Disclaimer: I own nothing except a great love for CB and the many inhabitants of the UES
A/N: Okay, I know you guys have been waiting on this one and I'm sorry it took so long to post…just one thing after another. From my internet going wonky and getting that fixed to the older desktop that was basically the hub of the various laptops in the house just up and died. Well not permanently…it comes on for 30 seconds and then shuts off and then comes on and goes on and on from there. Just long enough to screw with the wireless. But I digress…as you guys know I can do. I have a new chapter for ya and possibly a new story that I'm trying to start posting this coming weekend…yet another reason for the delay on this one. The idea got caught in my head and couldn't not write it…despite my best efforts. For those CB lovers who pull double duty and happen to love Bro/Barney from HIMYM…well…ever wonder what would happen if the world of GG collided with HIMYM. Well that's what I've been working on and I'll try to post the first chapter this weekend. In the meantime…let's get a move on with this one :D. Still loving it which makes things all the worse cause now I've got two stories dueling it out in my brain. Not pretty. "And They All Lived" can be very territorial, you know? ;) Okay... thanks as always for all the amazing reviews and words. I hope you love this chapter as much I loved writing it. Much love to Wifey and my girls…hugs all around.
ஐChapter 29
Blair scribbled her name one last time before shoving the stack of paperwork at the attending nurse with more force than she'd intended.
"Is there anything else?" She demanded not bothering to disguise her impatience with the entire ordeal of finally being released.
They couldn't just tell her that she could go. No, first she had to sign a packet of papers as thick as the Webster's friggin dictionary. Her fingers were numb and felt about ready to fall off. Then just when she was certain that she'd finally gotten through it all, they came in with even more. On top of that, if it wasn't someone barging in with something else for her to sign, it was one of her doctors wanting to get in one last poke.
She wished like hell that they'd all just leave her alone. Serena had left hours ago to drop Alex off with the Baizens and to run errands. Errands that she'd gotten all close-mouthed and weird about when Blair asked about it. If not for the situation with her mother, Blair would've been all over her bestie's paper-thin excuses. Instead, she'd opting for getting Serena out of her hair for the moment and then grilling the other woman later. The girls left not long after with their grandma Lily and suddenly her room was brimming with stillness and quiet.
Absent of her daughters' chattering and songs. Alex chasing after his cousins and Lily pretending to be upset and chastising them. Chuck by her side, his lips skimming her ear now and again. Not teasing or habit but just because he could, while her own hand would reach out now and again, smoothing the hair at his nape.
Sure there was the bustle and calling voices beyond her hospital room, but the quiet in her room was more unsettling than it had ever been since she'd woken up.
Blair knew the reason for it. Her eyes drifted again and again to the phone that didn't want to seem to ring. The phone that she didn't want to answer when the call finally came.
Time and again, she backtracked. But it was ultimately the right thing.
All the while, she felt changed inside but not really. Dry-eyed when there should have been pain and loss. She forced herself to think of her children. Her little Kat and Evie.
She thought of them and what her mother had almost done. What she herself had started years ago. How easily history might have told a different story where her daughters never found one another again. Forever missing a part of themselves in the other. Chuck forever the lost little boy who wasn't made to be the man she always knew he would be. What else would be different if her mother had had her way. That thought. Those what-ifs, stayed her hand when her fingers itched to get Dorota on the phone and call the whole damn thing off.
She'd packed up most of her belongings. All that was left was the most recent picture of her girls and their daddy. The silver frame sitting right next to the phone that refused to ring at the mere will of her thoughts.
The door opened behind her.
Dammit, not again. She turned ready to glare at the next person pointing a pen her way. "You've got to be kidding me. What is it now…oh. Hello?"
She frowned at the man in the white lab coat, trying to place his face.
Over the past week, Blair had seen one specialist after another. Nurses. Doctors. Psych consults. Cardiologists. Neurologists. Physical therapists. No this guy was new. Maybe he was in the wrong room.
"Miss Waldorf?" Maybe not.
"Yes, um…" She squinted at his name tag, her mouth forming the jumbled name. "Oh, I'm just going to massacre that."
He smiled, "Don't worry. I'm sure I've heard worse than you could imagine. Call me Gabriel."
"Okay." She shrugged. Dr. Will. Now Dr. Gabriel. Whatever. As long as she was getting out of there, it was fine with her. Besides, she needed to get him out of her room as quickly as possible, because if she didn't want to take the coming phone call in front of Lily, the girls, or Serena; Blair certainly had no intentions of doing it in the presence of a perfect stranger. "What can I do for you…did I need to sign something for you, as well?"
