A New Journey (Second Chance #3) (14 page)

“I want to go home.” Karla said for the hundredth time.

“You won’t rest at home.” Andrew gave the same response as before.

“I promise to rest. I just want to go home to my own bed.”

“You can go home tomorrow.” Andrew told her and she flopped back down onto the hospital bed.

“Ugh. You are such a doctor sometimes.”  Karla said in an overly dramatic voice.

Andrew chuckled at her words. “I was a doctor before I was your Dad and as both I am keeping you here until tomorrow. I want you to get some rest and I can’t guarantee you’ll get that at home.”

“Fine.” Karla said and attempted to cross her arms over her chest. When she bumped her left arm and cringed in pain it was all Andrew could do not to give in to her demands.

“Be careful, sweetheart. Dr. Carpenter will be in later to look at your arm and see if it needs surgery or just a cast.”

“I hope it doesn’t need either.” Karla said in a pouty voice.

“That would be great.” Andrew said with a smile. He doubted that would be the outcome, but he was not going to be the one to take the look of hope out of her eyes. “At least it’s your left arm.”

“That is the only good thing about this entire situation. Why can’t I go home tonight? I have a Chemistry test tomorrow and I really need to be in school.”

“You can take a make-up test. Karla, I really want you to rest and I know if you’re home you’ll be doing some kind of school work. You can’t do that here so I know you’ll relax, or at least I hope you will.”

“You should know me well enough to know that I’m not going to rest as long as I’m worried about school. All I’m going to do here is raise my stress level and go absolutely insane from boredom. Please let me go home. I’ll stay home from school tomorrow and I promise not to study more than two hours. Please let me go home.”

“Tell you what, if Dr. Carpenter says you don’t need surgery and can cast or brace your wrist today I’ll sign the release forms so you can go home. Is that okay with you?”

“Sounds great. Now where is Dr. Carpenter?”

“I’m right here.” Dr. Carpenter said as he entered the room. “I’ve been reviewing your x-rays and I’m happy to say that you don’t need surgery. You have a compound fracture just above your wrist, but there are no breaks in the wrist itself. Now we have two options here. I can cast it or I can but you in an immobilizing brace. The brace will be removable, but I want you to wear it all the time, except when you shower, for four weeks. I want to see you in my office in two weeks for more x-rays. Do not use your left arm at all for the next two weeks or I will put you in a cast. Do we have an agreement?”

“Yes, sir.” Karla answered with a grin. “I’m sure Dr. Daddy here will make sure I follow your orders to the letter. I just want to go home and if this is what it takes to get me there I’m all for it.”

“Okay then. We have an agreement.” Dr. Carpenter said with a grin as he turned to Andrew. “Dr. Daddy?”

“My beautiful daughter is being sarcastic and ill-tempered this afternoon.” Andrew explained. “She thinks I should stop being a doctor and be a dad. Her comment is because I told her I was being both.”

“Ah, now I understand. I have to explain to my children that just because I’m their father doesn’t stop me from being a doctor too. It’s kind of an ingrained habit.”

“They will all understand someday. Until then I guess I’ll be dubbed Dr. Daddy.” Andrew said with a grin. “At least she didn’t use that brilliant brain of hers to come up with something more clever.”

“The pain medicine is making me think slower. Give it time to get out of my system and I’ll think of something else, but for now you’re Dr. Daddy.”

“On that note, Dr. Daddy, I’m going to get the brace and the care instructions for the kind of fracture Karla has. Then I guess she can go home.” Dr. Carpenter said and walked out of the room.

“Dad?”

“What is it, sweetheart?” Andrew asked.

“Can you text Conner and let him know I’m going home? He was going to stop by after school, but I’ll probably be home before then.”

“Sure I can. Remind me to get you a new phone tomorrow. I got your phone and purse from the car this morning, but your screen was shattered. They can transfer everything from your phone to a new one, but you need it back as soon as possible.”

“My car is beyond repair too, isn’t it?”

