A/N: I apologize for sounding rude, it's just that I've seen some people leave reviews complaining that the story wasn't taken seriously enough when a little humor was set in to lighten the mood, and I didn't want the same thing being said about this story.
Richie woke up and found it was still impossible for him to see. He had heard that blindness in a case like his could last anywhere from a few minutes to several months. He just hoped that his vision would clear up soon. Richie realized something was wrong, everything was quiet, all he heard was the same storm that had started up after they left the hospital. For all he knew, it probably continued all night, he had no idea what time it was, but he had been asleep for so long, he could've sworn it was morning by now. Richie soon found reason to panic again, he had no idea where he was, the bed he was on didn't feel familiar to him, and he was close to the edge of it. Worried that he was in someplace different from when he went to sleep, he felt along it trying to figure out where he was, but he got too close to the edge and fell on the floor.
"Narrow bed, I always hated them," Richie laughed to himself.
Richie heard the lightswitch click and then someone walk over to him, he was strangely relieved when he heard that female voice in a motherly tone.
"Richie, my goodness, what have you gotten yourself into now?"
"Where am I?" Richie gasped.
"Calm down, you're in your bedroom, exactly where you were when you went to sleep, except you're on the floor, and guessing from your position, I'd say you were sleeping at the foot of your bed," Tessa realized.
"The foot? Man, what did I do?" Richie asked himself as he felt his way back into bed and to the head of it and buried his face in the pillows.
"I don't know, but I must admit I've seen you do worse, remember the time you were sleeping on the edge of the bed and the sheet snapped on the other end and you fell out?" Tessa reminded him.
"Yep, for the rest of the day, I had two bruised cheeks, unfortunately they weren't in the same area," Richie laughed.
"Yes I remember, the whole day you had to sit on a pillow."
"Tess."
"Yes, Richie?"
"What time is it?"
"2 o' clock."
"In the morning?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry Tess, it's just - I didn't know where I was and I just -"
"Calm down, it's allright," Tessa told him, "why don't you try to get back to sleep?"
"I can't---I don't even remember when I went to sleep," Richie said.
"That would have been close to 6 o' clock," Tessa answered.
"Well that would explain why I'm not tired," Richie lifted the corners of his mouth, "so Tess, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing okay, considering--"
"And Connor?"
"Connor's staying downstairs until the next watch, so-"
Tessa was concerned when she realized Richie didn't ask how Duncan was doing.
"And Duncan is worried about you more than I think you are yourself," Tessa told him.
"Really?" Richie asked.
"Yes, he's really worried about you," Tessa sat down at the foot of the bed.
"Why?"
"Why?" Tessa repeated, "Richie, you have to think more of Duncan than that."
"I do, I'm just not sure he thinks the same way about me," Richie said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tessa asked.
"It means, the instant I found out I was blind, I wasn't worried about how I was going to get back here, no, I knew a few ways that would get me back here regardless. The first thing going through my mind was, 'how am I going to explain this to Mac?' and I figured, the best way would be not to tell him," Richie said, sounding a bit cocky.
"And you were just going to stumble around here blind as a bat? Richie, don't you know how dangerous that is?" Tessa asked.
"The last thing I wanted was you feeling sorry for me, and him yelling at me even more for being reckless," Richie said.
"Richie, Duncan is not mad at you," Tessa told him, "he's worried about you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Good," Richie smirked, "I'm glad."
"What?"
"I figure I shouldn't be the only one upset over this," Richie said.
"Richie, we're all upset!" Tessa told him.
"Yeah, but you're not responsible for it," Richie said.
"You think Duncan is?"
"No, but he could be a little more helpful with this," Richie said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duncan and Connor were staying downstairs when Tessa took over her watch, they both awoke when they heard the noise from upstairs, Connor had gone up to see what it was, and he returned downstairs to Duncan.
"What is it?" Duncan asked.
"The lad woke up and was confused about where he was, Tessa's talking with him," Connor explained, "how are you holding up?"
"Awful," was the only word Duncan said.
"You're not still kicking yourself for this are you?" Connor asked.
"Oh God, Connor, why? Why did I have to yell at him today? Why?" Duncan buried his face in his hands.
