When She Cries 27

"I don't get it. Why is Zack not with you?" Holly asked Zane and Jocelyn when they went to the hospital.
"He's sick. Got down with a fever of 40 Celsius. At least last night it was." Jocelyn said, looking thoughtfully at Mrs. Lane. She leaned in conspiratorially into Holly to whisper, "Is Clarisse's mom alright? She's been nice to us all throughout our visit."
"Oh. Yes. That struck me as weird, too. I mean, the last time we were here, she was ready for the kill." agreed Zane.
"We were here?" asked Jocelyn, her eyebrows raised. "If I remember it correctly, you were out of the room sulking because Zack wouldn't let you live with him."

"You want to live here with Zack? That's great, Zane! We can see each other a lot more when that happens!" exclaimed Holly. Jocelyn cleared her throat. "Of course, you know, I'm just excited about this as a friend and nothing more than just a friend." she finished with a nervous laugh, looking nervously at Jocelyn.
Zane watched the exchange without saying anything. Whether he derived something from it or not, nobody ever knew.
For Mrs. Lane just straightened up so suddenly.
"What is it, Ma'am?" Holly immediately went to her side.
"It's Clarisse! She moved her finger! I felt it!" she leaned in closer to her daughter and stroked her hair. "Clarisse, I'm here. Mommy's here. It's OK, you can wake up now." she muttered soothingly.

Holly exchanged looks with Zane and Jocelyn. "Uh... should I call the doctor, Ma'am?"
"Yes! Yes, call the doctor! Call Dr. Greene, I'm sure I felt her move. I know I felt her move! Call Dr. Greene, Holly!" Mrs. Lane replied in an almost hysterical manner.
Holly went out, leaving Zane and Jocelyn alone with a might-be-crazy woman in one whitewashed room with a lot of beeping apparatuses and pipes and who knows what else.
"Uh... I'm going to go with Holly." said Jocelyn to no one in particular. She headed straight out of the room, scared to be in the same room as Lillien a second longer.
"I'll go with you." Zane followed suit, not wanting to be left alone with Mrs. Crazy. But, Lillien stopped her before he can even open the door.

"Please. Call your brother. I felt her move, I think she's about to wake up. Please call your brother. Before it is too late." she pleaded with Zane who stood there, transfixed. Still processing what just happened.
He nodded nevertheless then went out, this time, no one stopped him.
"I think she's losing it." said Jocelyn as soon as he went out. She was sitting in a bench nearby and Zane sat down beside her.
"You think?" he leaned back and let out a big sigh. "She just PLEADED with me to call Zack because she really thinks Clarisse moved or something. Do you think it's true?"
"What, that she's about to wake up?"
"Yeah. Could be true, right?"

"Dunno. No one can really know, right?" she glanced at him for a second. "But, if she does wake up..." she trailed off, knowing what she wants to say and yet not wanting to say it, scared for his answer.
"What? If she does wake up, what?" Zane pressed on, but Jocelyn knew better than to answer his query.
"So... what, are you going to tell Zack to come anyway?"
He gave a hollow laugh. "Of course! Zack lives for Clarisse! If it's true, that she's about to wake up and I didn't tell him until it is too late... Well, I just know I couldn't bear it. I'd hate to see him sad."
"Well that's another side of Zane I haven't seen yet." Jocelyn smiled.
"Oh come on, I'm not all red and horns with a pitchfork."
"Really. How come I didn't notice that all these years?"

"Maybe because you're not looking closely." he looked at Jocelyn full in the eyes.
Jocelyn blushed and looked away. "Oh, you!" She wanted this moment to last but knew it won't happen for Holly just came back with Dr. Greene beside her.
"Oh, so she did call the doctor." said Zane in a low voice.
They all filed inside behind Dr. Greene and watched anxiously as he checked Clarisse. Finally, he put down his stethoscope and looked at us morosely.
"I'm sorry, I really can't tell if she did exhibit a change in her neurosensory system. But if you claim that she did move her finger, then I guess it's a good news." Dr. Greene said, looking at Lillien.

"I do not just claim that she moved her finger. I FELT her move her finger." said Lillien defensively. She looked at the others pleadingly. "Please, you all have to believe me!"
No one said anything. And then Zane turned around and went out, Jocelyn followed right after him.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"What for?"
"Getting Zack."
"Laura might not let you. He's still sick, remember?"

"This is why he got sick in the first place! He got so depressed about Clarisse dying that... well, he just got depressed. This is the only thing that can snap him out of it."
They reached the parking lot and was in front of Jocelyn's car when Zane realized he doesn't have the keys. He looked at Jocelyn testily, thinking she might not want to in the first place.
Jocelyn stared at him so long that he started to feel uncomfortable.
"Listen, if you don't want to, I can just take the bus."
"Tell me. Why would you still get Zack when it could be you who's there when Clarisse wakes up? It'll be you she'll see first, not Zack. Wouldn't that give you a leverage against him?"

"Yeah." he laughed. "But he's also my brother. And he's my brother first, before anything. And besides, it's so obvious Clarisse likes him, too. Who am I to get in between them?"
Jocelyn stared at him for a little while longer and then smiled slowly. She fished her car keys out of her pocket, tossed it to Zane. "You drive."
Zane smiled too, and quickly got in, closely followed by Jocelyn at the passenger seat.
They hurriedly went inside and was shocked when they found...
"Mirabel!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Well! Hello there, guys! So nice to see you again!"
"How--- why---- well, when---" Zane began, but couldn't continue.

