Seasons (Ari AU)

Chapter 46

"Sure he can. Looks like he's been doing it for months."

 I tear myself away from Holland. "What did you say?" I ask, looking at my sister first before my attention goes to Holland. "What did she say?"

  Holland's eyes dance, one shoulder shrugging as she answers. "I couldn't make it out, to be honest. What are you doing here, anyways? Your shift ended like two hours ago."

  Shauna steps further into the room, a large tote bag swung over her shoulder. "Ari asked me to run over to Lissy's, said he wanted his sneakers. Of course I told him to man up and do it himself.:  I instruct her to just put them over by the window seat, wanting to go back to the moment I'm in the midst of with Holland. Probably better he didn't though," she mutters, confusing me a bit more. 

 "Where were we?" I ask, my hand slipping back over hers.

  "Actually," Shauna interrupts again. "I need to steal you for a bit."

  "Now is not the best time," I tell her, unwilling to lose the momentum of where our conversation is going. 

  "Trust me, there never will be, but we need to talk." When Shauna rests her hand on my shoulder, I know there is something serious rattling in her brain. She still notices my reluctance, her fingers digging in harshly.

  "Okay," I finally concede. "You go ahead and eat, find us a movie."

  There's a worry line creased across her forehead, inviting me to kiss it away. Of course I take the opportunity. Who would pass up their chance of having ones lips somewhere on this incredible woman's body? So that's what I do, pepper kisses all across her forehead until she's giggling and shoving me away with her hands against my chest. "Go on, Casanova."

  As I turn I notice Shauna with a strangely conflicted look, her hand gripping the straps of the bag that hangs over her shoulder. She knows where I stand on my feelings for Holland, but I feel like I'm about to be scolded for remaining in a pseudo relationship with Lissy, possibly even questioned if I'm stringing both along for my own sick benefit.  

  I expect her to start talking as soon as I'm out in the hallway, "Well?"

 "Not here," she tells me, looking around as nurses dart in and out of surrounding rooms. She's being very secretive, almost a bit shady. She motions towards a back stair well and suddenly I feel like I'm about to be given top secret intel.

  "You're being weird," I tell her, following her up the steps until we reach the roof access door. "Why the hell are we going to the roof?"

  She heads over to a random area that looks like it has actually been set up with a purpose of some sorts. As many years as I've been in and out of this hospital, I've never known of the small seating area that's set off to one side of the roof.  There's a soft breeze filling the evening air as the sun begins to dip lower against the city's skyline.

    "This is a topic that you don't want others to hear. If others on that floor hear about it, then it's only a matter of time before it gets back to Holland." 

  Now I'm not just simply intrigued, but actually afraid. "What do you mean, get back to Holland? If you need to talk to me about Holland, then you know I'm going to let her know what you tell me. I'm not keeping secrets from her, she's dealt enough with secrets this year and I refuse to add to that."

  "Ari, trust me. This isn't something you can tell her right now. The stress of it," she pauses as she sits, her hands immediately catching her head. "The stress of it could totally toss her into labor and it's way too early for Evy to make her appearance in this world. We have a lot of things to figure out, things to fix, things to rectify before that innocent baby comes into Holland's life, into all of our lives."

  She slides over on the bench, motioning for me to sit beside her. My body can't move, something she's said has perked my ears a bit too far and I'm starting to catch on to the actual severity of whatever information she hasn't spit out. 

  "What do you know that's going to possibly harm her and the baby, Shauna? What could you know that is so big that could jump start her labor?"

  She slides the bag off of her shoulder, settling it at her feet. I notice her hand shaking as she reaches in, pausing to speak. "When I went by the house, which by the way Lissy wasn't home. Her car was gone but there was a truck. Did she mention something about going out?"

  "Honestly, if she did I didn't pay attention to it."

  Shauna scoffs, rolls her eyes and continues. "Well anyways, there as a gray truck in the driveway. Do you know anyone with a gray truck?" My hands fly up in the air before slapping hard against my jean clad thighs. "Okay, I get it. You want me to move on. So, I go in the house, everything looks to be in order until I get to y'all's bedroom-"

  "Lissy's bedroom," I correct her. "I don't live there. Never have, never will."  She's agitated with me, but I'm growing more frustrated with this long drawn out mess of storytelling. "Move it along."

  "The bedroom was a disaster, so I'm guessing she was going out with the girls or maybe has gotten sick and tired of you stringing her along-"

  "I'm not stringing her along, Shauna!" I exclaim.  "Damn, it! Give me your phone and I'll dump her right now."

  "Uh, well, ya see, I think you'll be doing that very soon, just I'm gonna need you to do it person while you're getting all your crap out of her home."

  "I can't do that with Mason around, and you just got done saying she wasn't even home. Is that all this was, you just wanted to tell me about the disaster Lissy left in her home? Okay, big friggin deals she can clean it when she gets home, I don't really care." I start backing up, headed off to the door that will take me back downstairs to Holland's room. "But there is a woman here that I do care about, and you're stealing my time from her."

  "Mason's not yours!" she yells out. 

  My entire body goes rigid, steps ending as my brows pull together. With a spin on my heel I ask her to repeat herself. "What did you say?" 

  "I found his birth certificate, Ari. The father is listed, but it's not you."

  "No, that's not, Lissy said-"

  "What did Lissy tell you? I can guarantee it's not the truth, and I have proof," she assures me, pulling something out of her bag.

  "She said no one was listed other than her."

  "Oh, there's someone listed alright, and a photo from the hospital, too." I watch her throat bob for a moment as she slowly turns the frame around in her hand.

  I can't see it from where I am, can't make out anything so I finally tell my feet to start moving. Five steps closer and I'm snatching the frame away from her. It's double sided, the certificate on one side, and just like Shauna said, there's a photo on the other. 

  I swear I feel like I've blacked out, that I'm dreaming some incredibly thought out cruel nightmare. The entirety of the last eight months blindsiding me with a vast lie that doesn't just affect me, but a little boy and the pregnant woman downstairs. 

  Mason's last name is listed as being the man's in the photo. The man just happens to be my best friend, Jeremy Gable.

*Unedited

*Okay, maybe not even a small surprise here to most of you. Forgive me for not covering the subtle tracks a little better.