"Because, as you were putting it, he was being a pain in the neck," Connor sat down next to him.
"No he wasn't, he was just being a 17-year-old who has no clue what's happening in his life. I should have known by now that I can't expect him to always say what I want to hear, I can't expect him to always do as I expect. He's going to have his mistakes, I can't expect him to be flawless, but I do, why? Why do I always expect so much from him?"
"Because," Connor pulled Duncan close in a brotherly embrace, "You know what can be expected of him IS flawless, but it's not what SHOULD be expected from the lad. What should be expected is general support, let him know that you're allright with his decisions, Duncan, there is a difference between being supportive and being demanding. And besides that, you expect so much from him because everyone has always expected so much from you that you remember the demand so well."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Connor, I can barely even stand to be near Richie, how am I supposed to talk to him?" Duncan asked.
"I suggest you take the next watch on the lad when he's awake, maybe then you can break the ice between the two of you," Connor told him.
"What do I say?" Duncan asked.
"Tell him you're sorry he can't see, tell him you want to help him, say something to the lad, Duncan, if you keep avoiding him, it'll only make this worse for the both of you than it already is, is that what you want?" Connor asked.
"You know that isn't what I want, Connor," Duncan said.
"Then prove it," Connor said, "let the boy know that you're here to help him, and you're going to support him now, when he can see again, and then - if you see the lad settling for less than what's good for him, let him know. You can't force him to do anything, but you can help keep him from settling for less than what's good for him, and making a mess of it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Richie, it's not good for you to stay in bed all day," Tessa told him.
"I know, but I'm exhausted," Richie said.
"That's because you stayed up all night," she reminded him.
"I told you, after 8 hours of sleep, I wasn't tired," Richie said.
"Richie, I'm going to say something, not to make you feel guilty, but because I think you need to hear it," Tessa said.
"I'm listening," Richie moaned.
"I think you're just feeling sorry for yourself, and you find staying in bed to be the way to escape it," Tessa said.
"Let's face it Tess, I'm not exactly going to be of any help to you guys until I can see again, so where else am I gonna stay while I wait for that to happen?" Richie asked.
"I'm not saying you need to do anything, other than act alive," Tessa said.
"Well," Richie slowly sat up, "it's going to be pretty damn hard to do that when I can't even see what I'm doing."
"Richie, you need to get adapted to your surroundings, when you left the hospital, how did you get out?" Tessa asked.
"I don't know, I just felt along the side until I met up with the cop again," Richie said.
"Exactly, feel along everything around here to get used to it, it'll be very helpful," Tessa said.
"Well I guess you got that right, seeing as how I'm probably not going to be seeing anything anytime soon," Richie said.
"Richie-"
"Don't get your girdle in a bundle, Tess, I'll try," Richie said.
He felt his way along the edge of his bed and slowly slipped out of it, then he moved the pillows and started putting the sheets back into place.
"What are you doing?" Tessa asked.
"Making my bed, after all, just 'cause I'm blind doesn't mean I get to slack off on everything, right?"
"You're unable to see, but still willing to make your bed?" Tessa asked, "I miss you, Richie."
"I haven't gone anywhere, Tess, I've just gone through some changes since my accident," Richie said.
"I know, I miss the you before the change," Tessa said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They're coming down, Duncan, remember what I told you, you have to say something to the lad," Connor said.
"Oh God, Connor, I haven't been this nervous in years," Duncan said.
"I don't know why you should be, you've been around the lad before, just remember, I told you to break the ice between you two, don't melt it," Connor reminded him.
"Right," Duncan murmured.
Tessa slowly came down the stairs with her hand gently grasped to Richie's arm as she helped him down.
"Good morning Duncan, Connor."
"Morning, Tess," Duncan replied.
"So laddie, how are you today?" Connor asked.
"Tired, dizzy, and completely clueless as to why I even got out of bed this morning, all in all, I'm okay," Richie said.
"Richie-"
"I know Tess, I have to get adapted to my surroundings as a blind person, feel along everything so I'll know where I'm going."
"It'll help you get around until you can see again," Tessa said.
