Chapter 14
It took us awhile, but we finally were able to take our case to court. Father Dom even helped us find a lawyer—apparently a student of his from way back when, who just happened to be a mediator.
Seriously, how many mediators are there in California? Three years ago, I didn't even know there were any other mediators but me, and now I move to California, and suddenly they're everywhere.
But it was another three months before we actually went to court. During those three months, I had to endure the weird looks people gave me, and all the whispering they did when they thought I wasn't listening—or worse, when they knew I was listening. And I had to endure the occasional death threat, too, from the Agency.
But the worst thing out of all of it was Jesse's silence. He barely spoke to me now, and you know what? In three months he didn't touch me at all. He didn't even kiss me, and he avoided any accidental contact. And you know what? After the first month or so, I stopped feeling sympathetic and started getting pissed. I was getting tired of the self-loathing, and his acting decidedly un-Jesse like. It was making me miserable.
He was scared, I could tell that much. Scared of what, I don't know. Of what he'd turned into, I guess. And, to be honest, it scared me, too. I'd seen what he had been like at the ranger station; I saw what everything with the Agency had done to him. But at this point, my anger was winning out over my fear.
***
Jesse sat in the window seat in Susannah's room later, staring out the window. He knew Susannah was getting impatient with him, and he knew she deserved much better than the way he was treating her, but he didn't know what else to do.
Sighing, Jesse turned away from the window and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Amelia sitting on the bed, watching him.
"What are you doing here?" Jesse demanded warily. He hadn't seen or heard from his sister or Derek in over two years, and he had assumed that they had both moved on.
Amelia didn't answer him right away. She just looked at him sadly. She shook her head. "You're destroying your marriage, you know," she said softly. "You can't continue acting this way forever."
Jesse glared at her. "It isn't any of your business," he muttered, standing up and walking across the room. "Besides, you don't have a record of great marriages yourself."
Amelia stiffened. "Yes, well, at least I tried," she shot back. "All you do all day is wander around, feeling sorry for yourself, and trying to avoid your wife. From what I know, you hated Paul, and deserved what happened to him."
"That isn't the point."
"Then what is, Jesse?" Amelia demanded, turning to look at him as he began to pace. "Don't ostracize Susannah for something that isn't the fault of either of you. You couldn't control what happened, so you shouldn't blame yourself for it."
Jesse ran a hand through his hair, sighing. He knew she was right and he felt awful for the way he was treating Susannah. "We'll see," was all he said. He looked down at his sister and he was suddenly struck by the irony of their situations. Long ago, he'd watched over her and did whatever he could to make sure she was relatively happy. Now it seemed that their roles were reversed. He smiled a little her, probably the first smile he'd formed in months.
Amelia, as if reading his thoughts, smiled, too. They sat there for a long time in silence. Everything they'd always felt needed to be said suddenly seemed less important in retrospect.
***
A/N: I think there will be more along the lines of this conversation in "Everlasting" (Amelia and Derek's story.) Hopefully, anyway.
***
When I slumped into my bedroom that night, I was exhausted. I'd just come back from the lawyer's, and had had to listen to him go on and on about how the trial had to be pushed back and blah, blah, blah. Apparently there aren't a lot of judges out there who are willing to see a case that sounds totally out there. Well, some of it's fine, I guess. Like the Agency could be charged with murder and illegal experimentation (on minors, no less,) but the rest—ghosts, mind control, you know, the works—well, people had a hard time believing in that sort of thing.
When I looked up, I saw Jesse sitting in the window seat. He didn't seem to have noticed me yet, he was just kind of looking out the window, and he looked like he was thinking really hard about something.
I sighed figuring it was the same thing he'd been thinking about for the past three months. I went into the bathroom to change for bed—somehow it just seemed wrong to do it in front of Jesse anymore. When I came back out, Jesse looked up at me.
He gave me wary smile, the first I'd seen in a long time. "Susannah," he said softly. He stood up and took a tentative step toward me, like he was sure if he should approach me or not. When I didn't say anything, he kept going, and finally he was right there in front of me.
"I—I'm sorry," he said after a long moment. Jesse touched my cheek, the first contact he'd bothered to make in what seemed like forever. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, burying my face in his chest. His arms went around my waist, squeezing me tightly.
"It's okay," I told him and, as we stood there like that, I could believe, if only for a little while, that everything was okay. At least between us.
I didn't know what finally brought him around, but whatever it was, I was glad it happened, because I don't think that I could have gotten through the next few weeks without him.
I'd already won one battle, now it was time to finish the other one.
***
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. Blah. I'm going to try to update this faster, 'cause I want it to be finished, lol. I've spent almost two years on this storyline—including the time it took me to write Another Haunted before I posted on ff.net—and I'm ready to move on. I have another story thing in the works, but it'll be a long time before I can post it because I need to rewrite it and all that.
But in case you're interested... I wrote awhile back a story about another mediator (who didn't live in CA and never meets Suze) and all the stuff she goes through... Yeah. It's got a nice hot ghost and everything, lol. There are... five stories, I think right now. There will probably end up being six. So I have a whole new batch of characters to torture, lol. By the time I'm done with Anna and Alex (the mediator and the hot ghost) you will feel very bad for whatever poor soul ends up in my stories... but they always have a happy ending. :-)
It took us awhile, but we finally were able to take our case to court. Father Dom even helped us find a lawyer—apparently a student of his from way back when, who just happened to be a mediator.
