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Fiona's Blood
The sky was clear and bright that day. It glowed magnificently. Very few
people who were outside failed to notice. One of those people who didn’t notice
was Fiona Gray. Fiona
was lying down on the sidewalk in front of her house, looking strait up into the
sky. She had more important things on her mind than a blue sky, though. She
happened to be in a lot of pain. Blood was leaking slowly from her right thigh
and her left forearm. It was beginning to form a small pool around her. She
could feel bruises forming in several different locations around her body. She
heard voices coming closer. They were yelling and asking questions. One
of the voices asked her what had happened. She tried to remember the immediate
past, but could not. Her mind wandered back a couple weeks.
--
It had started, as many events of Fiona’s life started, with a suggestion from
her best friend, Kim. Kim was a couple years older than Fiona, and most of
Fiona’s friends were through Kim. This usually meant that at sixteen, Fiona was the youngest at a party, or other gathering of her friends.
The gatherings usually consisted of four of them. George was Kim’s boyfriend and
Alex was George’s best friend. These four had been spending lots of time together almost
every weekend for a little more than a year at the time the suggestion was made.
Kim’s suggestion was that Fiona should go on a date alone with Alex some night.
Alex had just gotten out of a relationship and Fiona hadn’t been in one for
several months at this point. Kim made this suggestion across a crowded
cafeteria table at their high school. There was a separate room for seniors to
use if they were inclined to distance themselves from the lower-classmen, but
Kim opted to sit with her best friend.
“I don’t think that it’s a very good idea, Kim” was Fiona’s first response.
“Why not?” asked Kim, “He’s awful cute, and you know that he likes you.”
“Yeah, I know,” agreed Fiona, “and I’ve thought about it before...”
“But?” prompted Kim
“But, we know it can’t last forever,” said Fiona, “I mean what happens to our
little quartet when he and I break-up?”
“Oh, come on,” Kim pleaded, “You two are perfect for each other, did you know
that ninety percent of successful relationships start out as friendships?”
“You just made that up!” protested Fiona immediately, “You liar!”
Kim could tell that she was starting to convince her friend. “So what?” she
argued in defense of her information, “I’m probably right.”
Fiona could not come up with a solid defense against that, and after a few more
pleads, she gave in to Kim and agreed to ask Alex out on a date for the weekend.
“Aren’t we all going out this weekend anyway?” She asked
“No,” said Kim, “George has to work.”
“You’re lying again!” accused Fiona playfully.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you and Alex fell in love?” asked Kim, ignoring the
accusation.
Fiona was suddenly hardened; “I don’t fall in love, Remember?”
Kim was finished with her meal and rose from the table, tray in hand. “Oh yeah,”
she started, sarcastically, and without a smile, “I guess I forgot.” Kim walked
away from the table. She deposited her tray in a small window near the exit to
the cafeteria before leaving.
Fiona looked down at her food and began prodding her hamburger with her knife.
She did this until the bell rang. The bell signaled the end of her allotted
half-hour of lunchtime.
--
A young-man was checking Fiona’s pulse, “Sha’s still alive, just ba'ely,” said
the man aloud. Then the man turned his head and began to yell, “Bob, call
‘911’”. He stood up to remove his plain, white T-shirt. Taking the shirt between
his fists, he tore it in half and tied half of the garment loosely about each of
the bleeding slices on Fiona’s limbs, effectively bandaging the injured girl’s
wounds. The man, whom she now recognized as her neighbor, was still talking to
her as she neared unconsciousness. Her mind began to wander again.
--
“So, where did you two go on Saturday?” asked Kim during lunch the next Monday.
“Alex Took me to this place called the ‘Nature Center’ up near Milford on
Tealtown Road.” Said Fiona; “It was wonderful. He’s such a great guy.”
“Well, what happened?” Asked Kim, Excitedly.
“Not much” started Fiona; “We walked the trails through the forest for a couple
hours, talking about this and that...”
“Did he kiss you?” interrupted Kim.
“I was getting to that part” said Fiona, annoyed by Kim’s impatience, “After a
while of walking, I told him that I wanted to sit down, so we went to this thing
called a ‘bird blind’. It was really neat. It’s this place, out in the woods,
where you can sit down and watch birds through this tiny window. Then, while I
was distracted by all the birds, he started to kiss me. We must have spent
another two hours in that bird blind, because by the time we left the park, it
was time for dinner. Three or four people were in there with us at different
times, but nobody seemed to care, it was really cool.”