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do starting now." Richie started feeling to the right of him and felt along Tessa's blouse, "Oh excuse me," Richie turned to the left and felt his way over to Connor, "Sorry," then he felt his way over to the left a little further and felt across Duncan, "Excuse me, miss."
They found Richie's last comment as quite humorous, Tessa and Connor immediately broke out laughing, whereas it took Duncan a couple of seconds to see the humor in it, and he too couldn't resist letting out a slight guffaw.
"At least you still have your sense of humor, laddie," Connor told him.
"I should hope so, right now it's one of the few things that keeps me going," Richie said.
Duncan was trying to say something to Richie, but he realized he was too scared to say anything, but Connor was right, if he kept putting it off, it would only make things worse between them.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, Richie started feeling his way back across the room, and again, he felt his way across Duncan.
"Pardon me, ma'am," Richie said, "Tessa, do you mind if we head back upstairs?"
"Of course, follow me," Tessa took Richie by the arm and led him to the stairwell again.
Connor waited until they were back upstairs, then he went over to Duncan, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I tried, Connor, I was about to say something, but then - my mind went blank," Duncan confessed.
"What do you mean your mind went blank?"
"Everything I was going to say, I just forgot it and froze," Duncan said.
"Duncan, what you have is a case of the nerves," Connor told him, "what are you so damn afraid of?"
"I don't know, maybe I'm just afraid of what he'll say in return, and maybe not, all I know is when I try to say something to him, I freeze, it's like clock work. I couldn't say anything to him yesterday afternoon when I saw him, I couldn't say anything last night when I was watching him, and I can't say anything to him today. Have you ever seen someone with a case of nerves like this before?" Duncan asked.
"No," Connor answered, "but I have seen a few come close, and most of it was for nothing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richie had decided to change into some clean clothes, for that, he asked Tessa to leave the room, so she went into her bedroom and continued speaking to Richie from there.
"Richie, maybe you just need to try talking to him, and see what he says," Tessa suggested.
"No thanks, I've heard quite enough from him," Richie replied as he pulled some clean clothes out of his closet.
"Richie, you haven't said anything to him since yesterday, don't you think by now he has something he wants to say to you?" Tessa asked.
"I'm sure he does, and I'm sure I know what it is too-- 'you idiot, why can't you ever do anything right?' 'What the hell is the matter with you? You stupid, lazy, retarded, disrespectful-' You know, the basics," Richie said.
"Richie, he wouldn't say that and you know it," Tessa said.
"Do I?" Richie asked, "C'mon, Tess, we're all adults here - well, more or less, Mac is not going to be happy with this, and he is not going to want to help me while I'm blind."
"Richie, you know that's not true, he ONLY wants to help," Tessa told him.
"Then why hasn't he?" Richie asked, "I might not be able to see, but I know that he hasn't offered to help me since we went to the hospital."
"Richie, he's worried about you, I know, I've seen him, he's terrified for you," Tessa said.
"Can you be sure of that?" Richie asked as he removed his shirt.
"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.
"Once when I was about 15, I was staying in a foster home, I thought I had it made, nice parents, or so they seemed, 2 story home, over a century old and in classic condition. A yard large enough to put a football field in, swimming pool on the side, bench press in the garage, and I figure--- I'm in paradise. Then I met the siblings, 2 16-year-old boys, a 12-year-old daughter, and a 9-year-old boy, the younger ones I didn't have a problem with, but one of the older ones- he---took a baseball bat one day and beat me in the back of the head with it. I fell down and hit the asphalt, then the parents came out, they asked the kids what was wrong with me, they said they didn't know. They took me inside and laid me on the couch, for about 20 minutes I couldn't see anything straight, everything was blurry, worse than when they electronically scramble someone's face on TV. Anyway, the old man sounded concerned, kept praying I'd recover, and when he did----he took his belt to me for being careless and falling," Richie explained.
"Why would he think you were careless if he didn't know what happened?" Tessa asked.
"Well, let's just say those athletic bastards make a habit out of changing their stories around, and the old man believed them, they said I had been acting like a complete idiot, out of nowhere I tripped and fell, bashing my head on the ground," Richie answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tessa said, "but Duncan isn't like that, he would never do anything even of that nature."
