Author’s Note: Whoot, a new chapter! :D Thank you so much to those who reviewed. They really served as awesome encouragement to keep writing, lol. Also, I especially appreciate Vena Cava for beta-ing this chapter so late at night. n.n;

x X x

Of Blondes and Devils
Chapter o2

“Now, Ms. Sanders, if you could please sit down. We have asked you to come with us because your mother, Allison Sanders, was in a motor vehicle accident today. Because of the unusual circumstances of the accident, we needed your help to identify a woman who is now in a coma.”

A coma? A woman? Her mother?

“Ms. Sanders?”

Everything seemed to be happening too quickly. She had just been on the internet chatting with Em, researching some info for her econ class. Her mother should have called her around nine-thirty to wish her a good night. Then, she would have showered, put her work together for the next day, and then gone to bed.

There should have been no nighttime visit with two police officers at the city’s main hospital.

And they wanted her to clarify for them whether or not it was her mother in the hospital bed. In a coma. If not her mother, who else could it have been? If it wasn’t her mother, then where was her mother?

Arianne could barely suppress the tremble that took hold of her limbs. It snaked its way from the tips of her fingers to her lips as she stammered out her question.

“I-if you know it’s my moth-my mother, why do you still need me to identify her for you?”

Oh, God. Her mother—

The door to the small office she was in swung open. Anticipating another police officer to enter, she was surprised to find a man and a woman joining them. The two newcomers both wore white lab coats and each carried a clipboard. She felt her heart sinking.

“Arianne, I presume?” Asked the new man, whom she guessed was a doctor of some sort. She took his outstretched hand in a weak handshake.

“Yes, sir.” Her voice was a whisper to her ears. She cleared her throat.

“Arianne, I am Dr. Abram Finer. I was the presiding doctor for the woman who is in a coma.”

For the woman?

They were so vague, Arianne thought. If they knew she was the daughter, why didn’t they just call “the woman” her mother?

“Hello, Miss Sanders? I am Dr. Justine St. John, the medical examiner.”

Medical examiner? Wasn’t that the same thing as a coroner? What was a coroner doing, talking to her at the hospital?

The trembling started again in her fingertips. Clasping her hands together, Arianne hoped there was no concrete reason for her to be this anxious. Surely, it had to all be in her mind.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I’m still not entirely sure what is happening. If someone could please explain… Or if someone could just please take me to see my mother?” At the rate they were giving her information, Arianne was sure she would be heading towards some kind of cardiac arrest from all the anxiety that was building up. All she wanted to know was if her mother would be all right. Most of all, she wanted to see her mother.

The police officers had stood to the side while the two doctors introduced themselves.

“Arianne, what happened was that your mother was in a vehicle that belonged to one Derek Deveraux. While crossing an intersection on US-1, another truck barreled into the vehicle your mother was in.” Officer Martinez took off his hat as he spoke to Arianne. His face was emotionless as he recounted what happened.

”However, there were two women in the car, and we are at present trying to identify which one is which. Mr. Deveraux was unavailable when we tried to make contact, and is apparently out of state. So, that leaves us with you to identify who your mother is.”

Officer Martinez’s voice got softer and as he made eye contact, he seemed to become more sympathetic. “There is a chance that the woman who is in a coma is not your mother. If that’s the case, then things may be grimmer than we thought.”

Grimmer?

Things may be grimmer. The only thing that could be grimmer than a coma was death. She blanched and clutched at the edge of the chair.

The officer was still talking, and though she heard what he said, it wasn’t registering. All she could hear over and over was that it was grim. Things could be grimmer than they thought. Grimmer than they thought for her. A fifty-fifty that her mother may or may not be…

No no no no no—

“Oh, God—God, no.” Arianne’s voice was tight with hysteria.

Slam her with unrequited love, poor grades, expulsion from school, anything – anything at all – and she would take it. She could take it and still hold her head high. But take her mother, the only parent she had ever known, and Arianne did not think she could handle it at all.

She looked up from her lap to the adults, her eyes glassy with unshed tears, and stood up slowly on legs that seemed too weak to carry her.

“Please, take me to her now.”

