Lightning-Dono: Who would ever have expected that to happen? xD Yes, Karen seems strong, but did anyone ever think she would fall someday? I did. And I made her take the fall. Because...she had to and that was part of the story. Problem solved. I'm feeling less affected today, so I'll continue the fic. =)
Okay, I guess I'll explain to you all how I feel about it, just to let it out once again.
I actually feel pretty good about this divorce deep down. Why? I've always imagined that it would happen someday because they've argued and fought so much. And I never want to hear them yell at eachother again because they're married because they love eachother, but because they want to hate. I've always believed that they would stay together until 2 years ago when they started agrue more and more about things that no one would ever care about.
But that's enough of my babble. I have a fanfic to write and I'm going to write it!
Thanks for the Help:
Fairy Friend--Thanks for the encouragement and remarks that let me know this fic was worth my time! I appreciate your help!
Cassie--Yes, doesn't it make us all so happy that someone is finally shedding some light upon his personality and life? I don't know why everyone dislikes him. I don't think he's all that bad. But the again, I tend to like people that no one seems to like. oo
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I bolted up on the bed, gazing at my mom through blurry eyes. Part of the reason that my eyes were blurry was because I had just woken up, and the other was because my glasses were lying on the nightstand, forgotten and unnoticed.
"Why?"
"I...You need to go down there tonight. Karen says she wants you to come," mom said sternly, leaving me no choice. I sighed dramatically, but my heart was still beating at an irregular pace. She raised an eyebrow at me suspisciously.
"You'll go, Rick. Because I don't want you to feel guilty about not going later on."
"Yes, mom, I'll go." I nearly collapsed on the floor as I got out of bed. She closed the door behind her, glancing back at me worridly. I placed my feet carefully into my shoes and got up, fully dressed.
While I was walking to the hospital, I felt as though I was just floating. My feet were moving swiftly and my eyes were looking straight ahead. The sound of crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and the humming of power generators in some houses were accompanied by my nervous whistling. It was a terrible habit, for it annoyed everyone as I was never able to whistle in tune. But it gave me something to concentrate on and rid myself of the apprehensive feelings I had inside. I heard feet shuffling behind me, but I tried to ignore it. Afterall, the clicking that followed the shuffling suggested that it might be a dog. And I didn't want to hurt my chances of getting to the hospital safely without being bitten.
"Why, hello, Rick," said a voice from behind me. Panicking, I started to run, not looking behind me in fear that I might see a masked murderer standing there. This island was relatively sagfe, but who knew? The man laughed. "No need to run away. It's only me." I turned my head half-way to get a glimpse of the man's face. It was Officer Harris. I stopped running and stared dumbly back at him. That must've looked strange.
"Uh, good...um..." I paused, thinking of the correct term for a time that was too early to say good morning for, but too late to say good night.
Officer Harris laughed again, catching up to me and placing his hand firmly on my shoulder.
"Where exactly are you going, Rick? Your mom doesn't usually send you on midnight errands, plus there's no where to go at night."
"I got a phone call," I explained, resuming to my walking. The officer nodded.
"Go on."
"And Karen is at the hospital. They say that she wants me to come."
The officer froze in a very unnatural pose. Kind of in half a step, his elbow at his waist and his heel to the ground. He frowned, but it was hardly noticeable with the dim streetlight.
"Karen? Wow...She must've taken quite a fall. She's pretty strong for her age." The officer made it sound as though Karen were some crippled 80-year old woman.
"She's not that old, you know," I said defensively, feeling my fingers clench into a fist. I wasn't exactly going to jump on him and start beating him up--I just wanted to show him that I meant business.
"Whoa, there. I'll escort you to the hospital. After all, it's awfully lonely working on the night shift, so I need someone to walk with everyone in a while." He launched into an explaination about how he had walked with Gotz the other night and how excited he was about getting his house upgraded. It wasn't a big problem because all he expected from me was a nod and an occasional, "Yeah," and "That's nice.". But I was still wondering what happened. His mood seemed unaffected by my uninterested responses.
We finally got to the Hospital.
"Well, Rick, it's about time I got going. My wife would be expecting me." He laughed, tipped his hat foolishly, and walked off into the night.
"Thanks for walking me," I said absent-mindedly as I pushed the door open. Elli greeted me with a grim smile.
"It's about time you came, Rick. She's been having a fit."
"Why is she in here, anyways?"
Elli gave me that smile again and I started to hate it. I didn't need her to smile at me like that.
"She's been having symptoms of heavy addiction and her liver isn't functioning normally."
I could feel my throat tighten. Breathing suddenly got harder, but I tried not to show it. Elli obviously must've noticed me start breathing a bit faster.
"You must be concerned about Karen, I know, but we can certainly help her. Here, I'll show you to her."
