Hey all. Sorry for the bit of wait for this one. That hadn't been my intention when I left it off the way I had. But the easiest way to sum it all up without getting into it all is one can't simple stop life from happening. Onyx is mine and can't be used without my permission. I have permission to use Mikki, Dylan, Jeremy and Courtney as they are mentioned within this chapter and you must get permission from KikiJuanita, as they belong to her.
Enjoy.
Her Monday turned out to go the complete opposite of how she thought it would go. Her day started out on the bright side. Waking up in Clint's embrace made her feel a tangle of emotions, all happy ones, making her skin tingle. Sharing coffee and breakfast with her boyfriend had been a flurry of giddiness, knowing it would be an everyday thing. Getting to the school things had still been going good until she heard from Jake, who was sick in bed with the flu and there was no way that he would be coming in for the next few days. The earliest he might be back would be Wednesday. With not knowing when he would be back for certain, she made a weekly plan, which hadn't been that hard, since she already knew what Jake was going to do as they had gone over it together.
She hadn't missed her students groaning and complaining with her over the reading assignment and the questions they were to answer at the end of the chapter. She honestly didn't think she could do anything more than that. Not when her mind was still on Jeff, worried about if he would wake from his coma or have some sort of setback. Each class seemed to be the same groaning over the work she gave them for the night, she did point out that she could toss her own rules out the window and give them a test, if they so pleased. They hushed right up and got busy with the assignment she gave them, while she tried to stay busy keeping her mind from Jeff.
"Detention duties have been taken care of for the next few weeks, everyone pulled together to make sure you don't have any to serve," Seb said, stepping into the classroom after the dismissal bell rang. He had met with the other teachers to discuss it, saying that she needed some personal time.
"Your doing no doubt," she commented, collecting her things. "Thanks for doing it," she smiled, looking up at her friend.
"Still nothing on Jeff?" He asked, walking closer. "You're welcome, but it's nothing, really," he waved it off.
"Not unless something happened today, I'll let you know once I know something," she let him know, double checking, she had everything, in her quick haste to get to the hospital. Seb nodded, walking out of the classroom, so she could lock her door before leaving.
The drive from the school to the hospital passed Onyx by in a blur. And like no time at all ticked by she sat in her brothers' room, noting that he had a few visitors throughout the day with the group of flowers sitting on the window ledge, and some get better balloons. She sat by his bed grading some assignments that had been turned in, letting the beeping of the machines calm her. So far, there still hadn't been any change with Jeff, and even though they didn't say it, she could tell that they were worried about what could happen if he didn't wake up sooner rather than later.
"Jeff," she sighed taking his hand in both of hers, having finished her grading and set the bag by the door out of the way. "I don't know what's going on in your mind that's keeping you from waking up, and I am sure it's not something I could begin to comprehend, but fight Jeff; you need to fight and come back to us," she told him, licking her lips, her eyes closing to keep the tears at bay.
"As long as you stay strong hunny, he'll be strong," said a voice from behind her. Without even looking she knew the voice as her mothers.
"You guys made it," she weakly smiled at her mom, rushing to hug her.
"Later than we would have liked, but not much you can do to make planes go faster," she said. "I talked to the doctors so no worries on filling me in," she softly said, rubbing her daughter's back. Onyx nodded, not ready to leave her moms embrace.
"If you want a minute alone I can go," she offered.
"Hunny, no," her mom shook her head. "You had to work and I don't mind waiting until tomorrow to have some alone time with him."
"If you're sure," Onyx said a bit warily. She didn't want to take time away from them.
"Positive," she assured her daughter.
Onyx nodded, letting her mom have the more comfortable chair in the room and took one of the wooden folding chairs hung on the wall down to unfold and sit close to her mom out of the way for when the doctors showed up to check vitals.
"Where's…" Her question trailing off seeing said woman entering the room with three coffees. "You doing okay?" Lydia asked, handing Onyx the cup of coffee she ordered for her.
"Define okay," Onyx sighed, happily taking the caffeine, needing it more than she should this late into the day. "Thanks," she half smiled, taking a tentative sip of the hot liquid.
"Oh sweetie," Lydia sighed, giving her a side hug and kissing the top of her head. "You know how dramatic your brother can be," she said doing what she could to lighten the mood in the room.
