Post by Fiona McFly on Dec 7, 2017 5:59:53 GMT
CHAPTER 18
"In Which Fiona Learns A Terrible Truth..."
6 December 2017 + 1700 GMT
In the present day...
Fiona McFly cowered behind the couch, unsure of where she was in her mind.
Physically, she found herself in the familiar surroundings that was the farmhouse at the old Kimble Ranch near Fredericksburg on a cloudy and chilly evening. Yet her inner conscience wasn't seeing things the right way; she felt as if she was back in that varsity football locker room at Arlington High School nearly twenty years ago.
She had her eyes completely closed, still haunted by the flashback to that awful, awful day in her life.
JACK GAITHER:
Fi...it's alright hun. I'm here...I'm here...
The aura was quiet around the house as Fiona opened her eyes. She didn't see the image of former bully Russell Janeway opening his fly or pulling out his switchblade; she saw her husband standing over her, calmly intoning that things were going to be okay.
JACK:
It's gonna be alright. Russell Janeway ain't on this planet no more, so he will never, ever bother you again.
Her trembling subsided, and she stood up to embrace him tightly.
Fiona's near-rape was one of several flashbacks she has had over the past few years of her life. It pained Jack to see his wife having these kinds of dreams on a regular basis, even though he had known her family's spiritual and religious background and, thus, was aware that demons truly existed.
The couple sat down together at the dining room table, and Fiona watched as Jack thumbed through his mother's old book of secret recipes in order to prep a hearty meal.
JACK:
Sarah buzzed me while you were dozin'. Her aunt and uncle are on their way to drop her off here later in the evenin'.
Fiona sighed, then eked out a small smile of relief. It had been a week since Sarah got angry and swore at her, and she and Jack felt that the best way for their student to take some time to recuperate and refresh was to stay with her uncle Gary and aunt Betty. They were Baptist ministers at a small church in town, and they had a house not too far from the ranch.
Fiona nodded, noting that sometimes family was more important than wrestling.
FIONA:
Good...very good...I don't think she fully trusts us. She needed to be with her relatives...
Fiona paused, then took a deep breath. When she toured the old, abandoned house that she once shared with her mother, she had found herself pondering why Sarah did what she did. Sadly, McFly started to blame herself for not guiding the young pupil properly.
FIONA:
...and it's all me fault. It's all on me.
Jack shook his head as he sat down across from Fiona, listening to the sounds of Al Stewart's "Time Passages" playing from the iPhone's docking station.
"Time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight..."
JACK:
No hun, don't crucify yourself. If anything, the blame for Sarah bailin' out like that...it oughta fall on my lap.
Fiona nodded her head slightly, wanting to listen to what her husband had to say.
JACK:
While she was gone, I was doin' some thinkin' of my own. I haven't exactly been a good guy for ya, always puttin' ya down for your drivin' and all that. People ain't takin' YOU seriously these days, and it ain't 'cuz of you. It's 'cuz of me...I'm the one who's made ya look really, really bad. And...
Jack paused, his visage at a regretful frown.
JACK:
...I love ya too much to be bringin' ya down like that...and I know that hurts you more than anything else. It ain't right...and I'm sorry.
Fiona sighed, then allowed her smile to grow wider and wider. Deep down, she always loved Jack for his honesty, and to see him be at his most sincere moment brought a feeling of warmth to her heart.
They both gazed down at a small framed photograph of the pair whilst they were in high school, realising just how far they've come over the years.
JACK:
I'm gonna tell ya somethin' that...I don't think you've ever heard me say. I loved you since that first day we met, since you bumped into me and spilled my soda in the cafeteria. I was embarrassed, people were laughin' at me. Yet you had this joy, you had this sense of politeness that a lot of teachers loved, but God...you were a much braver gal than what most folks thought. At that moment in time, that you were gonna be in my heart forever and ever, and had I sat there and did nothin', had I let Russell Janeway do what he was gonna do to ya in that locker room...I woulda lost more than you. I woulda lost my very soul.
