Status: Updating, regularly
Shed Your Yellow
CHAPTER SIX
The change in atmosphere was palpable; years had seemingly passed since the inane, albeit, awkward banter of the short park-to-hospital journey that occurred between the two newfound friends. Reality, however, scheduled the event to have happed only seconds ago. The red-headed female felt the hand of her companion slip into hers, his way of reminding her she wasn’t alone, and her muscles loosened slightly. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking –or whether she ever had been– in allowing him to accompany her, she certainly didn’t mean it at first and she was sure that was what he aimed for when slipping it in casually in his light, humorous tone. It had worked, too. So she let him - a punishment for herself of sorts, she told herself. Having long-since taught herself that she was never to let her guard down, Charlotte was not pleased with development at all. In her position she couldn’t afford slip-ups, they weren’t something she could fix with an apology, especially not anymore; too much had changed in too little time, and no amount of time could battle the consequences of that.
She was awoken from her distracted thoughts by the woman half-hidden from view by a tall white desk; the teenage intern receptionist. Charlotte was sure that earlier she had registered her name to be Casey, a name she fondly remembered to be that of an old friend’s sister, ‘those were the days’ she thought wistfully, her older-than-years persona waking.
“Can I help you?” enquired an enthusiastic bright voice that could only belong to someone new and eager to the job. Charlotte’s head straightened itself from its previously bowed position. A look of recognition crossed the intern’s face –indeed a Casey, Charlotte discovered– the red-head shot her a small smile, her striking pearly teeth gleaming.
“I was wondering if you knew where I could find the Doc?” The teen’s fingers danced across the keyboard in reply, and Charlotte watched amusedly as the girls brows creased, quickly realigning themselves as a smile graced her face in triumph.
“He’s with a patient on another floor but he’ll drop by in a couple of minutes” Charlotte thanked her quickly and lead a bewildered Gerard through a labyrinth on rooms, crossing two floors to reach the side ward her mother was being monitored and treated in. As if finally hitting her, Charlotte’s hand rested on the cold stainless steel in front of her and once again, Gerard braced her with a hand on the small of her back, she looked up nervousness showing on her face.
“What if she’s awake?” her voice came out a whisper, barely audible even to Gerard’s strained ears. He raised an eyebrow at her expectantly, as if daring her to say anything further. Swiftly the door opened and Charlotte turned to see a smile on his face. She stuck her tongue out childishly, in a rare show of rebellion against her self-implemented strictness.
“Charlotte?” Her mother’s voice was raspy and the girl in question reached for the jug of water and tipped a small amount into a cup. Her mother drunk from it greedily, handing it back to her for a refill. “You’re back?” It was more a question than observation, Charlotte noted, proceeding to nod her head. “With a friend” Charlotte wanted to dance at the familiar tactics played by the amnesiac, once again handing the cup to her mother, putting off the greeting.
“This is Gerard, Mo-” her voice was left hanging, lamely and so in swiftly swept the aforementioned, sticking out an unsure hand, his face showing amusement at this action. ‘Quite the charmer’ assessed Charlotte in her own amusement, trying to forget the slip-up in hopes her mum would too.
“Ah, have I met you before? As in, before the accident, of course” The elder corrected herself, looking between the two to emphasis both the current question and to serve as a reminder to the red-head she hadn’t forgotten the still on-going battle of wills. Charlotte wanted to smack herself for forgetting.
“No, ma’am, not that I can remember, anyway” Gerard’s voice was warming, he didn’t carry the stutter of her first serious boyfriend, just enough to point out that there was no romantics between the two. Not that Charlotte was sure her mother would mind, after all, she didn’t know she was her mother. Gerard received a sparkling grin from the ailing woman and thus, it took the doctor sticking his head around the door to remind Charlotte she was in the hospital. Which she found –much to her cynical tastes– very humorous, taking into account the many wires her mum was all but bathed in and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. She shot Gerard a look, reminding him to be wary of his words around the woman, he in turn looked innocently around the room before miming, ‘Me? As if!’ It took all in Charlotte not to laugh at the look on his face, she settled with a small smirk, before leaving with a quick nod at the other occupant; she knew she’d be quizzing Gerard as if she’d just announce finding a small fortune in diamonds, whatever she’d said or done.
