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Part XIII

Marshall carried the shaking body in his arms up the stairs, all the while talking softly to her.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, you’re fine, your out of the water,” he repeated a few times. He took her to her room and carefully set her down on her bed so that she could sit up. He squatted down in front of her to look up into her scared face.
“Coral, hey, how you doing?” he asked, pushing some of the strands of wet hair out of her face. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head, her whole body shivering.
“You took quite a fall out there huh?” Marshall didn’t know why he kept talking but he knew he had to say something, make sure she knew that he was there for her. He pulled the comforter up off the bed and draped it around her shoulders, pulling it tight around her.
“That better?” he asked. But she still didn’t respond. She remained shaking, her eyes glassy as she sat there. He didn’t know what to do. She was probably in shock.
The first thing he thought to do was call Turkey. Turkey would know. And an ambulance, just in case.
“Hey Turkey? Hi, it’s Marshall. Look, I’m gonna need you to come over.”
“Is Coral all right?”
“No, I don’t think so. The guys didn’t know she couldn’t swim and they threw her in the pool, I got her out, she’s breathing, but I think she might be in shock or something.”
“I’ll be right there. But call an ambulance just to have them check her out.”
“They’re already on their way.”

Marshall sat with Coral until the paramedics arrived and then he was ushered out of the room. Turkey arrived not long after and she went in to see her sister.
While he waited he went into the living room, still wearing his wet clothes, where the guys had assembled.
“Is she okay?” Bizarre asked sheepishly.
“I don’t know. She’s just sitting up there, shivering, not saying a word. And what the fuck is wrong with you people! You don’t take someone you don’t know, and throw them in a fucking pool! When you don’t know if they can swim!” Marshall’s anger suddenly flooded him and he fell into his rage good and fast.
“And who the fuck ignores a person when they are fucking drowning!”
“Man, we thought she was joking, we didn’t know,” Proof said quietly.
“Oh that’s a good enough excuse now isn’t it? While she’s up there, scared to fucking death! You know, the whole reason she won’t even step into a bath tub, is because she nearly drowned, nearly died when she was a kid. She almost died, she’s terrified of water, but you wouldn’t know that, cause you’re too fucking busy being assholes!” No one disagreed with him. They all knew he was right and they were all guilty because they had sat back and let them do it to her.
“Marshall?” he turned around and saw Turkey in the entryway.
“Hey, how is she?” he asked stepping out to met her.
“They said she’s definitely in shock, and they don’t know exactly how long it’s going to last. I called her regular doctor and he said just to give her some sleeping pills and see how she is in the morning.”
“You can stay here as long as you want,” Marshall said immediately.
“Thanks.” The paramedics came down the stairs and spoke to Turkey before they left.
“We gave her a sedative, and she did come around a bit. She was able to tell us what happened, but she’s still shaky. Just keep an eye on her and make sure to call her regular physician in the morning.” Turkey nodded to them and they left.
They stood there in the foyer waiting for someone to say something.
“Um, I’m gonna go get changed,” Marshall said awkwardly. Turkey nodded and before he left asked,
“Could you check in on her?” He nodded and turned to go upstairs and get some clothes.

