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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 30, 2008 10:05:16 GMT -5
"Whatever you think is best, Tanya, is my decision." "The hospital or your house, Thatcher. The test will have to happen tomorrow at the earliest... If Danny or Grace will not do so tomorrow, then I will do the test myself. I cannot stay with her all night, I have things to attend to.. but either you or Justin can watch her. I don't trust Zachary to keep her here, let alone himself." Her eyes flashed at Thatcher in a way that he would know she'd be willing to force them if necessary but she wouldn't say anything with Danny standing right there. |
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 30, 2008 14:51:58 GMT -5
It struck Zachary once again how much things had changed while he was gone. Thatcher and Tanya had not changed much; if anything, they were more pushy and domineering than ever. But Justin and the kids... they had grown up while he was gone. Justin had been 19 or 20 the last time he'd seen him. He had been young and immature, filled with the kind of recklessness that only the young possessed. Now he seemed... well, more mature than Zach did. It scared him a little. He could still remember Justin as a child, back when he was the "cool uncle."
Zach didn't feel cool at all anymore. Susie had him scared out of his mind. He'd never had to take responsibilty for another person, let alone a child. And now, if the baby was his, he would have to learn to do that. And if it wasn't, Zach would face losing the only person he had ever been willing to make that kind of commitment to.
"Thank you," he said quietly to Justin.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 30, 2008 16:10:55 GMT -5
Thatcher groaned. What a pain in the arse.
"Let's keep her here," he said, shooting a dark look at Danny that dared her to tell him it was Suzie's choice. The girl had to know how wizarding families worked, and he was not going to be told no. "I don't want to have to explain any of this to Alicia until I have to. Dr. Thomas, go get the paperwork to keep her here overnight."
When Danny was gone, he looked back at Tanya. "If the child is our brother's, I will find a way to pay her off. I don't want her bringing trouble or heaven forbid, her fiance here. She will stay, have the child, and then be on her way back to California. Alicia and I will raise the baby, and the whole thing will be forgotten about."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 30, 2008 16:15:44 GMT -5
The family was insane. She should have never tracked them down. Suzie didn't know what Justin would be sacrificing, but the way he said it scared her. Still, if it came down to him or her baby... well, no one was going to hurt her baby.
She nodded and didn't care what Zach said. She would talk things over with Justin, if that's how it needed to be. The three of them could figure something out, and if they couldn't, she had a home back in California. It was funny to her that she even considered going back to the place she kept trying to escape.
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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 31, 2008 10:37:02 GMT -5
Tanya nodded at Thatcher, "Of course, I agree that would be the best course of action in this case. I doubt Zachary would live up to his responsibilites the moment he has the opportunity to run, let alone his debts and all the other troubles he would bring. Yes, I agree."
Tanya felt that this was indeed the best course of action, and she waited for Thatcher to take the lead on things again. She trusted her brother like no other, and since he was in fact the head of the family she defferred to him to take care of the matter now that a course of action had been decided upon with her approval of course. She waited for Thatcher and followed his lead.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 31, 2008 12:40:35 GMT -5
If Zachary had known the scheme that was hatching behind his back, and the utter lack of faith that his siblings had in him, it would have brought about a battle of epic proportions.
He had been irresponsible and careless all his life, it was true. In recent years, he'd become disgusted with it, but he didn't know any other way to be. Part of his travels in America had been about trying to find a place where he actually fit in. He'd found it in California, where he'd taken a regular job for the first time in his life. Susie's father had owned one of the oldest and largest cauldron manufacturing companies in the States, and Zachary had, for a time, worked as his public relations and marketing manager, specializing in promotions coordinating. It sounded boring on paper, but in reality, it was very different. He'd found something he was good at. Some place where his charm and wit seemed to actually pay off. And if the scam had gone through, he and her father would have wrestled controlling interest of the company away from Taylor, making him fit to marry Susie without a qualm. And if he'd done that, he would never have come back here again. It would have been like Zachary Scotts never existed.
