kate feel asleep after a few minutes, but Doug didn't leave. He looked at the rows of books on Kate's bookshelf. He picked up "To Kill a Mockingbird" and began to read it. He was in the middle of Mayella's testimony when Carol, Tess, and Meg returned home. He could here Tess and Meg pound up the stairs and into their separate rooms.
"How is she?" Carol asked coming into the room.
"Tired," Doug answered.
"She was up half the night. Probably since before we came home," she responded.
Kate rolled over and opened her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked her.
"Crappy," Kate replied.
Carol smiled and told Kate, "I can always count on you to give detailed answers. I'll go make some soup."
Kate sat up and looked at the book in Doug's hands. "That is one of my favorite books," she told him.
"You like to read?" he questioned.
"No, I am really sitting in my room performing witchcraft all afternoon. Yes, I read all time," Kate explained.
"If I tell you something, can you keep it secret?" Doug asked her.
Kate thought for a moment and nodded.
"I haven't even run this by your mom so not a peep. I believed I've mentioned Andrew around here before. Well, I want to have him come stay with us," Doug told her.
"Wait like for good?" Kate questioned.
"Not at first but perhaps," he answered. "So what do you think?"
"It's okay I guess, but where is he going to sleep?" she questioned.
"We can work that out later. I think I'm going to check on your soup," Doug said.
Kate leaned against the wall pulling the covers up over her head.
"Hey," Tess said poking her head into Kate's room, "Can I come in?"
"I guess," Kate told her.
"I'm sorry I tried to take your purse the other day. It's just I wanted…" Tess began to explained.
"Don't worry about. Sorry about your eye," Kate apologized.
"I think I should tell everyone that I got into a fight then maybe people would stop talking about me at school," Tess said.
"They're jealous of you," Kate stated.
"Huh?" Tess questioned.
"The reason people talk about you is because they're jealous," Kate explained.
"Jealous of what?" Tess asked.
"Everything. You have the life everyone wants. You're pretty, you're popular, you're nice… If you tell anyone this, I will kill you, but sometimes I wish I was you," Kate admitted.
"Really? Sometimes I wish I could just do what I wanted and not just what all my friends do. You don't follow anyone, and people still like you," Tess told her.
"Remember in first grade when I would cry because I missed you?" Kate questioned.
"Yeah, and your teacher would have to come get me out of class so you would stop crying," Tess finished. "What ever happened to that?"
"I'll try it next time I want to get out of English," Kate said.
Tess laughed and asked, "Do you want to hang out sometime?"
"Yeah, I'd like that but wait," Kate said. "I'm grounded."
"Well, we could hang out here and watch a movie or something," Tess offered.
"All right, Dad never told me I couldn't watch TV," Kate replied.
"What are you guys doing? Meg asked from the hall.
"Talking about you," Kate told her younger sister.
"You're lying. I thought you weren't supposed to lie anymore?" Meg questioned.
"I just can't lie to Mom and Dad. They didn't say anything about not lying to you," Kate said.
Meg put her hands on her hips and glared.
"Quit pouting and get over here," Tess told her.
Meg came in and flopped on the floor next to Tess.
"What are we doing?" Meg asked.
"Trying to think of something to do," Tess replied.
"I want to play Monopoly," Meg said.
"Kate?" Tess questioned.
"Fine with me," Kate responded.
"Go find the game," Tess told Meg.
Meg walked downstairs and into the family room. She stood in the middle of the room looking around. She then got on her knees and checked for the game under the couch. No luck.
"Mom," Meg called. "Where is the Monopoly game?"
"I put it in the basement," Carol told her.
"Why?" Meg asked.
"No one has played it in years. It was just gathering dust up here," Carol explained.
"Well, we want to play it," Meg said.
"It should be on the shelf," Carol replied. "If you can't reach it, I'm sure your father would be delighted to get it down for you."
"What's that?" Doug asked looking up the newspaper.
"Nothing," Meg told him.
Meg turned on the light and walked down the basement steps. Not too far from the stairs stood a tall shelving unit. Meg looked for the game and spotted it on the shelf just above her head. She reached for it but couldn't get her fingers on it. She stepped on the bottom shelf giving herself the extras height needed to reach the Monopoly game. She took the game in one hand and started to climb down. She lost her footing and fell onto the cement floor. Meg immediately felt a sharp pain running through her arm, and she started to cry. She had pulled one on the shelves to the floor with her causing a loud crash.