“It is, but we aren’t going to worry about that right now. You couldn’t drive with your arm in that thing anyway so let’s worry about your car after the brace comes off. Okay, sweetheart?”

“Okay, Dr. Daddy.” Karla said. She was heartbroken over her car, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change that. “Dad, how is the girl who hit me?”

Andrew took a deep breath, he knew she was going to ask this eventually, but he just wasn’t ready to talk about it. He knew he had to answer her though. “She isn’t doing well. She wasn’t wearing her seat belt and when she rear-ended you her airbag deployed and the impact has damaged her spinal cord. If she makes it she may never walk again.”

“Can you tell me her name? Conner said she is our age.”

“She’s sixteen.” Andrew confirmed and sighed. “Her name is Candice Emmerson and she goes to your school.”

Karla’s head popped up and she locked eyes with Andrew. There was no way it could be the same Candice she’d had the run-in with a couple of weeks ago. She took a deep breath. “Dad, what does she look like?”

When Andrew gave Karla the basic description of the girl who hit her Karla’s face fell. “Oh my gosh. Do you remember me telling you about the girl who was harassing me during the ACT’s?”

“Yes, why?” Andrew asked. He was hoping this wasn’t going where he thought it was going.

“I think the girl who hit me may be the same girl. I don’t know that for a fact, but the basic description is the same and they have the same first name.”

“We can find out, honey, but for now I want you to promise me that you will focus on getting well. You are in no way responsible for this.”

“I just need to know, Dad. I know I’m not responsible for any of it, but I still need to know.”

“I’ll find out for you. I promise.” Andrew said and when Dr. Carpenter returned a moment later Andrew left the room to speak with the other girl’s parents.

Karla walked into the apartment and headed straight to her room. She was glad to be home, but she was also worried. She had talked to Mr. and Mrs. Emmerson before she left the hospital and she now knew for a fact that the girl who hit her was Candice. She was driving home from her part-time job and was letting her mom know she was on her way when she hit Karla.

“Mom, Dad, Elliot, I need to talk to you please.” Karla shouted through the apartment as she walked back out of her room.

“What’s up, sis?” Elliot said as he walked out of his room.

“I need to talk to all of you about what was going on before the accident.” Karla said and took a seat at the table.

“Alright. You know you can talk to us about anything.” Leslie said as she took the seat beside Karla. When Andrew sat across from Karla and Elliot sat at her other side she told them about the dreams.

“I haven’t told anyone exactly what happened with Tony that night her hurt me and I think that may be part of the problem. I know I could come to any of you and talk about it, but that’s easier said than done. Dad, can you do something for me?”

“Sure, sweetheart, anything.” Andrew answered. He was worried about her, but glad she was talking to them.

“Can you find me someone to talk to about all of this? Someone who has been trained to listen.”

“I know just the person, honey.” Andrew said and grinned. “I’ll call her first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you, Dad. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you all the details. It’s just really hard to talk about and I think I need to talk to someone else first, but I promise I will talk to you about it after I talk to her. I love you three, Kiara and Manuel more than anything and I want to talk to you all about it.”

“Karla, honey, you do whatever you need to do to stop having the nightmares.” Leslie told her with an understanding smile. “We will always be here if you want to talk to us, but never think we are going to make you feel bad for choosing to talk to a professional. Andrew and I have both turned to professionals before so we completely understand.”

“Thank you.” Karla said and her eyes filled with tears. “I just want things to be the way they were before Tony came back. I want our lives back to normal.”

“They will be, sis.” Elliot told her as he got out of his chair and hugged her tightly. “We are still a family and that is never going to change. Our family isn’t defined by a house, it’s defined by the people in it and we’re all still here.”

“When did you get so smart?” Karla asked with a watery smile.

“I learned from my big sister.” Elliot answered and hugged her tighter. “Now, what else is on your mind?”

“When did you learn to read me this good?” Karla asked in awe.

“Remember all those times you were tutoring me and helping me learn all the little reading tricks?”

