Chapter Three-Hundred-Thirteen
When Nick and Angel walked out onto the playground they discovered everybody but Ashley, Brian, and Riley still sitting under the shade of the tree content in their conversations but not too content that they don’t know what’s going on with the children around them. Nick raised his eyebrow. He knows Brian and Riley aren’t supposed to be there as they had dropped the boys off quite awhile ago and gone to fight for Riley’s freedom. But Ashley on the other hand is not where he left her. He glanced over at the play structure to the spot they’d deemed their ‘sacred’ spot only to find it empty. Angel who sensed her brother’s stress rolled her eyes amusedly.
“She’s over in the sandbox calm down Nick.” Nick looked over at the sandbox and sure enough there was his girlfriend lying in it on her back next to Dakota who was building a sand castle and Bella is sitting next to them in her car seat clearly enjoying the beautiful day as much as everybody else. Nick immediately relaxed upon seeing this.
“I knew that…I wasn’t worrying.”
“Liar” Angel laughed. “I know you Nick, I’ve memorized the way you act when you are around her or when you are thinking about her you can’t fool me.”
“You’ve memorized the way I act around her huh?” Nick asked amusedly. “Usually people are repulsed by how lovey dovey we are.”
“They only pretend they are,” Angel informed. “Mostly because they’re jealous sometimes. You and Ashley are like something out of a fairytale sometimes.”
“Nuh uh” Nick laughed.
“Yes huh. Why do you think Dakota is so fascinated with your relationship? That girl is all about fairytales.”
“I think she might also be all about Ashley being her mom too” Nick informed.
“That too,” Angel replied while patting Nick on the back and she walked off to join the others leaving Nick alone to go see his girlfriend. Nick went over to the sandbox then doing just that and he stood in front of her looking down at her. Sensing his presence and seeing the sun go away behind her closed eyelids Ashley opened her eyes and smiled up at him some before motioning him to join her with her finger.
“Come here tall blonde and handsome I miss you,” she pleaded.
“I wasn’t gone for that long,” he chuckled and he allowed her to take hold of his hands and pull him down on top of her before he slid his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against hers.
“Seemed like it to me,” Ashley insisted as she rubbed her finger lightly over his cheek. “Now how come you went in with one twin and came out with the other, hmm?”
“I got tired of the other one and thought I would take the nice one instead.”
“Aaron is really being a pain in the butt lately isn’t he?”
“He is the very definition of it.” Ashley giggled.
“Yeah?”
“Mhm. When you look up pain in the butt in the dictionary you’ll see Aaron’s name under it.”
“Younger siblings…gotta love them. I drove Kori crazy when I was little.”
“I am under the impression that you still do sometimes” Nick laughed.
“Well hey it’s my job as the younger sibling to bug.”
“Yeah, yeah” Nick smirked and he leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly over hers. Ashley brought her hands up and placed them at the back of his head as she kissed him back.
~*~*~*~*~
“Jooosh” Chris whined while suddenly walking up to his best friend and brother who was lying in the grass under a tree with Elenore lying contently on top of him – exactly where she had tackled him the moment he and Chris stepped out onto the playground just two hours earlier. Her head is rested against his chest, her arms are wrapped around him and she is sound asleep and has been for awhile.
“Hmm?” Josh asked as he lay there quietly twisting and untwisting a strand of her hair around his finger.
“I’m bored.”
“So go play with Spencer then.”
“Is there any chance you could wake her up now? She’s been sleeping for two hours and I want you to play with us.” Josh raised his eyebrow.
“Since when do you tell time?”
“Simple – I asked Kevin and he told me.”
“I can’t wake her up Chris, she spent all morning throwing a tantrum. She’s worn out.”
“And that’s our fault because…”
“She needs me” was all Josh said.
“And what if I need my brother?”
“Aww…would you like to cuddle too?” Josh teased and Chris made a face.
“Yick!”
“Well then, you don’t need me that much do you?” Chris scowled.
“Come on Chris quit being a baby. You woke up this morning with me right down the hall and Ellie woke up in a completely different house. Be reasonable.”
“Well maybe it’s high time she got used to it!”
“She’s not the only one with the problem Christopher. You just don’t understand.”
“Well I’m sorry I wasn’t kidnapped along side you and her,” Chris told him sarcastically.
“No you’re not. Trust me you’re lucky you weren’t.” Chris looked away stubbornly.
