(no subject)
Title: Arabian Nights
Author: royal_ivy
Rating: T
Pairing: Charlotte/Violet, Charlotte/Cooper, Pete/Violet
Summary: Violet aquires a new roommate and Charlotte helps Violet work through her issues. Charlotte/Violet Femslash.
Arabian Nights: Part Two
The first thing Charlotte smelled when she awakened from her little dizzy spell was banana. She thought it was odd, but when she felt a slice of that fruit pressed against her lips she opened her mouth and chewed.
“Hungry,” someone asked her.
Her eyes snapped open when she realized someone was actually there and feeding her. God, she was embarrassed.
“Cooper?” she asked. Her vision was still a little blurry.
“Yep. Feeling any better?”
“My head hurts,” she whined.
Cooper smiled at her or at least it looked like he was smiling at her. “That’s because you hit your head pretty hard when you fainted.”
“Passed out,” she corrected. “Fainting is for delicate little pansies.”
“Which you are clearly not,” he said amused. “Here eat some more.” He brought another piece up to her lips. “Go on, eat.”
She finished the banana and then at another, followed by an entire bottle of water.
“Better,” Cooper asked.
“I’m still a little hungry,” she admitted.
“I’ll make you a sandwich. Can you sit up?”
She nodded and then regretted the motion when it made her dizzy.
“Maybe you should stay lying down.”
She closed her eyes as she waited for him to return. She needed food and a good long nap. She wondered if Cooper would be kind enough to take her home because there was no way she could drive without causing an accident.
Cooper returned with a sandwich and fed it to her bite by bite even though she was fully capable of holding the sandwich herself.
“Do you think you could give me a ride home? I don’t have any more patients for the day anyway.”
He cupped her face in his hand and searched her eyes. “No problem.”
0oo0oo0
Violet had ended her day early so that she could get to her appointment on time. She pressed the close door button on the elevator and waited. It went down a floor and the doors opened again to reveal Pete holding Lucas.
“Going home for the day?” He asked.
Lucas turned in her direction and gave her a big toothless baby smile.
“Actually, I’m going to see my therapist.”
Pete looked over at her in surprise. “That’s good.”
Lucas flailed his little arm and reached out toward her. She smiled and let him grab her index finger. “Yeah, I just need a little help,” she admitted.
“You look like you’re doing better,” Pete said while watching her play with Lucas. This was the first time she had shown any interest in her son. Something was happening with Violet. She really was moving forward.
The doors slide open and they walked out to the parking lot together. They didn’t say anything, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. She wanted to ask if she could hold Lucas, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. She dug through her purse for her keys while Pete waited so that he could say good bye.
“Got it,” she exclaimed as she pulled her keys out of the jungle that was the inside of her bag.
Lucas gurgled happily in Pete’s arms and reached his little hand out again, only this time for the keys in her hand. She smiled shyly and jingled the keys for her son.
“I should probably go. I don’t want to be late.”
She looked at Lucas one more time and couldn’t resist placing a kiss on his little chubby cheek. “Bye Lucas. Bye Pete.”
0oo0oo0
When she opened her eyes, Charlotte felt a little disoriented. The sun was shining through the venetian blinds, leaving strips of light and dark on her patterned quilt. It was daytime and she was at home, in her bed and not at work. She couldn’t understand this.
“You passed out. Don’t you remember?”
She jumped back in surprise with her head bashing against the headboard. “Oh shit!”
“Hey, take it easy.”
Once she had gotten over the initial pain, she snapped her head quickly in the direction of the voice. Her eyes, which were wide with fear, only caught a glimpse of someone in sitting in the corner.
“Char, it’s only me.”
She squinted and through hazy vision made out Cooper’s face. If she didn’t have a concussion before, she definitely had one now. She sighed in relief and slide back under her quilt.
“You scared me,” she said with her eyes closed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you okay? It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard.”
She felt him move up onto the bed beside her when she said nothing. Rough hands brushed a few loose stands of hair away from her face and gentle lips placed a kiss on her forehead.
“I passed out,” she mumbled after awhile.
“What?”
She opened her eyes to watch him. “You said I fainted.”
He grinned. “Right, because fainting is for pansies, which you are clearly not.”
She couldn’t stop the small smile that graced her lips. “Right.”
“Are you all right,” he asked her again.
“I don’t know. I think I might have a mild concussion. Maybe.”
He nodded and she allowed him to poke and prod her until he confirmed her diagnosis.
