Well here is the next chapter, thanks y'all for reviewing the cheesiest of big cheesy grins. Well here's the next chapter...
18. Rehab is for quitters
Finally Karen was packed and standing on the beach, ready to take the boat over to the mainland and then get picked up by Jack's parents. She smiled, she could really do with the break and now that Ann had volunteered to take care of the farm, she had nothing to worry about. She watched Rick haul out his suitcase, smirking.
"Open it up." Karen demanded, Rick looked at her innocently.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Just do it." She told him. Rick opened it up and sure enough there sat six bottles of red wine, Mineral town's finest. Karen removed all the wine and handed it to Ann, while Rick stood there, his arms crossed sulkily.
"I'm sorry Rick, but this is for your own good." Karen told him. She smiled, now that the whole village (including Lillia) knew, she was the one in charge. She remembered the last time they were on the beach like this, only that time it was Jack leaving. She knew exactly how her friends must be feeling, but they knew she had to do this, just like Karen had known Jack had to go. She felt close to tears now, just like she had before Jack left, she was having to leave the people she loved to help someone she'd began to hate.
The boat had arrived, a big cruise ship that only very rarely brushed the shores of mineral town and that was only when they had called to arrange a stop. Karen watched as all the people already aboard marvelled at Mineral town, although it was as modern as it needed to be, to them it was almost primitive. Zack took Karen's suitcases from her and carried them onto the ship, she smirked as Zack ignored Rick and made him carry his own suitcases. It was time for the final goodbyes. Ann and Popuri dashed over and gave Karen big hugs, followed by her parents with big hugs and kisses.
"Take care of yourself Karen, remember to take your vitamins and at least six glasses of water a day." Sasha said, tears streaming from her eyes. Karen was about to retort rudely, but instead smiled and nodded, it was good to know that they cared.
"Call us at least every week Karen, don't forget us." Ann ordered.
"Yeah, and send us a postcard, I'd love to see what the outside world looks like." Popuri said smiling, her brown eyes glimmering with an image of far off places in her mind.
"It's nowhere near as beautiful as you." Kai told Popuri, making her blush the colour of her bubblegum pink hair.
"Bye guys..." Karen said, tears running down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and ascended the beautiful white ship, to leave her beloved town.
Once they were both aboard she felt the boat shake and they were moving slowly away from her beloved home. She watched as the people waved frantically, until finally they had become mere dots in the distance. She turned to Rick, who had turned a pale shade of green.
"Rick, are you feeling okay?" Karen asked, Rick nodded and then made a face. He ran to the side of the boat and threw up into the ocean. Karen groaned. "I guess not."
"You get seasick, don't you?" She said in annoyance. Rick turned round and nodded again before throwing up into the ocean. Karen shook her head slowly.
"Oh those poor, poor fish." She mumbled. Rick managed a scowl before launching up more of his stomachs contents. After about half an hour of throwing up, Karen took pity on Rick and decided to search for a cure. She spotted a large woman at the side watching Rick with a smile.
"Hi... um you wouldn't know how to cure this, would you?" Karen asked her amiably. The woman chuckled, obviously enjoying Rick's suffering, which Karen was okay with.
"Oh yeah, ma hubby used to get seasick a whole lot, just rub 'is back an' he'll feel a bit better." She told her. The woman had a very heavy American accent and sounded like she came from one of the southern states. Karen smiled at the woman thankfully and rubbed Rick on the back gently. He turned around and smiled.
"That's better." He said sounding incredibly relieved, he still looked like a reanimated corpse though.
"Why don't you go to the bathroom and get cleaned up?" Karen suggested. Rick wobbled his way to the toilets and Karen sat down on one of the cold white benches.
She was enjoying the windiness of the deck, the cool air sweeping her hair across her face. Karen swept her hair back and stood to face the wind direction, making her hair fly backwards in streams of gold. She looked over the deck and felt the cool sea spray in her face, she tasted the salt and smiled. The speed at which they crossed the water was exhilarating for her, she'd never been on a proper boat before. The nearest she'd been to riding on a boat was when Zack had taken her for a short ride on his motorboat that he used to carry produce from the town to the mainland. She suddenly had the feeling of being watched, she spun around to see the woman staring at her.
"First time on a boat?" She asked knowingly. Karen nodded.