"Center of attention, that one," Onyx laughed lightly.
"What's been going on in your life, it feels like we haven't talked in a long time," her mom commented, looking at her daughter, while moving to hold her son's hand.
"I'm sure you guys know all about the Mike ordeal, and it's weirder than it should be considering he's a friend," she stated. "I moved in with Clint, officially yesterday; I know that's what you really want to know," she said, seeing the looks shared between her mom and Lydia.
"We always want to know how you're doing, sweetie," her mom commented. "And to know that you're moving forward in a relationship with a man you love, is wonderful to hear. And even I can see that Clint and the relationship you have with him is different from the others," Jade told her daughter. She was beyond happy for her daughter to have a love she could get lost in; it was all she ever wanted for her daughter and for her son.
"I am with your mom, Onyx. We're happy that you're happy, and it's a happiness we haven't seen from you in a long time when it comes to a guy," Lydia smiled. "And unfortunately, we knew about the whole Mike thing," she started to say, for Jade to cut her off.
"But it was something you needed to hear from your father, and it killed us to keep something like that from you, honestly we didn't know that you knew Mike, if we would've known, things might have been different," she sighed.
"No they wouldn't be," Onyx sighed. "Dad needed to be the one to share the news. Hearing it from you guys it would've made the situation worse," she shrugged. "At this point I just want to move past it all. Things with Mike have been sorted out, and I'm trying to get over the lie and get back to what we use to have," she shared, picking at her nails.
"You'll get it back," her mom told her, sending her a smile across the room. "Have you met your brothers' new girlfriend?" She asked.
"I did," she nodded. "Not the way it had been planned, but in the waiting room when Jeff got brought in," she shared.
"Talk about awkward," her mom laughed softly.
"At first, but it wasn't so bad after a while," Onyx shrugged. "She's good for Jeff, even if I haven't seen them together," she tacked on.
"How is Sugar?" Her mom asked. "I liked those two together; I don't know much about Courtney," she said.
"Sugar is good; she's in a new relationship, and I haven't met the guy nor do I know his name," she said, not wanting her moms to press her on something she couldn't give them an answer to. "You're going to like her; I do believe she's a better fit for Jeff," she commented. She loved her friend, but she hadn't been on board for the relationship she shared with her brother, just because she didn't think they could click the way you should when in love.
That's how the rest of her early evening went, talking to her mom and Lydia as they sat in Jeff's room waiting on any sort of sign from him on waking soon.
"Don't stay too long and make sure you eat," Jade told her daughter, embracing her in a tight hug, kissing her temple. "Call if you need anything," her mom said, Onyx nodding, saying she would.
"Will do," she nodded. "I'm going to get a soda," she said, exiting the room to give them a moment alone with Jeff, she made sure to take her time.
When she got back to the hospital room, Jeff was the only occupant in the room. She retook the more comfortable but still slightly horrible chair by her brothers' bedside.
"Oh sweet brother of mine, you know how much I hate to boss you around, but ya know in this instant; I need to be bossy, and you need to listen to your little sister, Jeff; you gotta wake up; I can't do this without my brother. You've been everything to me growing up, and I am afraid that I am still going to need you for so much more stuff in the future. You can't leave me now; I won't have it," she warned him, curling up in the chair, her shoes making a small plop sound on the titled floor. "And because you won't do as I say, I get to pick what we watch on TV," she smirked, turning the TV on and finding something mindless to keep thoughts and worries away, as she laughed at what they said.
"Baby, hey," Clint softly said, rousting his girlfriend awake.
Onyx blinked the sleep from her eyes, going as far as rubbing at them, to see her boyfriend crouched in front of her. "What time is it?" She asked.
"Going on 8, when you didn't show up for dinner, I figured you'd be here; I didn't think you'd have fallen asleep," he told her, having her get up, so he could sit down, pulling her into his lap.
"Guess I have been more tired than I have thought," she said, laying her head against his shoulder. "I had planned on leaving like two hours ago, but my moms were here, and after they left I kind of settled in and drifted off," she explained to him.
