AN - Sorry for the delayed upload everybody. Hope you all had a great weekend, any feedback is greatly appreciated.
"That went well" Clarke said, breaking the silence in the apartment. Raven smirked and twirled some spaghetti around her fork.
"I still get this feeling she could be a serial killer" she mused, squaring her features when Clarke choked back a laugh. "I'm serious! The way she was looking at some people – I swear if looks could kill."
"She's got a lot going on Raven" Clarke sighed and rested her head in her hands "I think I'm going to take the job. I'm meeting her mum tomorrow morning to see if she likes me, and if all goes well I'll be working by Saturday."
The two girls finished their dinner in relative silence, chit chatting about their days, with Raven complaining about a major assignment she had to finish by midnight that she hadn't started yet. It amazed Clarke how Raven always seemed to be able to get good grades, despite the fact that she rarely studied and would complete all of her assignments at the last minute. That was the beauty of having a natural knack for something. Learning came relatively easy for Raven. Clarke on the other hand had always struggled with understanding and retaining information. This was why she enjoyed being able to paint. It was something that came naturally to her.
Clarke lay on her bed, her head propped up slightly by her hands resting behind her. In her mind she ran through potential scenarios for meeting Annette Woods tomorrow.
She could be a serial killer using her beautiful daughter Lexa to bring innocent young victims to her house
She was a grumpy woman who did not want to accept help
There would be nothing Clarke could do help, and she would just have to sit there and hope for the best
Clarke would discover that she was far out of her range of experience and would not be able to provide the level of care required
Or
Everything would go perfectly and Clarke would have a new client by the weekend.
Only time would tell.
Lexa woke up at 7.30am on the dot. She sat up in bed and grabbed the bottle of water by her bedside table, taking a couple of large gulps to help wake her up. Standing up, she did some light stretching, rolling her shoulders and reaching down to touch her toes. If there was one thing she learnt over the years, it was that having warmed up muscles helped a great deal when caring for someone.
Of course Lexa had learnt this the hard way.
She grimaced when she twisted and felt a twinge in her lower back, an injury that occurred when turning her body incorrectly while transferring Annette from the bed to the wheelchair.
Picking up her iPod, she walked to the bathroom across the hall from her bedroom and began to undress, neatly placing her pyjamas in a pile by the sink. She hooked up her iPod to the speakers she left in there and picked her 'shower' playlist. Stepping into the shower, she sighed from the instant relief of warm water running down her back, instantly soothing the ache.
For three minutes she sang along to Led Zeppelin and lost herself in the tranquillity of being alone. It was only in the shower that Lexa allowed her shoulders to slump and her calm façade to fade. Even if it was only for three minutes, a moment of weakness and emotion was better than none at all.
Clarke raised her fist and knocked on the door, checking the address Lexa had given her for what felt like the 100th time. She nervously shuffled on her feet and glanced around at her surroundings. The property was modest. There was a small front yard with a garden bed running along the window to the left of the door. The concrete on the driveway was faded and cracking from age and heat. Leaning next to the door was a pushbike, rust beginning to collect on the spokes and handlebars. A ramp had been installed by the door, but looked like it was not used regularly judging by the lack of wear.
Clarke pulled back her shoulders and plastered a smile on her face when she heard footsteps approaching the door.
"Good morning Clarke" Lexa greeted as she held the door open for her to walk in "I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
"Morning – no need to apologise. Shoes off?" she asked, already toeing off her black tennis shoes.
Lexa nodded and seemed to shuffle anxiously on the spot. "Mum's excited to meet you. I told her about you and she has read through your CV. Today she'll mainly just want to tell you a bit about her condition, and gage whether you feel you will be able to cope ok."
"Awesome" Clarke responded, nodding her head in agreement.
"Ok, well" Lexa clasped her hands in front of her before gesturing down a hallway. "Shall we?"
Annette was waiting for the two girls in the lounge room, her wheelchair positioned to face the couch. She turned and smiled with welcome when they entered the room and started to wheel towards Clarke.