"Uh-huh, I come from a small village and the people there barely ever travel." Karen told her. The women nodded, and heaved herself over to sit next to Karen. She was wearing a strange flowery dress that looked more like a tent and an even stranger faux fur scarf, mismatching terribly. She had short bouncy brown hair and huge piggy eyes that seemed to say "I wouldn't mind eating you".
"Yeah I saw your island, nice place. So why are ya leavin' it?" The woman asked nosily. Karen swallowed, debating whether to tell the truth, she decided against it after all this woman was a perfect stranger.
"Honeymoon, me and the seasick guy have just gotten married." Karen said nodding her head at where Rick had been throwing up.
"Honeymoon eh? Sounds nice." The woman said, sounding rather suspicious.
"Yeah, it's going to be great, seeing a bit of the world with the man I love the most." Karen said gritting her teeth together hard.
"Any marriage problems yet?" The woman asked casually, her eyes almost seeing into Karen's mind. Karen flesh began to prickle, recalling the horrible events of her married life so far.
"M...marriage...p...p...problems?" Karen asked stuttering. She swallowed hard, what did it matter what this woman thought she knew.
"Yeah you know like... is he making you do all the cooking and cleaning? Or refusing to talk to you much or heaven forbid abusing you, but of course that wouldn't happen." The woman said with a laugh. Karen forced a nervous giggle, her mind had answered "yes, yes, yes, yes" to all of the woman's questions.
"No nothing like that, marriage is great, just great... fabulous. Couldn't be better, love marriage, marriage is the best." Karen said quickly. The woman stared at her with an amused expression on her face.
"Of course it is." She said. Karen was sure she heard the woman sigh, as though she too suppressed some unvoiced feelings about marriage. Carefully avoiding the desire to voice her pain she swallowed heard, looking at the door and hoping that Rick would be back soon. Her wish was granted as he walked back onto the deck looking slightly more refreshed but still a little pale.
"Hey Rick honey, I was just telling... Mrs... erm..." Karen began, waiting for the large lady to fill in the blanks.
"Mrs Fletcher, but you can call me Maggie." The woman said, smiling amiably.
"Right, Maggie, the joys of marriage." Karen told him, giving him a cold look that warned him to keep his mouth shut. To her relief Rick took the hint and nodded.
"Yeah, it's great." He said without feeling. Karen growled under her breath, he was either a really bad liar or putting no effort into it. Karen giggled nervously and watched as Rick slumped into a bench. She edged away slowly from the woman to look over the bow, she could see a small black mound which she guessed was the mainland. As they got nearer it grew in size, astounding Karen. She'd never seen any stretch of land that big, but then again Mineral town was the only stretch of land she'd ever seen.
"Wow, we're almost there." She exclaimed, catching her breath. She could feel excitement swelling up inside her, somewhere new.
"Big deal." Rick said boredly. Karen shot a cold look at him and then continued to look over at the land mass. Finally the boat reached the dock and stopped, allowing the passengers to get out. Karen grabbed her luggage and waved goodbye to Maggie, who was eating a large chocolate bar that seemed to have manifested from nowhere.
"See ya Maggie." Karen called to her. Maggie looked back grinning, taking another bite of chocolate.
"Take care love." Maggie told her.
Finally they had arrived at the car park, waiting for Jack's parents to pick them up. Karen was pacing around worriedly, what if they'd got the wrong day, or decided they didn't want to pick her up. But that was nonsense, they had helped arrange the tickets. Suddenly a large black Mercedes pulled up and a smiling brunette woman stepped out. She pulled Karen into her arms, tears of happiness pouring down her cheeks.
"Oh Karen dear, I'm so happy to see you." Jack's Mom told her.
"I'm so happy to see you too." Karen said, tears pouring down her cheeks simultaneously. The car's engine stopped and Jack's dad stepped out. His hair was beginning to turn a dark shade of grey and he had a moustache, but other than that he was the splitting image of Jack. He had the same hairstyle, the same build, but older and the same smile. Except his eyes were pools of icy blue instead of warm comforting brown. Jack's mother had his eyes, that shone warmly onto Karen welcomingly.
"How ya doing kiddo?" Mr. Hunter asked.
"Better." Karen said with a smile. It was the best she could manage and she meant it. She was better for seeing them and better after the death of Jack, better but still not good.
"And you must be Rick..." Mrs. Hunter said kindly. Karen giggled as Mr. Hunter imitated a drunk behind Rick's back.
