Trin stared at the wall blankly; her vision was too blurred for her to focus on anything really. Her glasses had vanished as far as she knew; she supposed that she was lucky to have just gotten away, even without her spectacles. She was not sure how she had gotten to the hospital bed that she was currently situated in, but she bet that it had something to do with her little sister. Kim had saved her life undoubtedly; she knew that from when she had first regained unconsciousness.
At first, the blonde thought that she was in Hell when she had first come to, but the place smelled much too sterile to be Hell. After all, why would Hell smell so clean? She then considered it was just the afterlife, but she changed her mind on that because she was certain that the afterlife did not include an IV.
So, she concluded that she must be alive. She wondered if she was going to get any visitors anytime soon. She had no doubt that her family was there, but they were probably arguing with the doctors to let them all go in the room at the same time, even though they were very aware that was against hospital protocol. She was very much correct.
The doctors were trying to tell the Possible family that everyone could not go in the room at one time, which they knew, but they did not care; hey, that was their daughter/sister in there and they wanted her to be aware that they were all there for her. They negotiated back and forth with Shin adding threats in when he felt it was necessary; hey, it was what he did in his off-time. It was agreed that the whole Possible family could go in together, but only for a few minutes. After that, people had to go in alone or in pairs, but no more than two at a time because the patient needed rest and minimum excitement.
“Hey, Trin,” Mrs. Possible greeted the blonde in a low voice as the whole family entered the room.
“Hey, Mom. You guys here to spring me?” Trin tried to make it sound like she was joking, but she seriously hoped that they were there to get her out of the hospital. She felt like such an idiot for ending up in the place to begin with; she knew that Shin would use her injury against her to make fun of her for years to come. She could hear him already boasting about how he was not the one that got shot that time; she might have to shoot him to level the playing field.
“Not yet I’m afraid,” Mrs. Possible replied to her daughter’s hope of leaving.
“Come on, we’re all really smart. We can think of a way to sneak me out of here and no one would have to know,” Trin commented.
“You know it’s best that you stay here. How are you feeling?” Mr. Possible asked. He wanted to touch her to assure himself that she was there and alive, but she looked so weak that he did not want to risk touching her in the slightest. She was so pale, more so than usual and her eyes were drooping, as if she was exhausted.
“Great, but I’m going to chalk that feeling up to the painkillers,” Trin answered. She did not know what they were giving her to make the pain go away, but it was working. It was working very well; she could understand how some people became addicted to painkillers with way that she was feeling.
“Trin, I’m so sorry!” Kim cried. She was ready throw herself on her sister and apologize for all eternity, but she doubted that Trin could support the weight at the moment. She supposed that she would have to wait a while before she could do such a thing.
“What are you sorry for? Aren’t you the reason I’m here?” the blonde asked in a slightly bemused tone.
“Exactly!”
“So, you’re sorry for getting me to the hospital in time?” Trin inquired in a bit of a confused tone. Either the painkillers were clouding her brain or her little sister was not making any sense.
“No, I’m sorry for getting you shot!”
“You didn’t get me shot,” the elder sister tried to assure the young hero.
“I did! You got shot trying to protect me,” Kim pointed out.
“So?”
“So, I’m sorry.”
“It’s hardly your fault. I was the one that acted, after all. I decided to jump in front of you. Besides, if it were you in this bed, we both know what I would have done to Prime,” the patient retorted.
Kim conceded right then and there. They did not need Trin killing anybody, even if he was a murderer. Global Justice might have even tried to arrest Trin if she had done such a thing. The cheerleader still wished that her sister was not in the hospital for taking a bullet that was meant for her.
“Do you have a scar?” Jim and Tim asked simultaneously to get the conversation away from whose fault it was. The important thing was that Trin was all right.
“I might have two. Apparently, the bullet hit my bottom rib and ricocheted back the way it came, so it exited close to where it entered. I was lucky on that note. Who knows what kind of damage that bullet could have done if it made it passed my rib. At least I got to see that the bandage Shin and I developed works. The doctors said that it brought me some very precious hours,” Trin reported.
“That is so cool,” the boys said in awe. They decided right then and there that Trin was definitely the “cool sister.” Being shot put her way ahead of Kim in the “cool sister” race, not that the sisters even knew there was a race.
“Speaking of Shin, he’s here too,” Mrs. Possible informed her daughter, even though she thought that Trin might have sensed the boy from the way they were connected.
“He drove? Oh, sweet lord, he made it all the way here in one piece driving by himself?” the blonde remarked.
