Hi all!
I`m so sorry about the cliffhanger AND the interruption of the upcoming first kiss last time, it made me feel so mean!
With that being said, the response on the previous chapter was incredible – Thank you all! - I`m so glad you liked the romantic scenes, and that you seem to care for Sophie. In today`s chapter you will learn what happened to her.
Here`s the new chapter, I managed to put a few small, cute signs of romance in it, to make up for last time;) I hope you will like it!
Chapter 17: The Longest Night
The room was impersonal and sterile.
Randall stared at the door a few feet away, and the fact that his sister was behind it made him shiver; he was glad he had Sullivan`s hand to hold on to. Quite reluctantly he gave it a squeeze, which caused the other monster to turn his head and meet the purple one`s desperate facial expression;
"It`s going to be fine".
He hugged Randall`s hand in return, and the lizard placed his head on the furry shoulder; he couldn`t find words to describe his gratitude for not being alone right now.
They had rushed to the hospital right after Sullivan had received the call in the park, and when they had arrived they had gotten to see Sophie`s doctor straight away. He told them there had been a car-accident. Sophie had been on her way home, and the road had been slippery; she had been forced to make a sharp turn in order to avoid a car coming in the opposite direction, and had ended up driving off the road and into a tree.
When the ambulance had arrived at the scene, Sophie had appeared to be fine; there were hardly any signs of injury on her body. But she was in pain, and it was discovered that she suffered from severe interior bleedings; according to the doctor her odds were 50/50.
"My family shouldn`t be allowed to drive cars…"
Randall`s mumble against Sulley`s shoulder caused the blue one to send him a sad smile in reply;
"No, they shouldn`t… They really shouldn`t..!"
He suddenly thought about something, and quickly added;
"…do you have a license..?"
"No… because of my eyesight…"
"Thank God for that..!"
Randall gave Sulley`s hand another squeeze; intentionally this time.
"She`s ready to see you now..!"
The sound of the doctor`s voice woke Sulley up from his daze; he looked at the clock above the door, and noticed he had been out for around twenty minutes. He hated himself for falling asleep, but when he looked to his left, he saw that Randall looked like he had been out for a little while, too – it had been a long wait.
"She`s awake, and she wants to see you -" the doctor continued;
"You can enter, but only for a little while; she needs to rest".
Sulley felt another squeeze to his hand, and noticed that he was still holding on to one of Randall`s:
"Are you okay..?" He gave the monster sitting next to him a worried look, and chose not to let go of the hand yet.
"You enter first…"
"Fine -" The blue monster got up from the seat, let go of the hand and headed for the door. His heart was pounding, but unlike earlier that night it felt very uncomfortable. He wished he still had Randall`s hand in his own as he approached the door and opened it.
"Sulley..!"
Sophie`s trembling voice filled the little room. She was the only patient there, and she was placed in a bed by a window that overlooked the street below. If it hadn`t been for the machines she was hooked up to, there were no signs of her being injured at all; but she looked very tired – tired and scared.
"I`m so sorry, Sophie -" Sulley moved closer to her bed, and she took hold of both of his hands. The feeling of it surprised the blue one; when Randall held his hands, it gave him an almost electric feel – now he didn`t feel anything special at all; it felt just like touching a friend should.
"Thank you for coming…" Sophie gave him a tired smile;
"I didn`t know who else to contact… You were the only one I could think of…"
"Shhh, it`s okay… It`s okay." He hugged her hands and tried to make her relax against the pillow. But her eyes, however, wandered across the room, and she lifted her head with anticipation;
"Where`s Randall?"
"He`s right outside the door. Want me to get him?"
Sophie nodded and lay her head back down on the pillow;
"Yes, please".
Sulley released himself from Sophie`s grip and walked over to the door. He opened it and spotted Randall in the same seat as earlier, and noticed how the lizard instantly lifted his head at the sound of the door being opened. He stared at Sulley without a word, eyes silently questioning what was about to happen; Sulley nodded, and the purple one slowly got up and started walking towards the door with steps that reflected how insecure he was feeling. The blue one saw his struggles and placed a hand on his back as the lizard approached him;
"It`s going to be fine".
He led the way back into the room, and just as Randall stepped inside it Sophie`s voice filled the small space once again;
"Randall!" Her eyes widened as she took a closer look at her little brother;
"Oh my God, you`re so thin!"
"That`s nothing compared to the way he looked a couple of weeks ago..!" Sulley shot in. His hand was still on Randall`s back, and the purple one rolled his eyes - he wasn`t here to talk about himself;
"Yeah, yeah… I`m getting better, don`t think about it…"
Randall realized that this was the first time he was talking to his sister for around two years, and decided to change the subject; "Sophie, are you… I mean, how are you…are you…okay..?"
