Chapter Twenty-one, Sniffles
Posted by DiF on Saturday, September 10, 2011
Title: Alternate Realities: Chapter Twenty-one, Sniffles
Rating: PG-13 [language]
Summary: Kylia has a cold, but that's the least of her problems.
Stretching in a bed that was still more foreign than not, even though the cats had in fact deemed it worthy to sleep on after three days of hiding, Kylia groaned. Her head was pounding and her entire body ached. She could not remember the last time she had felt so sick. Working with kids had more or less built up her immunity. But now three weeks since losing her job, one week since moving in with Adam’s mother, she was sick. And she never wanted to get out of bed ever, even though she knew any moment the cats were going to drag her out of bed.
Deciding to wait until the cats did in fact do that, Kylia turned over onto her side and curled around one of the pillows, willing her pain to go away. A smart person would at least crawl out of bed and down a couple of pills, but she didn’t want to move that much at all. Maybe Patsy would wonder why she hadn’t skipped into the kitchen and come looking for her. Ha, she shouldn’t believe such pipe dreams. Her own mother would never do that, why would her boyfriend’s mother do that?
However she never really had to consider that question for very long for her bedroom door opened slowly. Squinting in the hazy light of mid-morning she tried to decipher who it was. Clearly not seeing the feminine form of Patsy, she almost smiled upon realization it was Adam. However he likely thought her asleep and she had no desire to convince him otherwise. With her eyes squeezed shut, she waited until she felt the bed sink with his weight before stirring at all.
His fingers danced over her forehead, a sharp intake following his action, “Kylia?”
“Mmmhmmm?” she grumbled.
“Baby, do you feel okay?”
“No.”
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead, “I’m going to go get you some medicine and feed the cats. I’ll be right back.”
Heading back to the kitchen, Adam frowned deeply. Now was certainly not the time to tell her of the breaking news. She needed to focus on getting better, not trying to decide how she wanted to handle what was likely to become a media storm. He would shield her from all of it, get his lawyers involved, let her lay in bed while the legal eagles sued for libel and slander.
Stepping over a cat, wild thoughts tumbled around his mind, varying between the desire to beat the shit out of Jayden physically or legally, Adam was nearly to the kitchen when he realized the cats never let him step over them. That couldn’t be a good thing at all. Turning back down the hallway, he stopped when his eyes found the cat he had stepped over.
“Oh god,” he muttered.
Turning back to the kitchen, hoping his mother was there, Adam quickly tried to decide what to do. The cat was obviously dead and he clearly needed to do something to it before Kylia found out. She did not need to — fuck.
“Mom?” his eyes went to her reading the newspaper in the breakfast nook with a scowl on her face.
“Oh hi, Adam. I thought I heard you come in. Are you going to tell Kylia about the news?”
“Later,” he quickly dismissed it. “We have a far bigger problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Booger is laying dead in the hallway.”
Clearly her headache was never going to go away. No amount of pills would chase away that pain in her head, which had to be where her heart and soul was centered. Her baby was dead, unexpectedly dead. Sure he had been sneezing a lot before she moved, but that seemed to clear up within a day or two of living in Patsy’s house. He had even been playful and cocky the night before.
And now he was dead. Her baby was dead. It had to be her fault. She didn’t know how, but it had to be her fault.
“Kylia?” Adam’s soft voice interrupted her internal turmoil, drawing her eyes from their glassy stare out into the garden. “Baby?”
“Go away. I’m poison.”
He knelt beside her, reaching for her hands regardless her resistance, “Kylia, you arenot poison. What would make you say that?”
“My baby is dead because of me. Jayden turned from a golden boy to a golden ass. Surely something horrible will happen to you too. You should just let me be. And I should move out of here before it’s too late,” she responded, congestion changing the timbre of her voice.
“None of that has to do with you being poison. I’m sure as hell not leaving you now, not when you need me most,” Adam proclaimed. “But there is something you need to know. Actually a couple of things.”
“What?”
“Um... well I don’t know how to say this so I’ll just say it outright, the vet we took Booger to this morning called about fifteen minutes ago and... um, he thinks that Booger was poisoned,” he stated softly. “And uh... the story of what happened at your school has broke to the public.”
Her eyes remained focused on his while she blinked, trying to process his words, “What?”
“Someone poisoned Booger.”
“Who? How?”
“Uh... well,” he looked away briefly. “They found something inserted into his skin. So likely it’s been poisoning him for some time.”
“Jayden,” she hissed. “It could only be him.”
Adam nodded slowly, “Probably, but there’s no way to prove that.”
“We need to get Aristotle checked.”
“Mom is already at the vet with him now,” he declared.
She sighed slightly, “It should be me.”
“I know, but considering the circumstances, the less you leave the house, the better.”
“What circumstances?”
“You being sick for one. And the media for another. They don’t know you’re here; they’re staked out in front of your apartment. And we should keep it that way,” he said.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“No, why are they staking out my....” she paused to sneeze. “... apartment.”
“Before I explain it, I want you to know that my lawyers are already on it, trying to stop the chaotic storm it’s become,” Adam disclaimed. “Basically someone at the school, I presume Jayden, went to the press claiming that you were fired for sleeping with students.”
“WHAT!?” she gasped and erupted into coughs.
“I know it’s not true. I’m sure most people know it’s not true. My lawyers are trying to gather up evidence and shut the media circus down,” he claimed.
“Oh god, Adam. I’m so sorry. I should just disappear now. You would be better o—”
“No. I’m not letting you stand up against this on your own. And I’m not letting you fade into oblivion. It isn’t true and he’s the ass at fault. We will defeat this asshole,” Adam assured her. “I’m not letting you go and I’m not letting anyone run over you. You have to trust me, Kylia.”
