Supervillain Girlfriend!

Part Two, Chapter Sixteen: Charlie Gets Canceled

The ride back was, somehow, even more awkward than the ride to the house. Charlie sat with her head against the window, and her eyes on the ground, though she did glance at her phone every now and then. Beatrice did much the same, but fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat the whole time. 

Charlie suddenly spoke up, taking Beatrice off guard. 

"You know, I don't think my dad would have told you that if he knew you were mad at me." 

She said it almost to herself, her eyes still on the ground. 

"I'm not mad at you." Beatrice lied.

Charlie looked at her briefly and grimaced, then turned her attention back out of the window. Beatrice grimaced as well, although it was mostly at herself. She was embarrassed about telling such an obvious lie. She was embarrassed at the fact that she was even mad at Charlie in the first place. 

Her cell phone started to vibrate, and she clicked the button in the side to make it stop without even looking at the contact. She already knew without checking that it was probably her manager trying to contact her. She had been ignoring her calls for almost a week now anyway. What difference would one more day make? 

She looked back out of the window, and tried to turn her thoughts back to something more agreeable, but the annoying buzzing returned again just a few seconds later. More than a little annoyed, she snatched the phone back up and answered it with a rather curt "what?"

"Uhm. Hey?" 

It was Lin.

"Oh sorry," She said. "I thought you were my manager."

"That's how you answer the phone when your manager calls?" He asked. 

"Why? How do you answer your phone when your manager calls?"

Lin let out an exasperated sigh. 

"Okay, B. You know what, that's not even the point of this call—"

"What's the point then?" She asked. 

"The point is, your brother is awake." 

Beatrice had almost left the car, and took off on her own to the hospital. The only thing that had stopped her was Charlie's insistence that taking the car would be just as fast. Beatrice agreed, but only because Charlie was still so visibly upset, and despite still feeling angry herself, Beatrice didn't want to make things worse right now.

They parted from each other at the hospital. Charlie said she would see her later at home. Beatrice agreed, though the whole interaction left a somewhat bitter taste on her tongue. 

She couldn't dwell on the awkwardness between them too long. There were other things on her mind at the moment. 

She teleported straight to her brother's hospital room. Lin was already waiting outside for her. He looked like he had been crying, but somehow seemed noticeably less stressed than he had for the past few days. That, at least, made her breathe somewhat of a sigh of relief. 

He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Hey." He said. 

"Hey." Was her quiet response. "Is he—"

"He's fine, considering." Lin said. 

She nodded.

"Can I go in?"

"Of course." 

She walked in.

TJ was sitting up in the hospital bed, his cheek resting on his hand as he watched the television in the corner. He looked better than he had in a while. His skin wasn't as pale, and he had gained some weight back, though he was still very thin. His hair was shiny again, and the blue circles under his eyes were a shade lighter.