Chapter 6

Before going to visit the hospital next morning, Ginny and I went shopping. We needed to get the things her mother would need. Once we had purchased the toiletries, we headed for the department store and purchased a new dressing gown and several night dresses. Her mother had been taken to hospital; with just the clothes she had been wearing when she was assaulted. Since the police had cordoned off her apartment we had decided it would be a good excuse for us to buy her new stuff for her time in hospital. I Think Ginny enjoyed the opportunity to get some nice things for her mother. There had never been much money to spare for clothes.

When we arrived at hospital Ginny's mother was sitting up in bed. As we approached her bed she looked up and saw us and her face took on an agitated look and she started crying. Ginny rushed over to her and put her arms around her and said,

"Don't cry mum, nothing everything is going to be okay."

Her mother pulled herself away and said, "They would have raped you, if you hadn't put locks on your door"

Ginny took her hand in hers and replied, "They still might have done mum, if you had not stopped them from breaking the door down. You nearly got yourself killed. If those policemen had not been so close when they got the call you would have bled to death."

"You might have been better off if I had," her mother said.

"Don't you dare say that, I might have ended up in a foster home with people I hated." Ginny told her.

"Well that would not have been any worse than living in a crummy flat with a mother you must hate," Her mother told her.

"But I don't hate you. I worry about the way you live and what will happen if I go off to college"

I stood a little way off listening to this interchange and knew that for the time being I had been forgotten and waited to see what would happen between the two women. When Ginny had mentioned going off to college her mother had looked at her sharply.

"What do you mean by going off to college? We have no money for any fancy stuff like that."

"Mum, you never pay any attention to my grades. I am one of the brightest people in my year. Next year I will be in the running for valedictorian and I will get a scholarship to almost any university I want."

Her mother gave her a long look before replying and said,

"You must have inherited your father's brains. You sure as hell didn't get them from me or I would never have let the bastard sweet talk me into giving him my virginity. But that aside, you would still need money to be able to do that and I can't help you with that".

Ginny was about to reply to this when I gave a little Cough.

She stopped and turned round it was obvious that she was so engrossed in the conversation with her mother she had indeed forgotten I was there. Her mother also stared over at me and then said,

"Who the fuck is this?"

Ginny turned, took my hand and drew me closer to the bed and said to her. "Mum, I would like you to meet my boyfriend,"

She looked at me for a minute or two and stated. "Not a bad looking guy, how did a fat broad like you manage to get a boyfriend like him. By being stupid like me and opening your legs I suppose."

I could see that Ginny was hurt and near to tears at these remarks and before she could reply, I stepped in.

"No Ms. McPherson, Ginny hasn't, as you so crudely put it, opened her legs for me and doesn't have to. As far as I am concerned she is a beautiful and very intelligent young woman who obviously has a great capacity for love. If she wasn't that kind of person she would not be showing such concern for a mother who has so often treated her badly and shown scant concern for her safety and well being. As it happens I appreciate and love her for what she is,"

Ginny looked at me in shocked surprise, but at this moment I was not going to give this woman an inch.

"Who the fuck are you to judge me or tell me how to bring up my daughter?" She said with venom.

"As to that," I am a guy who had two loving parents who gave me a wonderful childhood. They also made sure that I would try and treat others the same way as I wanted to be treated. So I think I know something about the responsibility parents should exercise towards their kids. I am also the guy, who young as I am, happens to love your daughter; so I am supporting her in her concern for you and to be here for her in the midst of this crisis in her life."

"And a right smug little bastard you are too," she said, falling back on her pillows obviously tired out by her spat with me.

I laughed and said, "Touché! You are probably right, neither I nor my parents had to face the problems in our lives that you have had to face in your life, I understand that,"

Ginny was about to speak, but I continued before she could say a word.

"Ms McPherson, let's start again at the bit where Ginny introduced me as her boyfriend. My name is Gibby McThomas and I come from Scotland. From what Ginny has told me I know that you can't be much more than thirty two or thirty three and I feel that is much too young for me to make you feel old by addressing you as Ms McPherson, so why don't you tell me your first name, and then perhaps we can talk more easily."

She looked up at me and then looked back at Ginny and gave a wry sort of smile,

"I can see why you have fallen for this one. He's a right sweet talking bastard too. I just hope for your sake he doesn't turn out like your father. Ok Gibby, my name is Shirley. If you are here to support my daughter just what does that mean?"

"If you are up to it, we can look at the problems you are facing when you are discharged from this place, because what affects you is going to affect Ginny?"

"I haven't got round to thinking about these yet" she told me. "They drugged me last night and I am just beginning to focus now."

"Well Ginny and I have talked about this. The first problem you face when you get out of here is where you to go and who is going to look after you. You are not going to be able to walk very far on that leg for a few days. The second is that you certainly aren't going to be fit to work for at least a few weeks. The third thing results from that. Your financial situation is dire, if you are not working then no money is coming in. That means unless your landlord is likely to be understanding you could be thrown out your home"

"On the last point, I will get no help from that bastard. I will be out on my ear and the door locks changed as soon as I miss a payment. I can tell you now that you are right, there is nothing I can do about that."

Ginny said, "I can help with that mum I have some money put by for my schooling."

Let's leave that side for now," I told her. "I may have a better solution than that but let's discuss the first two problems. Your flat at this moment in time is a crime scene and the police are all over it. Maybe by Thursday that will have changed but even then it is not ideal for an invalid, especially as you are likely to be thrown out a few days later. What I have suggested to Ginny is that you come and stay at my place. I have plenty of room and we can share the job of caring for you till you are fit again. The housekeeper can look in on you through the day and you could contact her if you needed something."

Shirley looked at me in amazement. "What will your parents have to say about that? How are they going to react to an old drunk like me living in their house?" She asked.

"I don't have any parents, they were killed in an air crash just before last Christmas and I have inherited the house from them."

"But you are just about Ginny's age," she said. "How come you are allowed to live on your own?"

"I told you I am Scottish," I said, "and in Scot's Law a sixteen year old is considered as an adult capable of looking after his own affairs and so the American law on this matter does not apply to me."

"Oh!" She said, "I am sorry to hear about your parents but you seem to be coping pretty well with the loss"

"I had to adjust pretty quickly" I said. "I had three months in hospital to grieve because I was in the same plane crash and almost died myself. Then I had to fight legal battles with the American authorities about my status and who would look after my inheritance. Fortunately with a good lawyer and the help of British consular officials we were able to make my position as a Scottish Citizen stick, and they granted me a visa to continue my education here."

"So Ginny has captured herself rich young bastard, who when he gets what he wants from her, may well throw her over just as another one your age did to me years ago?"

"Yes, that is possible, but I am not the guy who has made you so bitter it is threatening to destroy you". I told her, "If I get what I want from Ginny, and I admit that includes taking her virginity when she is ready to surrender it, she will be my life's companion."

"You say that now" she sneered, "We will see what happens down the line."