Pietro: Have you seen our reviews?
Kelly: Not since Thursday, I was kind of busy writing a freaking 15 page essay on the Aztecs for my Ancient Civ. class that's worth 20% of my final mark!!! Besides, I've been a ff.net deadbeat as of late - reading stories and failing to review (my apologies go out to Bazzer, Rionithis, Psychodelic Barfly, Red witch, etc, I promise I'll review later) so I figure I don't deserve to read the ones I get.
P: I think you should go read them . . . *Kelly and P take a trip the review page*
K: Alright, let's see, good comment, good comment, good comment, screw Hex-factor *yay!*, good comment . . . WHAT???
P: I know, it's horrible. Shocking. Appalling, even.
K: How could Rietro_sux say that?
P: It's immoral.
K: The Matthew Good Band totally does not blow!!!! :P
P: Rietro_sux obviously has never heard the "Underdogs" CD. Well, look on the bright side.
K: What's that?
P: At least you can spell "character" and "down"
I Turn The Light On and There's Nothing Left Redeeming
Kelly
li_luva_2000@yahoo.ca
`*~Chapter Eight~*'
Pietro stared at the ceiling tiles, counting the little holes scattered randomly in each. There were exactly 1067 in the tile directly above his bed, and he had now moved to the one just left of that. He'd lost track around 687, though, his eyelids were too heavy to keep open. But Pietro couldn't sleep. Rogue should have been back by now.
*~*~*~*
Todd felt as if he'd been hit. Why tonight? Why, of all the nights for one Pietro's groupies to show up on their door and ask for him, did the fates choose for it to be tonight? He didn't want to tell this girl why Pietro was in the hospital. She didn't need to know, she didn't deserve to know . . . She didn't really care about Pietro. She would never experience that horrible, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach if he told her. She would never know what it was like to watch her friends crumble around her. "Why don't you come back another night?"
"But . . ."
Rogue took a step forward, she no longer stood behind Todd but beside him. She addressed the girl softly, "It's Wanda, right?"
Todd looked at her, confused, "You know her?"
"Yeah, sort of. She's Pietro's sister."
It took several seconds for Todd's brain to fully process and comprehend the absolute bizarreness of what she had just said. "Pietro has a SISTER? Since when?"
"Since we were born," retorted the girl, with a thick European accent, "We're twins."
"So let's see if I've go this straight: Pietro has a long-lost twin sister." Todd heard the sarcasm tint his tone, "Of course, I mean, how could I NOT know this? It's fucking so obvious, yo." He looked at Rogue, who sort of shrugged. "How did you know?"
She averted her gaze. "He told me."
"Of course he told you - the one traitor of our group. Why the hell not?" And Todd began to laugh bitterly. What else was there to really do? His one friend was in the hospital after trying to kill himself the same way Todd's mom had. His other had shattered his wrist when he dented a locker in a rage, just inches from Todd's head, and was now on the verge of a near mental collapse because he was expected to take care of all of this on his own at only seventeen. And now he had found out that someone he thought he knew actually had a twin sister and was sharing secrets with a person who had up and left them just months before, "Why the HELL not!" Todd stormed past the girl and onto the front porch, carrying the duffle bag with Pietro's things. "I'll be in the fucking jeep when you're ready to go back Rogue."
*~*~*~*
The pretty little blonde desk-clerk smiled as the doctor approached the desk. He didn't look very old, maybe forty-five or fifty. He probably would have looked younger, too, if his hair wasn't completely white. He smiled sallowly back at her. She was new at the hospital, and knew people only by their name tags. "Hello Dr. Aniello. How are you this evening?" She beamed brightly.
"Fine, thank you. Could you tell me where one of my patients is? I want to do a follow up before my shift is over."
"Sure, what's the name?"
"Maximoff. Pietro Maximoff."
"Okay . . ." She typed the name into the computer, "He's in the ICU, room 215."
"Perfect. Thank you."
"No problem." She watched the doctor disappear through the pale blue doors at the end of the hallway. About three-minutes later, her co-worker, Maggie, returned from her break.
"So, anything exciting happen while I was away?"
"I finally met Dr. Aniello."
"Isn't she awesome?"
"She?"
*~*~*~*
Todd pulled irritably into the empty parking spot, speaking to neither Rogue nor the other girl. He didn't give a shit if she was really Pietro's sister, or if Rogue was mad at him for calling her a traitor, or if the entire world exploded right at that current moment. It wasn't his problem. He was just going to go to the ICU, drop the duffle bag in P's room, then crash on one of the waiting room couches. Let the rest of the world fuck around without him for a couple of hours, he was sure the problems would still be there in the morning, so he might as well at least get a bit of sleep.
Todd sensed something was wrong as he passed through the blue doors. Nurses and doctors hustled frantically about, casting him frenzied glances and speaking in urgent whispers. He quickened his pace toward room 215, down the poorly-lit labyrinth which led to where Pietro had been put. Rogue followed close behind.
Around the corner, he heard hushed voices. Two police officers were outside Pietro's door, talking to a blonde woman who looked near hysterics. Slightly further down the hall stood Tabitha and Fred, crowded around a hospital bed which contained a very still Lance. Tabby was crying.
Todd felt his throat tighten. Something was very wrong. Ignoring the yells of the cops, Todd pushed his way into the room. Pietro's bed was empty, a small syringe lay atop of the sheets. The metal bars on the side of the bed were twisted beyond recognition, and the window stood ajar. "No," whispered Todd quietly, sinking to his knees, "not him."
*~*~*~*
P: This was disgustingly short.
K: Oh well, I'm tired. So sue me.
P: But that involve hiring a lawyer, which involves money I do not have.
K: Then deal with it! Guess what?? Exactly 11 hours until Day of Reckoning!! Yay! I'm so excited! Plus, I want everyone who hates Scott to read chapter ten of ‘no place to call home' by Rionithis ‘cause it's freaking killer!!! ^_^
P: They won't listen to you.
K: Shh . . . I'm all powerful.
P: RiiiiIIiiiiight.
K: Quiet you. Do you want me to cut off your Pixie Stix supply?