The doctor, who Charlotte finally found a name for in Dr. Carlisle, lead her to the other side of the hall. “I was actually meaning to speak to you, beforehand so I’ll go ahead with this and then you can see if you’re still looking for answers, yes” He paused as if waiting for answer for the rhetorics, nevertheless, she gave a small nod. “We think your mother is coming to a point in which she’ll be able to feed on solid foods again; I wanted to know if that would be agreeable with you.”
A quizzical look passed on the younger girl’s face, “Why? If I may be so forward as to ask, I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t ask such a thing to any of your other patient’s or their families?” It was then she noticed the formal persona she switched into when around adults, especially of authority. She internally frowned, she didn’t like to think she’d change at the drop of a hat for anyone; it seemed adults had just the same affect on her as most other figures of authority.
“We think your mother will need help feeding, if you remember amnesia affects many things outside of memories of people, places, et cetera. I’ve noted your particular discomfort when the nurses come and thought you’d prefer maybe to help out yourself. It would give you something to do as well as perhaps triggering some memories with the interaction. So?”
Charlotte wasn’t clueless as to the short-staffing problem they were having problems within the hospital, it wasn’t exactly the biggest hospital in the area –and she was amazed they’d managed to tend to her mum without taking her to one of the bigger city hospitals, not that she was complaining– however, he was right in saying that she didn’t enjoy company in the room, so she agreed, playing the naive teen.
“I think that covers my questions, to be honest and I’m sure I can manage feeding my mum” She started to walk away before quickly turning, “I’m sure this will help with your staffing problems, too” Her cheery voice obviously fooled the doctor for a few seconds as he mirrored her agreement until realisation crossed his face and he shot her a withering look before walking off. Charlotte turned once more to face the door to find Gerard leaning against the doorframe.
“Glad to know it wasn’t special treatment you were giving me”
If looks could kill could be applied strongly to the glare Charlotte was sending venomously towards the man, “You’ll be in need of special treatment if you don’t watch it, Way.” Gerard grinned cheekily,
“Nice to have things back to normal, eh?” She groaned, once again questioning whichever God it was that had sent Gerard Way her way.
She was awoken from her distracted thoughts by the woman half-hidden from view by a tall white desk; the teenage intern receptionist. Charlotte was sure that earlier she had registered her name to be Casey, a name she fondly remembered to be that of an old friend’s sister, ‘those were the days’ she thought wistfully, her older-than-years persona waking.
“Can I help you?” enquired an enthusiastic bright voice that could only belong to someone new and eager to the job. Charlotte’s head straightened itself from its previously bowed position. A look of recognition crossed the intern’s face –indeed a Casey, Charlotte discovered– the red-head shot her a small smile, her striking pearly teeth gleaming.
“I was wondering if you knew where I could find the Doc?” The teen’s fingers danced across the keyboard in reply, and Charlotte watched amusedly as the girls brows creased, quickly realigning themselves as a smile graced her face in triumph.
“He’s with a patient on another floor but he’ll drop by in a couple of minutes” Charlotte thanked her quickly and lead a bewildered Gerard through a labyrinth on rooms, crossing two floors to reach the side ward her mother was being monitored and treated in. As if finally hitting her, Charlotte’s hand rested on the cold stainless steel in front of her and once again, Gerard braced her with a hand on the small of her back, she looked up nervousness showing on her face.
“What if she’s awake?” her voice came out a whisper, barely audible even to Gerard’s strained ears. He raised an eyebrow at her expectantly, as if daring her to say anything further. Swiftly the door opened and Charlotte turned to see a smile on his face. She stuck her tongue out childishly, in a rare show of rebellion against her self-implemented strictness.
“Charlotte?” Her mother’s voice was raspy and the girl in question reached for the jug of water and tipped a small amount into a cup. Her mother drunk from it greedily, handing it back to her for a refill. “You’re back?” It was more a question than observation, Charlotte noted, proceeding to nod her head. “With a friend” Charlotte wanted to dance at the familiar tactics played by the amnesiac, once again handing the cup to her mother, putting off the greeting.
“This is Gerard, Mo-” her voice was left hanging, lamely and so in swiftly swept the aforementioned, sticking out an unsure hand, his face showing amusement at this action. ‘Quite the charmer’ assessed Charlotte in her own amusement, trying to forget the slip-up in hopes her mum would too.
