𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻

II

Amelia sat in the parking lot of St. Thomas hospital, taking the last few drags off the cigarette between her fingers. She had arrived over an hour ago, yet couldn't muster up the courage to actually go inside. The bold numbers on the dashboard's clock were oh so taunting.

Her pale hand ran through her chesnut locks. She clipped her cigarette and made herself a mental note to pick up more. She breathed deeply, and exhaled slowly. She had to mentally prepare herself before leaving the comfort of her silent car.

The short stroll across the parking lot felt like miles. Her slender, tired legs began to buckle from exhaustion and the long hours crammed in the car. The fluorescent light inside the hospital was bright, too bright. The luminous white walls forcing Amelia to adjust her eyes.

The smell of medical grade disinfectant filled the halls and waged an assault upon her nose. Everything serving as a reminder of her hatred of hospitals.

"Hi." Amelia spoke with a slight, awkward smile that probably came across like more of a grimace.

"Welcome to St. Thomas" The curly haired nurse recited. "Who are you here for?" Her round face looking up at Amelia for a mere second before turning her attention back to the papers in her hands.

"Wendy Case." Amelia watched as a look of shock dawned upon the nurses face. It didn't surprise her, everyone in the small town knew about Wendy's reputation. Her older sister wasn't exactly a saint. She kept her eyes glued to the nurse. She waited, expecting a snide comment to come her way.

"Your name?" Amelia sighed in relief, knowing that she wasn't being ridiculed.

"Amelia Case."

"She's in room 203." She handed over a visitors sticker to Amelia. "It's right..."

"I know the way," She spoke not allowing the nurse to finish. Sadly, Amelia knew this place like the back of her hand. "Thanks." she mumbled before taking off down the hallway.

If Amelia thought the walk across the parking lot felt like miles, then the walk to room 203 felt like a marathon. Finally she stood in front of the room. Behind that door was the reason for her return to this shithole town. She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes, knocking once, and only once. She didn't even bother to wait for an invite before barging into the room.

"Hey sis." Amelia's voice was shaky as she spoke, she had meant to sound confident, or at least nonchalant.

"Mia?" Wendy looked at her younger and only sister with shock. She open and closed her mouth a few times as if trying to find the words to say, none coming easy.

Amelia nodded her head, unable to think of words to say. It had been years since she last saw Wendy, and months since they last spoke, and now here she was standing right in front of her.

Amelia studied her sister as she stood awkwardly. Wendy looked drained, her once alive hazel eyes looked dull and lifeless. There were fading track marks along her arms, which she tried hiding once she caught Amelia looking.

"Jax called you." It was more of a statement than a question. Of course Wendy knew he'd call Amelia.

"Yeah." Amelia's eyes still focused on Wendy's arms. "I, uh left him a message letting him know I'd be here." Silence filled the small room, suffocating Amelia. She knew things would be awkward between them. They hadn't been like real sisters in a long time. Wendy chose drugs and Amelia chose to leave.

"Have you seen Abel yet?" Wendy broke the silence, her eyes lighting up a bit at the mention of her son.

"No." Amelia shook her head.

In all the chaos she had forgotten about her nephew. Her nephew that was born 10 weeks early due to Wendy's own stupidity. Her nephew that had the Teller flaw. She wasn't so sure if she could even handle seeing him. And just like that the suffocating silence was back.

Amelia was at a loss for words. Sympathy wasn't something she was willing to give her older sister. In her opinion she didn't deserve it, Wendy had used up Amelia's sympathy for her long ago.

"Where do you plan on staying?" Wendy picked the skin around her nails.

"Who said I was staying Wendy?" Amelia shot back. Exhaustion was taking over her body. What little energy she had left was slowly dying out.

"The house is empty. I was staying at Jax's."

The house? She meant Amelia's house. The house has been a sore subject between them. It became the bane of Amelia's existence. It was left to them when their parents decided to move out of state. Once word of Wendy's worsening drug addiction reached their parents, it was left solely to Amelia. Which left her with a house she didn't want and Wendy full of resentment. Amelia tried to remedy the situation by letting Wendy stay there.

"I don't plan on being here that long." Amelia spoke, reassuring Wendy knew once she was fine and checked into a rehab, that Amelia would be gone.

She was already anxious to get back to her normal life far away from Charming. A knock on the door interrupted Wendy's response. Amelia froze for a second, panicked at the thought of whom would be visiting. The round faced nurse poked her familiar face through the door. Amelia let out a sigh of relief. This was her chance to leave, and she didn't have to deal with familiar faces from the past just yet.

"Sorry to interrupt but," The pudgy nurse squealed "I've got to take Miss Wendy downstairs. Doc wants to run a few tests on her."

"Sure." Amelia nodded, already making her way towards the door. "I'll be back tomorrow." She told Wendy who simply nodded in return.

Amelia couldn't recall the last time she had seen her sister look this defeated. It almost made Amelia pity her, Almost. Satisfied with Wendy's nod, Amelia quickly made her escape. Once she reached the outside she let out a deep breath, her hand subconsciously reaching for a cigarette that wasn't there.

The walk back to her car felt much quicker this time. Guess time does fly when you're enjoying what you're doing. She started up the El Camino, turning up the relaxing voice of ‪Eddie Vedder‬ that emanated from the stereo. Finally, she was on her way down the all too familiar streets of Charming.

~~~~~~~~~

Dusk had fallen by the time Amelia got to the house.

She had taken a few detours, picking up a few packs of cigarettes and a few essentials for her unwanted stay her childhood home. The house was small, with a brick facade. The lawn had become wild due to the lack of tending. The dark green shutters were worn, some of the paint was chipped and had slats missing off them. She shut off her car, grabbed the few items she had brought and walked up to the small brick house. As she stared at her house she realized, this house held some memories she'd be fine with forgetting.

"Fuck." Were the first words out of her mouth once she opened the door. Inside was a fucking wreck to put it nicely. Wendy told her it was empty, not that it was clean. Scattered clothes covered the living room floor. The dishes in the kitchen sink were broken and unclean. That junkie left her smack syringes on the coffee table. Did Wendy have a cat? Because this place stunk of cat piss. That poor thing probably died in here a while ago.

"Fucking Wendy." Amelia muttered with a shake of her head.

She walked carefully into the kitchen, placing her bags down. It was going to take the rest of the night to clean up this hurricane, and at least make the house look semi decent. She shook her head once again while pulling her dark waves into a ponytail. Amelia grabbed the broom that leaned in the corner, long forgotten. Her first hours back in Charming and she was already back to cleaning up Wendy's messes. The sudden vibrating of her phone was a welcomed distraction from the cleaning.

"I'll be over tomorrow."

She read and reread the text, his number wasn't programmed into her contacts but she knew by now it was Jax. Quickly she placed the phone back into the pocket of her jeans. It was inevitable, she knew that. There was no way she'd be able to just come back, see Wendy and leave without seeing anyone. Yet, a part of her wished that could be the way it all happened. She was ok with seeing Jax, hell even a run in with Gemma wouldn't be that bad but if she crossed paths with too much of the past, she wasn't sure how well that would go.