Wardenville

As always, all characters, places, etc are imagined and no characters are minors. Any resemblance to any real person is purely coincidental.

It has been 2 years since I started this novel, and I stopped because I ran out of ideas and did not want to just rehash what I had already written. Hopefully these new chapters will take you further down the line into their lives starting at Chapter 21.

Please feel free to score and comment (at the end of the story); constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Thank You.

Wardenville. Chapter 23 -

Tonya's dad sort of appears. Merry is hurt.

With little left to do and most things gone to the new house, the Wilson's house looked particularly sparse. Lucia had done all her stuff and the kids had cleared the rest of the house and Tonya's room so there was just a last pile of boxes in the living room and the big furniture to go. Lucia had already cleared a day off and let her team leader take over operations for the day.

Kalisha and Merry had come over to see what was happening, and were surprised the move was to be so quick. They said they were going into the town to have a general mooch about, and asked if everyone wanted to come. They all agreed to go as there was nothing much else to do, although Lucia said she needed to stay home to make sure all the meter readings were done and any last minute things were taken care of.

Jason took Carey and Jed back home to get decent attire while Tonya went with Kalisha and Merry direct to the town and parked close to the centre. Although it cost a bit more, it would be closer if they bought stuff to get it back to the car. The day was decidedly cooler than it had been recently with a high just into the low 50s, and everyone needed a coat. They arranged where they would park so that Jason could find the same parking lot when he got there.

Nobody had any real plans so they just wandered around a few stores looking at stuff they did not really want, and Jason and Jed went into a computer games store to check out the new releases.

Kalisha was her usual self and floated around the edges of the little group, while Merry tried to entertain everyone with her usual cheeriness. Jason got the most of her attention though, earning one small scowl and a lighthearted ticking off from Tonya. While Tonya was holding Jason's left hand, Merry grabbed his right and skipped along beside them. She was a breath of fresh air, Jason thought. Wisely he kept his thoughts to himself. Tonya was in a good mood, but it always paid to keep her involved so she never felt left out. That would never do!

Whilst they were in one store, chatting, Kalisha happened to mention she would be away for 2 weeks as she had to go to Chicago for a long training course aligned to her course at the college. She had deferred it once, but could not do so again, and it was such an important part of her marks that missing it would mean an almost automatic fail. She did not want that, being near the top of her class already.

Merry was already aware of course, and said she would miss her girlfriend, but had lots of work to do in the evenings and she might go out of town herself at the weekend to visit folks.

The day passed slowly and by 4pm they had all decided to go back home, having spent a total of less than $60 between them, most of which was on drinks or candy. Jason dropped Tonya off at her house, and went with Carey and Jed home. He was sad to miss out on another shower with Tonya, but they all had college again tomorrow and that could not be put off. Jason had offered to take a day out and help Lucia and Tonya with the last of the moving, but they had declined as everything was done. Even Tonya would be going to college in the morning, so Jason was on duty to take her. They all parted to go their ways and wished each other Goodnight.

Jason and Carey awoke the following morning, both feeling fine, but both missing their respective bed partners. They both knew it would be another 5 days until their parents would allow them to stay over, and for Jason, this would mean a night in Tonya's new house. Carey had been checking how her bare vagina was and it seemed to still be pretty smooth. She put some more cream on the area, just in case. She really had no idea what to expect. Pulling her panties on, nothing really felt different.

The journey to college involved collecting Tonya, and Jason said a quiet goodbye to the house he lost his virginity in. So much had changed in such a short time!

As is always the case when something exciting is happening, the morning crawled by seeming to last forever. Tonya had arranged with Jason to meet at his car so they could cut college at lunchtime and go directly to the new house. They hoped the removals team had brought everything over so they could set about fittng it all into the rooms. There was no need for them to worry on that front though as their property was all moved to the new house and the furniture and boxes had all been placed, at Lucia's guidance, in the right rooms. She told Tonya and Jason that they would need to do the main rooms first to get the furniture in the right places, then they could go and sort out her room. She would call them when she needed help in her own room with the larger stuff. Luckily the rooms all had fitted wardrobes and drawers so there was mostly just the beds and bedside tables to position.

By teatime the house was looking almost habitable and they all decided to have a drink and cookies and take a break. Tonya was happy with the size of her room and she found that everything could be placed where she wanted them, which was, she realised afterwards, almost the same room plan as the previous house. Ah, well, familiarity!

As they finished their break there was a knock on the door. Lucia was surprised as she had not met any neighbours nor had told anyone where she lived. Opening the door revealed a man and woman, him in his 50s or 60s and the lady looked to be about 25. "Are you Lucia Marie Wilson?" he asked in a very formal tone. Lucia confirmed she was. Tonya had gone to the door to find out what was happening, and, seeing her there, the lady asked if she was Tonya Wilson, no middle name. Tonya said she was and asked what was the problem.

