//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Recovery // Story: Violet Times // by Echo Breeze //------------------------------// Oak and I had just kissed for the first time since the operation that led to the arrest of one of the biggest cartel bosses in the country, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I suddenly remembered something. "Where are my parents?" I asked him. "I'm sure I heard them here with you." "They had to go. Big important business to settle before your return home." he replied. "Okay." I said in confusion. "By the way, Vi. Ah'm sorry mah recklessness resulted in you bein' hospitalised. It should be me in that bed, not you." Oak said, a somber tone in his voice. "Oak, babe. Look at me. I don't care that it was me instead of you. This was a far better outcome than me having to attend the funeral of my first boyfriend." I said, grabbing his hand in mine. "Ah know. Ah shouldn't have been so reckless though." he replied. "I know, but I still love you." I said, reaching over to kiss him. "Ah love ya too, darlin'." he said in reply after the kiss. Suddenly, his phone rang. "Hello. Yes Mrs. Enigma. Ya need a bigger venue than the apartment. Sure. Ah'll phone Mac and ask if we can use his barn. Alright. She's awake. Yeah. See ya soon." he ended the call. He turned to me. "Darlin'. Imma step out fer a bit. Ah'll be back soon." he said, gave me a kiss and headed out the room. I grabbed the remote control for the TV and started channel surfing. I eventually stopped on a movie channel that played the classics. The movie that was playing, resonated with what I had recently been through. I decided to rest my eyes for a bit and ended up falling asleep. Half an hour later, I was woken up by Oak. He was carrrying two take-out coffee mugs. He handed me one, and I gratefully accepted it. It was starting to get dark out, and I was worried that my parents would not make it back today. There was a stiff knock at the door, one that reminded me of a movie I once saw, so I knew it was someone that worked in law enforcement. "Come in, Agent Strike." I said. Agent Strike walked in after that and Oak looked at me in confusion. "I'll tell you later." I said to him "Well, I'm glad to see you're awake, Ms. Enigma." Agent Strike said. "Yeah. In pain, but awake. What can I do for you, Agent Strike." I asked. "Oh nothing much. Just here to give you some good news. Our insurance covered your surgery, and the lawyers for Mr. Solomon decided to rather settle instead of having your attempted murder on record. You now have half a million dollars in a savings account, waiting for your release from hospital. Her is the card and pin number. We have also fast tracked your license as far as it will go." he said, anding me two seperate envelopes. The first one contained a bank card with a pin, the other contained a motor vehicle license, with a paper that needed my signature. "Thank you." I said, tearing up a little. "I'm not finished. We have also applied for you to go for a firearm competency course. If you succeed, you will be licensed to carry a firearm. And you will also be going for an advanced driving course, courtesy of the FBI and DEA." he finished. "I don't know what to say." I said. "How about thanking the man." a voice said from the door. It was Doctor Task. "Thank you, Agent Strike." I said, wiping a tear from my eye. "It's my pleasure. You'll also be pleased to know that you have an even more guaranteed spot at Canterlot University in two years time. The DEA and FBI thank you for the support you gave yesterday." he said, handing me a pen to sign some forms. I signed the forms and handed them over to him. "Get well soon, Violet." he said as he turned to walk out. The doctor had finished examining me and turned to Oak and I. "You'll be pleased to know that you will be discharged this afternoon." Doctor Task said with a smile. "Thanks Doctor, for this and for helping my father." I said. "You are most welcome. Yours was only life threatening when you got here. You had stopped breathing twice in the ambulance on the way here, and twice more on the operating table. Once we got you breathingbat a steady pace, and the bullet hole stitched up, you were fine." Doctor Task said. "Still. Thank you. Can you let my parents know that I am fit to leave this afternoon and that Oak will be bringing me home?" I asked. "I will." Doctor Task said as he left. "Wow. Ya sure know how ta make light of a serious situation, don't ya." Oak said after the doctor had left. "You heard the doctor. Besides, I wanted to be alone with the cowboy I fell in love with, at least for a little while." I said, drawing him closer for another kiss. "Right, we're alone now, so tell me. How did ya know that it was Agent Strike?" he asked. "It's simple, really. It all depends on