So many what ifs. He'd screwed up and gave up one all the thingts he wanted. And now he was back here, looking just like the perennial loser Thatcher always saw him as.
Since he didn't know what was being said behind his back, he simply sat and waited, his hand lightly stroking hers.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 31, 2008 23:55:22 GMT -5
Thatcher rubbed a hand over his eyes, irritated with the whole ordeal.
"Come on," he said, getting to his feet and, once again, expecting Tanya to follow. He went back into the hospital room, and closed the door behind Tanya.
"You'll be staying here for at least tonight. The test will be done tomorrow. Someone will stay at all times... we can't afford to have you run away on us. Or Zachary, for that matter. If the child is not Zach's, you will be on your way back to California. There is no debating this. In fact, I dare any of you to fight me on this."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Nov 1, 2008 0:04:21 GMT -5
Zachary's eyes flared with anger at his brother. Leave it to Thatcher to lay down the law like some autocratic dictator. But he knew better than to argue. At least for now, he would have to play along.
"Fine," he practically spat, his jaw twitching furiously. "Whatever you say, Thatcher." He was half-tempted to finish with a military salute, but he didn't remove his hand from Susie's. "I'll stay with her." He knew, even as he said it, that he would not be permitted to stay at all. But he still had to offer.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Nov 1, 2008 0:18:32 GMT -5
"I doubt that you would, Zach," Thatcher said. The sad thing was, he didn't even think that his brother would stay for the girl, despite what he had told them earlier. One small piece of him would have pitied her. But honestly, XZach left her once. How much was the woman willing to put herself through?
"However, no. You'll come home. Tanya, Justin or I will stay with her." And someone would be keeping an eye on Zach at home as well, but he kept that part quiet.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Nov 1, 2008 0:26:54 GMT -5
Why was it that his brother was able to make him feel like a troubled teenager? Even now, when he was in his 30s, Thatcher had the ability to make him feel like he'd just broken curfew or some such ridiculous teenage infraction that seemed infinitely more dire than it really was.
He bit back a harsh retort. He didn't want Susie to see him acting the way Thatcher was treating him. He shot a silent glance at Justin, but said nothing more. His jaw just kept twitching.
The last time his jaw had twitched like this, he'd left town for three years.
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Post by Justin Scotts on Nov 3, 2008 12:46:31 GMT -5
Justin listened to his father, he had a feeling he was really going to regret this one day soon. He still didn't quite understand why he was helping this beautiful witch, but the image of his sister kept floating in his head and he inwardly sighed in self-resignation to his own fate. He was going to pay a price, he knew for helping... even if his father and aunt didn't know just how much he was involving himself. If anything he'd at the very least pay for his failure to guard the girl from escaping.
"I'll stay with her, father. I have nothing better to do tonight anyways." He didn't move from the chair he was sitting in though, and he inwardly felt the resignation to his own future torture that he was sure Tanya would extract for his failure. He already had a few scars from his aunt that he would never admit to any living soul except the Dark Lord himself.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Nov 3, 2008 20:35:07 GMT -5
Thatcher nodded. Actually, Justin staying would be best. The girl felt comfortable with him, so she wouldn't be on edge, and he knew Justin could be frightening and demanding when he wanted to be. He trusted Justin with this, and if he was worried what Tanya would do to him, he was worried about the wrong person. Thatcher would have to be held back from Justin.
"All right, Justin," He said, nodding. "I'll come back half way through the night so that you can get some sleep. Zach, come on. We're going home."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Nov 3, 2008 23:07:02 GMT -5
Zachary didn't look at Thatcher or even acknowledge him right away. His brother was working his last nerve already, and he felt it was wiser to keep his mouth shut, lest he say something in front of Susie that he would regret later. Instead, he bent down to kiss Susie on the top of her forehead. "Get some rest, Susie," he said in a gentle tone. "I'll be here in the morning. Goodnight."
