^^Ah come on now, there are a lot of talented writers on this board. There are some who surpass my fic wholeheartedly.
Unexpected
Hospital room, next morning
Speed: *walks in*
Lori: *looks at Speed*
Speed: I see you're doing alright.
Lori: ...What did the doctor tell you?
Speed: Uh, that you're okay.
Lori: Any specifics?
Speed: No.
Lori: So why did you wait so long to see me?
Speed: We had to take Cait home, and make sure she got to sleep. You know, because she needs to have a responsible adult take care of her.
Lori: *nods*
Speed: So I hear the plane went down.
Lori: Yeah. Something about stress in the bulkheads. Must have been faulty.
Speed: Was your mother on the plane?
Lori: *shakes head* She took an earlier flight.
Speed: *sits down*
Lori: ...
Speed: Is there anything you want to tell me?
Lori: About what?
Speed: Well you didn't even call to say goodbye.
Lori: I guess I just needed to get out of there.
Speed: ...So you just decided to leave. Didn't you have friends at school, or...A boyfriend?
Lori: Boyfriend?
Speed: Yeah. That Logan guy.
Lori: *frowns*
Speed: You're not friends with him?
Lori: I haven't spoken to him for a while.
Speed: Why?
Lori: I don't know, I haven't really had the chance.
Speed: Have you spoken to your other friends?
Lori: No.
Speed: So you've been avoiding everyone.
Lori: I guess I just haven't had a lot of time to talk to anyone.
Speed: Where have you been?
Lori: Why are you interrogating me?
Speed: I'm not. They're just some questions.
Lori: Look, I don't really want to talk to you right now.
Speed: Why.
Lori: I don't need to give a reason.
Speed: Why are you getting so defensive?
Lori: Get out.
Speed: Lor-
Lori: GET OUT!
Speed: ...Lori, if you need to ever tell me anything, you know I'll listen.
Lori: *throws bedpan at Speed* GET OUT OF MY ROOM! GET OUT!
Speed: ...Alright. *stands, leaves*
Lori: *crosses arms*
Hall
Anni: What was that about?
Speed: I don't know.
Anni: Is she okay? What did you ask?
Speed: Nothing. She obviously doesn't want to see me.
Anni: Did you confront her about the baby thing?
Speed: No, I didn't.
Anni: Let me go talk to her.
Speed: *sigh* Well I have to get back to work anyway, so go ahead. I'll see you later.
Anni: Okay.
Speed: *leaves*
Hospital room
Anni: *smiles* Hey.
Lori: *frowning*
Anni: Your dad just left, he had to go back to work. I thought I'd see how you're doing.
Lori: I'm fine.
Anni: I'm sure you are. *sits* I spoke to the doctor.
Lori: *shakes head*
Anni: I know about the baby.
Lori: *wipes eyes* D-does my dad know?
Anni: ...Yeah, he does.
Lori: Oh great, I'm dead.
Anni: No, honey you're not. He was just trying to make sure you're okay.
Lori: Why didn't he just say he knew?
Anni: He wants you to be open with him.
Lori: About that? I don't think so. He doesn't need to know every detail about my life. It's why I wanted to move with mom to Paris. She understands.
Anni: Understands what?
Lori: ...What I want to do.
Anni: ...And what exactly do you want to do?
Lori: *looks away*
Anni: You want to terminate the pregnancy.
Lori: It was a mistake.
Anni: Who's the father?
Lori: No one important.
Anni: Does Katie support this?
Lori: She supports
me, is that good enough?
Anni: Yeah.
Lori: I suppose you think I'm being irrational and murderous.
Anni: No. No, I think you made a decision and you're sticking to it.
Lori: *nods*
Anni: Why won't you tell your father?
Lori: Mom told me what happened to her when she told him, and...I...I don't want him to hate me.
Anni: *sigh* He doesn't hate you, and he never will.
Lori: How do you know?
Anni: He's not the same man he was back then.
Lori: ...I'm scared to tell him.
Anni: Would you like me to tell him?
Lori: *nods*
Anni: Okay. I'll call you when I'm finished. *stands*
Lori: Anni.
Anni: Yeah?
Lori: Thanks.
Anni: No problem. *leaves*
Lounge
Missy: ...Where is everyone?
JC: Probably on some cool trip. Man we're always left out. This sucks.
Missy: Well maybe they forgot us.
JC: That's even worse.
Missy: I'm sure they're all around here somewhere.
JC: I haven't seen anyone. And no one tells us anything. What if they died in some huge explosion or something? We'll be stuck here for eternity.
Missy: Unless we go outside.
JC: I say we have a road trip of our own. Just you and me.
Missy: But I get carsick.
JC: You never did in the Hummerhome.
Missy: It's not a car.
JC: ...
Missy: ...
JC: Come on, we're leaving.
Missy: Where?
JC: I don't know. Wherever the road takes us.
Missy: It better not take us into a dingey part of town because I'm too pretty to be beaten up and mugged.
JC: *sigh* Dang, my whole plan is screwed.
Missy: What?
JC: Nothing, come on.
Trace Lab, two hours later
Anni: Hey Tim.
Speed: Hey.
Anni: Have the feds got any leads on Bradford?
Speed: None. And Carly's still in the wind.
Anni: She's strong, I'm sure she'll make it. I think we should be doing more though, but that's just me.
Speed: Yeah she is strong.
Anni: Speaking of strong women, I was talking to Lori.
Speed: You settle her down?
Anni: She's a woman, not a horse.
Speed: *nods*
Anni: She told me about why she was moving to Paris.
Speed: Why?
Anni: ...Because Katie supports her decision.
Speed: ...Decision for what?
Anni: You don't usually kill the messenger, right?
Speed: Just spill it and we'll see.
Anni: She's terminating the pregnancy.
Speed: *stares at Anni*
Anni: ...
Speed: ...
Anni: Are you mad?
Speed: *frowning* Why didn't she tell me herself.
Anni: She's scared.
Speed: Scared of what?
Anni: You.
Speed: ...Me.
Anni: Well Katie told her about how you went off on her about the same thing years ago.
Speed: Yeah, I was young and stupid. I didn't respect Katie as much as I should have back then. I was an ass and I was selfish.
Anni: And now?
Speed: It's Lori's decision, not mine.
Anni: How do you feel about it though?
Speed: Well I'm not about to skip around the lab like a ray of sunshine if that's what you're asking.
Anni: So you're mad.
Speed: She's my daughter, and I love her. I respect her decision.
Anni: ...So you're not going to go around calling her a murderer and never look at her again.
Speed: Like I said, I was young and stupid back then.
Anni: Still, after all these years...Your values shouldn't change.
Speed: They haven't. But the way I see life has. I'm not about to disown my daughter because she made a mistake and wants to rectify it. The means might not be what I agree with, but I won't stop loving her because of it.
Anni: That's really sweet.
Speed: Yeah, Hallmark should have their own category for me.
Anni: *laughs*
Speed: I'm going to go visit her after work.
Anni: Oh you're not going to go lecture her about it are you? Because then the whole Kodak moment you just made would blow out the window.
TBC...................