“Ah, have I met you before? As in, before the accident, of course” The elder corrected herself, looking between the two to emphasis both the current question and to serve as a reminder to the red-head she hadn’t forgotten the still on-going battle of wills. Charlotte wanted to smack herself for forgetting.
“No, ma’am, not that I can remember, anyway” Gerard’s voice was warming, he didn’t carry the stutter of her first serious boyfriend, just enough to point out that there was no romantics between the two. Not that Charlotte was sure her mother would mind, after all, she didn’t know she was her mother. Gerard received a sparkling grin from the ailing woman and thus, it took the doctor sticking his head around the door to remind Charlotte she was in the hospital. Which she found –much to her cynical tastes– very humorous, taking into account the many wires her mum was all but bathed in and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. She shot Gerard a look, reminding him to be wary of his words around the woman, he in turn looked innocently around the room before miming, ‘Me? As if!’ It took all in Charlotte not to laugh at the look on his face, she settled with a small smirk, before leaving with a quick nod at the other occupant; she knew she’d be quizzing Gerard as if she’d just announce finding a small fortune in diamonds, whatever she’d said or done.
The doctor, who Charlotte finally found a name for in Dr. Carlisle, lead her to the other side of the hall. “I was actually meaning to speak to you, beforehand so I’ll go ahead with this and then you can see if you’re still looking for answers, yes” He paused as if waiting for answer for the rhetorics, nevertheless, she gave a small nod. “We think your mother is coming to a point in which she’ll be able to feed on solid foods again; I wanted to know if that would be agreeable with you.”
A quizzical look passed on the younger girl’s face, “Why? If I may be so forward as to ask, I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t ask such a thing to any of your other patient’s or their families?” It was then she noticed the formal persona she switched into when around adults, especially of authority. She internally frowned, she didn’t like to think she’d change at the drop of a hat for anyone; it seemed adults had just the same affect on her as most other figures of authority.
“We think your mother will need help feeding, if you remember amnesia affects many things outside of memories of people, places, et cetera. I’ve noted your particular discomfort when the nurses come and thought you’d prefer maybe to help out yourself. It would give you something to do as well as perhaps triggering some memories with the interaction. So?”
Charlotte wasn’t clueless as to the short-staffing problem they were having problems within the hospital, it wasn’t exactly the biggest hospital in the area –and she was amazed they’d managed to tend to her mum without taking her to one of the bigger city hospitals, not that she was complaining– however, he was right in saying that she didn’t enjoy company in the room, so she agreed, playing the naive teen.
“I think that covers my questions, to be honest and I’m sure I can manage feeding my mum” She started to walk away before quickly turning, “I’m sure this will help with your staffing problems, too” Her cheery voice obviously fooled the doctor for a few seconds as he mirrored her agreement until realisation crossed his face and he shot her a withering look before walking off. Charlotte turned once more to face the door to find Gerard leaning against the doorframe.
“Glad to know it wasn’t special treatment you were giving me”
If looks could kill could be applied strongly to the glare Charlotte was sending venomously towards the man, “You’ll be in need of special treatment if you don’t watch it, Way.” Gerard grinned cheekily,
“Nice to have things back to normal, eh?” She groaned, once again questioning whichever God it was that had sent Gerard Way her way.
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Bad News: There is no bad news for this author's note - excuse me while I feign sadness?Good News: My laptop is officially vivant, or in other languages, alive. Which means, more updates. In most probably better news, I've already written most of the new chapter. This is actually half of what I had planned out for this one, except I like to ramble so I'm posting this as it is because I've been told to make my chapters shorter. You can expect the next chapter next week, if all goes to plan. Lastly, yesterday I was stuck in a car for several hours with nothing but a notepad and pen. I have written out exactly where this story is going and how it is getting there. It took me literally weeks to develop the details for what will become the ending I had planned from the start.
Just a quick note to say, I am indeed aware Charlotte is fairly OOC in this chapter, that is intentional. Anything else you've noticed, please point out because I do enjoy hearing where I go wrong, it keeps me on my toes.
Now I'm done there, I'd like to thank all my commenters immensely because are you actually kidding me: 111 Comments?! I'm actually in love with you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!.
'Please, sir, I want some more'. Well, I believe 'like' or 'would appreciate' fit the bill better, but either way thank you to everyone commenting and/or subscribing.
Rachel, ox.