His Every Word (2 page)

Kallie ignored his little remark. She was fuming. “And Scarlett didn’t even say good things about Hunter to the police,” Kallie muttered.

Sean looked confused. “How do you know what she told the police?”

“I’m not talking about what happened today. The police talked to her after I was assaulted outside the movie theater.”

Sean couldn’t have looked more confused. It would have been comical under different circumstances. “The police talked to Hunter’s ex-girlfriend after
you
were mugged? Why the hell would they do that?”

“Because,” Kallie sighed. “I wasn’t just mugged. Someone who worked for her boyfriend was sent to hurt me.”

Sean’s eyes narrowed. “Mom never said anything about that to me.”

“I didn’t tell Mom anything about that.”

“Kallie, you’ve been lying to everyone. Keeping secrets.”

“Sean, please don’t give me a guilt trip right now, okay?”

He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “If I’d have known this was all because of some weird love triangle, I never would have come out here to try and talk sense to you in the first place.”

Kallie glanced at him. “You never should have come out here to try and talk sense to me in the first place. I’ve told you to mind your own business on plenty of occasions.”

“I need to listen better.”

“You sure do.”

Sean stopped talking and sat forward, as a doctor came out and began speaking earnestly to Scarlett. The doctor was older, with a head of nearly white hair.

Kallie was studying Scarlett’s face to try and get a sense of what the news was.

Scarlett’s expression was tense but enigmatic. She listened attentively as the doctor was talking, nodding her head every so often, but not saying much in return.

Kallie wanted more than anything to be able to walk up to the physician and ask him to include her in the conversation, but knew that it was impossible. Finally, after another couple of minutes, the doctor put a hand briefly on Scarlett’s shoulder, said one last thing, and then turned and left the waiting room.

Scarlett stood there for a long while after he left, and Kallie got a horrible feeling that started in her stomach and then spread like a wildfire through her entire body. She was numb, horrified, dizzy. “I think I’m going to pass out,” she said, her voice sounding distant.

The doctor had given Scarlett bad news—that much was clear. Hunter wasn’t going to make it, Kallie thought.

“Kallie. Kallie,” Sean said. “You okay?”

“No.” She felt herself drifting, as if she were sinking into a black hole.

“Put your head between your legs and breathe,” Sean snapped, laying his hands on her back and helping her lean forward.

She did as he suggested, her limbs rubbery and pliable. She was seeing spots in her eyes. The world was a big blur, echoes from Sean’s voice rang in her ears.

As she laid forward, her head touching her kneecaps, the feeling of losing consciousness started to recede slowly.

“Kallie?” Sean asked nervously. “Are you with me?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. The world was coming back into focus. “I’m okay.”

“Stay like that for a second,” he said. His voice was finally gentle, as if her near-fainting episode had reminded him what she’d been through.

“I can sit up,” she said. “I feel better now.”

“Just take minute,” he said. “I don’t want you passing out and cracking your head.”

Kallie heard footsteps as someone came closer. “Is she all right?” The voice was Scarlett’s.

“I think she almost fainted,” Sean replied.

“I didn’t. I just had a weird little moment is all,” Kallie said, sitting up straight and trying to regain her composure. For some reason, it felt important that Scarlett not see her as weak.

Scarlett was watching her with wary eyes. “The doctor said that Hunter’s out of surgery and in the ICU,” she said.

Kallie’s heart began racing. “Is he okay?” she gasped.

“I don’t really know. Apparently he lost a great deal of blood and there was a lot of internal damage, especially to his lung. The doctor said he’s not out of the woods yet, and it might be a few days before they can tell if the surgery did its job.”

Kallie gripped her purse tightly. Her hands were sweaty. “Is he awake? Can we see him?”

Scarlett nodded. “They said I should be able to visit with him for a very short time in the next couple of hours.”

Kallie felt it like a blow to the stomach. They’d said Scarlett could visit with him…And Kallie was once more being left out of things.

Thinking about how ridiculous it was, how preposterous it was that Scarlett was here relaying information about Hunter’s health, caused Kallie to laugh. She put a hand over her mouth and barked a few more laughs, as Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

“Is something funny?” Scarlett asked her.

