Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.
Who We Are
Part 14
By N. J. Borba
Derek believed himself to be a good runner, though not as good as when he'd been younger, before the college knee injury that had knocked him out of contention for pro football. He still ran, though, mostly in the form of chasing after suspects; following them into buildings, onto moving trains and through the woods. But Derek was certain he'd never moved as fast as he was now, sprinting down the trail he and Emily had traversed many weekends over the last several months; the trail he'd veered off in order to finally tell her how he felt, and to show her with a kiss that he was very serious about his words. Those memories caused his legs to pump even faster.
Finally he managed to spot the clearing where his insistence of doing sit-ups had often riled her. He peered around the area, eyes darting from one shadowy oak tree to the next. But it was near a small copse of tall fir trees that he caught a glimpse of movement in the dark. "Emily?" Morgan's heart leapt into his throat as he called out her name over the thundering pound of rainfall. "Is that you?" he slowly edged toward the trees, one hand resting against the weapon at his hip.
He rounded the corner and found her there on the ground, head resting against the tree, legs crossed. If it weren't for the horrendous rain storm and the gun resting in her lap he might of thought she was simply relaxing. But he knew better. Derek sunk to his knees in front of her. She was drenched and her eyes were closed. "Emily, are you hurt?" he tried to rouse her and was thankful when her eyes opened upon hearing his voice. "I thought I heard a gunshot, I thought maybe you'd…"
She looked past him, into the darkness of night. "I shot the tree," her voice was devoid of any emotion, but one hand rose to wave in the direction of the other fir tree across from where she was sitting on the muddy ground. Her hand fell limply back to her lap.
That answer did little to quell his worry, but Derek stayed with her as she seemed reluctant to move. He grabbed her gun, made sure the safety was on again, and stuffed it into the back waistband of his jeans. "We should get you home," Morgan said. "It's freezing out here. If the temperature drops another few degrees this rain is going to turn into snow," he reached a hand out to her, hoping to help her up. But she batted him away.
"I don't want to go home," she responded dismally. "I don't want to see her."
"See who?" he asked, even though he quickly guessed the person in question. "Anna?" Derek had a feeling he knew what was prompting her refusal to go home. "Em, she loves you. She knows the truth, so do I, but it doesn't make a difference."
"It does to me," Emily replied.
Morgan wanted to believe the fact she was talking was a good sign, but he worried it might not be. With each successive word she seemed to be drifting further into a well of guilt. "What he did had nothing to do with you."
"He wanted me that night!" she shouted over the storm. "How does that have nothing to do with me?"
At least she'd shown some emotion, Derek reasoned as he tried again to reach her. "You're probably right about him coming after you," he agreed, just like he had when Anna had voiced the same concern earlier. "But according to what you told me about your father's recollection of events that night, I'd say you did your best to try and alert someone that something was wrong. The reason you started crying was probably because he was in your room. Maybe he reached for you, but you fought back the only way you knew how."
Emily's eyes closed. "So then he went after her," she whispered. "He took her and he hurt her; for so many years, Derek. He hurt her and it should have been me."
"No," he reached for her again. His hand rested on her shoulders as he faced her; uncertain if she was crying or the rain was running down from her scalp. "It should not have been you; it shouldn't have been Anna either. You can't blame yourself for any of this." He felt her body shaking, but again he couldn't be sure if it was from sorrow or the cold. Probably a combo of the two, he guessed. "Come on," Derek finally eased her to her feet. "I'll take you…"
"I told you I don't want to go home," she reiterated, eyes wide open again, shrugging out of his grasp.
"Then we'll go somewhere else, but you need to get out of this rain," he insisted, not taking no for an answer as he gently grasped her left arm.
Derek led her to his SUV and made sure she was settled inside the dry vehicle before he went to quickly lock up her car. "We'll come back for that later, or I'll call someone to pick it up," he told her as he jumped into the driver's seat. She made no response as Morgan steered the vehicle to his home. He was glad that Emily didn't protest as they entered the small Craftsman house he was living in while fixing it up. "Sorry about the paint cans," he waved a hand toward the items clogging his entry hall. "I still can't seem to find the right shade I want for the kitchen."
