Off the Carousel

Sue Me!

Without further ado...

It was the eve of her eighteenth birthday, but Carolyn didn't feel like celebrating. She was staring at the letter in her hand...

"What is it?" Michael asked, "What's wrong?" he pushed her strawberry milkshake closer to her as he swiveled his stool to see her.

"Oh, I-" she folded the letter and shook her head, offering a smile at her boyfriend. "It's nothing." She didn't know how to tell him. How do you tell the love of your life that you're leaving? That you are going to go- and do more than the both of you ever imagined. Michael never finished school, he worked as a stock boy at The Russell's family store. He didn't have any special inheritance.

But Carolyn worked hard in school, and she dreamed of being a nurse... and the Navy had offered her a placement at the academy in their nursing program. All she had to do was write back and accept.

But then she'd be leaving him.

"Carolyn..." Michael pulled the paper from her fingertips and unfolded it. He pushed a few of his dark locks out of his eyes, and she wondered if this would be the last time she'd see him do that. "Oh..." he said, "You got accepted."

"Mike," she started, preparing for the worst.

"Well... you need to go," he said, smiling. "You need to do this."

"But what about-"

He picked up her hand and kissed it. "I'm not going anywhere..."

xxx

Meredith shuffled Zola and Bailey into the crowded bistro. She'd gotten her rental, started her claim with the insurance company, then she'd done some quick shopping for some basic necessities, as she wasn't sure when she'd be able to get back to her Lexus and get all her stuff out.

Now she wanted to sit down and relax.

"What do you think Zola? Hot chocolate?" She asked as she stared at the menu.

"Uh huh," her daughter nodded, her eyes large with curiousity.

"Okay," Meredith said. Hot chocolate for Zola, and juice for Bailey, and...Mocha latte, definitely. But maybe just a small considering what was now resting in her uterus.

"Hello!" The cheerful blonde woman behind the counter greeted. "What can I get you?"

She was too cheerful. Arizona cheerful... she was like a cross between Izzie and Arizona, considering all the baked goods behind the counter.

As she gave her order, Meredith couldn't help but feel she was being watched, and through the corner of her eye she saw people staring and whispering. She tried to shrug it off, she must be a strange sight in this oh-so- perfect town, all beat up and bruised. She took her tray with her food and drinks and looked around for a spot to sit.

The only table big enough for three was in the middle, so she directed her children there. "Here," she said, handing Zola her hot chocolate. "Careful, it's hot." She'd bought a sandwich and soup too, and cut the sandwich in half for Bailey and Zola to share. But she still felt their eyes on her. People whispering, pointing-

"Isn't she-"

"Martha said-"

"Poor Cassie-"

Meredith focused on buttering her bun. Which was hard to do when your right hand was in a sling. She helped Bailey with his juice. But it just kept coming... the whispers were like little cuts in an already wounded heart.

"Grace is in the hospital in Blairville?"

"How did she miss that stop sign-"

Too much, on top of everything else.