Fanfic: B&S episode 603: part 2/4
Season 6 - Episode 3 - BANG! BANG!
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Kitty’s legs are dangling. She waits for the doctor to come back.
“It’s nothing, Kit, …” She tells herself.. “You’re just going to lie down, and the doctor will …. Do his… thing…. And ….. you’ll no longer be p-p-pregnant….” Tears start to form in her eyes. “T-this is what everyone w-w-wants.”
She rocks back and forth, her arms around her herself.
“Everybody keeps telling me that this is the best solution. That this is right…” She sighs. “If this so right why do I feel so bad? Who am I kidding, baby? I don’t want to lose you…. but I have to do this….” She caresses her belly.
“Two months and you’re still here. And I’m supposed to give you up…” She swallows away the lump in her throat. “Come on, doc. What are you doing? Get back here.” She slips off the table and starts to pace. “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it….” She keeps telling herself.
She looks at her watch. She’s been here for 5 minutes, waiting. This is hard enough without all this waiting. She sits down again and lets her hand rest on her belly. She closes her eyes, which she shouldn’t do, because if she does, she can see herself holding her baby in her arms…
The door opens and she opens her eyes again, tears on her eyelashes.
“I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting. It is something we try to avoid, as this hard enough for most women….” The doctor immediately starts to apologize to her. “..but… new staff, new rules and two colleagues sick .. too much work.... Now, Mrs. Walker-McCallister….”
“No.” Kitty says decisively.
“You’re not Mrs Walker-McCallister?” The doctors asks, thinking there to be an file-error.
“I am. But, no, I’m not going to do this. I’m keeping my baby and to hell with what everyone else thinks…. I’ve changed my mind.” She says and she calmly walks away.
*****
“So, you have the tapes?” Stanton asks.
“I do.” Kevin admits.
“Can I see them?” Stanton is curious. Kevin opens the briefcase, carefully pushes away the gun with silencer and takes out one of the small mini-tapes.
“There are five of them in total. With several conversations. He seemed to have taped every conversation he had with you.” Kevin tells Stanton.
“And what do you want to exchange for these tapes?” Stanton asks. “I cannot imagine that you will hand them back over to me, out of the goodness of your heart.”
“I’m not here to blackmail you, Mr Stanton. I have no desire to threaten you. As a lawyer I know that these tapes are just circumstantial evidence. I cannot make a case against you by using them. Plus, I have no need for you, or people like you, in my life. I only want one thing, in exchange for those tapes, and … that is the truth….”
“The truth?” Stanton looks at Kevin as if he has no idea what Kevin is talking about, but there is caution in his eyes, so Kevin is not very convinced. Stanton is trying to get away with murder and Kevin has a hard time to control his urge to just punch that smug smile off Stanton’s face, no matter what the consequences will be.
“I want to know exactly what happened that night of the accident, so I can put the matter to rest for myself. Not only did I lose a former boss and a dear friend, I watched my sister deal with the loss of her husband and my nephew with the loss of his father. The accident effected nearly everyone in my family. It nearly destroyed them.
I know it’s of no concern of yours, but I wonder if that silly tape was really worth the life of man who could have accomplished so much in his life, if only given half the chance….” Outwardly calm Kevin stares at Stanton for a few seconds, just enough to make Stanton notice it, then he shrugs to show disinterest in the rest of the conversation.
“… But, if ‘ignorance’ is the card you wish to play…” Kevin sighs. He stands up, takes the tape from Stanton’s hand, “.. then we have nothing left to say to each other. I’ve taken up enough of your time. So, please, excuse me.” It’s clear that he wants to leave Stanton’s office again with the tapes and Stanton isn’t about to let that happen.
“Stop!... Please, sit down. No games…. What do you think to know about what happened that night?” Stanton smoothly says and he obviously tries to find out how far Kevin’s knowledge goes.
“You think I’m bugged, ready to set you up?” Kevin asks in return, buying himself some time.
“The thought had entered my mind.” Stanton admits. Kevin carefully weighs his next words. He can understand that Stanton is cautious, after what had happened between Robert and him. He can see that Stanton is intrigued, as well. He counts to ten, just to keep the tension going.