He watched her move into the living room, her gaze barely leaving the floor. "How about a drink?" Emily suggested. "Wine, beer… vodka…"
"I might have something," Derek ducked into the kitchen, briefly grabbing two beers from his fridge. He opened them both and returned to find Emily standing in the same spot, dripping and shivering. "Maybe you'd rather take a shower?" he asked.
She took the three steps forward necessary to remove one of the bottles from his hands and downed half of it in one gulp. "Sure, why not," Emily handed the bottle back to him and turned around. "Upstairs, I assume?"
Morgan nodded as she set off toward the staircase. He promptly discarded both beers on a nearby table and followed her up. "There's only one bathroom in working order," he explained, guiding her to the main bedroom with attached bath. Derek pulled out a fresh towel for her and handed over one of his t-shirts and some sweat pants. "Take your time," he insisted before leaving her to it.
Downstairs again, Derek took one small drink of his beer and then poured the rest of each bottle down the kitchen sink drain. He didn't think adding more alcohol to Emily's fragile state of mind was going to do any good. Then he made two short phone calls as he waited. Forty-five minutes passed and he could still hear the shower running above him. After an hour his concern grew great enough to send him back up the stairs. Morgan knocked on the bathroom door. "Emily, you okay in there?"
Several seconds passed before she gave a faint, "Yeah."
By then he was too worried to go back downstairs. He stayed in his bedroom, kicking off his shoes and shedding the wet clothes he'd been wearing. Clean boxer briefs went on, as well as a pair of sweats similar to the ones he'd handed Emily. When he was done the bathroom door opened and she exited, wearing only his white Northwestern t-shirt with the purple Wildcats text across the front. "I called Garcia, she's staying the night with Anna and Michelle," he let her know.
"Thanks," she replied softly.
"And Rossi is going to pick up your car in the morning, take it back to your place," Derek relayed.
There was no acknowledgment of his second comment as Emily moved closer to where he was standing by the queen-sized bed. Her shoulder-length hair was damp, clinging to her head. Her feet were bare as they closed the gap between her and Derek. Emily's hands clasped behind his neck and her lips crushed against his. She kissed him like he was the only thing able to save her from drowning. Her hips pressed against his, a thin layer of clothing the only thing separating their flesh.
"Emily," he exhaled her name as he tried to peel her away from his body. "Not like this…"
She barely let go of him long enough to switch tactics, rubbing the palms of her hands down his bare chest and further south. "Your body isn't saying no."
He took several quick breaths, focusing his thoughts and finally managing to hold her at arm's length. "But my lips are," Derek finally replied. "And I don't want to take advantage of you like this. You're hurting, you're upset, you're not thinking straight."
"So!" she spat the word at him. "I don't care. Take advantage, please," Emily begged.
"Not like this," he maintained, seeing her start to crack a little; a tear in her left eye, the downturn of her lips. She was breaking his heart all over again, just like seeing her earlier, in the park, had. "I want it to be so much more than this."
Her head shook, still fighting him. "That's right. You want it to be special," her eyes rolled as she spoke the last word with accusation. "Well, I have a little news flash for you, Morgan. I'm not special," Emily's voice broke. "I'm just the bastard child of a man who liked to torture kids in the cellar of his barn!"
Derek saw her spiraling further and all he could do was keep trying to break through. "Hey," he reached out for her, wanting to pull her close again.
But she moved away, edging toward the door. "You're right. You don't want this. You don't need this kind of mess in your life," Emily made a final dash for the door.
Morgan was faster, beating her there and blocking the way out. He stood, arms at his side, eye begging her to listen. "Being in a relationship, loving someone, it's not just about enjoying the good times or having sex," Derek spoke softly but emphatically. "It means you're in it for the long haul. You love everything, the good and bad. You stay around through the fights, the breakdowns, the depression… birth, death and everything in between. And that's what I'm here for right now."
