Chase Me (9 page)

“Let them, I have a finger for them too.”

“Come on sweetheart, if it is time then it is time,” my mom whispered and I took the message as if she was no longer talking about surgery. I climbed off the bed and turned on a dime to stick out my pinky finger and she locked hers with mine.

“Promise me, that when you feel tired, or when you feel like giving up that you will think of me and borrow my strength to get through it. I’m not ready to let you go. Selfish as it is I am not ready to be an orphan.”

My mom brushed my blond hair away from my face and said those words that made me want to punch a wall.

“You will never be an orphan as long as Henry is around.”

I wanted to tell her he was an asshole. I wanted to tell her that I hated him and everything he stood for. I wanted to point out that he didn’t even show up when she needed her family the most, but instead I shook my pinky with hers and laid a kiss on her cheek as a stampede of orderlies came to remove me from her side.

“Mike is family too Kate, don’t forget that,” my mom whispered, but I would never forget. I loved Mike and as I caught his view in my peripherals I could see he loved us too.

“I will be right here when you wake up,” I shouted as they scurried around my mom and got her out of the room. I followed until they took her up in the elevator then I stared at those silver doors for what felt like an eternity.

“Kate,” Mike called my name from behind me and within seconds I felt his hands on my shoulders. “Let’s not wait here as if it is goodbye. We can go to the waiting room and wait to say hello again when she wakes up.”

“I love you Mike,” I whispered as I turned and wrapped my arms around him.

“I love you too baby girl,” he replied and held me there while I struggled to get my emotions under control.

“Why didn’t you ever marry my mom?” I asked and Mike released me to step back.

“Because your mother deserved better than some mechanic. She has always been worth more than I could ever give her.”

I merely shook my head as we headed to the waiting area. Some men just didn’t understand. We don’t care what they have to offer us as long as they love us and treat us with respect. I guess those are some lessons that are never learned.

The hours were unhurried as my impatience wore on. I swore the clock was laughing at me at one point when nothing changed in what seemed like an eternity then it jumped ahead nine seconds all at once. Brooklyn sat in the chair going over files she had brought and typed up briefs while we waited. She was a workaholic. She was never one to back down from anything and it worried me sometimes, but she always seemed to come out on top. It is what made her a great attorney.

Mike was asleep with a coffee in hand as his head leaned over on the top of the seat. Even in dreamland his worries laid across his face. I hoped he was dreaming of fast cars and faster women, but as his brow creased I knew that wasn’t the case.

I wondered where Henry was just long enough that he showed up. It was like Beetlejuice, I thought about him one too many times and he showed up.

“What is she doing here?” I asked as I took in the blond on his arm. Her breasts were so big I was shocked she could stand up straight. I wonder if I bumped into her in her red summer dress if she would fall and pop them. I should do it because mother nature has a tight hold the cold has on winter, even today it is snowing, and yet she is wearing anything that shows off her boob job.

“She is your stepmom,” Henry spoke up as if that was supposed to mean something to me. The only thing she was a mother to was Henry.

“Careful Henry, they don’t allow children under twelve in the waiting area. You may have to take your wife to the nursery first.”

“Is that how we are going to play this game?” Liza asked as she walked over and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips.

“I don’t play games, those are strictly for kids,” I replied as I rolled my eyes. I turned my head over to Henry and asked again. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

“I wanted to come and be supportive,” Liza replied as she rubbed the tiny bump on her belly. No way was she six months pregnant. She was merely bloated from her period. “You know you could be nice to me I am carrying your little sister in me.”

I nearly gagged. I didn’t want to know what alien she had inside her and I sure as shit didn’t want it sharing my DNA. Poor kid would grow up so deformed, deprived, and desperate that even the make a wish people couldn’t fix that.

“Brooklyn is my sister and she takes up all my time. I have no room for another.”

Liza scoffed and walked over to whine to Henry about how rude and unhinged I am. It was a weekly argument and I might have listened if she had a driver’s license or could buy her own beer.

Mike woke up and came over and sat down beside me. I leaned my head over on his shoulder as he sipped his cold coffee. He understood when I needed someone with no words spoken. Kind of reminded me of Eddie a little.

Liza walked over to Brooklyn and cleared her throat. Brooklyn moved her stuff so Liza could sit down beside her. As if there were not a hundred empty chairs around us. I swear this woman was annoying to us all just for shits and giggles.

“I’m going downstairs to swap phones with Edward,” Brooklyn spoke up as she read a text.

