Lethe Vita

Chapter 31

It should not have been that bleeding difficult to locate a matching sock.

She opened drawer after drawer, attempting to find one pair of matching socks.

"Bren? What are you doing?"

She briefly glanced at the mirror on their dresser, where his reflection peered back at her.

"Packing," said Brenda, as she folded a shirt.

"I can see that," said Dylan. "Why are you packing my stuff?"

"Because Val's made a stupid choice," said Brenda. "You told me you make stupid choices all the time. So you're the best one to tell her how stupid her choice was. After I buy you more socks. How do you not have a single pair of matching socks?"

"You can't fly out, Bren. It was hard enough just trying to get the permission to fly you home, let alone across a whole ocean."

"I know that. You can."

"It's true. I can, but I won't."

"You have to. You have to make Val see you. You have to make her understand."

Dylan stepped forward to cup Brenda's back.

"It's not that I don't want to help Val," he said. "I do, and I'm trying to help her as much as I can, but I'm not flying out there. Not when you were just released, not when we have to monitor your health, not when we're so close to seeing our girl that I have to help you stand whenever you sit on our sofa."

Dylan locked his arms over Brenda's chest, sniffing at her hair.

He frequently did that, though Brenda hadn't a clue as to why.

"I'd never forgive myself if you gave birth and I wasn't here, or if something happened to you and I wasn't here," Dylan went on. "Because the last time I wasn't here, something did happen; something huge, something that could've taken you away from me forever. Don't ask me to leave you, Bren. I won't do it, not even temporarily. If I have to stand here and fight with you about it, I will. The last thing I want to do is fight with you."

Brenda's tense shoulders slackened against Dylan's chest as she slowly turned around, still holding Dylan's unmatched sock.

Dylan reclaimed his sock.

"She pled guilty." Brenda couldn't stop the emotion that leapt over her cheeks. "Why would she plead guilty, Dylan? Her lawyer was right there. Her lawyer should have made her plead not guilty."

"Not much you can do when your client decides to talk over you." Dylan's fingers grazed over Brenda's cheeks. "You heard it. They almost had a jury trial in the bag, and then Val pled guilty."

Turning her lips towards Dylan's fingers, Brenda kissed each one.

Just feeling Dylan against her brought an overwhelming sense of comfort.

"What happens now?" she asked, trying to swallow down the jagged rocks that clogged her throat.

"We wait for Val's sentencing," said Dylan.

"Can she change her mind and plead not guilty?"

"She can, but she has to do so before the sentencing and it's up to the Judge whether to accept it."

"I want to talk to David," said Brenda.

"I can't get a hold of Silver."

"Then I want to talk to Steve."

A compromise was made. Dylan would call Steve, as long as Brenda lay down and continued to lie down during their conversation.

Brenda sat up against the pillows, the back of Dylan's head situated on her chest as they listened to the numerous rings.