"Like I said, Onyx, I knew you were here safe and not in trouble somewhere; I ain't mad about it. You did text me to say you were stopping to see your brother," he said, gently rubbing her back. What right did he have in being mad at her for being at her brothers' side? He knew that she needed to be here, to assure herself that Jeff was still alive despite the coma ordeal.
"I still feel bad that I fell asleep instead of making it home for dinner," she told him. "I'm sorry," she apologized, kissing his jaw.
"Nothing to be sorry about babe," he assured her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Let me use the bathroom, and we can go home and have dinner," she said. She wasn't entirely sure that she could eat a full meal, but she knew that she needed to eat something.
"Deal," he smiled, letting her get up and walk into the bathroom in the hospital room. "Dude," he sighed, talking in a hushed tone as not to alert his girlfriend. "You might think that everything is so much better in your head and that coming back to us, can't live up to the world you're in, but you've got it wrong. We need you awake; your sister needs you; she's slowly falling apart. Come back to us, please," he pleaded.
"Give me a second?" She asked, turning the light off in the bathroom as she exited it.
"I'll be in the hall," he nodded, softly shutting the door behind him.
"Fight Jeff," she said, giving his hand a squeeze. "Good night," she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "I love you."
Once at home, Onyx went to wash her makeup off and to change her clothes, grabbing one of Clint's old shirts, her hair pulled up in a ponytail, until bed. While she was doing that, Clint got dinner warmed up. He wanted to take her pain away and not being able to do that, he's going to do everything that he can to make it easier on her, for as long as he has to.
Tuesday went the same way Monday had, after school she went to visit with Jeff, the stubborn man who is still laid in a coma, the doctors a bit more hopefully than they had been previously, there had been more of a sign in his readings throughout the day, and they were hopeful that he would wake within the next few days.
Wednesday her students surprised her before school. She had been in her classroom, talking to Jake, his first day back after getting better. They were in the process of what they were going to put on the test the following week, when a knock on the door pulled their attention to the small group of students entering the classroom. Looking over the handful of them, she could see that they were all from her classes.
"What can I do for you ladies?" She asked, giving them her full attention, Jake watching on with interest.
"We heard about your brother," Lizzie softly said. "We wanted you to know how sorry we are," she said.
"Thank you," Onyx told them, flashing a smile at them. She wasn't even shocked that news spread to the students, not with the way teachers liked to gossip like they were the teens in high school.
"We know we didn't have to, but we wanted to show you how much we appreciate you and that whatever happens with your brother; we've got you," Aubrey stated, revealing the vase of lilies she hid behind her back.
"This is wonderful," she smiled, getting up to take the flowers, placing them in the window, to get some sun. "Thank you," she told them, trying her damnedest not to cry over how sweet her students were being.
"You're welcome Ms. Sterling," the small group said together, going back to the busy hallways.
"And right there is the kind of teacher I hope to be," Jake commented, looking at Onyx. "They respect you," he easily explained upon seeing the bewildered look on her face.
"I respect them," she shrugged. "They have yet to give me a reason to treat them with disrespect," she said, sitting at her desk as the first bell rang. "And you'll be an amazing teacher when you get your own class, they're going to respect you; these kids already do," she assured him.
"I don't know about that," he chuckled lightly, taking his place in front of the classroom. "But who am I to challenge what you say in your classroom?" He teasingly asked.
"Flattery in this room gets you nowhere, Mr. Puckerman," she smirked, turning to her computer, as the bell rang and Jake took attendance.
The first two periods went by fast, and she could only hope that the next half of her workday went by as fast as the first half. Instead of heading to the teacher's lounge for lunch, she stayed in her room, pulling her phone out to see that her boyfriend wanted her to call her as soon as she could.
"Hey babe," he greeted. She cringed hearing some glass break in the background.
"Yeah, hey, everything good over there?" She asked, cracking a smile as he cursed under his breath.
"That would be a no," he sighed into the phone. "Water pipe broke so I've got to close until it gets fixed, and you just heard a glass break, which would be like the tenth or so in the last hour. And they have to tear down the wall; it's a complete mess; I don't even know if the flooring can be saved," he told her.
"Baby, I'm sorry," she told him, feeling really bad that he was dealing with such a horrible situation. She didn't even want to hear the story behind the broken glasses.