“Mr Stanton, as a lawyer, I must advice you to, in the future, be more careful, when hiring men like ... Carlo Bendini…?” Kevin can see the name hits the right spot. “A man with such a bad reputation can bring so much damage to your own good name and we both know the impact of the bad situation could have on business-partners.
It is still true that trust takes years to build, but only seconds to destroy. I wouldn’t want to see you lose the faith that people have in you.” He lets his words follow by a little silence. He knows that integrity will not be Stanton motivation for telling him what he wants to hear, but an attack on his business status just might.
“I do.” Stanton admits with a nod. “The truth is…” He stops and closely watches Kevin and Kevin believes that he might struggle with how much information he's will to give.“Bendini was indeed a mistake... He overstepped his orders and my boundaries, but I understand that Mr Bendini has been made aware of the fact that I was … unhappy... with the situation.” Kevin smirks. Euphemisms, gotta love them.
“Yes, he was indeed … rather clumsy…” Kevin rather casually repeats the same word that Alex had used and Stanton seems unpleasantly surprised by Kevin’s choice of words. He shifts uneasily on his chair and leans closer to Kevin.
“I liked your brother-in-law, Mr Walker, I was hurt when I discovered that he tried to cheat me, but at the same time… I admire the fact that he dared to do it. I like a good opponent. Robert McCallister was not afraid and I never wanted him to be afraid… I certainly meant no threat to his life.
I admit that, when I just found out that he had taped our conversations, I made some remarks that, in hind-side, may not have been the friendliest. They could even have been read as a threat to his address, but I assure, Mr Walker, that was not my intention. I was convinced that, in time, he and I could have come to some sort of understanding.
He was more worth to me alive than dead. I am a Republican and I, too, believed that somewhere down the line, McCallister would come back to the political arena. He could have been of use to me.”
“I think he was unimpressed with the way you try to make Kitty look bad during her campaign… That was your work, wasn’t it?” Kevin asks.
“That was indeed not a very smart move. It could have resulted in some hasty decision from Robert and Kitty. The fact that he got driven off the road and put into a coma was … an unfortunate accident… and should never, ever, have happened.” If Stanton is keeping a close eye on Kevin, Kevin is matching his stare, so he doesn’t miss much of the expressions on Stanton’s face and,… Kevin sighs softly.
“Either you are a great poker-player or you’re telling the truth.”
“I absolutely hate poker.” Stanton replies without even blinking. Kevin believes him. He tries to relax. “If you need more information?” Stanton asks, obviously trying to get rid of Kevin. “Otherwise, can I have the other tapes now…?”
“Yes, of course.” Kevin feels annoyed by the coldness in Stanton. Kevin’s hand goes back into his briefcase, his fingers slide over the gun. He could still do it. Just take it out and shoot Stanton. At this range, with just a desk between them, he can’t miss. His other hand grabs hold of the other tapes and he takes one hand out of his brief-case, the other is still on the gun. If Stanton makes one more move, one more remark.
He reaches out to Stanton, with his left hand, to give Stanton the tapes, but in doing so he sees the wedding-ring that Scotty had put on his finger and it shocks him how it glows, especially since it’s not much lighter in Stanton’s office than before.
“Then think about Scotty and your kids and what impact it would have on them. Killing someone, even if you don’t get caught, will change you, Kevin. If you kill somebody, something inside you dies as well. A certain innocence. The barricade that tells you that there is something you shouldn’t do, has been broken. It will change you forever."
Alex' words ring in his ears. If he pulls the trigger now, …. If he did, he’d leave Scotty all alone with the care of two kids… He can’t do that. He could never do that. His right hand lets go to the gun, he closes his briefcase and he gets up to say his goodbye to Stanton.
*****
Sarah turns over in the huge bed.
“Feeling better?” she hears Luc ask.
“Jetlagged, still.”
“Voila, une tasse de café et un croissant au chocolat.” Luc offers.
“I have the impression, that it will be great.” She replies, sitting up. “How’s your father?”
“Good. A bit tired after last night, but in all, good. He’s had so much to worry about. He was quite ashamed about his financial problems, but he’s happy with the cheque we gave him, though he feels that it is him who should have given us a present for our wedding-day.”
