Katie's Promise
Mealtimes at Atlanta's renowned psychiatric clinic were always a stressful business. Nurse Amy Miller was glad to be nearing the end of her shift after spoon-feeding an inmate so dangerously delusional he needed strapping to his bed at all times. Massaging her aching head, she made her way down the white-washed corridor to Katie Ryan's room. The bipolar brunette had taken her medication without fuss lately, and that made her one of Amy's favorite patients. It didn't hurt that she could feed herself just fine either. She hesitated in front of Katie's room and frowned at the darkness beyond the glass panel in the door, which was unusual.
"Katie?" she called, knocking for good measure. When there was no answer, she barged in quickly; it was protocol after all. She flicked on the light switch and stared at the sight before her in surprise. Katie was shoving her untouched dinner around on her plate. Her expression suggested she was hoping her dinner held the answers to the universe or something. "Hey, what's going on here?" Amy asked, pulling tight the ponytail her long red hair was tied back in as she approached the bipolar woman. "Not hungry?"
"I guess not," Katie sighed, shoving the tray away from her at last. Just as Amy was about to ask her what the need for darkness was, the brunette spoke again: "Have you ever made a decision that hurt someone else, then regretted it?"
"I'm sure everyone has at some point," Amy said carefully, random questions like this from psychiatric patients tended to have a deeper meaning than first met the eye. She pulled out the chair opposite Katie and hesitantly took a seat. "Have you?"
"You could say that," Katie grimaced. "I kind of broke a promise today." With that mysterious statement, she fell silent again, so the only sound was the fork scraping across her plate.
"Your sister came by today, right?" Amy ventured gently. "Did something happen?"
"I broke my promise," the brunette repeated forcefully. "The kid was so little…I was selfish, simple as that."
Her speech was becoming less coherent with every word spilling out of her mouth, and Amy didn't wait to ask who Katie meant. "Don't move," she warned. "I'm just gonna run and get you a round of lithium, okay? You're not making any sense, Katie."
"I never do apparently," Katie mumbled, rocking back and forth slowly as Amy raced out to the storage room where all their clinic's medications were kept.
September 2010 – Eight Years Earlier
The screams bouncing off the maternity ward walls of New Brunswick County Hospital created a more unnerving symphony than anything Katie Ryan had ever heard at the psych ward she frequented in Atlanta. "Screw you, Riley," she muttered under her breath when a quick glance left and right along the long hallway proved her sister's boyfriend Kevin was still nowhere in sight.
"Miss Ryan!" The midwife's voice reached her in unison with a deep groan from her poor sister, and Katie ran back to Melissa's bedside. "Not long now," the professional told them encouragingly. "This little one is in a hurry."
Katie scowled at the cheery woman as she took her sister's hand, too furious at Kevin to think about anything else. "Keep going, Mel," she urged, and Melissa's fingers clamped hard around her wrist, as right on cue, another contraction forced her to toss her head back with a hiss of pain.
"Where is he?" she whispered desperately when the contraction subsided for a moment.
"It doesn't matter," Katie told her firmly, the crack in her sister's voice even through her breathless exhaustion broke her heart. "I'm here, okay? Just concentrate on your breathing, nothing else matters."
"I need you to push on the next contraction," the midwife informed Melissa and Katie watched her sister's eyes widen in fear.
"Kate," she whimpered, and Katie picked up the damp cloth abandoned on the bedside table and dabbed gently at Melissa's forehead.
"You can do this, sis," she said soothingly. "I'm right here, I promise. Now it's time for junior to join us," she smiled. "You've been waiting for this for so long, just give one more push!"
The scared whimper turned into a long wail of agony as the final contraction hit. Melissa was still panting loudly when the sound of a baby's first cry mingled with her ragged breathing. "Congratulations," the midwife smiled as she wiped the newborn clean. "It's a boy." She glanced at the door to the maternity ward, then at Melissa sagging against her pillow as she struggled to catch her breath. "Will the father be joining us?"
