A/N: Hey, I'm back. Sorry it took me so long to update. I didn't have my computer for a week, otherwise I would've updated sooner. It's not exactly the way I would like it, but I'm going to keep it this way until I have time to make it better. Thanks for staying with me for so long. I hope you like it!
Chapter 12
Allison woke up the next afternoon to the sound of muffled voices. She opened her eyes. She was laying with her head in her arms on Joey's chest in his hospital room. He was still unconscious.
Then everything about last night came back to her. After the ambulance came and took the two injured men away, Jesse and Allison drove to the hospital. The two men were both taken to the emergency room.
Allison and Jesse had to explain to the police what had happened. The police told her she should testify against her step-father again. He was released from jail a month earlier, and since he already committed a crime, he'd be going back to jail after he healed. But if she testified, he would be there for the rest of his life instead of just a few short years. This was appealing to her, but she still wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with that again. She thought he might try to escape and find her again to take revenge. She just wanted to leave this whole situation behind and not have to see him ever again.
Allison cried on Jesse's shoulder pretty much the whole night, feeling terribly guilty about causing this to happen. Jesse left after the doctors said Joey would be all right, but Allison wouldn't leave his side. She stayed with him the whole night.
The muffled voices became louder and then the door opened and the Tanner family walked into the room. They greeted Allison mournfully and stood by the hospital bed looking down at Joey's sleeping figure. Allison backed, giving them room to be by Joey.
Stephanie was the first to approach him.
"I made this for you, Uncle Joey," she said looking at his sleeping face. "In school, we had to draw something that made us happy and I drew you doing your Bullwinkle impression." She placed the picture on his bedside table.
DJ approached him next, but said nothing. She looked at him sadly and leaned down to hug him. She backed up and stood with her family.
Danny approached next, holding Michelle. "Joey, you've been my friend since we were in elementary school. I would never have thought we'd still be living together like we did in college," he paused, "but I also never thought something like this could happen to you. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you've done with my girls. And I'm sorry this happened to you. You don't deserve this."
Hearing this hurt Allison. To her, it sounded as if he meant, 'if you hadn't brought that girl into your life, you wouldn't be like this right now.'
It was hard to take, but she waited and listened patiently.
Jesse walked up to him next. He looked down at Joey sadly and said, "I'll miss you until you get better, big guy. And even if it seems like I don't appreciate your jokes, I really do. You make us all happier. And you really don't deserve this," he said copying Danny's words.
Allison looked down, trying to not cry again.
The Tanner's lingered a few more moments and then left Allison alone with Joey.
She walked over looking down at him. Hearing all the things they had to say to Joey, made her feel awful about what had happened to him. It was all her fault. If she hadn't taken that babysitting job, she wouldn't have ever met Joey and he wouldn't have asked her to live with the Tanner's, and he wouldn't have been sucked in to deal with her dysfunctional life. She hated herself for causing all this.
You don't deserve this…
She sat there watching Joey sleeping; his chest moving up and down with rhythmic breathing; his face had a content look on it.
She made up her mind. All she did was cause trouble for the Tanner family. The moment she moved in there, all sorts of problems arose -- not terribly big ones, but ones that she could've prevented by not babysitting. She needed to leave them, to make their lives better. She knew they would be better off without her.
You don't deserve this…
She grabbed a piece of paper on his bedside table and started writing. It would be easier for her to break it to him this way instead of waiting for him to wake up.
She leaned down by Joey and kissed him one last time. He stirred, took a breath and opened his eyes slightly.
"Allison," he started. He raised his hand to touch her face. He pet her cheek briefly and his hand fell by his side again and he fell into a deep sleep.
"Joey," she said as tears were forming in her eyes. She touched his hair, gently pushing it out of his face. She spoke to him as if he were conscious. "I've come to say goodbye. I have this note here; it will explain everything," she put the note on his bedside table. "I know you couldn't have expected all this to come from me, but that's why I need to leave. Danny and Jesse are right, you don't deserve this."
She started to cry.
"You don't deserve me. You'll be better off without me."
She looked at him one last time memorizing everything about him. "I love you," she whispered.
She grabbed her bag, turned and left the hospital without telling anyone where she was going next.
She ran out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. She kept running all the way out of the building and didn't stop until she came to the Tanner house. She looked up staring at it, trying to remember it. Then she turned and thought of what she had to do next. She had to leave town, she knew that. She had been here for too long. She needed to find something new for her life. She had to find another person she could rely on. Who else had she loved as much as she loved Joey and the rest of the Tanner's?
Her father.