0oo0oo0
When Violet came home, the sun was just beginning to set. The sky was alight with fire reds and oranges. She had just finished her session with her therapist. It went exactly like she thought it would. It was her first session so they just went over what happened to her on that dark day. The memory played over and over again until it became a just a story. Next week they would discuss the current problems she had in depth. She didn’t feel sad or scared after this session, but she didn’t feel joyous either.
She noticed that there was a car in her driveway that belonged to neither her nor Charlotte. She recognized it as Cooper’s, but didn’t understand why he was here.
She entered her house and put her purse and canvas bag down before calling out Cooper’s name. Before he met Charlotte, she used to find him over at her house all the time. She missed those times, but she really missed when Cooper and Charlotte were together in somewhat healthy and stable relationship, when she had the house all to herself.
She figured that he must be upstairs, most likely up to no good. So she went up, checked her bedroom and then Charlotte’s bedroom.
“Oh,” she said when she found him, curled up behind the small sleeping form of her roommate.
Cooper put a finger to his lips urging her to keep silent. She watched as he carefully untangled himself from Charlotte and tip-toed over to the doorway. They moved down to the kitchen so that they could talk without disturbing the sleeping beauty.
“So, are you guys back together or something?” She asked while grabbing two cans of soda from the fridge. She threw one to Cooper who almost nearly dropped it. She chuckled at his clumsiness.
“Don’t let her go to work tomorrow. She has a concussion.”
She let him deflect. “What happened?”
“She fa- passed out today and hit her head. Are you feeding her enough?”
“She’s not a dog Cooper.” She chuckled and then in a more serious tone, “She hasn’t been eating a lot lately and she hasn’t been sleeping well. What did you expect Cooper? You dumped her and you didn’t do it nicely. She’s heartbroken.”
“I know. I just-.” He let out a sigh of frustration and ran a hand over his face. “I screwed everything up. I-I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, at least not a good one. I panicked and I ruined everything.”
She sighed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Do you love her?”
“More than everything.”
“Then fix it.”
0oo0oo0
When Charlotte woke up again, she was curled up against Cooper with her head resting on his chest and his hand stoking her hair. She let out a little sleepy moan and nuzzled his chest with her cheek.
“Violet’s home,” he said above her.
“Hmm.”
“I’m sorry.”
She knew what he was sorry for, but she wanted to hear it so, she stayed silent.
“I’m sorry for what I said to you and the way I treated you. I was a monster Char. Apologizing isn’t enough, but I promise…I’ll fix this. I’ll make it up to you somehow. I love you.”
She sighed. “I love you too, even if you are an idiot.”
He chuckled and she felt it rumble through his chest. “I am a pretty big idiot,” he agreed.
0oo0oo0
Violet waited an hour after Cooper had left to make her way over to Charlotte’s room. She was quite aware that the blonde didn’t need her comfort anymore, now that Cooper and Charlotte had reached some kind of understanding, but she was in need of comfort tonight.
She was tired. She knew she was tired. Her body was tired, her mind was tired and yet she lay in bed for nearly two hours trying not to think about how scared she had felt as Katie laid out the surgical supplies she would use that day or how warm her blood had felt as it pooled around her body, but mostly she tried not to remember how empty she’d felt after Lucas was cut out of her and taken away.
She knocked on the door lightly before letting herself in. The sexologist was in her bed, reading from papers that lay in a manila folder on her lap. She briefly wondered if Charlotte should be sitting up and reading in her condition.
The blonde put away the file and then rolled her eyes as if she knew what Violet was thinking. “I was beginnin’ to think you weren’t coming. Would’ve missed story time sorely,” Charlotte drawled. “It was starting to feel like the Arabian Nights here.”
Violet chuckled. “I’m not your personal Scheherazade. You don’t get a story every night.”
“Then, if I remember the correctly, you’d have to find another way to entertain me if you want live.” The blonde threw in a seductive smile just for good measure.
Violet rolled her eyes, but got in to the bed regardless. She was careful not to look directly into Charlotte’s eyes. She didn’t want the blonde to know that she had regressed. Charlotte stayed silent for a few moments before pulling her into an embrace.
“Guess, I’ll have to tell you a story tonight,” Charlotte murmured above her.
She tried to tell Charlotte that she had that day playing over and over again in her head, but she couldn’t make the words come out right. “I -I went…to my therapist a-and…”
“Shh, just sleep.”
She nodded her head and shut her eyes tightly, but all she could think about was that day and every crappy day that followed after.
