The Descending of Jessica

I'm giving up on calling these chapters epilogues as there are just things that happened I want to tell, but the main story line has concluded. This is still wrapping up loose threads and filling in details, some answering questions from emails and feed back. Again, all the names have been changed to protect the innocent, as well as the guilty. And again, thanks to my awesome editor, Tangentjoker for his fine work in correcting typos and grammar. He can probably be recognized by the large red circle on his forehead from beating his head against the wall and screaming from seeing some of my mistakes over and over and over again.... That said, if you have not read the previous chapters you will probably be lost, and have no idea about the zombie apocalypse. If you just want the dirty parts, skip over a few pages and look for the bit about Marvin the robot.

Thanks again for reading, and all feed back is welcome. I try to respond as much as my schedule allows, and there should be another chapter in a week or so.

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Donna, Ron and Allison were the first to come to the room in the ER after Dr. Riley left. As my clothes were mostly cut from me, and what wasn't was soaked with sweat, I asked them to run home and get something for me to wear out of there when I was discharged. I expected that to be at any minute. Donna ran through my list of problems: an inner ear infection, anxiety, dehydration and low blood sugar with them. A plan was developed. Rather than go out to a restaurant, which I did not feel up to anyway, Ron would get take out and meet us back at the campus house while Donna and Allison would bring me a change of clothes.

All scolded me for not taking better care of myself. It was pointed out that several times people had asked if I felt okay that morning, and several times I had waved off their concerns. Mainly, though, they repeated what Brent had said. That they loved me and wanted me to get well. And that my first priority, ahead of my friends, family, school, and even my husband, was to take care of myself. Allison added that once I was all better I could get back to worrying about everyone and everything else.

I asked if Sarah could stay and all protested except Brent. It was finally settled that if anything did go wrong it would be good for Brent to have someone there to help him. And that I wouldn't have to take care of the Brat anyway, as Brent volunteered to. I really did want to spend more time with my sis, as we would both be starting school back and having her around just made me feel more like a part of a normal family. She really wasn't much bother anyway and we shared a mutual interest in reading. So it was finally agreed that she could spend the night.

Next, Sarah, or as she was acting at the time, Princess Bratface, Kevin, Reg and Carolyn came back.

"Are you getting out today?" Brat asked.

"Yes, and you're spending the night, too. But I'm going to be resting so you just plan to read to me, okay? And listen to Brent about bedtime and such. No arguing. Understand?"

"Sure! But no promises on bedtime! I am 12, ya know!" she stated with authority.

Brat crawled onto the bed beside me and curled up in my arm. We had spent so much of the last several weeks like this in a hospital bed that it felt natural now. Which was really depressing when I thought about it.

"So, Reg, thank you so much. You probably saved my life today."

"Yeah. Thanks, Reg. You, well, I can't ever thank you enough," Brent added, his eyes glistening.

"Oh, don't worry about it. That's what I do in my real job. And Ms. Donna was there, too. You were in good hands either way. I need you to remember though, more women die from seizures every year than breast cancer. Best way to thank me is to listen to your doctor and don't let it happen again. You gotta take care of yourself, Jessie."

"I know. He's already bitched at me. No more stress, drink fluids, eat every now and then and if I feel bad tell someone. Trust me, I'm good on all that now. One scare is enough. But, hey, I thought you worked for your father," I said.

"Oh, I do. We all do. Kevin warehouses and delivers when he's not at school, and Carolyn does sales when she's home. I'm a paramedic with the fire department 4 on and 8 off. I just work at the store during the weeks I'm not at the fire department. The city pays better," he grinned.

"How did you know I taught Carolyn to drive a stick?"

"What?" Kevin asked with incredulity in his voice. "She's been driving the delivery truck since she was 15. Hell, she drives a stick better than I do, and anytime I'm not at class I'm in that truck. I think Mom and Dad's greatest disappointment was that she decided to be an engineer rather than follow in Danica Patrick's footsteps."

I looked at Carolyn who smirked back at me.

"You lyin' little bit..." I got out before she interrupted.

"Hey! It was the only way I could get you to go to breakfast that day!"