Arianne beseeched whatever god there was that her mother was all right. Let that woman be her mother. Her mother had to be alive. Let someone else have the pain of losing a loved one. She wanted to have this one selfish and shameful prayer.

“Sure, come with me.” With sad eyes, Dr. Finer led her out the door.

The static returned.

x X x

Following Dr. Finer, with the coroner and Officer Williams trailing behind her, Arianne hesitated when they reached a door in the intensive care unit wing of the hospital.

“Arianne, behind this door are several patients. The woman I’d like you to identify is behind the curtain in room 203C. She is currently unresponsive, but if you recognize her, feel free to talk to her. Also, do not be alarmed by the condition she is in. Physically, she is currently stable.” He paused as he slid his hand into the handle of the door. Before opening it for her, he whispered, “Good luck.”

Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a shallow breath, Arianne stepped through the door. A muted onslaught of beeps and whirrs from machines measuring heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and more filled her ears as she glanced around. The room was a square with a central nurses unit. She searched overhead for room 203C, noticing that there were two rooms situated on each side of the unit.

A nurse caught her gaze and looked at her curiously before looking back to whatever chart he had in his hand.

Arianne crossed her fingers, wished on every potential shooting star, promised whatever God there was that she would forever be religious – if only it was her mother behind the 203C sign. She made her way, faltering at every couple steps. She wanted to delay the answer that was inevitable.

But, as all hopes reach an end, she reached the pale blue curtain separating room 203C from the nurse’s unit. Pulling the curtain aside, she nearly cried in relief when she saw the bandaged face and all the wires and tubes connected to her mother.

Rushing forward, she sobbed, “Mom! Mom, wake up.”

A small part of her was thanking God. Thank god her mother was comatose and not dead on some coroner’s table.

x X x

“Oh, my gosh! Arie, that ring is gorgeous. Did a boy give it to you?” Karen, the class gossip, asked while their professor lectured.

Twisting the ring on her left hand, Arianne studied the detail of the delicate engraving. The simple white-gold ring was her mother’s. She had felt weird leaving her mother in the hospital with no one to look after her, and wanted her to have something that connected both of them. So, Arianne swapped her ring for her mother’s.

“It’s from my mother.” Smiling without real mirth, she turned away from the curious gossiper and focused her attention out the window beside her.

As she looked out over the northern lawn of her campus, she saw a man walking up the front path towards the main office from the visitor’s parking lot. Probably another couple registering their daughter for next semester.

The man wore a dark navy suit and was tailed by a younger woman who was scrambling to keep up with his steps in – from Arianne’s vantage point – what looked like to be incredibly high and impractical heels.

The woman caught hold of the man’s arm with her hand, which he promptly shook off. Arianne tried to see their features, but both the distance and the speed at which they walked obscured them. Arianne saw the man turn and cast his glance over the face of the building, pointed at one of the windows – wait, pointed at her window? – and stared for a second longer before shifting his gaze back to the woman.

She followed their trek up the school’s path until she could no longer see them. How nice would it have been to have both her parents, healthy, together, and happily registering their daughter for school?

Arianne scoffed, turning away from the window and returning her attention to the lecture,.

Fairy tales weren’t always kingdoms, castles, and princes with an happily-ever-after at the end.

Sometimes, it was just finding peace and security in life with your family.

x X x

Arianne and Emily stepped into the florist shop, which was situated beside the hospital. Classes were over and they were allowed off campus on a school day to visit Arianne’s mother.

“So, what do you think, Em? Red roses, pink roses? Orchids?” Arianne passed by pots of plants and a wide array of bouquets, stuffed animals with mini-balloons, get-well-soon helium balloons, and began worrying about the bills that would soon be hitting her mailbox back home. How would they pay for all the medical bills?

Perhaps, she could just origami up some flowers for her mother. Wouldn’t smell as nice, but on the other hand they wouldn’t wilt either.

“I don’t know. What kind of flowers do people even want to get when they’re in a hospital?” Emily wrinkled her nose after stuffing it into some bouquet of unknown flowers.

“Roses seem too lovey. Maybe an orchid? Orchids last longer than flowers, no?” Maybe she could just tie some herbs together. Cheap, smells good, and wouldn’t die.

