For muse_shuffle - August
12. Don’t say morning’s come // don’t say it’s up to me
(Tori Amos - ‘Sugar’)
“What’s going on between you and Riley?”
With one question Beth was reminded just why bring her mother along to the real estate agent had been a bad idea. She loved her Mum, but she didn’t need a question like that. Not while she was so desperately trying not to just blurt out ‘Riley might be HIV positive, but I still want to jump him!’. She rubbed at her forehead as she looked away, and willed her agent to come back.
“Nothing, Mum. We’re back together, I told you that.”
She could feel Alice bore a hole in the back of her head as her mother tried to analyse her every move and the tone of her voice, and probably the way her hair was done. “You’ve nay said a thing about what’s been going on in Princeton besides all the tragedy Lachlan and his lass are going through. It’s all very sad, but you’re our daughter. We care about what you’re going through. Are you eating okay? Do you have a place to live? Have you even got a job, yet?”
“Aye, I’m eating fine. I’m living with Riley, and I’ve had a few interviews. I’m waiting to hear.” Beth shifted in her seat and crossed her legs over. Had she really been avoiding talking about herself? It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to giving weekly reports to her parents about everything that was going on, so what had changed?
Riley’s needlestick.
That’s what had changed. For a couple of months her entire life had been nothing but worrying about Riley, and trying not to seem like she was abandoning him if she just got on with her life while he waited for his results. She’d inadvertently slipped into the role of carer, and not girlfriend. Sure there’d been kissing, and phone sex, and even some real sex, but if she stopped to think about it she’d felt guilty after each and every personal moment.
She’d felt guilty ever since she’d set foot in Princeton. She’d gone to win back the man she loved, but didn’t think she’d really had a right to. And then he’d been attacked by that crazy patient and everything had been tipped on its head.
“Beth?”
“Mm?”
“I dinnae know what’s gotten into you lately, pet, but talking to you is like talking to a brick wall sometimes.”
“I’m sorry, Mum. I dinnae mean to be rude. I was just thinking.” Beth finally looked at her Mum and offered her a smile.
“About what? This is what I’m trying to get at. We want to know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I’ve just spent the last three months being very stupid. How’s that?”
“You’ve nay been stupid, just very isolated.”
Beth arched an eyebrow and shrugged. “Could be the same thing. I havenae been a very good girlfriend to Riley. I willnae say he shouldnae have taken me back, but I cannae say I’ve given him much reason to. I’ve been so worried about him, I’ve forgotten how to take care of myself.”
Alice leaned forward, and dropped her voice a little. “Why have you been worried about him, love? What’s happened?”
Beth looked at her mother and frowned deeply. She’d been so worried about telling her parents about the needlestick, and leaving it up to Riley himself to tell them, that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she needed to talk about it. She had to get everything she was feeling off her chest to someone who wasn’t Lachlan, or Tara, or even Pat. “He got hurt by a patient. It isnae simple, though. The patient stabbed him with a needle. He could be… He’s still waiting for some test results. It hasnae been an easy time for him.”
Her mother looked at Beth, still searching her daughter’s face for some answer as to what was going on. “When did this happen?”
“A couple of weeks after I arrived.”
“What kind of tests could they be doing that takes so long? I thought medicine these days was pretty quick.”
“HIV,” Beth murmured. She glanced around the real estate office, now looking to see that the agent wasn’t returning.
“HI-Oh God.” Her Mum raised her hand to her both, followed by a silent prayer and crossing herself. “That’s awful. Does he have it?”
Beth shrugged. “I cannae answer that, Mum. No one will know until the tests come back.”
“Oh, that poor lad. I cannae imagine what he must be going through. And you!” The older Anderson woman glared at her daughter, tucking her graying locks behind her ears. “You, Beth Christina Anderson, you’ve had to watch him go through all this, and nay said a word about it?”
Beth gave a shake of her head. “It’s nay that bad, it wasnae me who got stabbed.”
“Oh, hush. I cannae believe you sometimes. Always willing to suffer in silence rather than speak up. It’s a wonder you ever got with that poor boy in the first place. I’m sure it wasnae you that first asked him out.”
“Mum!”
