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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʀᴇsᴜʀʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ꒱　


❝ THEY ARE FAMILY ❞

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The next day, Juliet went back to the hospital to be there for Cory as much as she knew she wasn't who he wanted. She sat quietly in her chair with a book open on her lap, though she wasn't reading the words. Cory and Topanga sat next to each other and the boy's leg bounced nervously despite his confident words: "you know, I think everything's going to be okay."

"I hope so."

"What do you mean, you hope so? You think something bad is gonna happen?"

"Something bad has already happened," his fiancée replied.

"I know. I just. . . I want you to make everything better."

"How do I do that?"

"Just be here with me," Cory said softly. He placed a hand over his heart.

"I'm sitting right next to you," Topanga pointed out.

"I know, but I don't feel like you are. I want us to be Cory and Topanga again because then everything is okay. Here." He offered her his palm.

"How does holding your hand make everything okay?"

"I just want us to be the way we used to be. Valentine's Day used to be such a big deal to you."

"What does Valentine's Day have to do with this?"

"And I was the one who didn't want to hold hands," Cory continued, "but. . . but you were the one who said that holding hands is like touching souls."

Topanga stared at him in astonishment. "How do you remember that? I said that years ago when I was a child."

"I remember everything you said because it was important to me. Why don't you say stuff like that anymore?"

"Cory, look around you. Do you recognize where you are?"

"Take my hand."

"We're in the hospital. This is real. The reality is that your little brother is back there fighting for his life."

"No," he disagreed with her. "Reality is this hand."

Finally, she took it but did not offer the words he was looking for: "I don't like it when you use us to hide from the rest of life, Cory."

". . .I don't like it that you're not Topanga anymore."

"What?"

🌎🌎🌎

"'Hey, Julie.'"

"Hi Shawnie."

Immediately, he frowned at her somber tone. "'What's wrong?'"

Juliet's eyes widened slightly, surprised that she'd been so obvious. "Um. . ." she began. She didn't want to start off their call on a such a sad note but she couldn't keep something like this from him. "It's Cory's little brother."

"'Little brother?'" he repeated. "'That means—'"

"Yeah. Mrs. Matthews had her baby. On Valentine's Day, actually. But. . ." she trailed off again and her voice dropped. "He's not doing well, Shawnie. They can't take him home yet."

"'Why not? What's wrong with him?'" Shawn asked, instantly concerned for his best friend's family.

"It's something about him being born so early. He's got an infection that they're trying to help him fight. He's in the ICU right now."

"'How's Cory handling it?'"

"As well as you could expect," Juliet said quietly. "So not well at all. He's trying to get Topanga to help him through it but. . . I don't think it's working. I don't know how to help him. He doesn't want me."

"'Of course he does, you're his best friend!'"

"You are," she corrected him. "I know you don't want to be here but I think you're the only person who could make it better."

"'Do you really think so?'"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

🌎🌎🌎

"You know you don't have to come with me every day right, Jules?" Cory asked as they sat in the back seat of Mr. Feeny's car.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just. . . I know you have a life outside of being friends with me. Topanga comes with me because she's my fiancée, but—"

"You better not finish that sentence," Juliet said sternly as she turned to look at him. "You're my best friend, Cor. I'd clear my schedule for you in a heartbeat. Nothing is more important than making sure the people I care about are okay. I know how scary change can be so I want to make sure that I'm here for you if you need me."

The boy's expression softened. "You're my best friend too, Jules—"

"Next to Shawn."

"Tied with Shawn," he corrected her. "Not everything's a competition, you know. I just. . . I'm really glad you're here."

She smiled gently at him and reached over to squeeze his hand. "You'll let me know if you want to talk. Right, Cor?"

"You'll be the first person that I go to," he promised.

🌎🌎🌎

When they arrived in the now-familiar waiting room, Cory took the couch off to the side while Juliet chose to sit in the chair next to him. As everyone began to arrive for the day, they took up other seating: Angela, Morgan and Mr. Feeny occupied places in the center of the room and Jack and Rachel opted to stand against the wall. Topanga, in an odd turn of events, sat on the complete opposite side of the room from her fiancé.

After Eric left with the little boy, Tommy, that he was helping to take care of, the blonde finally spoke up: "Cory, I feel like we're really distant."

Everyone's heads turned to hear his response. "Why would you say that?"

"Because for the first time in my life I feel like I don't know how to give you what you need."

"Why not?"

"Because we can't go through life together if you expect me to be able to change what's real for you," she explained. The group's attention bounced back and forth between the couple.