I could almost feel him in the building. Like my body was attracted to his. Magnets, that was the only way to describe it, but he wasn’t on my list of things to do today.

Thirty minutes later, Eddie walked in with Brooklyn and spoke to everyone. I noticed he showed up in jeans and a New York Yankees t-shirt. Seeing him outside the suit and tie was a little odd, but it was a nice change. He walked over to Mike and shook his hand. They spoke about cars and dirt tracks while my head felt warm as exhaustion was finally hitting and I couldn’t fight it anymore.

Eddie sat down beside me and pulled me over to him. I didn’t bother to fight it. I was too tired. Without caffeine I couldn’t make it another hour. I heard him talking to Mike and Henry about something to do with cars and then it was all gibberish as my brain fought between being awake and sleeping.

I snuggled onto Eddie’s hardened chest. For something that was equipped to fit on a body builder it was surprisingly warm and comfortable. As his heart beat against my ear, his arm came down around me and I drifted off to sleep. It felt like I had only closed my eyes for a few seconds, but I heard a noise and looked up to see it had been hours. Then I shifted my focus to see the doctor standing in the doorway. I flew out of my chair to get to the doctor. I began babbling incoherent words as I tried to ask how she was and wake up all at the same time.

Everyone gathered as the doctor waited for me to stop slurring words together as if I had had a stroke. Brooklyn grabbed my hand and Mike wrapped an arm around my shoulder. As the doctor began to speak.

“Karen is in recovery. It took a little longer than what we originally thought because there was more in there than what the scan showed. We are awaiting pathology to determine what it is, and you all can see her when we move her back to her room in a few hours.”

“Doctor,” I shouted and his face said everything without the words, but I had to hear it. “Tell us what you think it is.”

“I don’t know, we should wait for pathology,” he replied, but I knew he was holding something back.

“Doctor,” I shouted and pulled his arm. “You don’t know me or my mom, but you should know that I need to know what she is walking into. Her whole life she worked two and sometimes three jobs to give me a life and put a roof over my head. When some boy broke my heart, she was there. When I got a bad grade or skinned my knee, even though she worked all those jobs she was there. When I got a full scholarship to college, she was right there waiting with the acceptance envelope. You see I don’t have a single memory she isn’t in. She is my mom, my friend, the cherry to my coke, but most importantly she is my family. My lifeline.

“If you know something, I need you to tell me. Not with absolute certainty because I know pathology has to do that, but I need to know what you know, so I can do burn outs on the track or go rebuild an engine. This way when she wakes up, I have processed it and can be there for her with a smile upon my face. I need to be able to be strong when she sees me, not overwhelmed because we just learned her fate. I need to be able to do this for her. Please, tell me anything you know.”

I was crying by the time I finished talking, it seemed everyone was when I looked around. Henry and Liza were gone, but my true family Brooklyn and Mike were there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eddie and even he seemed moved by what I said so I turned back to the doctor in hopes I got through to him.

“When we got her open and the oxygen hit the area you could almost see it spreading. Pathology is going to come back and tell us she has cancer.”

“Are you sure?” I asked out of reaction more than a need to know.

“I’m sorry. She will be referred to an oncologist that I have worked with before when one of my patients got sick. She is really good, so try not to over-worry until we hear what she has to say.”

Just like that another lifeline was leaving me.

First my job.

Then my money.

Now my family.

Chapter 8

“Don’t be mad,” a voice called out behind me and usually when someone says don’t be mad. I am instantly angry, like a reflex.

“What the fuck are you doing up here?” I asked as I turned around ready to spit nails.

“I followed you. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

“Go to hell,” I shouted and yet instead of listening the asshole took a few steps closer. “I mean it Kurt. Go. The. Fuck. Away!”

I stood up on the roof of the hospital and walked closer to the edge. I knew there was a sidewalk below me that would break my fall and send me to the afterlife, but I was saying a silent prayer it wouldn’t get that far.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Kurt spoke softly, and I might have bought it, but he took a few steps closer and then held out his arms. “Come home with me, Kate. Love me, like I love you.”

“Get the fuck away!” I screamed. “I swear to God I will jump and die before I let you anywhere near me again.”

“You don’t mean that,” he almost smirked.

“The hell I don’t,” I said as I struggled to catch my balance when a gust of wind came.

“I’ll make you remember who is in charge,” Kurt called out as some kind of alpha-gone-wrong episode you expect to find on Skin-amax.