“So I was right?” Asked Kim with an air of superiority.
“Yes,” admitted Fiona, “You were right”
“Are you two going to do something this coming weekend?”
“It’ll be a classic ‘dinner and a movie’ date.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It will be,” Fiona said. Suddenly she got a questioning look on her face,
“Who’s Diane?” She asked.
“I don’t know. Why?” Kim asked in return.
“Because she paged him five times while we were in the park.”
“Oh, that Diane,” Kim started, “She’s Alex’s ex-girlfriend. George says that she
still isn’t over him, and that she’s always bothering him with phone calls,
especially if she knows that he is on a date, apparently this is a reoccurring
thing. Are you going to finish your fries?”
“No. You can have them,” Fiona picked up the cardboard basket and held it out
across the table.
“Thanks,” Kim took the basket and emptied its fry content into her own basket.
--
Fiona woke with a jolt. A small hand was placed on her abdomen to keep her from
moving. The surface beneath her was softer now, and she was no longer strewn
about. She guessed right away that she was on a stretcher being loaded into an
ambulance. She decided not to open her eyes. When she heard the doors close, she
began to drift off toward unconsciousness again.
--
That Saturday, for dinner, Fiona was dining at her favorite restaurant. She
ordered her favorite dish. As it arrived, Alex was talking about her. He had
been talking mostly about her all evening.
“I love your name,” He said just as the waiter set a dish of Chicken Parmesan
before him. Alex Turned and thanked the waiter before continuing, “What does it
mean?” he asked.
“It’s Celtic,” she responded, “I’m not sure what it means”
“You should find that out sometime” Alex responded
“Yes,” She agreed, “What about your name?”
“It’s Greek” he started, “It means ‘defender of man’.”
“Wow!” Fiona exclaimed quietly, “That’s a big responsibility.”
“I Guess,” He smiled at her, “I Never really thought about it like...” Alex’s
sentence trailed off.
“What is it?” asked Fiona, mildly concerned.
“I just got paged,” Alex looked down at the small black box on his belt, “It’s
my father. Would you excuse me for a moment?
“Sure,” She smiled.
Alex got up from the table and walked toward the front of the restaurant. When
he was out of sight, a somewhat powerful looking woman, who had been sitting at
the next table by herself, Got up and walked toward Fiona, The woman looked to
be twenty years old, maybe a little older. She had long red hair and dark eyes.
She was a bit taller than Fiona, and looked to be overweight, though it seemed
to be mostly muscle. The woman introduced herself as Alex’s best friend. Then,
the woman told Fiona that Alex was very important to her and that she would be
looking out for him.
“And don’t you go thinking that he’s yours,” she started to walk away, ”because
he loves me, and he always will” she left the restaurant, passing Alex on her
way out.
“I’m sorry about that. I hope Diane wasn’t bothering you.” Alex apologized as
soon as he reached their table and had sat down.
“It’s okay,” said Fiona, “It’s not your fault.”
Alex simply tsked and took another bite of his chicken.
--
Fiona woke with another jolt. She was being moved again. This time she opened
her eyes. Her cart was being pushed through the hallways of the hospital. Her
and an entourage of hospital uniforms arrived at a small room and they hoisted
her onto a soft bed. The young man who had given up his shirt to help save her
life was also there. He was just standing there, watching her.
“Are you family?” asked one of the uniformed men.
“Na,” He replied, “Ahm her neighbor, Charles”
“Do you know the girl’s name?”
“Fiona... Fiona Gray,” Charles informed.
"Where is her family?"
"She lives wit er gram, who's outa
town 'til mornin'
The uniformed man made a note on his clipboard, “Could you please wait outside
the room?” he ordered.
“Right,” Charles said, and he left. Fiona didn’t want him to leave, but she
didn’t have the strength to protest. She closed her eyes again.
--
“What did you think of the movie?” Alex asked as they got back in his car. They
had just seen the latest date movie.
“I loved it,” Fiona said, reaching for the seat belt.
“I’m not sure,” Alex said, “I thought that it was just a bit too...”Alex broke
off. Fiona had let go of the seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him.
“What were you saying?” she asked after retreating a few inches.