“I’m a terrible mom,” she said suddenly “What kind of mom abandons her child?”
“You were just doing what was right for Lucas. You had his best interests at heart. That’s good parenting.”
“He doesn’t even know I’m his mother.”
“It’s not too late. You have time. Now, hush up and go to sleep. I have to get up early for work tomorrow.”
“Charlotte, you have a concussion,” she said incredulously.
“Good Lord,” the blonde exclaimed. “I just had little bump on the head. You and Cooper act like I’ve gone and gotten myself hit by a car or something. Now shut your eyes and go to sleep.”
She didn’t even try this time. She had no intention of slipping into a nightmare.
“You used to hate me,” she said instead.
Charlotte sighed in annoyance. “I used to think you were competition for my boyfriend.”
“Eww.”
Charlotte chuckled. “I know that now.”
“Will you be moving out then, now that you and Cooper are back together?” She held her breath as she waited for Charlotte to reply. She didn’t want to be alone again, even if it meant living with the moody Southern blonde.
Charlotte rubbed her back soothingly. “I’ll be stickin’ around a little longer. I plan on makin’ him work for me. He has a lot to make up for.”
She listened to the blonde talk about herself and Cooper some more and somewhere along the way she fell asleep.
0oo0oo0
It was the screaming that woke Charlotte, not the thrashing around. Beside her, Violet was tangled in the sheets, screaming and moving all about. She could only imagine what horrors Violet was experiencing in her dreams.
“Violet! Violet, wake up!”
The therapist’s eyes snapped open, looking in her direction, but not seeing her. She reached out to try and comfort her roommate, but Violet lashed out at her, hitting her on the face before violently shoving her off the bed. Charlotte landed hard on the wood floor beneath her. She was only lucky that her head didn’t strike the floor for a third time. She cautiously brought a slender hand up to her face to feel the extent of her injuries. She pulled back a hand that was sticky with blood.
She groaned. “God, my nose.”
“Where is he?” Violet shouted from the bed. “Where did she take him?”
Charlotte stayed on the ground for fear of being struck again. She was worried that Violet was stuck in some sort of trance. She wasn’t a therapist. She didn’t know what the procedure was for a situation like this.
“Violet, it’s me, Charlotte. Your roommate. Remember?”
“Charlotte?” Violet said with uncertainty in her voice.
She let out a sigh of relief. This PTSD attack was something she could handle, just not alone.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She wiped away the rivulets of blood that had gotten past her lips and onto her chin. She didn’t think her nose was broken, just extremely bruised. She risked a glance back up at the bed only to see fearful brown eyes peering down at her.
“Where is he?” The therapist asked again.
“Violet, he’s with his father. Lucas is safe and happy and with Pete. You were just having a bad dream. That’s all.”
She hissed in pain and another rivulet of blood dripped down her face and onto her sleeping shirt.
The therapist went silent above, taking her words into consideration.
“You’re bleeding,” Violet said in surprise.
“Yeah, well, you hit me.” She winced. She hadn’t meant for that to come out so snidely.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” Violet’s voice began to tremble and she knew it wouldn’t be long until the therapist started to cry. “I just want Lucas… and Pete. Please, Charlotte?”
She wasn’t sure why Violet was asking her this, but she had to do something to help.
“Can you get me a towel or something? I’ll call Pete. Alright?” She grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand while Violet scurried away to find something to clean off the blood. Thankfully, Pete picked up on the first ring.
“Charlotte?” She heard a groggy voice say.
“You need to come here.”
“Charlotte its two o’clock in the morning.”
“It’s Violet, she needs you and she needs to see Lucas.”
“Why should-.”
“Pete, please. I need help over here.”
He went silent for a moment and then, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She ended the call in time to see a shaken Violet approach her with a wet cloth. The therapist crouched down silently in front of her and began to clean up her face. Violet was gentle, stopping only when she let out another hiss of pain.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it.” She glanced down at the cloth in Violet’s hand. It had turned a brilliant shade of red. Pink tinted droplets of water fell to the floor beside Violet while she waited for the pain to subside.
“I hate this,” the therapist said angrily. “I hate being like this. I didn’t want to be this fucking mess!” The cloth in Violet’s hand began to leak more as her grip tightened on it.
She reached out and took the cloth away from Violet. The therapist slumped over, defeated.
“Vi, it’s okay. Pete and Lucas are comin’ real soon.” Violet said nothing, did nothing. No response at all. She wasn’t sure Violet had even heard her. She sighed and pulled Violet into her arms.
