Thank you, Kelley

Chapter 30

Meghan's POV:

Today is the day. I get out of the hospital today. The last few days have been hard but rewarding. I am now able to walk around on my own. It took a while to get to this point but it is good. I'm also not in constant pain now. My ribs are only sore if anything makes contact with them and my headaches are much less. The bruises that were across my face have lessened to a dull yellow so I don't look so dead now either.

I also thankfully only had one panic attack. I had woken up from a nap because of a nightmare but Kelley was right there to calm me down. It definitely reinforced the idea that going to live with her is the right decision.

"Ok? Are you ready to get out of this place?" Kelley asks as she finishes signing my discharge papers.

"You have no idea." I joke with her. Emily just laughs at me.

"Well then let's go!" she says.

We step outside into the brisk New England air. I just stand there for a moment before getting in Kelley's car.

"You good there?"

"Mm just appreciating the fresh air. Appreciating the way my life has changed I guess." As I climb in.

We are making the short drive back to New Hampshire to tie up a few of my loose ends. The first stop is my old house to get my stuff and say goodbye to Jan. Then it's onto Sophie's house. The last stop is the courthouse. We have to have a judge sign off on the adoption papers.

As we make the drive we are all quiet. I appreciate this. It gives me time to think. The trees and landscape pass by the window quickly. Each one brings a new thought or memory. My life is going to be completely different. But good different.

Then the night in the hospital with Emily comes back into my mind. I smile as I think about it. We agreed that we aren't going to pursue anything yet. Just be flirty and fun which I appreciate. Basically it hasn't changed much from what we did before since we were already very flirty and cuddly. We also told Kelley and she agreed that it was a good idea. We were both a little worried about how it would go if we decided to be officially together with all the change that is going on in my life. Also, Em is going to have to go back to Portland at some point.

The scene starts to become familiar as we get closer to my foster home.

"Ok, so this one?" Kelley asks as we pull up.

"Yup," I say. It feels really weird to be here. I still don't remember the details of the attack but it feels weird to be here.

We get out of the car and just stand there. Obviously the girls wait for me to go in first but I don't know how. I know he's not here so I just have to do it.

So I do. I step up to the front door and knock. We called Jan the other day to tell her what was going to happen to me. I guess the police told her she wasn't allowed to come to visit me in the hospital at first because of her connection with Greg. She explained how sorry she was about everything that had happened and she would have come if she could.

She opens the door. Her small frame looks even smaller than the last time I saw her.

"I'm glad you are ok." She steps forward and gives me a hug. I return it gratefully. The four of us move our way into the small living room.

"Ok umm... so Emily and Kelley do you guys mind going up to my room and packing up some of my stuff. I want to talk to Jan for a little while."

"Oh, I tried to get started on that job for you. There are a few things in a box up there already. Second door upstairs on the left" Jan grins at us.

A 'yup' and 'sounds good' comes from the two. As they make their way upstairs Jan and I sit down on the small old couch.

"Hi," she says, trying to get the conversation started.

"Hi," I responded. "Are you doing ok?"

"Ya... I am so happy that he is out of the house. I'm so sorry I couldn't do that for you sooner."

"No, it's ok. I know it wasn't your fault. You always did what you could for me."

"Hm... I'm glad you are getting out of this town. I always knew you were better than this place."

"Aww, thanks. I just wanted to tell you Jan, that I know that none of this was your fault. I can see the guilt in your eyes. It's ok... And you can get out of here too. You deserve so much more than this place and him. Please find someone better than him. You deserve so much more."

"Thank you." She says quietly with a sad smile.

As if on cue Kelley and Emily come down with a few boxes and a duffle full of my clothes. There wasn't much up there. Just some soccer gear, school stuff an clothes. Jan and I get up and help them carry it out to the car. We all come back into the kitchen. Jan is the first to speak.

"Thank you girls for taking care of her. I was never able to give her what she deserved but I can see that you both will. Thank you and please do good by her."

"Of course. Thank you for helping to raise such a resilient person." Kelley says and gives Jan a hug. Emily gets a hug too although I don't know what she did. Haha just kidding.

"Oh, kid I have something for you. Hold on." she goes over to the cabinet and pulls something out. I'm very confused as it seems to be an envelope. Why was that in the cabinet? Then she hands it to me and it's full of cash. I look at her in confusion.

"I know he would take most of the money that you made at the diner. I'm really sorry I couldn't do anything about how he treated you. But I would do this. I put some money aside from every check I got. I always knew you were going to make it out of this place and I wanted to be able to help you when the time came. It's all for you."

"Oh my..." I'm shocked. I had no idea she was doing this. We didn't make much at the diner and the subsequent lifestyle we were able to live off of wasn't much. I have no idea how she managed to save this much.

"Jan I can't take this. You need it. And now it's just you paying for the house and stuff. You need it more."

"No. it's for you. It's not as much as you should have made over the years working. You deserve it after Greg took it from you. Originally I thought it would be going towards your new apartment you were going to have in this life you were running away to, but I know that's not necessary now. You have these lovely people taking care of you. Use it to buy something for yourself. Spoil yourself. You deserve it."

"Thank you so much, Jan." I pull her into a tight hug. I really do appreciate what she has done for me over the years. She was never supposed to be my mom. She couldn't do everything as she shouldn't have had to. But she did good.

We start to make our way out the front door. It's time for me to go. Move on from this part of my life.

"Goodbye Jan," I say with a few tears in my eyes. I didn't think I would be this emotional but oh well. "I will come back and visit at some point I promise," I say as I hug her.

"No Meghan. You need to move on. You are better than this town. Don't look back. You have my number. We can call but don't come back, ok?"

"Ya ok... goodbye and thank you."

"And thank you. You have shown me I deserve better than him. Thanks. Goodbye." We pull away from our hug. As we walk toward the car,

"Take care of her please girls!"

"Absolutely!" Kelley says.

An "Of course" comes from Emily.

And with that, we get in the car and leave. I wave goodbye to Jan.

We sit in the car for a few minutes not really having a destination in mind yet.

I didn't think that leaving would be that emotional. I always dreamed of leaving but I guess when you get used to something even if it isn't great it's, change is still hard.