I Wanna Get Well

“It’s time!” Savanna bellowed, running into my room. I looked up at her with a small smile. She ran across the room to me, grabbing my hands and jumping up and down on the spot. I laughed, jumping with her. “I’m so excited!”

“I hardly see why,” I chuckled as she let me out of her grasp. She pouted, glaring at me playfully.

“Well, its not every day my buddy leaves this place! And this time, fully cured,” she pointed out, poking me in the stomach. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yes, after nine long months, I was finally leaving. Healthy and happy. I laughed, waving her off.

“So Charlie wasn’t your buddy then?”

She gave a sincere frown. “No, he was. And I’m happy he got to move on.”

Yeah, Charlie had left us two months ago. I still don’t know why he was here nor how long, but he was gone. One day he walked up to my door, gave me a hug, and was gone. Dr. Abrahams only told me that he was ready to go and he didn’t want to upset the only people who cared about him in this hospital. Savanna bawled when she heard. I think she was really beginning to see Charlie as a younger brother. I couldn’t lie, I was upset too. But at the same time we all knew it was what was best.

“But now you’re going to be all alone,” I sighed, feeling bad for my friend. But she laughed, waving her hand at me.

“I won’t be alone! I have Agnes and Renee. Besides - ” She looked towards the door and, seeing no one, leaned towards me. “There’s a really cute guy moving in next door. Maybe I’ll finally find the one.”

I snorted as she wiggled her eyebrows. “Please, Miss I Don’t Need No Man To Make Me Happy is going to try to get a boyfriend?”

“Well, after seeing how happy Johnny makes you, I figured it was time for me to get my own man,” Savanna announced. She paused for a moment, staring at the ceiling with her pointer finger on her chin. “Or a woman.”

I snorted again, shoving the last bit of my clothes into my suitcase. We sat on my bed, chatting for a while. I was going to miss her so much. Savanna was one of the main people on the inside that helped me along on my recovery. Without her I’m not sure how well I would have lasted. I suddenly leaned forward, bringing her into a tight hug. She wordlessly hugged me back and we sat there for a few minutes in each other’s embrace. We didn’t have to say it, we would miss each other dearly.

“Phoenix?” I looked up to see Dr. Abrahams standing in the door. A sense of deja vu took over and I nodded, standing to my feet. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and went to grab my suitcase, but Savanna beat me to it.

She smiled at Dr. Abrahams innocently. “Phoenix needs me to carry her suitcase for her. Isn’t that right, Fee?”

“Well actually - ” I was suddenly nudged in the ribs with her elbow, causing me to began to cough. Her smile had not faltered in the slightest. Dr. Abrahams smiled, shaking his head lightly.

“You could have simply come with Savanna. No need to injure her.”

“Oh.” Savanna’s face finally relaxed. “Well, sorry Phoenix. I figured I’d have to con my way into coming along. I want to say goodbye to Johnny too.”

“You know, we are going to visit Vanna. I wouldn’t just leave you,” I scowled. She shrugged in reply.

“I know you say that, and you may not mean to, but you’ll forget about me. I just want to make sure I have that one last opportunity before you disappear from me.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a very solemn look. “I could never forget about you.”

Savanna smiled in return. I knew where her fears came from. When brought in, her parents swore they would visit her every Saturday. Well, she’s seen them only once and that was when they wanted to tell her that they couldn’t speak to her until she got her life in order. Kind of a contradictory if you ask me. Either way, because of them she has acquired some trust issues, not that I could blame her.

“Phoenix, Savanna.” We turned to Dr. Abrahams who gave us a sympathetic smile. “Mr. Seward is waiting.”

“Right, right.” Savanna clasped me on the back and gave a wide smile. “Let’s go get your gnome.”

“If he’s a gnome, what does that make me?” I demanded as the three of us walked down the hallway to the front of the hospital.

“A gnome’s girl.” I shook my head as we waited for Agnes to let us through the double doors. I had begun to say something as we stepped into the waiting room, only to fall silent. Johnny stood there, in his brown headed glory, with a bouquet of white roses. My eyes began to tear up as he smiled at me. I dropped my backpack and ran at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and crashing my lips onto his. Johnny instantly returned the kiss and wrapped his own arms around my waist. After a moment we parted, both grinning widely.

“Hey,” he spoke simply.

I giggled in return. “Hi.”

“Oh c’mon, flirting like that and I think I might be sick,” Savanna mocked. I chuckled, rubbing my neck and turning around. Before me stood a group of smiling people. Savanna, Dr. Abrahams, Renee, and Agnes. I could feel my eyes tearing up again as I thought of leaving them. Savanna scowled and stepped forward, hugging me tightly. “Oh, stop that. You’re about to get out and have a life again. Don’t get upset.”