"I am now..!" Sophie smiled at her brother;
"Come over here!"
Sulley watched as Randall walked over to the bed and glanced down at his sister`s face. She stared back at him as tears gathered up in her eyes, and before the blue one knew it, the siblings embraced, cried and laughed in a perfect mixture. Sulley had to dry a tear at one point, too.
After several minutes of emotional overload, Randall finally let go of his sister and turned around to face Sulley again. His face was still a little wet from both his own and Sophie`s tears, but the smile he gave his newest friend was both genuine and warm. Sophie looked up at the furry one too, and tears continued to run down her cheeks as she thanked him over and over again;
"…I don`t know what to say, Sulley…you`ve done more for my family than anyone else I know; the way you are with Rex, the way you`ve supported me, and… what you have done for my brother…that you`ve brought us back together…I can`t believe it..!"
"It`s been a pleasure getting to know you both -" Sulley tried to participate in the conversation, but was interrupted by Sophie straight away;
"…Randall probably wouldn`t have been around anymore if it wasn`t for you. Thank you so much! Thank you so much…Randall, I can`t believe it`s really you…"
Sophie took hold of her brother again and kissed him on the forehead; "All the things you`ve been through…Thank God you`ve had Sulley around…"
Sulley watched the scenes of joy and love, and almost forgot where they were. It wasn`t until the machines Sophie was hooked up to caught his eyes he remembered they were actually in a hospital, and that the female lizard was badly hurt;
"How are you doing, Sophie..?" He walked closer to the bed at glanced at her with concern;
"Are you in pain?"
"Not at the moment, no; they`ve given me morphine. I`m just a little tired -" She took of hold of Sulley`s hand with one of her own;
"But that doesn`t matter now..! I have my brother back!"
"Do you know how long you`ll have to stay here?"
"No, it depends…on how my wounds will heal…" She smiled, but Sulley could see there was a certain bit of nervousness to it;
"I need to rest, and…allow my body to heal. It could be one week, it could be two…"
"Who`s gonna take care of Rex..?" Sulley hadn`t thought about Sophie`s son until now; there had been so many other things to take in.
Sophie didn`t answer him straight away; she looked down at her blanket. Then, after a little moment of silent thinking, she slowly lifted her gaze in order to face Randall, and asked him a question with her eyes; a question Sulley knew the purple one wasn`t too keen on answering.
"I don`t even know the kid".
Randall and Sulley walked down the corridor, heading for the exit. Sulley had offered to help Randall take care of Rex while Sophie was still in hospital, and Randall had agreed; that was all he dared to do in front of his wounded sister. Now however, he took out his worries on Sullivan, who tried his best to convince him that Uncle Randall taking care of Rex was a good idea;
"He`s very sweet! And besides Randall, you`re his only family..!"
"He has a dad, doesn`t he?"
"He doesn`t know him, you know that".
"He doesn`t know me either, he thinks my name is George!"
"Well, it makes no difference then, does it? And Sophie wants you to look after him, Randall".
"Why can`t you do it? He knows you!"
"You`re his uncle… And I`m going to help you Randall, it`s just that… I live with Mike, I don`t think he would like it if I allowed Rex to stay with us for a week or two… It`s better for everyone if he stays with you at your place – I`ll come over every day, just like before, it`s just that…we`ll be three instead of two..!"
Randall growled; that was one of the facts he didn`t like about this. He wanted to be alone with Sullivan; he wanted to continue on where they had left off a few hours ago… Sullivan would probably only care for Rex now, and…
"I think he sees Rex as a rival".
Sophie`s words from when she had been talking to Sullivan at Randall`s place popped up inside the lizard`s mind and made him feel terrible about himself; he was actually jealous on a three-year-old whose mum was in hospital. He grimaced, and glanced over at Sullivan;
"Promise you`ll still be there..?"
"Of course."
Sullivan placed his hand on Randall`s back, and the lizard swore he could feel him stroking it carefully as they went back outside into the winter evening.
"Okay, then…" He said, moving his gaze down to the sidewalk;
"I`ll do it".
Rex was at home with a babysitter, and Randall and Sulley decided it would probably be best to stay there with him for the night, and break the news about his mother to him in the morning. There was no need in waking him up late in the evening and move him over to an unfamiliar apartment; that would probably only upset him more.
Sulley called the babysitter once they left the hospital and explained the situation; he then asked her if she could stay with Rex for another hour – Randall needed some time to prepare his apartment for a toddler, and Sulley intended to help him.
Once they made it back to Randall`s apartment, Sulley realized there wasn`t that much they could do; they placed a mattress for Rex in a spare room and moved some fragile objects higher up from the ground, but that was just about it.
Sulley suggested that they should buy some crayons and books, and after taking a look in the cabinets in the kitchen, he decided they should probably buy some toddler-friendly food as well. And so they headed for a store to get some food and supplies for Rex before going over to Sophie`s house and actually start the babysitting.