"No. Nothing like that. Your doctor...the attending on hand when you were admitted asked me to check over your charts before your release. Give you one final exam."
God, not another one. Jeez. She'd thought this part was over and done with. Why in the hell did they have her signing her all of those stupid papers if they were just going to stick her with another needle and hook her up to another damn machine.
An amused smile curved his mouth and she realized that the fire must have shown in her eyes, lit with all of her frustration. "No worries. It'll be quick and painless. If you'd just have a seat for me over there." He motioned to the hospital bed, "This won't even take more than five minutes."
Blair's eyes shifted between the phone and the doctor's face. She nodded, walking to the bed, feeling his light eyes heavy on her back. He was studying her, not quite flirting as Will was apt to do.
She tossed her dark hair and squared her shoulders. The man was making her uncomfortable but she wouldn't let him see that. Settling on the bed, Blair regarded him coolly. Her spine ramrod straight, "You're staring."
"Sorry. It's just very strange, seeing you up and about. Not many cases like yours end up this way, you know?" He said, unwinding his stethoscope from about his neck.
Oh, yeah. That. She'd gotten more than enough of those looks. She wasn't the second coming for godsakes. Miracles happened all the time. Blair rolled her eyes, "Yeah, a walking, talking miracle."
"Of modern medicine." He tucked the cold metal beneath her blouse making her flinch, "Sorry."
Blair frowned, "It's okay. What do you mean of modern medicine? Don't you believe that things just happen some times?" She could mock her miracle but who did this guy think he was doing the same.
"You'd be surprised at what modern medicine can accomplish." He said, caging her wrist in his hands as he took her pulse. "Research. Experimental drugs. Cutting edge techniques. You'd be surprised."
"You're probably right, but now of that applies here. I just woke up…well I scared the hell out of my family first."
"Your heart attack."
"Yes…" Her hand unconsciously drifted to her chest, eyes seeking the reassurance of that photograph and still silent cell phone.
"Well, you seemed to have made a remarkable recovery. Movements fluid and your strength…stamina building on track. You're doing well." He said, stepping back.
"And my heart?" She asked.
"Strong, steady beat. Blood pressure normal." He glanced over at the photograph, "That your family?"
She breathed easier, reassured and smiling, "Yes."
"Cute kids. They take after you I think."
"Sometimes."
He nodded, taking another step back.
"So clean bill of health?"
"Thanks to modern medicine." He repeated his earlier assessment, "I'd say it's time for you to go home."
Great. So could she just leave now. No. She was supposed to wait for Chuck and there was still her phone call. Besides, she was being transferred to the private hospital to start physical therapy then home.
Blair turned away, already dismissing the doctor from her thoughts though he still remained in the room. But then he did the oddest thing, commanding her full attention as he offered a courtly bow. Reminding her of jesters and lords. Actors on stage after the curtain fell for the last time. Leaving her to watch him disappear into the hallway.
Hmm. What a strange little man, she smiled. And for a moment she forgot to be angry. Mindless to the upset and heartless words to be said. The levity seeped from her not more than a few seconds later as her phone finally trilled, reminding her of the hour.
~ஐ~
Dorota dragged in a deep breath and stood to her feet. Laughter ringing pure and true down the hall.
She heard their voices. The older couple joking and teasing one another. More in love than they were before on the night she'd stood up with them. The night Miss Blair had stood with them, ready to be a family.
Now their family was broken apart.
She heard the change. Miss Eleanor's frightened shriek. "Oh my God."
It was time.
"Cyrus. Call the police and tell them we've been…What? What is all this?" She was saying, surveying the boxes stacked high. Every stitch of fabric, article of clothing, and possession that Dorota had been able to identify as belonging to Miss Eleanor. The movers had packed it all and were standing by, waiting for their instructions.
"I don't understand. Where did it all come from?" Eleanor demanded, the fear still threaded in her words. Indignation that someone had infringed on her personal space.
Dorota sucked in one last fortifying breath and stepped out into the open. Her former employer catching sight of her almost immediately. The other woman's eyes, Miss Blair's eyes, wide and comprehending.
"You? What are you doing here?" She asked and motioned to the boxes, "What is all of this?"
"These are your things, Miss Eleanor."
"Excuse me."
"The boxes. It is everything from the apartment."
Now she was really confused, "What? the old apartment? But everything is in storage unless there was some type of problem…"
"Not old apartment. Your things from here…this place." Dorota waved her hand about the room.
