Bullet Point

Chapter 13: Coming Home

"Here, put your arm around my shoulder." Darien pulls Ninette up from the passenger seat of the car, trying his hardest not to groan-- his sister is slightly heavier than he remembers from their childhood piggyback rides. Ninette has a tight grimace stretched across her face, and Darien holds on tightly even after she's situated herself on the crutches.

"I'm okay. I can do it." Ninette assures him with a fake smile. Ninette is definitely stronger than most of her siblings, but Darien can tell when she's struggling.

Madison comes up beside them, her arms crossed over her chest. "N, you fell out of a helicopter. Let him help you." 

Ninette sighs, but gives in. She moves through the doorway and into the living room on her own, but stops dead when the rest of the kids appear at the top of the stairs. They all start to shout at once and Mrs. James puts her hands up to silence them. "Kids, let her be. You can all talk to her later." 

Darien and Tre follow closely behind Ninette on either side as she mounts the stairs, and all the kids part the way to her bedroom. Tre feels Naya's presence beside him, but he ignores her. The boys get her into the room and help her lie down in bed. Tre grabs a pillow from the cot and puts it under Ninette's right leg. Aside from the one fracture, she's mostly fine. There were a few spots that got badly bruised, but the doctors claim they'll heal quickly enough. She'll go back to get the cast removed in about 5 weeks, but she must stay on bedrest until the bruising goes down.

"I'll stay with her." Madison steps forward and grabs Ninette's hand.

"Nope." Mrs. James shakes her head. "All of you need to get your butts in the car and get everyone to school. You've already missed half the day, so get moving." Madison and the boys all sigh, but do as their mother said and trudge back down the stairs.

As they hear the front door slam shut, Mrs. James pulls up a little fold out chair and grabs Ninette's hand. "How are you doing, Honey?" Ninette doesn't respond. She shrugs a little and starts to put her hair back into place. "Ninette," Her eyes dart toward her mother's change in tone. "You can tell me if you're hurting. It can be our little secret."

Ninette shuts her eyes, her eyelashes brushing across her pale cheeks. "Nothing is going the way it's supposed to."

"Honey, it was one accident. You're great at your j-"

"Kellan's gone." Ninette interrupts her. They both stay silent for a moment. "Everything was perfect, but then he left me and now I'm literally falling apart." Ninette keeps her eyes glued shut, refusing to let her emotions spill out. 

Mrs. James squeezes her daughters hand and tries to calm her down. "He didn't want to leave." Ninette sighs, not buying in. "He was forced to leave. It's not like he was trying to get away from you." Mrs. James keeps her voice level, not wanting to upset her daughter any further. 

"I feel like a child." Ninette mutters, burrowing further into her mattress. "He's and adult. I was just something to keep him entertained until he got his big break."

Mrs. James hesitates for a second. "Do you remember how your father and I met?"

Ninette's ear perk up a little at the mention of her dad. "He was stationed at the hospital you worked at, right?"

Mrs. James nods. "He was on duty monitoring a criminal who was having surgery. I was put in charge of taking their medical information, but your father was being stubborn."

Ninette let out an almost-laugh. "That sounds like dad."

Mrs. James nods. "He kept saying that everything was confidential. Clearly I wasn't buying it." She crosses her legs and narrows her eyes at the wall, probably trying to recall all the details. "He told me it was in my best interest to back off, but I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I was determined to follow protocol." A hint of a smile flashes across Ninette's blotchy, red, face. "Finally he convinced me that I needed to let it slide, and then promised to take me out to dinner the next night as an apology for giving me a hard time."

"How old were you?" Ninette whispers. 

"Twenty." Mrs. James smiles. "It was my last year of college, and a year after that you were born."

Ninette's face suddenly droops a little. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Your father was 8 years older than me. We didn't actually start dating until a couple months after we met. He had his big top-secret CIA job, and I was still in school. From all angles it didn't seem like it would work out. He finally committed himself to me when I got pregnant."

"What does this have to do with me and Kellan?" Ninette croaks, rubbing her eyes of exhaustion.

"CIA agents are fully invested in their jobs. Their work comes before everything else-- even family sometimes." Mrs. James takes her daughter's hands in her again. "I know how much that job means to you, so I'm sure it means just as much to him. He did what he had to do."

"He should have asked me to wait for him. I would have said yes." Ninette says, almost inaudibly.

"He just wants you to be happy, N." Mrs. James knows Ninette doesn't want to hear the truth, but she stands her ground. "He thinks you'd be happier dating someone closer to your age, and I agree." Ninette sits up a little straighter and her eyes narrow at her mother. 

"But I'm not like other people my age." She barks. "I have a job, a second life. I don't sit around and worry about stupid high school drama like Hailey and Naya do. I have more in common with someone like Kellan than I ever will with the kids at school."

"Listen, I'm not telling you to run off and find another boyfriend right away. It's okay to take some time for yourself." Mrs. James eases her daughter back down into the covers. "Right now you need to rest but, when you're better, you can put all your focus into your job if you want."

"I already do that." Ninette protests, refusing to admit that her mother is right.

"And another thing." Mrs. James has a secretive look on her face. "While you're at home you're going to spend more time with your brothers and sisters."

"Mom, no! I-"

"Yes, honey." Mrs. James cuts her off. "It will be good for you, I promise."

"No it won't." Ninette mutters under breath.

"Eamon's in most of your classes, so I asked him to collect your schoolwork. Based on your number of absences and tardies, you have to catch up on. Good thing you're stuck in the house all day." Mrs. James grins, much to Ninette's dismay.

"Fine." Ninette concedes with glaring eyes. "You can keep me locked up in the house, and you can make me do homework, but you can't force me to talk to people."

Mrs. James winks at her daughter. "Deal."