Transformers: The Eye of Icarus
Chapter Three: A Life on Hold
-...
It seemed like, no matter which path I have tried to take, this 'destiny' of mine kept coming after me.
Gloria had her work cut out for her. First was to clean her room and set everything back together and toss out anything that had been shredded like some posters and books. She had to try and salvage the clothes that had been covered in blood from the incident and threw them in the wash, hoping for the best. She worked on putting up the clothes pole back up before she could hang up everything that was on the ground and put them in their place.
From what she could figure, she had been out cold for about 45 minutes. Was it from the welt or maybe from the robotic eye? She couldn't decide. At least she was fine, she thought. No way to tell without medical professionals, but she felt fine. Not to mention she was still euphoric from her new eye that allowed her to see now. She had no idea how it had worked, but she wouldn't mind if she could keep it. Of course, she wasn't going to throw out her prosthetic eye anytime soon: that was stupid. Finding her prosthetic under the pile of clothes, she carefully washed it and put it away in its container and shoved it in her purse.
It was 3:25 in the afternoon when she got a call.
"Hello?" Gloria asked, throwing the remaining clothes from her closet on the bed to hang up.
"Honey, it's Aunt Katherine. " Her aunt's voice was on the verge of hysteria.
"What's wrong?" Gloria's stomach dropped. Please don't let it be what I'm thinking, she begged God, not on my vacation.
"It's a clot. You need to get to the hospital. It's in her shoulder this time. The doctor is here, I need to go."
"I'll be there in a bit." Gloria hung up and swore, grabbing her purse. Her room would have to wait.
She almost forgot her shoes as she ran downstairs to her car. Hands shaking, she turned the ignition on and headed straight to the highway. This wasn't good. Her mother had been in and out of the hospital ever since... well, Chicago. Various things. Complications. Shattered pelvis. Pain. Blood clots. Mostly blood clots. She had been on blood thinners to keep her healthy. She looked at her white knuckles on the steering wheel. She felt panicked as she saw the hospital and pulled into the parking garage. She was starting to space out, worried for her mother.
She didn't remember much of how she got to the room as her thoughts spiraled. She seemed to wake up when she entered and saw her mother in the hospital bed and her dad by her bedside. Both looked over when she dropped her purse on the ground and walked over. She mother gave her a small smile. "Hey hun." She weakly greeted, hiked on medications.
"You haven't been taking your blood thinners, have you?" Gloria demanded, hands on hips, refusing to touch her mother. Her mother looked down.
"You know, my sister and your brother asked the same thing."
"Yes or no?" Gloria narrowed her eyes, lips a thin line.
"..no, I guess not." Her mother conceded, defeated.
Gloria sighed and sat down in one of the pulled up chairs. Her mother was horrible with taking medication, and she had an even deeper dislike of her blood thinners. Of course, if she didn't take them, this happened.
"I'm going to cancel my flight, I'm not going to leave with you like this." Her father declared, standing and pulling out his phone. "Jonathen..." her mother called, but ignored her as he walked to the door.
"Not so fast, mister." Her mother's sister, Aunt Katherine, stormed in and snatched the phone from him. Gloria's brother, Gabriel, walked in with food from the cafeteria and put it down on a chair. "What are you trying to do?" Her father demanded, and aunt Katherine acted hurt.
"I sir, am assuring you that you need to worry about going to Japan for that final business deal of yours. Something like a blood clot in the shoulder isn't that serious."
"But she's my wife-"
"And I'm her sister." She put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, lowering her voice. "Look, we both care, and I know you heard what the doctor said. The only reason why they didn't discharge her is because of her previous history. A blood clot in her right shoulder isn't taken lightly, but it's managed easier than any what we've had to deal with before, John. You and I both know that you NEED this business deal to pull through for your company. Don't worry about Stef', okay? The hospital knows how to treat her from previous cases." She raised her voice so everyone could hear. "Your kids and I'll be looking after her, too. Right Gloria, Gabe?"
"You know it." Gabe interjected, giving their dad one of his classic crooked grins.
"Why wouldn't we?" Gloria chimed in. It seemed to placate her father a bit. "I'm going to stay until my flight." He finally decided, retrieving his phone and sitting back down beside his wife. Everyone seemed a bit calmer now that they had settled that dispute. Gabe was quick to give his baby sister a bear hug.
"How's my widdle sissy?" He cooed, rubbing her hair, but careful of her right eye.
"I'd be fine if you let me go so I could breathe." She retorted, but hugged him back.
"You know I would never do anything to harm you like that!" He looked down at her.
"How do explain what happened in Halloween in third grade?"
"Really, you still are holding that against me? You never let things go, do you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just the things that give me stitches. But how's grad school?"
"Eh, research. Lots of it, but I think it's fun. Especially with my new internship I'm dealing with. They've already offered me a job when I finally graduate. How's the dirt digging going?" She lightly punched his arm.
"You know it's called geology. And it is going quite well. I already have a plan to try and get an internship over the summer with the USGS."
"Good for you."
"I remember," their aunt remarked, "when the only thing you guys did was fight when you were younger."
"We're both in college now. We've grown up." Gabe shrugged. Just then, the doctor walked in, ending the conversation.
...
It was decided that Mrs. Sullivan was to stay overnight at the hospital and watch the clot with plans on testing to see if there would be anymore in her. Precautions, the doctor assured them, just with her history. She would be able to leave in a day or two. Maybe three just on how the testing goes. Her father would leave tonight, and her brother needed to fly back to New York to go back to school. Gloria would have to stay with her aunt until her mother was able to get out of the hospital despite the protests from her end. They would visit her tomorrow and keep her company. Her brother and father had to leave early, but aunt Katherine and her finally left around eleven. They first drove to Gloria's house to pick up some things to spend the night over at her aunt's (though she didn't understand why her parents just leave her in the house alone for so long, it wasn't like she was a delinquent or something) and left her car at home. She got into her aunt's car and drove to her gated community home, pulling into the massive ten-car garage.
"This will be like a sleepover for us! I can't believe it!" Her aunt excitedly proclaimed as she opened the door and let herself into the house. Gloria looked around and frowned, seeing the house empty.
"Where's uncle?"
"Oh, just business. He'll be gone for about four to six weeks. Europe, a bit of Asia." She floated to the guest room upstairs and unlocked it. "You know where the room is. I'll be downstairs in a minute." She called happily, closing the door to her own room. Gloria sighed and shifted the weight of her bag on her shoulder. She wished her uncle was here, not working in some foreign country. The few she ever asked her aunt what he did for a living, she artfully changed the subject or ignored her completely. Or saying she was going to cook. Her aunt only hinted that it might be something involving the former Soviet Union. And that was something that was cool. Kind of the hush-hush secrets that was in movies or television dramas you would see on the USA channel. Lugging her bags up the stairs, she pushed herself against the door and let herself into the guest room. Flicking the light on with her elbow, she threw her bags on the bed and threw herself on it as well.
She didn't want to unpack. She had just come home for the week off of school to be with her parents and visit family and friends. She didn't want this to happen to her. She didn't want to have to worry about her mother again. She didn't want to have to keep an eye on her with medications again. She just wanted to have a calm, normal lifestyle. She didn't know what to do, and she didn't want to watch any movies with her aunt, so she showered and went to bed.
That night, she began to dream about the comet.
So I got up at six this morning without meaning to. Of course, I'm the person that when they wake up, they can't go back to sleep. So here I am, reading fanfiction and writing.
THERE WILL BE ACTION NEXT CHAPTER I AM SO EXCITED!
Thank you for everyone who had been reading! Please R&R!