FicWad

Kara helped Liv back up to her room. Once she was settled in bed Kara gave her a pain pill. They talked a bit until the medicine took effect and Liv fell asleep. Quietly Kara left the room and went downstairs. She decided to call Bob.
“Hey, hear anything yet?”
Bob sighed, “Not a fucking thing. Christ this is so fucked up.” He suddenly wondered how she was calling. She should be in school right now. “Where are you?”
Kara knew she couldn’t tell him that she had left school because she had realized her mom would want to go to Jamia’s and that would mean leaving Liv alone. “I don’t feel good. I came home.”
He was immediately concerned, “What’s wrong?”
“Just a headache, nothing bad. Of course this news about Frank has made it ten times worse. God, I can’t imagine what Jamia’s going through right now.”
“Yeah, we’re all worried about that. Mikey’s also freaking about Alicia. He’s worried about the stress this is putting on her.”
“Shit, I hadn’t even thought about that.” Kara muttered while sitting down on the sofa. “I just wish there was something I could do to help.”
“Why don’t you give Christa a call?” Bob suggested, “Ray just talked to her and says she’s feeling the same way you are.”
Kara nodded, “Good idea. I think I will. Hey, Bob?”
“Yeah, Hun,”
“I love you.” In her mind she couldn’t help but think how she’d be dying right now if it was him and not Frank.
“I love you too. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything.”

The closet was dark and she thought she could feel spiders crawling over her skin. Still she knew to keep quiet. If he found her she knew what he’d do. He was calling her name over and over. Quietly she pressed herself further into the darkness. If only mommy would come home, she thought. Mommy would make him go away. She closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Crying means you’re a baby, she told herself. I’m not going to cry. Still the tears threatened. Now his voice was getting louder. He was telling her to stop hiding or she’d be sorry. A loud crash made her flinch. He was getting angrier. Another crash and he yelled that he’d just broken her tea set. She covered her eyes trying to stop the tears. That tea set was her favorite Christmas gift from Mommy. She knew that her mom had saved and saved to buy it for her. Now in her mind she could see it lying on the floor broken into hundreds of little pieces. Then everything went quiet. The only sound she could hear was her own heart beating. Maybe he’d given up and left. She wiped her eyes but still didn’t move to leave the closet. Not yet, anyway. Not until she was sure he was gone. Suddenly the closet door was violently pulled open. She screamed.
Kara jumped to her feet and raced for the stairs with Liv’s scream still echoing in her ears. When she reached the guest bedroom she saw Liv curled up crying.

“Gee, they’ve taken Jamia to the hospital.”
Gerard sat down on the nearest chair, “Shit, what’s wrong?”
Monica took a calming breath, “When I got here Alicia had just called 911. Jamia was doubled over in pain. God, Gee. I think she’s in labor.”
“Oh fuck.” He related what Monica had just told him to Ray and Mikey who were standing nearby. “Isn’t it too early?”
“About seven weeks too early.” Monica answered.
“Oh, God. Can the babies survive being born that early?”
Monica leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes, “God, I hope so. I know it’s very possible and I’m sure she’ll get the best care. I just hope they can stop the contractions.”
“We should have fuckin’ canceled tonight’s concert.” Gerard said tiredly, “How the fuck can any of us play?”
Monica heard the others agreeing with him. “I guess it’s too late?”
He sighed, “Yeah, it’s too late. So how’s Alicia?” Mikey was standing at his side demanding to know what was going on. Gerard filled him in.
“She went to the hospital with Jamia.” Monica told him.
“Hell, was that a good idea?” Once more he told Mikey what Monica had just said.
“I really tried to get her to stay here. We knew someone had to stay at the apartment incase there’s a phone call but Alicia insisted on going.” She paused, “Gee, I’m worried about her, too.”
Gerard glanced over at his brother. Mikey had moved to the sofa and sat with his head bowed, his eyes closed. “Me too.” He said softly.
Gerard’s phone alerted him to another call. “Hey Monica, Brian’s calling. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

