Chapter Seven- Aunt Rose Arrives
Kelsey was pacing the hallway between the waiting area and food court worriedly, glancing at the clock on the wall every time she walked the length of the deserted hallway and turned around to repeat the pattern. She had been doing this every since Portman and his mother had left her in the hands of her inept stepmother.
" Great. It's just 1:00." Kelsey muttered.
Her father had gone into surgery nearly three hours ago, and no one had told her or Marion anything. Of course, this could deal with the fact that Kelsey wasn't exactly speaking to Marion, but Kelsey had yet to see a nurse or doctor come walking onto the vacant floor since her pacing had begun.
" Miss Paris, your father is out of surgery." a nurse said as she neared the teenager who had just stopped in front of the opening elevator doors.
" Oh, thank you so much." Kelsey sighed gratefully. " When can I see him?"
" In about 30 minutes or later. The anesthesia needs time to wear off." the nurse said with a small smile.
" Thank you." the young lady repeated as she turned to go back to the waiting room and inform her stepmother of the news.
" He's out of surgery." Kelsey told her stepmother as she entered the gloomy waiting area.
" Okay." Marion didn't even look up from the magazine she was looking at.
Kelsey bit her tongue as she collapsed into the uncomfortable gray chair she had been occupying earlier. No sooner had the exhausted girl gotten as comfortable she would ever get in the unreasonable chair, she was sound asleep.
While having perhaps one of the more pleasant dreams the half Norwegian had had in a while, she was interrupted from the neural creation by a gentle shaking of her shoulder and a hushed, " Kelsey, wake up."
" What?" Kelsey asked groggily, mildly upset that she had just been woken from a dream involving her nearly winning the Olympic gold medal in figure skating.
" You better wake-up, so you can see your father before I take you home."
With that sentence, Kelsey bolted into a standing position, focusing her deep blue eyes onto her Aunt Rosa Morrison.
The older woman had the same sandy blond hair and bright green eyes as her brother, and was slightly shorter than Kelsey, who stood at a firm five feet, eight inches tall. Whereas her younger brother had a more square face, Rosa had a delicate oval face like her niece. Her curly chin length hair was pulled into a disheveled ponytail at the back of her head, which was currently shaking with amusement.
" What time is it?" Kelsey asked as she tightly hugged her aunt.
" It is," Rosa said as she glanced down at her watch, " six thirty in the morning, Miss Kelsey."
" How long have you been here?" Kesley asked as she took in the fact that her aunt was slightly better dressed than Gina Portman had been.
The older woman was in a pair of blue jeans, with a black cardigan pulled over a green shirt, and a pair of clean sneakers.
" You are full of questions." Rosa shook her head. " I've been here since four, but your father and I both agree that you needed to get some sleep before we woke you. Now, let's go and see your father. And, since I know you just want to know this, Marion left here about ten minutes after I set up shop. She said all of five words to your dad before she left."
Kelsey rolled her eyes as she grabbed her bag and her aunt shouldered her large purse and carry-on bag. The two of them walked to the elevators and proceeded to the floor that Caleb was currently recovering on.
" Hi, Caleb," Rosa said softly as she entered the room, " look who I found."
The injured man was the only one currently occupying the double occupancy room, which meant that he would surely have another patient to talk to at some point.
" Well, who could it be?" Caleb said with a yawn. " Oh, it's my little girl."
" Hi, daddy." Kelsey said as she came to a stop at the head of the bed.
" How do you feel?" Rosa asked with concern, taking in the cuts and bruises
" The same as I did when you asked me fifteen minutes ago: horrible." Caleb answered truthfully. " But, really, I think I look worse than I feel."
" How long do you have to stay here?" Kelsey asked, ignoring her father's attempts to lighten the situation.
" I don't really know." Caleb said thoughtfully. " Probably a few days. Maybe a week."
" Well, I hate to cut this reunion short, but I think Kelsey should be going home to get ready for school." Rosa said, earning a frown from the sullen teenager.
Caleb quickly agreed as his daughter opened her mouth to protest. " She's right, Kelsey. I know you're tired, and want to be here, but your education is important. And, how can I hit on nurses with you around."
" Dad." Kelsey groaned.
Caleb chuckled as Rosa rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. " Clearly, the accident must have made his brain turn to mush because he's being more delusional than before."
" All right, kisses before you go." her dad said as he stopped laughing. " I love you, baby girl."
" Bye, daddy. I love you." Kelsey kissed her father on the cheek, then left the room.
" He's going to get better." Rosa reassured her niece as she came out of the recovery room.
" I know. Aunt Rosa, are you going to be here until daddy gets out of the hospital?" Kelsey asked as they walked to the stairway.
Her aunt was a fitness nut, and had allowed them to take the elevators the first time only because Kelsey was still just waking up.
" I'll be here for at least two more days. I can't miss work for a long time." Rosa looked at Kelsey. " Maybe you guys should move to Chicago. That way you can be around me and your cousins."
" I don't know." Kelsey said as they reached the bottom of the steps and they went outside. " How are we getting back to our place? I don't have a car, and the bus doesn't run this early."
" I managed to get a nice rental car this morning." Rosa beamed as she pulled the keys out of a pocket of her jeans.
