Chapter 16: Tell Me a Happy Ending

Violet walked out into the living room, her eyes glued to her mother. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she softly asked.

Howard, who was still there just eating his dinner, looked up from his plate. "Maybe I should go," he announced. Standing up, he grabbed his plate and looked to Violet. "Tell Emily I hope that everything's okay," he requested as he took the plate and left.

"Will do," Violet flatly responded, keeping her eyes on Nora.

Silence fell between the two. Violet would have spoken, but she was too busy finding ways to try and negate her own guilt. She wanted to put all the blame on her mother, but her conscience wasn't allowing her to do so.

Violet finally tore her eyes off her mother, letting them fall to the chair, the one that Emily formerly occupied. That was when she spotted it, the blood. There was blood there, and there was a few drops of it on the floor where she had stood.

It reminded her of the night she lost her baby. She sat up and saw the blood soaking through her shorts out into the sheets beneath her. The feeling of utter helplessness and betrayal. The fact that she felt she should have been more leery of her mother.

"You don't even care," Violet muttered. She looked up, meeting Nora's eyes, glaring to her. "A woman walked out of here not knowing whether or not she was still going to have a baby, and you don't even care."

Nora clicked her tongue, looking through the room. "As far as I am concerned, this really has nothing to do with me," she curtly stated. "Even if I did feel some sort of sympathy, it wouldn't change anything."

Violet softly laughed, mocking herself for the sheer blindness she had over the years. "I guess it wasn't just me that you didn't care about," she said. "I've never had a mother nor have I ever had the chance of having one," she added.

As of now, she had no feelings toward Nora. No hate, no betrayal. She was numb. She realized her feelings made no difference, therefore, it was better to just not have any. It was better to just block everything out because no matter what, it wasn't going to change anything.

"What are you trying to say?" Nora questioned. "Just because I don't feel bad for something that has nothing to do with me, I'm a horrible person?" she inquired.

Violet shook her head. "No, you're a horrible person for a multitude of reasons. I promise there isn't just one," she assured her.

Violet just turned and left the apartment. She couldn't be in the same room anymore, she had to get out of there and talk to someone.

Oooooo

Scott lay flat on his back as he stared at the ceiling from his bed. In his mouth he had a joint, and next to him lay Violet.

"My mom's a bitch, so I ran," Violet explained, her emotionless eyes glued to the ceiling.

"I think you're wrong," Scott said, handing the joint over to Violet.

Violet laughed. "You suck then," she told him before taking a drag. She made sure to hold her breath a moment before slowly releasing the smoke back out into the air. "Because you know, I'm pretty damn sure I was right," she added, handing the joint back to him.

Scott turned his head to her. "No, you're better than that," he told her. "You, shouldn't have ran because you should have been busy proving a point," he told her before placing the joint in his mouth.

Violet looked to him and started laughing. "What is this? All the sudden you're Robert DeNiro and I'm Jodie Foster? You out to clean up all the scum of the earth?" she joked.

Scott removed the joint from his mouth and blew the smoked straight into her face. "You need to step back and examine yourself," he told her. "Seriously, you talk about how bad your mother is for not caring and then you go out and do the same thing? I think you're a hypocrite," he said.

Violet sat up, laughing at him. "You really think that don't you?" she questioned. At this point in time, it didn't really bother her what he thought.

Scott sat up and smiled to her, handing the joint to her. "Yes," he simply answered smirking to her, trying to fight the urge to laugh.

Violet refused the joint by holding up her hand. "I gotta go see Emily before visiting hours are over," she told him, the laughter subsiding. "I can't do to her what..." she was about to call Nora mom, but stopped herself. She couldn't bare giving her the title anymore. "What Nora did to me," she absently finished.

Violet sighed, her eyes going down to her lap. "You think she'll be all right?" she questioned. "I mean, she deserves a happy ending, you know? She and Bob boy wonder over there deserve to bring their little baby home and play house and what not," she explained, beginning to ramble.

Scott took the joint and took another quick puff. "What about your part in the ending?" he implored. "You deserve one too," he told her.

Violet offered him a smile. "Well, I guess that makes two of us then," she replied. Quickly though, she felt had to change the subject. "I should go get something for Emmy dear though," she stated, trying to think.

Scott leaned over and grabbed the ash tray off the night stand. "You wanna get her a flower? I get flowers for people I hurt," he suggested.

Violet laughed. "It's seven at night. Where the hell am I going to get a flower?" she inquired.

Scott smugly smiled. "You ever sneak into a cemetery?" he implored.

Violet nodded. "I have a few times. I was dared," she told him.

"My mom just left flowers at my grandma's grave," he told her, beginning to smirk.

oooooo

Violet walked into the hospital lobby with her stolen violet from the cemetery. There were only about fifteen minutes left of visiting hours, so some of her nerves were calmed. She couldn't stay long if she wanted to.

