Chapter 9: Family Feud by: DragonMouse ~( 8>
I�m not exactly sure, but I think we were making the rest of the people in the surgical waiting room nervous. It might�ve had something to do with Anita�s exposed gun and glare, but equal credit could probably lie with Peter and my dead eyes. When people started moving away from our little group, Pete and I found magazines to stare at. �I can�t believe I was able to talk about revenge right there in front of my mom like that,� he muttered a while after Edward was taken into surgery.
�She doesn�t want to believe her li�l boy would think like that,� I offered as an explanation. �Were you serious though? About revenge?�
His eyes flicked to where his mom sat with Anita about four chairs away. She was very busy _not_ reading an outdated home/garden magazine. He gave a noncommittal shrug and studied the surfer magazine he�d found from �95 in the very back of the rack. Pretending something he was looking at caught my attention, I leaned in close. �I am. I want that bastard to pay for hurting Eddy.� Talking so low he wouldn�t be able to hear if he was any further away, I outlined my thoughts on the subject. �WE can either lose or win. Lose and we�re dead, fuzzy or torn up. Win, and we�re fuzzy, torn up, or unhurt and _rich_. You know that we know a heck of a lot about hunts. Do. You. Want. To?�
Peter turned to look me in the eye and we almost bumped noses, we were so close. I scrunched back into my seat but kept the eye contact. He seemed about to say something when another voice invaded our conversation. �Forrester? Forrester?�
I hopped to my feet on reaction and looked toward the doctor expectantly. Startled, he glanced down to his clipboard, then back up to me. Probably my age. �Is there anyone here with you, young lady?� Yep, my age.
Pete gave a slight wave when I pointed at him, then Anita, and vaguely gestured to Donna. Biased naw. The doc nodded, a bit more satisfied, and pulled up a chair to sit in front of the two ladies. I glanced back over my shoulder to where the other �child� now stood and quirked a little smile. �So, Pete, in New Mexican hospitals, doctors find a comfy chair and next-of-kin comes to them. How charming.� He just gave me a look and I went to sit beside Anita while he settled in next to his mom.
�Well, my name is Doctor Webster,� the doc began, �And I was in on Mr.� Forrester�s operation. All went well. He had a dislocated shoulder and a broken collarbone, which we had to use a metal plate to put in place. It took many, _many_ stitches and staples to get him back together and a couple units of blood.� He pointed his pen at Anita. �And you say he came in all scratched up and just went to bed? No word to anyone that he was hurt?�
�He�s a stubborn bastard,� she blurted out before I could. Dang, I wanted to be the one to say it. All I could do was nod in agreement.
�Oh.� Dr. Webster seemed to take a second to think about that, then nodded. �Anyway, Mr.� Forrester isn�t awake yet, but if you�d like to go in one at a time, you may see him. How about next-of-kin first, if she�s present.�
Nodding, I stood, but then noticed that Donna had also. I blinked, then gave her a look that questioned what the _heck_ she thought she was doing and was also an open challenge against her. When she only met my eyes then glanced away from the hostile look, I noticed Anita shake her head. _She�d_ known what I was doing and that, if this were a were society, Just had just acknowledged my superiority. To Anita, I gave a grin that felt feral, even to me. I probably would�ve run off my big mouth if the poor, perplexed doctor hadn�t perked up. �Which of you is Crystal Forrester?�
I raised my hand and gave a little �can we get on with this?� wave. Donna looked stunned and dejected that it wasn�t her. Good. Someone else might have felt sorry for her, but me? Wait, lemme check, um... no. �Hey Peter, you can come in after me. So, where�s the room, Doc?�
Webster, who seemed completely confused by the little family feud, led us all to Eddy�s room, where the rest waited outside as I entered. As the door clicked shut behind me, I muttered those three little words: �I hate hospitals.� A little heart monitor marked off the steady rhythm of Eddy�s heartbeat beside the bed. An IV ran into his arm, probably with antibiotics or some such stuff. He seemed so weak there in the bed. Death isn�t _supposed_ to look weak. I had the sudden urge to either barf or run, but did neither. Instead, I spoke. �Eddy, it�s okay. It�ll all be taken care of. I swear to you, me an� Pete, we�ll take care of it for you.� During all of this, I didn�t take his hand, or kiss his cheek, or any of that sappy stuff, that isn�t how it is between us. Yet as I was about to leave, I turned back to his still figure. �Hang tough. I love you. Dad.�
*~*
When Peter came out of the room soon after he went in, there was a determined glint in his eyes and he pulled me aside as his mother finally got to take her turn. �You asked if I was serious.� He glanced over his shoulder at the closed door to Edward�s room. �I am now. We�re gonna kill the bastard who made him look like that.�
I gave him a low five and we wandered back to Anita. �Hey, Anita,� I said, my best puppy dog eyes out in full force. �Can me an� Peter ride the bikes back to my place so we can clean up an� stuff? Ya� know, all the blood? Plus I never fed Rio and I should finish baking those biscuits...�
�Would Donna be okay with you riding bikes that whole way?�
�Hey, we ride bikes everywhere all the time.�
Anita nodded, considering. �Okay, go. But stay together and call if you have a problem.� We tore off down the hall before Donna could come back out of Edward�s room.
Waiting for the elevator, Peter said, �If Mom _knew_ we rode our bikes everywhere, she�d have a fit.�
I grinned back. �Is a lie by omission still a lie?�
~( 8>