Kelsey opened the front door fifteen minutes later and ran to her bedroom. She took as quick shower as her injured arm would allow her, before retreating to her room to decide on what to wear. She had just finished putting on her most comfortable outfit, when she realized that it was picture day. After changing out of her so very comfortable AE pants and a size too big t-shirt, she found a more picture day suitable outfit: a cream knee length, strapless dress paired with the only cardigan (which was black) from her closet that would stretch over the cast on her left arm. It was a struggle, but after ten minutes, Kelsey had won that battle. She pulled her navy blue sling back on and gently put her injured arm back in it. She quickly stepped into her black peep toe pumps after the moment of pain subsided, before going back to the bathroom to plug in her curling iron.
" Aunt Rosa?" she called from the top of the stairs.
" What, dear?" her aunt answered as she walked to the bottom of the stairs.
" Could you curl my hair? Today's picture day, and I want to at least look somewhat decent." she grumbled as she gave the unsightly sling a dirty look.
Rosa nodded and came up the stairs and followed her niece into the bathroom.
" Well, you look nice." Rosa commented fifteen minutes later.
Kelsey's blond hair was perfectly fixed into loose curls that framed her oval face. Her aunt had helped her apply a little mascara, gray shadow, along with some lip gloss and foundation.
" Thanks." she yawned as she followed her aunt back to the kitchen.
" Ready to go?"
" Yes." Kesley said as she grabbed her bag. " Oh, no, wait I need to call Portman."
" I'll wait for you out in the car, sweetheart." Rosa said as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.
Kesley fished in her bag for Mrs. Portman's cellphone number and quickly dialed it.
" Hello, Mrs. Portman." Kelsey said as she answered the phone.
Before the teen could say why she was calling, she could hear Gina calling for her son.
" Hey, Kels." he answered after his mother handed him the phone.
" Hey. Where are you?" Kelsey asked.
" About to leave for school." he answered with a sigh. " How's your dad?"
" He's okay. He may have to stay in the hospital for a few days or more, but he seems to be fine."
" I'm sure he is." Portman agreed with a yawn. " I'll see you at school in a bit, ba- Kels."
Kelsey chuckled. " All right."
She hung up the phone and shouldered her messenger bag. She locked the door and headed out to the street to get into Rosa's rental car.
" What was that about?" Rosa asked as she put the vehicle into drive.
" I promised Portman I would call him." Kelsey explained.
" Oh. He's a good kid." Rosa commented as she pulled onto the street. " Most of the time."
" I know."
" Would you like to stop at McDonald's or someplace to get some breakfast? I'm sure you haven't had a meal since last night."
" Sounds good to me." Kelsey answered, not really caring if she was late for class or not.
7:30 a.m. at the school
Kelsey was sitting with Connie and Julie on a blanket that Connie had brought along under "the tree", eating her breakfast. The other Ducks were either eating breakfast in the dining hall or still hadn't arrived.
" I'm so sorry your dad was in an accident." Connie sadly said after Kelsey filled them in on, almost, everything.
" Yeah, it really sucks." Kelsey looked down at her stretched out legs, trying to avoid their gazes and the crumbs that littered the skirt portion of her dress.
" You're not telling us everything." Julie said knowingly. " Spill."
" I would, but I can't." Kelsey said, still looking at her feet.
" Why?" Connie asked, her curiosity piqued by Kelsey's attempt to be secretive. " Is it about a boy?"
" Come on, Kelsey. We won't tell." Julie said with a pleading look.
" Hey, ladies." Fulton said, giving Kelsey a ticket to change the subject.
" Hi." Julie said.
" Tell your mom thanks for last night. I really appreciate it."
Fulton blushed and nervously shuffled his feet as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his torn blue jeans. " It was no big deal."
" Where's the other Bash Brother?" Connie asked, pushing her light brown hair behind her ears.
Unlike her more casually dressed roommate, Connie was wearing a floral print white skirt and a pink blouse to match, with white sandals. Picture day to the more "girly" Duck was a very serious matter, and she wanted to look good.
" At his locker." Fulton sat down on the grass, beside of Kelsey who was sitting on the edge of the blanket. " What's up?"
" Not too much. My arm is doing somewhat better." Kelsey looked at her sling covered arm, and sighed. Before she had gotten out of the car to head to the meeting spot, her aunt had thankfully noticed that her right sleeve of her cardigan was not pushed up over the elbow like the left side, saving the girl from the embarrassment of trying to fix it herself if she ever did take note of it. "I think I'll get a head start to class."
" I'll help you up." Fulton stood up and held out his left hand to Kelsey.
Kelsey grabbed onto it and pulled herself up, noticing how Fulton was prepared to catch her if she teetered. " Thanks."When she took her hand out of his grasp, she felt a piece of paper.
" Take it." Fulton whispered, helping her to shoulder her messenger bag.
Kelsey raised an eyebrow and walked a distance before she opened the note with a little difficulty.
Hey Kels,
Meet me at the tree as soon as the bell rings for lunch.
Kelsey placed the note into her locker after she opened it, and exchanged her books and notebooks for the ones she needed. After locking up, she walked to her first period; but couldn't keep her mind on the subject. She kept wondering what Portman wanted, and how she honestly felt about him.
A.N.-The next chapter will start out like the original Chapter Eight, but will begin the new direction I am taking this work of fiction in. Thank you all for the support :-) Reviews are greatly appreciated and lovingly accepted.