Thwarted Dreams -- Chapter 9

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Colonel Lydecker, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Caroline, etc.).

Notes: Spoiler for “Cold Comfort.”

“Oh man, that was such a night,” Stephanie said the next night. She giggled drunkenly.

“You are amazingly trashed,” Caroline observed amusedly as she watched Stephanie stumble into the room. She followed Stephanie in and closed the door behind them. “I’m surprised that you didn’t go home with that loser at the bar.”

“Nah, he went home with someone else,” Stephanie said. She hiccupped.

“Good thing,” Caroline said. “You normally have better taste in men than that. Seriously, Stephanie, the guy looked like he just escaped from prison. How much do you want to bet that we’re going to be seeing his picture in the newspaper soon saying that he either did escape from a prison somewhere or that he robbed a bank or something? The guy looked scummy as hell.”

“He was cute,” Stephanie insisted. “He looked rugged and rugged men are just sooooooooo adorable. You know that’s why I like to date boys who go here. That whole military-rugged-hard work thing just drives me wild.” She laughed hysterically.

Caroline rolled her eyes and walked over to her desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of aspirin and set it down near Stephanie’s bed. “You really shouldn’t have drank so much. You’ve got a long day tomorrow, remember? You’re going to have the worst hangover in the morning. You should be lucky that the aspirin bottle is still about three-quarters full. You’re going to need as much aspirin and strong coffee in the morning as you can get.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Stephanie said dismissively. She stumbled towards her bed and collapsed onto it and laughed hysterically. “Oh wow, I am feeling so good…”

“Enjoy it while you can, because it won’t last that long,” Caroline muttered as she found the wastepaper basket that was beside her desk and dragged it over next to Stephanie’s bed.

“What is that for?” Stephanie wondered. “Hey! Shouldn’t you be this drunk, too?”

“That’s for in case you get too sick to make it to the bathroom and I only had two bottles of Bud Light tonight,” Caroline said. “Why don’t you get some sleep before you start getting sick?”

“But I’m not tired,” Stephanie whined.

Caroline rolled her eyes. She’s my friend but she is worse than a three-year-old when she’s drunk! “Stephanie, please go to sleep?”

“Fine,” Stephanie said. She flopped back down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Yep, just like a three-year-old. Caroline sighed and got changed for bed and grabbed a book that she’d been reading and sat down on her bed. It’s nice to have a few moments of piece and quiet around here. Between classes, physical, and other military training, I feel like I’m busy almost twenty-four-seven. I love it, though. Who am I kidding? She opened her book and spent a few quiet minutes before the phone rang, startling her. She looked over at Stephanie. Still sleeping. Thank goodness that pretty much nothing can wake her up when she’s drunk. She got up and walked over to the phone and answered it. “Hello?”

“Caroline? Thank goodness that you’re up.” It was her mother.

“Mom? Why are you calling me this late? Is something wrong?” Caroline asked.

“Sit down, sweetheart,” Mrs. Robinson instructed her.

“Okay,” Caroline said. She sat down in her desk chair. “I’m sitting down, Mom. What is it?”

“Sweetheart, Lisa’s dead,” Mrs. Robinson said gently.

Caroline blinked. “Lisa’s dead? Mom, what do you mean Lisa’s dead?”

“I’m afraid it’s true,” Mrs. Robinson said. “Your father and I got a call from Don about an hour ago. He’d gotten home at about nine tonight and when he got home, he found Lisa lying on the living room floor in a pool of her own blood with a bullet hole in her head.”

“Oh my God,” Caroline said, shocked. “She was murdered?”

“That’s what the police in Casper believe,” Mrs. Robinson confirmed. “There was no weapon found near the body, no suicide note, they found evidence of a break-in, and some of Lisa and Don’s valuables were missing. They believe that Lisa was killed in a botched robbery attempt.”

“So…what happens now?” Caroline asked. She wiped some tears from her face.

“Don’s having the body brought back to Ohio,” Mrs. Robinson told her. “The funeral will be here in Columbus in a few days. I’ll express mail your plane ticket to you when Don calls us with the exact date of the funeral.”

“Thank you,” Caroline said quietly. “I can’t believe that Lisa is dead. Damnit, yesterday she called me and we talked on the phone and she sounded really happy. Now she’s dead…Mom, why did this happen?”

“I don’t know, Caroline, I don’t know,” Mrs. Robinson said. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Caroline assured her mother. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

“I’ll see you then. I love you,” Mrs. Robinson said.

“I love you, Mom,” Caroline said. She hung up the phone and burst into tears. She looked over at the framed photos on her desk and looked at the one of herself and Lisa that had been taken when she and Caroline and everybody had been back in Columbus only two months before. Yesterday, she was so happy. She was so sure that she’d finally convince Don about the two of them adopting a baby and now she’s gone. Just like that because she caught some assholes trying to steal some of her things. First Chris died senselessly and now Lisa… She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. I wonder if she did convince Don about adopting last night after he got back. I’ve got a feeling that she did. Lisa always could convince Don to do pretty much anything. Not anymore, though… She sighed and wiped her eyes again and went back over to her bed and lay down and cried herself to sleep.

TBC