"Doubtful," Katie muttered darkly, the proud grin sliding off her face as her sister's eyes filled with tears again. She squeezed Melissa's fingers tightly; "Don't waste tears on that idiot, okay? You did great, sis."
"How would Auntie like to cut the cord then?" the midwife suggested, already with the air of one who had too many places to be and not enough hours in the day.
Katie's dark blue eyes widened in shock, but Melissa shot her an exhausted, and yet encouraging, smile. "Do it," she said softly. "I want to see him already, get a move on."
"Wow," Katie breathed, staring at the newborn in awe when he was cradled safely in her arms minutes later. "Oh God Mel, he's perfect," she sighed dreamily, entirely in love already. "Did you figure out a name yet?"
"Kevin never really wanted to have that conversation," Melissa admitted sadly and reached for her son, who Katie handed over reluctantly. "I um… sometimes I think he was ready to break up when I got pregnant at that New Year's party." The baby yawned at that moment and grabbed a fistful of her hospital gown in his tiny hand as he curled against her chest. The contact made a smile break out on the new mother's face; "But anyway, I was thinking about it," she said. "You know how Dad's name was Robert, and he always hated how folks at work insisted on being all formal?" Katie nodded, but her confusion must have shown on her face because Melissa elaborated immediately. "Well, I was thinking of just going with Bob," she said, staring down at the sleeping baby's tiny features as her sister grinned.
"Bobby Ryan," Katie said experimentally. "Your Aunt Katie is completely in love with you already, just for your information."
"You like it, huh?" Melissa said hopefully, and Katie took her hand and squeezed it again.
"It's as perfect as he is," she smiled. "You have got to stop looking for approval Mel, the name is great, and he's gorgeous, just like my beautiful big sister. And cue the waterworks again," she giggled as tears streaked down Melissa's face again. "Stop it!"
"Blame the hormones," her sister laughed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She met Katie's starry-eyed gaze seriously; "Thank you for being here," she said softly. "Can you promise me something, Kate?"
"Anything," Katie promised quickly, still unable to wipe the smile off her face as she eyed the baby boy affectionately.
"I get the feeling Kevin didn't want this," Melissa sighed. "He's been increasingly distant for months, as the pregnancy progressed, you know?"
"Noticed," Katie said coolly, keeping her negative opinion of Kevin to herself for the moment. "What are you getting at, hon?"
"Promise me you'll always love him," Melissa begged, gripping Katie's hand to drive the urgency of her plea home.
"I already adore him, Mel," Katie pointed out, but her sister shook her head.
"I mean, if anything ever happens to me," she said grimly. "Kate, I need you to promise me you'll protect him!"
"Morbid much?" Katie grimaced at her sister. "You're not going anywhere, silly."
"Please, Kate, promise me," Melissa repeated, and as tears welled in her eyes again, Katie thought it was best to give in.
She offered Melissa her pinky finger and looked her straight in the eyes as Bobby slept on peacefully. "I'll always keep him safe, okay? I promise!"
"Here we go." The sound of the plastic pill cup hitting the table when Amy put it down, shattered Katie's daydream. The redhead was pouring her a glass of water when Katie slowly looked up, her dark blue eyes glazed over with nostalgic emotion. The nurse watched her expectantly; "Well?" she prompted. "Are you going to take it or not?"
"It'll make me numb," Katie sighed, rattling the pill cup in disgust. "I deserve to feel miserable for a little while, at least." Amy frowned at her in concern, but after a brief contemplative silence, Katie added in a small voice. "Your shift is ending soon, right? Would you mind just talking for a while?"
"Not at all," Amy said gently, as she slid back into the chair opposite Katie and took her hand carefully. "Why don't we start with why you think you deserve misery?" she prompted skeptically. "Nobody deserves to feel that way in my book. What's going on with you?"