Emily swallowed. "No one has ever wanted all of that from me," she whispered. "Not Matthew, not even my parents. Matthew couldn't handle it all, and my parents wanted some model of a perfect child that I could never be. And growing up, other kids always wanted something from me, money, help with homework, even sex. In exchange I could be their friend. But it was never real, never like what you just described."
"I'm sorry you were treated that way, I truly am," he said. Derek made another move to touch her, just one hand against her waist. She didn't back away. He added his other hand. "But all of that is in the past now, Emily. I'm right here, though, wanting to be your future, wanting to be beside you through it all. For real," he insisted, slowly guiding her back into the room and then onto his bed where they laid down beside each other, his arms still around her. "And I don't want anything from you other than what you can give. I just want you to be the woman I fell in love with." Morgan kissed her lips and looked her in the eye. "Je t'aime, Emily."
She recalled hearing him say those words in Garcia's lair earlier. He'd sounded so sincere then, but even more so now. "I feel like such an idiot for what I just did to you," Emily lamented, laying her head against a pillow and concentrating on making her heart beat a little slower.
"Please don't," he replied. "Any other day I wouldn't have been able to stop myself," Derek whispered to her. "And I have no idea how I'd react in your situation."
Several deep breaths calmed her even more, along with the gentle warmth of his body against hers. "I'm tired… so tired," Emily said.
"Then sleep. I'll watch over you," he heard the words emit from his mouth and was reminded of some corny movie line, but Derek didn't care. He did want to watch over her; protect her if he could. Because he loved her more than he ever imagined possible, and he hadn't truly realized that until the moment he'd heard that gunshot in the park. He pulled her closer and her head moved a little so it was resting against his chest. "Sleep," he whispered.
Emily allowed herself to be taken over by the weight of sleep, but she whispered back; words that echoed his earlier ones. "Je t'aime, Derek."
xxx
As bad as the previous day had been, Emily woke the next morning feeling the smallest bit hopeful that things weren't as dire as they'd seemed. She had a pretty good feeling that her slightly raised spirits were due to the man who was lying next to her. Emily didn't think she'd ever come to depend on anyone so much. There was a time in her life when she would have considered that a weakness on her part. But she was slowly starting to recognize that leaning on people was hardly a sign of weakness, and more a sign of trust and love.
She turned to face him, scooting even closer beneath the blue satin sheets, their clothing still a cumbersome burden between them. "Good morning," Emily whispered.
Derek felt himself drifting further away from sleep, his body satiated and cozy as he lay snuggled beside Emily. He opened his eyes and was pleased to find her there. "I was afraid you'd be gone this morning. I tried not to fall asleep last night, but apparently I lost that battle."
"Yeah, well I figured it wouldn't really be worth it to try sneaking off or avoiding you," she returned. "You would have just tracked me down again."
Derek nodded, knowing it was true. He brushed his fingertips over her cheek. "So, you're giving in?"
Emily's lips curled ever so slightly. "Yes, I surrender… fully and willingly," she laughed softly, but quickly stopped herself.
"It's okay to be happy," he propped himself up on one elbow, his palm smoothing along her bare arm. Derek let out a heavy breath. "I was really worried about you last night. When I heard that gunshot I thought maybe…"
"I was suicidal?" she asked, watching his eyes cloud over with concern. "I was very angry. I'm still so angry. I'm pissed off at my parents and…" Emily trailed off, unable to collect her thoughts very well.
He stayed there with her, eyes still locked, worry still etched along his brow. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," she responded rather quickly, but a confused sigh followed the word. "I don't know," she added. "I guess I should, right?"
Morgan shrugged. "I'm probably not the best example to follow when it comes to talking things over, considering it took me five years to tell you I love you."
