"When You Want Her Back..."


Chapter Fourteen

April walked through her sister's room door preparing her for the worse. It occurred to her that a person who had a drug overdose would probably look horrible. Moving closer to the bed she stared at the feet that stuck out from behind the curtain. Pulling the curtain back she revealed her sister in bed eyes closed and her wrists handcuffed too the bed. Her sister didn’t open her eyes or move a muscle. She simply just laid there. Looking at her watch April saw that it was early. It was Four Thirty and her sister was sleeping. This couldn’t be good.

"She’s asleep...” Bret said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we should just go home rest and come back some other time."

"No... I want to be here when she wakes up.” April said glancing from Bret to her sister then to back to Bret again.

"Well I'm awake" Lena's voice said making April jump. Lena raised her hand and rubbed her forehead saying "Although I wish I wasn’t."

April moved closer to her sister’s bed and clasped her hand. "Don’t say that. Ever."

"Well it's true." Looking around Lena spotted Bret and said "Wow... Where did he come from?" Soon enough Lena was sitting up or at least trying to, patting her hair down. April felt a surge of protectiveness and acted on it.

"This is my boyfriend. Bret. Bret this is of course my sister Lena." turning her attention back to her sister she said "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Well..." April raised her eye brow and Lena continued. "What can I say April? You know the story. I ODed... no denying it. Now i have to deal with the consequences." Her sister lay back in her bed and let out a sigh. "I do not understand how this happened. I'm so lost." Lena stared up into the ceiling with a look of nothingness in her eyes. It seemed she had nothing and everything on her mind all at once.

"It's called life Lena. Learn it. Except it. Master it. Cause trust me. Then end could come at anytime, at anyplace, and at the most compelling events in our lives.” April said hoping she didn’t sound to harsh to her sister.

“Well you don’t gotta preach.” Her sister told her. “April… You will help me right? I don’t want to serve time April.”

She didn’t want her sister to serve time either. In fact the thought had crossed her mind multiple times but it seemed each time she realized that there was just no way to avoid it. Her sister had committed a crime and she had to pay for it. Her only solution was that if her sister was going to serve time in jail she would serve a minimum which with Jay’s help she was sure she could accomplish it. “Lena. There is no avoiding. You are going to have to. One thing I will do. I will fight long and hard to make sure you get the minimum time possible.”

“Minimum sounds like too much to me. Even a day sounds to much”

“Well you don’t have a choice”

“Can’t you just get your lawyer to do his thing? Isn’t that what a lawyer is for?”

April stiffened her posture and locked gazes with Lena. She felt the argument coming. “Well Lawyers don’t perform miracles like undo the drugs you took”

“Oh yes rub it in. Just like you April. You know I thought you would come here and finally be a big sister to me but I guess not”

“Excuse me?!” April said in a tone of How-Dare-You. “How could you say that? I’m here.. I’ by your bed.. I am telling you that I will have my lawyer working as hard as possible to get you out of your mess and you are telling me that I am not being a big sister and never had?! Well how about this for something. How about you stop screwing up so much that I have to come and fix it!”

Lena gasped and April realized what she had just said. Even as she and her sister stood there silent she could tell even Bret realized the impact of her words. Her sister held her face in her hands as sobs exited her mouth and entered the air leaving a trail of sadness and pain. Pain she had just caused.

“Oh my...” April said “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean a word of it!”

“Yes!” her sister said hands still covering her face, voice shaky from the tears that she was now shedding. “You meant is all and I know. I know April! I know! It’s all true and I was so wrong! I’m such a screw up!”

Suddenly April had a flash back of when she was fourteen and she had messed up. Her mother had cleaned up the mess she had made in her life and the next day in the car April had broke down. April that night had yelled the same words she had to her mother. It wasn’t until now she realized how strong her words were. It wasn’t until now that she realized how painful it was to hear some one you love say that about their self.

“Just go!” Lena yelled finally lowering her hands from her face. “Come back some other time. I want to be alone now... please?” Glancing at her watch she realized that time had passed quickly and it was now five thirty. Visiting hours ended at 7 so April would probably have to come back tomorrow if she left now. This had April thinking whether or not that was Lena’s plan.

“Lena. If I leave now I am not coming back till tomorrow you know that right?”

“Leave your number?”

“Sure” she said nodding her head then reaching down to the bed and hugging her sister feeling bad for letting go. While hugging her sister she noted that her sister was quite thin. She noted that her sister had smelled like hospital and tension. She smelled like a drug addict going cold turkey.