Being poor had so many setbacks.

Just as she was about to head towards the back part of the florist’s shop, a young couple barreled past Emily and Arianne, jostling them.

“God, Brent, look at how tacky these flowers are.” A tall and slim girl flicked her manicured nail against a tigerlily bud. “Daddy would never buy something so cheap for me.” Her defiant voice sounded as though she was attempting to convince herself.

Arianne and Emily stared at the girl before turning to look at one another.

“Are you kidding me?” Arianne whispered.

Pretending to examine her nails, Em then stuck up her nose high in the air and said with a tone of mock disdain, “Commoner, do not speak to me.”

Grinning, Arianne covered her mouth to keep from snickering aloud.

Ignoring the whiny complaints from the bratty younger girl who was haranguing the poor boy with her comments – her friend, maybe boyfriend, potential brother? – Arianne spotted a small pot of – she glanced at the tag – cymbidium clarisse orchids. Jesus, even their name sounded pricey.

However, just as she was about to pick it up, she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eyes. Swiveling on the heel of her shoes, she spotted the same suited man she had noticed earlier in the morning in front of her school.

What a coincidence, she thought, and wondered briefly who he was buying flowers for. Perhaps he’d had a tragedy in the family as well, or he had some poor sickly daughter—

“Daddy! I refuse to get flowers from here for Abby. I have no idea what we’re doing in a shop by some dumb hospital, anyway.” The snooty brunette crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for her father. Searching behind her shoulder, she called sharply to the boy who promptly rolled his eyes. “Brent, let’s go! We aren’t getting Abby some cheap hospital flowers! She wouldn’t have liked them.”

Sickly daughter in need of anger management courses. Or de-bratification.

“Beth, go back to the car with your brother and tell Louis to drop you both home. I’ll be along shortly.” The man walked by a row of plants and flowers, picked one up after a quick glance, and headed to the cashier.

Taking the small pot of orchids, Arianne got in line behind the man as his daughter and son left the shop.

She looked up at the sound of a strangled cough. Noticing the man's attention was on her, Arianne veered her eyes back down to her orchids. What? Did she have a huge piece of dandruff in her hair, or something?

He cleared his throat.

“My kids – really, they’re quite the handful and earful, aren’t they?”

Startled, Arianne looked from her orchids to the man. “Er, yes. I suppose so.” Random conversations with strangers always made her uncomfortable. Why did humans always feel the pressing need to socialize?

“Well, they have their good sides. Don’t judge them too much before you actually know them.” The man adjusted his tie, loosening it. “Well, I better get going, then.” He smiled at her, his gaze lingering. She returned the expression after a moment’s hesitation. How awkward.

As he paid and left, Emily stepped into the line with Arianne.

“Who was that? Your new sugar daddy? He looked looooooadddded. Did you see those cufflinks on his jacket? My uncle wears the same ones!” Her uncle was insanely wealthy. For him, everything had to be the best. Yowza. What a pity that some people were born with the genetic strand of DNA that said you-have-money-so-mote-it-be.

“Next!”

“Oh, let’s go. I got your orchids,” Em said, pulling her wallet from her purse.

“No, you really don’t have to. I’m fine, I said I’m—Emily Sue Anne, give me back my pot!” Arianne grew frustrated with all the crap in her purse that was working alongside Emily and that girl’s scheming to hide her wallet.

“Sugar lump, you couldn’t afford pot even if you wanted it.” Snickering, Emily smiled at the boy on the register. “This would be all, thank you.”

“Emily!” Arianne screeched.

x X x

Seated at a Starbucks a few hours later, Arianne and Emily were studying for an exam together before Emily would head back to campus. Arianne planned to stay the night at the hospital in her mother’s room.

Taking a sip from her coffee, she glanced over by the entrance when she heard the jingle over the door indicating a new customer. In came the same man she had seen all day. Neatly pressed slacks, a pale green silk button down shirt with a business suit jacket and tie. Arianne had to admit that he was handsome with honey brown hair slicked away from his forehead, green eyes, and a disarming smile. He was also at least forty, she thought.