She couldn't help smiling a little to hear those words again. But her thoughts drifted back to her anger. "It's just… I know I shouldn't dwell on it, right?" Emily wasn't sure she really wanted an answer to that. "It's not as though I can go back in time and change the fact that my mother cheated on my father, or that my… the man who's DNA makes up half of my genetic code kidnapped and tortured my sister. Nothing is ever going to change that."
"You're right, nothing will," he agreed.
"And even as pissed off as I am about everything right now, I'd never wish to be unborn," she concluded.
"Unborn?" Derek cracked a small smile as he kissed her forehead. "I don't want you to be unborn either," he let her know.
Her bottom lip was unconsciously sucked inward as she continued to contemplate her emotions. "But I still feel… with all of this coming to light, I feel one step closer to that niggling feeling in the back of my head, the one I've asked myself about before, the one I've asked you about before," she paused, taking a deep breath. "If he could become such a horrible person, do those horrible things… then maybe I have that in me as well?"
"You're not him, Emily," Derek was quick to fan out the flame of her fears. "None of us do our job, day after day, without having those same sorts of thoughts enter our minds," he reminded her. "But there is a fine line between thinking about it and doing it. Richard Hayes crossed that line, for whatever reason. But you are not Richard Hayes, Emily. You are your own person, a smart, funny, nerdy, beautiful woman, inside and out. You value life and you do whatever you can to make sure people, strangers on a daily basis, are safe from harm."
Emily drew strength from his words, and was pretty sure she couldn't love him any more than she did at that very moment. "Do you know what today is?"
"Tuesday," Derek went along with her shift in topic, curious about where it was leading.
"Yes, that too," Emily nodded. "But I was thinking more along the lines of it being…" she leaned in and kissed his lips, whispering the last three words she had to say against his mouth. "Any other day."
She kissed him again, more demanding, more needful. He felt her hands explore his body, and his body reacted just as it had the night before. Derek knew exactly what she'd been referring to, and he couldn't deny any longer how much he wanted to be with her in that way. Mere seconds later, not even a t-shirt or sweat pants stood between them as he finally showed her just how special she really was.
Hours later, their bodies rode out the last waves of passion and crashed upon the shore of Derek's bed. Silence and sleep claimed them once again, until the shrill sounds of a cell phone interrupted their sanctuary. Morgan groaned in protest as he sat up, searching for the phone he'd discarded on the nightstand. He glanced at the small alarm clock he kept there and finally realized how late it was. They still had jobs, and unfortunately life didn't wait for those newly in love.
Morgan finally answered, but barely spoke a greeting before his ear was assaulted. "Garcia, calm down and tell me what…" he listened as she spoke a little more slowly over the line. Derek's heart sunk as he realized what she was saying. "Okay," he tried not to reveal too much to Emily just yet. "We'll be there," he disconnected.
"What?" she asked. "A case?"
"No, it's Anna," he revealed. "We need to get to the hospital."
xxx
The hospital room was small, but private. Emily figured her parents had arranged at least that much for their oldest child. However, she'd spotted her mother down the hall sipping a cup of coffee and staring blankly out a window. Not exactly the kind of mothering Anna needed at the moment, but the last thing Emily wanted right now was to start an argument. Not while her sister was hooked to some machine and looking paler than usual.
"Apparently all the Chemo has finally taken a toll on her kidneys," Joseph Prentiss whispered hoarsely from his seat in the corner of the room. He looked away from Anna to face Emily. "Doctor said her left kidney has completely failed, and she's on dialysis," he motioned toward the large white machine beside Anna's bed. "Her right kidney is still holding on," he concluded.
Emily was stuck for a moment between wanting to cry and scream as she regarded the several tubes linking her sister and the machine, which was ferrying blood back and forth. Then she spotted Michelle who was curled up beside Anna on the bed. She was doing her best to avoid all the connections while still holding on tightly to her mother. The child's green eyes regarded her aunt. "You weren't home this morning to help mommy," Michelle croaked.
