Little Green Apples (Ivan×OC)

Chapter 12

Jessica and Gunnar sat in the kitchen the next morning waiting for Ivan to finish work in his office, when Adam suddenly marched in, looking for something for breakfast. He dug through the cabinets, throwing a few things on the counter. He went to turn on a stove burner, touching the cooktop, burning his hand.

"F*ck!," he shouted.

"Good morning," Gunnar said as if nothing had happened.

Jessica repressed (barely) a giggle.

"F*ck, that hurt! Why the hell haven't
you turned the cooker off?"

Gunnar sat down and poured himself a drink. Then another. And another. Adam suddenly turned his attention to Jessica.

"Do you know where the car keys are? I need to have this looked at."

She reached into one of the drawers and handed him the keys.

"What do you think you're doing? I can't drive with a burnt hand. You'll have to take me."

'Ah, shit.'

"How can I trust you won't try anything with me? I'll only go if Khalid can come along."

"Just hurry the f*ck up and get me to the doctor!," he bellowed.

Jessica rounded up Khalid and they piled into the van. Jessica didn't really want to pay the doctor a visit, but she figured it would be better than sitting in the van for god knows how long. They made their way up to the building and found Dr. Kohlberg's office. They took Adam in immediately.

"This looks bad. What did reverend Fjeldsted say?"

"He's a frigging idiot," Adam said with contempt.

'He's only an idiot for believing in you,' Jessica thought bitterly.

"He may be weird, but he's a good boy. His life sure as shit hasn't been easy. Everything went wrong from the start. His mother died giving birth to him. He lived with his father and sister. Until they took him away...," the doctor droned on.

'... Great...,' Jessica thought, 'just what this asshat needs: dirt on Ivan to harass him with.'

"Ivan? They took Ivan away?"

"No, nobody took Ivan away. The father was taken away; Henning."

"Why?"

"He was f*cking those kids black and blue. They could hardly walk."

Adam had a surprised look on his face.

"Shut up and fix this."

"Pardon my forthrightness. I've learned it's best to tell it like it is. You're best served by being told the truth."

'Only if you're entitled to it and it's not someone's personal tragedy,' Jessica silently reprimanded the doctor.

Adam then took his leave. Before she left, Jessica turned around, giving the doctor a death stare.

"Dr. Kohlberg, are you aware of how unprofessional what you just told that man was? He had no right to be told anything about Ivan's past, and now he's going to be an jackass about it. So thank you for making all of our lives a little harder just now," she sternly told him.

He gave her a dazed look and had nothing further to say. She then caught up with the others at the van and they drove back to the church.

"Adam?," they heard Ivan call.

"What's this I hear? The cooker bit you?"

"Gunnar forgot to turn it off,"

"Take a seat. I'd like to talk to you. Do you know why all this is happening? Why all these birds are in the tree? And the cooker. Why did you burn yourself all of the sudden? I think someone is trying to tell you that you shouldn't go near the cooker. You can't bake a cake without a cooker.
I think Satan is testing us."