“You tell your father that we’re happy to help. After all, we’re family.”
“Don’t say that to my mom. She’ll go all vampire on you.”
“I thought you two had patched things up?” Sarah asks.
“With my mother it never lasts more than 2 days.” Luc shrugs.
“What did she do this time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“Wellll, this is our honeymoon?”
Sarah feels so happy that, for once, life just seems to laugh at her. The early September-sun comes into their bedroom, she’s with the man she loves, in a country that she loves, planning to use the bed to make love…
“Luc, I believe that I am perfectly happy right now. I never want it to end.”
*****
“I’m hungry.” Cooper whines.
“You’re always hungry.” Gabe points out.
“I’m even hungrier now than ever, ever, ever.” Cooper insists.
“Hungrierererer then?” Paige jokes, but Cooper can’t laugh over it, even if Gabe can.
“Do you see that tree over there? That is where we’ll eat.” Paula says and Cooper focuses his attention on the tree she points at.
“That is going to take days!!!!” he estimates.
“No, not if we take that short-cut.” Joe replies.
Gabe and Paige now also look at the path to follow.
“Would that be smart?” Paula asks. “It’s rather close to the edge and though we are experienced and careful, the kids are not….”
“Don’t worry, they’ll do just fine.”
Paula stops and thinks twice about Joe’s words. It is a path that is easy to walk, however, it’s also close to the edge. It’s a treacherous path. Passed the edge is only a deep fall.
“We’ll put the kids on the ropes.” She decides.
“Mom!” Gabe protests.
“If one of you wanders off and falls, we can still catch you.” She says with a silent nod to Cooper. Gabe understands her concern. It is true that Cooper is not exactly the most calmest child and he never sees danger either. He sighs, but he also knows that he must do this for his little brother, so Gabe ties the rope around his waist.
Not much later the kids follow each other over the path. Joe and Paula walk behind. Paula looks over the edge. It’s a long way down.
“I wouldn’t get too close, if I were you… I read that due to the lot of rainfall some of these walls are soaked and not very strong.” Gabe warns her.
“Just keep the kids away from the edge.” She replies with an indulgent smile on her face. Gabe can be overly protective sometimes.
“That would be simpler if you gave them the right example.” Gabe mumbles and he walks on feeling Paige and Cooper not far behind him.
He walks on until he hears a short rumbling noise, the high-pitched scream from his mother, followed by the deeper yell from his dad. In horror, Gabe turns around to see that both his mother and father no longer walk behind them and where they had been a large chunk of the path is missing.
“P-P-aula?” Paige trembles.
“Dad!!!” Cooper screams. Gabe quickly unties the cord around his waist.
“Stay here!” He orders his half siblings and Paige holds Cooper very tightly pressed against her, while Gabe lies down on his belly and crawls closer to the edge. He peeks over.
“Mom? Dad?” His voice trembles. “Where are you?” He closes his eyes for a second. It’s such a long way down… He forces himself to open his eyes again and he starts searching. When he finally sees his father, he doesn’t know if he should feel better. Joe is on a rock that sticks out of the wall underneath.
His leg lies underneath him in a very twisted way and Gabe has to look away when he realizes that he sees a piece of bone sticking out. He closes his eyes to not throw up. Now that he has found his father, he needs to know where his mother is. He forces himself to look again.
“Mom?!....” His voice doesn’t sound louder than crying kitten. That is when he sees two hands on the ledge and realizes that his mom is hanging on it. He cries out in shock. Underneath is nothing else but a long plunge down…. “Dad!!! Dad!!! It’s mom! She’s hanging on the ledge… Dad!!! Do something!!!” But Joe doesn’t move at all.
“Dad!!!! Dad!!! Wake up!! …. What am I supposed to do..?” He cries. At that moment he feels a hand on his back. It’s Paige.
“Paige! Get back! This place can break off just as easily as the other one did!”
“Coop and I are tied up to that tree.” Paige points out and she grabs Gabe’s coat tightly.
“What do we do?” Paige asks and Gabe looks at his sister, his voice of reason. The panic subsides as he understand that he has to keep Paige and Cooper calm.