"What are you two talking about?" Reg asked.

"Oh, last fall, I was at Jessie's dorm, when... well, when she was all mopey faced. The only way I could get her to get her sorry butt up and go to breakfast was if I agreed for her to teach me how to drive a stick. So I let her give me a driving lesson. You should have seen the look on her face, Brent, when I was dumping the clutch and killing the motor. And then I ground down enough clutch to, well, to the point I bet that parking lot still smells like somebody locked up the brakes on a semi coming off a mountain there. It was hysterical! And all the while she's saying, 'You can get this Carolyn. You're doing great!' It was all I could do to keep a straight face!"

"Well, if I had known," I got out before Carolyn again spoke over me.

"Yeah, if you had known you would have just laid there and starved. I bet if you had known the car I borrowed to get there was a straight you would have really felt dumb, too," she grinned.

I could not be mad. I had been punked, and it had been for my own good. Still, with everyone giggling at me I had to say something.

I reached out, took her hand with a smile and said, "You're so good to me. I'm going to have to pay you back sometime. When you least expect it." I grinned wickedly.

Brent went over all my diagnoses, briefly, so they wouldn't worry. Then he laid out the plans for the evening. We figured to hang around the new house and send their parents to Allison and Ron's, if they could stay, which they readily agreed to. Neither had brought church clothes, but both figured to go by a big box store and pick up something. Our church was pretty casual compared to some, so khakis and any shirt with a collar would fit right in. Each seemed excited to stay with Carolyn and us, clearly anticipating that Trisha and Amber might be around, which I knew they would be.

We avoided talking about Steven. In fact, I don't think we ever did, or would, again.

By this time, Brat was asleep in my arm and Carolyn stayed when her parents came back. I told them about my health and outlook, as well as my grumpy doctor's instructions. We talked about how wonderful Carolyn was and how she was like a big sister to me spiritually, and how happy Brent and I were that they would be there when we were introduced to the church the next day.

"So you're still going? We figured you would either be here, or resting," Mrs. Watson said, with concern in her voice.

"Well, church is important, too. And it shouldn't take long. And now I know what to do as far as avoiding further problems. I guess I just got over confident. Then with lunch, total time away from home shouldn't be more than three or four hours. I should be fine," I said, then added, "I'm really feeling okay now, a little weak and tired maybe, but I don't feel bad anymore. Well, not queasy and nauseous, or shaky. And I'm not burning up and freezing. But that will probably come back."

"Fever runs in cycles. You should take something for it," Mr Watson opined. He didn't say much, but I suspect that was because he could rarely get a word in between Carolyn and her mother.

"You daughter is so much like you," I finally said aloud to Mrs Watson, and this seemed to bring great joy to both parents.

"Well, she makes us very proud." Mrs Watson smiled.

Carolyn winked at me and I knew I had said the exact right thing for once.

Next back were Trisha and Amber who, after hearing that I wasn't going to die, regaled me with again telling me how Trisha had run the bus over Steven. It was even funnier to hear her tell it.They, too, were excited to hang around at the new house. And both commented how cute Carolyn's brothers were.

Finally, Donna and Allison returned and I was able to get dressed and check out. Donna had to stay to work that evening, though, and sadly could not join us. We arrived home just before Ron returned with a full lasagna and pizzas. He also had breadsticks and sodas and, as a present to me, a one liter plastic water bottle he had purchased at a local outdoor shop. He also thought to pick up some yogurt to counteract the yeast infection effect of the antibiotics I was taking. I later found out that was at Donna's instruction. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

When we arrived, Ron wasn't there yet. I walked on my own, albeit slowly, to the front steps.

"Wait!" Brent said as he locked the truck via remote and caught up to me. "I've waited a long time to do this."

He went by me on the steps to the porch, slid the key into the door of the duplex and opened it. I was about to step up to the patio and through when he returned to me, gently placed his hand on my shoulder, beckoning me to stop as he looked me in the eyes. His eyes were just glistening in the twilight and I could practically drown in them.