"Shh," Anna's voice was so soft that Emily barely noticed it at first. Her sister ran a hand over Michelle's cheek in a reassuring manner. "It's not her fault," she whispered to the girl while managing to smile at her sister. "It is no one's fault." Anna beckoned her sister over. "Sit with me, please?" she weakly patted the other side of her bed and was happy when Emily sat on the end corner.
Michelle stared at her aunt for a second before speaking again. "I'm sorry," the girl apologized.
One hand was extended to the child as Emily patted the girl's leg. "It's okay, chaton." She wished her own guilt could be so easily forgiven.
Anna again tried to keep the peace, looking to her father. "Daddy was just telling us about what I wanted to be when I grew up."
Joseph smiled, and Emily noticed how much he and Anna looked alike. She felt a pang of regret that she'd never look like him. And she was sure Anna had never referred to him as, daddy, before. Emily felt like she was living in some dream, uncertain how to function. "What did Anna want to be?" she finally joined in, trying to turn the room's somber mood around, despite her confusion.
"When she was four years old, Anna told me she wanted to be a princess, and a doctor, and a mommy," he revealed with a soft chuckle.
"One out of three is not so bad," Anna grinned as she quickly kept the conversation rolling. "What did Emily want to be?"
Their father's smile remained. "A super hero."
"No, I didn't," Emily protested.
"Oh yes," the man nodded. He sat up a little straighter; his brown cable knit sweater and blue jeans a sharp contrast to his normal business attire. "You were about five or six when you told me that. I believe we were living in Germany at the time and you spotted some Wonder Woman comic that you were mesmerized by. And later there was a show you watched, I remember you talking about it, but I can't recall now what it was."
A smile bloomed without warning on Emily's face. "You're probably talking about The Bionic Woman," she admitted to the guilty pleasure show.
He nodded, seeing the opening he'd been hoping for. "Emily, you know your mother and I only ever wanted…"
"I don't want to hear whatever excuses you and mother came up with last night after I left," Emily halted his words and made a move to get up, but Anna gripped her hand tighter than she could have guessed her sister capable. "I should go," Emily protested.
"No, please," Anna replied.
It was Joseph who stood and made a move toward the door. "Anna's right. You should stay with your sister. The two of you should have some time," he conceded.
Anna turned to her daughter. "Why don't you go with your grandfather, maybe you can get some hot chocolate," she suggested.
The man nodded his agreement as Michelle reluctantly got up. "Come on, peanut," Joseph put an arm around the girl's shoulders and guided her out.
Emily exhaled heavily as she sat facing her sister. There were so many thoughts spinning around in her head, but she couldn't find the right words to explain everything to her sister. "Anna, I…"
"Please, do not say it," Anna spoke up first. She watched her younger sister's confusion double. "I know you were about to apologize for being that man's child, or for what he did to me, or something equally out of your control. But I do not want your apologies, Emily. I just want…" she smiled mysteriously. "I just want to know if you and Derek slept together last night.
The younger sister's mouth hung open for a long time before she rediscovered the use of words. "What?"
"Sex, is what I meant to say," Anna clarified. "There is a different look about you. You're happier, even though you keep hiding it behind feelings of guilt," she observed. "So, was it as wonderful as you imagined?" Anna asked with a curious grin. There was another long pause. "Come on, I may be dying, and maybe I haven't had sex in a long time, but I do know these things happen. And I know how much you love him, and he loves you."
Again the room was quiet for a moment. "Yes," Emily finally answered. Her single word spoke volumes and they actually broke out in giggles. "How is it you're able to make me laugh at a time like this?
Anna responded with a shrug. "I just want you to be happy."
"How do you do it?" Emily asked, her laughter gone again. "How can you lay here in this bed, your kidneys giving out on you and yet… you want to talk about my sex life like we're teenage girls, and you act as if Richard Hayes being my father is no big deal."