Marshall quickly changed and then knocked on Coral’s door to make sure he wasn’t intruding.
“Come in,” she called softly.
Marshall opened the door and stepped inside to find her sitting on the edge of her bed combing her wet hair.
“Hey, how you feeling?”
“Freaked out,” she replied setting the hairbrush in her lap and looking up at him.
“That’s a little better, at least your talking now, mind if I?” he asked motioning beside the bed.
“No go ahead.” He sat down and looked over at her.
“You gonna be okay?”
“I think so, though don’t expect any meals out on the patio any time soon.” Marshall had to chuckle.
“I reamed the guys out for throwing you in the pool.”
“It’s all right, they didn’t know.” They were silent for a second.
“Hey, you saved my life,” she said looking over at him. He nodded.
“I guess so.”
“You’re kinda like my hero you know? Give me a job, place to live, save me from drowning. You gonna expect my first born child out of this?”He smiled slightly and then felt his chest tightening again. Another kid or two, that might be nice.
“I didn’t do anything special,” Marshall started.
“Yeah you did. You’ve done for me than my entire family ever has. And if I don’t say it enough, I want to say thank you, and I mean that, from the bottom of my heart.” Marshall felt those words deep inside of him and despite how much he hated his singing voice he felt like doing it right now. Screw being a big old macho man, screw being a rapper. He liked the girl dammit, and so what if they were married and getting a divorce? That wasn’t a reason to deny anything.
Before he could say anything else she was hugging him and willingly he put his arms around her, holding her tight.
“You’re one of the few people I feel safe with. You literally saved my life Marshall,” she said while they were still hugging. Marshall could have fallen apart at that moment.
As soon as it happened, it ended. They pulled apart and she smiled at him.
“Why don’t you get some rest, huh?” he asked, pushing a stand of wet hair behind her ear.
“All right,” she nodded as he stood up off the bed. He turned towards the door and heard her one more time,
“Marshall, really, thanks, for everything.” He didn’t turn, but nodded and replied,
“Your welcome.”

“Marshall, could we talk for a minute?” Turkey asked when he came back downstairs.
“Yeah, come on, in the kitchen, I’ll fix you a plate,” he replied leading the way.
“Thanks, how was she?” Turkey asked as she took Coral’s usual spot at the counter while Marshall went to the refrigerator.
“Well, she’s talking and even made a joke, so I’d say pretty good.” Turkey let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh thank god. I was really worried that she’d be like the first time.”
“What happened?”
“Well the first time, I’m assuming she told you about the beach, and almost drowning, right?”
“Yeah, she blacked out under the water right?”
“Yeah. But after, you know, once she was out of the hospital, she didn’t talk for about three years. Didn’t say a thing. She freaked out around water, wouldn’t take a bath, wouldn’t even take a shower in a bath tub, she was too afraid that it’d fill up and she’d fall in.”
“She didn’t talk for three years?”
“Nope. Not a word, not to anyone. She went to school, did everything she was supposed to, except for talking. My parents at first, thought because she’d stopped breathing for so long, that she might be brain damaged, but that wasn’t the case.”
“So, what happened?”
“One Christmas, the first vacation she’d gone on in since the accident, she just came home, and started yammering on about some new recipe that she had learned to make.” Marshall popped the plate of food into the microwave and turned around confused.
“She just started talking, out of nowhere?”
“Yup. Like nothing happened. My parents wanted to take her to a psychologist, but I convinced them that they should just leave well enough alone.”
“Man, that’s freaky.”
“I know. Now she’s scared to death of the ocean, water, won’t set foot on a beach. I’ve tried to get her to see a hyponotherapist, help her get over her fear a little, I mean, it’s gotta be a strain to be that scared.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I honestly don’t think that she’s so much afraid of the water. I think it’s the fact that our sister Pearl was supposed to be watching her, and just walked away.”
“Maybe that’s why she called Pearl, to get help, when we were trying to get the divorce,” Marshall said thoughtfully.
“She keeps giving chances for Pearl to save her, to make up for it, but Pearl keeps letting her down.” Marshall nodded and took the plate of food out, placing it in front of Turkey and handing her a fork.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” They were quiet as Turkey took a bite and chewed slowly.
“You know, I’ve been saving up, and I’ve been thinking about this long and hard. Coral wants to go to that school, I think I’ll just make her go. I can afford it. I mean, I don’t make nearly as much as my sisters and brother do, the personal injury law is not for the big money makers no, but I can afford it, and she deserves it.” Marshall nodded.
“If that’s what she wants.”
“I think that’s exactly what I’m going to do. She deserves it.” Turkey nodded emphatically and took another bite. Marshall wondered absently how hard it would be to move to France and learn French.