0oo0oo0
Pete didn’t know what he was expecting. Charlotte hadn’t told him much, but what he was not expecting was Charlotte answering the door with dried blood all over the lower portion of her face, wearing a shirt that was also stained with blood.
“What happened to you?” He asked while handing her the diaper bag and stepping into the house.
“Violet had a particularly bad dream.”
He let out a huff of laughter. “I’ll say.”
She glared at him and then set the diaper bag down on the dining room table. Pete watched as she leaned on the table and closed her eyes for a second.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I may be a little concussed too. I passed out earlier today and hit my head.”
He set Lucas down on the floor and moved to the blonde’s side. “Here, let me see.”
Charlotte swatted his hand away. “I’m fine. Cooper took care of me,” she said quickly.
So…you two are back together now?”
“Seems that way.”
“Good,” he said while reaching down for Lucas.
The blonde arched a pale eyebrow in response.
“I mean, I’m happy for you.”
The blonde just smirked at him. He didn’t know how Violet put up with her every day. He heard his son gurgle happily and looked down to see him reaching out to Charlotte. The blonde smiled softly and tousled Lucas’s fine hair. So, maybe she had a sweet side.
“She’s upstairs in my room. Go on up. I’m about to leave soon, give you two some privacy.”
He thanked Charlotte and made his way to Violet. He hoped she was in better shape than Charlotte. He had hoped she was doing better. It seemed like everything was going well. She wanted to better. She was going to a therapist and she was showing interest in their son. He could see progress being made. But now…he just didn’t know.
0oo0oo0
Charlotte didn’t have to punch in Cooper’s number because she had never taken it off her speed dial. She wasn’t going back to him permanently, not yet anyway, but there wasn’t anyone else she would want to stay with.
“Cooper, it’s me. Can you come pick me up?”
“What happened?”
“Just let me come home tonight?”
“Yeah,” he said warmly. “Come home.”
0oo0oo0
Pete scanned the guest room, Charlotte’s room now, but Violet was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if maybe she was hiding in a closet somewhere. To his relief, he found her sitting on the floor with her back against the nightstand.
“You came,” she said in disbelief.
He crouched down to her level and wiped away the fresh tears that were streaming down her face. “Of course I came.” I love you. There was no denying it. No matter how crazy she got, he would always love her.
“I hit Charlotte,” she sniffled.
“I saw,” he chuckled. “Guess she won’t be messing with you anymore.”
She smiled a little at him. He couldn’t help, but think how beautiful she looked when she smiled. Her smile was always so bright and honest.
“Stop that. She’s a good friend. She didn’t even complain.” She paused. “Can I hold Lucas? Can I hold our son, please?”
He nodded yes. “Come on let’s get on the bed first.”
“I had a really bad nightmare,” she told him. “But I’m going to get better Pete. No more crazy head. I can’t live like that anymore. I’m going to get better. And I…I’m going to be a part of Lucas’s life. She almost took him away from me. I-I…”
He shushed her gently and put Lucas in her arms. “You’ve had a long night Violet. You can tell me about it in the morning. You just need to rest and be with your son.”
“And you,” She said timidly. She sounded hopeful. If she was going to make an effort, then he could do the same. He had almost lost faith in her, just almost, but he had never really given up on her. She was always in his heart.
“And me,” he agreed.
“Thank you.”
He watched her gaze down at Lucas and, for the first time since she left her son, recognize him as the precious life that she helped create. He was no longer part of the tragedy that happened that day.
She grinned in earnest as she looked down at their son. “He’s so beautiful,” she said in a voice thick with tears. “I’m so sorry Pete. I’m sorry for everything.”
He searched her eyes and found that she was speaking the truth. He had been waiting for this day, the day were they could start being a family again.
“I know you are, Vi. It’s okay.” He gave her a smile of his own and leaned over to kiss her. “I missed you.”
He sat beside her and watched her talk and play with their son. Lucas’s seemed very happy about it. He was cooing and gurgling and flailing his arms around excitedly. This moment was perfect. He would remember it always.
It was only when Violet yawned that he noticed how fatigued she really was. “Come on you two. It’s time for bed. Is the crib still set up in your room?”
“Yeah.”
When Lucas was all tucked in and he had change into his night clothes, he crawled into bed next to Violet and wrapped his arms around her. She was asleep within seconds and he had a feeling that there would be no more bad dreams for Violet tonight.
