As soon as Trixie entered the room, she saw quite the sight. Jozhir was by his brother’s bed, and next to him was a man. He was in his forties, but he was already sporting a few gray hairs in his black hair. His blue eyes looked sunken and dull, as if a bit lost. His skin was quite pale, and his skin was somewhat flabby. His white dress shirt was wrinkled and had year and half old stains embedded into it. His slacks were so dull they were more gray than black, and his shoes were extremely worn. This was Mr. Rampart, the father of Jozhir and his two siblings. He looked like he’d been through a warzone, but Trixie knew better- the man had been through a divorce not long ago, and not long after one of his children had entered a coma. That does things to a person. Trixie seemed to tense up as Jozhir turned her way. She could almost imagine him judging her, willing her to wither away into nothing before him. Of course, she knew that this was all in her head; after all, Jozhir didn’t know who she once was. Yet. However, when he saw her, all he did was raise an eyebrow, and then addressed her. “Oh? You’re one of Jos- er, Maestro’s anthro friends, right? Trixie, was it?” He stood, and offered a handshake. “Let me say thanks for telling me about Clyde’s condition.” Trixie hesitated, however. Jozhir looked concerned. “Something wrong?”
Trixie knew it would probably be best to tell him now, and she was about to when Mari came into the room, and cut her off. “Any change?”
Jozhir shook his head. “Even with my gadgets, I don’t think it would help him recover much faster. He’s still the same as he was yesterday.” He then turned to Trixie. “Say, would you like to sit near him for a bit? It might help.”
Trixie shook her head, and stuttered a little. “O-oh, Trixie’s sure that’s not necessary- He probably doesn’t want me here anyway. I’ll just-”
Mari seemed confused. “Hey, are you okay? You’re shaking.”
Trixie tried to calm down. “Trixie’s fine, really. She’ll be okay.”
Jozhir seemed to ponder something. He then realized something. “You were there when whatever happened to make him like this happened, weren’t you? What happened?”
Trixie gulped. He’d brought it up. She had been prepared to tell him, but now with the whole family here and their father looking a bit less unresponsive, she wasn’t so certain she could do this. But, she had decided to tell him, and she would stick to it. She sighed. “This has to do with who Trixie was before anthrofying. She was a man named Darrell Evenlor.”
Jozhir interrupted. “Wait a minute. Darrell? As in that guy with the tough exterior that tried pushing everyone away? The guy that hid his pain by hurting others? You were that guy?”
Trixie nodded. “Yes. But that’s not what’s important here. If you’ll let Trixie continue?” The others nodded and let her continue. “Back then, I wasn’t the most approachable of people. I drove many away through my violence, wishing for nothing but solitude. The main reason behind it all was that, deep down, I was suffering. I wanted to hide my pain from the world- by giving pain in return. But, I never once laid a hand on your brother. I just didn’t want to hurt somebody near to you because… Well, I had my reasons. However, after you guys left, he attacked me, blaming me for your departure. He wanted somebody to blame, somebody to take the fall, and he chose me. And, well… I fought back. There was a crowd, and the part of me that cared too much for the reputation I’d garnered strong-armed the part of me that wanted to just let him win into submission. I hit a bit too hard while using a smokescreen to disorient him, and he wobbled out into traffic, and got hit by a truck. I’d always blamed myself for him ending up like this- And who knows how many sleepless nights I had where I snuck out at night and came here, apologizing. I never wanted him to end up like this. Fighting back that time is something that I regret deeply, and wish I could take back.” At this point, Trixie was crying. She knew that they’d hate her- She’d landed Clyde here, after all. It was her fault.
Jozhir looked contemplative, his father looked understanding, but Mari was furious. She exploded at Trixie. “You rotten no-good cretin! I’ll rip you apart!”
However, Jozhir held her back. He chided her. “Look Mari. Don’t you see that she regrets what she did? She’s blaming herself for a random truck that just so happened to be driving too fast to stop in time! I say she doesn’t need you to make her feel even worse!”
That last part was said sharply, causing Mari to flinch. She couldn’t understand why he was defending her. However, before she could voice her confusion, Mr. Rampart spoke up. “Mari my dear, you must understand. Trixie told us all of this herself, and is probably expecting us to hate her. But, we must be better than that. We must reach out, and try and comfort her. After all, it’s not like she planned for him to be hit by that truck- that was just bad luck.”
Then, a new voice surprised them all. “You do know that that luck stuff is hogwash, right? It’s got no basis in fact!” The small group turned in surprise at the voice to see who had spoken. It was Cyde Rampart, who had just now woken up. His green eyes glistened a little as he spoke with mirth. He smiled. “Happy to see me, are you?”
Jozhir was flabbergasted. “But how? Your vitals were basically dormant not that long ago! How is this possible?”
Clyde brushed aside some of his ginger hair with his tan hand. “I had this crazy dream where some sort of chimera told me to wake up. And with a snap of his talon, I woke up just in time to hear Darrell’s story.” he then looked to the anthro, and sighed. “Look, I’m real sorry that I blamed you for everything. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you, considering how you seemed friendly enough with my brother before he left. I don’t blame you for what happened, really. I just got a bit too hotheaded is all. So really, stop blaming yourself. I certainly don’t. It’s my own fault that I ended up like this, not yours.”
Trixie’s tears stopped as she looked up. This was the man she’d landed in a coma for years, or at least that’s what her conscience had been telling her. But here he was, claiming it was his own fault, and apologizing to her. It baffled her mind. “You really forgive me? After the fight we had? You could have died!”
Clyde shook his head. “My family’s always been a bit sturdy. You can’t get rid of us easily.” He chuckled, causing the air to be filled with mirth. Trixie, for the first time in years, felt genuinely good about herself. It was a good day to be alive. She worked her illusions for the small audience she’d garnered, which warmed Mari up to her, if only a little bit. Trixie didn’t mind, though. She knew it might take some time, but she wouldn’t give up on being a new, friendlier person.