Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench
Well, here's what happened in the previous chapter: Chuck shared with Bentley that he went to see Dr. Dreyfus and even though the award-winning documentarian didn't get to find out what he talked about with him the nerdy business owner gave a vague description of his session with him. As for Chuck himself. he shared with Dr. Dreyfus that he was having nightmares, and it involves trying to save Sarah. He ended up confessing to Dr. Dreyfus that he didn't want Sarah to have the same fate as him. This led to Chuck making a surprisingly shocking decision. He contacted Conway and asked him for a favor. No questions asked. That favor was asking for a gun. Conway gave him his spare. It was that same spare that Chuck revealed to Bentley that a close call happened that nearly cost the couple their marriage. So, what happens in this chapter? Here are the who, what, where, when, why, how's? Who does Chuck bring in conversation with Morgan as they try to find the gun in Casa Bartowski? What does Morgan find out from Chuck concerning a former host of popular Nickelodeon game for not only kids, but families as well. Where did Chuck finally remember hid the gun? When and around what time did the close call happened? Why does Chuck feel so tired? How did Sarah react concerning the gun itself? Read and find out! I hope you enjoyed the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.
Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment, I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.
I don't own Chuck.
A Shot In The Dark
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present
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"It happened 2 weeks after I was given the gun by Conway." shared Chuck, briefly glancing over at Sarah. "I'd hide it in a place that Sarah would never actually look at or check. That hiding spot lasted for a second before I found another spot that I thought was more secure and safely hidden."
" So, that's why you were acting so weird," Sarah breathed out. Afterwards, she turned her attention to her husband and stared at her husband for a moment before she spoke up. "Well, more than usual. I thought it was just because you were incredibly restless and going stir crazy. You felt stuck sitting there in your wheelchair for what seemed like forever."
Chuck sheepishly shrugged his shoulders in response. "I got so paranoid that Sarah would end up finding it at Casa Bartowski that I took it from where I originally hid it and hid it somewhere else," Chuck revealed.
"You forgot where you hid it didn't you?" questioned Sarah.
"Not at first," blurted out Chuck. "Fortunately, Morgan was there with me to help me figure out where I hid it." he added.
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Casa Bartowski
Santa Monica
A Week Before The Close Call
"Thanks for helping out, Morg," Chuck was leaning over in his wheelchair in front of the living room couch. He lifted, flipped, and tossed all the cushions that were on it. Unfortunately, he came up empty. What he ended up finding were loose change and some dust bunnies. Afterwards, he leaned back and shook his head. "I freaked out when I realized I hid it somewhere else because I believed Sarah was going to somehow find it.
"Totally understandable, dude. Robin always has Batman's back. A few seconds later, Morgan appeared and stepped out from the open doorway of the kitchen into the living room. "When the nerdy Caped Crusader throws up the bat nerd signal, your boy wonder will be there." he added, confidently patting his chest with his left hand.
Chuck's focus on the cushionless couch in front of him turned to the man who was standing just a few feet away from him. He stared at his bearded best friend before he responded. "Hey boy wonder, I'm almost positive I didn't hide the gun in the fridge."
"I know," nodded Morgan. He was holding an open can of grape soda in his right hand. Afterwards, he chugged a bit of his favorite drink before he returned his attention to the messy disaster area that was Chuck's living. As Morgan surveyed the living room area, he couldn't help but expressed an amused chuckle. "You know what's funny."
The youngest Bartowski sibling arched his right brow quizzically. "I don't think my impending death at Sarah's hands if she ends up finding the gun that I didn't tell her about is funny."
Morgan responded by waving his left hand and shaking his head. "No, no that." Afterwards, he took a couple steps forward before he stopped to take another sip of his can of grape soda. When he was done, he noticed Chuck squinting at him. It was a squint that he was very familiar with as it was associated with a more negative than positive connotation, especially from one John Casey. At that moment, Morgan needed to clarify what he actually found funny. "I was thinking of that kid's game show we used to watch growing up. You know," he enthusiastically uttered. "The show where the kids find an item hidden in a room. If they win, then they go to a time limit obstacle course where they have to find hidden items among a number of rooms." Morgan further recalled. "I think it was on Nickelodeon."