Seriously, how many mediators are there in California? Three years ago, I didn't even know there were any other mediators but me, and now I move to California, and suddenly they're everywhere.
But it was another three months before we actually went to court. During those three months, I had to endure the weird looks people gave me, and all the whispering they did when they thought I wasn't listening—or worse, when they knew I was listening. And I had to endure the occasional death threat, too, from the Agency.
But the worst thing out of all of it was Jesse's silence. He barely spoke to me now, and you know what? In three months he didn't touch me at all. He didn't even kiss me, and he avoided any accidental contact. And you know what? After the first month or so, I stopped feeling sympathetic and started getting pissed. I was getting tired of the self-loathing, and his acting decidedly un-Jesse like. It was making me miserable.
He was scared, I could tell that much. Scared of what, I don't know. Of what he'd turned into, I guess. And, to be honest, it scared me, too. I'd seen what he had been like at the ranger station; I saw what everything with the Agency had done to him. But at this point, my anger was winning out over my fear.
***
Jesse sat in the window seat in Susannah's room later, staring out the window. He knew Susannah was getting impatient with him, and he knew she deserved much better than the way he was treating her, but he didn't know what else to do.
Sighing, Jesse turned away from the window and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Amelia sitting on the bed, watching him.
"What are you doing here?" Jesse demanded warily. He hadn't seen or heard from his sister or Derek in over two years, and he had assumed that they had both moved on.
Amelia didn't answer him right away. She just looked at him sadly. She shook her head. "You're destroying your marriage, you know," she said softly. "You can't continue acting this way forever."
Jesse glared at her. "It isn't any of your business," he muttered, standing up and walking across the room. "Besides, you don't have a record of great marriages yourself."
Amelia stiffened. "Yes, well, at least I tried," she shot back. "All you do all day is wander around, feeling sorry for yourself, and trying to avoid your wife. From what I know, you hated Paul, and deserved what happened to him."
"That isn't the point."
"Then what is, Jesse?" Amelia demanded, turning to look at him as he began to pace. "Don't ostracize Susannah for something that isn't the fault of either of you. You couldn't control what happened, so you shouldn't blame yourself for it."
Jesse ran a hand through his hair, sighing. He knew she was right and he felt awful for the way he was treating Susannah. "We'll see," was all he said. He looked down at his sister and he was suddenly struck by the irony of their situations. Long ago, he'd watched over her and did whatever he could to make sure she was relatively happy. Now it seemed that their roles were reversed. He smiled a little her, probably the first smile he'd formed in months.
Amelia, as if reading his thoughts, smiled, too. They sat there for a long time in silence. Everything they'd always felt needed to be said suddenly seemed less important in retrospect.
***
A/N: I think there will be more along the lines of this conversation in "Everlasting" (Amelia and Derek's story.) Hopefully, anyway.
***
When I slumped into my bedroom that night, I was exhausted. I'd just come back from the lawyer's, and had had to listen to him go on and on about how the trial had to be pushed back and blah, blah, blah. Apparently there aren't a lot of judges out there who are willing to see a case that sounds totally out there. Well, some of it's fine, I guess. Like the Agency could be charged with murder and illegal experimentation (on minors, no less,) but the rest—ghosts, mind control, you know, the works—well, people had a hard time believing in that sort of thing.
When I looked up, I saw Jesse sitting in the window seat. He didn't seem to have noticed me yet, he was just kind of looking out the window, and he looked like he was thinking really hard about something.
I sighed figuring it was the same thing he'd been thinking about for the past three months. I went into the bathroom to change for bed—somehow it just seemed wrong to do it in front of Jesse anymore. When I came back out, Jesse looked up at me.
He gave me wary smile, the first I'd seen in a long time. "Susannah," he said softly. He stood up and took a tentative step toward me, like he was sure if he should approach me or not. When I didn't say anything, he kept going, and finally he was right there in front of me.
"I—I'm sorry," he said after a long moment. Jesse touched my cheek, the first contact he'd bothered to make in what seemed like forever. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, burying my face in his chest. His arms went around my waist, squeezing me tightly.
"It's okay," I told him and, as we stood there like that, I could believe, if only for a little while, that everything was okay. At least between us.
I didn't know what finally brought him around, but whatever it was, I was glad it happened, because I don't think that I could have gotten through the next few weeks without him.
I'd already won one battle, now it was time to finish the other one.
***
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. Blah. I'm going to try to update this faster, 'cause I want it to be finished, lol. I've spent almost two years on this storyline—including the time it took me to write Another Haunted before I posted on ff.net—and I'm ready to move on. I have another story thing in the works, but it'll be a long time before I can post it because I need to rewrite it and all that.
But in case you're interested... I wrote awhile back a story about another mediator (who didn't live in CA and never meets Suze) and all the stuff she goes through... Yeah. It's got a nice hot ghost and everything, lol. There are... five stories, I think right now. There will probably end up being six. So I have a whole new batch of characters to torture, lol. By the time I'm done with Anna and Alex (the mediator and the hot ghost) you will feel very bad for whatever poor soul ends up in my stories... but they always have a happy ending. :-)