"I don't understand." She repeated, but something creeping into her eyes…her daughter's eyes said otherwise. For her former employer reality was beginning to sink in. The what and why of it.
Dorota handed over the phone she'd been clutching and handed over another item from her pocket. "I was told to give you these things. You should call now. She is expecting you to…"
Eleanor's hands shook as she took the phone and the plane ticket from Dorota's hands.
The little man who loved Miss Blair like his own and had always been so nice to Dorota stepped forward, "Would someone like to tell me what's happening here?"
"She knows." Was all Eleanor would say. Could say. She cleared her throat, staring at the plane ticket that spelled out her sentence, punishment for crimes past. Exile. Worse than what Charles had done because this time it was her daughter. Her baby. That she knew. Deep down, she was sure. "You may go now, Dorota."
The maid curtsied, though she hadn't worked for Eleanor Waldorf-Rose in five long years, her eyes dropping to the floor, "Yes, Miss Eleanor."
Eleanor stared into her husband's eyes, barely breathing as she pressed the send button for the number already primed and ready. Three times it rang.
"Hello, Mother." The child. The woman answer, bereft of the wild anger that Eleanor was sure would be her reward.
Mother. The word, echoed in Blair's head as she waited on the other end of the line. It sounded so very wrong but in all the ways she'd practiced this particular conversation in her mind, nothing else seemed to fit. The bitterness welling inside, making a mockery of the cherished title. Mommy. Blair was Mommy. Eleanor never had been.
Blair cleared her throat, "I take it that Dorota was able to carry out my instructions. Your things…."
"Boxed up." Her mother provided hoarsely.
"And your one-way ticket back to London?"
"I have it."
Her daughter murmured her approval, "Good. Great. I'd like you to use it. And don't come back, Mother."
"Darling, don't do this…"
"Pretend I never woke up and that no one interfered with your plans of disposing of my disgrace. My children. Make believe that we don't even exist for you because after this phone call…you won't even become a bad memory. I won't think of you at all."
Eleanor stood frozen, listening to the voice. The cold creature who sounded so much like the daughter she loved. The daughter who'd just yesterday, acted like a giddy child when Eleanor invited herself to her girls' night. She wanted to toss the phone away and go back. Just twenty-four hours. Or further back, the night she'd told her sobbing child that she was no longer welcome in her own home.
"You don't have to worry about the boxes. The movers I hired will ship them all to the London house and Dorota will oversee the shipment of the things you still have in storage from the old apartment."
"I'm sorry." She turned away from the compassion in Cyrus' eyes, her gaze sweeping out the window, across the city. All she could see was her daughter's face. Last night and that last night at the old apartment. "Is that what you need to hear? I made a mistake. I know that now."
"Do you remember back then…one of the last things you did was call my children mistakes. And I couldn't hate you for it back then. I was angry but I still loved you. You were my mother."
"I'm still your mother"
"No, you're not. I have your blood. Your smile. Your eyes, but you're a stranger to me. You gave away my child."
"I thought it was for the best."
Now the chill broke, leaking the fire and anger below. "It wasn't what I wanted. Do you even begin to realize how badly things might've turned out? Do you even care?
"Of course I do. I love those little girls. Everything turned out okay. Thank God." She gripped tight onto the hand that Cyrus had taken hold of, as if he were her lifeline. "Everything turned out as it should have."
"You got lucky."
Eleanor tried again, "Please Blair. Don't do this. This isn't you. This is him. Charles was angry and he made me pay. He destroyed everything I worked for. I paid with my career."
The silence on the other end was unforgiving and without pity.
"Wasn't it enough? Hasn't this hell of the past five years been more than enough?"
"No."
"Blair."
"He isn't your daughter. You didn't hurt him…betray him, the way you betrayed me."
"Sweetheart. Let's sit down and talk about this. I didn't do everything right and I can only guess all that Charles has told you." Eleanor paced the floor, her mind working, trying to figure out the right words. What did Blair need to hear? What magic thing…word, could fix all the wrongs?
"Chuck has no idea that I even know the truth. I'm still not sure why he didn't tell me himself. Why he protected you."
Eleanor shook her head, "I was the last person that boy was intent on protecting. He loves you."
"Well, I don't need to be protect…or lied to. Not anymore."
"I understand that, Blair." The older woman nodded. "And we can only move forward from here. I swear…that I'm going to do everything that I can to make this up to you."