As much as Chuck was freaking about Sarah finding the gun that was given to him by Conway, he found himself becoming oddly at ease. For him, talking about anything that involved his childhood calms him down. Why? It's considered to be a helpful distraction mentally when he's going through something emotionally chaotic. In any case, after what seemingly felt an eternity of silence shared between men the silence was broken when Chuck suddenly blurted out loud the following two words:
" FINDERS KEEPERS!"
Of course, without missing a beat Morgan smiled and proudly pointed at his childhood best friend. "That's right!" he nodded. Afterwards, he shook his head and continued speaking. "Boy, the both of us dreamed of and totally believed we had a shot in the dark of winning that show. It looked easy enough." Morgan added, shrugging his shoulders.
"Looks can be deceiving, buddy. It looked easy for us who watched it at home," Chuck responded. "But for the kids who were actually there, it was literally a race against time." he further shared.
In response, Morgan nodded after taking a moment to think about it. A few seconds later, he snapped his finger and pointed at Chuck again.
"Double Dare!"
Once again, Chuck looked at Morgan quizzically. "What about it?"
"It was another show we talked about doing back in the day."
"I remember," nodded Chuck. "You'd dare the other team to answer it and if they didn't know they double dared them back to answer. It was half educational with the other half taking the physical challenge if they didn't know the answer. An awesomely messy physical challenge to be exact."
"What I remember most about the show was the obstacle course," smiled Morgan. "What stuck out the most was the big nose filled with slime that the kids stuck their hand up it to get the flag," he humorously recalled.
"Here's something you probably didn't know," Chuck retorted, with his eyebrows raised.
When Morgan saw those raised eyebrows, he quickly took a seat on the cushionless couch with his can of grape soda in hand. After he did, he gave his full and undivided attention to Chuck.
"The host Marc Summers," Chuck paused, for dramatic effect before he continued speaking. "He had OCD. Hosting that show must have been so incredibly brutal for him," he revealed. "Especially after watching the Dateline special spotlighting Marc's OCD. I think it's on YouTube."
"Definitely checking it out," responded Morgan. He briefly raised his can of grape soda two towards his nerdy bosom buddy.
Afterwards, there was a momentary lull amidst the chaotic aftermath of the Casa Bartowski living room. However, the lull was suddenly interrupted by Chuck.
"I remembered where I hid the gun!"
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present
"I hid it in my pants." Chuck shared.
After Bentley heard where the gun was hidden, she couldn't help but express a mixture and bewildered confusion. It was as if she didn't know how to respond at first to what Chuck just revealed. A few seconds went by before Bentley shook her head and finally spoke up. "Your pants?" questioned the award-winning documentarian.
Chuck simply nodded at Bentley. At that point, Morgan chimed in. "I would have never thought of putting it in my pants if I was in your shoes." After a momentary pause, Morgan spoke up again. "I guess now the secret is out about our pants. Alex will find out about my pants whenever this interview airs."
"She was gonna find out about it eventually, buddy."
"I know, but," responded Morgan, shaking his head. "I wanted to tell her and make the moment special between the two of us."
"Me too." nodded Chuck. "It's something Sarah didn't even know existed until I showed my pants to her." Chuck further added.
As the two childhood friends continued talking about their pants, Bentley was absolutely perplexed at the conversation the two men sitting across from her were having.
"Did I hear you right?" Bentley chimed in, interrupted the conversation between both men. "The gun was hidden in some pants? In the pockets?"
Chuck responded by shaking his head. "Not in those pants. My PANTS." he firmly repeated.
" I'm so confused." Bentley softly breathed out, shaking her head. The award-winning documentation looked back and forth between both men who were just sitting there across from her smiling.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
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Chuck expressed his trademark toothy smile and proceeded to clear up the confusion for Bentley. "PANTS. It's an acronym. Personal Artifacts Never To See."