"Are you okay?" Carol called.
Meg tried to think of how she should answer. Carol didn't wait long for a reply. She descended down the stairs and found Meg on the floor.
"I fell," Meg told her.
"I can see that. Are you all right?" she questioned.
"My arm hurts," she said.
Carol bent down and saw at once the Meg had broken her arm.
"Can you stand up?" Carol asked.
Meg looked around at her situation and then back at Carol. She began crying harder.
"You're too big for me to carry," Carol told her. "I'll go get Daddy. Will you be all right alone for a little while?"
Meg nodded, and Carol ran upstairs.
Doug looked up at Carol and asked, "Did she knock the shelve over?"
"Yeah, her arm is broken," Carol said. "She doesn't want to walk so you need to carry her."
Doug stood up and returned a few moments later with Meg in his arms. He set her down on the kitchen table and looked at her arm.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" he asked.
Meg nodded.
"Where?" he questioned.
"Everywhere, but my arm hurts to most," she told him.
"Okay, sit tight for minute," he said.
"Are we both going to go with her?" Carol asked.
"I don't see why not," he replied. "I'll go tell Tess and Kate we're leaving."
"Oh, Kate," Carol said remembering that her daughter wasn't feeling well.
"I'll ask her if she'll be all right," Doug said before leaving the room.
As he left her heard Carol asking Meg where her shoes were.
Upstairs Doug found Tess and Kate in Kate's room.
"Have you seen Meg?" Tess asked him. "We think she got lost."
"No, she's not lost. She fell and broke her arm. You're mom and I are taking her to the hospital. Kate, will you be okay without us here?" he asked.
"Yeah, go with Meg," Kate told him.
"We'll be back later," he told them before leaving.
A few hours later Doug, Carol, and Meg returned to find Tess making dinner.
"Look, it's purple," Meg said showing Tess has cast.
"Nice, can I be the first one to sign it?" Tess asked.
"Yeah, can you draw a picture too?" Meg questioned.
"Sure anything you want. Come on up to my room. I have some markers that might work on it," Tess told her.
Meg sprinted towards the stairs.
"Meg, slow down," Carol said automatically.
Meg slowed, and she and Tess made their ways upstairs.
"I'll go check on Kate if you'll try to figure out what to do with Tess' concoction," Carol said to Doug.
"Throw down the sink," he answered.
She looked at him and said, "Always the comedian."
Note for Banana Belle
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really love this story, and I hope you do to. I have stated working on a sequel, but I'm not sure when it will be ready to post. I just started a new Summerland story, and I want to work on it for awhile. Let me know what you thought of the whole thing or just the last chapter. For some reason stupid fanfiction.net didn't put this story in the right spot. Jerks. So I decided to edit and post this chapter again. Until the sequel, this is Banana Belle signing off.
Carol Hathaway-Ross awoke suddenly at looked at the clock. It was almost eight o'clock. She put on a bathrobe and walked down the hall knocking on two doors and opening the third. The bed was empty which was odd because Carol normally had a hard time getting Kate up in the morning.
"Mom," Tess called from the hallway. "Kate is sitting on the bathroom floor, and she doesn't look so good."
Carol opened the bathroom door and saw Kate curled up on the floor. "How long have you been here?" she asked crouching down onto her knees.
"Hours," Kate replied.
"Is it your stomach?" Carol asked feeling Kate's forehead.
"Yeah, I finally stopped puking because there is nothing left for me to puke up," Kate explained.
Tess was still standing in the hallway.
"Tess, go make sure Meg is ready for church," Carol instructed.
Tess left to make sure her sister had not fallen asleep again.
"Are you going to be all right if I leave for a few minutes?" Carol questioned.
Kate nodded and laid her head against the tile floor.
Carol walked into the master bedroom and changed her clothes quickly. She looked in the mirror as she pulled her hair back into a bun. She gave herself a once over and went to Doug's side of the bed.
"Doug," she said running her hands through his hair.
"Yeah?" he asked still half asleep.