Reluctantly he stood up and walked stiffly to the door, not looking at any of them. His jaw was still twitching.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Nov 3, 2008 23:18:44 GMT -5
Suzie had a hard time letting go of his hand, and she squeezed it when he walked away, before letting him go. She wanted to call him back... what if he ran away again? He wasn't going to be near her for a while, so what was keeping him here at all?
She too was quiet because she didn't want to give away their plan, but she felt acold and empty feeling when he left the room, and she looked miserably towards Justin.
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Post by Justin Scotts on Nov 4, 2008 9:10:09 GMT -5
Justin watched as Tanya, Thatcher and Zachary left the room. Once the door was closed he stood up and walked over to Suzie and sat on the edge of the bed. "You okay?" he spoke softly looking at her. He knew this had been a very stressful day for the woman and her baby, and he wanted to make sure that she had at least some reasurance that things would work themselves out. "Did you want to sleep for a bit?"
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Nov 4, 2008 17:29:38 GMT -5
Suzie's wide eyes turned to Justin as she tore them from the door. "He's not coming back, is he?" She whispered, showing an honest, vulnerable loss of trust in Zachary. She wanted so badly to believe in him, but the second he walked out that door, she lost control of the situation. "He's going to walk away from all of this."
Thatcher had said as much, and he had already run from her once. His word wasn't enough... he had given her that before, after all.
"I can do a lot of things on my own, Justin. I've been fending for myself a long time, despite whatever you might think. But I can't do this by myself, and I really don't know what Taylor will do... can we go? How long do we have to wait?"
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Post by Justin Scotts on Nov 5, 2008 10:22:39 GMT -5
"Honestly, I don't know what Zach is going to do this time. I've never seen him act like this before.. he does love you, even if he is a wonder-footed idiot. He never stays when the going gets tough, but then again I've never seen him care about a woman before either." He stood looking at her for a moment, there was no pity in his eyes but rather an odd look as if his mind were weighing things.
"Suzie, we can go as soon as they've had time to leave. Give them another minute or two. I was serious about what I said... I don't think you should go back to your fiance unless you really want to if the baby is his. I'll be here to help you in any way I can okay? Don't ask me why, but I am here for you regardless. We'll figure things out once we know the results, and I'll do what I can to help make sure you're taken care of." He spoke softly, gently and with an unusual honesty about him.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Nov 5, 2008 20:02:39 GMT -5
Suzie just nodded. "Yeah. We'll figure it out. It's fine," she said, running a hand through he hair. "Look... I trust you."
She let it drop at that, unsure how else to even go about anything. "I'm just tired and... whenever we can, I'm ready to go."
Her mind was on Zach, and praying that she would see him again. She was praying that he wasn't ready to run off now that he was away from her. She took Justin's hand though and held onto him for the moral support she needed.
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Post by Justin Scotts on Nov 5, 2008 23:36:41 GMT -5
Justin felt bad for her, and the feeling was not something he was used to. He just kept thinking how he would feel if it had been Gwen in a similar situation, and he hoped that, if something like this were to happen to his sister, that she would have someone who was on her side.
"The doctor may come back for another check, now that everyone else is gone," he said. "As soon as she's gone, then we can leave, OK? I don't want to rush anything and end up getting caught."
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Post by Danielle Thomas on Nov 6, 2008 4:34:57 GMT -5
As if on cue, Danielle came back into the room, sighing and giving Suzie a very sympathetic look.
"I'm terribly sorry about all of the commotion and stress. You really should just relax for the rest of the night. I've done all the paper work and everything for you to stay, and we'll get the test done again when it's safe. If I can get you anything, just ring for me or one of the nurses."
She glanced at Justin. "And visiting hours are almost over, sir."
With that slightly ironic sentence, Danny was gone, leaving the both of them alone.
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