Chapter 17 - Ready? Let's roll onto something new
"Are you feeling dizzy?" The nurse asked Keely, bustling around her, opening the curtains and rearranging the fake flowers that were in a vase next to her.
"No," Keely said bluntly.
"Nauseous?" She asked, smiling down at Keely.
Keely looked up at her, and begged her silently to stop looking down on her like she was an idiot. "No. I'm fine."
"Any dizziness?" The nurse asked again, obviously forgetting that she had asked that already.
Keely rolled her eyes. "Not since the last time you asked me. But with all these questions, I might become dizzy."
"I understand you've been through a traumatic experience."
Keely scoffed. "Understatement…"
"But if you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ask me," the nurse smiled sweetly.
"When am I going home?" Keely asked suddenly interested.
The nurse thought for a minute. "Well, it was a pretty deep cut. You'll have a scar. But you should be home in about an hour."
"An hour?" Keely moaned. "But it is so boring in here!"
The nurse smiled sympathetically at her. "Well, I guess I could let you go home earlier. As long as the doctor permits it."
Keely forced a smile back, and tried to look appreciative. Trying to look grateful would probably encourage the hospital to let her go home. Sure, the house held memories of last night, but she just wanted to be out of here.
"Let me just see," The nurse smiled, and then left the room.
Keely rolled her eyes. Ten more minutes wouldn't hurt. As long as she got out in less than an hour…
---
"Honey, I don't think you'll be allowed to come home yet," Mandy said to her daughter. "The police are still swarming around, trying to figure out how he got in. Are you sure you can't stay there?"
Keely groaned. "But I hate it her Mom. How about I ask Phil?"
"Ask Phil what?" Mandy said. "Please don't touch that!"
Keely wrinkled her nose and stared at the receiver. "Mom, I'm not touching anything."
"Sorry honey," Mandy said. "I was talking to the policewoman. She was trying to move Nana's ashes."
Keely half wished that she would move the huge vase that held her Nana's ashes. It was disturbing to see the huge ornament just sitting there containing the remains of her Nana.
"Ask Phil if I can stay there for a while."
"Sounds great!" Mandy smiled. Maybe when she next saw her daughter the inevitable would have become reality.
Keely smiled. "Thanks Mom. I'll see you later?"
"Yeah," Mandy said.
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Keely inserted her quarter and then dialled the Diffy household and twisted the cord on the pay phone she was using.
"Hello?" Mrs. Diffy's cheerful voice answered. Now she knew that her son was okay, and aside from a cut so was everyone else, she was back to her old self.
"Hey Mrs. Diffy," Keely said, putting on her grown-up voice. She didn't know why, but whenever she was around grownups she spoke in a different tone of voice. Phil had named it her grown-up voice.
Mrs. Diffy's voice flooded with concern. "Keely, honey. Is everything alright?"
"Yes. In fact, that's why I'm ringing. Mom says that my house is still swarming with police, and she…I wanted to know if I could stay with you for a while," Keely said.
The relief in Mrs. Diffy's voice showed. "Oh. Okay. That's absolutely fine Keely. Tell your Mom she's welcome to stay too."
"Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes!" Keely said, and hung up. She began to walk immediately, but she couldn't help turning round and checking that nobody was following behind her.
She reached the Diffy house in a matter of minutes, and when she knocked on the door, it was instantly wrenched open by Barb.
"Keely!" She exclaimed, hugging her. "You're okay?"
Keely smiled at Barb's worry. She knew that everyone in this house, excluding Pim cared for her as much as her Mom cared for her. A lot. "I'm about the same as I was on the phone Mrs. Diffy."
"Good. Good. Phil should be home soon. He only went into school to get a few things. I called him and told him to meet you here. He had his cell phone. I'm rambling now, aren't I?"
Keely nodded, but laughed.
They talked for a few minutes, trying to stay away from the inevitable conversation; but seeing as it was inevitable they strayed to it pretty soon.
Surprisingly, it didn't hurt for Keely to talk about it. In fact, it made it better. And Mrs. Diffy was extremely understanding.
"Hey Mom, do you know where…oh," Pim began to come downstairs, but seeing Keely she trailed off. "Never mind…" She began to ascend up the stairs again.
Keely got up. "Wait, Pim. It's okay!"
"Are you sure?" Pim said, uncomfortable - probably for the first time in her life.
Keely nodded, and Barb smiled.
"Okay. Mom, do you know where my electric saw went? Because it's not in my wardrobe," Pim said, almost completely back to her old self.
Keely rolled her eyes.
"No honey, I don't know where your power tools, that you shouldn't have in your room, are," Barb said, her voice containing a warning tone.
Pim sighed and then stormed out into the garage. "Curtis!"
The door opened, and Keely heard it close. "Hey!"
"Keels? You're here already?" Phil asked, poking his head round the living room door.
Keely held her arms out, ignoring the small sear of pain that ripped through her arm as she did so. "Here I am!"
"You wanna go into the garden?" Phil asked, looking down at the floor.
Keely winced. "Um…well Pim is now out there looking for a power tool."
"Right. Not in the garden then?" Phil questioned. "We could go out onto the porch. In the front garden."
Keely nodded, and they both walked out onto the front porch.
"Maybe something good will come out of all this pain," Barb whispered, and picked up the glasses that they had been drinking out of.
---
"So, did Mr. Hackett accept the letter?" Keely asked, settling herself down on the porch swing. "I mean, Mom said that she'd call up and excuse me, but if it's all okay, then that's fine."
Phil nodded. "It's great. Keels, I kind of announced to the whole school that you were in hospital. Is that okay?"
"Well, you were reporting the latest casualties, right?" Keely smiled. "And they were all going to find out one way or another anyway. I should be back at school next Monday. Seeing as it's Friday today. You know. Are you okay? I mean, you haven't made eye contact with me since we came out here."
Phil sat down next to her, reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper he had found on the floor in the Broadcast room. "I found this."
"Right," Keely said, but she didn't feel as scared as she had thought she would have. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had already told him how she felt. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't actually freaking out. She didn't know. "I presume that you read it. I mean, if I found a piece of paper on the floor, I would pick it up and read it."
Phil smiled as Keely kept on talking, over and over. "Keely. I read it. And I loved it. I really did."
"Honestly?" Keely asked, the delight showing in her voice.
Phil nodded. "Honest to god. You were writing about me, right?"
Keely rolled her eyes, and leant forward, decreasing the space between their lips, slowly.
While they were kissing, the wind caught up, and blew the piece of paper, through to the back yard, where Pim picked it up.
You're my inspiration
And you know it
Because when you catch me looking you smile
You're my inspiration
And I guess that I show it
Because I've been keeping it bottled up inside
Pim scowled as she read it. "Gross."
Then she let go of it, and it sailed away, in the wind; floating away from all the trouble it had seen start and end.
I am so sorry it's taken so long for me to update, but I couldn't seem to finish this chapter. I have now though, and so I'm posting it.
It's still not finished though, because I totally promised to get Via and Owen together. And Phil and Keely are going to come up with a plan. Talk about role reversal.
But anyway, review!