“I don’t know.” He answers in all honesty. “But we’ll have to do something or she’ll fall down.”
Paige crawls backwards until she’s far enough away from the edge.
“We have to use this rope and get it to your mother. She’s not that heavy, we can pull her up with the three of us.”
“I don’t know. It sounds dangerous.”
“We have no choice. If she lets go, if she loses grip….” Paige replies in a practical way, voicing that one thought that Gabe doesn’t want to think about. He nods and Paige unties Cooper and grabs his face.
“Stay here, Cooper. For just once in your life… Stay!”
Sensing the fear and tension in his sister and brother he nods and stands back, while Paige quickly ties the rope even better to the tree. She flings the other end at Gabe, who lowers it over the side to his mother.
“Mom! Grab the rope!” He screams, but Paula doesn’t hear him. In a split second she had seen the long fall beneath her and though she hangs on for her dear life, she feels completely paralyzed, unable to lift a finger. “Mom! Grab the rope!!!” Gabe yells. She becomes vaguely aware that someone is yelling something. She tries to look up.
Not far away her is the rope. All she has to do is grab it, but grabbing it, means letting go with one hand and she’s too afraid. Frozen.
“MOOOOOMMMMM!!!! The rope!” Gabe screams, panic taking over, when he sees that his mom just won’t react.
“Mom! The ledge is crumbling! Mom! Grab the rope!” His words makes the panic in Paula even bigger. “GRAB. THE. FUCKING. ROPE!!!!” Gabe stipulates loudly, word for word. Paula looks up at him. He can see the pain and the fear in her eyes and he knows she’s frozen. Blocked.
“Mom. Hang on. I’m coming down.” He says, not sure what he’s more terrified off, going over edge himself or waiting for his mom to fall.
“No! It’s too dangerous.” Paige yells, afraid of what Gabe will do. Paula agrees and forces herself to speak.
“No! Don’t! Your brother and sister…. Need you…”
“Don’t worry, mom. I’m coming down to get you…”
“No… No…” Paula moans, her hands are starting to hurt. “I can’t hold on….”
“Mom!! Hold on!” Gabe cries. “Grab the rope!”
The ledge starts to crumble away and he can see Paula’s fingers crawl still to find something to hold on, but it’s not no use, they grab in dust and eventually slip away.
“MOOOOMMMM!!!!” Gabe horrified scream mixes with Paula’s fading scream and Paige and Cooper don’t need to see it, to guess what happened.
Cooper turns around and hides his face against Paige, who holds her brother tightly against her body. After the screams have died all that remains is the incredible silence. Paige sees how Gabe crawls away from the ledge and cries in the dirt. She shakes uncontrollably, not daring to let go of Cooper, not able to move closer to Gabe.
*****
“Hi, Holly, We’ve arrived at the hotel near the film-set. It’s actually not that bad. We have electricity and hot water. It’s clean and drinks are cold.” David laughs.
“Good.” Holly replies slowly.
“Are you alright?” David is concerned.
“Yes. Yes. Fine. Just had my therapy this morning, I got all emotional and such and it made me very tired.” Holly replies.
“Why? Did you remember something?”
“We talked about Ojai, Tommy, how it all ended…”
“Not a nice topic.”
“No.” Holly agrees. “But I have to work through it. I have so much to think over and … I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“But I am worried.” David replies.
“Well, don’t be. Go write me some post-cards that you can send me or something. I’m fine. I’ll email Nora tonight….”
“Nora? As in Nora Walker?”
“Yes. That Nora. We’ve been mailing back and forth these last two days. Nothing serious.”
David isn’t too sure. The last thing he wants is Holly back under the William Walker-spell that made her waste so many of her years on that worthless man.
“Is this about William?” he asks point blank and he hears Holly sigh and he knows she’s annoyed with the question.
“No, it’s not about him personally, but more on why I let him fool me so much, why I spent so much time on being his mistress, when I could have done so much more with my life… A smart man once asked me if I thought that I didn’t deserve something better than William Walker and … I’m looking for the answer to that question.”
Holly reminds David of his own words, said a few years ago.
“As long as it is about you and not him…. And just for the record, you did deserve better than him.”
“And I have him now, don't I.” Holly laughs softly.