Blair cleared her throat, "There is no going forward from here. Use the plane ticket. I don't want you here. There's no place for you in my life. In Evie or Kat's lives…go back to London. Your business needs you more than we ever will. Just like old times."
"No. No. I absolutely refuse to believe that this cannot be fixed."
"Of course, you refuse. Wouldn't be you if you didn't insist on having your way." The girl smiled humorlessly. "Look. Just make things easier on everyone all around. Take the plane ticket. Don't come back to New York. Just get on with your life."
"And if I refuse…"
"Then I let Chuck finish what he started. Until there's nothing left."
"So you're threatening Cyrus now?"
Silence fell for a beat before her daughter replied, "That's up to you."
"I'm your mother dammit." Eleanor shouted, throat raw and aching.
"Amazing how little that means, isn't it?" Blair said, "Goodbye."
"Blair, sweetheart. Please wait…" the phone clicked off, leaving Eleanor to pace with dead air resounding in her ear, her eyes unable to avoid the cardboard boxes covering every surface.
"Eleanor?"
The cellphone was tugged away from the fingers gripping tight. Disbelief held her and all she could think about was the night before and the promise it had represented, for a new relationship with her daughter and with her granddaughters.
Now it was just gone.
She couldn't just leave things like this, could she? There had to be a way to fix it all. Someway to make it right.
But even as that thought formed, Lily's words rang in her ears again and Eleanor was certain that there was nothing.
~ஐ~
Chuck glanced down in disbelief. He frowned as the phone vibrated against his palm again. "McCarty."
"Bass. I heard you were looking for me." Now that was an understatement. For someone on the run, the bastard sounded a little too cocky for Chuck's liking.
"Yes. You could say that." He murmured drily. "I thought I'd let you know that I no longer needed your services. Do you believe in miracles, doctor?" Chuck asked, going for the ego and feigning ignorance to McCarty's role in B's awakening.
The man fell quiet and Chuck could almost watch the pallid bastard going red with his indignation.
Maybe if he pushed just the right buttons, the other man would something slip. Give Chuck some clue to pass on to Mike in tracking him down. Finding out the truth about Olivia George.
"Miracle?" The man finally sputtered.
"Yes. So you see…I no longer require your particular set of skills."
"And that's why you've been searching for me?" There was something hopeful in his tone, but his bruised ego remained ever present. "I didn't think you were the type of man who put store in rainbows and miracles."
Neither had Chuck. Not until he realized that for the first time in his life that someone gave a damn about him. And not just anyone. But Blair Waldorf. He'd started to believe then. Then again when he'd held Kat for the first time. And Evie took her first steps.
He'd never admit it, though. Not on pain of death and not to this asshole.
Chuck carried on, giving all outward appearance of utter boredom with the conversation, as if he'd tired of the entire game of cat-and-mouse and couldn't give less of a damn where the weasel might be hiding himself. "Why don't we get to the point of this little dance. Blair's awake. Your little experiment wasn't needed after all."
McCarty chocked on his disbelief. "Oh, yea? And just how do you think she got that way? How do you think she woke up?"
"I don't know." He said, smoothly twining lies with truth. "The doctors were just as amazed as the rest of us. Months ago, you yourself gave me the odds of her coming out of this on her own."
"Good. You remember."
"Of course. I'm shocked that you've forgotten. You tried to convince me to use B for a fucking guinea pig and ended up on your ass."
"I recall." The doctor retorted, barely keeping his growing hostility under wraps.
Chuck smiled and pushed again, "And I was right. We didn't need you after all. Blair fought her way out of it and came back to us on her own."
"That hell she did!"
Ding ding ding. Bingo. "Well, what else could it have been?" He murmured.
"Try my fucking genius…Dammit, Bass." McCarty fired off. "I thought you were smarter than this. I thought you understood that sometimes extremes are necessary in reaching the final goal. Science can be as cutthroat and full of risk as what you do. I thought that you could appreciate that fact."
Chuck felt as if he were reaching his own boiling point. Listening to McCarty spout off about taking risks and necessary extremes. The bastard had taken that fucking risk with Blair's life. His hand fisted, nailing digging grooves into the flesh of his palm, knuckles bleeding white. If the man had been standing in front of him in that moment, Chuck was almost certain that he could've happily maimed the fucker. "What are you trying to say, McCarty? You don't believe in miracles?" he hissed out.
"Hell no. You want to know how your girlfriend finally came back. I did that…" McCarty spat, "And you said that if I brought her back to you…you promised that I'd have all the funding that I ever needed."
