shiiki
in
shiikifics
FIC: Mishandled (Piper Reece, Gen)
Title: Mishandled
Author: shiiki
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Piper Reece, Gen
Fandom: Handle with Care (Jodi Picoult)
Word Count: 369
Summary: Piper learns what happened to Willow.
I got the news from Guy Booker, of all people.
'Good news,' he said over the phone. 'Well, not good, exactly, but beneficial to us. The O'Keefe girl just kicked the bucket -- in completely disease unrelated circumstances to boot, so --'
I hung up on him.
Willow, I thought, you can't be gone.
If she was gone, what had this whole lawsuit happened for?
My next thought: Oh, Charlotte.
+++
The three of them stood apart from the other mourners at the funeral: Sean's face obviously wet, even when seen from a distance; Amelia's blank as if she could not comprehend this terrible thing. And Charlotte. She seemed smaller with her shoulders hunched and her head hanging. Her arms were limp and awkward and slightly raised from her sides, as though missing the weight they were used to supporting.
I stayed until the casket had been lowered into the ground -- that beautiful, delicate girl lowered away, broken at last -- and the family were starting, mechanically, to receive condolences. I hesitated, watched them for a while, shaking the hands of several people in the line.
This is how I imagine my reception would have been:
Sean won't be able to meet my eyes and Amelia will be wary. But Charlotte will look straight at me, her gaze piercing as always, her face hard.
'Piper,' she will say.
'I'm sorry,' I'll tell her. My arms will open then, of their own accord, and it will crack the stiff wards of protection she has woven about her. We will hold each other and cry for our loss, because I loved Willow, too.
And I loved her.
In the end I walk away. If everything that had happened between us were as simple as a row over Willow, this breach might be easier healed. I could have understood.
But the cracks in our friendship formed along fault lines which had been growing from long before they exploded into being. It did not matter that I would have done all I could to ease her burden; in the end all she'd cared about was that I did not have it. Bitterness is a weed that can't be stopped. Eventually it has to consume something.
Author: shiiki
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Piper Reece, Gen
Fandom: Handle with Care (Jodi Picoult)
Word Count: 369
Summary: Piper learns what happened to Willow.
I got the news from Guy Booker, of all people.
'Good news,' he said over the phone. 'Well, not good, exactly, but beneficial to us. The O'Keefe girl just kicked the bucket -- in completely disease unrelated circumstances to boot, so --'
I hung up on him.
Willow, I thought, you can't be gone.
If she was gone, what had this whole lawsuit happened for?
My next thought: Oh, Charlotte.
+++
The three of them stood apart from the other mourners at the funeral: Sean's face obviously wet, even when seen from a distance; Amelia's blank as if she could not comprehend this terrible thing. And Charlotte. She seemed smaller with her shoulders hunched and her head hanging. Her arms were limp and awkward and slightly raised from her sides, as though missing the weight they were used to supporting.
I stayed until the casket had been lowered into the ground -- that beautiful, delicate girl lowered away, broken at last -- and the family were starting, mechanically, to receive condolences. I hesitated, watched them for a while, shaking the hands of several people in the line.
This is how I imagine my reception would have been:
Sean won't be able to meet my eyes and Amelia will be wary. But Charlotte will look straight at me, her gaze piercing as always, her face hard.
'Piper,' she will say.
'I'm sorry,' I'll tell her. My arms will open then, of their own accord, and it will crack the stiff wards of protection she has woven about her. We will hold each other and cry for our loss, because I loved Willow, too.
And I loved her.
In the end I walk away. If everything that had happened between us were as simple as a row over Willow, this breach might be easier healed. I could have understood.
But the cracks in our friendship formed along fault lines which had been growing from long before they exploded into being. It did not matter that I would have done all I could to ease her burden; in the end all she'd cared about was that I did not have it. Bitterness is a weed that can't be stopped. Eventually it has to consume something.