"No problem, ladies," the man said, "actually we were amazed we managed to find you."

"Me too," confirmed Lucia, "we only moved in today!"

"Mrs Wilson. Do you know a man named Denzel James Julius Wilson and did you live with him during 1998 through 2002?" Lucia confirmed she did. "And did you reside at 374 Laurel Avenue in the Albany / Troy area of New York State?" Again Lucia confirmed that she did.

"We have been looking for you for three weeks now, but you seem to have moved a few times in a short period of time. We are glad to have finally found you, but wish the circumstances were better. Mr Wilson is in a very bad way in hospital in New York and has asked to see you before he dies, which is expected soon. We are surprised he has lasted so long. The request was made in the middle of October when he was given a diagnosis of only 2 to 3 weeks left to live. He has been hanging on, hoping we could find you in time, I guess."

Lucia was gripping the door tightly, so Tonya took her hand and guided her into the main room, asking the lady and gentleman to come in with them. They all sat with the visitors taking the 2 seater sofa. "Basically, Mr Wilson has a reasonable size estate and we have been tasked with finding the 7 people named in his will. He was not the most reliable person, by his own admission, and it has taken us all this time to find everyone. You are the last 2 we had to find, and just in time too. The will is to be read the day after his death and only those in attendance will be eligible to benefit from the estate. We have been advised that travel and hotel costs will be covered for those attending. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

Lucia had started crying a little, so Tonya asked him to go over the details again and confirmed that they would, essentially, need to leave that day or the next, and hope he survived until they arrived."That's your Dad, Tonya," Lucia cried some more, "He didn't stay around for you, but maybe is trying to make something back now?"

"Do you want to go, Mom," she replied,"It might be a good idea to, perhaps, see him one more time. I have never met him, well, not that I could remember. You said he left in 2002? I would have been less than a year old."

Lucia asked what they would do about the new house and all the stuff in boxes. "It can wait," Tonya replied, adding that Jason would have to do without her, and Mom, being around for the week. Could he take them to the train station once they worked out when the trains were due? Jason replied that, of course, he would.

Tonya thanked the visitors for finding them, and accepted a package they had brought which gave all the details of the solicitors, the location of the will reading, their identity proof and, finally, but most importantly, the address of the hospital, ward number and bed number that Denzel was in. They then departed, offering their condolences one more time.

"So much happening all at once," said Jason, "will you go today or tomorrow?"

"I think we ought to set off today, if we can?" Lucia replied, can you search for trains on the internet and see if we can catch one from Wardenville to New York. I am sure there is a direct line, and it might just mean we can get there today. I have mixed feelings seeing Denzel again, but I think I need to go, if just to see what he says."

Jason looked online and found nothing until the morning, and that was early and from Pittsburgh too, which would necessitate an almost 90 minutes drive each way. Tonya looked too and found nothing earlier except a Greyhound but that would be horribly cramped and a long, long ride getting into New York at 4am. She was not sure what they would do at that time.

"Last option," Jason said, scrolling through his phone, "would be a flight, from Pittsburgh, to New York, but all I can find is flights to La Guardia. Best price is about $250 each returning next Monday. I spread the dates just in case. I think coming back early would not be an issue, apart from maybe a small excess charge on the ticket?"

"When do we have to go?" Lucia asked, and Jason replied the latest flight today he could find was just before 8pm, and taking an hour and a half. "It would be a 90 minute drive to Pittsburgh airport, and delays etc, Security too, so let's call that 3 hours, we would have to set off by 5pm. That gives us just over 2 hours to get your stuff together and get off. If you want to try that, we can book the tickets now, I will go fuel the car full then return here, and we can get away as soon as you are ready. Lucia agreed that would be the best plan, so she booked the tickets and Jason went to get his car filled. He also bought a couple of drinks for the ladies just in case they forgot.

Everything worked well and they were on their way just after 4pm. It would be a long day for Jason, that was for sure. He waved them off at the airport, after spending a few minutes kissing and cuddling Tonya and promising to be good while she was away.

It had been an excellent show and Merry was departing the theatre feeling really happy. She had been to the college to see some of her classmates performing in their production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and had enjoyed it immensely. With Kalisha away, she went by herself, but knew many of the audience sitting near her. As she left, saying 'bye' to her friends, she realised her car was further from the exit doors than it had been from the main entrance. As she strolled along the narrowish path, gently singing to herself, she was aware of a shadow in front of her, then a searing pain as the person punched her very hard on her right shoulder. Spinning away from the blow, her foot caught on a light indicating where the path was, and she fell. At once, the shadow had kicked her in the chest and laughed, then bent down to say "nobody to stick up for you this time, lesbo." Despite her pain, she realised she was being spoken too, and then a waft of male aftershave she had previously described to him as "pig piss" assaulted her nose. She knew who it was, and the other two keeping a few yards away in case they were needed, she could guess who they were. "Cry little baby," the voice continued, "should we take you with us and see if we can make you like a hard dick inside you?"

