HEARING DAMAGE
ADULT NOLA - CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE !

            A DEEP SET SEETHING fury was building up inside of Misty Quigley as she called and left message after message on Shauna's voicemail. The Sadecki woman had upped and abandoned them at the hospital in her pursuit to track down Hannah's daughter and had been ignoring their phone calls ever since. Not a single call went through and not a single reply was received. Not even a measly little text.

            The woman stared over the top of her glasses at Nola who stood by Taissa's side, a hand upon the woman's back to comfort her as they spoke to Van's Doctor. As she waited for the ringing to end and the voicemail message to begin, her eyes remained locked upon Nola, judging her for ever having feelings for the irritation inducing Shauna.

            After the beep, Misty began to rant. "Hi Shauna. I'm just calling to say 'fuck you' actually. And I swear to God, you will regret it if you do not turn that car around right now and come back here right this minute!" She growled down the phone. "Thank you."

            A huff of frustration blew past her lips as she shoved the device into her pocket and headed over towards her friends. While approaching, she unfortunately managed to hear the awful news divulged.

             The Doctor was frowning, sympathy painted across her face. "I'm so sorry. I know this is hard to hear but there isn't any more we can do for her here." She sounded regretful, sorry she had to be the one saying the terrible truth.

             Taissa's eyes blinked rapidly as if glitching at the news, unable to understand or more accurately unwilling to understand. Her words were laced with snark as she barked at the Doctor. "I don't understand. Are you saying...you don't have the means to help her at this hospital? Shout I transfer her to another hospital that actually competent or—"

            The Doctor was swift in cutting her off. She continued to frown as she explained, "I'm saying it's time to think about palliative care. Hospice." No doubt the woman had seen her fair share of people unable to accept the reality that was losing someone they loved.

            "Oh my God." Misty muttered.

            "No, that's..." Tai began quietly. Her voice was soft, trembling past her lips. Her head shook in refusal. "Hospice is for—"

            Once again the Doctor spoke up. "Making people as comfortable as possible while they're—"

            "No."

            As a licensed caregiver herself, Misty chose to be the to speak to the Turner woman, to help her understand and come to terms with what was best for Van now. "Tai." She uttered, hoping to calm her friend down even in the slightest.

            "No!" Taissa cried out as her head spun round to face Misty, her voice cracking as her tough facade she was trying to portray crumbled rapidly. She looked back at the Doctor. "I want to see her." Not a question but a demand.

Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. "She's under sedation right now. While we try and keep her stable and run a few more tests." The Doctor released a small sigh. She tried to be comforting while speaking to Taissa. "Let me give you some paperwork for her release. Just to look over."

Then her hand reached out and brushed briefly over Taissa's wrist. "You have some time." She lingered for but only a moment before retracting her hand, offering the small group of women a grimaced smile before walking away.

"Oh, god. Tai, I'm sorry." Misty breathed out once they were alone. She felt horrible. Grief ripped at her guys as she tried to appear useless to make things easy for the Turner woman. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Is there anything I can do? Anything we can do?"

There was a pregnant pause. Taissa's mind was racing as she slowly glancing up at the two women beside her, meeting their eyes. She sounded like a new person. Determined. She nodded as she responded, "You can help me find the palliative care unit."

"I thought you said you didn't want her transferred there." Misty stuttered out as her footsteps faltered while trying to catch up with Taissa, who had already begun dashing down the nearby hallway in search of the unit.

"We don't."

The three woman soon found themselves standing in the palliative care unit, with both Misty and Nola still a little confused on why they were there while Taissa kept her resolution not to lose the woman she loved faster than necessary. Misty had shuffled off down the hall to make a phone call, to Jeff she would later explain, while Taissa began nosing her way through the patient files sat outside occupied hospital rooms.

Nola walked alongside her, eying her actions curiously. "What did you and Lottie speak about before she died, Tai?" She quietly inquired, her head tilted. Taissa's hands wavered in their speed for a few seconds as Nola continued, "That's why you're searching so desperately, isn't it?"