“Come on Chris get over this already. You have no reason to be jealous. Why can’t you just understand Ellie and I need each other badly?”
“You are not allowed to be telling me off for being jealous Josh” Chris told him icily and he turned around and stormed off. Josh watched him go over and join Spencer and he rolled his eyes and looked down at Elenore silently telling himself he will be talking to him again in an hour or so like nothing ever happened. He rested his forehead against Elenore’s then hugged her close to him affectionately and closed his eyes before soon drifting off to sleep as well.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile Brandon and Doctor Johnson walked into the Orphanage after a long breakfast break and they ran into Jennifer in the lobby. She raised her eyebrow upon seeing Doctor Johnson walk into the building so late when normally he would be there before the sun rises.
“Hey Doctor Johnson, what are you doing coming in so late for? That’s unlike you,” She questioned very formally instead of calling him Steve like he requested of her.
“Brandon and I went out to breakfast – please, call me Steve.”
“That’s nice. What’d you have?”
“Pancakes and bacon. It was pretty good. What are you up to?”
“I’m actually headed to talk to Brooke right now – another child is arriving later and I’m supposed to be their caregiver since I no longer have Chris.”
“Ohh…cool. I’ll have to come by and meet him or her later,” Doctor Johnson smiled.
“I’m sure you’ll be too busy to come by here, so maybe I will bring them up there. See you later Doctor Johnson” she smiled and she turned and walked off. Doctor Johnson grimaced and looked at Brandon who was standing there looking back at him sympathetically.
“I suppose I deserve that.” Brandon wrapped his arm around his shoulders then and turned him toward the hospital wing.
“She really likes daisies” he informed. “Why don’t you order some and have them sent to her?”
“How is it that you always know what people like?”
“I’m an artist, I see things bro – and listen too.” When they got up to the hospital wing Doctor Johnson handed Annabelle’s box of food to Brandon.
“Take that to Anna for me will you? I’m going to take your advice.”
“Okay but Steve”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t make the card say I’m sorry you’ve said that one too many times – they would just be made out to be empty words.”
“So what do I say then?”
“Your eyes are like diamonds, your smile like the sun. When I’m with you life is fun” Brandon answered after a moment of thinking about it. Doctor Johnson raised his eyebrow.
“It’s from one of my poems.”
“You didn’t write it for Peyton did you?”
“Nope. Its not for anybody – actually it’s for Jennifer from you.”
“Thanks” Doctor Johnson replied. “Now go give Anna her food. And tell her I’ll be right there.”
“Will do” Brandon smiled and he turned and disappeared inside Annabelle’s room and Doctor Johnson went to the gift shop. When Doctor Johnson got in there he browsed around for a bit and suddenly spotted a nice vase with a Bouquet of daisies that come in yellow, orange, white and pink. He picked that out and brought it to the counter and the Gift Shop owner put a small card in it that reads the words Brandon told him to write. When he paid for the flowers and had them in his hand he brought them out to the front desk.
“Hey Cyndi is it possible that you could get someone to run these down to Jennifer for me?” Cyndi smiled at him knowingly.
“I can do it for you myself I was just about to go on my break anyway.”
“Great thanks” Doctor Johnson smiled and he handed the daisies over to her and he turned around and walked off toward Annabelle’s room. When he got in there Annabelle smiled upon seeing him causing him to smile too.
“Hey you, how are you feeling?”
“Pretty good.”
“Did you get any sleep while we were gone? You just came out of a nasty coma you should be getting as much rest as you can.”
“I did have a little nap earlier, but I feel fine” Annabelle reassured.
“Well I have never seen such a fast recovery before, this is amazing” Doctor Johnson informed. “A full Recovery for coma patients are usually a gradual process. In the mildest cases it takes hours but in the worst cases it can take up to months…or even years. Some people improve only to a point and never regain awareness of their surroundings.”
“Maybe Anna is under the mild category then.”
“In between mild and worst. I expected her to take at least a week before she was aware and conscious like this.”
“Well then maybe someone from above really needed her alive and well for some reason” Brandon suggested while looking at his brother. “Maybe there is a reason she came out of her coma.”