"HEY, YOU, what are you doing?" came a loud shout and 2 men came running down the path. The assailants ran off the other direction leaving Merry crumpled on the ground. She was in pain in her shoulder and her chest, and it appeared she had hurt her ankle too. "Are you ok, Miss? She could make out 2 people, men, she thought, and curled up to protect herself.

"It's ok Miss, they have run off. Can we help you up?" Merry was still crying from the pain and spluttered out that her ankle was hurt and she could not stand. She said she needed to get to a hospital, and the men agreed they would take her. The main Wardenville Hospital was a mere 15 minutes drive away, although it might be busy. She told them to take her there anyway. As they were about to set off, Merry being carried by one of the men, a policeman arrived having been alerted of a scuffle by someone leaving the theatre. The two men identified themselves and said they were taking her to the hospital. The policeman said she could be put in his patrol car and he would get her there in just a few minutes with his 'Blues and Twos' on; even though it did not seem an emergency, she was a lone female and it was night time so best to get her there as soon as possible. Having taken the men's details, the policeman thanked them for their help, got into his car and set off to the hospital.

Jason was woken by his phone ringing. "What?" he said to himself, "who is that? What time is it? Oh, my God, it was 4 minutes past Midnight. Who the hell was phoning him now?" His sudden realisation was that it must be Tonya and something must be wrong, but it wasn't, and, something was very wrong.

It was Kalisha. Jason was very concerned as he would never have expected a call from her, especially at this sort of time. "I got your number from Tonya, glad she was still awake" she started, "Can you get to Wardenville Hospital now? I know it is early but this is important." Then came the words Jason feared and never wanted to hear "Merry has been attacked, and quite badly I think!" Jason was on his feet and starting to dress as he put his phone on loudspeaker so he could hear her. "I am out of town this week as you know, but will get the first flight I can back there, but it will be a few hours at least. I want someone there for her, and I know I can trust you. Jason took the details for where she was, and promised he would be there in less than 20 minutes. He said he would call Kalisha back when he had some proper information. He saved her number into his phone. "Apparently I am in her phone as ICE 1 (In Case of Emergency) and they could not find another number which might be her parents. I must admit I do not even know where they live." Kalisha sounded a little defensive as it did sound like she had paid little attention to things Merry would probably have mentioned in the year they had been together.

Jason was dressed by the end of the call, and made his way quietly out of the house, hopefully without waking anyone. He WAS tired, having only got back from Pittsburgh an hour ago, but he would never let Merry down. As he drove down the pretty empty streets his phone pinged, and a text from Tonya arrived. He called it up on his car display and it just said that she wanted to be kept updated too. He texted back (while driving; naughty boy) to say he would do so.

He arrived at the Hospital and was told to go to the 5th floor. He got another text from Kalisha who said it would be just after lunch by the time she could get there. She would come straight to the hospital by taxi, but would let him know that she had landed.

Jason arrived at the 5th floor to find the corridors empty and a general feeling of calm. This was odd, and not like any hospital he had seen before. He found the reception desk and stated why he was there. He was sent to Room 2 which, they said, was along the corridor to his left, and just around the corner on his right. He found the room in just a minute of quick walking and tapped on the door. He could see a bundle of person wrapped in a swath of material covering the whole body. He entered the room, and walked over to the bed. He could see Merry, poor Merry with a loose hospital gown on, covering a lump over her right shoulder which was clearly padding to help the pain. She had a drip in her left arm and her left foot was raised off the bed.

"Hello," said the nurse, sitting on the other side of the bed, "who are you and are you in the right room? Jason gave his details and said he had been sent to sit with Merry and find out what had happened. He had not realised she would look so bad, and hoped most of it was just the hospital taking care. The nurse sort of confirmed that they were erring on the cautious side as they did with all their special patients. Jason let the "special" comment slide, assuming they referred to all their patients that way, well at least until they were obviously getting better.

"Can I sit in here, by her, to wait for her to come round?" he asked, and the nurse said he could, but the painkillers would probably keep her asleep for a good time yet. She indicated she would be remaining in the room in case anything changed suddenly.

Jason had little knowledge of hospitals having had nothing worse than a grazed knee as a child, but thought this was above the normal level of care people received. The nurse did not seem like she wanted to talk, so he sat at the bedside and surrepticiously held Merry's left hand, being careful not to knock the drip.