KING'S BAY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
"The apartment is all yours if you
want it -- I'm leaving King's Bay."
This was the last thing
Brent expected
to hear, and the shock registers on his face. He had thought that
Andy's
news would be good news, too: That he had made progress in separating
Katherine from
Nick, or that his relationship with
Maggie had taken a positive turn.
But this?
"Why?" Brent manages, needing some
more information to work with before he can really react.
"My mother," Andy says with a note
of sadness. "What else?"
Brent is about to inquire about what
happened now when Andy adds, "Actually, that's not completely true. I'm
not leaving solely because of my mother. But she was the one to give me
the extra push I needed to realize that I need to make some significant
changes in my life."
"What kind of 'extra push' did she
give you?"
Andy's attention falls down towards
the floor. "A rough one. I--After my talk with
Danielle, I was inspired
to go see my mother and take her away from Nick no matter what it required.
It was late when I got there and I must have woken them up."
He sighs, reliving the scenario as
he relays it to Brent. His body grows tenser as he leads up to the moment
of devastation. "Nick answered the door and basically slammed it in my
face. I was standing in the driveway, trying to figure out what to do next,
when I heard my mother coming downstairs through an open window. Nick told
her that it was me at the door and said that I'd mentioned Danielle --
and she lost it. She began ranting and raving."
"That's no surprise," Brent says,
his confusion apparent. "We all know she's not exactly fond of Danielle."
"It's not the fact that she was so
disturbed -- it's what made her that way."
Brent shoots him a questioning look.
"Obviously she didn't realize that
I could hear her. She began shouting about how she thought she had arranged
for Danielle to be kept away from King's Bay forever."
His brow creased with confusion,
Brent says, "Danielle left because of what happened between the two of
you, not because of your mother. She's not trying to take credit for all
of that, too, is she?"
"I didn't understand what she meant,
either, so I began pounding on the door. When I managed to get inside I
demanded to know what she was talking about."
"And ... ?"
"She didn't even try to pretend that
I'd misheard her," Andy says. "Apparently, after Danielle decided to stay
in San Diego, my mother contacted that woman from the record company and
bribed her into offering Danielle a spot on that tour."
Brent's reaction is swift: The wind
has been knocked out of him. "That's ... that's horrible."
"I know. She was proud of it, too.
She claimed that Danielle was the one who changed me from her loving son
into a bitter man bent on destroying my own mother's happiness." Andy shakes
his head, disgusted. "We had a very intense argument and then I stormed
out. I haven't spoken to her since, but--I just keep thinking of how I've
spent all this time trying to repair my relationship with her and protect
her from that awful husband of hers, and now I learn that none of the things
she said about wanting to patch things up between were genuine."
"I'm sorry, man," Brent offers after
a silent gap.
"I am, too. I'm sorry that I didn't
see her for the woman she truly is months--years ago. I'm sorry that my
own mother could be so selfish that she would lie to me over and over and
over
without any regard for how I might be affected." He sighs. "I need some
time away from everything, time to think and figure my life out on my own."
Brent nods his understanding. "That'll
be good for you."
"I think so," Andy agrees. "But there
is one thing ..."
"What?"
"It's just--I have one big favor
to ask of you."
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