Flowers For McGee

14 - You Are a Genius

Later that night, Rose and McGee locked themsleves up in the basement snd they were detwrmined to find that chest.

Rose has the crowbar held tightly in her hand as she taps it against the wall. "Thanks." Rose says as McGee holds out the bottle of Tylenol. She hands him the crowbar and pops open the bottle and takes out four of the little tablets.

"Um, should you take so many?" McGee asks as he taps the bar against the wall.

"Yeah, if you knew what pain was in my head right now, you'd understand. I'm tempted to take all of them," She says and McGee reaches out and takes the Tylenol bottle from her. "Hey." She says and frowns, crossing her arms.

"Let's not do that." McGee says. He taps some more and then the hollow sound can be heard clearly through the basement. "Rose, Rose I found it!" McGee shouts with excitement.

"Finally!" She says and they hug each other tightly.

The basement door opens and they both freeze. "Rose, dinner is ready sweetie," Maggie calls and they both sigh in relief. It may be Maggie, but at least that's it.

Her feet can be heard on the steps and McGee quickly rips a sheet off a chair and covers the tool box. "What are you doing down here?" Maggie asks and she reaches the bottom.

"Well, I've been looking around for something," Rose says, technically not lying to her mom and Maggie smiles. "What about this one?" Rose asks her mother about the ugly floral chair uncovered.

"Look at you, taking an interest in antiques. I think it's a nice choice," Maggie says. "You can continue your search after you eat." She says and Rose nods, following her mother slowly.

"Should I start breaking the brick away?" McGee asks and Rose shakes her head. She points at her mother and then drags her finger across her throat, signalling that Maggie would murder her if they did that. Maggie would likely hear it from upstairs.

"Oh, right. Let's go." McGee says and follows the two girls.
-
"A.M., what is that?" Rose asks out loud. Johnny, Maggie, and McGee then to her and crowd around her to see the initials carved in the table.

"I would guess it is mystery boy's initials. We know everyone else's name." Johnny says.

"You both have been reading those books?" Maggie asks and the twins nod. Rose looks at McGee and he is staring at the letters with clouded eyes. She hates that McGee didn't know himself.

"Anything?" She asks McGee and looks up at him. Maggie and Johnny frown.

"What?" They both asks as McGee shakes his head. Rose doesn't pay them much attention until she realized they are expecting an answer.

"Any guesses. I mean? That's what I meant." She says, sighing at the naivety of the two as they believe her.

Rose didn't understand how they could see most of the things she did. How could they not notice her talking to an empty space or doors closing or anything? She honestly felt as if she were in a bad movie.
-
"Okay, since mom cooked for once," Rose says and winks at her mom. "I'll do dishes tonight." She says and walks to the kitchen and McGee follows. She was really just waiting for her mother to leave the house and Johnny to go to sleep.

Halfway through dishes, McGee leaves to the basement and Rose is left paranoid in the kitchen.

Rose let him go, she didn't want to keep him from this discovery. But the thought that maybe this was all for nothing crosses her mind more than once. Maybe this was all stupid, his body could be anywhere and Rose wasn't sure she'd be able to find it.

Rose washes the dishes and looks over her shoulder every now and again. She rinses the dishes and dries them. She drains the sink and as she goes to walk away, the garbage disposal turns on.

"Come on," Rose says and she looks at the switch on the wall. "Don't do this to me." She says. She takes a long wooden spoon and goes to flip the twitch with it as she reaches around the sink, an arm shoots out of the drain and Rose screams as it latches onto her arm. "Let. Go. Of. Me!" She yells between each hit of the spoon. "What? That's not even fair!" She yells as it doesn't work.

The arm retracts and the disposal turns off as Johnny walks into the kitchen with a cup and he frowned. "What are you doing?" He asks her snd she can only laugh at her own disbelief of the whole situation.

"I saw that rat again." She says and he rolls his eyes. He sets the bowl in the sink.

"How is your face, shower ninja?" He asks her and she smiles.

"It's fantastic." She says.

"Hey, I've been reading those diaries, and that boy had a lot of secrets, but so did that older girl," Johnny says. "In one of her diaries there was a note tucked in the back. It was a love letter from an H.B and I went through her book some more and found out she had a box under her floor boards in her room." He says and Rose smiles.

"Hodge Bowsky. Johnny, you are a genius." She says and smiles. "This family had way too many secrets."

"Thanks, but how did you know his name?" He asks his sister with a frown.

"Because I'm not stupid, I'll see you later." Rose says and sprints to the basement steps.

"McGee!" She says as she gets to the bottom and he looks up from the half chiseled brick. "She had a box under her floorboards. I think we should get it because we need every clue we can get." Rose says and McGee smiles.

McGee literally had light radiation from him as he smiled. "Maybe it could unlock my memory."

He looks more alive than Rose did and that scared her. The friend she made, her first real friend was going to be leaving soon and that caused Rose to be more afraid than she was nearly dying in the shower or having her hand nearly dragged into a garbage disposal. She didn't want to lose him but she knew it was inevitable.

"What's wrong?" He asks her and she forces the smile back to her face.

"Nothing, I'm excited. Keep going." She says.
-
They spend hours chipping away but it's like they barely made a dent. "I'm gonna die." Rose says and then quickly looks over at McGee, who is also breathing heavily despite his current status. Dead, that is. "Can I say that?" She asks.

He waves I off. "I'm pretty sure I am going to die a second time, as well." He says and puts his hands on his hips.

"Rose, mom is home." Johnny yells and Rose and McGee look at each other with wide, frightened eyes. They both quickly push a large sofa against the wall. McGee slips through the wall and Rose rolls her eyes, throwing a sheet over the toolbox.

"Are you coming?" McGee pokes his head back through the wall and Rose gives him a look.

"Yes. I, a living girl, am going to follow you through the solid wall, because I can totally." She says sarcastically and McGee smiles sheepishly.

"Sorry, I forgot." He says and he accompanies Rose up the stairs just as Maggie is coming through the door with a big box. Rose takes the box from her mother and immediately regrets it.

"Thank you, baby." Maggie says and Rose struggles not to drop it and then she feels half of the weight being taken away. McGee is helping her with the heavy box.

"You are quite weak, Rose." He says and she scowls at him.

"Where do you want me to put this?" Rose asks.

"The office," Maggie says and walks back to the front door. "Thank you again. I know how heavy that box is."

"Oh, it's like I'm not even holding it." Rose says and McGee snorts.

"I bet you think are just so funny." He says and Rose smiles.

"I'm hilarious." Rose says as her mother walks out.