"Well, you used to be able to."

"We were kids! Nothing bad ever happened! The worst thing that happened was that your pop-tart fell on the ground."

"Mm-hmm," he agreed. "And you held it up to the sky and you said 'God made dirt, dirt won't hurt,' right?"

"But it was still dirty."

Cory rose and walked over to Topanga. "Yeah, but I ate it anyway. I didn't have to but I did because you said to. Now I want you to make everything better, Topanga."

"We can't have that relationship anymore," she said imploringly as he stood over her.

"Why?"

"I'm not like that anymore!"

"Why not?" he demanded. He knelt in front her.

"I don't know how to be like that anymore. Cory, this is bad. There isn't anyone who can make it better."

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal Shawn. While she'd known he would come, Juliet's heart leapt at the sight of him and a wave of relief washed over her. In a way, he was the Topanga to her Cory because now she could believe that everything would work out, just because he was here.

"Cory!" he exclaimed brightly.

"Shawnie!" The curly-haired boy raced over to him and the pair hugged each other tightly.

As they pulled apart, Shawn placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Look, everything's gonna be alright."

"You think?"

"I know."

After he greeted Topanga, Juliet risked any sort of awkwardness and rushed at him herself to throw her arms around him. Even though they'd spoken every night of the two-plus weeks he'd been gone, him being there in person was so much different than just hearing his voice. She buried her face against his shoulder as she relished in the comfort being close to him brought.

Shawn hugged her tightly as he unknowingly felt the same relief that she did. He closed his eyes at the familiar flowery scent of her hair and the warmth that came from her. God, he'd missed her (even more than he was willing to let on.) They separated reluctantly, though he kept his eyes trained on her face to try and read her expression. She hadn't said much about how she was feeling about this whole situation and he wanted to make sure that she was okay. The redhead smiled softly up at him as she seemed to sense what he was asking.

They must have been staring at each other for a little too long because someone (though he wasn't sure who) cleared their throat. He quickly jerked his gaze away from hers and adopted a lighthearted manner. "Julie told me about what was happening and I drove back as fast as I could. Hi, Mr. Feeny."

"Hello, Shawn."

"So?" he prompted his friends. "How's the baby?"

"It's really serious, Shawn," Topanga replied somberly.

"No, he's gonna be fine," Cory disagreed.

The dark-haired boy didn't miss Juliet's 'I told you so' look that she sent him as the blonde continued: "he's so small. He's having a hard time breathing and he can't fight the infection."

"He's going to be fine."

"Will you please talk to him?" Topanga asked as she looked over at her fiancé. "I can't get through to him right now and someone is letting him think like this. You're his other best friend, he'll listen to you."

Juliet's eyes narrowed at her friend's jab but was saved from further argument by Shawn's reassurance: "okay, let me handle this." His tone brightened and he put an arm around the boy. "Man, are we going to have fun with this kid!"

"This kid's going to be our slave!" Cory exclaimed.

"Maybe indentured servant," the redhead chimed in. "You don't want to offend people, do you?"

"Either way, I'm going to teach him everything I know," Shawn said as he lead Cory over to a chair so they could sit.

"What's that, nothing?" Juliet teased him.

"He'll need to be bailed out of jail if that's the case," the curly-haired boy agreed cheerfully, "and I'll be the one to do it."

"On the zero dollars you'll be making as a janitor?" she quipped.

"For your information, janitors do have a salary," Shawn retorted. "My dad was one, remember?"

Topanga was not pleased. "Mr. Feeny, will you say something to them?"

"Hey, Mr. Feeny, I think you're gonna have another Matthews to teach."

"Maybe he'll have friends like us to sit next to," the dark-haired boy joked.

"He won't have to."

"Why not?"

"You'll still be there and Jules will be obligated to get you back on track!"

They burst into loud laughter and even Mr. Feeny chuckled with them. The blonde sent them an irritated look. "Aren't you going to say anything to them?"

"Yes, yes I am." He turned to the trio. "I hope you're right, you three. With all my heart, I hope you're right."

Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews came out of the main hallway, followed by a pair of doctors. "Hey, Shawn."

He stood and went over to greet Cory's parents. "Hey, Mr. Matthews. Is everything okay?"

Mrs. Matthews' tone was quiet. "No. Joshua hasn't responded to the antibiotics yet."

"Dr. Markman was kind enough to sit with us for t he last three hours," Mr. Matthews explained. He turned to the other man. "Thank you."