I was a bit torn about making the decision. I didn't want to go and see Karen, afraid to see her in pain and her body destroyed. But I wanted to see her to give her comfort through whatever the doctors might be doing to her.
"Come on, Rick. Time isn't going to stop for you."
I followed Elli into the room, my hands behind my back, squeezing each other. As I entered, I saw that what I had imagined was much worse. Karen looked okay--with the exception that she looked like a lab experiment. Her lower abdomen had wires and she was wearing a pale sea-green night gown.
"Hello, Rick," she said, her voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat. "I'm glad you came."
"Hi, Karen..." My voice trailed off.
"Aren't you atleast going to sit down and hold my hand?" She demanded, sounding hurt. Had she really expected something like that? I wasn't an expert of what went on in a girl's mind, but I sat down on the chair and reached out my hand for hers. She smiled at me weakly and looked at the masked doctor (he was wearing a surgical mask).
"I'm not diseased, you know," she said perkily.
"I know," he replied, his voice muffled. "I'm just making sure that when we start surgery when we talk our saliva won't end up in your wound."
Karen nodded, rolling her eyes.
"They're replacing my liver tissues with a donor's. It's amazing what people can do now, isn't it? Back then, they'd just leave the person to die," she contiued cheerfully. "I do like flower's, you know," she added as a hint.
"It's too dark to go out and pick flowers," I said defensively. "Besides-,"
Karen laughed. A real laugh this time, not a sardonic laugh like the one she had given me when she had told me to go away. "You know I'm just kidding, don't you?"
"I can never tell if you're kidding or not." I couldn't understand why she was so cheery when they were about to take her apart...Kind of. I guess it was just a diversion from her fears.
"Oh, well. They'll put me to sleep. Oh, and it'd be really nice if you sat here and held my hand while they do it," she told me, grinning.
Personally, I didn't want to sit here and witness the biopsy but she was a friend and I didn't want to dissapoint her.
"Uh, of course."
"Promise?"
"Promise." I shook internally. Maybe I could just shut my eyes tightly...Then I wouldn't see anything. And what did she want me to be there for? She couldn't feel my hand--they were going to put her to sleep while they did it. Karen beamed at me like a little girl who had gotten her first award at school.
"You're one of the best friends ever," she said approvingly.
An hour later, they had injected the watery liquid into a vein in her hand and she had fallen asleep peacefully. I watched the innocent expression on her face. I clasped her hand tightly as I watched the surgeons get ready for the opperation. One of the men approached me as he went to wash his hand. I moved out of the way so he could get to the sink, but he stopped at me first.
"Mr. Rick, would you please leave the room? We need to start."
Okay, I guess I'll explain to you all how I feel about it, just to let it out once again.
I actually feel pretty good about this divorce deep down. Why? I've always imagined that it would happen someday because they've argued and fought so much. And I never want to hear them yell at eachother again because they're married because they love eachother, but because they want to hate. I've always believed that they would stay together until 2 years ago when they started agrue more and more about things that no one would ever care about.
But that's enough of my babble. I have a fanfic to write and I'm going to write it!
Thanks for the Help:
Fairy Friend--Thanks for the encouragement and remarks that let me know this fic was worth my time! I appreciate your help!
Cassie--Yes, doesn't it make us all so happy that someone is finally shedding some light upon his personality and life? I don't know why everyone dislikes him. I don't think he's all that bad. But the again, I tend to like people that no one seems to like. oo
-------------------
I bolted up on the bed, gazing at my mom through blurry eyes. Part of the reason that my eyes were blurry was because I had just woken up, and the other was because my glasses were lying on the nightstand, forgotten and unnoticed.
"Why?"
"I...You need to go down there tonight. Karen says she wants you to come," mom said sternly, leaving me no choice. I sighed dramatically, but my heart was still beating at an irregular pace. She raised an eyebrow at me suspisciously.
"You'll go, Rick. Because I don't want you to feel guilty about not going later on."
"Yes, mom, I'll go." I nearly collapsed on the floor as I got out of bed. She closed the door behind her, glancing back at me worridly. I placed my feet carefully into my shoes and got up, fully dressed.
While I was walking to the hospital, I felt as though I was just floating. My feet were moving swiftly and my eyes were looking straight ahead. The sound of crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and the humming of power generators in some houses were accompanied by my nervous whistling. It was a terrible habit, for it annoyed everyone as I was never able to whistle in tune. But it gave me something to concentrate on and rid myself of the apprehensive feelings I had inside. I heard feet shuffling behind me, but I tried to ignore it. Afterall, the clicking that followed the shuffling suggested that it might be a dog. And I didn't want to hurt my chances of getting to the hospital safely without being bitten.
"Why, hello, Rick," said a voice from behind me. Panicking, I started to run, not looking behind me in fear that I might see a masked murderer standing there. This island was relatively sagfe, but who knew? The man laughed. "No need to run away. It's only me." I turned my head half-way to get a glimpse of the man's face. It was Officer Harris. I stopped running and stared dumbly back at him. That must've looked strange.