As she started towards the desk, she saw Bob walking down the hall and went to meet up with him. "Is she okay?" Violet immediately questioned.

Bob just stopped and looked at her. "I thought she was until the grim reaper decided to show up," he quipped.

"Funny," Violet flatly replied. She took that for a yes. If Bob was willing to joke around, then he couldn't have been that depressed. "Why aren't you with her?"

"She wanted me to get back to the apartment and make sure that you two didn't tear it up. She would rather be alone a few hours here tonight than have, have to uh stress herself out having to buy all new furniture," he explained. "Besides, she's, she's just getting to sleep."

Violet's eyes suddenly grew with concern. "Why is she staying the night?" she implored.

Bob caught on to her fear. "They just want to watch a couple things for a few hours. I was told it was nothing serious," he answered. He sighed, knowing that it may not be best for Emily to see her right now, but he had to tell Violet which room she was in. It was obvious to him that Violet came ready to apologize and he really thought it nice that she did come all this way. He also figured that Emily would appreciate it. "She's up in room two twenty-three if you wanna see her," he stated.

Violet smiled. "Thank you, I will," she told him before walking passed him to the elevator.

Bob just stood there watching her. He was more concerned for her than anything. All she wanted was for someone to care.

oooooo

Violet nervously swallowed, staring at the door. She looked down at the flower in her hand and decided to just take a deep breath and continue.

"Emily?" she called, walking into the room.

Emily, who was sitting up in bed, looked over with surprise. "What are you doing here?" she inquired.

"I hang out at hospitals when I get bored of the cemeteries. I call it following the trail backwards. That way it sounds deep rather than morbid," Violet replied. Even though her tone of voice said otherwise, she very uncomfortable. She kept her distance, nearly clinging to the wall.

Emily just smirked. "Well, aren't you gonna ask?" she questioned, already knowing why Violet was there.

Violet softly laughed. "Does the perfect child still exist?" she questioned.

"Yes," Emily answered with a smile.

"Good. I thought everything was okay when I didn't see the waterworks," Violet responded. She then looked down to her hand to see the flower. It reminded her, she had to apologize. No matter what outcome occurred, she had promised herself that she would apologize. "I uh, I have to say sorry though. You, you probably wouldn't be here if I weren't here," she explained.

Emily looked down to her lap. She had considered the idea. Violet had caused her stress. At the same time, it was during the fight with Nora. Nora was the one that stressed her out enough to get her here. She was the one that finally pushed her over the edge. "You're forgiven," she replied.

Violet softly smiled. It meant a lot to her to be forgiven. After being so used to people constantly telling her that everything was her fault and that they wished she weren't around, it was nice to hear that someone forgave her. There was something though that she had to end. "I also have to apologize for my mother," she added.

Emily looked up to her. "No you don't," she responded.

Violet instantly looked up, not knowing how to react to that.

"You shouldn't have to be responsible for your mother's actions. It should be the other way around," Emily explained to her. It was hard for her to see a girl abandoned by her mother. It took that fight though for Emily to truly see what Violet's life was like. It made her feel bad, almost protective over her. She wanted to keep her out of harm's way from this woman.

Violet finally began to approach the bed. "No," she said shaking her head. "I don't need anyone to be responsible for my actions."

Violet then held out the flower. "I also brought this," she stated.

Emily took it, smiling. "A violet from Violet," she said.

Violet shrugged. "It was what I was able to get a hold of," she informed her, hoping that she wasn't about to ask where she got it.

Emily studied the flower for a moment before setting it down on the table beside her. "Do you mind if I ask..." she began, but was cut off as Violet held up her hand.

"What you just saw was seventeen years of built up anger," she explained. "I'm fine now."

Emily just looked to her. "Come here," she instructed, motioning to the empty space beside her on the bed.

"I don't see why you think that talking about it is just going to magically make it all disappear," Violet remarked.

Emily sternly looked to her. "I want to hear it. Now talk," she firmly instructed.

Violet sat down and sighed. "Well," she began, her eyes wandering down to her lap. "For starters, I have just been slapped in the face with the fact that I grew up without parents. I might as well have been an orphan out there on the streets."

"Why didn't you run away?" Emily inquired.

Violet quickly looked to her. "Why?" she asked. Violet turned back to facing forward, her head going back down in a sort of shame. "Who runs away from the only life they've ever known?" she offered. "It's not like I knew where to go. It's not like I really ever had anyone to turn to."

Violet repositioned herself to face Emily. She needed to be able to see just how she was taking all of this. It was now that she could see the difference in her eyes. The total pity and the eagerness to help was now present, more so than she had witnessed her entire time there.

"That baby I was going to have was going to be the only person that I was ever going to have in my life. It may have been wrong to put all that pressure on a baby, but that's truly what it was going to do. All he needed to do was be there. He needed to need me at times. Just someone to be happy to see me when I walked in the door," Violet explained, her eyes beginning to water. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "And she took that away from me. She took away the only person that was ever going to care."