“Absolutely not Turkey,” Coral said the next morning while she was cooking breakfast. She’d taken the sedative and woken up early, ready to get back to work. Turkey had posed the idea of sending her to school, and Coral was less than thrilled.
“You can barely make ends meet as it is living in that apartment with our family, and you don’t make that much as it is. No, you’re not doing it.”
“Coral, I can afford it, besides, I can move into a cheaper place,” Turkey tried.
“No. That’s my final answer. I’m having you become the second black sheep of the family by sending me to cooking school and moving out of the family building, no way. You and Opal get along too well for that.”
“If you haven’t realized that I’m already the gray sheep of the family, by doing the personal injury law, then I don’t know what to say. Coral, just because I can get along with our family better than you do, doesn’t mean I have to let you go without when I can help you.”
“No.”
“Coral.”
“No. Now eat some breakfast.” It was the final word. Marshall was secretly happy, and a little sad at the same time. Coral was giving up something that she wanted, but she was more worried about her sister. He realized that Coral was worried about her family, despite how much she said she didn’t need their approval. She did.
He knew that if he offered her the money she would not take it.

The next few days passed as if nothing happened. Marshall’s friends left a few days after the pool incident and Turkey the day after it happened, assured that Coral was okay.
When they were left alone again they were sitting in the living room, looking around at the work they had done in the place and were silent.
“So, what do you want to do now?” she asked.
“It’s quiet around here, ain’t it?” he asked. She nodded.
“I’m taking you out for lunch.” he said grabbing her arm and pulling her up off the couch.
“What for?”
“Because, I feel like it and we should probably should give those reporters something to gawk at,” Marshall laughed as he pulled her towards the garage.
“You want your face in the papers?” she asked.
“Hey, they’re gonna follow me no matter what, so what does it matter? I’m not gonna sit in this house all the time. Come on, we can catch a movie or something.” Coral rolled her eyes but followed him nonetheless.

“Why’d yo have to pick out such a gross movie?” she asked as they took as seat in the back of the theater.
“So when you get scared you’ll turn to me and I’ll be your protector,” Marshall laughed.
“You’re hysterical, you’ll just be lucky I don’t throw up.”
“You throw up in scary movies?”
“When Bruce Willis smashed that guy’s head into the floor I threw up all over the two people in front of me.”
“Good thing we waited to go to lunch then.”

“I cannot believe you did that!” Coral shrieked as they raced around the corner. Marshall was clutching a stitch in his side he was laughing so hard.
“What, you never dumped a milkshake on a photographer before?” he asked when he caught his breath again.
“Never had to.”
“But it’s so much fun. Come on, the car, is right down here,” Marshall said with a final chuckle as they walked down the alley. Coral stopped as if she heard something and looked around.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?”
“That!”
“That kinda squawking?”
“Yeah, it’s coming from over here.” Coral went towards a pile of boxes and the squawking sound got a little louder. She pushed some of the boxes out of the way, looking into them to see if that was where the sound was coming from.
“Oh!” Coral exclaimed.
“What, did you find it? What is it?” Marshall asked stepping up beside her.
“It’s a bird,” Coral replied picking up the medium sized box, allowing Marshall to peer inside. The bird was small, about the size of a parakeet, missing a great deal of feathers, but those that were still attached to it’s body were red.
“Looks like he’d been through the storm or so, doesn’t it?”Marshall asked.
“Poor little thing, hey fella,” Coral said softly.
“We should take him to a vet, see what’s up with him.” Marshall said looking at the pathetic little bird.
“Really?” Coral asked surprised.
“Well we can’t just leave him here, come on, we’ll go home and we’ll find a vet that takes birds.” Marshall said motioning to car and smiling. Coral nodded and took the box into both hands following him down the ally.

“So you do take birds? Okay. What’s the earliest appointment that you have?” Marshall asked as he walked back and forth through the kitchen. As soon as they’d gotten home Marshall got out the phonebook and started calling nearby vets they could take the bird to. Coral was sitting at the counter, getting the bird to drink a little out of a dish she placed in the box.
Every few minutes she looked over at Marshall as he got frustrated with someone on the other end of the phone. It was cute, how much he was doing to take care of the wounded bird. She didn’t figure on him wanting to take care of a little helpless animal.
“Okay, we’ll be there as soon as possible, thanks. Well lets go, I got the vet to stay open just for us,” Marshall said clapping his hands together.
“Really? We better go then, come on little guy,” Coral said smiling at the bird. Marshall chuckled at her and led the way out to the car.