"Can you be sure?" Richie asked, "Let's face facts, Tess, you don't look like you've ever been in my position before."
"Your position?"
"Yeah, you have a few rough breaks, and immediately, the whole world is ready to condemn you. They just---take one look at you, and think; smartass kid, no manners, no respect for anyone, they never appreciate anything you ever do for them. And it's not just the classy people who think like that, once you've been labelled like that, even the thugs and gangs think about you like that, everyone's got it in for you, your father never would've beaten you, would he?"
"No he would not."
"Exactly, and how long have you known Mac?"
"12 years, that's certainly long enough to know him, Richie," Tessa said.
"True," Richie said as he slipped into another pair of jeans, "but---you two never had kids, you don't know how he would act around one like me, that that totally screwed up at every task given to him."
"Maybe not, but he would never hit a kid," Tessa went into his room.
"Can you guarantee that?" Richie asked.
"Richie, I have a pretty good idea of what Duncan is like, and----for argument sake, should I be wrong, I will see to it that he doesn't lay a hand on you, are you convinced now that nothing's going to happen to you?" Tessa asked.
"I guess," Richie sighed, "I certainly know YOU would never hit a kid, no matter how much he had it coming to him."
Tessa then realized that Richie had gotten his shirt on backwards when he was getting dressed, she couldn't resist laughing even though it wasn't all that humorous.
"What is it?" Richie asked.
Tessa laughed a bit louder and rested her head on Richie's shoulder, "Richie, you've certainly proved you're not helpless, but you still could use a little help when it comes to getting dressed."
"Huh?"
"Take your arms in, your shirt's on backwards," Tessa said.
"Hey, just be glad I didn't put on one that was inside-out," Richie snapped as he took his arms in his shirt and out of the sleeves.
Tessa grabbed the shirt and turned it around, Richie put his arms back in the sleeves, "There, how's that?"
"Perfect, come on," Tessa took the boy by the arm.
"Where're we going?" Richie asked.
"To get started on breakfast, by now you must be starving," Tessa said.
I must be if I'm willing to eat your cooking, Richie said to himself.
Richie woke up and found it was still impossible for him to see. He had heard that blindness in a case like his could last anywhere from a few minutes to several months. He just hoped that his vision would clear up soon. Richie realized something was wrong, everything was quiet, all he heard was the same storm that had started up after they left the hospital. For all he knew, it probably continued all night, he had no idea what time it was, but he had been asleep for so long, he could've sworn it was morning by now. Richie soon found reason to panic again, he had no idea where he was, the bed he was on didn't feel familiar to him, and he was close to the edge of it. Worried that he was in someplace different from when he went to sleep, he felt along it trying to figure out where he was, but he got too close to the edge and fell on the floor.
"Narrow bed, I always hated them," Richie laughed to himself.
Richie heard the lightswitch click and then someone walk over to him, he was strangely relieved when he heard that female voice in a motherly tone.
"Richie, my goodness, what have you gotten yourself into now?"
"Where am I?" Richie gasped.
"Calm down, you're in your bedroom, exactly where you were when you went to sleep, except you're on the floor, and guessing from your position, I'd say you were sleeping at the foot of your bed," Tessa realized.
"The foot? Man, what did I do?" Richie asked himself as he felt his way back into bed and to the head of it and buried his face in the pillows.
"I don't know, but I must admit I've seen you do worse, remember the time you were sleeping on the edge of the bed and the sheet snapped on the other end and you fell out?" Tessa reminded him.
"Yep, for the rest of the day, I had two bruised cheeks, unfortunately they weren't in the same area," Richie laughed.
"Yes I remember, the whole day you had to sit on a pillow."
"Tess."
"Yes, Richie?"
"What time is it?"
"2 o' clock."
"In the morning?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry Tess, it's just - I didn't know where I was and I just -"
"Calm down, it's allright," Tessa told him, "why don't you try to get back to sleep?"
"I can't---I don't even remember when I went to sleep," Richie said.
"That would have been close to 6 o' clock," Tessa answered.
