Red

Chapter Thirty Five

Veronica POV:
MacKenzie has finally started school. Because her birthday was so late, she didn't officially start kindergarten until about a week ago, which is around the same time Chandler came home from the hospital. Now, she lies in bed, wanting nothing more than to get out. Duke had taken MacKenzie to school this morning so that I could tend to Chandler.

"Come on, Sawyer," she groans. "Let me get my own fucking glass of water."

"It's a wonder you're able to keep your language PG for MacKenzie," I say, walking over to her with the glass of water that she'd wanted to get herself. "Babe, I love you, but you had surgery to get a bullet removed from your body seven days ago. This has not been a long enough recovery period."

"Sure it has," she retorts.

"Doesn't it hurt?" I ask her.

"Like an absolute bitch," she replies. I'm now noticing the pained look on her face. "Not so much that I can't move around."

"I would say, 'Give it a try' to prove a point, but I'm not in the mood to see you in excruciating pain," I say.

"I'm fine! God damn it!" She sits up before I can stop her, and I can hear the strangled cry of agony as she realizes what she's done. I rush to the bedside as she falls back into the pillows, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"What the hell, Chandler? God, don't do that! If you need more meds, you have to tell me!" I'm exasperated, but when I see how pale her skin is and how her face is contorted with pain, I calm down. "It's okay," I tell her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I know it hurts. I'll get you some more pills. Okay?"

She lets out a sound like a whimper as she shifts in her spot, trying to get comfortable again, but she nods. I sigh, moving over to the dresser where I had set the pill bottle down. The first few days that she was home, I was worried that she would try to take too many pills with how much pain she was in. I left them on the dresser to limit her consumption.

I shake a few pills out into my hand, scribbling down the time that she took them so that I know when to give her the next dose. I walk back over to the bedside, handing the pills to her. She puts them into her mouth and reaches the water glass to her lips with shaky hands, taking a sip in order to swallow them.

"You'll feel better soon," I tell her.

"Veronica, will you... will you lay with me?" she asks.

"Of course," I reply, and I push back the blankets, lying down next to her on the bed. We don't get this very much anymore. Just the two of us, getting to relax. It's nice. I let her lay her head on my chest, putting an arm around her shoulders and holding her close to me. She lets her hand rest on my stomach, shifting a bit so that she's resting on her good side.

"Are you comfortable?" I ask.

"Sure," comes the slightly pained reply. I hope the meds kick in soon. My poor Chandler.

We lay in silence for a good ten minutes, and I can hear every labored breath she takes. It hurts me to know that she's in pain right now. I just wish she would talk to me when she's not feeling well.

"It hurts," I hear her whisper finally.

"I know it does," I reply, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry."

"I want to put on makeup," she says with a pout, and I can't help but laugh.

"That's all you can think about?" I retort, looking down at her.

"Please?" is her tired reply, and I concede, getting up from where I am and walking into the bathroom where she keeps her makeup. I grab the box that it's in, walking back into the room with it. She gives me a slightly pained smile, and I walk over, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"What are you gonna do, put it on for me?" she asks.

I raise an eyebrow at her, opening the box. I see her foundation, and I get it out, knowing she'll want to use it. Then I take out her beauty blender (which she'd just gotten a few weeks ago) and dip it into the foundation, starting to gently apply it to her face. She looks confused, almost like she's ready to swat me away. 

"You don't have to actually-" she begins.

"Hush," I silence her. "Let me do this."

Once I've finished applying the foundation how she likes, I use the setting powder to set it. She rolls her eyes slightly. "You're skipping steps," she says.

"Mhm," I reply, putting the setting powder back into the box and taking out the blush. She gives me an odd look as I put it on lightly. 

"Do you ever do makeup?" she questions.

"Instead of criticizing my makeup skills, you could just... Oh, I don't know, talk to me about literally anything else," I say. 

"Like what?" she asks, and I put the blush away again.

"How did you meet Heather and Heather?" I ask her. It's something I've been wanting to know for years. It was always indisputable from kindergarten through senior year that the three Heathers ran the school, but how did they meet in the first place? How did they become so close?

"I... I guess I met them in kindergarten," she replies as I apply red lipstick to her lips. "I met Macnamara first. She was... Well, she was very friendly. When she found out we had the same name, she sort of just started inviting me over to hang out and played with me on the playground and sometimes she'd sit with me after school while I waited for my mom to pick me up." I can't help but smile. That's cute. "Duke came in first grade, if you'll remember. Mac was drawn to her, before she even found out about the names thing. I think she had a crush on Duke even back then. Duke was different than Mac. She was sort of stand-offish. She seemed to be okay with me, though. We fought a lot, but it was just a part of our relationship. It was good for us, I guess."

"Do you guys still fight?" I ask her. "It seems like you're better now."

"We tried to stop fighting in high school for Mac's sake," she replies. "She hates it when we fight."

"So now you don't?"

"Not as much," she tells me. "Sometimes we get into fights, but it's usually over her not telling me something. Or vice-versa."

I think back to Duke telling me she was hospitalized. Would they fight about that if Chandler knew? Probably. I sort of hope that Duke decides to tell Chandler, but I know that I can't be the one to do it. 

"Well?" I say, holding up the mirror. Chandler gives me a light laugh, and I try to ignore the look of pain I see on her face when she laughs.

"It looks amazing," she says. "Thank you."

I press a kiss to her newly red lips. "You're welcome. Are you feeling any better now?"

"A bit," she replies.

"Are you lying?" I ask.

"A bit," she tells me honestly.

I sigh, getting back under the covers with her again. I'm just hoping she falls asleep so that she won't be in so much pain anymore. Seeing her in pain is the complete worst feeling in the world to me. As I let her sink back into my chest, I kiss the top of her head. 

"I love you," I whisper.

"I love you, too."

***

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sick again, so it's been rough, but I will still attempt to have daily updates for you! Also, once this book is finished (it won't be official, I'll just do far fewer updates and they'll be little one-shots), would anyone like me to do a suggestions one-shot book? Like you suggest a ship and I write scenarios (or you guys can suggest scenarios and prompts and type and all that)? Let me know! Vote and comment if you care to!

Thanks for reading!

-LittleMissBlitz