19.01 Healing
So sorry for the wait everyone! Real life kept alternating between us and then a bit of writer’s block for a few crucial parts...it just kept adding up!
Title: Healing
Fandom: RPS
Story: Highway: Rest Stops 19.01
Characters: Alan Davies and Robert Sean Leonard
Authors: michelleann68 + evila_elf = evila_ann
Prompt: none
Word Count: 547
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wilson’s untimely death brings about a very timely phone call.
Authors’ Notes: Feel free to friend us if you want to read a day ahead of the communities.
Click here for the timeline if you need to get caught up or relive the good old times.
Previous story:
Goodbye to You
Joy's eyes watered as she watched her son--correction, Wilson--breathe his last breath, face a ghostly pale, eyes tired from his struggle to live. She clutched a soggy handful of tissues in one hand, and her husband's in the other. She let out a sobbing breath and shared a look with Rob after the episode faded from the hospital bed to black and went to its last commercial break of the night. Without a word, she reached for the phone.
***
Robert was relaxing on the couch with a newspaper and a plate of chips and dip, purposely ignoring the time, enjoying the quiet. The sudden ring of the phone startled him. He wiped the salt from his fingers on a napkin before reaching to answer it. "Hello?"
"Robert?"
He hadn't heard from his mom since the Thanksgiving fiasco, and she sounded upset. "Mom, is something wrong?"
"No, no, no," she was quick to reassure. "I just--your episode--"
Robert glanced at the clock, realizing that the episode was over. He removed the paper from his lap and ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat, at a loss for words.
"It's been a long time," Joy finally said. It appeared that she was at a loss for words herself.
"Yeah," Robert agreed. "Um...how have things been? You and Dad doing fine?"
"We're fine. Your father is trying out his green thumb again."
"Any success?"
"Better than last year."
Robert chuckled.
"And you?" she asked.
"I don't do well with houseplants."
"Pffft. You know what I mean."
"Well, it's been quiet lately." He worried his lip for a second before cautiously proceeding, "Alan visited for Christmas with his sister, Traci. It was her first time in New York and we had a good time showing her around."
"She knows about you two?" Joy asked after a pause that had Robert worried.
"Yeah."
"How did she find out?"
"About a month or two before I told you. She didn't know how serious we were until we broke up and he needed someone to talk to." The memory still brought a pain to his chest. "Alan said she took it really well," he added, knowing that it would be an unasked question on her mind.
"I see." But did she really?
Robert sensed that this subject was being closed. If not, he was going to try to close it "So...the episode...?" He hadn't seen it yet, and didn't really plan to, if he could help it.
She warmed to the subject right away. "If I didn't know any better, I would be asking you who you had angered."
Robert laughed. "If it only took a few harsh words, I would have tried that years ago."
Her laughter joined his before quieting. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too." He took a breath. "Maybe I could drive up sometime...and we could do lunch?"
"I'd love that."
"Great. Um...next week?"
"Sounds good. I'll call you Monday."
"Bye, Mom."
"Goodbye, Robbie."
After he hung up the phone, he sat there in a state of shock. He'd been seriously thinking that he would never speak to her again. Maybe, just maybe, he could get her to warm to Alan. Or melt the ice that was built up around her.
19.02 Not Soon Enough
Title: Healing
Fandom: RPS
Story: Highway: Rest Stops 19.01
Characters: Alan Davies and Robert Sean Leonard
Authors: michelleann68 + evila_elf = evila_ann
Prompt: none
Word Count: 547
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wilson’s untimely death brings about a very timely phone call.
Authors’ Notes: Feel free to friend us if you want to read a day ahead of the communities.
Click here for the timeline if you need to get caught up or relive the good old times.
Previous story:
Goodbye to You
Joy's eyes watered as she watched her son--correction, Wilson--breathe his last breath, face a ghostly pale, eyes tired from his struggle to live. She clutched a soggy handful of tissues in one hand, and her husband's in the other. She let out a sobbing breath and shared a look with Rob after the episode faded from the hospital bed to black and went to its last commercial break of the night. Without a word, she reached for the phone.
***
Robert was relaxing on the couch with a newspaper and a plate of chips and dip, purposely ignoring the time, enjoying the quiet. The sudden ring of the phone startled him. He wiped the salt from his fingers on a napkin before reaching to answer it. "Hello?"
"Robert?"
He hadn't heard from his mom since the Thanksgiving fiasco, and she sounded upset. "Mom, is something wrong?"
"No, no, no," she was quick to reassure. "I just--your episode--"
Robert glanced at the clock, realizing that the episode was over. He removed the paper from his lap and ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat, at a loss for words.
"It's been a long time," Joy finally said. It appeared that she was at a loss for words herself.
"Yeah," Robert agreed. "Um...how have things been? You and Dad doing fine?"
"We're fine. Your father is trying out his green thumb again."
"Any success?"
"Better than last year."
Robert chuckled.
"And you?" she asked.
"I don't do well with houseplants."
"Pffft. You know what I mean."
"Well, it's been quiet lately." He worried his lip for a second before cautiously proceeding, "Alan visited for Christmas with his sister, Traci. It was her first time in New York and we had a good time showing her around."
"She knows about you two?" Joy asked after a pause that had Robert worried.
"Yeah."
"How did she find out?"
"About a month or two before I told you. She didn't know how serious we were until we broke up and he needed someone to talk to." The memory still brought a pain to his chest. "Alan said she took it really well," he added, knowing that it would be an unasked question on her mind.
"I see." But did she really?
Robert sensed that this subject was being closed. If not, he was going to try to close it "So...the episode...?" He hadn't seen it yet, and didn't really plan to, if he could help it.
She warmed to the subject right away. "If I didn't know any better, I would be asking you who you had angered."
Robert laughed. "If it only took a few harsh words, I would have tried that years ago."
Her laughter joined his before quieting. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too." He took a breath. "Maybe I could drive up sometime...and we could do lunch?"
"I'd love that."
"Great. Um...next week?"
"Sounds good. I'll call you Monday."
"Bye, Mom."
"Goodbye, Robbie."
After he hung up the phone, he sat there in a state of shock. He'd been seriously thinking that he would never speak to her again. Maybe, just maybe, he could get her to warm to Alan. Or melt the ice that was built up around her.
19.02 Not Soon Enough