"What does he eat?" Randall pushed the shopping cart through the aisles of the supermarket with sheer desperation, and Sulley ran next to it - trying to keep up with Randall`s four legs;
"Ummm… I know he likes spaghetti -"
Randall stopped by a shelf and threw ten packs of spaghetti into the cart;
"What else?"
"Umm… Pudding! Oh, and pancakes! With jam!"
"That`s it?"
"That`s all I`ve seen him eat".
Sulley recalled the day when he had been at Sophie`s house to get the key to Randall`s apartment, and how Rex had been completely covered up in jam. His thoughts wandered on to Sophie`s house, which had random spots from various meals all over it; the contrast to Randall`s stain-free, spotless place couldn`t possibly be bigger, and Sulley thought that his very neat friend was probably in for a shock…
"Sullivan, the store is about to close! What else can I buy him?"
Randall`s stressed out tone pulled Sulley back to the moment, and the blue one tried his best to come up with something else a child could eat;
"I thinks it`s always safe to buy cereal and stuff… and maybe pizza? Oh, and chocolate, in case you need something to bribe him with! It`s not exactly healthy, though -"
"It will do! We only need to keep him alive here, until Sophie`s back on her feet…"
The lizard picked out a variety of pudding, candy and chocolate and threw it into the shopping cart; it looked like he was about to arrange a toddler-birthday party, and Sulley couldn`t help but chuckle at the sight;
"Randall, relax..! He`s a really sweet kid, I`m sure he will like you and eat whatever you give him!"
The lizard looked far from convinced, but at least he didn`t complain anymore for the rest of their stay in the store.
After dropping off the groceries at Randall`s apartment, the two monsters called a cab and rushed over to Sophie`s house, where the babysitter was waiting for them. She refused to accept extra money, and said she wished everything would turn out well; she even gave both of the males a hug, and created a rather awkward atmosphere before leaving. Then suddenly she was gone, and Sulley and Randall were left alone in the house with Rex sleeping in his room upstairs.
"We should check on him…"
Sulley was already on his way up the stairs, and Randall didn`t dare to do anything but follow;
"What if he wakes up?"
"We have to check on him, Randall!"
They went upstairs and into the little monster`s room; Rex was sleeping peacefully in his bed, sucking his thumb and clinging to his old blanket.
"That used to be mine..!"
Randall`s whisper caused Sulley to put his arm around him. They watched Rex in complete silence for a long time, a little nervous about how tomorrow would go.
While standing closely side by side, Randall looked at Sulley; their eyes met like earlier that night, and once again Randall could feel himself being drawn towards them. This time, however, he tore himself away from the intense, blue gaze; there was nothing he wanted more than to be even closer to Sullivan, but he didn`t want it to happen here, under these circumstances. He broke free from the arm holding him, and headed back for the stairs and the first floor. Sulley followed him, without anything good to say.
When they were back downstairs, they sat down on Sophie`s couch, not knowing what else to do. They both knew it was getting late and that they had to spend the night with Rex in the house, but none of them felt tired. They just sat side by side in complete silence, trying to take in all the impressions the day had brought them; it felt like a small eternity had passed since their dinner and walk in the park.
Sulley`s thoughts lingered at the special moment he had shared with Randall in the snow; he wondered what would have happened if he hadn`t received the call from the hospital… He took a glimpse at Randall, and felt how his heartbeat instantly went up just from the sight of him – they had only been a few inches apart out there in the snow, and there had been a certain spark in the emerald eyes Sulley hadn`t noticed before. He felt like touching the other monster again, but managed to keep himself from doing so; this wasn`t the right time or place.
Neither Sulley nor Randall knew for how long they sat wordlessly side by side on the couch; maybe for hours, maybe for minutes – they had both lost the track of time. They eventually started yawning as their eyelids became heavier – and by the time the moon lit up the snow-covered lawn outside, Randall was sleeping peacefully, resting his head on his snoring friend`s soft shoulder.
Well, that`s it! What do you think? At least the ending is a lot cuter than the previous one, right..? :)
So, Randall and Sulley are going to take care of Rex for a while now; I`m super excited to write about it, I have been waiting for this for so long! The event was meant to happen a lot sooner, in my original script for this story Sophie was injured in chapter 4:P
The next chapter, which I guess will be ready on Saturday or Sunday, will focus on Sulley and Randall`s first day together with Rex.
And in the one AFTER that… hold on to your hats…the first kiss..! And like I said earlier; after the first kiss, things will escalate rather quickly;)
I`m gonna go now, please take the time to leave me a review or a PM – it keeps me going:)
Take care until next time, and have a great Halloween! I`m gonna stuff myself with pumpkin pie and chocolate xD