“Or maybe I’ve just never been known to dawdle. I’ve always been early for everything – early birth, early to meetings and events…that’s just me” Anna smiled, not wanting the brothers to linger on Brandon’s suggestion. She doesn’t want to talk about it because she knows it’s true and she’s been wondering about it all morning but she’s been told not to tell Steve until the time is right. Whatever that means…she was told she would just know. How is she supposed to know though? Will she get a feeling? She doesn’t understand. She has half a mind to just go on ahead and tell him this very moment, but she can’t do that. She can’t ignore Kayline’s wishes; she made it very clear she doesn’t want him to know until the time is right. And Kayline seems very special to Steve and Brandon so she wants to honor her wishes the best way she can. So she’ll wait until the right moment and hope to god that she’ll know when that is. Suddenly the door to the room opened and Annabelle, Brandon, and Doctor Johnson all three turned to look and saw Peyton walking in.
“Hey you” Brandon smiled and he got up and went over to her. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him before brushing his lips lightly over hers. “What are you doing here?”
“I ran into Cyndi earlier and she said you were up here. I haven’t seen you yet today so I thought Id come find you.”
“Yeah I’m sorry I didn’t come see you yet, I was spending the morning with my brother.”
“It’s all right” Peyton smiled and she looked over his shoulder at Annabelle who was sitting in her bed watching them with a small smile on her face. She can just feel the obvious connection between Brandon and Peyton. He really loves her.
“You must be Annabelle,” She guessed and Brandon turned and brought her more into the room.
“Yeah I’m Annabelle and you are…”
“This is Peyton my girlfriend” Brandon introduced.
“It’s nice to meet you” Annabelle smiled.
“It’s nice to finally meet you too. I’m glad to see you are okay Steve was pretty worried about you.”
“Was he?” Annabelle asked while looking over at Doctor Johnson and he looked down at his hands while blushing slightly.
“Yeah sometimes he would come up here and sit by your bedside all day long just talking to you” Peyton replied and Annabelle smiled at Doctor Johnson who was now giving Peyton a ‘thanks a lot you can stop now’ kind of look. Peyton taking the hint smirked and looked at Brandon.
“So Brandon the whole gang and I are going out to lunch a little later to celebrate Riley’s divorce do you want to come with us?”
“Of course” Brandon replied while planting a kiss on her cheek and he looked at Annabelle.
“Well I think I’m going to let Peyton steal me away for awhile. I will see you later Anna”
“See ya” Annabelle replied and Brandon pulled Peyton out of the room and Annabelle looked at an embarrassed Doctor Johnson.
“Why are they celebrating a divorce?” she asked.
“The assistant mistress of the orphanage just went to court today to try and get out of a nasty marriage. Her husband wouldn’t sign the divorce papers just to torture her and she’s in love with and wants to marry someone else. That’s basically the story in a nutshell.”
“Ah,” Anna replied with deep understanding. “Ex’s can be tough.”
“I noticed you aren’t wearing a wedding ring…but have been married once before. I don’t want to be nosey or anything…but what happened? I can’t imagine someone wanting to leave you.”
“Basically…he cheated on me and left us. Moved to a completely different state, had another child, created an entirely new life and wants nothing to do with Julie at all.” Doctor Johnson frowned.
“I can’t imagine anyone not wanting that sweet little girl. I’ve known her for only a month and I already adore her.” Annabelle smiled a little despite the painful memory of being hurt.
“It seems to me that you’ve become a very important person in my family’s life while I was ‘gone’.” Doctor Johnson felt his face go warm as he blushed another shade of crimson red and looked down at his hands again and Annabelle laughed amusedly.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. I’m grateful” she insisted. “They say nothing but great things about you. It makes me happy that they had someone here to help them through all of this.”
“I felt that I had to be. It was my responsibility to make sure you woke up.”
“Because of Kayline?” Annabelle asked the obvious. She already knew this answer just from watching him in the vision on the wall in the Tree House and from the things Kayline told her and the way he’d been crying for her earlier that morning. He’s been holding a lot of guilt.
“Yeah,” Doctor Johnson admitted.
“It wasn’t your fault you know,” Annabelle reassured, reaching out and touching his hand as it was rested on her bed. “There wasn’t anything you could do. You were just a kid…and Kayline still thinks highly of you even as an angel in Heaven.”
“Well I don’t know if I will ever fully get over that guilt…but it helps knowing that she sent you back with that message.”
“Well I’m glad I was able to help” Annabelle smiled and Doctor Johnson smiled too upon seeing her smile, suddenly aware of just how contagious her smile is.
~*~*~*~*~
“Sooo…do I sense a little romance going on between doctor and coma patient?” Peyton asked Brandon as they walked aimlessly through the hallways of Ramsey with no real destination in particular – arm linked with arm and completely lost in conversation. “I’ve never seen him go that red before in all the years I’ve known him.” Brandon chuckled.