“But I’m going to miss you guys,” I sobbed pathetically. I felt like a hormonal teenager and I did not approve of it. She rubbed my back affectionately.

“Don’t sweat it Fee. You’re going to have Johnny and the guys. You’ll be fine. You can see us every Saturday.”

I nodded in reply to her words, unsure of what else to say. I gave a tearful goodbye to the three members of the staff before Johnny carefully wrapped his arms around me again. “I have a surprise outside. Uh, doctor, do you think its okay for Savanna to come outside for just a few minutes?”

“Five minutes Mr. Seward,” Dr. Abrahams warned. Johnny nodded, quickly leading us outside. Savanna and I shared a look. We were both confused to what this ‘surprise’ could possibly be. It wasn’t very hard to guess once we stepped outside. I instantly spotted a very familiar black haired guy. I let out a squeal and ran forward, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Charlie!” He smiled up at me and nodded. Savanna quickly shoved me aside and hugged him too.

Once they parted she scowled at him. “What the hell are you doing here boy? You better not be back to stay.”

“I’m not.” Savanna stepped back, her arms falling limp at her sides. Both our eyes were wide as we stared at the teen before us. He had....he had talked. He noticed our stun and laughed. With a deep voice (or at least in a teenager standard), he said, “Shocking, huh?”

“Why are you suddenly talking now, huh?” Savanna mocked.

“I finally decided that I didn’t care if what I said offended people,” Charlie replied with a shrug. I raised an eyebrow and he sighed. “Okay, I know it was stupid but I was emotionally unstable, alright? I thought I would make things worse if I spoke, so I never did.”

“You little punk,” Savanna chuckled, taking him into a headlock and ruffling his hair. Charlie laughed, trying to shove her off. I smiled, deciding to let them have their time together. Besides, I was now much more interested in the couple who had approached me. My mouth was agape as I stared at the woman before me.

“You popped!” I exclaimed, pointing to her missing belly. She smiled nodding. Turning to the man next to her I saw a small child, at least six months old, on his hip. It was a gorgeous little boy with hazel eyes and thick locks of brown hair. “He’s gorgeous.”

“His name is James Owen Sanders,” Matt announced, smiling softly as the little boy looked up, wondering why his name had been spoken. Or simply just amazed by his father’s voice. I gave a small smile at the name. Jimmy would be proud. I knew the drummer was smiling down on the little boy right now. James turned to me again and blinked. After a moment he held out his arms, beginning to whine and flex his fingers.

“And it seems he wants his Aunty Fee,” Val spoke with a grin. I smiled too, lifting him out of his father’s grasp. He clung to me, blabbing in gibberish and playing with my hair which I had down.

“Hey James. It’s nice to meet you,” I cooed. He let out a loud giggle and laid his head on my chest. I turned to see Brian and Zacky standing nearby too. Being careful to avoid hurting little James, they each gave me their own hugs, promising to have me meet their girlfriends when we returned to Huntington Beach. I nodded and looked around. There was one last, lone figure leaning against a very familiar vehicle. I carefully transferred James to Val before walking up to him. We stood apart from each other for the longest time.

“Hey,” he finally spoke.

“Hey,” I replied. We stared for a few more moments before he shot off the car, hugging me tightly. I hugged back, burying my face into his shoulder. The familiar scent of Old Spice filled my nostrils and I could almost cry. I had missed this the most. We finally parted to see that the other was particularly teary eyed. We both laughed and wiped at our eyes. “I’ve missed you Parker.”

“I have too, Fee.”

“So where’s Dad?” I asked, my tone sweet but my face soured. He simply shook his head in reply. “No?”

“I haven’t spoken to him in a few months.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “Okay, seven months. It would have been nine, but he kept showing up at my door and demanding to talk to me. All it led to were a lot of fights and me moving to another apartment.”

“Why...?”

“Should be obvious, shouldn’t it? I couldn't forgive him for lying to me all these years. I know I was a real bastard before, but I was in the wrong. I’m hoping we can just..start over, y’know?”

“What are you talking about? We’re fine.” Parker opened his mouth to argue, but I simply shook my head in reply, my smile wide. “I’m not going to hold you responsible for all that Parker. It was Dad who didn’t tell you anything. I know, now that you have the full truth, that you don’t believe anything he said. I’m not going to be mean to you because of someone else’s mistakes.”

Parker stared at me for a moment before taking me into another tight hug. And at that moment I knew it was all going to be okay. I was never going to have to come back to Newport to get hospitalized.

I was finally well.