Brittle Souls
Chapter 3: The Hospital
A/N: Yessssss! Another chapter of brittle souls is complete! You must forgive me for taking so long, but it's a long chapter so hopefully that makes up for it! And if you're a first timer reading this fic please please check out some of my other degrassi fics. People tell me they're pretty good, so if it isn't too much trouble leave me a review eh? Alrighty well enough of me going on and on and on...On with the fic!
"Boys...she's...going to make it."
The two sighed with much relief and Craig's knees buckled as he collapsed.
"This...is great news thank you doctor."
Marco asked when they could see her and he led them into Ellie's room.
She was attached to a lot of machines and had an oxygen mask on. She was sleeping soundly and the doctor left them alone.
Marco was the first to approach her sleeping form, he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.
"Everything is going to be okay now El, we're here with you."
Craig didn't know what to say, it was his fault she was there and he couldn't change it.
"Craig? Are you alright?" said a teary Marco.
He tried to speak, but he couldn't find his voice.
"Yea, I'm choked up too, but can't you say anything? Any words to help her?"
He walked up to Ellie and slowly stroked her cheek, "Oh Ellie, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, I promise you. When you awake from this nightmare we'll be together, no Ashley, no anybody. Just us, two understanding souls." He was crying as he heard the door open.
"Ellie!" Ash screamed as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Ash, I thought I told you not to follow me!" Craig was pissed, he didn't want Ashley to see him like this. She might find out before she was suppose to.
"I did go home Craig, but then Ellie's mom called me and told me what happened! What was I suppose to do? Stay home while my best friend was dying?"
"You know that's not what I meant. I just didn't want you to know...not yet."
Ashley looked confused, she noticed Craig's hand on Ellie's cheek, "Craig...what's going on? You didn't have anything to do with this did you?"
"NO!" Craig protested, "Well, in a way I guess I did...but it wasn't completely my fault."
"Craig! How could you? What could you have done that made poor Ellie do this?" She screamed.
"HEY!" Marco yelled. "Ellie is asleep, she can't get any rest if you people are screaming your heads off."
Ashley sighed, "I'll be downstairs in the caf. getting coffee. This isn't over Craig. We'll talk more about this later." with that she turned and closed the door.
Craig sighed, he wanted to tell Ashley about Ellie, about how much he loved her, but how would she react? He was afraid to find out.
Suddenly the door opened again to reveal Ellie's mom.
"Oh my god...Eleanor!" She gasped.
Marco let go of Ellie's hand and moved so her mother could grasp on to her child.
"Oh my poor Eleanor. How did this happen to you? What would make you do such a thing? You were good for so long, why oh why would you turn to this?" She whispered as she began to cry.
(A/N: Did you ever notice that in the episode where Ellie's mom finds out she cuts that her crying is so...well bad? It's horrible acting in my opinion and I totally hate it. She ruined that moment and made me laugh...such a horrible person I am I know, but hey...she sucks that much.)
"Um, excuse me Miss Nash?" Marco said.
She lifted her head from her daughter's chest, " Yes?"
"I think you need to talk to Craig. -turning to Craig- I think I'm going to go get something to eat. I'll see you later." slowly he walked out of Ellie's room taking one last look at his best friend.
Miss Nash turned to face Craig as she looked him up and down, "So...you're this...Craig is it? That Marco says I should talk to?"
"Yes I am." Craig answered, not quite sure what else to say.
"Say aren't you that boy Ashley's going with? That rugged guitar player, you're the one that cheated on her with that girl a few years back right?"
"Well, y-yes I am." Craig was getting nervous...how did Ellie's mom know so much about him!
"Ah, I seem to know much about you. Scared yet? Ellie tells me everything Ashley tells her. Your girlfriend drowns my poor daughter with her problems, as if she doesn't have problems of her own." she turned to her daughter and ran her fingers lightly over her bandages.
"I know and I'm sorry. All she ever does is complain...mostly about me. She doesn't think I'm good enough and she's probably right. She deserves someone who truly loves her and wants to care for ever aspect of her life. My heart is too open for someone like Ash, but she's too blind to see that."
Craig wasn't completely sure why he was opening to Ellie's mom, a complete stranger to him, but for some reason he felt there was no one better...at least at the moment.