"Hi" she greeted, slowly lifting her hand out to grasp Clarke's. "I'm Annette, it's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine" Clarke responded, noticing how limp and heavy Annette's arm felt "I'm Clarke Griffin, thank-you so much for this opportunity."
"Take a seat" Annette said, her aim flailing slightly as she gestured towards the couch. She waited for Clarke and Lexa to sit before she began. "So I'm going to get straight into it. We don't do bullshit in this house. I prefer the 'quick like a bandaid' approach."
Clarke couldn't help but laugh "I appreciate straightforwardness and not beating around the bush."
"I like you already" Annette smiled and continued "has Lexa told you much about my condition?"
Lexa shook her head and answered, "no mum, I thought I would leave that up to you, you are the expert after all."
"Ok, so I have a disease known as Friedreich's Ataxia, chances are you've never heard of it. It's pretty rare. It's a neurological condition that is progressively damaging my nervous system. It starts with balance and coordination problems, eventually progressing to the inability to walk, the loss of fine and then gross motor skills, heart disease, and diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was 27. Lexa was very young" Annette took a calming breath and smiled at her daughter. "She's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me."
"Mum-" Lexa tried to cut in, a faint blush rising on her cheeks.
"No Lexa I'm serious." Annette turned back to Clarke and said "Lexa has cared for me every single day for the last ten years. If it wasn't for her, I would've been in a nursing home years ago. She's always helping me with my physical therapy and is my encouragement to get out of bed every morning."
"It sounds like you do quite a lot" Clarke commented to Lexa "where do you find the hours in the day to do so much?"
"She works herself near to death, that's how she finds the hours!" Annette joked, though Clarke could sense a hint of seriousness in her tone. "I can't remember the last time she went out with friends."
"I went out just last week with friends" Lexa attempted to defend herself, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No" Annette disagreed, shaking her head with a laugh "you went to the pharmacy to pick up my scripts and you just so happened to bump into Anya while you were there."
Lexa huffed "whatever."
"Well I'll be happy to help out" Clarke offered, glancing between the two other women "if you would like me, that is."
Annette lent forward to grasp one of Clarke's hands, while the other held onto the arm rest on the wheelchair for balance. "We would love to have you. But the question is – do you think you can handle this?"
Clarke didn't even think twice before she nodded – "yes, I reckon I can."
Annette grinned and leant back in her chair, while Lexa let out of breath she didn't realise she was holding.
It was Lexa who broke the silence, looking at Clarke for the first time since she arrived, "welcome to the mad house."
Lexa had only just left the room to make her mum a cup of tea when Annette turned to Clarke, her expression devoid of the laughter that was emitted only moments ago.
"I'm dying Clarke" she stated simply, holding up a hand when Clarke opened her mouth to apologise. "I'm dying and there's nothing that I can do about that. It's only a matter of time now, it's a miracle I made it this far. I can see it starting though – my brother had the same condition, and I remember when he started to deteriorate. I can see it in myself. I've accepted it." She sighed and glanced towards the kitchen where the kettle boiled loudly, leaving Lexa completely in ignorance of the conversation. "Lexa will struggle. I'm all she has. I know that it's asking a lot, but you two are around the same age and go to the same university. Is there any chance that you could get to know her a bit? Just so she knows that she's not alone. Because I worry about her a lot. She went through a very rough couple of years and I almost lost her. I can't have her alone in this, because she will lose herself."
Clarke contemplated the proposal. She had only known Lexa for two days and had yet to form an opinion about her. She seemed tense and withdrawn, her smile never seeming to reach her eyes. For a fleeting moment the thought ran through her mind to stand up and walk away. Then she saw the desperate look in Annette's eyes.
"I don't know what else to do" she admitted, barely above a whisper.
"I'll do it" Clarke responded, nodding slowly and taking in what she had just committed to.
'I just have to make friends with her' she thought 'shouldn't be hard'