Thanks for your review EC Brenway - hope you like this chapter!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Ninety
Tuesday 4th March 2025
The next morning, Elly woke up next to Chloe's hospital bedside, having fallen asleep with her head against Chloe's side, Elly had to blink multiple times before she worked out where she was.
"Morning," Chloe greeted pleasantly, smiling when Elly looked straight up at her into her eyes, almost like she could see Elly processing they were in hospital after Chloe and their baby had been shot the previous day by Pierce.
"Yesterday really happened?" Elly asked worriedly.
"It did," Chloe confirmed, then smiled, "But then when we were meant to be saying goodbye so you could go back to the Kennedy's with Aster to spend the night, you rested your head for a moment and…"
"Fell asleep?" Elly realized, still feeling tired and groggy.
"I had to convince the nurses you needed to snooze here the night and that they couldn't wake you, even if they tried hard enough," Chloe said happily.
"Could've done without the sore neck sleeping like that but waking up and seeing your smiling face makes up for it," Elly flirted, before yawning, "I should check in with Karl and Suze to see how Aster's doing."
"Oh, they already called me via the lovely hospital room phone when reception put them through. My phone's battery must be dead by now and well…I think when you wolfed out and then were all naked when you turned back…you probably left your phone in the sand on the beach when it fell from your body…y'know when your clothes all ripped up," Chloe rambled before Elly interrupted her.
"Pretty sure I lost my phone then…you didn't tell that part of the story to Karl and Suze, right?" Elly wondered.
"Oh, I totally did. They were very cool about the part of you been a werewolf and that you wolfed out on Pierce and then got all naked when you became human again. They want to have you over next time it's the Full Moon so they can see for themselves," Chloe teased.
"Aren't you so hilarious, Chlo?" Elly rolled her eyes.
"Sure am," Chloe grinned, "Bea offered to bring Aster in to us in..." glancing at the clock on the wall, "About half an hour. I was going to give you another twenty minutes to sleep before I finally woke you."
"You're sweet. Can't believe I fell asleep before I went home with Aster," Elly worried that her daughter would once more believe she was prioritizing everyone else above her.
"I heard Aster in the background when they called, she sounded so happy to be back with everyone," Chloe revealed.
Elly sighed in relief, "I'm glad…I was worried…"
"Aster would think you're putting the baby and I before her again?" Chloe finished off correctly.
"Yes," Elly said shyly, still surprised how well Chloe knew her, "I'm so glad you and our baby are okay…by the way…I kinda told Bea, Mark and Aaron the baby's mine…"
Chloe raised her eyebrow, "You did…? How'd that go?"
"They all saw how worried I was about you both and everyone kept talking like the baby is Pierce's…or some random guy's…I just…I lost it at them…I don't think they believed me…or they did but didn't really understand…how it could happen…obviously," Elly admitted.
"Didn't tell them the wolfy part, aye?" Chloe realized, "That would tell them how our baby happened magically."
"No, I did not," Elly half-smiled, wondering how freaked out they would be if they did find out her werewolf secret.
The couple were interrupted by a doctor whom barely knocked on the door before he proceeded into the room and whilst Chloe expected that he was coming to check on her recovery from her surgery, he was soon telling Chloe they needed to schedule another surgery for her later that morning.
"Seriously? What for? I thought you got the bullet out of me and closed me up sufficiently," Chloe was annoyed at the thought of been stuck in the hospital even longer than she was already likely to be.
"We did," the doctor announced, then he pulled out an x-ray, handing it to Chloe and Elly to have a look at, "I was reviewing your surgery notes this morning. We took this x-ray after your surgery to make sure we got the bullet you were shot with and that we hadn't missed any other bullets. I should've seen it last night after the surgery but I didn't look at it closely enough."
"I have another bullet in me?" Chloe worried, though staring at the x-ray, she couldn't see anything resembling a bullet on the film.
"Oh, no, sorry, not a bullet…" the doctor then pointed at a solid white spot that couldn't have been bigger than a grain of rice, on the x-ray near Chloe's shoulder, "I think you've been chipped, Mrs. Brennan. There was nothing in your medical file about why you would have a chip there so I want to put you through a milder surgery to remove it."
"A chip?" Chloe repeated, then glancing at Elly in concern, "Like a microchip?"
The doctor nodded, "So, I was correct this wasn't something you implanted yourself with?"
Elly frowned at the thought, "Of course she didn't. This microchip…are we talking like a tracker or recording Chloe's voice or…?"
"We won't know until we get it out and have it examined but my guess is it was used for tracking your movements. We'll alert the police about it. I'm sure they'll talk to you about whom could've planted the microchip and when it could've been done, how much information could've been used from it," the doctor replied stoically, "We've booked you in for the surgery to remove it in an hour or so. The procedure won't take long. Nurses will be in here soon to prep you for the surgery."
The doctor swiftly left the room without another word.
"Guess that means no breakfast," Chloe grumbled, already upset that she'd barely had much for dinner after Elly had fallen asleep and it was the only meal that she'd eaten the previous day on account of been shot in the morning and in surgery to remove the bullet most of the afternoon.
"Chloe, could you be a little bit more concerned about this?" Elly was somewhat upset at Chloe's reaction, "We know damn well who did this!"
"I know," Chloe whispered, not wanting to think about how violated she was feeling all over again from her husband.
Elly shook her head, "It's how Pierce found you on the Island, isn't it? He's been tracking you…Mark told me when we were waiting for you to survive the surgery that…Pierce had been locked up in jail for several days…must be why he didn't arrive on the Island the same night you did."