The nerdy business owner was about to respond when Morgan chimed in. The bearded best friend of Chuck Bartowski was seated next to his bosom buddy with Sarah now seated on the other side next to her husband.
"When Chuck and I were kids, both of us made a box that we called P.A.N.T.S.," Morgan briefly glanced over to his hetero life partner. "Personal Artifacts Never To See." he added, acknowledging what Chuck previously revealed. "We were at the acronym phase of our childhood."
Bentley still expressed a mix of bewildered confusion on her face as she directed her focus on Morgan. "What's the purpose of," She paused looking back and forth at both men. "Your pants?" she added, with genuine curiosity. The sound of uncertainty and disbelief in her voice.
"It's where we keep our most prized possessions," Chuck revealed. "In case of a fire." the nerd further added.
"And both of you have one?" questioned Bentley quizzically.
The youngest Bartowski sibling was about to respond when Morgan interjected. "Chuck is generally neurotic," When Morgan said that Bentley briefly turned her attention to the nerd in question who simply nodded his head and confirmed what his bearded best friend conveyed. "And I have a tendency to be terrified about my house burning down."
"Which it actually did." Chuck chimed in.
At that point, Bentley's eyes widened. "Wait," She scooted forward in her interview chair and was literally sitting on the edge of her seat. "Your house burned down?"
Morgan nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't awesome for my mom and I," Afterwards there was a brief moment of silence before he waved off the memory with his right hand. "But it was a long time ago and we were able to eventually get back on our feet and have a roof over our head." he added, expressing an appreciative smile.
Bentley was sitting on the edge of her seat trying to comprehend all that was shared by Chuck and Morgan. However, instead of focusing on further exploring both men's P.A.N.T.S or what caused Morgan's house to burn down, she refocused the interview back on the matter at hand. Before she resumed the interview, Bentley slid back in her interview chair and took a moment to readjust the way she was sitting and her notecards she was holding as well. A few seconds later, she spoke up.
"Let's circle back to the gun. You remembered where you hid it, which was in your special box," Bentley reiterated.
At that point Chuck and Morgan responded in unison. " P.A.N.T.S."
Bentley stared at both men for a brief moment before she continued speaking. "What happened that nearly ruined the relationship with you and Sarah?"
After Bentley asked that question, Chuck glanced over at Sarah before he answered. "Do you want my version of what happened or Sarah's?
In response, Bentley just stared at Chuck. Her response caused Chuck to briefly glance at the individuals seated on either side of him. A few seconds later, the youngest Bartowski sibling spoke up.
"I guess, I'll give my version of what happened first," he uttered, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, it was late at night. Around 2 a.m. when it happened Morgan left my house at midnight after having an old school video game night and…"
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Casa Bartowski
Santa Monica
Saturday 2:00 A.M.
Chuck was sound asleep in his bed when some type of disturbance/noise broke him out of his slumber. He was still in a sleepy haze after he sat up and rubbed his eyes. A few seconds later, the nerd heard the noise again causing him to quickly wake up and be very aware that someone was breaking into his house. In his mind it was a possibility since there was a rash of break ins last month around his neighborhood. In any case, his thoughts went from the rash breaks into another possible scenario, which ended up causing him to spiral at that moment. What made him spiral further was when he suddenly started thinking about Pita Girl and how she somehow escaped her incarceration. That thought led to Chuck thinking about his stalker trying to break into his home to attack him. The youngest Bartowski acted quickly and was in his wheelchair in a matter of seconds. As quietly as he could, he rolled himself to his closet and slowly opened it to not make any noise whatsoever.