They both exchanged glances at each other as the radio now started playing Elvis Presley's classic ballad "Can't Help Falling In Love". It might have been an older song, but for Jack and Fiona...it was a poignant reminder of how their friendship blossomed throughout high school and reignited after the latter had left Wisconsin.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you..."
JACK:
Later on, when I retired from wrestlin'...I did so 'cuz I wanted to see YOU succeed. I didn't wanna care about my own career no more 'cuz I wanted you to shine, c'uz I knew from the bottom of my heart...you gave me a life, and it was time for me to give back. Now I understand that you want to see Sarah shine and earn respect for herself and from others too, and I want to see te same thing as well. But now...
Jack started to tremble, and his lips began to quiver. He didn't want to give his wife any more bad news, especially when the latter had just been through a nightmarish flashback.
Yet deep in his soul, especially considering that it was almost Christmas, he had to tell the truth, a very terrible truth.
JACK:
...I dunno if I'm gonna live long enough to see ya be champ, or to see Sarah grow into a lovely adult woman.
Fiona slumped back, her spirit starting to fade away as she wondered why he was saying that. And at that point...her husband produced a very official-looking document from the office of his neurologist.
JACK:
I got this stuff in the mail today, the results from my latest CT test at Dr. Crusher's office from two months ago...and it's about them no-no's in my head that forced me to retire. They were tumors...and I had three o them sumbitches. The first two, accordin' to the 'zults, are gone. I don't have to worry 'bout those.
FIONA:
The third?
JACK:
The third, the biggest one in my cerebellum, not so much. In fact...she's sayin' that it's not gonna be operable, and it's cancerous. Eventually it's gonna work its way down my back and...
Jack stopped speaking, watching as Fiona shook for a few moments in her chair. The song kept on playing as the Northern Irishwoman's spiritual essence, the very core of her own being, had been shattered in front of his eyes. Jack didn't know how long he would last, but he wanted to try and comfort the one he loved in the best way he could.
Fiona looked into the man's eyes and whispered something that only he could understand.
FIONA:
I...I love you...
"Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you..."
~TO BE CONTINUED~
"In Which Fiona Learns A Terrible Truth..."
6 December 2017 + 1700 GMT
In the present day...
Fiona McFly cowered behind the couch, unsure of where she was in her mind.
Physically, she found herself in the familiar surroundings that was the farmhouse at the old Kimble Ranch near Fredericksburg on a cloudy and chilly evening. Yet her inner conscience wasn't seeing things the right way; she felt as if she was back in that varsity football locker room at Arlington High School nearly twenty years ago.
She had her eyes completely closed, still haunted by the flashback to that awful, awful day in her life.
JACK GAITHER:
Fi...it's alright hun. I'm here...I'm here...
The aura was quiet around the house as Fiona opened her eyes. She didn't see the image of former bully Russell Janeway opening his fly or pulling out his switchblade; she saw her husband standing over her, calmly intoning that things were going to be okay.
JACK:
It's gonna be alright. Russell Janeway ain't on this planet no more, so he will never, ever bother you again.
Her trembling subsided, and she stood up to embrace him tightly.
Fiona's near-rape was one of several flashbacks she has had over the past few years of her life. It pained Jack to see his wife having these kinds of dreams on a regular basis, even though he had known her family's spiritual and religious background and, thus, was aware that demons truly existed.
The couple sat down together at the dining room table, and Fiona watched as Jack thumbed through his mother's old book of secret recipes in order to prep a hearty meal.
JACK:
Sarah buzzed me while you were dozin'. Her aunt and uncle are on their way to drop her off here later in the evenin'.
Fiona sighed, then eked out a small smile of relief. It had been a week since Sarah got angry and swore at her, and she and Jack felt that the best way for their student to take some time to recuperate and refresh was to stay with her uncle Gary and aunt Betty. They were Baptist ministers at a small church in town, and they had a house not too far from the ranch.
Fiona nodded, noting that sometimes family was more important than wrestling.
FIONA:
Good...very good...I don't think she fully trusts us. She needed to be with her relatives...