“So what kind of bird is it?” Marshall asked the vet as he looked over the balding bird.
“You guys found, a red and gold macaw, a parrot, a very young one, he’s just starting to get his feathers,” the vet replied.
“A parrot? Really?” Coral asked.
“Is he okay otherwise?” Marshall asked.
“His one wing is broken, but that we can tape up easily enough. Where did you find him?” As the vet spoke she got out a tiny splint and gauze to wrap it’s wing.
“In an ally way behind a restaurant, he was in the bottom of a pile of boxes. We heard him squawking and picked him up.” Coral explained.
“Well he is one lucky little parrot, I’ll tell you that. There your go, should be good as new in a few weeks,” the vet replied as she finished up the bandage. The little red bird squawked appreciatively and hobbled around the table slightly.
“So he’ll grow in more feathers?” Marshall asked, “Cause, he looks like he’s just been sick.”
“Yeah, he’s just a baby. He’ll have a full body of feathers within a few months. They don’t stay too small for long. So, you’ll be taking him home right?” the vet looked at Coral.
“Oh, I uh, well, it’s your house Marshall,” Coral said sheepishly. He rolled his eyes at her.
“Oh you think I’m gonna turn out a little bird with a broken wing? Come on, put that scrawny thing back in it’s box and we’ll go get a book on taking care of parrots.” Marshall laughed. The vet smiled and Coral grinned brightly.
“Good, very good. Just bring him back in about three weeks and we’ll check on that wing of his.”
“Damn misfits, she’s got me taking in disabled birds now, just you wait, we’ll be back here with a couple stray cats and mutt next,” Marshall playfully grumbled as he peered into the box. He put a finger out to pat the bird and it chirped and playfully nipped at his finger.
“See, he likes you,” Coral laughed.
“We’ll see about that, thanks Doctor.”

“Okay, you think we have enough books on parrots? The complete idiots guide to parrots, parrots for dummies, and the stupid person’s guide to parrots. Are they trying to imply something?” Marshall asked as he pulled the books out of the bag.
Upon leaving the vets office they’d gone to a pet store and Marshall proceeded to get one of the store clerks to outfit them with everything needed to raise a parrot. Coral knew he’d gone over board, and so did Marshall, but he didn’t care. This was for Coral, and if it made her happy, and it made her stay, he didn’t care.
“I personally don’t know anything about parrots,” Coral replied as set the bird, still in his box, down on the counter to help Marshall unload his bags. He watched her, before she went to get the bags, gently pet the tiny bird and smile at it.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do. That thing is nearly calling you momma,” he laughed.
“Hey, all you have to do is be nice, you don’t have to know what you’re doing to be nice,” Coral retorted.
“Mean while I think we got enough parrot food for an army here,” he replied pulling out a third bag of food.
“That sales man saw you coming a mile away,” Coral laughed taking out a cuttle bone and some treats.
“That salesman saw you coming a mile away, sweet talking you, telling you that molting feather duster was cute.”
“He is cute, he just hasn’t grown all his feathers yet.”
“He better get some soon, or he’s gonna freeze.”
“He’s got that little cuddle buddy, he’ll be fine. Come on, lets take that cage into the living room and put it together.” Coral said motioning to the large box in the doorway. Marshall nodded and Coral followed him into the living room. As soon as she left the box, the bird started squawking shrilly.
“Uh oh momma, the baby is up, you better go give him his bottle,” Marshall laughed.
“Oh knock it off you! Get to work,” Coral said pushing him over. He laughed, watching her go back and fetch the bird off the counter. It stopped squealing the second Coral went to get it.
“See, I told you,” Marshall grinned.
“Just get out the instructions already.”