Unfortunately, his efforts in not making noise led to the sound of squeals. Chuck reacted quickly, putting his index finger in front of his mouth and softly shushing his closet door. Afterwards, his focus turned to his bedroom door that was slightly ajar. The nervousness and fear he was feeling was gradually building up as he sat in his wheelchair intently listening to see if the noise/disturbance could still be heard. Chuck sat there frozen until the sound of the noise/disturbance was heard once again. As much as he was freaking out, he forced himself to move. When he did, he was able to get his closet open just enough to find and locate what he really needed to defend not only himself, but his home as well. What he found was a box with the letters P.A.N.T.S. It stood for Personal Artifacts Never To See. He stared at the box for a brief moment before he opened it. When he did, the first thing he saw was the gun that Conway gave him among other items he valued and treasured.
In any case, the gun was sitting on top of something Chuck considered not only special, but meaningful as well. After picking up the weapon, his attention was momentarily focused on the object in question the gun was sitting on. It was the ping pong paddle that he had a non-date with Sarah before he took her on a real date. The memories associated with the ping pong paddle caused him to smile. Unfortunately, the smile quickly faded after he heard once again the same noise/disturbance that was made earlier. A few seconds later, he attempted to check the chamber of the gun, but it was dark in his room. It led him to mistakenly raise it up to what little light was provided that was shining through his bedroom window. When he did, all the bullets that were in the gun fell out of the chamber. That's when the nerdy business owner mumbled a curse word under his breath for his utter stupidity at that very moment. Fortunately, all of the bullets landed in his lap instead of hitting the floor, which he breathed out a sigh of absolute relief.
It wasn't long before Chuck slowly emerged into the hallway from his room with the fully loaded gun sitting in his lap. While doing his best in quietly rolling down the hallway, the noise/disturbance grew increasingly louder. At that point, the youngest Bartowski sibling stopped halfway down his hallway and picked up the gun that was sitting on his lap. After he made sure to hold it tightly in his right hand to avoid accidentally dropping it again, he slowly guided his wheelchair forward using his left hand. As he continued to point the gun in his right hand straight forward down a darkened hallway, he lowered it a bit to peek around the corner into the open doorway of the kitchen. Fortunately for him, the small light from his fridge illuminated the kitchen area just enough to show that nobody was in there. The intense and nervous focus he had on the kitchen was quickly averted to the hallway on the other side of the room that leads to the front door.
At that moment, Chuck attempted to evolve into some form of high being and see within the darkness. A high being with night or infrared thermal vision capabilities like The Predator, the nerd thought to himself. Although he's not encountering Aliens or the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers' characters Dutch and Dillon, the intruder in question was considerably more dangerous concealed in the darkness. Unfortunately for Chuck, he wasn't able to see anything leaving him at an absolute disadvantage. However, he was able to hear the same noise/disturbance that he heard earlier, which caused him to mentally and emotionally freak out. However, despite being mentally and emotionally freaked out by the nerdy business owner, he pulled himself together and aimed the gun towards the darkened hallway located directly across from him. When he did, a figure was faintly seen within the darkness, and it caused every muscle in his body to tighten up.
As much as he was uncomfortable holding a gun, he was fully intent on pulling the trigger knowing there would be no turning back once he did. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and his pulse racing as the dark figure within the front entrance hallway moved forward. It was now or never, he thought to himself.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present
"That's when it happened and," Chuck paused, recalling that fateful night. "All I remember was a loud pop and then the sound of the intruder falling to the floor," he further added. "After the initial adrenaline high, I suddenly became aware of two things."
"What were they?" inquired Bentley."
"Yeah dude," Morgan chimed in. "Don't leave us hanging." The sound of eagerness expressed in his voice. Of course, he knew what happened since Chuck shared with him the unfortunate events of that particular night. Still, hearing it again after so many months removed was absolutely gripping as if it were like a scene out of a suspenseful and thrilling action move.
"Blonde hair and blood. Or so…"
Bentley's eyes widened. "You shot Sarah!?" she loudly blurted out, cutting off Chuck.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
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"Not exactly," responded Sarah, shaking her head. "And it wasn't blood Chuck saw." she pointed out.
A look of perplexed confusion was expressed on Bentley's face after Chuck said that. "What was it then?"
