AN: This is Chapter 12 of No Fear. For those of you who have read through all the chapters of it so far, I commend you for it. I really am glad to know there are people still reading this. This chapter won't have any plot twists in it, don't worry about that. This chapter might be a bit sad to read though. Lastly, I do not own Total Drama in its entirety. Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Memories of the Past
November 1st, 2012
12:45 A.M.
In the Woods
I sat right under the old oak that I sat at the last time I went into the woods. It was relatively cold outside, but at this point, none of that mattered. After what my mother had just told me, I couldn't just sit there and be fine with it. This was one of the few times I was ever truly upset. The last time that I was this upset, was when my father passed away. That was a little over two years ago, but at this moment, that was the only thing I could think of.
September 19th, 2010
Ontario
My Home
5:32 P.M.
I heard a knock coming from the door.
"Dawn, could you get the door? It might be your father." my mother said to me.
"Of course mother." I said to her. I immediately rushed to the door to wish my father a welcome home like a normally do, but something was different. When I answered the door, there were two police officers standing outside.
"Hello, is this the residence of a Richard Bouchard?" asked the first one.
"Yes, what is it? Did he do something wrong? Mother, there are two police officers at our door." I called out to her. My mother immediately came to the door after hearing that last part.
"Hello? Is something wrong?" my mother asked them.
"I can only assume that you are Mary Bouchard, the wife of Richard Bouchard?" asked the second police officer.
"I am, what's happened to my husband?" my mother asked.
"He..., you might want to come with us." said the first police officer.
"Dawn, get a jacket…" I could see the fear in my mother's eyes. I felt that fear too.
My mother and I got into the police officers' car and we began driving. I could only sit and look out the window, wondering what exactly was happening.
"Sir, what exactly happened to my father?" I asked from the back of the car.
"Your father…he got into a car crash on one of the roads. We had an ambulance rush him to the hospital, but he's in critical condition. It was a very bad accident." said one of the police officers. My mother began to cry in the back of the car, and I was on the verge to. I just continued to look out the window, hoping for some sliver of hope that my father was doing alright.
6:00 P.M.
"Ma'am, can you take us to Richard Bouchard's room, I have his family here with me." said one of the police officers to a nurse.
"Alright, but…he's not doing very well, just make sure that their visit is short, I really don't know how much time he has left with us." whispered the nurse to the officers. My mother couldn't hear what the nurse had whispered, but I understood their auras clearly. My father didn't have much time left on this Earth.
The nurse led my mother and I to the room where the hospital was keeping my father. She opened the door and there my father was. He was wrapped up in bandages and looked barely conscious at all. I'm glad they covered him up with blankets because I could tell that he was horrifically injured.
"Oh my god, Richard!" yelled my mother as she began to cry more.
"Ma…ry, please…don't cry." my father said weakly. She then went to hug him while still crying a lot.
"Richard…you're gonna get better, I know it. A car crash can't kill you…it just can't…"
"It won't…hopefully, but…if I don't…make it, I just want to say…that I love you…and that I have for all these…years now."
"I love you too…you're gonna make it out of this."
"Do you mind…if I have a moment…with our daughter?"
"No…by all means…" As she said this, she ran out of the room and continued to cry, leaving me alone with my father.
"Father…" I said to him quietly.
"Hey Dawn…, how've you been…holding up?" my father said weakly.
"I've been…alright, father…the nurse said that…that you don't have much time left anymore."
"Well…the doctors are…probably right. I got…blindsided pretty badly…the guy who…hit my car…he wasn't paying…attention to the road…or the lights so, here I am."
"So this is someone else's fault?...I want to…" I said. My father interrupted me before I could finish my sentence.
"Dawn…it's not…his fault. Sometimes…it's just someone's time to go…death is…unpredictable. I'm not afraid to die…"
"Dad…please….don't say that. I need you here with me! I don't want you to leave me!" I yelled as tears began to stream from my eyes. I had never called him dad before, I had always called him father. I had never been this upset before. Seeing that my father was going to die.
"Dawn…listen to me…if I don't make it…I need you to be strong. Strong for your mother….and strong for yourself. Don't argue…with her…this is hard enough for her…you both need to be strong." He slowly went to put his hand on my arm. I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, but the tears continued.
"You know…I don't tell mother about the bullying that goes on in school…what am I supposed to do…we always do everything together…how I will…do anything…without you being there."
"Dawn…I'm always going to be…by your side, in everything that you do. Do you…remember, that day I first took you out to…the woods, and how scared…you were when I first took you?"
"Yes…of course."