"It is not, because he is not your father," the older woman stated. "He did not raise you, he did not love you. A man named Joseph Prentiss did that. And maybe he was not perfect either, but he calls you pumpkin and I know for a fact he would die before he let anything bad happen to you. That is what a father does." Anna took a shaky breath as she smiled for her sister's benefit. "My life was not easy, and there are things I still have nightmares about. But the past cannot be changed, Emily, and I would not try even if I could. Because I had Eric, and he gave me Michelle, and he led me to you. That is what I choose to focus on."
Emily bit back tears. "I don't know how to do that," she admitted.
"I know, because you are like our mother," Anna stroked her sister's hand. "She does not know how to let go of the past either."
A soft knock sounded at the door and both women turned to watch Derek stick his head in. Seeing he was welcome, Derek stepped fully inside the room. He made his way toward the bed and leaned down to kiss Anna's cheek. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"I've had better days," Anna remarked.
He nodded, having heard a report from Garcia about what was going on. But he smiled to hear Anna in good spirits. Then his attention turned to Emily, even though he directed his question toward Anna. "Can I steal her away for a few minutes?"
Anna smiled happily. "Certainly," she agreed, winking at her sister as they exited the room.
They'd maneuvered through the hospital corridors for several minutes before Emily finally spoke. "I feel like most of my life has been spent surviving, getting by while not being very engaged in what was going on around me," she revealed to him. "When Anna showed up with Michelle, and you started to become much more than a friend, I started to feel like I was alive. Finally. Like I had a family for the first time. And I thought if my mother could just get past her guilt, or whatever it was she was feeling about Anna… then we could all really be happy. But losing Anna will destroy it all again," she gulped. "I wanted to help her so badly, but now I can't."
"Yes you can, Emily," Derek took her hand. "You're so much stronger than you realize," he relayed. "You help Anna every day just by being there for her; by loving her," he squeezed her hand. "And there are some people here I'd like you to see, people who want to help you and Anna."
"What people? I don't want to see anyone," Emily protested as they rounded a corner and saw the back of several heads standing in a line.
"You'll want to see them. Trust me," he guided her further until they were at the back of the line.
Garcia turned around first, smiling brightly to see her friends. Then JJ and Reid turned to face Emily, followed by Rossi and Hotch. Will was there, and Kevin. Emily spotted other people from the bureau, even Anderson. "What is this?" she asked.
"Blood drive," Penelope answered. "Plus our donations will be tissue typed and added to the National Marrow Donor Registry."
"Which is actually referred to now as the, Be the Match Registry," Reid supplied.
"We all want to be tested," Rossi added.
Emily looked to Derek again. "You arranged this?"
His head shook. "I just mentioned it to Penelope last night when we talked."
"And I contacted JJ," Garcia piped in.
"And I approached Strauss very early this morning about the idea," JJ explained. "She agreed to give us the time today to make this happen."
"I figured you'd want to be a part of it," Derek said, giving Emily's hand another squeeze. Neither of them cared that Hotch was standing right there watching every move they made. "I know you wanted to help Anna, but this way maybe you can help someone else. And maybe someone else can still help Anna."
xxx
Emily and Derek returned to Anna's room after their blood draws. Infused by her friend's amazing outpouring of support, Emily was hoping for a lighter atmosphere to the rest of the day after everything that had already occurred. But as soon as she spotted her parents at Anna's bedside, and saw the serious look in their eyes, Emily knew her wish had been just that. "I'll give you all some time," she said, turning back toward the door where Derek was rooted.
"You wanted to know the truth the other day," Elizabeth spoke up.
"Excuse me?" Emily spun around, facing her mother.
The ambassador stood beside her older daughter's bed, where Michelle was once again curled up with Anna. "Yesterday you said you wanted the truth, but you ran off before I could tell you everything. So, since I listened to what you had to say to me, I feel it's only right you do the same and listen to what I have to say."
"Such as?" Emily shrugged; not thinking her mother had anything to say that would make her feel any different. "Why daddy claims he didn't know if I was his daughter or not, but Richard Hayes seemed to know. That's why he came after me, wasn't it?"