“He’s not gonna stop making that noise Coral,” Marshall said miserably as he came down the stairs for the third time that night.
“He’s fine as long as I’m with him, I don’t know what it is,” Coral said as the little bird sat in her hand happily.
“He’s co-dependent. Face it, you became mommy,” Marshall said with a loud yawn.
“What should I do with him?” Coral asked.
“Just take him upstairs. Obviously he wants to be with you, so just put him in the little box and put him on the night stand. At least we’ll be able to get some sleep.” Marshall said as he watched Coral sitting in front of the cage, her one hand feeding the bird some seed. She’d already been downstairs several times, the parrot squawked every time she left the room.
“Come on, just take him, he’ll be happy, you’ll be happy, I’ll be happy, we’ll all be happy.” Marshall said handing her the small little nest they’d bought that afternoon. The salesperson suggested it because he’d been so small.
“All right little guy, you got your wish, come on.”

The next morning Marshall came down to breakfast to find the bird sitting in his nest on the counter chirping. He laughed at the sight of Coral in her apron, talking to the bird while she cooked and fed him bits of toast in between.
“Good morning June Cleaver,” Marshall said taking his usual seat at the counter. The bird looked up at him and chirped.
“And good morning to you too Mr. Co-Dependent,” he said to the bird, putting finger out for him to nibble on.
“Here you go, coffee, just the way you like it,” Coral smiled handing him the cup.
“Thanks,” Marshall said taking a sip.
“We got to find a name for the little guy here,” Coral said feeding the bird another crumb of toast.
“How about Polly?” Marshall laughed.
“No, he’s a boy!”
“Well, what’s a pirate name? Long John?”
“No.”
“Blackbeard?”
“No.”
“Well I still like Mr. Co-Dependent, it’s the most accurate,” Marshall chuckled.
“Mr. Co-Dependent? Wait, what about Cody?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, perfect, Cody, what do you say?” Marshall asked looking down at the bird. It chirped happily, jumping a little in his nest.
“Cody it is.”

For the next few weeks Marshall and Coral worked on the house and took care of the bird. Cody grew by leaps and bounds and soon he was covered bright red, yellow, green and blue feathers. He was about the size of a large pigeon and already perching on Coral’s shoulder by the time he was ready for a visit back to the vet.
“He looks wonderful, very fat and happy, I think you two did a great job as first time parrot parents,” the vet said when she was looking over Cody.
“Coral’s been keeping me busy studying up on them. We got every stupid person’s guide to the bird we could.” Marshall laughed.
“We’ll he’s doing great and he can take this splint off and go home.”
“Yeah you got the parent part right, he squawks his head off if Coral leaves him alone for even a second,” Marshall said as Cody took his spot on Coral’s shoulder.
“That’s not uncommon, he sees her as his mother, but if you want him to be able to stay in the house alone, try leaving a recording of your voice running while you’re out, just to get him to stay calm, otherwise birds can develop nervous and anxious habits like pulling out their own feathers and such. But I’m sure he’ll develop fine.”
“Is it a problem that he doesn’t sleep in a cage?” Coral asked.
“No, many people allow their parrots a perch outside a cage all day. But when you go out I suggest you leave him in a cage, otherwise he might get hurt.”
“That’s a good idea, cause we’ve been doing some remodeling and I wouldn’t want him to get hurt flying around on anything.” Marshall replied.
“Now who would have thought that Eminem would have such a soft spot for animals?” the vet asked.
“He’s a lot nicer than he likes to let on,” Coral smiled.
“Yeah yeah, so how much is it that you hate my music?” Marshall laughed.
“Oh it doesn’t bother me. My oldest son has been listening to you ever since your first single came out,” she replied.
“Really? And it doesn’t bother you?” Marshall asked surprised.
“He listens to it when he’s angry, it’s a way for him to get out his aggression. I’d rather have him listen to your music than go out drinking and smoking.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If he’s at home listening to you rap about it, he’s not doing it, and it’s all really a matter that he knows what’s expected of him and what’s allowed.” Marshall couldn’t say anything he was so stunned.
“Would you mind if I asked you for an autograph for him? He nearly killed me when I told him I took care of your parrot.” she asked.
“No problem,” Marshall grinned wide and signed the paper the vet provided him with.