Taissa looked almost reluctant to actually tell her, something Nola took notice of. It had seemed that ever since she had been reintroduced into their lives, the women she had once considered family appeared determined to keep anything Wilderness associated as far from her as possible. Almost like they didn't believe she could handle it. Perhaps even using her 'fractured mind', her memory loss as an excuse.

But while Taissa had looked reluctant, her desire to achieve her goal quickly beat down that feeling. "Okay, a while back Van and I went out for dinner. It was this really fucking fancy place so we decided to dine and dash after the appetiser."

Nola's brows cinched together. "Okay?" She drew out the word, each pronounced letter oozing her puzzlement.

            "One of the waiters chased after us and I guess he died during." Tai shrugged as she carried on scoping out a potential victim. "Then suddenly Van was fine. She wasn't sick anymore. Her doctor literally called it a miracle."

            "And now you think that taking out someone already on deaths door will cure Van and give her more time?"

            "Don't you?" Taissa retorted a little defensively, a bite to her words. She took a slow breath to reign back her upset before delving further into why. "It makes sense, right? Back then, we would sacrifice someone and would be rewarded."

            Nola had to disagree. "Someone It chose, Tai. We don't get to just take fate into our hands simply because we feel like it." She desperately stressed. This wasn't the way. Taking a life to save Van couldn't possibly work. "No, if we're gonna save Van, it has to be because It wants us to."

            Taissa stopped moving. Her hands had gone weak, dropping the clipboard back into place with a rattling thud. Her eyes grew wet with tears ready to escape down her cheeks. "I can't lose her. I just got her back."

             Her voice was so shaky, so raw with emotion as she begged, "Please help me."

Nola's heart ached for her friend. She knew what it was like when the person you loved was on deaths door but, "Not like this, Tai. I can't, I'm sorry." She apologised, her lips twisted into the saddest of frowns. "I love Van but I can't make decisions for It."

             There was a small pause. The faint beeps of heart rate monitors from the nearby rooms echoed. Nola's fingers wrapped around Taissa's forearm, the tips of her fingers pressing into the skin. Their eyes met and she uttered, "I won't stand in your way though."

            It wasn't long after Nola's declaration that Taissa had finally set her sights upon her potential victim, her sacrifice so to speak. She slid up real close to the hospital room door, the man's file clutched tightly in her hands as her eyes desperately scanned the paperwork, trying to make sense of what she was reading. Nola stood off to the side, arms folded while she kept an eye out for anyone that could throw a wrench in Taissa's plan. This was her addition to the plan. The only addition she was willing to make.

            "Tai! What are you doing?" Misty suddenly loudly whispered as she moved quickly down the hallway. Her hair swished wildly as she picked up speed, her hands clenched down by her sides. She glanced back and forth between the two women, her eyes bouncing back and forth.

            Taissa paid her question no mind, perhaps not even hearing a word she said. She just shoved the clipboard in Misty's face and asked, "Does he have a lot of time left?"

            "Why?" The Quigley woman understandably asked. She was bewildered by the sudden line of questioning. She still took the clipboard though.

            "Just tell me." The entire time she spoke, her eyes were trained on the man, staring intensely in at his unconscious body, gaze sharp as it gawked in through the blinds.

Misty sighed. She glanced down at the board, immediately looking for the important stuff. "Uh...well, he um...he has end stage heart failure so—" her shoulders shrugged as she looked back up. She clicked her tongue and replied, "The man is dying."

This was proof. This was what she needed to hear. Quietly, almost a whisper that you would need to strain to hear, Taissa uttered, "He's dying anyway."

"He's dying anyway?" Again, Misty was confused. She looked back over her shoulder at Nola who could only offer back a frown.

Tai's shoulders straightened suddenly, her face shedding that last little glimpse of hesitation. "I can't lose Van." She declared before taking one single, long stride towards the door and turning the handle.

As if a lightbulb had been magically lit above her head, Misty's eyes widened with realisation. Panic rushed through her veins as she moved to follow her friend since the room. "Oh, wait! Hold on!"

Nola hurried inside, shutting the door behind them despite every part of her that screamed for her to walk away. She knew this wasn't right, that they didn't have the right to make decisions for It. It may never forgive them for this but she couldn't walk away, she couldn't leave her friend to do this alone.