There was a brief moment of silence in the area of the courtyard in front of the blue courtyard bench. All eyes were on Sarah as Bentley awaited a response from the beautiful blonde. Bentley didn't have to wait long when Sarah spoke up.
"This is my version of what happened. You see…"
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Casa Bartowski
Santa Monica
Saturday 2:00 A.M.
It was around 2 a.m. when Sarah walked up to the front door of Casa Bartowski and in her arms she was not only carrying a box full of stuff, but carrying her purse as well. She tripped when her right foot caught the lip of the walkway of the front door. She stumbled forward toward the front door with the box she was holding. At that moment, she made a quick second decision to do a 180 degree turn and braced for impact against the front door hitting it with her back. The pain she felt from the impact was momentary and quickly. Of course, ever since she's been going to kickboxing classes with Hannah her pain threshold tolerance significantly changed. There's no doubt that her physical toughness greatly improved thanks to the Hospital's physical therapist and kickboxing partner.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present
"I have a question," uttered Bentley, interrupting Sarah's version of what happened.
Speaking of Sarah, she sat there with Chuck and Morgan possibly wondering the same thing as to the reason for the interruption by the award-winning documentarian.
"Why were you carrying a box? What…"
At that point, Morgan quickly chimed in. "What's in the box!?" His sudden outburst caused all the attention that was on Sarah to be suddenly averted to Chuck's bearded best friend. "Movie quote. Seven. Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, and Gwyneth Paltrow. It turned out it was the head of Gwyneth's character that was in the box."
No response was given at all. Dead silence, especially from Bentley. Speaking of Bentley, all she gave was a death stare towards Chuck's business partner. It was a death stare that caused Morgan to suddenly get up from his seat and walk out of camera view. Before excusing himself, he glanced over at Chuck and Sarah.
"Bathroom break."
After Morgan disappeared, Chuck shook his head and apologized on Morgan's behalf. "Sorry about him,"
" Again." Sarah added, breathing out. A sense of embarrassment expressed in the sound of her voice.
Bentley simply shook her head and proceeded to ask her question before she was interrupted by Morgan.
"The contents of the box? Any significance to the story?" she inquired, looking directly at Sarah.
"I was just getting to that." responded Sarah. "The box was full of goodies from an event that the hospital had and since she was fortunate enough to bring them home. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like driving all the way home and decided to stop off at his," she stopped and corrected herself. " Our place for the night unbeknownst to him." she further revealed. "It was an unannounced visit, and I didn't see the harm in it since they were practically living together after getting engaged. Anyways, after unlocking the door and getting inside things didn't go well…"
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Casa Bartowski
Santa Monica
Saturday 2:00 AM
Sarah stepped forward and when she did the box of contents fell to the floor. One of the contents within the box rolled into the game room, which caused Sarah to become annoyed and frustrated. Instead of instinctively turning on the game room light, she used her iPhone light to find where the object in question rolled to. Fortunately for her, it didn't roll very far and found it sticking out from underneath the couch located by the Morgan door. However, before finding the object that was sticking out from underneath the couch, she accidentally got caught up on something and ended up knocking over something to the floor. That something was an Xbox game controller, and it fell to the ground because of the cord. She ignored it and focused on the object in question she was looking for, which was a wine bottle. A bottle of wine that she was able to take with her from the event that was held at the hospital. Instead of placing it back in the box, she held it in her right hand. As for her purse, she stuck it in the box. A few seconds later, she moved back out into the hallway.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
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"As I was moving forward, I couldn't help but notice a dark figure down on the other side of the hallway. I thought I was seeing things. I felt like my eyes were playing tricks on me in the darkness. I don't know why but I started slowly moving towards it."
"That dark figure was me." Chuck uttered, raising his hand.
After briefly glancing at her husband, Sarah continued speaking. "That's when it happened," she shared. "I felt like I got shot in the head."
"Wait," Bentley paused as if she was taking a moment to make sense of it all. She turned her attention to Chuck. "So, you didn't shoot Sarah?"