Author: royal_ivy
Rating: T
Pairing: Charlotte/Violet, Charlotte/Cooper, Pete/Violet
Summary: Violet aquires a new roommate and Charlotte helps Violet work through her issues. Charlotte/Violet Femslash.
Arabian Nights: Part Two
The first thing Charlotte smelled when she awakened from her little dizzy spell was banana. She thought it was odd, but when she felt a slice of that fruit pressed against her lips she opened her mouth and chewed.
“Hungry,” someone asked her.
Her eyes snapped open when she realized someone was actually there and feeding her. God, she was embarrassed.
“Cooper?” she asked. Her vision was still a little blurry.
“Yep. Feeling any better?”
“My head hurts,” she whined.
Cooper smiled at her or at least it looked like he was smiling at her. “That’s because you hit your head pretty hard when you fainted.”
“Passed out,” she corrected. “Fainting is for delicate little pansies.”
“Which you are clearly not,” he said amused. “Here eat some more.” He brought another piece up to her lips. “Go on, eat.”
She finished the banana and then at another, followed by an entire bottle of water.
“Better,” Cooper asked.
“I’m still a little hungry,” she admitted.
“I’ll make you a sandwich. Can you sit up?”
She nodded and then regretted the motion when it made her dizzy.
“Maybe you should stay lying down.”
She closed her eyes as she waited for him to return. She needed food and a good long nap. She wondered if Cooper would be kind enough to take her home because there was no way she could drive without causing an accident.
Cooper returned with a sandwich and fed it to her bite by bite even though she was fully capable of holding the sandwich herself.
“Do you think you could give me a ride home? I don’t have any more patients for the day anyway.”
He cupped her face in his hand and searched her eyes. “No problem.”
0oo0oo0
Violet had ended her day early so that she could get to her appointment on time. She pressed the close door button on the elevator and waited. It went down a floor and the doors opened again to reveal Pete holding Lucas.
“Going home for the day?” He asked.
Lucas turned in her direction and gave her a big toothless baby smile.
“Actually, I’m going to see my therapist.”
Pete looked over at her in surprise. “That’s good.”
Lucas flailed his little arm and reached out toward her. She smiled and let him grab her index finger. “Yeah, I just need a little help,” she admitted.
“You look like you’re doing better,” Pete said while watching her play with Lucas. This was the first time she had shown any interest in her son. Something was happening with Violet. She really was moving forward.
The doors slide open and they walked out to the parking lot together. They didn’t say anything, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. She wanted to ask if she could hold Lucas, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. She dug through her purse for her keys while Pete waited so that he could say good bye.
“Got it,” she exclaimed as she pulled her keys out of the jungle that was the inside of her bag.
Lucas gurgled happily in Pete’s arms and reached his little hand out again, only this time for the keys in her hand. She smiled shyly and jingled the keys for her son.
“I should probably go. I don’t want to be late.”
She looked at Lucas one more time and couldn’t resist placing a kiss on his little chubby cheek. “Bye Lucas. Bye Pete.”
0oo0oo0
When she opened her eyes, Charlotte felt a little disoriented. The sun was shining through the venetian blinds, leaving strips of light and dark on her patterned quilt. It was daytime and she was at home, in her bed and not at work. She couldn’t understand this.
“You passed out. Don’t you remember?”
She jumped back in surprise with her head bashing against the headboard. “Oh shit!”
“Hey, take it easy.”
Once she had gotten over the initial pain, she snapped her head quickly in the direction of the voice. Her eyes, which were wide with fear, only caught a glimpse of someone in sitting in the corner.
“Char, it’s only me.”
She squinted and through hazy vision made out Cooper’s face. If she didn’t have a concussion before, she definitely had one now. She sighed in relief and slide back under her quilt.
“You scared me,” she said with her eyes closed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you okay? It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard.”
She felt him move up onto the bed beside her when she said nothing. Rough hands brushed a few loose stands of hair away from her face and gentle lips placed a kiss on her forehead.
“I passed out,” she mumbled after awhile.
“What?”
She opened her eyes to watch him. “You said I fainted.”
He grinned. “Right, because fainting is for pansies, which you are clearly not.”
She couldn’t stop the small smile that graced her lips. “Right.”
“Are you all right,” he asked her again.
“I don’t know. I think I might have a mild concussion. Maybe.”
He nodded and she allowed him to poke and prod her until he confirmed her diagnosis.