*****
End of part 2/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK*****
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Kitty’s legs are dangling. She waits for the doctor to come back.
“It’s nothing, Kit, …” She tells herself.. “You’re just going to lie down, and the doctor will …. Do his… thing…. And ….. you’ll no longer be p-p-pregnant….” Tears start to form in her eyes. “T-this is what everyone w-w-wants.”
She rocks back and forth, her arms around her herself.
“Everybody keeps telling me that this is the best solution. That this is right…” She sighs. “If this so right why do I feel so bad? Who am I kidding, baby? I don’t want to lose you…. but I have to do this….” She caresses her belly.
“Two months and you’re still here. And I’m supposed to give you up…” She swallows away the lump in her throat. “Come on, doc. What are you doing? Get back here.” She slips off the table and starts to pace. “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it….” She keeps telling herself.
She looks at her watch. She’s been here for 5 minutes, waiting. This is hard enough without all this waiting. She sits down again and lets her hand rest on her belly. She closes her eyes, which she shouldn’t do, because if she does, she can see herself holding her baby in her arms…
The door opens and she opens her eyes again, tears on her eyelashes.
“I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting. It is something we try to avoid, as this hard enough for most women….” The doctor immediately starts to apologize to her. “..but… new staff, new rules and two colleagues sick .. too much work.... Now, Mrs. Walker-McCallister….”
“No.” Kitty says decisively.
“You’re not Mrs Walker-McCallister?” The doctors asks, thinking there to be an file-error.
“I am. But, no, I’m not going to do this. I’m keeping my baby and to hell with what everyone else thinks…. I’ve changed my mind.” She says and she calmly walks away.
*****
“So, you have the tapes?” Stanton asks.
“I do.” Kevin admits.
“Can I see them?” Stanton is curious. Kevin opens the briefcase, carefully pushes away the gun with silencer and takes out one of the small mini-tapes.
“There are five of them in total. With several conversations. He seemed to have taped every conversation he had with you.” Kevin tells Stanton.
“And what do you want to exchange for these tapes?” Stanton asks. “I cannot imagine that you will hand them back over to me, out of the goodness of your heart.”
“I’m not here to blackmail you, Mr Stanton. I have no desire to threaten you. As a lawyer I know that these tapes are just circumstantial evidence. I cannot make a case against you by using them. Plus, I have no need for you, or people like you, in my life. I only want one thing, in exchange for those tapes, and … that is the truth….”
“The truth?” Stanton looks at Kevin as if he has no idea what Kevin is talking about, but there is caution in his eyes, so Kevin is not very convinced. Stanton is trying to get away with murder and Kevin has a hard time to control his urge to just punch that smug smile off Stanton’s face, no matter what the consequences will be.
“I want to know exactly what happened that night of the accident, so I can put the matter to rest for myself. Not only did I lose a former boss and a dear friend, I watched my sister deal with the loss of her husband and my nephew with the loss of his father. The accident effected nearly everyone in my family. It nearly destroyed them.
I know it’s of no concern of yours, but I wonder if that silly tape was really worth the life of man who could have accomplished so much in his life, if only given half the chance….” Outwardly calm Kevin stares at Stanton for a few seconds, just enough to make Stanton notice it, then he shrugs to show disinterest in the rest of the conversation.
“… But, if ‘ignorance’ is the card you wish to play…” Kevin sighs. He stands up, takes the tape from Stanton’s hand, “.. then we have nothing left to say to each other. I’ve taken up enough of your time. So, please, excuse me.” It’s clear that he wants to leave Stanton’s office again with the tapes and Stanton isn’t about to let that happen.
“Stop!... Please, sit down. No games…. What do you think to know about what happened that night?” Stanton smoothly says and he obviously tries to find out how far Kevin’s knowledge goes.
“You think I’m bugged, ready to set you up?” Kevin asks in return, buying himself some time.
“The thought had entered my mind.” Stanton admits. Kevin carefully weighs his next words. He can understand that Stanton is cautious, after what had happened between Robert and him. He can see that Stanton is intrigued, as well. He counts to ten, just to keep the tension going.