Fiona paused, then took a deep breath. When she toured the old, abandoned house that she once shared with her mother, she had found herself pondering why Sarah did what she did. Sadly, McFly started to blame herself for not guiding the young pupil properly.
FIONA:
...and it's all me fault. It's all on me.
Jack shook his head as he sat down across from Fiona, listening to the sounds of Al Stewart's "Time Passages" playing from the iPhone's docking station.
"Time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight..."
JACK:
No hun, don't crucify yourself. If anything, the blame for Sarah bailin' out like that...it oughta fall on my lap.
Fiona nodded her head slightly, wanting to listen to what her husband had to say.
JACK:
While she was gone, I was doin' some thinkin' of my own. I haven't exactly been a good guy for ya, always puttin' ya down for your drivin' and all that. People ain't takin' YOU seriously these days, and it ain't 'cuz of you. It's 'cuz of me...I'm the one who's made ya look really, really bad. And...
Jack paused, his visage at a regretful frown.
JACK:
...I love ya too much to be bringin' ya down like that...and I know that hurts you more than anything else. It ain't right...and I'm sorry.
Fiona sighed, then allowed her smile to grow wider and wider. Deep down, she always loved Jack for his honesty, and to see him be at his most sincere moment brought a feeling of warmth to her heart.
They both gazed down at a small framed photograph of the pair whilst they were in high school, realising just how far they've come over the years.
JACK:
I'm gonna tell ya somethin' that...I don't think you've ever heard me say. I loved you since that first day we met, since you bumped into me and spilled my soda in the cafeteria. I was embarrassed, people were laughin' at me. Yet you had this joy, you had this sense of politeness that a lot of teachers loved, but God...you were a much braver gal than what most folks thought. At that moment in time, that you were gonna be in my heart forever and ever, and had I sat there and did nothin', had I let Russell Janeway do what he was gonna do to ya in that locker room...I woulda lost more than you. I woulda lost my very soul.
They both exchanged glances at each other as the radio now started playing Elvis Presley's classic ballad "Can't Help Falling In Love". It might have been an older song, but for Jack and Fiona...it was a poignant reminder of how their friendship blossomed throughout high school and reignited after the latter had left Wisconsin.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you..."
JACK:
Later on, when I retired from wrestlin'...I did so 'cuz I wanted to see YOU succeed. I didn't wanna care about my own career no more 'cuz I wanted you to shine, c'uz I knew from the bottom of my heart...you gave me a life, and it was time for me to give back. Now I understand that you want to see Sarah shine and earn respect for herself and from others too, and I want to see te same thing as well. But now...
Jack started to tremble, and his lips began to quiver. He didn't want to give his wife any more bad news, especially when the latter had just been through a nightmarish flashback.
Yet deep in his soul, especially considering that it was almost Christmas, he had to tell the truth, a very terrible truth.
JACK:
...I dunno if I'm gonna live long enough to see ya be champ, or to see Sarah grow into a lovely adult woman.
Fiona slumped back, her spirit starting to fade away as she wondered why he was saying that. And at that point...her husband produced a very official-looking document from the office of his neurologist.
JACK:
I got this stuff in the mail today, the results from my latest CT test at Dr. Crusher's office from two months ago...and it's about them no-no's in my head that forced me to retire. They were tumors...and I had three o them sumbitches. The first two, accordin' to the 'zults, are gone. I don't have to worry 'bout those.
FIONA:
The third?
JACK:
The third, the biggest one in my cerebellum, not so much. In fact...she's sayin' that it's not gonna be operable, and it's cancerous. Eventually it's gonna work its way down my back and...
Jack stopped speaking, watching as Fiona shook for a few moments in her chair. The song kept on playing as the Northern Irishwoman's spiritual essence, the very core of her own being, had been shattered in front of his eyes. Jack didn't know how long he would last, but he wanted to try and comfort the one he loved in the best way he could.
Fiona looked into the man's eyes and whispered something that only he could understand.
FIONA:
I...I love you...
"Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you..."
~TO BE CONTINUED~
Well howdy there pardner.