Twenty minutes later she was out of her sister’s room and in the elevator. She had left her sister with her phone number and told the nurses to note that if anything were to happen that she was the one to contact. This was getting so ridiculous.. her sister and her were fighting while she was in the hospital bed, She was calling her sister a failure and her sister was kicking her out of her hospital room. Where had all this come from? It seemed that when they were younger they watched out for each other for the best that they could or at least April had watched out for Lena. Now it seemed it was a constant battle to keep a healthy relationship with her sister.

Deciding she wanted to focus on something other then Lena she looked at Bret who stood just a foot away from her focusing on the doors in front of him. “So…” she said “What are you going to do about Rosa?”

Bret shook his head and said “That’s what I am wondering.”


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Bret sighed as he put the key to his door in the lock. He turned the key and opened the door to a completely dark house. Stepping in he hit the switch for hall lights and waited as they flickered to life. Closing the door behind him he waited a moment or to as he listened for a sign of other presence in the house.

His lips still tingles from the kiss he gave April before watching her jump into her truck and head home. He was tired and had to admit it had been an emotionally tiring day. Thinking about it he realized that in a matter of days he had loosed his daughter, loosed his girl friend., gained both back, and was about to loose his best friend. With luck he wouldn’t loose Rosa with luck Rosa was perfectly fine and they could just ignore what had happened. “Rosa?” He called out stepping further into the house.

“One second!” He heard her voice call from upstairs. Relieved that she was still here he trotted up the steps. Once up stairs he headed straight for her room. Finally there he observed the condition of the room.

Rosa’s Dresser was cleared off of all make up and nail polish she had there. There were dresser drawers that were opened and empty. Rosa’s closet was pulled open with only hangers in there and shoe boxes. Looking at Rosa’s bed he saw the huge luggage bag that contained most of her belongings. Confused he watched as Rosa stood on hands and knees reaching for something out from under her bed. “What’s going on?” he finally asked even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“I’m moving out” She said pulling herself out from under the bed and staring up at him.

“Why?” he asked also already knowing what the cause of her sudden decision was. “You can’t. Don’t go. You shouldn’t.”

“And yes I am. Look Bret I just don’t think I can live with you after what happened. It would be too awkward. I’ll move in with my mom till I get a job and have my own place. You will see this is all for the better.” She said nodding her head then getting up. He assume she had given up on what ever it was she was reaching for because when she rose from where she had been knelt she held nothing in her hand.

“But Rosa I don’t want to loose you. I can’t. who will cook for me? What about Hana? Who is gonna watch her. She loves you Rosa you can not go I repeat you can not go. Please just stay I’m sorry about earlier but I just really can’t love you like that. Rosa think about it. We are so well as roommate. Do you really want to go live with your mother? We have to stay friends!”

“Oh honey,” Rosa said moving toward Bret and clasping her hand on his cheek. “We will never stop being friends. That’s like if water stopped being wet. I will always love you and if you want I can come over and watch Hana for you. I just don’t think I can live with you. I’m sorry.” Rosa lowered her hand from his face looked at the ground and then looked back up into his eyes. “You love her don’t you?”

“Why do you say that?”

Rosa smiled and tilted her head in an angle. “Well,” she said “It was the only sane excuse I could come up with as to why you and me could never be.” Laughing she closed her eyes and said “Minus the stupid rhyming”

“Well it wouldn’t rhyme if you had used proper grammar. You and I.” He smiled down at her. Nodding his head he said “Yes... I think I do love her. Only… Don’t you think it’s too early for love?”

“Nope.” She said turning away from him and moving back toward the bed. She sat at the end of the bed and glared at him. “I don’t think it’s ever too early for love. When you feel it you feel it and there is no changing that.” She scratched her head and they held a long a silent moment. “So, “ she said looking down as though she was ashamed. “Now that you know how I feel about you mind if I share some thoughts I have had about you with you?”

“Umm...” He thought for a moment and said “Are they scary? Will I regret hearing them?”

Rosa chuckled then said “Well I doubt that.”

Nodding he said “Sure go right ahead”

“Well…” she started. “For one thing I believe you look amazing in leather. I think that you should not use dove as soap stick to the other one you use because you smell amazing when you do. I think your hair looks great the way it is and I also think you could quit going to the gym because you are already figured amazingly. I think that that blue tie of yours should go to the garbage because when you wear it your eyes don’t look as green as they could and that is your amazing feature. Stick to green.” She stopped let out a breath and said “Oh yeah I also think that April is very lucky and if she ever hurts you I will kill her”

Mouth wide open he said “Wow… Anything else?”

“Yes. Can you give me a ride to my mother’s house?”