"If you'll just stop stuttering, I'm here because I'm getting Zack out of his bed and into my car to the hospital so he can see Clarisse." Mirabel twirled her hair on her finger as she explained. "Unfortunately, that fat woman wouldn't let me, says Zack's sick and that she's not letting him go especially to the one who made him sick in the first place. Fortunately for me, you're here. So I'll just leave the task to you guys and I'm outta here." she picked up her purse and headed out the door, pausing just in front of Zane. "Anyway, what's up with that fat woman who obsesses over Zack so much? She is nanny?"
Zane and Jocelyn both fought the urge to laugh. "No. No she's not."

"Oh well, there goes my guess." she walked away, but stopped again. "You have got to make Zack see Clarisse. The state she's in, she hasn't got very long. I mean, duh! Let's not sugarcoat the obvious, people. Ciao!"
The door closed with a thud and all was silent as Jocelyn and Zane contemplated what Mirabel just said. The sound of a car driving away brought them back to the present and without a word, they went to Zack's room where they know Laura, or Zane's mom is at. And of course Zack, too.
Jocelyn stayed outside while Zane went in.
"Please tell me that the sound of a car driving away just now belonged to that horrible girl who just came here." Laura said, hands on her hips.
"Yeah, Mom. She's gone now."

Zane looked at Zack who's now sitting on his bed, fully-clothed and looking grumpy.
"Great! You're all set! Let's go." said Zane, heading out the door again, motioning for Zack to follow him.
"And where do you think you're going?" Laura asked Zane. "Zack, your brother, is sick. He's not going anywhere until I say so."
"Oh get a grip, Mom. Does that look sick to you?" Zane extended his palms towards Zack who got up to his feet, looking as healthy as an athlete in the Olympics.
"He just got well from a very high fever. He's not going anywhere."
"Oh yes he is, Mom. And what very high fever? He had what, 39 Celsius?" he turned the doorknob and made to open the door.
"It was 40.4, Zane Minsk! And you stay right where you are, young man! You're not going anywhere but here in your room!" Laura snapped at Zack when Zack made for the door, too.

Zane, exasperated, rolled his eyes, sighed very deeply and faced his mom.
"Will you just listen to what you're saying, Mom? You're yelling at your 19-year-old son. Who, by the way, is not a kid anymore. He has his own life now, Mom. And so do I. We want to be left alone, thank you very much."
"Well, you might be old enough to live on your own, but if you're sick and you don't know what's happening around you, who's going to call the shots? Isn't it I, your mother?"
"But he can make his own choices like right now! So stop making it as if he can't! Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have called you."

Before his mom could react, Zane quickly opened the door and slammed it shut the hardest he could. His footsteps and Jocelyn's anxious questions as she followed Zane could be heard clearly inside the room. One more door slamming and a car's engine screaming as it drove off told Zack and Laura that Zane is pissed. Definitely pissed.
"It could've been easier if you just let me go, you know, Mom. I mean, you know you can't stop me if I really want to go." Zack told his mom who looked as if she's watching a very touching movie and she doesn't want to cry on a very tearful scene.
"What, so you could come home again in a worse state than you are now and cry yourself to sleep for the next 50 years or so? No. I'm not having that."
"But, Mom. This might be my last days to see Clarisse alive. I'm not going to miss it."
"Oh, so the girl has a name, huh."

"I love her, Mom. She's my life. She's my everything. I know it sounds ridiculous coming from a 19-year-old, but I think I found the girl I want to be with for the rest of my life." Laura opened her mouth to argue but Zack went on before she could argue. "Yeah, I know that's not going to happen anymore because she's dying and doesn't have very long anyway. And that's why I want to be with her. So I could treasure the moments I have left... she... have left."
Laura looked at her son thoughtfully, arguing with herself about the right thing and what her overly-protective maternal instinct is telling her.

"Do whatever you want to do. You're 19 anyway. You don't need my permission."
"I might not need your permission, Mom. But I'd like to have it nevertheless. This is the first time that I ever felt this way. Clarisse made me feel so much during these past few months and... it's incredible." he laughed, unsure whether or not his mom could understand him and yet not caring one bit.
"I can walk out this apartment and into my car with you tailing after me, even though you know stopping me would go nowhere, Mom." he extended his hand out to his mom, "Or you could get in the car and come with me to the hospital. Your choice, Mom."
Laura bit her lip, not wanting the options laid out in front of her one bit. "OK. But just so you know, Zachary, I don't like this arrangement one bit."

They went inside Zack's car and drove off, Laura thinking that times have definitely changed. She wants to reminisce so much with his oldest son by 10 minutes, but she knows his oldest son wouldn't like it, saying she's embarrassing him by telling him about those moments a mother treasures the most. Those times when motherhood goes from an unbearable experience to treasure-filled moments.
"I'm sure you'll like Clarisse, Mom. She's the best! Of course, when she was awake and not bed-ridden and... yeah." Zack said, making small talk which quickly faded to nothingness.
"Yes. I'm happy for you, son." Laura responded in a monotone, conveying the message that she doesn't think so.

Uhh, JACOB JONES, i saw your comment at the first chapter of WSC... would you mind telling exactly how you're planning to do the editing? you can email me at hyacinthfee@yahoo.com... maybe we could talk there? thanks a lot for the offer.. :) hoping so much to hear from you... :)