Brent gently put one arm across my shoulders and bent over to place the other across my legs just above my knees, then quickly, before I could react, scooped me up into his arms. He carried me up the remaining steps and through the door, where he placed me gently on the couch in the living room. Everyone else respectfully stood and watched as he carried his bride, finally, across the threshold.

"Thanks. I've dreamed of that." He smiled, his face still close to me as he was setting me down.

"I'm always happy to make your dreams come true." I grinned and kissed him madly, deeply and with as much passion as my tired body could find.

Ron arrived. As did everyone else that was not already there, and I ate until I was swollen and fat as a tick. The caffeine and sugar in the soda woke me up nicely but I was still mentally fatigued. I was actually feeling quite well physically by the time the sun set as the Tylenol, decongestants, antibiotics, anti-anxiety meds from the hospital, and about a billion calories coursed through my now liquefied veins. Despite my feeling better physically overall, mentally I was quite lethargic and just felt out of it.

The Andersons and Watsons gossiped about their children throughout the evening. And the Watsons, Kevin and Reg included, were filled in on some of the gossip they might hear at the church in the morning and why I had two wonderful women I called "Mom." We left out Donna's arrest and past drug abuse. That part of her was gone and dead now, and just said that she had reached a point where because of a lot of things she could not take care of me. They learned that for the last several years Brent and I had been raised together, so they might hear about that at church from some of the snoots there, just so they would be warned. I sat silently as Ron and Allison guided them through all this delicately, as we didn't want them to be shocked to hear it all from someone who simply thought I had married my brother.

"So, when did you two start dating?" Carolyn's mother asked.

"Well," Brent began, "last summer. It's kind of odd, because we were always different from, well, other folks that were raised together. I mean, closer, but different."

It was clear Brent was fumbling with his words so I took over. "Anyway, you could argue our courtship began the day we met. Brent says it did and, looking back, I agree," I said, looking into those blue eyes again as he draped his arm around me on the couch. "But our first 'date' date was last summer. He had been telling Carolyn how he felt about me while they were at school and, since I'm kind of dumb about such things, I had no idea. Anyway, she told him to stop being such a wimp and tell me how he felt. So he comes home from school, and our first day driving home from work, he finally does, and it was like the blinders were lifted from my eyes, and my heart said 'Yeah! Brent! He's the one you've been looking for stupid!' So I have Carolyn to thank for getting us together. She told him to tell me how he felt, and that is what opened my eyes to my own feelings."

"And then these two sneak around on dates all summer thinking we wouldn't notice that neither of them is seeing anyone else or had any interest in doing so. And that they spent every waking moment together," Allison cackled with glee. "Like that's not going to be obvious!"

"Well, okay, so there was a flaw in our plan to be discrete. We weren't ashamed or anything. We just didn't want the gossips to somehow scandalize or embarrass Mom and Dad. Still, it worked out for the best." I smiled.

The evening wore on and on a couple of occasions I had risen to get refills for people only to be stopped by, well, by everyone. I was finally allowed to refill my glass but only because I needed to go to the restroom. Even at that, Allison walked with me through the kitchen and dining area to the back of the house where the bathroom was. When I came out, she was still there.

"I appreciate it, Mom, but I can go by myself now. I'm a big girl." I grinned.

"Hush, we only have a minute, and trust me, everyone is going to be watching you closely. I wanted to talk alone for a second if we could."

"Sure," I said, my attempt at humor blocked by her serious demeanor.

"Well, in all the excitement, you probably haven't noticed, but Sarah has been upset a lot lately. She seems really, well, worried."

"About me?" I said, my heart breaking that my health had upset little Sarah after all she had been through in her young life.

"No, well yes, but just like we all have. But she, well she's worried about, well, about Ron, and me, and that something might happen to us. Now, we're fine, fit as fiddles, and we've told her that. But she has been having nightmares about going back to the group home because we get to where we can't take care of her. I mean, I don't know where this has come from except maybe the wreck has shown her how fragile life is."

"You two have spent so much time worrying about me she thinks you're going to get buyers remorse," I said calmly.

"'Buyers remorse'? You mean take her back where we got her? Why would she think that? We adore that girl!" Allison exclaimed, taken back by my suggestion.