"You don't have to be here for this." The Turner woman informed the pair. Her hands quickly and swiftly grabbed hold of a nearby pillow, a fluffed, white pillow.

"Why are you doing this? Tai..."

As she looked at him lying there, totally unaware of their presence in the room, blissfully asleep, a small part of Taissa could almost swear he was asking to be smothered. Though perhaps that's something she needed to tell herself, to justify her actions in her head. To explain away her need to take a life to save one.

Though as the pillow hovered over his face, mere centimetres away, almost close enough to graze his skin with, her hands shook violently, both wanting and fighting against it. Her voice cracked as she bellowed, "Fuck!"

A blaring beep began to fill the room as the heart monitor flatlined. Panic slipped dangerously fast upon their faces. Taissa began blathering, "Did it—I wasn't—do you think—" all the while stumbling back from the man.

             Suddenly, an almost hopeful expression replaced that panic as she breathed out, "Does that count?"

             Misty dashed forward, wrapped one hand around the Turner woman's forearm and ripped the pillow from her grip with the other. "We have to get out of here." She bossed the pair, starting to drag Taissa away.

            "I'm not leaving without Van." Taissa declared but allowing herself to be pulled about.

            "Yeah, I know! I know, let's go."

           Nola gulped back a frantic squeak that threatened to claw past her teeth as she pushed both of her friends out of door and shut the door behind them all. "We'll grab her and get out of here before we get caught."

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            "HOW DID THE GUY from the car place get this to connect and I can't?" Taissa grunted in annoyance as she tried and failed to get the navigation system working properly.

            They had successfully managed to get Van from the hospital without being seen inside that man's room as he flatlined. They didn't even know if he remained deceased or if the hospital staff that had rushed to his room moments after they escaped had managed to jumpstart his heart once more. Now they sat inside a vehicle procured from a nearby dealership, an unfortunate necessity after Shauna had driven off in their one and only car.

            Misty let out a small, contemplative sigh, her eyes latched onto her phone screen. "We're twenty minutes from the daughter's house but forty minutes from Colonial Williamsburg if anyone feels like churning butter after we find Shauna and let's face it. We're probably gonna need an alibi."

            "Yeah, well we don't know what Shauna's done yet."

            "Oh, right. I'm sure it's reasonable." Misty smirked.

            Taissa glanced briefly into the rear view mirror to look at Misty. "All the more reason to get there asap." But then her gaze began to flicker over at Van, who sat practically cuddling her oxygen tank, worry written all over her face. "But we can make a pit stop if you need one though."

            After taking a deep puff from her oxygen tank settled on the passenger seat beside her, Van shook her head and croaked, "No, I'm good."

             Just then, as they drove down the long stretch of road towards the daughter's house, towards Shauna,  their attention was grabbed by the sight of a broken down car parked haphazardly in on the side of the road. The vehicle half on the road, half in the ditch. The owner stood panicked by the slid open back, tools laid out on the asphalt.

            "Oh, Jesus. Can't believe someone's actually having a worse day than I am." Van sympathised with the woman they passed with a small frown.

            "Yeah cause a broken down car trumps cancer." Taissa quipped back with a shake of her head. Van's capacity to feel badly for others despite being in a worse situation herself astounded her greatly.

            The entire time they drove, Misty had been unable to rip away her curious gaze from the broken down car's owner. "Wait. Wait, that looks like—" she began to say, her head turned to state intensely out the back window. "Stop the car."

            The vehicle came to rolling stop, allowing Misty enough time to roll down the window, stick out her mop of curls and call out, "Melissa?"

            Her high pitched voice easily reached the woman whose eyes seemed widened in sheer panic. The rest of the women were now staring at the woman too, recognising a lot of features they once saw all the time in their youth.

"I think Misty's right." Van breathed out.

            The woman that they knew was so clearly Melissa began to take off, running in the opposite direction to get away from them, all the while holding her arm that had a thick piece of white fabric wrapped tightly around it as if to bandage a wound.

"Melissa! Melissa! Go back! Go now!" Misty demanded, hitting her hand against the headrest in front of her, urging the Turner woman to reverse and catch the escaping blonde.