"Yeah." Rick said rudely as his eyebrows rose. Karen shot him a cold glare, how could he be so rude to the people who were being so kind to them?
"Right." Mr. Hunter said, obviously trying not to laugh. He opened the car door for Karen and then sat back in the front seat, leaving Rick to open his own door and load in his own luggage. Once they were all in Mr. Hunter started the car and they were off.
"How long is the journey?" Rick asked sulkily.
"About three hours dear," Mrs. Hunter told him. "But we'll have a rest stop halfway through."
"Thank you so much for doing this for me... I mean us." Karen said correcting herself. Mrs. Hunter turned back in her seat and smiled.
"Anything for you sweetie, you're like family." Mrs. Hunter told her. Karen grinned, feeling warm. There was something warm about Jack's whole family, a loving selfless glow. Karen looked at Rick in wonder, why did she marry him? She'd never seen that selfless glow on him, even when he'd claimed he loved her, why had she let herself be fooled. She sighed and rested her head back on the seat, she was trapped now.
"Something wrong sweetie?" Mrs. Hunter asked kindly. Karen quickly shook her head, she didn't want them thinking they were making her sad by reminding her of Jack.
"No, I was just thinking..." She said, before her mind wandered off again.
Soon they reached their first city and Karen stared in amazement. Tall skyscrapers towered over everything, looming over the people below. Streets were filled with car after car, each one a different shape, colour or make. She had never seen anywhere so busy, people covered the streets like ants, each with their own worries, heartaches and lives.
She had never seen anything so strange, the streets were lined with shop after shop, many different kinds of shop and many the same. But Mineral Town only needed one of each and where was the hot springs? Where were the nature, the mountains and the trees? Karen furrowed her brow, her mind spotting every difference and asking "What's this?" She felt like Jack Skellington having just found Christmas town. She turned to look at Rick, who seemed unaffected by the strangeness of this new world they had wandered into. Mrs Hunter spotted Karen looking amazed at the city and smiled.
"Karen dear, would you like to stop here. We were going to go to a nice countryside place but... I guess you see that every day." She said with a laugh. Karen smiled and nodded.
"Would you mind?" Karen asked excitedly.
"Not in the least. Isn't that right dear?" Mrs. Hunter asked her husband.
"Why sure. We can go to McDonalds." He said with a smile.
"Mc who's?" Karen asked, her eyes wide with interest. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter burst out laughing.
"Don't tell me you haven't heard of McDonalds!" Mr. Hunter said, with an amused expression on his face.
"Should I have? Is he important?" Karen asked, confused.
"Karen, prepare to be amazed." Mr. Hunter told her. Karen grinned, she was already completely amazed, what could amaze her more.
After stopping in McDonalds, which she found out was like the most well-known fast food restaurant in the world, they headed back on the road. Karen was amazed, the sights and smells she had experienced, this was a world she'd never seen. She'd always known Mineral town was secluded, but it was a complete contrast to the real world. After seeing nearly fifty McDonald's in the same place she was even more astounded, she felt like an alien on her own planet.
"Wow, Mineral Town is so different from anywhere else in the world!" Karen exclaimed. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter laughed again at her innocence.
"No sweetie, there are loads of places like Mineral town too. But we just went through a city. Mineral town is a pretty average town... well maybe a bit behind the times but... still alike some towns." Mrs. Hunter told her. Karen gave a sigh of relief, it was nice to know she would see some familiar territory. She glanced over at Rick again, he still looked sullen and uninterested.
"Rick, aren't you excited?" She asked, in a desperate attempt to get through to him. He shrugged.
"Rick sweetie, is everything okay?" Mrs. Hunter asked worriedly. Karen smiled at her kindness, it was amazing that she could feel compassion for the man who had married their sons ex and then ruined her life.
"I'm bloody fine okay? Leave me the hell alone." Rick shouted angrily. Mrs. Hunter looked unfazed and smiled sweetly.
"That's kind of hard since we're in a car." She giggled with a warm smile. Rick scowled and continued to look at the car floor.
"Rick, can't you be nice? Jack's parents are being unbelievably kind to you... and... and." Karen blurted out, fighting back tears.
"Aw, its okay sweetie, your hubby doesn't have to be nice on our account. But on yours it would be nice." She said, letting out a sigh. Karen shook her head.