“Mr Stanton, as a lawyer, I must advice you to, in the future, be more careful, when hiring men like ... Carlo Bendini…?” Kevin can see the name hits the right spot. “A man with such a bad reputation can bring so much damage to your own good name and we both know the impact of the bad situation could have on business-partners.
It is still true that trust takes years to build, but only seconds to destroy. I wouldn’t want to see you lose the faith that people have in you.” He lets his words follow by a little silence. He knows that integrity will not be Stanton motivation for telling him what he wants to hear, but an attack on his business status just might.
“I do.” Stanton admits with a nod. “The truth is…” He stops and closely watches Kevin and Kevin believes that he might struggle with how much information he's will to give.“Bendini was indeed a mistake... He overstepped his orders and my boundaries, but I understand that Mr Bendini has been made aware of the fact that I was … unhappy... with the situation.” Kevin smirks. Euphemisms, gotta love them.
“Yes, he was indeed … rather clumsy…” Kevin rather casually repeats the same word that Alex had used and Stanton seems unpleasantly surprised by Kevin’s choice of words. He shifts uneasily on his chair and leans closer to Kevin.
“I liked your brother-in-law, Mr Walker, I was hurt when I discovered that he tried to cheat me, but at the same time… I admire the fact that he dared to do it. I like a good opponent. Robert McCallister was not afraid and I never wanted him to be afraid… I certainly meant no threat to his life.
I admit that, when I just found out that he had taped our conversations, I made some remarks that, in hind-side, may not have been the friendliest. They could even have been read as a threat to his address, but I assure, Mr Walker, that was not my intention. I was convinced that, in time, he and I could have come to some sort of understanding.
He was more worth to me alive than dead. I am a Republican and I, too, believed that somewhere down the line, McCallister would come back to the political arena. He could have been of use to me.”
“I think he was unimpressed with the way you try to make Kitty look bad during her campaign… That was your work, wasn’t it?” Kevin asks.
“That was indeed not a very smart move. It could have resulted in some hasty decision from Robert and Kitty. The fact that he got driven off the road and put into a coma was … an unfortunate accident… and should never, ever, have happened.” If Stanton is keeping a close eye on Kevin, Kevin is matching his stare, so he doesn’t miss much of the expressions on Stanton’s face and,… Kevin sighs softly.
“Either you are a great poker-player or you’re telling the truth.”
“I absolutely hate poker.” Stanton replies without even blinking. Kevin believes him. He tries to relax. “If you need more information?” Stanton asks, obviously trying to get rid of Kevin. “Otherwise, can I have the other tapes now…?”
“Yes, of course.” Kevin feels annoyed by the coldness in Stanton. Kevin’s hand goes back into his briefcase, his fingers slide over the gun. He could still do it. Just take it out and shoot Stanton. At this range, with just a desk between them, he can’t miss. His other hand grabs hold of the other tapes and he takes one hand out of his brief-case, the other is still on the gun. If Stanton makes one more move, one more remark.
He reaches out to Stanton, with his left hand, to give Stanton the tapes, but in doing so he sees the wedding-ring that Scotty had put on his finger and it shocks him how it glows, especially since it’s not much lighter in Stanton’s office than before.
“Then think about Scotty and your kids and what impact it would have on them. Killing someone, even if you don’t get caught, will change you, Kevin. If you kill somebody, something inside you dies as well. A certain innocence. The barricade that tells you that there is something you shouldn’t do, has been broken. It will change you forever."
Alex' words ring in his ears. If he pulls the trigger now, …. If he did, he’d leave Scotty all alone with the care of two kids… He can’t do that. He could never do that. His right hand lets go to the gun, he closes his briefcase and he gets up to say his goodbye to Stanton.
*****
Sarah turns over in the huge bed.
“Feeling better?” she hears Luc ask.
“Jetlagged, still.”
“Voila, une tasse de café et un croissant au chocolat.” Luc offers.
“I have the impression, that it will be great.” She replies, sitting up. “How’s your father?”
“Good. A bit tired after last night, but in all, good. He’s had so much to worry about. He was quite ashamed about his financial problems, but he’s happy with the cheque we gave him, though he feels that it is him who should have given us a present for our wedding-day.”