"Well, yeah, but when you're in the group home, you see a lot of kids go out to foster care, then come back because the foster parents decide they are better off without them. Some, a lot, just want the child because of the check the government sends. Those suck. The worst ones are the perverts that get through the system because they like little boys and girls. You hear about those, but no one ever seems to be able to name any kids that it's happened to. But, you know, it's an urban myth among foster kids, and it scares you to death. And you see it on the news or in the paper. So you know it's an urban myth with truth behind it. You're afraid that you'll wake up and they'll be by your bed and..."

"Did that happen to you? Before I mean?" Allison asked.

"No, no, it didn't thankfully. But I got shipped to a couple homes that didn't last for different reasons. Once they just decided that taking me to school and buying clothes and food was more than they bargained for. But usually Mom got me back, then lost me again. That went on.... well, for several years before she lost me outright. The thing is, you get used to being rejected. And I bet either Brat has been rejected before, or has heard all about it from the other kids at the group home. It really sucks. You just ask yourself over and over 'What's wrong with me?' And it takes someone like you and Ron, and time, to realize that nothing really is. Until you get over the fear of being sent back, you have a fear of getting attached to anyone. If you don't get into a loving situation, well you either feel inferior forever, or you just get angry and mean. You remember the inferiority I felt when I first met you guys? Well you two are what got me out of that feeling. But it took a while and I was scared, too, about getting sent back. I was just better at hiding it. I can talk to her if you like."

"I would love for you to reassure her. But you probably shouldn't tell her we've been worried."

"Oh, absolutely not! That would just make her think you are thinking about sending her back," I replied.

"We're never going to do that! Never! If we have to spend every cent we have on lawyers to keep her we will. You know that! But, the thing is, well, she's worried something might happen to us. She even sleeps with us most nights when she has bad dreams just to make sure we're okay. And she's terrified that, well, that if something did, that... that, well, that you wouldn't take her to raise," Allison admitted.

"I see. Well, if it comes up, I think can fix that, too. I mean, nothing's going to happen to you guys. You know that. I'm the one with the bad luck." I grinned to take some of the weight off the conversation. "But I'd love to have a whole house full of Sarahs. You know that, too."

"If you get an opportunity, please find a way to let her know." Allison smiled.

"I will. She's sure to ask me sooner or later. We better get back before she and Brent think I've had a stroke or something and freak out," I said and we returned to the group.

Soon Allison, Ron and the Watsons left for the Anderson's home. Allison was going to bring Brat something to wear to church in the morning. And we would all leave again to meet Ron and the Watsons at church. The younger generation stayed on our new cushy couch chatting. But it was clear I could not keep up with the pace of the conversation, and the presence of Sarah was crimping everyone's style anyway. She being a bit young to hear the flirtations that Trisha, Amber and Carolyn's brothers so wanted to participate in. The attraction between them was obvious and the only confusion was who would end up in whose bed that night.

"Guys, would you excuse Sarah and me? I need to lay down and Sarah is going to read me a bedtime story. It's been a long day, if that's alright?" I asked.

"Sure, honey. You feeling okay?" Brent asked, his concern showing. Everyone was on eggshells regarding my health at this point and I could feel them looking me over for any sign I might be ready to seize again.

"Yeah, just tired now. I'm feeling much better. A little askew balance wise, but now that I know what that is about, I'm not anxious anymore. Plus, we slew a big dragon stress wise today. I'm okay. I promise. You can check on us later if you like. And if I start feeling bad, I'll tell Sarah."

Sarah puffed her chest from pride with this responsibility and announced she would take care of me.

"I'll help you up stairs, okay?" Brent said.

"Sure, that would be great! We need to get linens and blankets for the fold out, anyway, so you can bring them down."

"We have a fold out?" Brent asked, his face screwed up with confusion.

"Yes, honey. You've been sitting on it." I smiled. As Allison and I had picked the furnishings, he was unaware that our sectional folded out into a queen sized bed. I wasn't sure who would be sleeping on it, but figured that tomorrow the sheets would need to be washed.