"Kate is sick," she told him.
"Sorry, it's my day off," he told her.
"I need you to make sure she gets back to bed," Carol stated.
"Why can't you?" he moaned.
"If I don't leave now, we'll be late for church," she explained. "It isn't my fault you drank so much last night at the benefit."
"I'm getting up," he mumbled. He pulled a pair of sweatpants on over his boxers, and Carol hurried Meg and Tess out the front door.
Doug knocked on the bathroom door before he opened it a crack. Kate was still lying with her face pressed against the floor. Kate looked worse than Doug felt.
"Let me help you get back into bed," Doug said. He helped her off the floor and walked with her to her room. He pulled back the blankets, and Kate climbed into bed.
"I'll go get you glass of water," he told her before leaving the room.
He came back a few minutes later with a plastic cup filled with water and a large bowl. "Take few sips," he said gently.
She sat up and he held the cup for her.
"Try and get some sleep. I'll check on you in a little bit," Doug told her as he started for the door.
"Dad?" Kate called softly.
"Yeah," he answered.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked.
"No, I was never mad just disappointed," Doug replied.
"Will you stay?" she asked.
"Of course," he said pulling the desk chair closer to the bed.
Kate feel asleep after a few minutes, but Doug didn't leave. He looked at the rows of books on Kate's bookshelf. He picked up "To Kill a Mockingbird" and began to read it. He was in the middle of Mayella's testimony when Carol, Tess, and Meg returned home. He could here Tess and Meg pound up the stairs and into their separate rooms.
"How is she?" Carol asked coming into the room.
"Tired," Doug answered.
"She was up half the night. Probably since before we came home," she responded.
Kate rolled over and opened her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked her.
"Crappy," Kate replied.
Carol smiled and told Kate, "I can always count on you to give detailed answers. I'll go make some soup."
Kate sat up and looked at the book in Doug's hands. "That is one of my favorite books," she told him.
"You like to read?" he questioned.
"No, I am really sitting in my room performing witchcraft all afternoon. Yes, I read all time," Kate explained.
"If I tell you something, can you keep it secret?" Doug asked her.
Kate thought for a moment and nodded.
"I haven't even run this by your mom so not a peep. I believed I've mentioned Andrew around here before. Well, I want to have him come stay with us," Doug told her.
"Wait like for good?" Kate questioned.
"Not at first but perhaps," he answered. "So what do you think?"
"It's okay I guess, but where is he going to sleep?" she questioned.
"We can work that out later. I think I'm going to check on your soup," Doug said.
Kate leaned against the wall pulling the covers up over her head.
"Hey," Tess said poking her head into Kate's room, "Can I come in?"
"I guess," Kate told her.
"I'm sorry I tried to take your purse the other day. It's just I wanted…" Tess began to explained.
"Don't worry about. Sorry about your eye," Kate apologized.
"I think I should tell everyone that I got into a fight then maybe people would stop talking about me at school," Tess said.
"They're jealous of you," Kate stated.
"Huh?" Tess questioned.
"The reason people talk about you is because they're jealous," Kate explained.
"Jealous of what?" Tess asked.
"Everything. You have the life everyone wants. You're pretty, you're popular, you're nice… If you tell anyone this, I will kill you, but sometimes I wish I was you," Kate admitted.
"Really? Sometimes I wish I could just do what I wanted and not just what all my friends do. You don't follow anyone, and people still like you," Tess told her.
"Remember in first grade when I would cry because I missed you?" Kate questioned.
"Yeah, and your teacher would have to come get me out of class so you would stop crying," Tess finished. "What ever happened to that?"
"I'll try it next time I want to get out of English," Kate said.
Tess laughed and asked, "Do you want to hang out sometime?"
"Yeah, I'd like that but wait," Kate said. "I'm grounded."
"Well, we could hang out here and watch a movie or something," Tess offered.
"All right, Dad never told me I couldn't watch TV," Kate replied.
"What are you guys doing? Meg asked from the hall.
"Talking about you," Kate told her younger sister.
"You're lying. I thought you weren't supposed to lie anymore?" Meg questioned.
"I just can't lie to Mom and Dad. They didn't say anything about not lying to you," Kate said.