"Well…whenever…you feel scared…or alone…go to the woods. Even…if it doesn't seem like…I'm with you…I'll always be with you…there." He then began to reach into one of the coat pockets on the desk right next to his bed. What he grabbed out of there surprised me.
"Do you…remember this?" He had pulled out a bracelet.
"That's…my old bracelet. I had thought that I had lost it…in the woods that day."
"I…went out there a few years after that…and decided to look for it…I found it near…the tree I took you to. Take it." He then handed the bracelet to me. It wasn't anything much, it was a bracelet that looked like it was made of tree roots or something along the lines of that.
"You'll be with me...?"
"Always…and forever. Dawn…lastly, never be afraid…of what's to come. It's…a long road ahead…but I know that you'll do fine…never…show…fear." Just after he said that, the heart monitor went flat. I sat there in shock after what had just happened. My mother came rushing into the door to see what had happened.
"Oh no…Richard!" she screamed. She ran to the other side of the bed and began to cry even harder. I walked out because I couldn't see him anymore. The pain and the shock of what had happened was too much for me to handle.
7:00 P.M.
The police officers had offered to drive us home (to which we obliged). We had begun making preparations for the funeral while we were in the car. The hospital said that they were going to give him over in a day or so. When we arrived back to the house, I couldn't take it anymore, hearing about death and funerals. I ran straight to the woods behind the house.
"Ms. Bouchard!" yelled one of the police officers.
"Don't. She needs time alone. Thank you for driving us back." my mother said to them.
I continued to run deeper and deeper into the woods. Nothing mattered at this point, my clothes were getting torn a little bit by branches, my feet started to bleed from not wearing any shoes when I left and cutting them on rocks. This pain was nothing to the pain that I felt after what had happened. I found a tree next to a creek and I stopped there. I broke into a heavy sob after I stopped.
"Father…why did you have to leave…" I said to myself. The rest of that night, I spent my time at that tree, crying.
(Now)
"Father…why did this have to happen? I don't want to leave. I have so much more people to help…I actually have friends…and a boyfriend…" I said as I cried to myself under the oak tree. I reached into my pocket and grabbed out something. It was that bracelet that I had lost and my father gave to me before he died.
"If I must move…then there is…something that I will do with this…later…" I said. I began to get tired and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep on the ground, with that bracelet in my hand.
November 2nd, 2012
My House
8:12 A.M.
I began to wake up only to realize that I was in my room. That was the first thing that I didn't expect, but the other thing I didn't expect was that Zoey and Mike were in my room. I then sat up on my bed and began to wonder why they were in my room.
"Zoey…Mike? What're you doing in my room?" I asked them.
"Well…after Halloween…Mike told me about what was going on. I wanted to check on you after that. When Mike and I came over, your mother had told us that you ran off into the woods, and that she was getting worried sick." said Zoey.
"We ran into the woods trying to look for you. It was really easy for Manitoba to find you, and before we knew it, we found you. You were sleeping on the ground with a bracelet in your hand. We put it back into your pocket and carried you home. Your mother is very relieved that you weren't attacked by animals or something." said Mike.
"Thank you…do we not have school today?"
"Your mother called in for you, saying that you were sick. Our parents did the same after what we told them. We're gonna be with you for the whole day if that's alright. We were worried sick about you, Dawn!" said Zoey.
"It is alright…"
"Dawn, can I ask, what were you doing rushing into the woods like that? Did something happen?" asked Mike.
"Nothing happened, Mike, you two don't have to worry about it." They gave me a worried look but then shrugged it off.
"Do you mind if I…have a moment with my mother?"
"Of course, we'll go get her." said Zoey. Zoey and Mike then left the room, shortly to return with my mother.
"Dawn…if this is about the move that's going to happen, I just want to say that…" she said. I interrupted her before she could finish.
"No mother…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that when I got home…I just…I don't want to be alone again…just like when…father died." I told her.
"I know you don't…" She then got up to sit on my bed with me. "But this move…it'll help both of us in the long run. I'll be able to send you to whatever college you want to go to with the money I can make from this…"
"I know…, thank you for telling Zoey and Mike where I was."
"It was nothing, now if you want to spend some time with them today, I'll allow it. I already called the school and said that you weren't going to be in school today. Spend some time with them." She then got up and left my room. After she left, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the bracelet. I looked at it for some time, but then quickly put it back. I didn't want to think about all this anymore at the moment.
"Father…help me get through this." I said to myself. I then got up and left my room to go with Zoey and Mike.
AN: So what did you guys think of this? I hope that you guys liked this. I'm gonna keep this short, I'll probably update this a lot more frequently than I will TDR because these chapters are relatively short. I hope that you all enjoyed this!
Defan777