"Yeah," he sighed, moving to his office, as the crew started up their work again after taking a break. He wanted to have some silence while talking to his girlfriend. "With everything going wrong, I am about ready to say screw it and close the place down and cut ties with it and call it a loss and figure out what else I want to do," he told her honestly.
"I am all for you figuring out what you want to do, Clint. But I also don't want you to walk away from the place that makes you happy because you're having a bad day, maybe you should sleep on it," she suggested.
"Yeah," he sighed, scratching his head. "I am not about to run out and close down now," he shared. "Or ever, because I wouldn't know what I would want to do otherwise," he told her.
"You'd figure out," she smiled. "So is that what you wanted me to call about or did you have something else to talk about?" She asked, wanting to get him to focus on something else and stop stressing even if for a minute.
"No," he answered, leaning back in his chair. "I do want to talk about Christmas plans before it gets any closer, so don't let me forget," he warned her. "But I was thinking we could go out tonight; I know you like spending the night in your brothers hospital room, and we can go after that," he told her.
"A date night with my boyfriend, sounds like a beautiful dream," she smiled. "I promise not to waste all night in Jeff's room, so we can have date night," she smiled.
"I will see you tonight," he said, hearing some more crashing coming from the main area of his club. "I need to go, love you," he said.
"As I love you, and deep breaths, baby," she told him, hearing a sigh come from his end of the line before going dead.
With her focus back on her last class of the day, and the drama that was her boyfriend and that of her brother in the back of her mind, the day finished quickly, Jake taking the work home giving her the night off from grading. Jake wanted to do as much as he could for Onyx. He couldn't even begin to imagine going through what she is with her brother. He even promised to lock up for her, letting her leave the school as early as she has the last two days.
And like the last two days, the drive to the hospital from the school, went by in a blur. She had thought about making a detour to see how Clint and his club was coming along, but decided against it, because she was excited for date night with her boyfriend, and she wanted to see her brother, hoping that today be the day he woke up.
The walk down to his room uneventful, the last two days she passed his nurse and met his doctor, but today the hall was quiet, his door shut when she got to it, the nurses' station had been empty as well. She took a deep breath pushing the door open. It never got easier to see her brother laying in a bed with wires and tubes hooked to him, and she did have to steel herself for what lay on the opposite side of the door.
"Oh Jeff," she sighed, plopping down in the chair by his bed, no other visitors there. Flowers seemed to be overtaking the window ledge. "I really wish you'd stop being such a pain in my ass, here I thought we got over that as we grew up," she said, grabbing his hand.
She looked up at brother's face, feeling his hand squeeze hers. "We never grew out of being a pain in the ass for the other," he smirked.
"Yeah, how long have you been awake?" She asked, thinking that maybe she was dreaming and at any second, she's gonna wake up to find her brother still in the coma.
"Roughly 3 hours. You're actually the first visitor I have seen. Obviously, I got quite a few, with the garden of flowers," he chuckled, only to cough.
"And everything is fine?" She asked, biting her bottom lip.
"Couldn't tell you," he shrugged. "The drugs they've given me keeps me feeling pretty good and tired," he nodded. "The doctors ran a bunch of tests, but they haven't come back with the results yet," he said, with a yawn.
She got up giving her brother a hug, happy to know that he's with the living once again. "Why don't you get a bit of rest, and I'll be back tomorrow after work for a small chat," she told him.
"But you just got here," he pointed out, his eyes having a hard time staying open.
"I know this," she laughed. "But you need rest and I have a date and now that I know that you're awake, I can stop worrying so much," she told him. "I'll let everyone know that you're awake," she promised.
"Thanks Onyx," he said through a yawn. "Do you need the number for Courtney?" He asked.
"Nope, we became quite the friends in the waiting room. Not the best way to befriend my brother's girlfriend, but it stands out from the rest," she laughed.
"I didn't…" Onyx held her hand up to have him stop talking.
"I know you didn't; we can't change it now, and I like her," she shrugged, pulling the door open, to see the doctor on the other side. "Actually, I think I am going to stay to hear what the doctor has to say," she said, retaking her seat.
Through all the doctor talk, she got the gist of it and that Jeff was fine, no lasting brain damage and by the end of the week he might be able to go home. All good news. She followed the doctor out, Jeff asleep before she could shut the door behind herself.