"Uh, good...um..." I paused, thinking of the correct term for a time that was too early to say good morning for, but too late to say good night.
Officer Harris laughed again, catching up to me and placing his hand firmly on my shoulder.
"Where exactly are you going, Rick? Your mom doesn't usually send you on midnight errands, plus there's no where to go at night."
"I got a phone call," I explained, resuming to my walking. The officer nodded.
"Go on."
"And Karen is at the hospital. They say that she wants me to come."
The officer froze in a very unnatural pose. Kind of in half a step, his elbow at his waist and his heel to the ground. He frowned, but it was hardly noticeable with the dim streetlight.
"Karen? Wow...She must've taken quite a fall. She's pretty strong for her age." The officer made it sound as though Karen were some crippled 80-year old woman.
"She's not that old, you know," I said defensively, feeling my fingers clench into a fist. I wasn't exactly going to jump on him and start beating him up--I just wanted to show him that I meant business.
"Whoa, there. I'll escort you to the hospital. After all, it's awfully lonely working on the night shift, so I need someone to walk with everyone in a while." He launched into an explaination about how he had walked with Gotz the other night and how excited he was about getting his house upgraded. It wasn't a big problem because all he expected from me was a nod and an occasional, "Yeah," and "That's nice.". But I was still wondering what happened. His mood seemed unaffected by my uninterested responses.
We finally got to the Hospital.
"Well, Rick, it's about time I got going. My wife would be expecting me." He laughed, tipped his hat foolishly, and walked off into the night.
"Thanks for walking me," I said absent-mindedly as I pushed the door open. Elli greeted me with a grim smile.
"It's about time you came, Rick. She's been having a fit."
"Why is she in here, anyways?"
Elli gave me that smile again and I started to hate it. I didn't need her to smile at me like that.
"She's been having symptoms of heavy addiction and her liver isn't functioning normally."
I could feel my throat tighten. Breathing suddenly got harder, but I tried not to show it. Elli obviously must've noticed me start breathing a bit faster.
"You must be concerned about Karen, I know, but we can certainly help her. Here, I'll show you to her."
I was a bit torn about making the decision. I didn't want to go and see Karen, afraid to see her in pain and her body destroyed. But I wanted to see her to give her comfort through whatever the doctors might be doing to her.
"Come on, Rick. Time isn't going to stop for you."
I followed Elli into the room, my hands behind my back, squeezing each other. As I entered, I saw that what I had imagined was much worse. Karen looked okay--with the exception that she looked like a lab experiment. Her lower abdomen had wires and she was wearing a pale sea-green night gown.
"Hello, Rick," she said, her voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat. "I'm glad you came."
"Hi, Karen..." My voice trailed off.
"Aren't you atleast going to sit down and hold my hand?" She demanded, sounding hurt. Had she really expected something like that? I wasn't an expert of what went on in a girl's mind, but I sat down on the chair and reached out my hand for hers. She smiled at me weakly and looked at the masked doctor (he was wearing a surgical mask).
"I'm not diseased, you know," she said perkily.
"I know," he replied, his voice muffled. "I'm just making sure that when we start surgery when we talk our saliva won't end up in your wound."
Karen nodded, rolling her eyes.
"They're replacing my liver tissues with a donor's. It's amazing what people can do now, isn't it? Back then, they'd just leave the person to die," she contiued cheerfully. "I do like flower's, you know," she added as a hint.
"It's too dark to go out and pick flowers," I said defensively. "Besides-,"
Karen laughed. A real laugh this time, not a sardonic laugh like the one she had given me when she had told me to go away. "You know I'm just kidding, don't you?"
"I can never tell if you're kidding or not." I couldn't understand why she was so cheery when they were about to take her apart...Kind of. I guess it was just a diversion from her fears.
"Oh, well. They'll put me to sleep. Oh, and it'd be really nice if you sat here and held my hand while they do it," she told me, grinning.
Personally, I didn't want to sit here and witness the biopsy but she was a friend and I didn't want to dissapoint her.
"Uh, of course."
"Promise?"
"Promise." I shook internally. Maybe I could just shut my eyes tightly...Then I wouldn't see anything. And what did she want me to be there for? She couldn't feel my hand--they were going to put her to sleep while they did it. Karen beamed at me like a little girl who had gotten her first award at school.
"You're one of the best friends ever," she said approvingly.
An hour later, they had injected the watery liquid into a vein in her hand and she had fallen asleep peacefully. I watched the innocent expression on her face. I clasped her hand tightly as I watched the surgeons get ready for the opperation. One of the men approached me as he went to wash his hand. I moved out of the way so he could get to the sink, but he stopped at me first.
"Mr. Rick, would you please leave the room? We need to start."