0oo0oo0
When Violet came home, the sun was just beginning to set. The sky was alight with fire reds and oranges. She had just finished her session with her therapist. It went exactly like she thought it would. It was her first session so they just went over what happened to her on that dark day. The memory played over and over again until it became a just a story. Next week they would discuss the current problems she had in depth. She didn’t feel sad or scared after this session, but she didn’t feel joyous either.
She noticed that there was a car in her driveway that belonged to neither her nor Charlotte. She recognized it as Cooper’s, but didn’t understand why he was here.
She entered her house and put her purse and canvas bag down before calling out Cooper’s name. Before he met Charlotte, she used to find him over at her house all the time. She missed those times, but she really missed when Cooper and Charlotte were together in somewhat healthy and stable relationship, when she had the house all to herself.
She figured that he must be upstairs, most likely up to no good. So she went up, checked her bedroom and then Charlotte’s bedroom.
“Oh,” she said when she found him, curled up behind the small sleeping form of her roommate.
Cooper put a finger to his lips urging her to keep silent. She watched as he carefully untangled himself from Charlotte and tip-toed over to the doorway. They moved down to the kitchen so that they could talk without disturbing the sleeping beauty.
“So, are you guys back together or something?” She asked while grabbing two cans of soda from the fridge. She threw one to Cooper who almost nearly dropped it. She chuckled at his clumsiness.
“Don’t let her go to work tomorrow. She has a concussion.”
She let him deflect. “What happened?”
“She fa- passed out today and hit her head. Are you feeding her enough?”
“She’s not a dog Cooper.” She chuckled and then in a more serious tone, “She hasn’t been eating a lot lately and she hasn’t been sleeping well. What did you expect Cooper? You dumped her and you didn’t do it nicely. She’s heartbroken.”
“I know. I just-.” He let out a sigh of frustration and ran a hand over his face. “I screwed everything up. I-I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, at least not a good one. I panicked and I ruined everything.”
She sighed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Do you love her?”
“More than everything.”
“Then fix it.”
0oo0oo0
When Charlotte woke up again, she was curled up against Cooper with her head resting on his chest and his hand stoking her hair. She let out a little sleepy moan and nuzzled his chest with her cheek.
“Violet’s home,” he said above her.
“Hmm.”
“I’m sorry.”
She knew what he was sorry for, but she wanted to hear it so, she stayed silent.
“I’m sorry for what I said to you and the way I treated you. I was a monster Char. Apologizing isn’t enough, but I promise…I’ll fix this. I’ll make it up to you somehow. I love you.”
She sighed. “I love you too, even if you are an idiot.”
He chuckled and she felt it rumble through his chest. “I am a pretty big idiot,” he agreed.
0oo0oo0
Violet waited an hour after Cooper had left to make her way over to Charlotte’s room. She was quite aware that the blonde didn’t need her comfort anymore, now that Cooper and Charlotte had reached some kind of understanding, but she was in need of comfort tonight.
She was tired. She knew she was tired. Her body was tired, her mind was tired and yet she lay in bed for nearly two hours trying not to think about how scared she had felt as Katie laid out the surgical supplies she would use that day or how warm her blood had felt as it pooled around her body, but mostly she tried not to remember how empty she’d felt after Lucas was cut out of her and taken away.
She knocked on the door lightly before letting herself in. The sexologist was in her bed, reading from papers that lay in a manila folder on her lap. She briefly wondered if Charlotte should be sitting up and reading in her condition.
The blonde put away the file and then rolled her eyes as if she knew what Violet was thinking. “I was beginnin’ to think you weren’t coming. Would’ve missed story time sorely,” Charlotte drawled. “It was starting to feel like the Arabian Nights here.”
Violet chuckled. “I’m not your personal Scheherazade. You don’t get a story every night.”
“Then, if I remember the correctly, you’d have to find another way to entertain me if you want live.” The blonde threw in a seductive smile just for good measure.
Violet rolled her eyes, but got in to the bed regardless. She was careful not to look directly into Charlotte’s eyes. She didn’t want the blonde to know that she had regressed. Charlotte stayed silent for a few moments before pulling her into an embrace.
“Guess, I’ll have to tell you a story tonight,” Charlotte murmured above her.
She tried to tell Charlotte that she had that day playing over and over again in her head, but she couldn’t make the words come out right. “I -I went…to my therapist a-and…”
“Shh, just sleep.”
She nodded her head and shut her eyes tightly, but all she could think about was that day and every crappy day that followed after.
