Idioms...sayings understood by native speakers part eighty five

Katie sat quietly in her new bedroom. It was bright and cheery. Rose colored walls with rose petal curtains of blue, yellow, pink and red. A dark cherry wood nightstand stood beside her bed with a dark cherry wood dresser and vanity to match. The carpet? a pink rosy beige that seemed to blend the room into this pink girly world, all of which put Katie in a bad mood. She got up and wondered about the room...wondering just what era these people she was living with were from. She sat in front of the mirror stairing at the raven haired, green eyed girl wondering... with all that had happened, if it was all a dream or a nightmare.

A knock came to the door.

"Yes."

"Um, Katie, it is Millie. May I come in?"

"I guess, it is your house after all."

MIllie smiled at that. Typical. She opened the door while balancing a tray and entered.

"I just brought some fruit for you to snack on. I eat just before I go to sleep to keep my blood sugar from dropping."

"Oh."

MIllie placed the tray on the night stand.

"You did not eat much for supper tonight. I daresay that those two boys took you share. They ate like starving rabbits."

Katie smiled..remembering the banter that Larry and Joey kept up. It seemed rather natural.

"Yes. Those two are entertaining if nothing else."

Millie sat down on the edge of the bed. Looking at the lonely girl who had been obviously staring in the mirror.

"You remind me of when I was young."

"Really? Did you just lose your father? Did you just go through a major operation?"

"Ah, Katie. No. I lost my mother when I was born. She died. My brother and I lived. My father hated weaklings. Being a juvenile diabetic, I was worthless in his eyes. He wrote me off when I was born. My siblings had problems of their own, dealing with him. In a way, I was grateful for being ignored. They had it much harder than me. I remember the screams and the whippings. The escalation of the violence... it was all contained in a big house on the hill. When I went to school, the other kids would be envious of us. We huddled in isolation. Eight of us... wrapped into our own protective cocoon. It was quite a time."

Katie stared at the women staring at her in the mirror. She swallowed hard and said, "I am sorry. I did not mean..."

"Katie, this is your first night here. Tomorrow we will go visit your mother's grave. This is going to be hard on you. I feel that you are quite a strong girl, though. You had a mother and a father who loved you very much. That... all those memories that you have... that will help you."

Millie looked about the room.

"I hope you don't mind the furnishings. It came from my old room. I had them put in storage when I married Oscar. These things witnessed many a tragedy. I chose these cheery colors to give myself hope. But they are old indeed. Probably not the best for someone of your generation."

Katie turned. Looking at the woman who seemed to be lost in memories

"My dad... my dad told me that memories can be a good thing or a bad thing. But always make sure that you make room for new ones."

Katie got up and grabbed a piece of apple and sat down beside Millie.

"Everyone has scars... huh...."

"That's right, kiddo. Everyone has them. Some are better at hiding than others."

"I haven't had a mom in a long time."

"Well, I won't replace her. No one can. But," Millie smiled as she grabbed an apple to chew on. "I will be here for you as long as i am able."

Katie nodded.

"This room... I can live with it for a while. But I need to put my posters up.... and I will need a book shelf."

Millie smiled. "You are an artist right?"

The girl nodded.

"Then how about a mural when you get healed up completely. Right along this wall." She got up and pointed at a long wall of the room.

"Really? Dad would never let me do that. He was afraid I would over exert myself."

"It should be fine. I mean, really, do it a little at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day, kiddo."

"About that, I am not a kid."

Millie laughed. "Been there, done that. And yes, you are. But I will only call you that when we are alone. Kay?" She paused. "I have to get some shuteye and so do you. Oscar gave me strict orders to tell you to rest... But could you take the dishes to the kitchen when you're done. I mean after all, you are not a kid anymore. Right?"

Katie smiled and nodded.

"Miss Millie?"

"Yes."

"Thankyou."

"No problem, and you can call me Millie for now. Okay?"

---

Jerome sat up in his bed. He had to tell John of the plan to visit a cemetary in the morning... It would keep his mother in that hospital and taken care of. He hit the pillow. Oscar and Millie had always treated him so nice... almost like a son. That was what stuck in his craw... Who did they think they were... He had a mother. As far as a father, he did not need one. He laid back on his bed and thought and thought. Then he started to count sheep... He would have to up early and ready to go. After all, he would play the chauffeur in the morning... Oscar could have driven, but he wanted to concentrate on Millie, and her needs... and some new teen that had come into their lives. Rich people.... always looking for pets.... He rolled over and hit his pillow in frustration. Finally closing his eyes and falling asleep, he dreamt of a time when his mother was well....

---

Jenny woke with a start. Some one had pulled her hair. She lookied up and saw Lynn's eyes wide open. Her hand frantically reaching for something... which was Jenny's hair.

"Lynn, it's me. Jenny." She grabbed the girl's hand and held on to it, hitting the call light to the nurse.

----

Deshaun ran into the ER. He hailed a nurse.

"Please, my friend, he has been injured. It might be a really bad head injury."

The nurse apologized to the patient she was triaging, and the tech at the desk hit the phone. Three health care workers with a gurney headed out to the front of the ER doors, following Deshaun to the back of an old VW van. The doors opened and Rick was placed on the gurney, heading back into the ER.

"Is that neurosurgeon still here?"

"Sure. He is checking on Dr. Clark's barb ingestion victim. Tell him to come here quick. Tell CT to get ready."

As they got Rick into the shock room, the team cut his shirt and started two large bore IVs. Dr. Emmanuel Jennings walked calmly into the room and stared at the proceedings. He then went to the patient and examined him.

"Get the CT of the head. Call plastics to stitch up this lac. I think he just is suffering from a concussion, but we wil know more when the CT is finished."

Deshaun parked the car. The twins and Charlie walked into the ER of Lansing Memorial.

A cell phone went off. One of the nurses removed it from Rick's pants pocket.

"Hello?"

"Um, is this Rick Richardson's phone?"

"Yes. This is Mr. Richardson's phone."

"W Who are you?"

"Mr. Richardson has been in an.... accident, he is here in the ER."

"What ER?"

"Lansing Memorial."

"This is Jenny Lundstrom, P.R. representative for the hospital. I will be right there."

Jenny, stunned, looked at her phone and found NIce Guys number. She chose to text him, not sure if he would be able to pick up or not.

----

Carl lay in his old bed. Memories swirled, black and dark around in his head, as the revelations of what had happened to this family came to the light. Tears formed as he thought of his mother caught up in a family so twisted, so viciously bent, to create his Uncles.... Grandfather, it all came down to him... He caught his breath. Why was he so twisted? Just how long in the Matthews family history, had all of this been going on?

He heard his cell vibrate and took it off the bedside table.

"Rick is at Lansing in the ER. Lynn seems to be awake but we don't know if there is any residual damage. Where the hell are you?"

Carl stared at the phone for a long time, then quickly decided the right answer.

"In Hell."

to be continued.