"I'm sorry I'm telling you all this. You probably don't wanna hear a sappy teenage story."
She smiled a little, "No, go on. I wouldn't mind hearing a sappy teenage story every now and then. Tell me what happened with everything and maybe...if you happen to know what happen to my Ellie."
"Well, it all started a while back with Manny. She was the first girl to like me when I first moved here. She was cute and sweet, so I went on a date with her and it turned into a disaster. That was when I met Ashley, the girl who changed my life. Manny sort of understood to a point and Ashley and I started dating. For a while we were on and off, more off than on really, but she was an all around great person. She was independent and I loved that about her, but when she found out her father was gay she became gothic and depressed. It was hard for me to deal with, but I got over it eventually. After we had been going steady for a while she was finally ready...ready to give up her...well..."
"Her virginity?" she asked.
"Yea," Craig blushed.
"It's great so far Craig, please continue."
"Oh okay. Well anyway she was finally able to give up her...virginity to me, but I told my friend Spinner and he ruined it. She got all upset because I told one friend. She went into this whole thing about it being special and sacred and blah blah blah. I really didn't mean to ruin anything because I honestly do care about her. But then she told me that it was never going to happen so I just left. Grabbed my coat and walked out the door, completely vulnerable. That was when Manny came back into the picture. She had still loved me after all this time and I had to admit, she was a lot cuter than last year. She followed me out the door and into the street. She wanted to comfort me more than ever. She told me that Ash was lucky to have such a great guy and that she would never take anything with me for granted. I knew she meant it, but a part of me knew she was doing it because of the fight we just had. I tried to tell her that I couldn't take anything anymore and she said she understood completely, so we went back to my place. She loved what I did to the place...lights and decorations, everything looked great. She asked me to play her a song, a song that I played for Ashley confessing my love."
"And did you play her the song Craig?" Mrs. Nash asked.
"Well, I started to play it before she butt in. She started to tell me how great I was and telling me that if Ashley didn't see how great I was then she didn't deserve me. It was that moment that she took the guitar and kissed me before I realized what was going on. But she assured me it was fine so we continued to kiss. Things heated up and finally I got what I wanted for the night. I took someone's virginity, Manny's. It took a while before everything finally sunk it, that I did it. That I had sex with someone and it wasn't even my girlfriend. I felt guilt, but thought about the facts, Manny was a great person and I did care about her, but Ashley I might have loved you know?"
"I see where you're coming from. So you had sex with Manny and you might love Ashley, how did that go the next day?"
"Oh boy was it confusing. Manny came up to me and I didn't know what to tell her, then to make matters worse, Ash wanted me back! She was all like, I talked to Paige and I was stupid so I'm sorry and I still love you so you better take me back. Me, still in a vulnerable position, didn't know what to do. So I did whatever came to my mind first. I told Ash I loved her. Manny was devastated, but I explained to her that I cared about her too and that what we had really meant something to me. It wasn't until Christmas that things started to get out of hand. See I was still seeing Ash, but I sort of had an affair going on the side with Manny."
"A player huh? I've dealt with them before. So Christmas came and everything fell apart didn't it?"
"That's exactly what happened. Everything was great until they found out about each other and everything. I had thought Manny was the one before I went and told Ashley she loved her, but by the end of the talent show I was single for a long time. Later on me and Ash got back together and I found out I was bi-polar. I told Manny she was the biggest mistake of my life and I hate myself for it. I wish we could still be friends, but I know that'll never happen. Lately I've been questioning my feelings for Ashley because there's someone else I care about." He walked over to Ellie and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"You've got a great daughter Mrs. Nash. She really is a good person, just stressed out, but very understanding. She may be the only person who truly understands me. Personally I blame myself for where she is right now."
Ellie's eyes began to flutter slightly, but Craig didn't notice. Ellie's mom however did, but stayed silent. She wanted to know how this Craig felt about her daughter and she wanted Ellie to know it too.
"So Craig, do you have feelings for my daughter at all?"
Craig hesitated before answering, "Yes, I have feelings for her, strong ones too."
Ellie's mind screamed out, 'Mom what are you doing!' But she didn't want to ruin it, not just yet.