"That I did, didn't I?" Chuck said, his voice dangerously low. "Well, I suppose I underestimated you…we must meet. You're right. I owe you so very much. You just have no idea." So very much that needs to be answered for, he added silently.
"Really?"
"Oh, definitely yes." He said, "My father always taught me that Bass men don't let their debts go unpaid. I owe you. Bigtime."
"So the funding is mine."
"We need to meet." Chuck's tone left no room for argument or alternative.
The good doctor hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. Too eager to have his ego stroked and "genius" applauded to sense the trap that lay in wait. "Of course. We can discuss my research. There's so much more."
And just who are you planning on experimenting next, you crazy fuck. God the man almost put Georgina to shame. Chuck held tight to his anger. For now, he needed the man.
Needed this link to Olivia George. McCarty was too wrapped up in his work. He was yet another investment and needed Chuck's capital but this Miss George was still likely behind the fires or had a damn good idea who was.
The good doctor didn't know it yet but he was going to lead Chuck straight to the answers that left him chomping at the bit.
"Where are you? I had leave town on business. I'm on the jet right now. Tell me where you are and I'll come to you." He could hear Blair's voice insisting that he get his ass "home" before the New Year or there'd be hell to pay. He thought of her party. The surprise. They could make it work. He'd figure it out. But no way could he let McCarty get away now. The idiot might smarten up and disappear again.
"Well…"
"Oh, for godsakes. Don't be coy. I'd like to shake the hand of the man who gave Blair back to me." And then beat your fucking face in for putting her in danger, in the first place.
His nails sank even deeper until he was sure that he'd draw blood, but he couldn't help it. Not with the memory of that phone call on Christmas Eve and learning of Blair's heart attack, playing on a loop in his head. Fearing that the worse had finally come to past and that he'd truly lost her. Yes. McCarty had much to answer but first he needed to get to the man.
"So you really get it. I was afraid that you wouldn't understand." The doctor laughed, his relief clear and unfettered. "Though. She's a beautiful girl. I understand what's driven you all these years."
"Yes, she is." He agreed, "Where are you?"
"I couldn't really be expected to stay away. I had to know. She didn't have a clue. She called it a miracle, too. You'd think her doctors would've known better. Men of science my ass…bunch of quacks. No wonder you're getting her out of that place."
Chuck almost felt his heart skip a beat as he finally understood what the bastard wasn't saying. He was in New York. Somehow, he'd gotten close to B. Seen her. Talked to her? "You've talk to Blair." He couldn't help the accusation in his words.
"How could I not? She represents my best work. Professional curiosity and all that. I needed a close-up. A look at her charts."
Well, maybe some good could come from this after all. He'd studied the charts. "The side effects of the drug. Her doctors weren't pulling up any abnormalities."
"And you didn't tell them about our little science experiment."
"No." Chuck gritted out.
"Good. Wouldn't want someone poaching all of my—our hardwork." McCarty said.
"Of course not." Chuck cleared his throat. "Listen. I'm still a few hours out but I definitely want to meet up. We've got a lot to talk about, doctor."
"Well…"
"Why don't you go to the Palace. I'll call ahead. Have them reserve one of our finest suites in your name. I'll need to get Blair settled at home but we can talk about what happens next with all of your hardwork and research."
And so it was. Chuck was finally making some headway in this thing. He stroked the man's ego, laying the trap further, pushing him where Chuck needed him cornered until he could get back stateside. The minute he hung up with quack, Chuck was dialing Joseph's number. Ensuring that the bodyguard was watching out for Blair or keeping an eye out for McCarty if he came back to the hospital.
Finally McCarty agreed, saying that he was headed for the Palace as soon as they hung up. Chuck's first action after hanging up with the man was to try Nate but he got his friend's voicemail instead. Then he found himself dialing Humphrey's number. Brooklyn was full of questions that Chuck managed to dodge, but soon enough the other man was promising to keep tabs on McCarty.
His next call was to the Palace as he'd assured the good doctor, making arrangements. His people would gild the cage, treat McCarty like an effing rockstar before Chuck finally arrived to collect his due.
Finally. Something seemed to be working out. About damn time.
~ஐ~
It was the very last place he should've been. Well almost.
Hell, if he had any sense he'd have listened to the Lieu's words. Or orders and gone straight back to the suite. Get his head together. Nate grabbed at his still aching head.
He could make things easier on himself and head back to the Palace. Take something for his headache and get some rest. There was Lieu and the job to deal with tomorrow. And tonight he'd have to put on his best face for Blair's surprise party.