"No," her mother replied as everyone else in the room remained deathly silent; too worried about leaving them along, too curious not to listen. "He believed he loved me after that one night we spent together," she glossed over the details of her affair. "When he found out I was pregnant, he... there was never any test, but he assumed."
A wordless scoff escaped Emily's lips. "Well, he assumed right."
"Your father left for a while after what happened, and Char… Anna went to stay with my parents," Elizabeth continued. "Richard was relentless for some time, harassing me. When your father returned and we agreed to work things out, Richard stopped contacting me. I didn't hear anything about him until I believed he'd died in that accident."
Emily sighed. "But in reality, he met a woman named Margaret who he no doubt spilled his guts to," she guessed, her profiler mind whirring. "And she'd recently gone through a divorce, lost custody of her son. I'm sure she was all too happy to earwig him into believing that kidnapping me would be the perfect addition to killing her ex and taking her son." Emily began to piece it together, and a sickening thought struck her. "Did you know he was the one who took Anna?"
"You were crying," Joseph spoke up from beside his wife. "He probably heard me coming for you and decided to take Charlotte," he couldn't stop himself from using his daughter's birth name. "She was his security."
"Security?" Emily swallowed hard, growing closer to her answers.
"Richard contacted us afterward," Elizabeth confirmed. "He offered us a trade."
She knew exactly what her mother meant. "Trading me for Anna? And you considered it?"
"Only for the purposes of getting Anna back," the ambassador's voice wavered. "We never had any intention of handing you over. He told us not to involve the police, but we didn't obey that order. Richard never showed to make the trade, though, so I guess he found out."
Joseph held his wife's hand. "The police had no leads. There was nothing of Richard Hayes to be found, and no Amber alert back then. So we did what we had to in order to survive. We buried Charlotte, and then we went on with our lives."
Elizabeth looked to her daughters. "I had an impossible choice to make. I did what any parent would've; I tried to hold on to both of you. But I failed you both."
"Why didn't you just tell me the truth?" Emily asked.
"To protect you," her mother replied.
"You mean to protect yourself," Emily accused. She finally left the room, not able to listen any more. She knew Derek was right behind her, following her down the hall. He stood beside her when she stopped in a dimly lit alcove and leaned against the wall. He waited for her in silent support. But a phone interrupted her thoughts and she roughly flipped open her cell. "What?"
"Have you figured it out yet?" a female voice asked.
It took only a second for Emily to realize who she was talking to, even though she'd never heard the woman's voice before. "That Richard Hayes was my father. Yeah, it's kind of old news now. Why didn't you just come out and say that if you knew?" She watched Derek's eyes widen in a questioning manner and stabbed the speaker phone button so he could listen to Margaret Wilson.
"Richard became obsessed with your mother for some reason, but I was able to use that desire to manipulate him. I made him want me instead, and I opened his eyes to the possibility that you were his child and rightfully belonged with us. But he screwed that up, just like he screwed up everything. We couldn't get our hands on you and he went crazy because of it."
"Really?" Emily did her best not to feel any more guilt for things she had no control over. "And your interference in his life didn't have anything to do with that?"
"He might have been a better person if we'd gotten our hands on you, because that sister of yours was worthless. She fought being my daughter, and she turned my son against me."
"There was no way he could've been a better person as long as you were pulling his strings," Emily relayed. "And you were far too self-absorbed to ever let yourself be anyone's mother. You stood by and let your own son be tortured."
"I still don't think you've figured it out," Margaret replied, calm as could be. "What I really want."
Emily's stomach twisted with paralyzing understanding. "I won't let you near her."
"She is my grandchild. I have as much right to her as you do. And with her mother gone soon, she'll need proper guidance. I'll teach her everything I was supposed to teach you. She's going to right the wrongs of the past."
"You're more insane than I've been giving you credit," Emily replied. The line went dead. She closed the phone and faced Derek. "How much?"
Morgan rested a hand against her back in a comforting manner. "I don't know what you mean, Em. How much what?"
She sighed. "How much can one person endure before they want to shoot something other than a tree?"
To Be Continued…