Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Wild Card characters or main ideas.
Thank you Super reader for reviewing all of my chapters. That was awesome to know that someone was actually reading and paying attention to my story. You rock, Super reader!
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Zoe looked horrified at the sight that awaited her outside the house. An ambulance with its lights on was outside. The paramedics came out of the house, rushing, with an elderly man on the stretcher. They assumed this was Clifford.
Adele came out of the house with a worried look on her face as the ambulance drove away.
"You two again?! What do you want this time?!"
"We were hoping to speak to Clifford Johnston, or should I say, William McGregor." Zoe said.
"Are you crazy? He died years ago."
"So Clifford Johnston was William McGregor back then. So, if he died years ago, who was just rushed to the hospital?" Zoe inquired.
"Who are you?" Adele asked, getting worried.
"I am Sue's sister, Zoe. I am also the legal guardian of her three kids. I need to know about my sister's true past for the sake of her kids. Here," Zoe handed Adele the pictures from her purse. "I don't know where this was taken, but I think you do."
Adele got teary-eyed as she took the first picture.
"That was when Will took her and her mother to come see us in New York."
The picture was of a 1-year-old, pudgy Sue sitting happily on a very young 'Aunt Adele's' lap.
Zoe had seen it before when she was younger. She still remembered the day perfectly well...
It was the summer that Zoe Busiek was ten years old. It was hot out and Sue had gone to a friend's house for the day. Zoe had done everything there was to do from coloring and drawing to riding her bike to watching television and some movies. She now had nothing left to do.
Then she saw the photo albums on the shelf. There were some there that were familiar and then she saw some at the back of the shelf that she'd never noticed before. She chose the hidden ones and started to look at them.
The first one had many pictures of Sue and Zoe when Zoe was just a baby. Then the next one was different. It had no pictures of her in it, just ones of Sue and some people Zoe had never seen before. She recognized a very, very young Sue, and she also recognized her young mother, but nobody else.
Zoe picked up the album and went to find out who they were. "Who are these people, Mom?" Zoe asked her mother.
Zoe was a bit surprised when her mother seemed bothered by the question and the picture.
"Who are they?" Zoe innocently asked again.
"Umm... just old friends of mine, dear." Her mother lovingly smiled down at Zoe. She wasn't bothered by it now.
Zoe just accepted that. No ten year old girl wanted to waste her time listening about 'old friends'. That ended it there.
Dan nudged Zoe back to reality. She looked up at Adele and handed her the rest of the pictures.
"I've got to get to the hospital to take care of Will. If he is up to talking and he wants to, I'll let him explain everything." Adele said graciously.
"Thank you."
"What happened to him, anyway?" Zoe asked while the three of them drove to the hospital.
"He has breathing problems, sometimes. He makes many trips to the hospital to help him. After the letter that he sent to Sue was neither returned, nor seemed to be noticed, it almost killed him."
"I am so sorry." Zoe said. She looked up at Dan with tears in the corners of her eyes. He reached over and held her hand.
"It's going to be okay. We'll find out everything." He whispered in her ear. She nodded in agreement as she drove.
HOSPITAL
While Adele went in to Clifford's room to prepare him for what Zoe and Dan were going to ask when they got in there, Zoe paced outside in the waiting room.
"Would you just sit down? You're making me dizzy." Dan said, lounging in a nearby chair.
It was really busy today for some reason and therefore were no seats left for Zoe. So she went over to Dan and as he went to stand up to give her a place to sit, she pushed him back down. Dan gave Zoe a confused look as she sat down on his lap. She pushed her body back into him.
"What if he doesn't want to talk, or he doesn't make it? I'll never know what my parents were hiding all those years!" Zoe was completely stressed, and she was obviously tired. Dan put his arms around her. He knew he was crossing the line again and if she responded well then he had finally won. If she didn't, though, Sophia wasn't there to save the odd and only relationship they had. He knew then that he was being risky, but he did it anyway.
As his strong, yet soft hands came about Zoe's body, she turned her head to look at him face to face. She had the same confused, happy, worried look on her face as she did the night they kissed in the elevator.
Zoe knew what Dan was doing, and she knew that if anything happened between them, it could be good, but it could also be bad. Their relationship was still on the mend after the elevator incident.
Dan looked deep into Zoe's beautiful brown eyes. They both knew that they had felt this way about each other for a long time, now. Zoe then leaned her face down to Dan's. Her hair fell around her face, and Dan pushed it behind her ear, lovingly. She leaned in farther, this time, and Dan put his hands on either side of her face and brought it even closer.
He whispered, "Zoe, you are so beautiful."
Then his lips brushed against hers. They pulled away and just smiled softly at each other. Then it all happened again, only this time, the kiss was more passionate. They let their mouths open briefly so that their tongues could meet for the second time.