Her eyes went to his, “I trust you with my life, Adam.”
Rating: PG-13 [language]
Summary: Kylia has a cold, but that's the least of her problems.
Stretching in a bed that was still more foreign than not, even though the cats had in fact deemed it worthy to sleep on after three days of hiding, Kylia groaned. Her head was pounding and her entire body ached. She could not remember the last time she had felt so sick. Working with kids had more or less built up her immunity. But now three weeks since losing her job, one week since moving in with Adam’s mother, she was sick. And she never wanted to get out of bed ever, even though she knew any moment the cats were going to drag her out of bed.
Deciding to wait until the cats did in fact do that, Kylia turned over onto her side and curled around one of the pillows, willing her pain to go away. A smart person would at least crawl out of bed and down a couple of pills, but she didn’t want to move that much at all. Maybe Patsy would wonder why she hadn’t skipped into the kitchen and come looking for her. Ha, she shouldn’t believe such pipe dreams. Her own mother would never do that, why would her boyfriend’s mother do that?
However she never really had to consider that question for very long for her bedroom door opened slowly. Squinting in the hazy light of mid-morning she tried to decipher who it was. Clearly not seeing the feminine form of Patsy, she almost smiled upon realization it was Adam. However he likely thought her asleep and she had no desire to convince him otherwise. With her eyes squeezed shut, she waited until she felt the bed sink with his weight before stirring at all.
His fingers danced over her forehead, a sharp intake following his action, “Kylia?”
“Mmmhmmm?” she grumbled.
“Baby, do you feel okay?”
“No.”
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead, “I’m going to go get you some medicine and feed the cats. I’ll be right back.”
Heading back to the kitchen, Adam frowned deeply. Now was certainly not the time to tell her of the breaking news. She needed to focus on getting better, not trying to decide how she wanted to handle what was likely to become a media storm. He would shield her from all of it, get his lawyers involved, let her lay in bed while the legal eagles sued for libel and slander.
Stepping over a cat, wild thoughts tumbled around his mind, varying between the desire to beat the shit out of Jayden physically or legally, Adam was nearly to the kitchen when he realized the cats never let him step over them. That couldn’t be a good thing at all. Turning back down the hallway, he stopped when his eyes found the cat he had stepped over.
“Oh god,” he muttered.
Turning back to the kitchen, hoping his mother was there, Adam quickly tried to decide what to do. The cat was obviously dead and he clearly needed to do something to it before Kylia found out. She did not need to — fuck.
“Mom?” his eyes went to her reading the newspaper in the breakfast nook with a scowl on her face.
“Oh hi, Adam. I thought I heard you come in. Are you going to tell Kylia about the news?”
“Later,” he quickly dismissed it. “We have a far bigger problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Booger is laying dead in the hallway.”
Clearly her headache was never going to go away. No amount of pills would chase away that pain in her head, which had to be where her heart and soul was centered. Her baby was dead, unexpectedly dead. Sure he had been sneezing a lot before she moved, but that seemed to clear up within a day or two of living in Patsy’s house. He had even been playful and cocky the night before.
And now he was dead. Her baby was dead. It had to be her fault. She didn’t know how, but it had to be her fault.
“Kylia?” Adam’s soft voice interrupted her internal turmoil, drawing her eyes from their glassy stare out into the garden. “Baby?”
“Go away. I’m poison.”
He knelt beside her, reaching for her hands regardless her resistance, “Kylia, you arenot poison. What would make you say that?”
“My baby is dead because of me. Jayden turned from a golden boy to a golden ass. Surely something horrible will happen to you too. You should just let me be. And I should move out of here before it’s too late,” she responded, congestion changing the timbre of her voice.
“None of that has to do with you being poison. I’m sure as hell not leaving you now, not when you need me most,” Adam proclaimed. “But there is something you need to know. Actually a couple of things.”
“What?”
“Um... well I don’t know how to say this so I’ll just say it outright, the vet we took Booger to this morning called about fifteen minutes ago and... um, he thinks that Booger was poisoned,” he stated softly. “And uh... the story of what happened at your school has broke to the public.”
Her eyes remained focused on his while she blinked, trying to process his words, “What?”
“Someone poisoned Booger.”
“Who? How?”
“Uh... well,” he looked away briefly. “They found something inserted into his skin. So likely it’s been poisoning him for some time.”
“Jayden,” she hissed. “It could only be him.”
Adam nodded slowly, “Probably, but there’s no way to prove that.”
“We need to get Aristotle checked.”
“Mom is already at the vet with him now,” he declared.
She sighed slightly, “It should be me.”
“I know, but considering the circumstances, the less you leave the house, the better.”
“What circumstances?”
“You being sick for one. And the media for another. They don’t know you’re here; they’re staked out in front of your apartment. And we should keep it that way,” he said.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“No, why are they staking out my....” she paused to sneeze. “... apartment.”
“Before I explain it, I want you to know that my lawyers are already on it, trying to stop the chaotic storm it’s become,” Adam disclaimed. “Basically someone at the school, I presume Jayden, went to the press claiming that you were fired for sleeping with students.”
“WHAT!?” she gasped and erupted into coughs.
“I know it’s not true. I’m sure most people know it’s not true. My lawyers are trying to gather up evidence and shut the media circus down,” he claimed.
“Oh god, Adam. I’m so sorry. I should just disappear now. You would be better o—”
“No. I’m not letting you stand up against this on your own. And I’m not letting you fade into oblivion. It isn’t true and he’s the ass at fault. We will defeat this asshole,” Adam assured her. “I’m not letting you go and I’m not letting anyone run over you. You have to trust me, Kylia.”
Her eyes went to his, “I trust you with my life, Adam.”
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