"I was thinking about my family," Katie started cryptically. "My sister came by today, you know? No matter how crazy I get, she's always believed in me, and I love her to pieces." Amy smiled encouragingly as the brunette rambled on; "That's what I was babbling about earlier, I guess," she said sheepishly. "I was thinking about the day my nephew was born. He's eight years old now, and he is the love of my life, has been since his first breath, as dramatic as that sounds. I was there, you know." Her eyes darkened suddenly as her tone turned bitter; "My brother-in-law, on the other hand, is a serious asshole. He missed the kid's birth after being distant and resentful through my sister's whole pregnancy, then showed up at the hospital and proposed! God, can you believe that?"
"The plot thickens," Amy said in awe. "What did your sister say to that?"
"What do you think?" Katie muttered resentfully. "She was so desperate for him to care, not to mention hormonally emotional, instant yes," she grimaced. "He hates Bobby's existence, so I hate him!"
"Did any of that have something to do with why your sister visited today out of the blue?" Amy asked, intrigued by the story.
"It was a sneaky visit," Katie sighed. "Abusive cop husbands are almost a cliché at this point, huh? Kevin would have freaked out if he knew she came to me, our loathing for each other is very much mutual. He's a detective now no less; it's almost impossible for her to leave him without being found out."
"Wow, that sucks," Amy said sympathetically as her patient pressed her palms over her eyes in despair. "Katie, are you sure you don't want to take that lithium?" she pressed gently.
"No," the brunette hissed forcefully. "I broke the most important promise I've ever made today, I deserve to feel this regret."
"What promise?" her nurse asked. "You've mentioned that before, care to elaborate?"
"The day my nephew was born," Katie said softly. "My sister made me promise I'd protect him, no matter what. I promised I would, and today when she needed me, I said I wasn't confident to leave this place. All she asked was for me to come home," she said, her voice getting quieter with every word.
"But Katie, that was the responsible thing to say," Amy pointed out. "If you're not ready, you're not ready. I'm sure she understood that."
"She was desperate," Katie whimpered. "If that bloody husband of hers gets out of control, I will blame myself. You didn't see the look on Bobby's face," she moaned, a thickness in her voice that told Amy she was dangerously close to tears.
"Bobby is your nephew?" she asked softly, and Katie nodded.
"That little boy is my reason to keep fighting the crazy," she confessed. "If his father does anything to hurt him, which I could have prevented…God, I'll never forgive myself!"
In the shabby motel room where Melissa and Bobby had spent the night, the broken blinds meant waking up at first light. When the first rays of morning sunlight ripped her from the blissful oblivion of sleep, Melissa jerked upright on high alert. It had taken her so long to fall asleep; the absence of the little lump Bobby had formed under the blanket he had complained so much about was painfully obvious. Panic-stricken, she tossed aside her covers and leaped to her feet. Her wide hazel eyes were sweeping the room when Bobby emerged from the en suite balcony. "Mom, are you okay?"
"God, you scared me," she gasped, literally able to feel her racing heart returning to normal at the sight of him. "Where were you?"
"The balcony is the only other way out, besides the door," he pointed out. "It was stuffy, and you were asleep and…sorry," he trailed off sheepishly as she drew him into a tight hug. "I just needed to think, couldn't sleep very much."
"It's okay," she said softly. "What were you thinking about?"
"Aunt Katie," he confessed. "Is it bad that I miss her a lot, even though she couldn't help us?"
"Of course, that's not bad," Melissa told him firmly. "I miss her too. You know she loves you more than anything, right? Just because she couldn't leave the clinic doesn't change that fact."
"I guess," he said reluctantly. "I just wish that Aunt Katie could understand that Dad is crazier than she is. He's like... dangerous crazy." He trailed his fingers gently across the faint blue bruising on her wrists. "I also wish he couldn't get away with this," he stressed pointedly. "I love you, Mom."
"That love is my shield," his mother told him. "As long as you're safe, nothing your Dad does will hurt me. Remember that, okay?" She pressed a kiss into his mop of dark hair as they stood in the middle of their dingy motel room. What awaited them back in Tree Hill was even less inviting, and neither of them was in any hurry to break their moment of solidarity.
A / N This pure OC chapter is the real test of keeping people interested. Thanks for the follows everyone! xx