"He should be grateful. What happened to the Rick I married?" She asked, tears beginning to flood down her cheeks. Rick turned and looked at her for the first time in the whole journey. He smiled weakly and Karen felt her heart leap with hope.
"He died." Rick said shortly and Karen felt herself crashing back down to earth. Mrs. Hunter spotted her crying and handed her a tissue, which Karen took gratefully.
"There sweetie, he's not worth your tears." Mrs. Hunter said with some difficulty. It sounded like she hadn't said anything spiteful in a long time.
Finally they arrived at the Rehab clinic. It was a large, spotlessly white building surrounded by flowers and trees. It was so colourful and beautiful and Karen could swear she saw a smile on Rick's face.
"This doesn't look so bad does it?" Karen asked Rick, worried for his happiness despite all he'd put her through. He shrugged. They stepped into the building and immediately felt the cool air conditioning and heard peaceful music. The floor was made of pale, white marble and the walls were painted pale blue and lavender, adding to the calming atmosphere. Mrs. Hunter rang the bell at the reception and was immediately greeted by a woman in a light flowery dress.
"Ah welcome, you must be Rick." She said in a floaty, ultra calm voice. Karen immediately felt soothed and calmed by her voice and standing in the amazingly calm room. She felt her troubles lifting away, giving her strength. If Rick couldn't get over his alcoholism here, he couldn't do it anywhere.
"Hi, yes." Rick said, still trying to sound grumpy. The woman smiled showing a set of perfectly straight and pearly white teeth.
"Let me show you to your room." She said softly. She lead them up a staircase to a beautiful room, with a soft white bed and a view of a big, green pasture.
"Here is your room, we will serve you dinner when you're ready, or if you want you can eat in the dining room. Downstairs there is a pool, where you can swim and relax and there's a gym and steam room. Then at four every day there is a two hour long giving up class. If you need any extra help you may see our psychologist. Any questions?" The woman asked softly. Rick shook his head, the place sounded amazing.
"I'll leave you to say your goodbyes and get settled." The woman said with a smile, before heading back to the reception.
"Seems pretty comfortable here Rick." Karen said, smiling gently.
"I guess." He replied with a shrug. Karen felt a lump in her throat, even though she hated him at that point in time, she still knew she'd miss him.
"Well, I'll miss you." She told him, a small tear trickling down her cheek. Mrs. Hunter gave Rick a hug and Mr. Hunter patted him on the back.
"See ya Ricko." He said amiably.
"Goodbye Rick, sweetie. Take care of yourself." Mrs. Hunter said kindly. They smiled and left Karen and Rick to say their goodbyes. She gave Rick a hug and kissed him gently on the cheek, tears rolling down her face.
"Well, I love you Rick. Goodbye." She said as she turned to leave. Rick took a deep breath.
"I love you too Karen." He told her. She could tell it had taken effort to say and she smiled.
"I know." She said as she walked out of the door. She headed over to the car and found Mr. and Mrs. Hunter waiting outside for her.
"You okay Karen sweetie?" Mrs. Hunter asked. Karen nodded, wiping away her tears with the tissue Mrs. Hunter had just handed her.
"Yeah I'm fine. Thank you." Karen said. The Hunters smiled at each other and they got back into the car, to head home.
When they reached the house Karen was amazed, she'd heard they were well off but she could never have imagined what she saw. They owned a huge mansion with an expanse of fields, including a swimming pool and tennis courts. Karen gaped at it, nothing so huge could be found in Mineral town.
"Home, sweet home." Mr. Hunter said with a grin.
"It's so big." Karen said in awe, her eyes wide. It was a pale white home with two stories but a hell of a lot of room in both of them. When they entered Karen felt the homey feel, even though the house was big it still felt very lived in.
"You can see why just the two of us get lonely." Mrs. Hunter said sadly. Karen felt a twinge of guilt, as though it was her fault Jack had died.
"That's why it's great to have you here." Mr. Hunter added with a smile. Mrs. Hunter nodded, shaking off her sadness immediately.
"I'll show you to your room." She told Karen, leading her up the winding staircase and through the corridors. The mansion reminded her of a place that might have secret passageways; it was just like a haunted mansion except with a warm comforting feel to it. As they walked past the paintings of deceased family members Karen spotted that each one looked a lot like Jack. She smiled sadly, he was the end of the line.