the strength of the knock, the speed and how many times they knock. If it's four times, fast, with a little too much strength, it usually means that a lawman is at the door." I said. Oak looked at me in confusion, then realisation hit him. "You can tell all that, jes from a knock?" he asked. "Yeah, pretty much." I said. __________________________________________ That afternoon, I was back in Oak's Firebird, heading home again. The doctor said I wasn't allowed to drive for at least another day or two, so I was stuck in the passenger seat. We took a slow drive, admiring the scenery on the way there. I told Oak to stop at a local restaurant, where we had some lunch, paid for by me. A few hours later, we were back on the road. Oak decided to take me to the mall. I didn't ask to go, but I enjoyed it. He took me to Stinky Bottom's Discount Hat Emporium, where I bought a genuine Stetson and some other items. When we got out the door of Stinky Bottom's, I put the Stetson on. "Ya really like that, don't ya." he asked as we got to the exit of the mall. "Yep. Sure do. Reminds me of a certain someone." I said, smiling at him. "Violet. Is that you?" a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Candy, Pear Butter, Bright Mac, Shiffon Swirl, Celestia and Luna. They came rushing over to us. I hugged them each in turn. "Cool hat, Vi." Bright Mac said. "Can it Mac. I bought it because I like it." I said, blushing. "Cool off, Vi. Ah'm not on yer case. It suits you." he replied with a chuckle. "You two owe us an explanation for missing school on Friday and not showing this morning, and why Violet was in the hospital." Luna said, her terse tone hiding the concern we all knew she felt. "Alright. How 'bout Blue Wendall's, my treat." I said, taking out my card. "Okay." Mac said, the others nodding in agreement. And we all set off for Blue Wendall's. __________________________________________ We got to Blue Wendall's and chose to sit at a booth near the back. "Let's order, and I'll explain everything." I said. The waiter came up to us. We looked up to see that it was none other than Sapphire. "Hey guys. What'll it be." she asked us. "We'll take three specials, two Blueberry Swirls, four Chocolate 'Shakes and two Cherry Apricot 'Shakes." I said. "Will that be all?" Sapphire asked. "Yes. That's it." I said, thw others nodding in agreement. She nodded and headed off. "Right. Let's start. I found out a month and a half ago that my parents were actually Federal agents. They were assigned to a case involving a major drug lord based in Cloudsdale. It's how the two of them met. The accident my father was in was actually a hit ordered by said drug lord. When we went to visit my father the day after the accident, they told us everything, even accepted Oak as part of the family, even though we had only been dating for a day." I said, starting to choke up with emotion for what I knew was coming. Oak held my hand comfortingly. He gave it a squeeze and I nodded. "Ah'll take it from here. Everything was fine for the month and a half, until yesterday. Ah was runnin' late 'cause I picked up a puncture the previous day. When Ah got ta her apartment building, she was bein' abducted. I gave chase, knowin' she was in danger." he said, not releasing my hand through the entire retelling. "Eventually, Vi managed ta break free from her bonds and got the madman who abducted her ta stop the van they were in. The cops got there just as they stopped and the man arrested. Later, we found out that the abduction was planned by the same people who ordered the hit on her father. She was used as a quote unquote victim in order to bust a drug lord that was operatin' out of a Candy factory here in Canterlot. The operation was a success, but came at a price. Vi was taken hostage as a means for the drug lord ta escape, but she used her head and got out of it. When she dug the switchblade into his leg, the howl of pain was anything but manly, and ah chuckled. He pointed a gun at me and asked ifn anything was funny. Ah froze and the shot was fired. When Ah looked again, Vi was hit." he finished the story. "So that's what happened." Candy said, to which Oak and I nodded. "Right. Let's change the subject. You ready for your sweet sixteen tomorrow?" Candy asked. "Yeah. Of course. I'm a liitle nervous, but mostly excited. Mother and father say that family from Cloudsdale are coming." I said. "I know, right. You only turn sixteen once." Candy said. "Just to be clear, Luna and I are invited, right?" Celestia asked. "Hell yeah. Wouldn't be the same without all my friends." I said. Sapphire came with our drinks, and we all paused to thank her and take a sip from our drinks. "While we're sharing grim pasts, I think it's about time we shared ours, right Tia." Luna said. "I suppose so. Right. Luna and I transferred