Instead of leaving the bar, he signaled the bartender and grabbed a stool. Just a beer. He'd stay for a beer and then let good sense prevail. Just that long.
But Nate didn't touch his beer. Instead he sat there, staring sightlessly at the hands gripping the sweating glass. He didn't hear the buzz of conversation going on around him or feel the jostle of bodies as more and more people flowed in for lunch or getting ready for the night's coming festivities.
He was too lost in himself and the train wreck that his life was beginning to resemble. Had it really been a few weeks ago that he'd thought he had everything that he could want in life? Sure he and Vanessa had been having their issues, but nothing that would mean the end of a marriage. God. He'd been wrong. So wrong.
While he'd been busy building surprises built on promises of love and fidelity and of forever, she'd been off screwing Carter Baizen.
Hadn't it been enough that one of his oldest friends had fallen for the guy's line of bull? He loved Alex like his own, but Carter was the last person in the world that he'd have wanted Serena tied to. And he knew how badly Vanessa had been dealing with the miscarriages. He'd have to have been deaf, dumb, and blind not to see that she was falling apart but he'd thought that it could all be fixed. Made right somehow. Reaffirming his commitment to her, by showing her that they could survive without children of their own. He'd looked into alternatives like adoption. Chuck shared not a strand of DNA with Serena or Eric but they were close, tighter than the real thing. It could've worked for him and Vanessa, too.s
They could adopt and not have to face torturous months of wondering if history would repeat itself and take another child away from them.
It didn't matter now. Not his plans or the life they'd built.
Now he had to move on and pick up the piece of what was left. Like his job. And the divorce. Which reminded him. He still hadn't heard anything from his grandfather, so it was simply a matter of time.
Cursing softly, Nate pushed away his untouched beer and reached for his wallet. Leaving a heafty tip for the drink he hadn't taken.
Though with the task of dealing with his grandfather at hand, maybe he should've stuck around for a few drinks after all.
Nate made a grab for his sunglasses as he stepped out into the midday glare. Still the world of dim light and shadowed faces were like an army of piercing needles. Almost as if some novice had decided to try out her hand in acupuncture on the surface of his skull. A very untalented novice, he flinched, eyes squinting even with the protection of tinted lenses.
The Palace first. He'd head for the suite and get a few more hours of sleep before he had to make himself presentable. After putting in an appearance at the Vanderbilt's annual New Year's soiree and making his grandfather extremely happy with the news of his ending marriage, he'd head to Chuck's for the party.
So wrapped up in himself, Nate almost didn't see them. Almost walked right on top of them. The hair was dark and curly but the voice was wrong. Her body was all wrong. But the bastard shoving his tongue down the woman's throat was undeniably Carter.
Son-of-a-bitch.
"Come back to my place." The woman entreated as she pulled back. "We'll have it all to ourselves."
Carter made a sound of regret, his body still pinning hers in the open door of the taxi. "Can't. You know I can't."
"Leave the brat with you parents for a few more hours."
"And have his mother jump down my throat yet again. No thank you." Carter laughed, "No. I need to go. My mother has called twice already and I'm sure Serena will be checking up on my whereabouts any minute now."
"I was looking forward to having you all to myself this afternoon."
"Sorry, but I can't oblige you this time, beautiful. Now tonight could be a different matter. Why don't you come over later? I could call you once the kid's asleep."
His companion shook her head, smiling her regret. "Sorry, baby. But I've got familial obligations myself. I was able to talk Tom into taking the girls ahead without me so that I could work on this merger…"
"And a very pleasurable one it's been." Carter chuckled, leaning in for another kiss.
Nate watched as the woman wrapped her arms around Carter's neck, pulling him closer to deepen their embrace. She looked fully prepared to mount him right then and there. The gold band glinting on her left hand, making Nate's belly twist, his hands fist at his side.
He couldn't help picturing Vanessa's face on the disgusting tableau playing out in front of him. Had it been like this. She dishonoring them both, right there in broad daylight.
God and with Carter. Damned if that didn't just make the knife in his gut twist all the more painfully. Had she done it purposefully, chosen him or had it been a matter of convenience on her part. And Carter. Had the bastard gotten a thrill because it was Nate's wife in his bed or had it been business as usual?
In that moment, Nate wanted nothing more than to push through the four bodies, take those final steps that separated them and bury his fist in the other man's face.
"Come with me. Let me drop you at your parents. I'm not ready to let go yet."