"This house has been in the Hunter family for years. Jack was going to inherit it..." Mrs. Hunter said with some sadness. Karen swallowed hard, she hated to see Mrs. Hunter sad too.
"Who will inherit it now?" Karen asked curiously. She couldn't help wondering if, had Jack been alive, they might have inherited the house together.
"I guess we'll sell it. Jack was an only child and so was his father so the Hunter line ends there. We could give it to my side of the family but technically they aren't Hunters. We'd rather we sold it and put the money to good use." Mrs. Hunter told Karen sadly. She nodded, and a feeling like her heart was being ripped out came over her. She knew that maybe if she hadn't let Jack go he might still have been alive. Mrs. Hunter noticed Karen's sadness and wrapped her arm in a motherly fashion around her.
"I know it must be hard for you... I guess this trip is bringing back memories." Mrs Hunter told her kindly. It was true the trip was bringing back memories, but in a good way.
"No... I mean yes... but it's good. I don't want to forget." She said. Mrs. Hunter smiled and then led Karen to her room. When they entered she felt amazed, it was the most beautiful guest room she could have imagined, with all the necessary furnishings. Everything was pink and flowery, with a giant four-poster bed spread out in the middle. The room looked like a princess dream room, the kind of room Popuri would kill for.
"It's amazing..." Karen breathed. Mrs. Hunter smiled and watched happily as Karen dived on the bed. She'd never had such a big bed to herself before and after this it would be hard not to again.
"I'm glad you like it. Why don't you stay here and rest up for a bit huh? Anything you need you just go ahead and take, don't even bother to ask. Our home is your home." Mrs. Hunter said kindly. Karen smiled and nodded, and then Mrs. Hunter left her to rest.
After a good long nap that felt like years of sleep, Karen slowly made her way downstairs to eat. She was being as primitive as possible, just eating and sleeping were all she needed. She opened the huge refrigerator to find a vast array of food, any ingredient she could want lay in that fridge. As she made herself a ham sandwich she couldn't help but wonder how Jack wasn't fat, maybe he was? She abandoned her sandwich and hunted the house for some baby pictures of Jack. Triumphantly she found what appeared to be a wall of Jackness. An entire wall devoted to him, his awards, his pictures, his life. Karen smiled to see his baby picture, a smiling, podgy blue eyed baby gazed back at her.
Then later his toddler years depicted a small, energetic, brown haired boy with chocolaty brown eyes. So he hadn't been fat. Karen smiled and headed back to her sandwich, gulping down the delicious, hammy goodness. Feeling full she headed back to the Jack wall. She looked at all his shiny trophies and medals, he'd been a champion swimmer, well that explained a lot and a great tennis player too. He'd won awards for most polite, most thoughtful, most conscientious. They were all qualities he'd had in excess, always thinking of others and always chipper... maybe a little too chipper.
It felt good to look at everything that made his parents proud, they gave her a kind of strange pride back. Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Mr. Hunter.
"He was a great kid." He told her. She smiled, she could see that.
"Yeah... you must have been so proud."
"Couldn't have been prouder. I've been proud of every choice he's ever made." Mr. Hunter said with a sigh. Karen cocked her head slightly, why did he seem sad?
"He was a great guy... the greatest. I guess this cruel world didn't have room for someone so perfect." She said with a grimace. The world had taken from her the one thing that could have made her happy.
"Yeah...It took my most precious thing from me... my only son." Mr. Hunter whispered swallowing down tears.
"He was too good for this world." She told him trying to make both him and herself feel better.
"That he was." Mr. Hunter said with a smile and a nod. He then took a deep breath, as though breathing his sadness out. "What I came to ask you is would you care for a game of tennis?"
"Tennis?"
"Yeah, you know, racket and ball. Aim being to hit the ball out of your opponents reach... no?" He asked. Karen shook her head making him chuckle.
"Mineral town really is miles away from here. Well if you're not too tired I'll teach you."
"That sounds fun... let's go." She replied smiling, she needed something to take her mind off things. But she couldn't believe she'd never heard of tennis before after Mr. Hunter taught her and evidently nor could he. He promised later that they'd watch some tennis matches and then some other television she might have missed out on. After missing lots of tennis shots, she vowed to get better. She had a lot to learn while Rick learned to give up alcohol and she had a feeling she was going to have fun.
Okay i just wanna ask, did anyone get the title joke? rehab is for quitters... yes...? no...? I got it off a badge and liked it.