"I don't want to talk about Pierce right now," Chloe said softly.
"Chlo…I know you just said that you don't want to talk about Pierce…but there is something that I need to tell you about Pierce…something that I did that you need to know…" Elly reached out for Chloe's hand.
"Do I really need to know now?" Chloe asked gently.
Elly thought for a moment, knowing she really needed to tell Chloe that Pierce was a werewolf and she had been responsible for him been in both their lives for what could be eternity if Chloe too wanted to turn into a werewolf one day, "Chlo, you really do…see the thing is that Pierce is-"
"Oh, so you heard about Pierce?" Bea interrupted the couple, with Aster running in to jump up to the side of Chloe's hospital bed before any of them could stop her.
Chloe had to hold Aster back for a moment from hugging her, considering she was sitting up on the bed on the side Chloe's gunshot wound resided, "Hey Aster, I'd love a hug but really can't right now. How about you save me all the hugs you have for me and the baby and you give them to me when I'm all healed up?"
"Okay, Chlo," Aster agreed, lying down next to Chloe on the bed, careful not to touch her.
"Heard what about Pierce?" Elly panicked.
Bea doesn't know that I turned Pierce into a werewolf…right? Bea can't know anything about werewolves because then she'll find out about me and that'll be…
Bea eyed her sister suspiciously at her reaction, "You tell me, sis, you were the one talking about Pierce."
"Bea, what were you going to say that we 'heard about Pierce'?" Elly asked firmly, refusing to let Bea trick her into saying something she shouldn't in front of her.
Bea continued eyeing Elly with annoyance but answered anyway, "Then I guess you haven't heard…Pierce escaped last night. Broke out of his hand cuffs after pissing the hospital bed…guess he forgot all he had to do was call for a nurse to let her know he needed to pee, got all embarrassed about it, made a run for it, I guess. By the time the nurses realized the CCTV cameras in the hallway had been tampered with and the last couple hours before Pierce escaped had been wiped. Maybe Pierce did it so no one saw his escape. Lexa and Clarke called us last night to check how Aster was going at ours…they told us."
"Pierce is gone?" Chloe asked worriedly, "So, he could come back?"
Elly looked even more panicked, knowing Pierce was also a werewolf so he could not only come back but was stronger than Chloe could ever be prepared for.
Bea shook her head, "I don't know how they know, but your friends were absolutely convinced that we won't be seeing Pierce ever again. Said it was something that…Raven…did I get that right…? Ah said to them…I dunno something that convinced them Pierce would no longer be a problem and that…you'd know what I mean by saying…" tilting her head to Elly, "Your secret will be safe…what secret?"
Elly shrugged nonchalantly, knowing full well it was her secret of turning Pierce into a werewolf, "Not sure what they're going on about."
"Opposite of what the girls said…they said you would know…what's your secret?" Bea asked again.
Chloe glanced at Bea, "Those girls are full of intrigue, Bea. You don't know them like we do. They probably thought they were been funny by telling you Elly's got a secret."
"Really? Because I'm already getting pis—peeved at Yashvi for lying to me about whatever it is that's going on with her. Last thing I need is the same from you," Bea said with further annoyance.
"Bea, I'm sorry about whatever is going on between you and Yashvi. Give her a chance to open up to you when she's ready…if it's about that thing that happened yesterday before Chloe's surgery…she's probably just confused and needing to feel safe before she tells you whatever is going on with her," Elly suggested.
"Good advice…but I still feel like you're avoiding trying to tell me something you're hiding," Bea pointed out.
Elly couldn't help but be annoyed at her friends for leaving her sister with a hint that she was hiding a secret, despite feeling her own as well as Chloe's relief that Pierce could truly be out of their lives.
"And maybe like Yashvi, if you give Elly a chance to open up to you when she's ready, she'll feel safe to tell you about whatever is going on with her," Chloe repeated Elly's advice.
Great, Chlo, now Bea definitely knows that I'm hiding something from her...
"Is this about what you told me about the baby?" Bea narrowed her eyes.
Elly glanced at Chloe, before shrugging at her sister, "Something to do with the baby…yes."
"Is the baby, okay?" Aster suddenly piped up.
Chloe wrapped her arm around Aster's shoulder, wincing gently at the pain in her side, "Your baby sister or brother is just fine, Aster. And if Pierce is truly out of our lives for good…then that can only mean good things from here on out."
Elly sat up, leaning forwards to press her lips to Chloe's forehead, "Absolutely, only good things," then turned to Bea, "When the time is right, I'll tell you everything but for now…don't worry about me. I have my family here and we are not going to run away again, okay? Chloe had the baby tested for Huntington's…we should get the results back whilst we're here. We'll need you and Yashvi with us if the results don't do our way. Our baby is a miracle so I'm positive the baby will be healthy. Once Chloe gets out of hospital, we might move back to where we were living but we will be here for you. We'll come and visit. We've got a wedding to come back for, remember?"
Bea shrugged despondently, unable to hide her jealousy of feeling like everything in Elly's life was coming together with her family been together and Pierce been out of their lives, even though she knew her sister deserved so much happiness.
Bea finally admitted, "At the rate that Yashvi's refusing to talk to me…she and I might not make it down any aisle."
Next time - Never fear, we're skipping forward in time because we've got a YashBea wedding to attend!
As I look around and wonder if I've answered every loose thread in this story - because I've answered that, addressed this, brought that thing back up, came back and resolved that after what felt like ages and yep that loose thread was wound up ? ﾟﾧﾐ? ﾟﾧﾐ? - and if we've come to the final chapter of the story...or is there anything left to tell?