"Hmm... must be Déjà vu or something. I seem to remember doing that sometime before..." Dan whispered to his supposed soul mate.
"Me, to. That's odd." They grinned at each other.
Over the next little while, the waiting room slowly started to clear. Zoe looked out the window and saw how dark it was outside.
"Oh, my god!" Zoe looked at Dan's watch. "It's almost eight! The kids have no idea about where I am! I have to call them!" Dan and Zoe walked quickly outside where the cell phone was allowed to be used.
"Hey, Taylor."
"Oh, hi, Aunt Zoe. Where are you? I had to feed Cliff and Hannah pizza for dinner." Zoe scowled.
"Sorry, hon. I'm kinda working on that thing about your mom. It turns out her father, your grandfather, is still alive, but just barely. We are at the hospital where he is having breathing problems."
"Oh. Wow. Oh, here's Hannah."
"Hi Aunt Zoe!" came a small girl's voice.
"Hey, sweetie. Hannah, It's a school night, and I won't be home until late, so go to bed and when I come home, I'll come say goodnight, okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Zoe. Bye." She handed the phone to Cliff.
"Hi, Aunt Zoe."
"Hi." Zoe mocked his obviously grumpy tone.
"Where are you?"
"I'm... working, Cliff. I won't be home till late, so I want you in bed at nine. No complaints. I'll come say goodnight when I get home, okay?"
"Fine."
"Be good for Taylor, kay?"
"Yeah. Night, Aunt Zoe."
"Night, Cliff."
"Aunt Zoe! I forgot to say goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Hannah. Love you, sweetie."
"Love you, too, Aunt Zoe. Night!"
"Night." Taylor came on again.
"Taylor, I want you in bed at ten thirty, okay? I'm going to call Julian and see if he or his grandmother can come and stay there till I get home. So let one of them in if they come, okay?"
"Yep. Night, Aunt Zoe."
"Night, Kiddo." They both hung up.
Zoe dialed another number and confirmed that Julian was heading to the house as she hung up.
Dan took Zoe's delicate hand and they walked back inside.
Dan and Zoe sat on a bench and Zoe slowly fell asleep in Dan's strong arms. Zoe dreamed of him... and them... for two hours.
AN: Next chapter won't be out for a while. I'm going on vacation for three weeks. Please review though. I love to hear from you!
Thank you Super reader for reviewing all of my chapters. That was awesome to know that someone was actually reading and paying attention to my story. You rock, Super reader!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoe looked horrified at the sight that awaited her outside the house. An ambulance with its lights on was outside. The paramedics came out of the house, rushing, with an elderly man on the stretcher. They assumed this was Clifford.
Adele came out of the house with a worried look on her face as the ambulance drove away.
"You two again?! What do you want this time?!"
"We were hoping to speak to Clifford Johnston, or should I say, William McGregor." Zoe said.
"Are you crazy? He died years ago."
"So Clifford Johnston was William McGregor back then. So, if he died years ago, who was just rushed to the hospital?" Zoe inquired.
"Who are you?" Adele asked, getting worried.
"I am Sue's sister, Zoe. I am also the legal guardian of her three kids. I need to know about my sister's true past for the sake of her kids. Here," Zoe handed Adele the pictures from her purse. "I don't know where this was taken, but I think you do."
Adele got teary-eyed as she took the first picture.
"That was when Will took her and her mother to come see us in New York."
The picture was of a 1-year-old, pudgy Sue sitting happily on a very young 'Aunt Adele's' lap.
Zoe had seen it before when she was younger. She still remembered the day perfectly well...
It was the summer that Zoe Busiek was ten years old. It was hot out and Sue had gone to a friend's house for the day. Zoe had done everything there was to do from coloring and drawing to riding her bike to watching television and some movies. She now had nothing left to do.
Then she saw the photo albums on the shelf. There were some there that were familiar and then she saw some at the back of the shelf that she'd never noticed before. She chose the hidden ones and started to look at them.
The first one had many pictures of Sue and Zoe when Zoe was just a baby. Then the next one was different. It had no pictures of her in it, just ones of Sue and some people Zoe had never seen before. She recognized a very, very young Sue, and she also recognized her young mother, but nobody else.
Zoe picked up the album and went to find out who they were. "Who are these people, Mom?" Zoe asked her mother.
Zoe was a bit surprised when her mother seemed bothered by the question and the picture.
"Who are they?" Zoe innocently asked again.
"Umm... just old friends of mine, dear." Her mother lovingly smiled down at Zoe. She wasn't bothered by it now.
Zoe just accepted that. No ten year old girl wanted to waste her time listening about 'old friends'. That ended it there.
