Discharged

Epilogue

Epilogue

"She's trying to get an emergency protective order while she finalizes the divorce and from there we'll see about getting a restraining order for the both of us."

"Jesus..." I said, gripping the wheel harder, watching the lifeless highway sail past at a little after midnight. Talking to Lizzie had been helping me stay awake, especially now that I was finally getting filled in on the events from after we left the hospital. "How's she handling it?"

"Very, very poorly," Lizzie's tired voice responded. "She's back to the state she was in when she left the house for her own safety. Worse if anything. I'll definitely have to stay home a bit and miss the first few weeks back from vacation to help her out. She needs all the support she can get at this point."

I sighed. I couldn't help but feel like I ruined everything. Not just with my own family, but hers too. If I hadn't revealed my powers... "God... I'm really sorry any of this happened. I'm happy that Marco's doing alright, but I still feel really guilty for stressing everyone out..."

"Don't," she said pointedly. "This was a long time coming, and it wasn't your fault in the slightest. If anything, you've only accelerated the inevitable. Grandpa's asked about you like a hundred times, keeps calling you his 'savior'. Mom and Frank smile at that too, his mood is really keeping us afloat right now."

"Well, tell Ramona that I'm thinking about her," I said. "You can tell her I feel guilty, even if she takes it the same way you did."

"I'll pass it on tomorrow. I just got Mom down to sleep for the night. She really needs it, so I don't want to wake her," she said exhaustedly.

"And... how are you doing?" I asked. "You know, with your dad and stuff."

She sighed. "It's weird, for sure. On one hand, I know he was horrible, sociopathic, and a bad father, and I should be gratified that I may never have to see him again. But also, it's weird, cause... I mean, how do you just go about not having a major parental figure for the rest of your life? I guess it means I'll never see his friends, some uncles and aunts and cousins, ever again. Which is... kinda crazy to think about."

"I can imagine," I said sympathetically. "Are you gonna be ok? Do you want me to come over to help you out?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "I've done this before, I'll do it again. Besides, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate anyways..."

"Yeah, I guess," I said, shuffling my fingers on the wheel nervously. I had filled her in on my side of the story, including my intention to not talk to Mom until graduation and my promise not to use my powers until then. She had listened with respect, without giving much input on how she had felt about my decisions. I loved her for that, she was always able to tell when I was ranting and just wanted an ear rather than an active reactor to things. "Do you think I'm being too harsh? Am I doing the right thing?"

She took a deep breath. "Honestly... I don't know. I guess time will tell."

I nodded without responding. She was tired. Now wasn't the time to be talking about something this serious.

"I did have one question though," she said. "Why did you swear off your powers? If you're planning on keeping them anyways, what's the point? Why should you care about what she thinks about them?"

It was a good question, and I didn't really have a good answer. I started to rationalize it in my head and just spitballed my thoughts. "I don't know. I think... I think it was half for my sake as much as it was for hers. She... she might have a point when it comes to how much control I have over my powers. Maybe I'm too careless with them, or maybe I'm too dependent on them. There's really not an easy way to find out without trying a couple things, and I think I just want to see if I can do it. It might be healthy of me to try living a couple months without any kind of magic. Besides... even if she pisses me off a lot, I still... I still love her. I still want to prove myself to her. I want to prove to her that I can live my life normally if I wanted to, that the powers aren't some all-consuming thing in my life that tear up my life at every moment. You know what I mean?"