“He did ruin his tire,” her mother replied.
“He’s such an idiot,” Trin said while feebly shaking her head.
“You scared him,” Kim pointed out.
“He should know better. I’m perfect,” Trin declared.
“My, my, my how perfection has fallen,” Shin commented as he and Tatsu entered the hospital room once the Possible family exited. He had a teasing smirk on his face; he had actually practiced the look before going into the room.
The blonde ignored her best friend and his taunting expression while putting her hand out for Tatsu. The mechanic immediately took her girl’s hand and held it tightly while making sure not to injure her further. Trin nearly sighed in contentment because of the contact, but she caught the sound in her throat. Shin was not affected by being ignored.
“What are you two wearing?” Trin inquired; her eyes focused just enough for a moment for her to vaguely see what the pair had on. Oh, she should be embarrassed to know and respect the duo for daring to exit their homes in the manner that they did. She brought them both such great clothes and, apparently, they did not even look at them if she was not around it would seem.
“They’re called clothes, oh-stuck-up one,” Shin answered, his chocolate-colored eyes betraying his tone. He was successfully sounding teasing and lighthearted, but his eyes were telling a different story.
“Baby, kill my twin,” the injured female requested. She respected the fact that she could tell her best friend was worried, but he did not want to express it. She could even return the favor and help show him that there was no longer a cause for alarm.
“That’s the drugs they’re giving her doing the talking, Tatsu,” Shin assured the mechanic, who did not really seem to be paying their words any mind.
Tatsu did not bother responding to either of them because she knew how they were. Besides, she was too choked up at the moment to talk. She felt so relieved that she doubted that she would be able to talk for a few minutes. She just wanted to revel in the fact that her lover was all right and that they were together. She desired to just remain touching her girl’s soft, deceptively delicate hand.
The mechanic’s life consisted of two things, working on cars and Trin. She knew that she could go on without working on cars if Trin was there with her, but she doubted that she could go on doing anything at all without Trin. She probably would not even be able to get out of bed if she ever lost the blonde. She had never thought about that, but the incident did make her think about it now. She never wanted to lose her lover; she wanted them to always be together.
“Well, Shin, I’ve got good news,” Trin announced.
“During the surgery they found your conscience and relieved you of it?” he guessed with a taunting smirk.
“I had a conscience?” she countered.
“I was merely asking. I hadn’t seen it and just assumed that it had gotten lost somewhere in there. It might have just run away with my conscience, though. So, what happened?” he asked.
“The bandage worked. Without it, you would have been attending my funeral in a few days. It helped start the healing process, slowed down the bleeding, and it helped my body function through a bad wound. Had the bullet just nicked me and given me a wound that usually at least required stitches, the bandage would have made that unnecessary,” the blonde reported.
Shin wanted to cheer, but he was in a hospital, so he controlled himself, which was quite a feat considering who he was. “Good, we can bag and sell the stupid thing and get started on something new. I had this idea—” he started to explain.
“Shin, I know your idea. If we don’t find the perfect mix the first time out the gate, we blow up,” she interjected.
“That would be the incentive to do it all right the first time,” he riposted.
“You’re such an idiot.” She could not believe he seriously wanted to try such a stupid idea and run such a moronic risk.
“Shrew.”
“Idiot.”
“Bitch.”
“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that,” she countered.
Shin smiled; he was confident that his evil twin was going to be just fine. It was good to know; he did not want her to change just from another traumatizing event in life, especially since he was so accustomed to her being the way that she was. He glanced at Tatsu for a quick second and decided to leave the two alone.
“I’ll let you two crazy love birds have a moment to yourselves. Just remember that this is a hospital, not a hotel,” he commented.
“Oh, shut up,” Trin said.
“You forget I live right next door to you and I know how you two behave. Screaming in Spanish doesn’t disguise it either,” he teased.
“At least we have the common courtesy to take it in the room. How many times have we come in to find you and some random guy on the floor,” she retorted.
“I could’ve always done it on your precious sofa.”
“You ever even think do something so foolish and I will gut you like a fish without remorse,” she promised him. “That sofa is worth more than ten of you.”
Shin lacked a proper comeback, so he decided that it was best to bow out; he could not resort to their usual tactics with her being in a hospital bed and critically injured. He took his leave to give the ladies some time alone; he figured that they deserved it after how distraught the mechanic had been while waiting for news on her lover. Tatsu leaned down and lightly kissed Trin’s hand. Trin turned a bit and reached out slowly for her lover. Tatsu stepped closer to allow Trin to hold onto her.