"It turned out that I still had the safety on when I tried to pull the trigger. Lucky, it was on." Chuck revealed. "That's when the loud pop went off."
"If the loud pop wasn't the gun," inquired Bentley, looking totally perplexed. "What was it then"
"The cork from the red wine bottle. It hit me in the head. That's when I dropped the box and fell back on the floor. It all happened in a matter of seconds." she recalled. "I guess the pressure built in the red wine bottle after falling out of the box and rolled on the floor into the game room. I got red wine all over my clothes because of that." he further added, expressing disappointment in her voice.
There was a moment of silence between all 3 individuals sitting in front of the blue courtyard bench. The silence was broken when Bentley spoke up and focused on an important subject matter.
"I take it the gun came up in conversation." she stated, in a questioning manner.
Chuck and Sarah glanced at each other before the beautiful blonde responded. "After things settled down, I was about to clean up the red wine spill when I noticed the gun was on the floor."
"Apparently, I dropped it once I saw it was actually Sarah laying on the floor. I was more concerned with her well-being than the gun I nearly shot her with." Chuck lamented.
"That's when I picked it up and we started discussing…"
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Casa Bartowski
Santa Monica
Saturday 2:55 A.M.
"It's for protection," insisted Chuck. " Your protection." he further added.
Sarah sat on the living room couch of Casa Bartowski wearing a Dr. Who shirt and matching sweatpants. Chuck was sitting across from her in his wheelchair. In between the couple was the living room table where the gun was placed in full display. It took a while for Sarah to rationalize Chuck having a gun, especially after the conversation they had before they officially started dating. It was a conversation that he had with his father and how his special skill set was utilized to solve crimes without the use of a gun, which he absolutely detested. So uncivilized. That's how Chuck summed up his father's dislike for guns in an Obi Wan Kenobi way. Of course, Stephen Bartowski made sure to pass that same sentiment to his kids. She recalled how her nerdy fiance idolized everything about his father and the important role he played to whom she would end up falling in love years later. As much as she loves Chuck, she couldn't help but feel disappointed in not only hiding the gun from her but keeping it a secret for so long.
"I understand your reasoning behind it, but" responded Sarah, shaking her head. "What if the safety had been off?"
"Luckily, it wasn't." Chuck retorted, cracking a smile. That smile gradually faded when he saw the face of Sarah's old Wild Card person emerge. " You know what I mean." he softly breathed out.
" I do," she softly responded back. Afterwards, Sarah slid forward and sat on the edge of the living room couch. She directed her full attention to Chuck and continued speaking. "Regardless of your genuine intentions to keep me safe, you kept something from me. Something very dangerous." She paused and momentarily focused on the gun sitting on the living room table. "We made a promise to each other. remember."
"No secrets, no lies." Chuck uttered.
"That's right," she answered back. "And you broke that promise." she pointed out. The sound of disappointment in her voice.
"I didn't lie to you though," the nerd insisted.
"Maybe not intentionally," Sarah replied. "But the way you've acted in the last 2 weeks showed me that you were far more concerned with trying not to get caught than telling the truth." she firmly retorted.
"I just want to keep you safe." stated Chuck.
"I am safe." Sarah insisted. "You know there's practically an army of people always looking out for me at the hospital. Casey, especially. His security team as well. Ever since I got attacked, he has walked me to my car regardless of what time of day it is." she shared.
"I didn't know that."
"Beckman's orders," Sarah further revealed. "And you know how stubborn I am and didn't want to be seen or treated like a helpless victim." Sarah paused abruptly after uttering the latter part of what she said. "Do you see me as a helpless victim?"
"No," Chuck quickly chimed in. "Of course not. I know you can take care of yourself. It's just…"
At that point, Sarah cut Chuck off. "Just what, Chuck? Go on and say it." firmly urged the beautiful blonde. A hint of anger in her voice was starting to seep through as she did her best in trying to keep calm during her conversation with Chuck. Chuck sat there and remained silent. Undaunted, Sarah pressed forward and repeated herself. "Just say it, Chuck!"