“Err... I don’t remember,” he said kind of dazed.
This pleased Fiona enough that she kissed him again. As she was doing this,
another car drove by and the headlights filled Alex’s car with white light.
Fiona fell back properly into the passenger seat and giggled lightly.
“How about some place a little more private?” Alex suggested.
“Like where?” she asked.
“There is this nice quiet spot along the river that has a great view,” He said,
“It’s kind of sandy, but I keep a sleeping bag in the trunk.”
“Okay,” she agreed. The two smiled at each other as Alex started his car.
The next day Fiona spoke to Kim on the telephone.
“Well?” asked Kim, “What happened next?”
“Kim!” Fiona complained, “You don’t need all the details,”
“Yes, I do,” Kim pleaded, “tell me, tell me”
“He’s meeting me at the coffee shop in just a few hours” continued Fiona,
ignoring Kim’s plea.
“Alex doesn’t like coffee”
“I know, isn’t it great?”
“You’re in love with him!” Kim pointed out.
“I am not!” Fiona protested
“Yes you are, I can tell.”
Fiona was silent for a moment, “I... I’ve got to go,” she said. Then, She hung
up the phone without waiting for a reply. Fiona stared out of her bedroom window
at the, trees beyond.
Fiona blinked back tears. she shook her head to fight back the images that were
suddenly there.... Her old father's moustache, filled with tears and blood... A
pale car moving away against a scarlet sunset... Her mother's
pale face above a slick red plain... A pair of bloody scissors on white tile...
A cherry wood casket under a bright, cloudy sky... Love is terrible...
Love kills people... Fiona mustn't ever fall in love...
--
A doctor was talking to Fiona, but she couldn’t hear much of what he was saying.
“And there is a girl in the waiting room who says that she is your best friend,”
he went on, “I’ll send her in soon, but you need to rest now.” Fiona wasn’t in
much pain any more. She figured that they must have given her some painkillers,
cause she was also very drowsy.
--
When Fiona arrived at the coffee shop, Alex was already waiting. His face, and
his day, brightened when he saw her, but she did not notice.
“I have to tell you something,” said Fiona calmly.
“What’s up?” asked Alex, almost unconcerned.
“I don’t think that this relationship is going to work, Alex,” She said quickly.
Alex was completely caught off-guard. His smile quickly disappeared and was
replaced by an expression of complete and utter confusion. He looked as if he
wanted to say something to her, but he could not find the words. He stood up,
cocked his head slightly to the right and tried again. He still couldn’t speak.
He simply frowned and walked slowly out of the small cafe.
“Now, that wern't rightly nice” said the man behind the counter, after the door
closed behind Alex, “'E hadn’t even gotten 'is coffee yet,”
Fiona looked up. She recognized the man. It was her neighbor, Charles. “He
ordered coffee?” she asked him.
“Yea, a whole pot aksh'lly,” He informed her.
“He doesn’t like coffee,” She said.
“Well, 'e certainly likes you,” Said Charles, “or rather, 'e did like ye. He
wouldn’t shut-up about ye’ for the five minutes he spen' hea.”
Charles said something else, but Fiona didn’t hear him.
Fiona didn’t go to school Monday. It was a national holiday. She was returning
from an afternoon walk when a car pulled up to her house. Diane got out.
“Can I help you?” asked Fiona, not really wanting to interact with this woman.
Fiona figured that she was going to try to start some kind of ex-girlfriends
club, and didn’t want any part of it.
“Yes, you can,” Diane walked around her car and came face-to-face with Fiona.
Diane Pulled a knife out of her jacket with her left hand and advanced on the
teenager.
“What’s wrong with you?” Fiona exclaimed, “Are you insane?”
“You hurt my Alexander!” was the only explanation that Diane gave as she began
to strike Fiona with her fists, still holding the knife.
That was all that Fiona could remember.
--
Kim was standing beside Fiona’s bed.
“The doctor said that you will be allowed to leave in a couple days,” said Kim
when she noticed that Fiona was awake. Fiona turned her head toward her best
friend, “Alex...” she whispered.
“I’m right here,” he said from the doorway. He stepped over to her bedside and
kissed her forehead.
“I...” Fiona tried to speak, “I...”
“It’s alright,” said Alex quietly.
Fiona wanted to believe him. She desperately needed to believe him.
END
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