“I’m a terrible mom,” she said suddenly “What kind of mom abandons her child?”
“You were just doing what was right for Lucas. You had his best interests at heart. That’s good parenting.”
“He doesn’t even know I’m his mother.”
“It’s not too late. You have time. Now, hush up and go to sleep. I have to get up early for work tomorrow.”
“Charlotte, you have a concussion,” she said incredulously.
“Good Lord,” the blonde exclaimed. “I just had little bump on the head. You and Cooper act like I’ve gone and gotten myself hit by a car or something. Now shut your eyes and go to sleep.”
She didn’t even try this time. She had no intention of slipping into a nightmare.
“You used to hate me,” she said instead.
Charlotte sighed in annoyance. “I used to think you were competition for my boyfriend.”
“Eww.”
Charlotte chuckled. “I know that now.”
“Will you be moving out then, now that you and Cooper are back together?” She held her breath as she waited for Charlotte to reply. She didn’t want to be alone again, even if it meant living with the moody Southern blonde.
Charlotte rubbed her back soothingly. “I’ll be stickin’ around a little longer. I plan on makin’ him work for me. He has a lot to make up for.”
She listened to the blonde talk about herself and Cooper some more and somewhere along the way she fell asleep.
0oo0oo0
It was the screaming that woke Charlotte, not the thrashing around. Beside her, Violet was tangled in the sheets, screaming and moving all about. She could only imagine what horrors Violet was experiencing in her dreams.
“Violet! Violet, wake up!”
The therapist’s eyes snapped open, looking in her direction, but not seeing her. She reached out to try and comfort her roommate, but Violet lashed out at her, hitting her on the face before violently shoving her off the bed. Charlotte landed hard on the wood floor beneath her. She was only lucky that her head didn’t strike the floor for a third time. She cautiously brought a slender hand up to her face to feel the extent of her injuries. She pulled back a hand that was sticky with blood.
She groaned. “God, my nose.”
“Where is he?” Violet shouted from the bed. “Where did she take him?”
Charlotte stayed on the ground for fear of being struck again. She was worried that Violet was stuck in some sort of trance. She wasn’t a therapist. She didn’t know what the procedure was for a situation like this.
“Violet, it’s me, Charlotte. Your roommate. Remember?”
“Charlotte?” Violet said with uncertainty in her voice.
She let out a sigh of relief. This PTSD attack was something she could handle, just not alone.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She wiped away the rivulets of blood that had gotten past her lips and onto her chin. She didn’t think her nose was broken, just extremely bruised. She risked a glance back up at the bed only to see fearful brown eyes peering down at her.
“Where is he?” The therapist asked again.
“Violet, he’s with his father. Lucas is safe and happy and with Pete. You were just having a bad dream. That’s all.”
She hissed in pain and another rivulet of blood dripped down her face and onto her sleeping shirt.
The therapist went silent above, taking her words into consideration.
“You’re bleeding,” Violet said in surprise.
“Yeah, well, you hit me.” She winced. She hadn’t meant for that to come out so snidely.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” Violet’s voice began to tremble and she knew it wouldn’t be long until the therapist started to cry. “I just want Lucas… and Pete. Please, Charlotte?”
She wasn’t sure why Violet was asking her this, but she had to do something to help.
“Can you get me a towel or something? I’ll call Pete. Alright?” She grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand while Violet scurried away to find something to clean off the blood. Thankfully, Pete picked up on the first ring.
“Charlotte?” She heard a groggy voice say.
“You need to come here.”
“Charlotte its two o’clock in the morning.”
“It’s Violet, she needs you and she needs to see Lucas.”
“Why should-.”
“Pete, please. I need help over here.”
He went silent for a moment and then, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She ended the call in time to see a shaken Violet approach her with a wet cloth. The therapist crouched down silently in front of her and began to clean up her face. Violet was gentle, stopping only when she let out another hiss of pain.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it.” She glanced down at the cloth in Violet’s hand. It had turned a brilliant shade of red. Pink tinted droplets of water fell to the floor beside Violet while she waited for the pain to subside.
“I hate this,” the therapist said angrily. “I hate being like this. I didn’t want to be this fucking mess!” The cloth in Violet’s hand began to leak more as her grip tightened on it.
She reached out and took the cloth away from Violet. The therapist slumped over, defeated.
“Vi, it’s okay. Pete and Lucas are comin’ real soon.” Violet said nothing, did nothing. No response at all. She wasn’t sure Violet had even heard her. She sighed and pulled Violet into her arms.