"Well that would explain why I'm not tired," Richie lifted the corners of his mouth, "so Tess, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing okay, considering--"
"And Connor?"
"Connor's staying downstairs until the next watch, so-"
Tessa was concerned when she realized Richie didn't ask how Duncan was doing.
"And Duncan is worried about you more than I think you are yourself," Tessa told him.
"Really?" Richie asked.
"Yes, he's really worried about you," Tessa sat down at the foot of the bed.
"Why?"
"Why?" Tessa repeated, "Richie, you have to think more of Duncan than that."
"I do, I'm just not sure he thinks the same way about me," Richie said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tessa asked.
"It means, the instant I found out I was blind, I wasn't worried about how I was going to get back here, no, I knew a few ways that would get me back here regardless. The first thing going through my mind was, 'how am I going to explain this to Mac?' and I figured, the best way would be not to tell him," Richie said, sounding a bit cocky.
"And you were just going to stumble around here blind as a bat? Richie, don't you know how dangerous that is?" Tessa asked.
"The last thing I wanted was you feeling sorry for me, and him yelling at me even more for being reckless," Richie said.
"Richie, Duncan is not mad at you," Tessa told him, "he's worried about you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Good," Richie smirked, "I'm glad."
"What?"
"I figure I shouldn't be the only one upset over this," Richie said.
"Richie, we're all upset!" Tessa told him.
"Yeah, but you're not responsible for it," Richie said.
"You think Duncan is?"
"No, but he could be a little more helpful with this," Richie said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duncan and Connor were staying downstairs when Tessa took over her watch, they both awoke when they heard the noise from upstairs, Connor had gone up to see what it was, and he returned downstairs to Duncan.
"What is it?" Duncan asked.
"The lad woke up and was confused about where he was, Tessa's talking with him," Connor explained, "how are you holding up?"
"Awful," was the only word Duncan said.
"You're not still kicking yourself for this are you?" Connor asked.
"Oh God, Connor, why? Why did I have to yell at him today? Why?" Duncan buried his face in his hands.
"Because, as you were putting it, he was being a pain in the neck," Connor sat down next to him.
"No he wasn't, he was just being a 17-year-old who has no clue what's happening in his life. I should have known by now that I can't expect him to always say what I want to hear, I can't expect him to always do as I expect. He's going to have his mistakes, I can't expect him to be flawless, but I do, why? Why do I always expect so much from him?"
"Because," Connor pulled Duncan close in a brotherly embrace, "You know what can be expected of him IS flawless, but it's not what SHOULD be expected from the lad. What should be expected is general support, let him know that you're allright with his decisions, Duncan, there is a difference between being supportive and being demanding. And besides that, you expect so much from him because everyone has always expected so much from you that you remember the demand so well."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Connor, I can barely even stand to be near Richie, how am I supposed to talk to him?" Duncan asked.
"I suggest you take the next watch on the lad when he's awake, maybe then you can break the ice between the two of you," Connor told him.
"What do I say?" Duncan asked.
"Tell him you're sorry he can't see, tell him you want to help him, say something to the lad, Duncan, if you keep avoiding him, it'll only make this worse for the both of you than it already is, is that what you want?" Connor asked.
"You know that isn't what I want, Connor," Duncan said.
"Then prove it," Connor said, "let the boy know that you're here to help him, and you're going to support him now, when he can see again, and then - if you see the lad settling for less than what's good for him, let him know. You can't force him to do anything, but you can help keep him from settling for less than what's good for him, and making a mess of it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Richie, it's not good for you to stay in bed all day," Tessa told him.
"I know, but I'm exhausted," Richie said.
"That's because you stayed up all night," she reminded him.
"I told you, after 8 hours of sleep, I wasn't tired," Richie said.
"Richie, I'm going to say something, not to make you feel guilty, but because I think you need to hear it," Tessa said.
"I'm listening," Richie moaned.
"I think you're just feeling sorry for yourself, and you find staying in bed to be the way to escape it," Tessa said.
"Let's face it Tess, I'm not exactly going to be of any help to you guys until I can see again, so where else am I gonna stay while I wait for that to happen?" Richie asked.
