It Happened To Me-Chapter 8

[DragonLadyKira]

*sigh* Do I have to say it every time? All standard disclaimers apply.


It Happened To Me- Chapter Eight

The media followed the Hannishes for a while. Taking snapshots of the small family getting groceries, going out to dinner, leaving for work. Under normal circumstances the media would be restricted and their pictures wouldn?t be displayed on the covers of the gossip columns. But James liked the extra attention that only his wife usually got, so he played it up. He would put Beth in her stroller for his ?daily walk?, and he now insisted that they do their own grocery shopping. He would also make a big show of leaving and returning from work. Soon people found someone else to hound and James lost his spotlight.

But the extra interest wasn?t good for everyone. Relena became apprehensive about her daughter?s face on every newspaper. What if Beth did have brain damage from her drinking? And the anxiety caused Relena to turn to something she vowed to put away- alcohol. It started slow, a little bit here and there to appease her trembling hands. But soon it turned to large binges that gave her unpleasant hangovers, but not large enough to cause her to lose consciousness. And there was no one left to save her. A few months after the press lost interest in their baby, James stopped coming home for dinner and brought back the late nights at the office. He didn?t have the popularity he once did and risked losing his place in office. Just one little thing could put him out of the running, so he stayed to finish everything on time at the latest. James also told his wife about the man that threatened him, forcing Relena to tell Heero to find another job. And he did, Relena no longer could feel her protector?s presence, and that was what sent her over the edge.

One-morning months later, after James had left for work, Beth woke crying. Nothing was out of the ordinary yet; Relena was hung over and unsteady as usual, but nothing odd. She fixed Beth?s bottle, but she didn?t stop the crying; she tried to give Beth her pacifier, but the baby wouldn?t take it; Relena changed her diaper and held her; but the crying continued; she sang to her and rocked her; but to no avail. Finally, Relena lost it. She placed Beth back in the crib, leaving her to scream, and went downstairs to start fixing herself a drink. She consumed unnatural amounts of alcohol, all the while screaming for Beth to shut up. This continued for hours, until Relena went upstairs to yell at her eight-month-old daughter in person. Before Relena could reach the nursery, she stumbled at the top and fell backwards back down the flight of stairs, her drink splashing the walls and her glass shattering. Relena lay, unconscious, at the bottom while Beth continued to cry upstairs.

It wasn?t until three hours later that anyone found them. Carlotta, their maid, let herself in to start her weekly clean up. The door swung open to reveal her employer sprawled across the floor, a large gash marring her pretty face. Immediately Carlotta called the police and an ambulance. Stepping over the immobile body of the young woman, Carlotta ran up the stairs to find Beth sitting calmly in her crib sucking her thumb. Relena was rushed to the emergency room, her head stitched up and her stomach pumped once the toxic level of blood alcohol was discovered. James and Milliardo and his wife were contacted. Milliardo passed the information along to the pilots before making his way to the hospital. James chose to ignore the situation until a reporter called his office to see if he had a comment on his wife?s problem. He of course made no comment, but not because of privacy, but because he was rather oblivious. After pondering this for a while, he went back to work, not to be seen or heard from again until sometime around eleven o? clock that evening, the matter forgotten entirely. But Milliardo and the pilots didn?t take the situation so lightly. Duo, Hilde, and their three sons were the next to arrive after Milliardo. Next came Sally and Wufei, Sally taking over as Relena?s doctor. Quatre and his wife, Catherine, their two kids, and her brother Trowa arrived soon after. Last to show was Heero Yuy. He was the first to remember Bethany, and he retrieved her from Carlotta. She curled against his chest and quickly fell asleep, finding comfort in the stranger, not unlike the way her mother did. While Relena remained in the room, still under observation incase of seizures that could result from an interaction with the medication and the liquor in her system, Heero and the others remained in the waiting room well into the night.



That was the big dumb thing I had planned for Relena, not too cruel considering the options and the intelligence behind her drinking problem. There will be more of a Relena/Heero thing coming up, but I have to rid Relena of James first. *Evil smile* Mwhahahahah! I can?t wait to take it all out on poor defenseless James. Oh, and just for future reference. I usually base the characters I make up on people I know using either first or last names and James was an ex-boyfriend of mine. I will have no mercy! *someone starts calling psychiatric wards* I?m okay, really? So? more to come, and thanks again for everyone who?s been reviewing! ~*~Jess~*~

[Angeldreams]

Don't you just love how great it is to use an ex in a fanfic and totally make fun of him!

Great job, keep writing more...

Angel

[Desert Bloom]

No...Relena....how could you...please...more...Heero has to fix her....