0oo0oo0
Pete didn’t know what he was expecting. Charlotte hadn’t told him much, but what he was not expecting was Charlotte answering the door with dried blood all over the lower portion of her face, wearing a shirt that was also stained with blood.
“What happened to you?” He asked while handing her the diaper bag and stepping into the house.
“Violet had a particularly bad dream.”
He let out a huff of laughter. “I’ll say.”
She glared at him and then set the diaper bag down on the dining room table. Pete watched as she leaned on the table and closed her eyes for a second.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I may be a little concussed too. I passed out earlier today and hit my head.”
He set Lucas down on the floor and moved to the blonde’s side. “Here, let me see.”
Charlotte swatted his hand away. “I’m fine. Cooper took care of me,” she said quickly.
So…you two are back together now?”
“Seems that way.”
“Good,” he said while reaching down for Lucas.
The blonde arched a pale eyebrow in response.
“I mean, I’m happy for you.”
The blonde just smirked at him. He didn’t know how Violet put up with her every day. He heard his son gurgle happily and looked down to see him reaching out to Charlotte. The blonde smiled softly and tousled Lucas’s fine hair. So, maybe she had a sweet side.
“She’s upstairs in my room. Go on up. I’m about to leave soon, give you two some privacy.”
He thanked Charlotte and made his way to Violet. He hoped she was in better shape than Charlotte. He had hoped she was doing better. It seemed like everything was going well. She wanted to better. She was going to a therapist and she was showing interest in their son. He could see progress being made. But now…he just didn’t know.
0oo0oo0
Charlotte didn’t have to punch in Cooper’s number because she had never taken it off her speed dial. She wasn’t going back to him permanently, not yet anyway, but there wasn’t anyone else she would want to stay with.
“Cooper, it’s me. Can you come pick me up?”
“What happened?”
“Just let me come home tonight?”
“Yeah,” he said warmly. “Come home.”
0oo0oo0
Pete scanned the guest room, Charlotte’s room now, but Violet was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if maybe she was hiding in a closet somewhere. To his relief, he found her sitting on the floor with her back against the nightstand.
“You came,” she said in disbelief.
He crouched down to her level and wiped away the fresh tears that were streaming down her face. “Of course I came.” I love you. There was no denying it. No matter how crazy she got, he would always love her.
“I hit Charlotte,” she sniffled.
“I saw,” he chuckled. “Guess she won’t be messing with you anymore.”
She smiled a little at him. He couldn’t help, but think how beautiful she looked when she smiled. Her smile was always so bright and honest.
“Stop that. She’s a good friend. She didn’t even complain.” She paused. “Can I hold Lucas? Can I hold our son, please?”
He nodded yes. “Come on let’s get on the bed first.”
“I had a really bad nightmare,” she told him. “But I’m going to get better Pete. No more crazy head. I can’t live like that anymore. I’m going to get better. And I…I’m going to be a part of Lucas’s life. She almost took him away from me. I-I…”
He shushed her gently and put Lucas in her arms. “You’ve had a long night Violet. You can tell me about it in the morning. You just need to rest and be with your son.”
“And you,” She said timidly. She sounded hopeful. If she was going to make an effort, then he could do the same. He had almost lost faith in her, just almost, but he had never really given up on her. She was always in his heart.
“And me,” he agreed.
“Thank you.”
He watched her gaze down at Lucas and, for the first time since she left her son, recognize him as the precious life that she helped create. He was no longer part of the tragedy that happened that day.
She grinned in earnest as she looked down at their son. “He’s so beautiful,” she said in a voice thick with tears. “I’m so sorry Pete. I’m sorry for everything.”
He searched her eyes and found that she was speaking the truth. He had been waiting for this day, the day were they could start being a family again.
“I know you are, Vi. It’s okay.” He gave her a smile of his own and leaned over to kiss her. “I missed you.”
He sat beside her and watched her talk and play with their son. Lucas’s seemed very happy about it. He was cooing and gurgling and flailing his arms around excitedly. This moment was perfect. He would remember it always.
It was only when Violet yawned that he noticed how fatigued she really was. “Come on you two. It’s time for bed. Is the crib still set up in your room?”
“Yeah.”
When Lucas was all tucked in and he had change into his night clothes, he crawled into bed next to Violet and wrapped his arms around her. She was asleep within seconds and he had a feeling that there would be no more bad dreams for Violet tonight.