from Crystal Prep. Our father was a wealthy owner of a major food conglomerate, but it all went to shit. He was indicted under charges of embezzlement. When I found that out, I basically disowned most of my family, including Luna. She took the news harder than I did though. She eventually became a total recluse. Only coming out at night, skipping school, and eventually…" she looked at Luna. Luna nodded for her to continue, reaching for her sleeve. "And eventually cutting and other self-destructive behaviours. When I found out, it was like a slap to the face. Here I was, ignoring my family, being a bitch towards my only sibling, and all the while, she was the most depressed. My mother divorced my father and we moved here. Luna and I have been in therapy ever since." Celestia told us. I had no idea that their past was so bad. I felt what they felt before. Having a father that lost his job and blamed himself for it, beating my mother and I on a regular basis. "I know how you guys feel. My father lost his job, blamed himself for it, got drunk regularly and beat my mother and I senseless on a regular basis." I lifted my sleeve, revealing multiple scars, some still angry and red. "I've been there. I felt useless, knowing that my mother was being beaten, and I was powerless to stop it." I said, causing everyone to gasp. Nobody knew about the cutting, not even my best friend, Candy. "Why'd ya never tell us, Vi." Pear Butter asked me, still shocked at the idea that I was so far down the road of depression. "I never saw reason to worry the only people who ever cared besides my mother." I said. "But I haven't done it since the accident. What my father said when he came to was the wake up call I needed." "What did he say?" Celestia asked "He said he was trying to go clean for my mother and I, and that if he didn't make it, I must take care of my mother." I said, trying to maintain my composure. Oak gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. He was there that night, so he knew what I was going through. Sapphire arrived at that moment with our food, and we all stopped talking to eat. __________________________________________ A couple hours later, I started feeling tired. Oak noticed and gave my hand a squeeze. I nodded. "Alright guys. It was nice catchin' up, but Vi is gettin' tired. I gotta get her home so she can rest fer tommorrow." Oak said. The others nodded in agreement. We called for the bill and Sapphire brought it. "Thanks, Sapphire." I said, pulling out the money I drawn from my account. I paid the bill and left a healthy tip for Sapphire. Oak grabbed my hand. I looked at him and smiled. "Are ya sure ya wanna tip a hundred?" he asked. "Yes, I'm sure." I said, closing the bill. I picked it up and we all walked to the front of the restaurant. I handed the bill to the cashier. She took out the hundred that I put in for Sapphire and put it in a tip jar with her name on it. "Thank you, for leaving her such a generous tip. She doesn't get a lot of customers, so anything helps." the manager said from behind us. "It's my pleasure." I said as we walked out. Oak's phone rang again, so he excused himself. A couple of minutes later, he was back. "We'll see you at the party tomorrow." "You bet." Celestia said, and everyone nodded in agreement. We said goodbye and Oak and I headed for the exit once more. We climbed into his Firebird and hit the road again. __________________________________________ We were sitting in the apartment, having an argument over what to buy Violet for her birthday. I wanted to buy her a car, and a fast one at that. My wife wanted to buy her jewellery. "Why don't we get both." I said, trying to end the argument. "Okay. I can live with that." my wife replied. "There's one problem. I don't know what kind of car she would like." I said. "Well, you could call Oak and see if he knows." my wife said. "Good idea." i replied and gave her a kiss. I then picked up the receiver and dialled his number. I had learned it quick over the last month and a half. "Hello." came the voice from the other side. "Hello, Oak." I said. "Howdy Mr. Enigma. What can Ah do fer ya?" Oak asked. "Well, I was wondering if you could help me. I'm gonna be buying Violet a car for her birthday, but have no idea what she would like." I said. "Well, that's easy. She loves high powered V8. She's madly in love with mah Firebird, but the retail on one of those is quite steep. Ah would suggest buyin' her somethin' like a 1967 Pontiac GTO or a 1969 Mustang Fastback." Oak replied. "Would it be possible to steal you for a few hours when you get here?" I asked him. "Sure thing. Vi needs rest now. We met up with some friends, but it may have been a little much fer her." he replied. "Okay. See you in a few." I said, ending the call. I turned to my wife. "We have a gameplan."