Beth Anderson
Original Character
Words: 846
pullmysteth, drcampbell referenced with permission
(Tori Amos - ‘Sugar’)
“What’s going on between you and Riley?”
With one question Beth was reminded just why bring her mother along to the real estate agent had been a bad idea. She loved her Mum, but she didn’t need a question like that. Not while she was so desperately trying not to just blurt out ‘Riley might be HIV positive, but I still want to jump him!’. She rubbed at her forehead as she looked away, and willed her agent to come back.
“Nothing, Mum. We’re back together, I told you that.”
She could feel Alice bore a hole in the back of her head as her mother tried to analyse her every move and the tone of her voice, and probably the way her hair was done. “You’ve nay said a thing about what’s been going on in Princeton besides all the tragedy Lachlan and his lass are going through. It’s all very sad, but you’re our daughter. We care about what you’re going through. Are you eating okay? Do you have a place to live? Have you even got a job, yet?”
“Aye, I’m eating fine. I’m living with Riley, and I’ve had a few interviews. I’m waiting to hear.” Beth shifted in her seat and crossed her legs over. Had she really been avoiding talking about herself? It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to giving weekly reports to her parents about everything that was going on, so what had changed?
Riley’s needlestick.
That’s what had changed. For a couple of months her entire life had been nothing but worrying about Riley, and trying not to seem like she was abandoning him if she just got on with her life while he waited for his results. She’d inadvertently slipped into the role of carer, and not girlfriend. Sure there’d been kissing, and phone sex, and even some real sex, but if she stopped to think about it she’d felt guilty after each and every personal moment.
She’d felt guilty ever since she’d set foot in Princeton. She’d gone to win back the man she loved, but didn’t think she’d really had a right to. And then he’d been attacked by that crazy patient and everything had been tipped on its head.
“Beth?”
“Mm?”
“I dinnae know what’s gotten into you lately, pet, but talking to you is like talking to a brick wall sometimes.”
“I’m sorry, Mum. I dinnae mean to be rude. I was just thinking.” Beth finally looked at her Mum and offered her a smile.
“About what? This is what I’m trying to get at. We want to know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I’ve just spent the last three months being very stupid. How’s that?”
“You’ve nay been stupid, just very isolated.”
Beth arched an eyebrow and shrugged. “Could be the same thing. I havenae been a very good girlfriend to Riley. I willnae say he shouldnae have taken me back, but I cannae say I’ve given him much reason to. I’ve been so worried about him, I’ve forgotten how to take care of myself.”
Alice leaned forward, and dropped her voice a little. “Why have you been worried about him, love? What’s happened?”
Beth looked at her mother and frowned deeply. She’d been so worried about telling her parents about the needlestick, and leaving it up to Riley himself to tell them, that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she needed to talk about it. She had to get everything she was feeling off her chest to someone who wasn’t Lachlan, or Tara, or even Pat. “He got hurt by a patient. It isnae simple, though. The patient stabbed him with a needle. He could be… He’s still waiting for some test results. It hasnae been an easy time for him.”
Her mother looked at Beth, still searching her daughter’s face for some answer as to what was going on. “When did this happen?”
“A couple of weeks after I arrived.”
“What kind of tests could they be doing that takes so long? I thought medicine these days was pretty quick.”
“HIV,” Beth murmured. She glanced around the real estate office, now looking to see that the agent wasn’t returning.
“HI-Oh God.” Her Mum raised her hand to her both, followed by a silent prayer and crossing herself. “That’s awful. Does he have it?”
Beth shrugged. “I cannae answer that, Mum. No one will know until the tests come back.”
“Oh, that poor lad. I cannae imagine what he must be going through. And you!” The older Anderson woman glared at her daughter, tucking her graying locks behind her ears. “You, Beth Christina Anderson, you’ve had to watch him go through all this, and nay said a word about it?”
Beth gave a shake of her head. “It’s nay that bad, it wasnae me who got stabbed.”
“Oh, hush. I cannae believe you sometimes. Always willing to suffer in silence rather than speak up. It’s a wonder you ever got with that poor boy in the first place. I’m sure it wasnae you that first asked him out.”
“Mum!”
Beth Anderson
Original Character
Words: 846
pullmysteth, drcampbell referenced with permission