Marvel Mayhem

Chapter Seven: Some Assembly Required

            Chrissy did not have enough gladness in her heart to be out of the heavily uncomfortable hospital gown and back in the clothes S.H.I.E.L.D. found her in. The purple skirt suit with the gold buttons, high-heeled black slippers, hose with the seam up the back, and grey silk blouse with the necktie collar – it was all signature for her, even her Victory Rolls hairstyle. She had yet to put on the slippers when she received a visit from someone, presumably the doctor to say she was not cleared to leave. She could not have cared less; she ever so desperately needed to get out of that hospital.

            "Are you supposed to be leaving?"  

            It was not the doctor. Chrissy turned her head from the wall she faced to see a young woman in her mid- to late-twenties, looking quite appealing (yet strange from Chrissy's old world perspective) with her long black, purple-highlighted hair and colorful makeup that, in Chrissy's era, would have been considered extravagant. Even her attire was considerably questionable for Chrissy: a purple shirt that zipped down the front (the young woman had hers zipped to mid-level for cleavage), black leggings with ripped holes, and black above-the-knee, high-heeled boots.  

            "No, I'm not." Chrissy replied in reference to the question posed by the young lady. "But I refuse to lie in that god-awful bed while there's a whole new world out there for me to explore."  

            The young woman sneered. "So it is true."  

            "What is?"  

            With her arms crossed and her back leaned against the wall, the young woman posed another question to her: "You know who I am?" The tone of her voice was evidently harsh.  

            Chrissy looked up and down at her, moving only her hazel eyes and not her head. She shook her head and said very casually, "No idea."  

            She could see the young woman biting her tongue in anger but had no clue as to what could have angered her. Was it something she said? Was this young lady important to her in some way she was plainly unaware of?  

            "O.K. Lemme ask this: Do you remember giving birth to a child in 1951...and abandoning her two years later?"  

            The motion in Chrissy's hands, which was put into buttoning the jacket of her purple suit, stopped suddenly as a tidal wave of memories flooded her mind. Noting her pause, the young woman grew even more furious.  

            "How could you just leave me and Paw-Paw like you did? For science? Because of your selfishness, he had to raise me alone 'til I was six and had to watch him go into the ground! Because of you, I was in the system with no friends and no family! I fought my own battles, taught myself to be a grown-ass woman, and learned to trust no one but myself before they let me go when I was seventeen...seven-f**kin'-teen!"  

            Her tone became notably more aggressive as she shared this personal story with Chrissy, who was in tears from it all.  

            "And don't give me those crocodile tears!" The young woman snapped. "None of that will make up for what you did to me!"  

            There was a long moment of silence between them that followed, only angering the young woman much further.  

            "So there's nothing to say for yourself." The young lady proclaimed. "Nothing to say for pussin' out sixty-one years ago."  

            Chrissy said nothing; her head hung low with her tears dripping from her eyes. All the young woman could do in reaction to this was scoff and make her way for the door. Just as her right hand neared the doorknob, she felt her left arm pulled mightily as Chrissy swiftly lured her into a tight hug. "Oh, Ciciley," she whispered while stroking her hair and kissing the side of her head. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm never leaving you again."