With knowing that her brother is going to make a full recovery she went home, to get ready for her date with her boyfriend, giving him the attention she's been placing on her brother. Not that he minded, because he did understand and had been there for her. Before leaving the hospital parking lot, she sent a group text telling them that Jeff woke up and is in the clear.
"Wow," Clint breathed, entering the apartment to see his girlfriend in a red dress that showed off plenty of skin, but not enough for his liking. The dress stopped mid-thigh; the cut of the dress showed off the top of her breasts, her shoulders bare as the sleeves wrapped around her upper arms. Her black heels the ultimate torture for him. "You made a crappy day turn into a rainbow," he chuckled, kissing her cheek, not wanting to smudge her red lipstick.
"That's what I was aiming for," she replied. "Go get ready. I took the liberty of sitting your clothes out for you, hope you don't mind," she told him.
"Not a single bit," he said, ready to wash his day away, looking forward to his night out with his girlfriend more than he had been all day.
She found herself sitting at a table half secluded away from the other patrons of the cozy Italian restaurant. A delicious meal half eaten before her and a bottle of wine sitting half empty between them.
"What was it about Christmas you wanted to discuss?" She asked him.
"It's coming up in a few weeks, and I didn't know what you have planned for it. I wasn't sure if we're doing it together or separately," he explained, picking his glass up to take a sip of his wine.
"I always go home to Ohio; I spend Christmas Eve with Seb's family as I consider them an extension of my family, and on Christmas day I spend the morning with my moms, not sure whether Jeff will be there or not this year," she explained to him.
"What about Christmas evening?" He asked her.
"Nothing, it's a big breakfast with moms and gifts and the rest of the day to do whatever, why?" She asked him.
"Because I am going home as well, and I was thinking that maybe we could do it together. I could join you, and you can join me; I don't do anything until the night of Christmas, and we're going to be in the same place," he commented.
"Yeah, I'd like that," she smiled. "I don't know when you plan on leaving, but I can't leave until the 23rd," she informed him.
"I haven't bought my ticket yet," he told her. "I can go on tonight or tomorrow and buy them. I have no rush to be there," he stated.
"Alright," she smiled. "I'll have to let everyone know that I am bringing a plus one. Jeremy and Dylan are going to have a field day," she said shaking her head. "Seb is going to Mikki's family ranch for the holiday, so I'll be the one being picked on and you by association. Still want to come?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.
"I can take Jeremy and you said Dylan wasn't nearly as bad as Jeremy, so I think I can handle my own against them," he nodded. "I'll let my folks know as well. Gotta make sure there's plenty of food, what with the way you can eat and the way Puck eats there might not be enough for the rest of us," he chuckled.
"Jerk," she muttered. "But you might be right, though there's a good chance I won't eat much anyway, your sister is vegan, and obviously I love meat," she commented, motioning to her plate. "But Jason made quite the vegan meal, so we shall see," she said.
"Don't worry, there will be real ham there," he assured her. She nodded happy to hear that she didn't have to prepare for whatever food Rachel ate, because she didn't think she could do it. "How's Jeff?" He asked. He'd been happy when he got the text that he had woken from his coma, and that he was in the clear.
"When I talked to him, he was good as one can be," she said. "I think I'll know more tomorrow when I visit him," she said.
"And how are you feeling?" He asked, holding his hand out for her to take, which she did with ease.
"Relieved," she answered. "There was no way I could be assured that he was going to be okay until he woke up, and once he did; it all clicked that he was going to be; I no longer have to worry about him never waking, because I couldn't deal if I had lost him," she told him, trying and maybe failing in telling him how she felt about Jeff being awake.
"Onyx, baby, if the worst happened you'd have been fine. You have so many people there to help ya through it all and not a one of them would've left you to deal on your own," he assured her, pressing a lingering kiss to the back of her hand.
"I know," she softly told him. "But there is no point in sitting here talking like that when everything is good. I am sure we can have a better topic to talk about on our date than a small game of what if," she smirked.
"Yeah, and what is it you wanna talk about?" He asked her.
"Hmm," she pretended to think. "How about we talk about, I love you," she told him with a sweet smile.
"As I love you," he stated, leaning over to seal his lips with hers.