"So, what does this mean Craig? What kind of feelings?" she knew exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Ok well, I really care about your daughter. She's the person that's bringing up questions with my relationship with Ash, not only is she beautiful, but she's so understanding. She just gets me you know? I don't know if I should be telling you this, but I kissed her...yesterday...in the library."
Mrs. Nash's eyes went wide, "Oh I see, so my Eleanor IS getting somewhere with boys...that's good."
"Um...yea. Well after that Ashley came to talk to me and I kind of kissed her too. I think that's what happened with your daughter. Because we talked for a while and she really likes me, and I like her too, but I just didn't get to telling Ashley that yet."
"So basically this is just like what happened with Manny and Ashley?"
"Basically, except the end is different, because I'm going to end things with Ash...for good. We can't work things out and at this point I don't want to, I just want to be with Ellie."
Mrs. Nash sighed, "Well," looking at Ellie, " you have my blessing. I want my Ellie to be taken care of, much better than I ever took care of her. Can you do that Craig? Can you take good care of her?"
Craig smiled, "Yup, I think I can do that."
Mrs. Nash smiled as Ellie pretended to yawn and wake up.
"Hey...what did I miss?" she asked.
Craig practically jumped off the ground, "Ellie! Oh Ellie I'm so sorry this is all my fault!" He walked over to her and gently stroked her face.
"That's it, things with me and Ash, they're over. I don't want her, I can't be with her when I really wanna be with you."
Ellie squealed and pulled Craig in for a deep kiss, she pressed her lips to his just as Ashley walked in.
"E...Ellie? Craig? What's going on?"
Ellie tried to pull away, but Craig wouldn't let her go. Ashley began to tear up, Ellie couldn't bare seeing her best friend cry, she had to stop kissing Craig. Finally Ellie managed to break away from Craig.
"Ashley...listen to me. I'm so sorry that it happened like this."
Craig spoke up, "Ashley I'm sorry, but I...I love Ellie and you and me...we're over. I didn't want it to end like this, but me and Ellie...we care about each other."
Ashley's tears of hurt became tears of rage, " Oh I see how it is now, what! Was this your plan the whole time? To become my friend and hook up with my boyfriend on the side? You set me up Ellie! Set me up to fall!"
Ellie wasn't going to just stand for all the accusations, "Look Ash, I'm sorry your boyfriend doesn't want you anymore, but don't take it out on me. It took you forever to finally put out and you weren't even his first. I didn't become friends with you just to hook up with your boyfriend, but that would have been a good idea after all the shit you've put me through. Always coming to me with all your problems as if I care and I always solved them didn't I! Not only did I have to deal with my own problems, but I had to deal with yours as well, and people wonder why I cut myself. You put me through so much stress that I can't even stand it, if I had wanted to set you up I would have done it a much more evil way and I wouldn't have waited this long. I'm friends with you because I want to, because I volunteered to get myself involved with you and now I can't get out. I'm sorry that your boyfriend wants to be with me, but get over it!"
Ashley stood there dumbfounded, not quite sure what to say.
Craig smiled brightly, "Yea Ellie! That's my girl!"
Ashley shot Craig an evil glare, "Shut up Craig. You know what fine Ellie, that's it. I won't bother you with anymore of my problems, so you can just go on with your life without me in it!" She quickly opened the door and slammed it closed.
Craig just smiled at Ellie as she turned to her mom, "Mom...I'm sorry about everything. I didn't want you to find out about this, I didn't mean to cut myself again. I was so overwhelmed with everything that I...I just..." tears began to stream down her face.
Her mom quickly embraced her daughter.
"Shhh, it's okay Ellie. It's not completely your fault, I understand. I'm sorry all this happened to you baby, I love you. Just promise me you'll never do this again."
Ellie sniffed,"I won't mom I promise, I love you too."
It was such a moment and Craig didn't want to ruin anything so he sat down in a chair, but then Marco walked in.
"Hey I heard that Ellie woke...oh...sorry." Marco blushed. Everyone just laughed, it was such a good day.
A/N: Yay! Finally a happy ending! Something good! Well I'm sorry it took so long to update this fic. I started others and then I got into some other stuff and school has begun to overwhelm me and blah blah blah! I hate giving you people excuses, but I'll try to get this next chapter up as soon as I can! Please review!