“Are you okay?” Kara neared the bed and could see that Liv’s eyes were open. She was shaking.
Liv didn’t answer for a moment. Finally she nodded, “I had a nightmare.”
“Oh” Kara pulled over a chair and sat down by the bed, “Must have been a bad one. Shit, I’ve never heard anyone scream that loud.”
Liv closed her eyes, “Yeah, it was that bad. Sorry.”
Kara shrugged, “It’s okay. I was worried about you. Wanna talk about it?”
“No” Liv said opening her eyes, “I just want to put it out of my mind.”
“Understood.” Kara said nodding. “Nightmare’s suck. I used to have them all the time back home.”
“Back home?” Liv asked.
Kara laughed, “Yeah, Kansas. Middle of nowhere. You know the kind of place where they roll up the sidewalks at eight o’clock at night. The kind of place where nothing ever happens?”
Liv knew that kind of place. She never wanted to think of it again. “So you like living here better?”
“Oh hell yeah. I mean sometimes I miss the total quiet but for the most part I love big cities. I can’t wait until Bob gets back and we go to Chicago. I love that place.”
Liv tried to find a comfortable position. Finally she found one that wasn’t as painful. “So I guess your mom freaked when you got married?”
“Oh hell yeah but you know the weird thing is that Gerard took it worse. He was pissed.”
This surprised Liv, “Why would he care?”
“Cause he’s so into this having this perfect family thing.” She rolled her eyes, “He’s a strange guy.”
Liv smiled, “Yeah, he is sometimes. He used to get so crazy trying to make things perfect. He wanted everything in his life to be just right.”
“Well he’s still like that.”
Liv tried but couldn’t keep some of the memories from coming back. “We had just gotten our apartment. It was a shitty little place but he was trying to make it really nice. We had bought a movie poster and he was gonna hang it on the wall. First time he hung it, it was crooked. I told him it was just a little off but he had to fix it. So he pounded another nail in the wall, then another. He tired to get it hung straight for an hour. I laughed at him. Told him to stop worrying about it. Nobody would care anyway.” She sighed, “I hurt his feelings. He was just trying to make the place nice.” Suddenly she felt tired. “Could you please get me another pain pill?”
Kara nodded. She knew if the pain was bad Liv could have another pill. “Sure.” She got one and a glass of water. Once Liv swallowed the pill Kara sat back down.
“You don’t have to stay until I fall asleep.”
“It’s okay. I’m just waiting for someone to tell we what’s going on with Frank.”
“Still no word?”
“Nothing.”
“Hope he’s okay.” Liv said yawning. She closed her eyes and started to drift off.
Kara watched her for a few minutes then softly walked out of the room. She wondered about Liv’s nightmare. Her scream had been almost unearthly.

“Babe, Monica just told Gerard that they’ve taken Jamia to the hospital.”
“Oh shit.” Christa said scooting so one of the moving men could get by her. “Is she in labor?”
“That’s what Monica thinks. Hey I just wanted to keep you posted. I’ll call back when I know anything.”
“Love you Ray.” Christa said softly.
“Love you too Babe.” He disconnected and looked over at Mikey. Shit, they had to be on stage in an hour. What the hell were they gonna do?

Monica’s nerves were at the breaking point. There was still no word about Frank or Jamia. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. A minute later she heard a key in the lock of the front door. As she watched in swung open and a very tired Frank walked in. He threw down his bag and smiled. “Hey Monica.”
Monica jumped off the sofa and ran to him. She hugged him so tightly he giggled, “Hey, I’m glad to see you too.”
“Oh my God Frank we were all so scared. We thought you were dead.”
He looked shocked. “Dead?”
Monica hugged him again. “There was a plane crash. We were afraid you were on the plane.”
“What? Oh shit. I’ve been on four different flights getting home.” He looked around “Where’s Jamia?”
Monica took a deep breath, “Frank, she’s at the hospital.”