" I feel more like a helpless victim!" Chuck spat out in anger. After Chuck said that he saw the look of shocked surprise expressed on her face. As much as he wanted to leave it there, he felt the urge to unload everything that was not only on his mind, but heart as well. "I'm tired of people looking at me with sympathy and treating me as if I was a little kid when I couldn't do simple things like opening a door. I'm tired of being asked the same question about when I'll be back on my feet. Most of all," There was a momentary pause before he resumed speaking. "I'm tired of just being tired."
"Then do something about it!" she screamed, standing up.
"I have been," he angrily growled back. "It's just not working. I've been going to physical therapy and being constantly assured that I'll be back on my feet. I'm not so sure anymore." he confessed.
"So…what," responded Sarah. "You're just going to give up?" she added. The anger in her voice was clearly expressed in her voice.
"I didn't say that."
"You sound like it."
"Look," Chuck abruptly stopped. He did best to calm himself down before he resumed speaking with Sarah. He didn't want to end up saying the wrong thing and dug himself down an even deeper hole that he was already in. "That's not at all what I'm saying. I'm just frustrated, that's all."
"Is that why you ended up getting a gun?" Sarah bent down and picked up the gun that was sitting on the living room table. "It became a distraction for you to focus rather than getting yourself better?"
"Yes…no," Chuck shook his head. "I don't know." he added, throwing up his hands out of frustration.
Sarah stood there shaking his head. "Tell me," Her focus on Chuck turned to the gun she was holding in her hand. A few seconds later, she had an important question to ask him. "Where did you get the gun? Who gave it to you is the better question?"
Chuck sat there and remained silent. His silence spoke volumes, which led Sarah to shake her head out of pure disappointment. Afterwards, she placed the gun back down on the living room table and made her way around it. Beforehand, she made sure to put on her slippers before walking off. In any case, she walked past Chuck and stood in front of the dining room table where her purse was sitting right next to the box that she brought inside.
"Where are you going?" Chuck wondered, turning himself around in his wheelchair.
"My place," Sarah answered. She pointed to what was on the living room table. "As long as that gun is in your house. I won't be." she added, picking up purse. Sarah headed towards the front door leaving Chuck sitting there. The impact of Sarah's words were sinking in for him.
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Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present
"Fortunately, we all know you both end up happily married, but" Bentley briefly paused before she resumed speaking. "At that particular time, did you think it was over?"
Chuck and Sarah momentarily looked at each other before responding. A few seconds later, Chuck spoke up.
"Not really," answered Chuck. "It didn't stop me from trying to contact her. I failed every time." he added, shrugging his shoulders.
Sarah expressed an amused chuckle in response. "He was persistent. He tried to make things right in his own adorably cute way," Sarah recalled, expressing a heartfelt smile. " Gardenias." she softly breathed out.
"Did you forgive him?" inquired Bentley.
"Not right away," responded Sarah, glancing over at Chuck. "The both of us needed some space. Plus, I knew Chuck needed help to get back on track. I called in for backup."
Bentley arched her right brow. "What sort of backup?"
The interview Bentley was having with Chuck and Sarah switched to another interview. After letting the individual in question being interviewed get settled a bit, Bentley spoke up.
"Just to remind the viewers who you are," she stated, briefly motioning towards the camera. "What is your name and your relationship to Chuck?"
"My name is Bryce Larkin and we were friends in college at Stanford. Still friends," he corrected himself. "I think," he added, with a sense of uncertainty.
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NOTE: SORRY FOR THE DELAY. LIFE GOT IN THE WAY. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER AND NOW BRYCE LARKIN HAS APPEARED. DUN DUN DUNNN! AS ALWAYS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUHTS? LEAVE A REVIEW BECAUSE THEY'RE CONSIDERED AN INCENTIVE FOR FANFIC WRITERS LIKE MYSELF TO KEEP WRITING.