“You tell your father that we’re happy to help. After all, we’re family.”
“Don’t say that to my mom. She’ll go all vampire on you.”
“I thought you two had patched things up?” Sarah asks.
“With my mother it never lasts more than 2 days.” Luc shrugs.
“What did she do this time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“Wellll, this is our honeymoon?”
Sarah feels so happy that, for once, life just seems to laugh at her. The early September-sun comes into their bedroom, she’s with the man she loves, in a country that she loves, planning to use the bed to make love…
“Luc, I believe that I am perfectly happy right now. I never want it to end.”
*****
“I’m hungry.” Cooper whines.
“You’re always hungry.” Gabe points out.
“I’m even hungrier now than ever, ever, ever.” Cooper insists.
“Hungrierererer then?” Paige jokes, but Cooper can’t laugh over it, even if Gabe can.
“Do you see that tree over there? That is where we’ll eat.” Paula says and Cooper focuses his attention on the tree she points at.
“That is going to take days!!!!” he estimates.
“No, not if we take that short-cut.” Joe replies.
Gabe and Paige now also look at the path to follow.
“Would that be smart?” Paula asks. “It’s rather close to the edge and though we are experienced and careful, the kids are not….”
“Don’t worry, they’ll do just fine.”
Paula stops and thinks twice about Joe’s words. It is a path that is easy to walk, however, it’s also close to the edge. It’s a treacherous path. Passed the edge is only a deep fall.
“We’ll put the kids on the ropes.” She decides.
“Mom!” Gabe protests.
“If one of you wanders off and falls, we can still catch you.” She says with a silent nod to Cooper. Gabe understands her concern. It is true that Cooper is not exactly the most calmest child and he never sees danger either. He sighs, but he also knows that he must do this for his little brother, so Gabe ties the rope around his waist.
Not much later the kids follow each other over the path. Joe and Paula walk behind. Paula looks over the edge. It’s a long way down.
“I wouldn’t get too close, if I were you… I read that due to the lot of rainfall some of these walls are soaked and not very strong.” Gabe warns her.
“Just keep the kids away from the edge.” She replies with an indulgent smile on her face. Gabe can be overly protective sometimes.
“That would be simpler if you gave them the right example.” Gabe mumbles and he walks on feeling Paige and Cooper not far behind him.
He walks on until he hears a short rumbling noise, the high-pitched scream from his mother, followed by the deeper yell from his dad. In horror, Gabe turns around to see that both his mother and father no longer walk behind them and where they had been a large chunk of the path is missing.
“P-P-aula?” Paige trembles.
“Dad!!!” Cooper screams. Gabe quickly unties the cord around his waist.
“Stay here!” He orders his half siblings and Paige holds Cooper very tightly pressed against her, while Gabe lies down on his belly and crawls closer to the edge. He peeks over.
“Mom? Dad?” His voice trembles. “Where are you?” He closes his eyes for a second. It’s such a long way down… He forces himself to open his eyes again and he starts searching. When he finally sees his father, he doesn’t know if he should feel better. Joe is on a rock that sticks out of the wall underneath.
His leg lies underneath him in a very twisted way and Gabe has to look away when he realizes that he sees a piece of bone sticking out. He closes his eyes to not throw up. Now that he has found his father, he needs to know where his mother is. He forces himself to look again.
“Mom?!....” His voice doesn’t sound louder than crying kitten. That is when he sees two hands on the ledge and realizes that his mom is hanging on it. He cries out in shock. Underneath is nothing else but a long plunge down…. “Dad!!! Dad!!! It’s mom! She’s hanging on the ledge… Dad!!! Do something!!!” But Joe doesn’t move at all.
“Dad!!!! Dad!!! Wake up!! …. What am I supposed to do..?” He cries. At that moment he feels a hand on his back. It’s Paige.
“Paige! Get back! This place can break off just as easily as the other one did!”
“Coop and I are tied up to that tree.” Paige points out and she grabs Gabe’s coat tightly.
“What do we do?” Paige asks and Gabe looks at his sister, his voice of reason. The panic subsides as he understand that he has to keep Paige and Cooper calm.
“I don’t know.” He answers in all honesty. “But we’ll have to do something or she’ll fall down.”