Dan nudged Zoe back to reality. She looked up at Adele and handed her the rest of the pictures.
"I've got to get to the hospital to take care of Will. If he is up to talking and he wants to, I'll let him explain everything." Adele said graciously.
"Thank you."
"What happened to him, anyway?" Zoe asked while the three of them drove to the hospital.
"He has breathing problems, sometimes. He makes many trips to the hospital to help him. After the letter that he sent to Sue was neither returned, nor seemed to be noticed, it almost killed him."
"I am so sorry." Zoe said. She looked up at Dan with tears in the corners of her eyes. He reached over and held her hand.
"It's going to be okay. We'll find out everything." He whispered in her ear. She nodded in agreement as she drove.
HOSPITAL
While Adele went in to Clifford's room to prepare him for what Zoe and Dan were going to ask when they got in there, Zoe paced outside in the waiting room.
"Would you just sit down? You're making me dizzy." Dan said, lounging in a nearby chair.
It was really busy today for some reason and therefore were no seats left for Zoe. So she went over to Dan and as he went to stand up to give her a place to sit, she pushed him back down. Dan gave Zoe a confused look as she sat down on his lap. She pushed her body back into him.
"What if he doesn't want to talk, or he doesn't make it? I'll never know what my parents were hiding all those years!" Zoe was completely stressed, and she was obviously tired. Dan put his arms around her. He knew he was crossing the line again and if she responded well then he had finally won. If she didn't, though, Sophia wasn't there to save the odd and only relationship they had. He knew then that he was being risky, but he did it anyway.
As his strong, yet soft hands came about Zoe's body, she turned her head to look at him face to face. She had the same confused, happy, worried look on her face as she did the night they kissed in the elevator.
Zoe knew what Dan was doing, and she knew that if anything happened between them, it could be good, but it could also be bad. Their relationship was still on the mend after the elevator incident.
Dan looked deep into Zoe's beautiful brown eyes. They both knew that they had felt this way about each other for a long time, now. Zoe then leaned her face down to Dan's. Her hair fell around her face, and Dan pushed it behind her ear, lovingly. She leaned in farther, this time, and Dan put his hands on either side of her face and brought it even closer.
He whispered, "Zoe, you are so beautiful."
Then his lips brushed against hers. They pulled away and just smiled softly at each other. Then it all happened again, only this time, the kiss was more passionate. They let their mouths open briefly so that their tongues could meet for the second time.
"Hmm... must be Déjà vu or something. I seem to remember doing that sometime before..." Dan whispered to his supposed soul mate.
"Me, to. That's odd." They grinned at each other.
Over the next little while, the waiting room slowly started to clear. Zoe looked out the window and saw how dark it was outside.
"Oh, my god!" Zoe looked at Dan's watch. "It's almost eight! The kids have no idea about where I am! I have to call them!" Dan and Zoe walked quickly outside where the cell phone was allowed to be used.
"Hey, Taylor."
"Oh, hi, Aunt Zoe. Where are you? I had to feed Cliff and Hannah pizza for dinner." Zoe scowled.
"Sorry, hon. I'm kinda working on that thing about your mom. It turns out her father, your grandfather, is still alive, but just barely. We are at the hospital where he is having breathing problems."
"Oh. Wow. Oh, here's Hannah."
"Hi Aunt Zoe!" came a small girl's voice.
"Hey, sweetie. Hannah, It's a school night, and I won't be home until late, so go to bed and when I come home, I'll come say goodnight, okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Zoe. Bye." She handed the phone to Cliff.
"Hi, Aunt Zoe."
"Hi." Zoe mocked his obviously grumpy tone.
"Where are you?"
"I'm... working, Cliff. I won't be home till late, so I want you in bed at nine. No complaints. I'll come say goodnight when I get home, okay?"
"Fine."
"Be good for Taylor, kay?"
"Yeah. Night, Aunt Zoe."
"Night, Cliff."
"Aunt Zoe! I forgot to say goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Hannah. Love you, sweetie."
"Love you, too, Aunt Zoe. Night!"
"Night." Taylor came on again.
"Taylor, I want you in bed at ten thirty, okay? I'm going to call Julian and see if he or his grandmother can come and stay there till I get home. So let one of them in if they come, okay?"
"Yep. Night, Aunt Zoe."
"Night, Kiddo." They both hung up.
Zoe dialed another number and confirmed that Julian was heading to the house as she hung up.
Dan took Zoe's delicate hand and they walked back inside.
Dan and Zoe sat on a bench and Zoe slowly fell asleep in Dan's strong arms. Zoe dreamed of him... and them... for two hours.
AN: Next chapter won't be out for a while. I'm going on vacation for three weeks. Please review though. I love to hear from you!