Kallie just shook her head. “I can’t help but laugh a little bit. I mean, here you are—telling us about Hunter’s condition. And it’s really your fault that we’re all in this situation in the first place.”

Scarlett reacted as if she’d been physically slapped. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed. “My fault?”

Sean looked at Kallie. “Come on, don’t say that,” he whispered. “You’re just upset.” He glanced at Scarlett. “She doesn’t really mean it. She’s been through a lot today,” he explained, as if talking to a fellow parent about why his eight-year-old was misbehaving at school.

Kallie brushed his hand aside and glared up at Scarlett. “No, I really do mean it.

What right did you have to show up in his life out of nowhere and demand his help?

What kind of person burdens someone else with their problems that way?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“Of course not. That’s exactly the type of person you are,” Kallie hissed, her stomach filled with fire. “You waltz in and out of places, entitled, mysterious, thinking that someone owes you something. Well Hunter didn’t owe you a damn thing, but you took his help anyway, didn’t you?”

Scarlett’s expression was stricken. “You don’t know anything about me,” she said, in a shaken, hushed voice.

“I think I do. I looked at you for five seconds the night you showed up at the restaurant, and I knew exactly what you were. It’s not that complicated—you’re not as mysterious to another woman—because women don’t fall for that garbage. You can’t just bat your eyelashes at me and make me think it means something.”

“You’re jealous,” Scarlett said, her voice gaining intensity, as she seemed to collect her wits after the unexpected verbal assault.

“Jealous of you? Hardly.”

Scarlett smirked. “Of course you are, sweetheart. Hunter told me exactly what kind of “relationship” the two of you had. You wish Hunter would give you the kind of help he gave me.”

The comment stung—it stung badly. But it wasn’t really true anymore. “Maybe I’m guilty of wanting to be his girlfriend,” Kallie told her. “But at least I didn’t come in and out of his life looking to suck him dry.”

“I needed help and I won’t apologize to you or anyone else for that.”

“Is it anyone else’s fault that you decided to get involved and stay involved with Terrence? Is it anyone else’s fault that you didn’t have the sense to stay away from a complete maniac?”

“You don’t think I’m sorry?” Scarlett practically yelled.

“You could have fooled me. You certainly never said it to me.”

“As if you would have accepted an apology. You’d rather have someone to blame for everything.” Scarlett turned, tears in her eyes, and ran from the waiting room.

Kallie sat where she was, her hands grabbing the armrests on her chair as if she might fly away by loosening her grip. “Don’t say a word,” she told Sean, as he sat next to her.

Kallie could feel eyes upon her. There weren’t many people in the waiting room, but there were enough to stare at her like she was an exhibit at the local zoo.

Their gazes were disapproving, and she could feel the thoughts beneath them—

we’re scared, we’re hurting too. But you don’t hear us complaining, or yelling or
screaming and making it worse. Why can’t you be quiet and suffer privately?

***

About an hour later, Scarlett came back.

Kallie was sitting in the same chair as before, pretending to read the same page of People Magazine over and over again, while Sean slept beside her, his head rolling from one side to the other. Occasionally he snorted and even muttered uneasily.

She hadn’t expected Scarlett to return—hadn’t really expected anything. Kallie was just sitting there because there was nothing else to do, and she certainly wasn’t about to leave without seeing Hunter.

But Scarlett did come back, and surprised Kallie by coming directly to her, as if she were about to ask her to step outside and duke it out.

“Can I talk to you alone?” Scarlett asked.

Kallie thought for a moment. The people nearby stirred, murmuring, the disapproving gazes starting all over again.

“Sure,” Kallie said. “Want to walk to the vending machines? I need a Coke.”

Scarlett nodded, folding her arms. Her face looked drawn and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked as though she’d been crying the entire time she’d been gone.

Scarlett headed for the doors. Kallie turned and gently touched Sean’s shoulder.

He snapped awake and sat up. “Is everything okay?”

Seeing him so on alert touched her heart and caused her to smile sadly. In his face, she could still see echoes of the young boy that had always wanted to protect her and all of their siblings from harm. He might be a bulldog, he might even be a blowhard, but Kallie knew it all came from a good place. “Everything’s fine,” she said. “I’m going for a walk with Scarlett, to the vending machines. You want anything?”