Taissa didn't hesitate to shift into reverse and begin driving backwards, quickly catching up with Melissa who fortunately for them and unfortunately for her was no match with the speed of a vehicle. With quick speed, Taissa managed spin the vehicle back and around, effectively blocking off Melissa's path of escape. Just as the blonde caught her bearings, Taissa had already hopped out of the car, chasing her down as she still tried to run down the long, empty road.

Similarly to how she used to steal the ball from the opposing team way back when they were still in High School, Taissa's leg swiftly swooped out and rammed right into Melissa's, sending the woman crashing to the grassy path face first.

Van and Nola watched on from the car as Melissa and Taissa struggled for power on the ground, with it looking like Melissa might actually win as she kicked Taissa's body away from her own. Thankfully Misty had had the good sense to grab hold of a tire iron from the back of the rented car they drove in, using it against the blonde and halting her from fighting back.

"X's marks the spot." Van muttered quietly under her breath, a small smile gracing her lips as she glanced back at the large X painted on the road sign nearby.

After ripping a huffing Melissa up from the ground and shoving her into the back of the car, placing her right in between Misty and Nola which left her no way to escape since both women wouldn't hesitate to do some damage, the car's engine began to rumble once more.

They all stared at her with quite a high intensity, Van, Misty and Taissa more than Nola, who hadn't been made aware that Melissa supposedly killed herself all those years ago until the very moment they were shoving her into her car.

"So...how you been?" Van couldn't help but feel incredibly weirded out at the sight of the woman sandwiched between Nola and Misty.

It was like seeing a ghost. At least in the case of Nola, she had knowingly walked away from Wiskayok all those years ago, leaving behind a lot of baggage and allowing those that had known and loved her to consider her still alive out there somewhere. But Melissa was supposed to be dead. She'd left a fucking note.

"Jesus Christ. What the fuck is going on?"

"You're dead and not like Nola dead where people just assumed. Like dead dead." Misty found herself unable to rip her eyes away from Melissa.

Melissa glanced around at all of them, gaze consumed with dread as she explained, "What's going on is that Shauna's gone off the fucking deep end. She broke into my house, attacked me and—"

"Did you send that tape?" Taissa cut her off, staring back at her in the rear view mirror, only partly keeping her eyes on the road.

Melissa sighed. "Yes. But there's a lot more to it."

"More than you sending literal evidence of murder?"

Taissa rolled her eyes at the sheer level of stupidity that Melissa must have to do something so...suicidal. "God, how did you think Shauna was gonna react?"

Not appreciating being called out for her actions and enraged by the situation she had found herself in, albeit but her own hand, Melissa balked. "Hello? Do you know why I'm bleeding?" She grumbled while gesturing to her arm. "She made me eat my fucking arm!"

             A faint, breathy chortle filled the vehicle as Nola leaned forward and scanned over the gaping, bloodied wound on her bicep. "Oh, yeah I can see the teeth marks." She said while pointing at the bruised, lacerated flesh.

            "Okay. We gotta find her."

            "Well then let me out cause I am not going back."

            Misty quickly brandished the tire iron again, holding it threateningly before Melissa's terror stricken face. "Sit down." She lowly warned, just as Nola reached out, grabbed hold of Melissa's shoulders and pushed her back, flat against the seat behind her.

            Melissa shook her head desperately, an imploring glint in her eye as she begged them to listen to her. "Don't do this. She's out of her mind."

            Though her body was failing her and her energy needed to be conserved, Van snapped her head back with such speed to glare at Melissa that you could almost hear her neck crack. "Just shut up! Or you really will be dead." She sneered angrily, her words full of bite, full of frustration.

            Nola couldn't help but smile quite haughtily at the woman she hadn't seen in years. She patted the blonde on her uninjured arm and uttered, "Relax, Melissa. We'll keep you safe from the big, bad Shauna."

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author's thoughts.
chapter sixty-one, not proofread
this chapter has finally been written. Taissa racing after Melissa is so fucking funny to me, she just runs so fast like Melissa didn't stand a chance. Anyway I hope you enjoyed :)