“Of course I do.” Karla answered and grinned.

“Well, when you are in tutor mode you let your tough girl image slip and people can see the real you. You show your emotions in your eyes and anyone who is paying attention can see them.”

“You aren’t the first person to tell me that.” Karla admitted. “Callie has told me that when I’ve been leading practice. She said she could tell when I was irritated with the team by the look in my eyes.”

“Anyone can if they know what they’re looking for.” Elliot said. “Now, are you going to tell us what else is bothering you?”

“The girl who rear-ended me is the same girl I had the problem with during the ACT test. I talked to her parents before I came home and I found out that her little brother was diagnosed with leukemia last year. He died about three months ago, but they have been plagued with medical bills for over a year and Candice had to get a job to help pay for everything. I would love to set up some kind of fundraiser to try to help them. I know it’s close to the holidays and money is tight for a lot of people, but surely we can think of some way to help them.”

“Oh, sweetheart, we will come up with a way to raise money to help them. Didn’t they have insurance?” Leslie asked.

“Mr. Emmerson had just started a new job when Cameron, that’s Candice’s brother, was diagnosed and his insurance hadn’t started yet. They were billed for the first few rounds of treatment before the insurance kicked in. Dad, he was in the children’s ward of the hospital you work at.”

“I’ll pull his file when I go in tomorrow and see how much they owe the hospital. We can try to raise a few thousand dollars over that so they can have some money to cover Candice’s medical bills too. She’s still in ICU and if she makes it she’ll have a long, hard road to recovery.”

“Thank you all.” Karla said and stood from her seat at the table. “I think I’m going to take a nap before dinner. My wrist is hurting a lot and I’m achy all over again. There is a question that is playing over and over in my mind. Why didn’t Candice have her seat belt on? Not only is it a law, but it’s a proven life saver.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart, and we may never know. I’m just glad you did have yours on. It could have been a lot worse if you didn’t.” Leslie told her. “Do you want one of your pain pills to help you rest?”

“No. I am just going to take some ibuprofen and lay down for a little while. I just need a few days and I’ll be good as new.” Karla said with a small smile. “I love you all.”

“We love you too, honey.” Leslie answered and Karla shut her bedroom door.

After she took three ibuprofen she stretched out on her bed and instantly fell asleep.

Two hours later she was awakened by voices coming from the other room.

“Conner, she’s fine. She’s just resting. I promise you she’s fine.” Andrew said calmly.

“I want to see her, Dr. Peterson.” Conner said in a quiet voice.

“What’s going on?” Karla asked from the door way of her room.

“Karla.” Conner said and relief filled his eyes. “You’re alright.”

“I’m alright, Conner. What’s going on?”

“I tried calling you and it kept going straight to voicemail. I was so worried.” Conner told her as he walked toward her and stopped in front of her.

“My phone was destroyed in the wreck. Dad is going to get me a new one tomorrow.”

“I was so scared. There are rumors flying around school that the girl who hit you is Candice Emmerson, the girl you had a run in with on ACT day.”

“Conner, the girl who hit me was Candice. She isn’t doing well.”

“Oh, no. That’s awful.” Conner said as he pulled her into his arms. “You doing okay?”

“I am. Just tired.” Karla answered as she pulled out of Conner’s arms and walked to the couch. When she sat down Conner sat on her right and took hold of her hand.

“I thought you were staying in the hospital again tonight.”

“She was going to, but she convinced me she would rest better here and since she didn’t need surgery on her wrist I decided to let her come home.” Andrew answered with a soft smile. “Before you showed up we were just getting ready to wake Karla for dinner. Would you like to stay?”

“Yes, sir, but first I need to apologize. I was very rude when I stormed in here like I did. I hope you can forgive my rudeness.”

“It’s already forgiven, Conner.” Leslie said with a smile. “Andrew would have behaved the same way if it had been me.” She added with a stern look at her husband.

Andrew tried to look offended at her words, but he failed miserably and they all started laughing.