"I'm not saying you need to do anything, other than act alive," Tessa said.
"Well," Richie slowly sat up, "it's going to be pretty damn hard to do that when I can't even see what I'm doing."
"Richie, you need to get adapted to your surroundings, when you left the hospital, how did you get out?" Tessa asked.
"I don't know, I just felt along the side until I met up with the cop again," Richie said.
"Exactly, feel along everything around here to get used to it, it'll be very helpful," Tessa said.
"Well I guess you got that right, seeing as how I'm probably not going to be seeing anything anytime soon," Richie said.
"Richie-"
"Don't get your girdle in a bundle, Tess, I'll try," Richie said.
He felt his way along the edge of his bed and slowly slipped out of it, then he moved the pillows and started putting the sheets back into place.
"What are you doing?" Tessa asked.
"Making my bed, after all, just 'cause I'm blind doesn't mean I get to slack off on everything, right?"
"You're unable to see, but still willing to make your bed?" Tessa asked, "I miss you, Richie."
"I haven't gone anywhere, Tess, I've just gone through some changes since my accident," Richie said.
"I know, I miss the you before the change," Tessa said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They're coming down, Duncan, remember what I told you, you have to say something to the lad," Connor said.
"Oh God, Connor, I haven't been this nervous in years," Duncan said.
"I don't know why you should be, you've been around the lad before, just remember, I told you to break the ice between you two, don't melt it," Connor reminded him.
"Right," Duncan murmured.
Tessa slowly came down the stairs with her hand gently grasped to Richie's arm as she helped him down.
"Good morning Duncan, Connor."
"Morning, Tess," Duncan replied.
"So laddie, how are you today?" Connor asked.
"Tired, dizzy, and completely clueless as to why I even got out of bed this morning, all in all, I'm okay," Richie said.
"Richie-"
"I know Tess, I have to get adapted to my surroundings as a blind person, feel along everything so I'll know where I'm going."
"It'll help you get around until you can see again," Tessa said.
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do starting now." Richie started feeling to the right of him and felt along Tessa's blouse, "Oh excuse me," Richie turned to the left and felt his way over to Connor, "Sorry," then he felt his way over to the left a little further and felt across Duncan, "Excuse me, miss."
They found Richie's last comment as quite humorous, Tessa and Connor immediately broke out laughing, whereas it took Duncan a couple of seconds to see the humor in it, and he too couldn't resist letting out a slight guffaw.
"At least you still have your sense of humor, laddie," Connor told him.
"I should hope so, right now it's one of the few things that keeps me going," Richie said.
Duncan was trying to say something to Richie, but he realized he was too scared to say anything, but Connor was right, if he kept putting it off, it would only make things worse between them.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, Richie started feeling his way back across the room, and again, he felt his way across Duncan.
"Pardon me, ma'am," Richie said, "Tessa, do you mind if we head back upstairs?"
"Of course, follow me," Tessa took Richie by the arm and led him to the stairwell again.
Connor waited until they were back upstairs, then he went over to Duncan, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I tried, Connor, I was about to say something, but then - my mind went blank," Duncan confessed.
"What do you mean your mind went blank?"
"Everything I was going to say, I just forgot it and froze," Duncan said.
"Duncan, what you have is a case of the nerves," Connor told him, "what are you so damn afraid of?"
"I don't know, maybe I'm just afraid of what he'll say in return, and maybe not, all I know is when I try to say something to him, I freeze, it's like clock work. I couldn't say anything to him yesterday afternoon when I saw him, I couldn't say anything last night when I was watching him, and I can't say anything to him today. Have you ever seen someone with a case of nerves like this before?" Duncan asked.
"No," Connor answered, "but I have seen a few come close, and most of it was for nothing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richie had decided to change into some clean clothes, for that, he asked Tessa to leave the room, so she went into her bedroom and continued speaking to Richie from there.
"Richie, maybe you just need to try talking to him, and see what he says," Tessa suggested.
"No thanks, I've heard quite enough from him," Richie replied as he pulled some clean clothes out of his closet.
"Richie, you haven't said anything to him since yesterday, don't you think by now he has something he wants to say to you?" Tessa asked.