He paused as he entered, surveying the coffee house’s customers before finally landing on Arianne and Emily’s table. Feeling like he was about to say something, or walk over to them, Arianne tensed up. She watched as he walked up to the barista’s table to order, and relaxed slightly.

“The man from the flower shop!” Arianne held up a textbook as she pointed from behind it, hiding her hand from everyone but Emily and herself. “At the barista’s!”

“Who? Where?” Emily stood up to look around.

“No, you dimwit. Don’t stand up!” Arianne hissed. Tugging on Emily’s arm, Arianne dragged the girl back to her chair.

“He was on our campus earlier today, and then he was at the flower shop we were at earlier. I keep seeing him, and it’s disorienting.” Lowering her textbook, Arianne snuck a peek at the man ordering a drink from the barista.

Chewing on a piece of bubblegum, Emily shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. You see a guy twice or thrice. So what?”

“But—“

“No. No but’s. Just have your coffee. Be happy. Read. Relax. I’m treating you to Starbucks. What more can you want? You know, most guys out there would be in heaven, Arie. Heavvvveennn, to be sitting this close to me and basking in my presence.”

Snorting into her coffee, Arianne muttered, “Heaven only because Hell’s afraid they’d bring you along.”

Arianne couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out at Emily’s silence.

“…Don’t make me pour my coffee on you, Arie.”

“Do that, and I’ll… I’ll…” Arianne searched her brain for something to do that would be both offensive and funny. Glancing at the man again, she blurted, “I’ll slip that poor old man your cell number.”

“Is this your secret fantasy, Arie? Do you have something you’re not telling me?” Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, Emily set her coffee down on their table. “Well, while you dream up fantasies of me and older men, I’m going to the bathroom. You make me feel so dirty, young lady.”

Grinning, Arianne felt relieved that things with Emily hadn’t changed. All day, most of the faculty at Welton’s had been treating her as though she would crack or break. Tiptoeing around her mother’s condition, but too nosy to restrain their curiosity in conversations with her.

On the other hand, the wealthy students looked at her with pitied gazes and did the thing they did best: ignoring Arianne.

Sitting back in her seat and smiling into her coffee, Arianne felt lucky to have a best friend in Em.

Emily came back and they got up to dump the rest of their trash before heading out.

As she headed for the door, Arianne noticed the man’s eyes on her and Emily. Suppressing a slight shiver from the peculiarity of his gaze, she hurried Em out the door.

Once outside, Emily hugged Arianne before getting into her Audi.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Good luck with your mom!” With that, Emily shut her door and Arianne began her walk back towards the hospital.

Worry for her mother began eclipsing the happiness and laughter she had felt that day with Em. Picking up the pace, she hurried to return to her mother.

Passing through the main entrance of the hospital, Arianne didn’t bother waiting on the elevator, and took the stairs.

Maybe her mother had woken up by now. It had been nearly twenty-four hours. Surely her mother just needed some rest and she’d be fine. That’s right. Her mother would be sitting up, smiling, and then tease her about the gross hospital food.

As she slowed to a walk outside the intensive care unit, Arianne held her breath as she pulled back the curtain of her mother’s room.

Deflated, Arianne stood in place for a few minutes, not wanting to believe that her mother was still in a coma.

Gently lifting her mother’s hand into her own, Arianne rubbed her mother’s cold fingers. “Mom, it’s Arie. Mom, wake up. Please, say something.” Feeling silly, she searched her mother’s face for any sign, her body for any movement, and despaired that there was no response.

“Please, mom. Wiggle a toe, a finger, anything. For me, mom. Please,” she pleaded.

“Darling, she’s been intubated. Even if she was awake, she couldn’t answer you.”

Spinning around to see who had been so insensitive, she was confronted by a suited man with a vase of flowers – the same man she had seen over and over all day. Warily, she stepped in front of her mother’s bed. As he smiled, crow’s feet wrinkled the sides of his tired green eyes.

“Hello, Arianne. I am your father.”

x X x

Author's Note: Let me know what you think of this chapter. :D Does it move too slowly, do you want to see the boys back already? Lol. I was afraid it might be boring. ^^; I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again to those who review. It helps to know what you guys like and dislike. :D