“Me neither, and yes, there is definitely a strong connection and it’s not just about Kayline either. But he is in complete denial and still thinks it’s going to work out with Jennifer.”
“Jennifer hasn’t even talked to him in weeks though.”
“She did today,” Brandon informed. “She was pissed off at him though – she is definitely pulling the indifferent card on him. She is being formal and everything and calling him by Doctor Johnson. I hinted to him that she likes daisies and he had some sent to her in hopes that, that will help.”
“Well as much as Annabelle and Steve have a connection he can’t very well just ditch Jennifer entirely…he should at least wait it out and see if there is still something there before he jumps on the Annabelle wagon. It’s only fair to both of them because I can just see a triangle forming there.”
“Yeah…don’t get me wrong I love Jennifer, she is a great friend, and her and I have become pretty close – I talk to her a lot more then Steve ever did. But he’s just hurt her so much and then there are these feelings for Annabelle that he doesn’t yet know about, I just don’t want her to get hurt even more.”
“I think we need to see where Jennifer’s heart is at before we start pushing Anna on him okay?” Peyton asked while looking up at her boyfriend seriously.
“Yeah I know believe me. I’m not pushing Anna on him at all because I have a very strong feeling it’s going to eventually happen on its own.” Peyton nodded.
“As all relationships should happen.”
“Not necessarily” Brandon grinned. “In some cases they tend to need a tiny little push.” Peyton looked up at him curiously.
“Sometimes one could be deeply stricken by the other’s beauty that it makes them incapable of knowing what to say or do to get their attention so they need a little nudge from their best friends to do what they have to do.”
“I will be forever grateful to the best friend that nudged my boyfriend in my direction” Peyton promised as she rested her head against his shoulder. Brandon smirked and suddenly stopped walking before gently pressing Peyton’s back up against the wall and he cupped her cheek in his hand before leaning forward and brushing his lips lightly over hers.
~*~*~*~*~
“Going somewhere?” Kori asked Scott as she stepped into his doorway and saw him grabbing his wallet and he has on shoes and everything.
“Is that okay with you? Should I have asked your permission first?” Kori rolled her eyes.
“It was just a question Scott no need to be an ass about it.”
“Yes I am going somewhere. I want to go…shopping.”
“Have you seen our son?”
“He, Josh, Chris, Ellie, Sarah, and Dakota were all playing Ninja Turtles. Last time I saw them they were going into Nick and Ashley’s room.”
“Well they aren’t there now and I’ve looked all over the place.”
“Nick says Kota likes to play up in the air vents. They’re probably up there using them as sewers.”
“But we don’t know that for sure do we and the cameras don’t go up there.” Scott crossed the room to his ex then and he gently cupped her face in his hands.
“Kori calm down. Marcus and Q are blocking the doors and there are cameras everywhere else. There is no way they could’ve gotten out of this building.”
“I don’t like not knowing where he is at all times Scott.”
“I know. I know…but I’m sure he is fine. They had walkie-talkies in their hands…why don’t you go ask Nick if there are any extras? Then he could contact them on those” he suggested, rubbing his forefinger over her cheek soothingly.
“Kay…”
“Do you want me to stay here until you find out he is up there and okay?”
“No…I’ll be fine. Go ahead and go” Kori told him while pulling away. “But Scott?”
“Hmm?”
“Take a bodyguard with you.”
“Nah, I’ll be okay. I’m going to the store where there will be lots of people.”
“That didn’t stop them the last time, now did it?”
“No but I can take care of myself Kor, I was part of them once too you know.”
“No need to remind me…”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Scott please don’t be such a guy…ask for help.”
“Worried about me much?”
“So what if I am? You are my kid’s father I have a right to worry.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Please Scott…I have a bad feeling.”
“Everything will be okay, you are just worried about our son that’s all it is. Go find Nick and he’ll contact them on an extra walkie-talkie.”
“I am worried about all of the bastards out there! You and I both know what they’re capable of I am begging you please don’t leave here without protection.”
“I’ll be fine,” Scott told her one last time and he kissed her on the cheek. “You worry too much. You can call me every thirty minutes on my cell phone if you need to but I really need to go out alone this time.” He insisted, and he gently pushed past her and walked out of the room. Kori shook her head, silently cursed her stupid ex-boyfriend and she turned and walked out of the room too and she went looking for Nick.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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