"I'm sure he does, and I'm sure I know what it is too-- 'you idiot, why can't you ever do anything right?' 'What the hell is the matter with you? You stupid, lazy, retarded, disrespectful-' You know, the basics," Richie said.
"Richie, he wouldn't say that and you know it," Tessa said.
"Do I?" Richie asked, "C'mon, Tess, we're all adults here - well, more or less, Mac is not going to be happy with this, and he is not going to want to help me while I'm blind."
"Richie, you know that's not true, he ONLY wants to help," Tessa told him.
"Then why hasn't he?" Richie asked, "I might not be able to see, but I know that he hasn't offered to help me since we went to the hospital."
"Richie, he's worried about you, I know, I've seen him, he's terrified for you," Tessa said.
"Can you be sure of that?" Richie asked as he removed his shirt.
"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.
"Once when I was about 15, I was staying in a foster home, I thought I had it made, nice parents, or so they seemed, 2 story home, over a century old and in classic condition. A yard large enough to put a football field in, swimming pool on the side, bench press in the garage, and I figure--- I'm in paradise. Then I met the siblings, 2 16-year-old boys, a 12-year-old daughter, and a 9-year-old boy, the younger ones I didn't have a problem with, but one of the older ones- he---took a baseball bat one day and beat me in the back of the head with it. I fell down and hit the asphalt, then the parents came out, they asked the kids what was wrong with me, they said they didn't know. They took me inside and laid me on the couch, for about 20 minutes I couldn't see anything straight, everything was blurry, worse than when they electronically scramble someone's face on TV. Anyway, the old man sounded concerned, kept praying I'd recover, and when he did----he took his belt to me for being careless and falling," Richie explained.
"Why would he think you were careless if he didn't know what happened?" Tessa asked.
"Well, let's just say those athletic bastards make a habit out of changing their stories around, and the old man believed them, they said I had been acting like a complete idiot, out of nowhere I tripped and fell, bashing my head on the ground," Richie answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tessa said, "but Duncan isn't like that, he would never do anything even of that nature."
"Can you be sure?" Richie asked, "Let's face facts, Tess, you don't look like you've ever been in my position before."
"Your position?"
"Yeah, you have a few rough breaks, and immediately, the whole world is ready to condemn you. They just---take one look at you, and think; smartass kid, no manners, no respect for anyone, they never appreciate anything you ever do for them. And it's not just the classy people who think like that, once you've been labelled like that, even the thugs and gangs think about you like that, everyone's got it in for you, your father never would've beaten you, would he?"
"No he would not."
"Exactly, and how long have you known Mac?"
"12 years, that's certainly long enough to know him, Richie," Tessa said.
"True," Richie said as he slipped into another pair of jeans, "but---you two never had kids, you don't know how he would act around one like me, that that totally screwed up at every task given to him."
"Maybe not, but he would never hit a kid," Tessa went into his room.
"Can you guarantee that?" Richie asked.
"Richie, I have a pretty good idea of what Duncan is like, and----for argument sake, should I be wrong, I will see to it that he doesn't lay a hand on you, are you convinced now that nothing's going to happen to you?" Tessa asked.
"I guess," Richie sighed, "I certainly know YOU would never hit a kid, no matter how much he had it coming to him."
Tessa then realized that Richie had gotten his shirt on backwards when he was getting dressed, she couldn't resist laughing even though it wasn't all that humorous.
"What is it?" Richie asked.
Tessa laughed a bit louder and rested her head on Richie's shoulder, "Richie, you've certainly proved you're not helpless, but you still could use a little help when it comes to getting dressed."
"Huh?"
"Take your arms in, your shirt's on backwards," Tessa said.
"Hey, just be glad I didn't put on one that was inside-out," Richie snapped as he took his arms in his shirt and out of the sleeves.
Tessa grabbed the shirt and turned it around, Richie put his arms back in the sleeves, "There, how's that?"
"Perfect, come on," Tessa took the boy by the arm.
"Where're we going?" Richie asked.
"To get started on breakfast, by now you must be starving," Tessa said.
I must be if I'm willing to eat your cooking, Richie said to himself.