He sighed and sat back, his body relaxing. “I don’t know. Snickers bar?”

“Sure. Get some more rest,” she said, stroking his hair away from his forehead, something their mother would have done.

“Thanks,” he murmured, folding his arms and closing his eyes again. “Promise me you won’t try and punch that girl.”

“I won’t,” she laughed, following Scarlett out into the hallway.

Scarlett was waiting for her as she came through the doors.

“How’s your brother doing?” Scarlett asked, starting to walk again.

Kallie shrugged. “I don’t know, really. I think we’re all in shock right now, aren’t we?”

Scarlett nodded. “I suppose so. Not that I could compare my situation to yours.”

“It’s okay. We’re in this together,” Kallie said. “And I’m sorry—“

Scarlett broke in. “Please, don’t. Don’t apologize to me.” Scarlett stopped and turned to face her. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, Kallie.”

“What happened to Hunter isn’t your fault,” Kallie said. “I didn’t mean what I said before.”

“Of course some of this is my fault,” Scarlett replied. Her eyes were not filled with self-pity, Kallie realized. Rather, Scarlett’s eyes seemed steady and honest. “The fact of the matter is that I got involved with Terrence Craven, knowing full-well that he was dangerous.” She started walking again, more slowly.

Kallie walked in pace with her. “Why?”

“Why did I get involved with a dangerous man?”

“I just don’t understand the appeal.”

“Suffice it to say, I had issues. Big issues. I still do. Maybe not as bad as before, but—who knows?” She fell silent for a moment, as if pondering this question, before continuing on. “What I do know is that I was aware of what he represented. Terrence was a threat from the very beginning, and I went into it with my eyes as open as they could have been.”

“Even if that was the case,” Kallie said, “you couldn’t have known what he would do today. And you can’t be held responsible for another person’s actions.”

“No, but I can be held responsible for my actions. It’s true what you said about me. All of it. I’m entitled, selfish and concerned mostly with my own needs.”

“Please, Scarlett. Don’t take what I said to heart. I’m halfway out of my mind after what happened and I lashed out at the closet person.”

Scarlett just shook her head. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad you said those things, because I really needed to hear them.”

They reached the vending machines and Kallie bought herself and Sean a couple of sodas, and then she got him a Snickers bar.

“I’m glad we talked,” Kallie said, as she picked up the last item from the bottom of the machine. She looked at Scarlett and smiled, genuinely. “You know, you’re the only person who understands at all how I feel about Hunter.”

“He really cares about you,” Scarlett said. “I know I tried to act like he didn’t, but the truth is that he was pretty obviously head over heels for you.”

Kallie felt her eyes grow wet and her throat tightened. “Thanks for saying that.”

Scarlett smiled. “In fact, the day he kicked me out of his house, he told me that it was because he realized he had strong feelings for you. I asked him what he meant by that, and Hunter said that he’d had a wakeup call, and he wasn’t going to lose you. He told me that he planned to spend the rest of his life becoming the kind of person who’d make you happy.”

“He said all of that?” Kallie asked, genuinely shocked.

They started back down the hallway. “Hunter will surprise you,” Scarlett said softly.

“I know he will. I really do,” Kallie replied, fighting back more tears.

When they got to the waiting room, Sean was awake and texting on his cell phone. He took the Coke and candy bar with a wry grin directed at Scarlett. “I’m a sugar fanatic,” he said. “When things go badly, the first thing I reach for is the sweets.”

Scarlett laughed. “I’m the same way with vodka.”

Kallie glanced at the woman, wondering if it was humor or truth or something of a mix, but Scarlett’s expression didn’t give anything away.

Scarlett might even have bigger walls up than Hunter, Kallie thought, with a sense of awe. No wonder they’d been drawn to each other.

“Who were you texting with?” Kallie asked Sean, as he slid his phone back into his pocket and unwrapped his candy bar.

“Lydia,” he said, chewing. He took a large gulp of Coke. “I called her and Mom and Dad while you were getting stitched up. They want constant updates, so I’ve been texting them when I can.”