“Baby,” the blonde whispered.
“Yeah?” Tatsu said.
“Hold me,” Trin requested.
Tatsu nodded and she embraced Trin, even though she knew that she would not get a proper hug in return. She just knew that her blonde bombshell needed her and she would reassure her wounded girl that everything was all right. It was all right to be hurt, injured, and even afraid. It was even all right to cry if that was necessary. The odd thing was that Trin was not the one that began weeping, Tatsu was the one that did.
“Baby?” the blonde said.
“I don’t want to lose you ever,” Tatsu said to explain her tears.
“You won’t. I promise.”
“I was so scared. You scared me so much…”
“I was scared too,” Trin admitted.
“You gotta be more careful,” the mechanic scolded her lover.
“I will.”
“I hope so,” Tatsu said and she was about to lean down to kiss Trin, but the blonde stopped her. “What?” the mechanic asked.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth since I got here,” Trin commented.
Tatsu laughed a bit; she did not expect her girlfriend to even think to say something so silly after being so close to death. She leaned in and kissed Trin, deeply, passionately. Trin could tell that her girl thought that she was done for just from the feel of her kiss; she did not mean to distress the powder blue-eyed female as she did. She would have to be more careful.
“Do you think that maybe one of us should go home and get some things that Trin might want? Like her spare set of glasses,” Mrs. Possible suggested, speaking to her husband. She knew that Trin would not want the world that was four feet and closer to stay a blur if that could be helped.
“Sounds good. We should ask her what else she needs,” Mr. Possible concurred.
The parents turned around to go back into Trin’s room. Kim glanced over at Shin, as if asking if it was safe for her parents to go in the room since Trin and Tatsu were alone. He smiled and shrugged as an answer; he was such a troublemaker, especially since he knew how the two lovers were. Kim, having a vague idea of how Trin and Tatsu operated, turned to halt her parents from entering the room, but she was not quick enough. The parents gasped as soon as they went in the room, seeing their eldest daughter fervently embracing Tatsu. The couple pulled away from each other when they heard the noise from Trin’s parents.
“Busted,” Tatsu whispered against her lover’s lips.
“That isn’t funny,” Trin replied.
The blonde turned her attention to her absolutely shocked parents. She wished that she could run and hide now that they knew her secret. She was so scared of how they could react to knowing her sexual orientation. Deep down, she was aware that they would like to believe that she and Shin were a couple and just playing things off. If only such a thing could possibly be true, but it could not. Shin promised her that even if he was attracted to women, he would still never date her because she already acted like she was his wife; he often joked that she was probably the reason that he was gay.
“Trin…” both doctors muttered.
“Mom. Dad,” Trin replied.
“What are you…What were you…What the….” The parents could not even get out their questions because they did not know where to start. They were almost ready to consider that they had not seen what they knew they did see.
“Sis, everything all right in here?” Kim inquired while poking her head in the door. She had not heard any screaming or yelling, but she wanted to be sure that her sister had not been caught doing anything inappropriate.
“Not exactly, no,” the blonde answered.
“What a week,” Tatsu muttered. Before that week, three people knew about her relationship with Trin, now twice that many people knew, and she had never gone through the emotional trauma of almost losing a loved one like she just did. She hoped that nothing else big was going to happen that week because she was done for the moment and she doubted her girlfriend could handle anything else in her condition.
“Baby,” Trin said.
“A moment, I know,” Tatsu replied and she released her girl. She walked by the Possible family, who let her by with no problem. Even if they wanted to offer up resistance, which they did not want to do, they were too stunned to move anyway.
“Mom…Dad…I guess it is apparent that I’m a lesbian,” Trin commented, trying her best to make it sound as casual as humanly plausible, which she had a habit of doing with all news that she carried. Her parents seemed to be suffering from aphasia, so she decided to continue on until they found their voices. “I’ve been this way for about as long as I can remember. There are two reasons behind my being secretive,” the blonde stated.
“And they are?” Mrs. Possible inquired while her husband was still speechless. Mr. Possible was so shocked that his mouth was gaped open like a fish.
Trin chewed on her lip for a moment. Her heart rate accelerated because she was so nervous and actually frightened. She believed that she might need some more painkillers, especially by the end of her two reasons. Well, at least Kim would be able to gauge their reaction and see if it was best for her to stay in the closet.
Next time: Trin explains why she remained in the closet for so long. Not to mention, it’s the end.