"Of course."

"Wait a minute," Cory said. "You gave him more medication?"

"We've given him all the medicine we can give him," Dr. Markman answered. "We've been in there sitting with him and talking to him. What happens next, it's up to Josh."

"The doctor thought it would be a good idea if you went in to say hello to your brother, too," Mrs. Matthews added.

"Yeah, sure," the curly-haired boy agreed. He looked between his friends. "But I'd like you guys to come, too."

As they began to follow him through the doors, the female doctor reached out a hand to stop Shawn and Juliet. "Oh, I'm sorry. Family only."

"Uh," Mr. Matthews began. He placed a gentle hand on each of their shoulders. "They are family."

The pair sent him grateful smiles before they went to catch up with their friends.

🌎🌎🌎

After they'd gotten dressed in scrubs, they went into the quiet ICU room. Parents stood by enclosed cribs and talked quietly to their newborn children. Some read prayers, some reached through the enclosed space to rest a hand on their child and some just stood and gazed at them softly. There was the occasional beep of a heart monitor and a palpable melancholy air about the room. Joshua was in a crib by the window which the quartet soon stood around as they looked at him through the clear glass.

"Hi Josh," Cory murmured. "I'm Cory. You have to get better, okay? I always wanted a little brother. This is Topanga, she's your sister."

"Hey, Josh," she greeted the baby. "Look, you got to let the medicine get you better, okay? You've got a lot of people who really love you. Please get better, Josh."

Shawn walked slowly around the crib as he spoke: "hi, Josh. I'm Shawn. Look, this is the second time I've been in the hospital this year and I don't really like the way that the first one turned out, so I want you to listen to me. I've been out of town. See, I was in a real bad way and I went looking to see what was important in my life. I met a lot of people out of town who were looking for the same thing. Now you're in a real bad way. I came back here because I want to tell you something. Don't go out of town. Don't go anywhere. Life is right here with these people, with your family— and my family. We got the greatest family there is, Josh. We want you to be with us so we can watch you grow and see you change and make great memories together."

Juliet stepped forward. "This is why I hate going last, you know. Between the three of you I always end up being overshadowed by the great things that you say." Her gaze fell on the baby. "I'm Juliet. I've never thought much about children, you know. It always seemed like a distant concept that I might one day get to. But you're here now and there's no place I'd rather you be. I've already been an aunt to a pig so being one to a baby shouldn't be too hard, right? But I'm gonna need you to pull through so I can prove to everyone that I'm right, just like it should be. Don't make me be wrong about this. Okay, Josh? And by the way, I'm totally gonna call you Joshie to get on your nerves."

Cory and Topanga watched their friends give encouraging words to the youngest Matthews before they exchanged a loving look. "You're in my heart."

"You're in my heart, too."

🌎🌎🌎

Thankfully, there was a miracle and Josh was soon being brought out of the hospital in his mother's arms. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews were smiling happily as they showed off their son to their gathered friends and family who all cheered at the sight of him.

"What kind of place is this, huh?" Shawn asked. "First I lose my dad here and then this little miracle, a new brother to watch grow up. I get my family back."

"So you're tired of tumbling, tumbleweed?" Cory questioned him.

"Yeah. There's too much going on here to be someplace else."

"Cory?"

"Yes, darling?"

"You still want to be my Valentine?"

"Yes, darling."

"Would you rather I was like the old, strange Topanga?"

"Well, no. It's not like. . ." he trailed off for a moment as she began to spread her arms in an echo of the dance from long ago. "I don't like the new, strange Topanga. I mean, it's important for us to grow but I just. . . I don't want to lose what's so special about you."

"You never will," she promised as she uncapped a tube of red lipstick, "because. . . I'm in your memories and you will always be here to remind me." She turned to face them with a red heart decorating her face.

"Use a mirror, babe," Shawn said.

Topanga smiled as Cory asked, "remind me of what?"

"That no matter how difficult life gets, the important thing is to live it with hope," she explained and drew a heart on her fiancé's face as well.

"Now that sounds like you."

"Valentines?"

He placed his hand in hers. "Valentines."

Juliet, caught up in watching them go, startled when a waving hand interrupted her vision. She looked up at her best friend curiously. Shawn wore a teasing smile on his features as he prompted her: "Valentines?"

"But I thought—"

"It's a yes or no question, Julie."

"Um. . . sure." She placed her hand in his and felt the familiar tingle that came from whenever their skin touched.

They walked out of the hospital together. 

[written oct. 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]