Carter stepped back and held the cab door open for her, but she didn't move. Her eyes questioning his intent. "Would hate to disappoint a lady," he said winning a smile.
She ducked inside and Nate felt his feet working ahead of his brain. Arms gently shoving obstacles from his path before intent and action could fully meet, leaving reason far behind. What really sealed it though was the instant when the bastard look around. As if he knew to be wary, watching his back.
His eyes caught with the fury and dark promise lurking in Nate's expression. The other man quirked a brow, his mouth tipping up and stretching into a slow smile. He threw off an audacious wink before slipping into the cab at his lover's side, leaving Nate standing just an arm's length away.
From inside the cab, still sporting that smug grin, Carter motioned for Nate to call him. Then they were gone. Cab pulling into traffic, carrying the sweet relief it would've been to just unleash all of his frustrations on that son-of-a-bitch. He couldn't hit Vanessa, as much as, he sorely wanted to just throttle her but Baizen was fair game.
Hands clenched at his side, breathing in ragged huffs as if he'd just raced a marathon, Nate's thoughts centered no longer on his grandfather, Blair's party, or even Vanessa.
All he could see was red and Carter Baizen's face.
~ஐ~
Her nails tapped out an impatient beat. Drumming away nerves and a beat with no song until the floor nurse looked up from the chart she'd been studying.
"Miss Waldorf. Why not just go back to your room? I've paged Dr. Chambers twice already. I'm sure he'll be here any moment to sign your release papers."
The brunette didn't say a word or change her leaning stance against the nurses' station. She'd been waiting long enough and now she wanted out of this place. She wanted to be on her way and gone before her mother could decide to plead her case in purpose. Granted her mother would likely just show up at the private hospital but shouldn't her security be better once there.
She couldn't stay in her room anymore or she was likely to start pulling her hair out. Serena still hadn't gotten back and Chuck wasn't back yet. She was supposed to wait for him but she was done waiting. She'd spent five years sleeping her life away and now it was time to take matters into her own hands and get things moving.
"Miss Waldorf…"
Blair smiled, offering the same sweet poison in her eyes that had won her the title of Queen B back at Constance.
The nurse threw up her hands and reached for the phone. "Fine. One more time and then you have to go back to your room.
Her mouth curved further and she made no promises. Blair did step back, letting her hands fall to her sides.
The page went out again, over the intercom system and the nurse glanced expectantly at the brunette who wasn't already making her way back to her hospital room. Fed up with dealing with the other woman, the nurse grabbed her charts and started around the desk.
"Where are you going?" Blair demanded.
"I've got other patients to check on. You don't move a muscle. You can't leave until Dr. Chambers signs off on it." She reminded.
"Well, I guess he'd better get front and center, no?"
"I'll be back."
"Take your time."
If she'd known the address for the private hospital, Blair might've given up on waiting for Chambers to come sign the last few pages. Where in the hell was he? And what the hell was so important that Chuck couldn't wait another day, rather than leave her there waiting?
Her mother would come. Of that she had little doubt. No one but no one dictated terms to Eleanor Waldorf-Rose.
Well, that was just too bad. Blair had made her decision. Just talking to the older woman on the phone had been hard enough but to have to face her now. Now that she knew the truth was impossible. What her mother had done…
Blair shook her head, wanting to forget or believe that it was all some horrible mistake. She wanted to go back to being that child who believe unequivocally in "happily ever after" and in mothers who loved without condition, but that was impossible.
The most she could do was be a better mother than her own.
"Blair."
Finally! She twisted at the sound of Chamber's voice.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Waiting for you."
"You wouldn't happen to know where the nurse is?" His gaze swept her from head to toe, his suspicion evident. "Would you? Or why she paged me."
"Guilty."
He shook his head, his expression indulgent. "That anxious to get out of here, huh?"
"You have no idea."
"Where's Bass?" He glanced around.
"He's out of town."
Brow furrowed, Chambers ran a hand through his hair. "Out of town." He parroted her words.
"Yes." Blair snapped. "Sorry. I—look I just want to get out of this place. That can't be too much to ask for. And well…maybe the address for the private hospital that's supposed to be 'home' for the next few months. Well the address and cabfare."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
She didn't say anything, merely raised her brows.
"What about your friend? The blonde?"
"I can't wait for Serena. I need to go now—I need to leave now." Something of her spiraling emotions must have slipped through and finally convinced the doctor that she meant business.
"Fine, we'll go."
"We?"
"Yes. I can drop you off. Why don't you go grab your things, while I make a few phone calls? Get someone to cover my patients."