Violet saw that Emily was getting ready to cry and nodded. "I better get going. You don't need to be upset right now," she stated.

Emily grabbed her wrist, stopping her from standing. "I don't want you going back to her," she announced.

Violet froze. That was the second offer she had gotten to stay, but this one was more unexpected. She looked to Emily and nervously shook her head. "I can take care of myself. You don't need me around. Trust me on that," she argued.

Violet felt that she had caused enough damage here. If anything else were to go wrong, she would feel guilty, and that just wasn't something that she needed. No matter what she said, she did care what happened to these people. It wasn't like it was her mom where she could just shrug it off and not care.

"Violet, you deserve to be cared for by someone who doesn't view you as a mistake they should have gotten rid of," Emily gently informed her.

Violet's entire body tensed. "You don't know that," she coldly replied, looking Emily directly in the eyes.

Emily sighed and let go of her wrist. "I do," she firmly stated.

Violet just nodded before turning and leaving. She had to get out of there. Enough damage had been done today. Standing there and making her feel worse was not her current objective, as a matter of fact, it was the very thing that she was trying to avoid.

Emily just sat there, sighing as she watched Violet leave the room. She wanted to argue and tell her that she didn't need this, but she couldn't. It was a lost cause. Violet was too stubborn to consider her other options and it hurt her.

Oooooo

The next day, Emily sat out on the balcony, just staring. She had the apartment to herself for now. Bob had offered to stay home from work, but she wanted to be by herself. She needed the time to think, reflect on what happened. It may have scared her, but it also made her that much more attached to her baby, that much more protective over it.

There was one other person in the apartment, but they were sleeping and she really didn't count Nora as a person anyways. Violet would have been there, but she hadn't spoken to Nora since she had left the apartment to go see Scott. Violet ended up staying the night at Howard's. Granted, it was almost one in the after noon, about two hours since Emily had returned home. Violet just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't run into Nora.

In all honesty, Emily was glad that she had stopped talking to Nora. She didn't need her in her life. Violet needed to move on, find someone that was good for her. The only thing she disliked was that she got stuck with Nora.

"Hello," chimed an all too cheery voice.

"Speaking of the devil," Emily mumbled as she stiffened in her chair. "What do you want?" she curtly asked.

Nora walked around Emily and leaned her back against the wall, her elbows casually propped up on the ledge. "Have you seen Violet?" she inquired.

Emily looked to her with confusion. "Why?" she bitterly asked. She really didn't care about the reasoning, it wasn't like she was going to tell Nora where she went.

Nora shrugged. "She's my daughter," she responded.

Emily sat up, laughing at the very audacity of this woman. "You really think of yourself as her mother don't you?" she asked, not sure what to make of that.

"What would you call me?" Nora curiously questioned, her brow raised.

"A long list of words, none of which are mother," Emily quipped. She was testy right now, and Nora was the last person she wanted to be talking to. There was also this air about Nora that was starting to bother her. It felt like this woman thought that she knew more about parenting, that, in her own smug little way, she was telling her that she would end up being the same way towards her baby. Naturally, she greatly resented this.

Nora smirked, nodding. "Yes, I know," she replied all too casually. "Goody two shoes is at it again, thinking she knows so much more about everything than anyone else does. Even the things that she couldn't possibly know anything about," she stated with a venomous undertone.

Emily was about to argue with her, but reminded herself that she had to stay calm. This woman wasn't worth risking the life of her unborn child. "I don't think Violet should go with you, she deserves better," she bluntly informed her.

Nora stood up, carefully examining Emily with suspicion. "Are you saying you want her?" she questioned.

"I'm saying that she deserves a parent," Emily said. For some reason, it was right after that sentence came from her mouth that she felt guilty over not believing Violet at first. "If that means me, then I'll take it."

Nora shrugged. "Always the poor sap who has no idea what's really going that tends to volunteer for everything. What they always fail to notice is how that there's a reason that no one else wants to volunteer," she sneered.

Emily glared to her. "You know, Violet wouldn't be so difficult if she actually had a mother," she remarked.

Nora laughed, completely dismissing Emily's comment. "I would like to hear you say that thirteen years from now," she responded.

Emily sighed, crossing her arms. She had had quite enough of this. It was obvious to her that there was no way to get through to this woman. "You know you're way to the door. I want you on the other side of it within the next hour," she ordered, trying her hardest to remain calm. "And if you're not, I'm calling the cops and telling them you broke in and I'll have plenty of people to back me up on that," she said, remaining stoic as she faced forward, adverting her eyes from the other woman. She couldn't look at her if she wanted to keep from getting too upset.

Nora sighed. "All right," she complied. This wasn't an argument she felt worthy of a fight. Besides, she had other places that she could go to. "Just remember everything you've said to me," she warned as she started back inside.