Meg put her hands on her hips and glared.
"Quit pouting and get over here," Tess told her.
Meg came in and flopped on the floor next to Tess.
"What are we doing?" Meg asked.
"Trying to think of something to do," Tess replied.
"I want to play Monopoly," Meg said.
"Kate?" Tess questioned.
"Fine with me," Kate responded.
"Go find the game," Tess told Meg.
Meg walked downstairs and into the family room. She stood in the middle of the room looking around. She then got on her knees and checked for the game under the couch. No luck.
"Mom," Meg called. "Where is the Monopoly game?"
"I put it in the basement," Carol told her.
"Why?" Meg asked.
"No one has played it in years. It was just gathering dust up here," Carol explained.
"Well, we want to play it," Meg said.
"It should be on the shelf," Carol replied. "If you can't reach it, I'm sure your father would be delighted to get it down for you."
"What's that?" Doug asked looking up the newspaper.
"Nothing," Meg told him.
Meg turned on the light and walked down the basement steps. Not too far from the stairs stood a tall shelving unit. Meg looked for the game and spotted it on the shelf just above her head. She reached for it but couldn't get her fingers on it. She stepped on the bottom shelf giving herself the extras height needed to reach the Monopoly game. She took the game in one hand and started to climb down. She lost her footing and fell onto the cement floor. Meg immediately felt a sharp pain running through her arm, and she started to cry. She had pulled one on the shelves to the floor with her causing a loud crash.
"Are you okay?" Carol called.
Meg tried to think of how she should answer. Carol didn't wait long for a reply. She descended down the stairs and found Meg on the floor.
"I fell," Meg told her.
"I can see that. Are you all right?" she questioned.
"My arm hurts," she said.
Carol bent down and saw at once the Meg had broken her arm.
"Can you stand up?" Carol asked.
Meg looked around at her situation and then back at Carol. She began crying harder.
"You're too big for me to carry," Carol told her. "I'll go get Daddy. Will you be all right alone for a little while?"
Meg nodded, and Carol ran upstairs.
Doug looked up at Carol and asked, "Did she knock the shelve over?"
"Yeah, her arm is broken," Carol said. "She doesn't want to walk so you need to carry her."
Doug stood up and returned a few moments later with Meg in his arms. He set her down on the kitchen table and looked at her arm.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" he asked.
Meg nodded.
"Where?" he questioned.
"Everywhere, but my arm hurts to most," she told him.
"Okay, sit tight for minute," he said.
"Are we both going to go with her?" Carol asked.
"I don't see why not," he replied. "I'll go tell Tess and Kate we're leaving."
"Oh, Kate," Carol said remembering that her daughter wasn't feeling well.
"I'll ask her if she'll be all right," Doug said before leaving the room.
As he left her heard Carol asking Meg where her shoes were.
Upstairs Doug found Tess and Kate in Kate's room.
"Have you seen Meg?" Tess asked him. "We think she got lost."
"No, she's not lost. She fell and broke her arm. You're mom and I are taking her to the hospital. Kate, will you be okay without us here?" he asked.
"Yeah, go with Meg," Kate told him.
"We'll be back later," he told them before leaving.
A few hours later Doug, Carol, and Meg returned to find Tess making dinner.
"Look, it's purple," Meg said showing Tess has cast.
"Nice, can I be the first one to sign it?" Tess asked.
"Yeah, can you draw a picture too?" Meg questioned.
"Sure anything you want. Come on up to my room. I have some markers that might work on it," Tess told her.
Meg sprinted towards the stairs.
"Meg, slow down," Carol said automatically.
Meg slowed, and she and Tess made their ways upstairs.
"I'll go check on Kate if you'll try to figure out what to do with Tess' concoction," Carol said to Doug.
"Throw down the sink," he answered.
She looked at him and said, "Always the comedian."
Note for Banana Belle
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really love this story, and I hope you do to. I have stated working on a sequel, but I'm not sure when it will be ready to post. I just started a new Summerland story, and I want to work on it for awhile. Let me know what you thought of the whole thing or just the last chapter. For some reason stupid fanfiction.net didn't put this story in the right spot. Jerks. So I decided to edit and post this chapter again. Until the sequel, this is Banana Belle signing off.