"That won't be necessary."
"Actually it will. You're obviously upset and I don't want another repeat of the first day you woke up."
The panic attack? Clawing need for breath and traction. She didn't feel the grip of confusion clogging her throat this time. No instead she felt anger and unhappiness. Emotions she could deal with. "Look. Doctor."
"If you want me signing any papers showing your release, you'll have to work with me here."
"Fine, but my things are already packed. I'm going to say goodbye to Estelle."
"Good idea. It'd break her heart if you didn't."
"I wasn't going to just leave without saying anything at all."
"Well go. I'll be there shortly."
Blair obviously didn't appreciate being shooed off but she made no protests and kept her glares to a minimum.
He waited until she was out of sight before he pulled out his cell phone. The call was answered almost immediately, "It's me."
"I recognized the number." The woman said.
"We've got a problem. A really big problem."
~ஐ~
Henderson glared over at the empty desk. A habit that had gotten worse throughout the day. It was Archibald's fault. The Lieu would've never have gotten into his face like that if it'd have been anyone other than Richie Rich. The older man wouldn't have stepped in and embarrassed him in front of the entire fucking squadroom like that. Not if it'd been any other officer in the fucking place.
He'd hoped that it wasn't the case but it looked as if Grandpa Moneybags had gotten to the lieutenant now too. Paving the way for the upstart. Fast track my ass, Henderson thought.
Everyone was certain that in another year or so, Archibald was going to make detective and with friends like Chuck Bass and his family paying his way, how could he possibly screw that up.
He smiled, remembering that all was quite as perfect as Archibald would have them believe. Trouble with the wife and no one seemed to know. It was interesting to say the least.
The phone he'd been playing with minutes before; shook, rattled, and rolled out an old AC/DC song.
'Cause I'm
(T.N.T.) I'm dynamite
(T.N.T.) And I'll win the fight
(T.N.T.) I'm a power load
(T.N.T.) Watch me explode
Henderson smiled, reaching for the phone. Only one person it could be. "Hey, baby."
She was quiet at first, the soft huff of breath and air a speaking reprimand against any terms of endearment between them.
"So," he cleared his throat. "Where are you?"
"Taking care of that project that I told you about. What about you?"
"Work."
"The station. Good. That's good. So no unscheduled…err trips?"
"No, Georg…um no. I promised you I wouldn't, didn't I?"
"That you did." Georgina said, not even jumping on him for almost saying her name.
"Did Ba…um. Did he show?"
Now his bitch sounded satisfied as she purred, "Yes, he did. And as far as he's concerned. I've been in this place the whole time."
"Good. So they'll be off-track again. Won't know what hit until…" He looked around, lowering his voice. He was too excited to contain himself. Georgina did this to him. Her and the fires. No one was close enough to detect his glee, though.
"Yes. Chuck and the others won't see us coming. Not really." She sighed, "Speaking of which. I've got a little something I need you to handle for me. Are you up to it?"
"Tell me."
She laughed, "You've been such a good boy lately and since it's the New Year. I think I'll let you off of your leash for a bit. What do you think of that?"
"What do you want me to do?"
ஐTBCஐ
A/N: And there you have it. Tried not to be too too over the top with the B/Eleanor confrontation but sometimes I can't help myself. So what do you think of Blair's revenge...deserving or too cold or not enough? ;) McCarty paid a little visit to Blair and Chuck's hundreds of miles away. Nate was faced with the man his wife slept with, a man he's hated like no one else and Carter was quite smug in his attitude about the whole thing. And Nate's fellow officer…Henderson, Georgina's lover and partner. As for our Queen, heading off with Dr Feelgood but who in the world did he call? Could the doctor be yet another in Georgie's pocket. Okay hope you liked it. As always let me know what you thought and I have another chapter all but ready to go…will most DEFINITELY post it tomorrow after work. Later bbs *kiss*
Oh…yes. Disclaimer. Do not own AC/DC's TNT…was going to use The Girl's Got Rhythm…but TNT seemed to fit better. Here it is though. Just in case. I do not own this one either :D
She's like a lethal brand
Too much for any man
She gives me first degree
She really satisfies me
Love me till I'm legless
Aching and sore
Enough to stop a freight train
Or start the Third World War
You know I'm losin sleep
I'm in too deep
Hmm...that could fit even better for CB... and the limo, the chorus does repeat backseat rhythm...okay I'm done. Promise. Bed now *lol*
ஐCourtneyஐ