Paige crawls backwards until she’s far enough away from the edge.
“We have to use this rope and get it to your mother. She’s not that heavy, we can pull her up with the three of us.”
“I don’t know. It sounds dangerous.”
“We have no choice. If she lets go, if she loses grip….” Paige replies in a practical way, voicing that one thought that Gabe doesn’t want to think about. He nods and Paige unties Cooper and grabs his face.
“Stay here, Cooper. For just once in your life… Stay!”
Sensing the fear and tension in his sister and brother he nods and stands back, while Paige quickly ties the rope even better to the tree. She flings the other end at Gabe, who lowers it over the side to his mother.
“Mom! Grab the rope!” He screams, but Paula doesn’t hear him. In a split second she had seen the long fall beneath her and though she hangs on for her dear life, she feels completely paralyzed, unable to lift a finger. “Mom! Grab the rope!!!” Gabe yells. She becomes vaguely aware that someone is yelling something. She tries to look up.
Not far away her is the rope. All she has to do is grab it, but grabbing it, means letting go with one hand and she’s too afraid. Frozen.
“MOOOOOMMMMM!!!! The rope!” Gabe screams, panic taking over, when he sees that his mom just won’t react.
“Mom! The ledge is crumbling! Mom! Grab the rope!” His words makes the panic in Paula even bigger. “GRAB. THE. FUCKING. ROPE!!!!” Gabe stipulates loudly, word for word. Paula looks up at him. He can see the pain and the fear in her eyes and he knows she’s frozen. Blocked.
“Mom. Hang on. I’m coming down.” He says, not sure what he’s more terrified off, going over edge himself or waiting for his mom to fall.
“No! It’s too dangerous.” Paige yells, afraid of what Gabe will do. Paula agrees and forces herself to speak.
“No! Don’t! Your brother and sister…. Need you…”
“Don’t worry, mom. I’m coming down to get you…”
“No… No…” Paula moans, her hands are starting to hurt. “I can’t hold on….”
“Mom!! Hold on!” Gabe cries. “Grab the rope!”
The ledge starts to crumble away and he can see Paula’s fingers crawl still to find something to hold on, but it’s not no use, they grab in dust and eventually slip away.
“MOOOOMMMM!!!!” Gabe horrified scream mixes with Paula’s fading scream and Paige and Cooper don’t need to see it, to guess what happened.
Cooper turns around and hides his face against Paige, who holds her brother tightly against her body. After the screams have died all that remains is the incredible silence. Paige sees how Gabe crawls away from the ledge and cries in the dirt. She shakes uncontrollably, not daring to let go of Cooper, not able to move closer to Gabe.
*****
“Hi, Holly, We’ve arrived at the hotel near the film-set. It’s actually not that bad. We have electricity and hot water. It’s clean and drinks are cold.” David laughs.
“Good.” Holly replies slowly.
“Are you alright?” David is concerned.
“Yes. Yes. Fine. Just had my therapy this morning, I got all emotional and such and it made me very tired.” Holly replies.
“Why? Did you remember something?”
“We talked about Ojai, Tommy, how it all ended…”
“Not a nice topic.”
“No.” Holly agrees. “But I have to work through it. I have so much to think over and … I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“But I am worried.” David replies.
“Well, don’t be. Go write me some post-cards that you can send me or something. I’m fine. I’ll email Nora tonight….”
“Nora? As in Nora Walker?”
“Yes. That Nora. We’ve been mailing back and forth these last two days. Nothing serious.”
David isn’t too sure. The last thing he wants is Holly back under the William Walker-spell that made her waste so many of her years on that worthless man.
“Is this about William?” he asks point blank and he hears Holly sigh and he knows she’s annoyed with the question.
“No, it’s not about him personally, but more on why I let him fool me so much, why I spent so much time on being his mistress, when I could have done so much more with my life… A smart man once asked me if I thought that I didn’t deserve something better than William Walker and … I’m looking for the answer to that question.”
Holly reminds David of his own words, said a few years ago.
“As long as it is about you and not him…. And just for the record, you did deserve better than him.”
“And I have him now, don't I.” Holly laughs softly.
*****
End of part 2/4
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