Perfecting the Odds (32 page)

“I’
m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair. She sobbed, gripping his shirt, not wanting to let him go. Her Adonis, the light in the darkness surrounding her.

With a
heavy exhale, she pulled away. “Why Eve,” she asked, her eyes darting between his, desperate for answers. He shook his head, knowing her question was really,
why not me
? His gut clenched. Karis would have traded places without a second thought. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, sweetheart.”

She
buried her face in his shirt. “He raped her, Michael; beat her to unconsciousness. Oh, God, when she wakes…how am I going to calm her? How am I going to help her? She’s always been the strong one.”

“You’ll be there for her
. She’ll need you, and you will be the Karis you’ve always been--supportive, loving, loyal.”

Shaking her head,
Karis released him and walked toward Eve’s bed again. She sat in her chair, placing her hand over hers. She bent her head, continuing the silent prayers and pleas for her to wake. Michael retreated to the waiting room again.

In that damn blue chair, minutes passed like hours before Karis finally succumbed to sleep.

And for the first time in almost a year, the dream
replayed like an old movie.

“
Karis, I’m sick.”

“I’ll get you some Tylenol, babe.”
Karis began to rise from the couch where they sat side-by-side, but Robert grabbed her forearm. His grip bared the truth she missed not looking in his eyes.

He smiled nervously. “Baby, I don’t think that will fix what I have.”

“A migraine?” she said with a wince. “I’m sorry, babe. I think I have some really strong ibuprofen in there somewhere.” She tried to pull away, but he remained latched onto her.

With a squeeze to her arm, he
whispered, “Baby… I have cancer.”

She rolled his eyes at him, dismissing the idea quickly. “
So not funny, Robert,” she said and placed her hands on her hips.

“No, it’s not.” He stared at her
, his eyes—for the first time ever—glistening with unshed tears. The realization swept over her like a gust of acrid air. By this point, they could read each other without words, and this was the first time in her life she hated that trait.

“Stop this now, Robert!” And then she saw a tear slowly drip down his face. Her body shuttered. She would never forget the sharp pain of her teeth clacking together.

“How could you possibly know already…Oh, my God, Robert.” She glared at him. “You’ve already been to the doctor? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I waited too long, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“Damn right, you did! You should have told me right away. How many days have you been hiding this from me?”

“I’m so sorry,
Karis.”

S
he unclenched her fists and began kneading his shoulder, realizing she needed to get a grip on her emotions for him. “I wished you would have told me, babe.”

“The doctor said six months.”

Her hand stopped. “Six months? For what? Treatment? How could he know already without a biopsy, without tests?”

“Baby, I—.”

She stood quickly. “Robert! Six months for what!”

“I should have told you.”

Robert quickly explained his deception as Karis stared at the wall behind him, too overwhelmed to speak. She ran to the bathroom and stayed in there, crying and heaving until all that remained was a dull ache. He didn’t come to her. When she finally decided to go to bed, she found Robert still sitting on the couch. Breathe strangled her as she now saw what he’d been hiding. He looked sick, pale and more than a few pounds thinner.

Her voice shocked him out of his comatose state. “You promised you would be loyal and honest. In sickness and in health. Don’t you reme
mber your fucking vows, Robert! I could have helped. I would have been by your side through everything. Haven’t I always been?”

That night, she fell asleep, tormented by how much she may not know about her husband.

Eve
’s twitching fingers quickly brought Karis from her slumber. With the dream settling in the back of her mind now, Karis jumped up and stared at her face, desperate to see more movement. Within a few seconds, Eve’s eyes fluttered open as much as they could despite the swelling.

“
Oh, God, Eve, honey, I’m here. It’s Karis.” She softly stroked her forehead, trying to avoid the bruises. She then pressed the nurse button and quickly texted Scott.

“What...happened
?” Eve croaked. Karis reached for the cup of water the nurse brought earlier.

“
Take a little sip.” Eve winced as she tried to extract the water from the straw. “Eve, do you remember anything about last night?”

Eve
inhaled deeply, wincing again at the sharp ache in her chest. Karis watched as the pain aggressively swept over her entire body. Everything had to hurt: her chest, legs, arms, and her head probably pounded with a migraine only credited to being hit in the head with a blunt object.

“
Karis, everything hurts… so much.”

“The nurse is coming. She’ll give you something.
Honey, do you remember anything?” Karis battled with wanting her to remember every detail and begging for amnesia.

“I
...don’t know.” Eve now cautiously respired in and out until she gasped and widened her eyes as much as she could. She met Karis’s eyes dead-on. “Oh, God, Karis. That asshole...I couldn’t get away...He—.” Eve began to tremble uncontrollably just as Angela rushed in to fill her IV with medicinal reprieve.

Karis
stroked Eve’s hair. “Shh, Eve. I know. I’m so sorry.” The nurse silently monitored her blood pressure and before departing, reminded Karis of Eve’s need to rest as much as possible. Eve’s sobs finally subsided to shuddered wheezes, and she stilled and stared blankly at the ceiling. Karis found her seat again, remaining silent, giving Eve time to open up again.

A few moments later, Scott
jogged through the door, looking as if he’d run the whole way. The emptiness quickly left Eve’s eyes as she furrowed her brow. “What the hell are you doing here?”

His eyes softened as he placed his hand over hers.
“I’m the detective on your case. Are you in too much pain?”

Barely a whisper, she
answered to the ceiling, “Isn’t this a conflict of interest, Scott?”

He shook his head.
Through gritted teeth, he said, “Fuck that, Eve.”

She
looked down but couldn’t bear to meet his eyes just yet; instead, she stared at the wall behind him. “I stayed late at the office to work on a case. I left about ten o’clock. I heard the footsteps behind me. I was almost to my car when he called my name.” Scott’s eyes widened.  “I turned around. He was tall, but shorter than you. I couldn’t see his face. It was so dark. And he didn’t look familiar. He asked me to go somewhere…I don’t remember where. I gave him a smart ass rejection and turned away.” Her eyes then shifted to Scott’s. “He told me he’d be damned if I rejected him for a second time. I felt something hit me behind my knees and I fell. My face smashed into the concrete. God, the pain was--.” She shut her eyes for a few moments before continuing. “He dragged me by my hair into the alley. I screamed. I tried so hard to get away. He kept calling me a cocktease. I must have passed out when he started--.” Her lips began to tremble, and she bit her lip, trying to stop the tears, but she couldn’t. And all Karis and Scott could do was let her cry. Each grabbed a hand, and she flinched at the touch. Scott released, but Karis gripped harder.

“
Eve, the nurse said he must have used protection. Beyond the...trauma, he left no DNA,” Scott shared.

She glared at him.
“I don’t fucking remember if he gloved his goddamn pencil dick, Scott! Christ, please stop talking. I’ll give you whatever you want, but I would rather write it down. I just need to be alone now.”

He nodded.
He leaned down, as if to kiss her but stopped himself. “Okay, Eve, if there’s anything I can do…anything you need, please call me.”

She
didn’t acknowledge him and turned toward Karis. “You too. I love you, but I need to be alone.” Karis tried to disguise the look of rejection, but knew it was written all over her face. She merely nodded, kissed her friend’s forehead, and followed Scott into the hallway.

Once outside
the room, Karis grabbed Scott’s arm. “Wait, Scott.” He turned. “Eve’s always been this way. She deals with life on her own. But don’t think for one minute she should. If you really care about her, don’t give up. You’ll break through eventually.” He nodded but didn’t speak as he started to walk away. “Scott?” He turned. “Have you seen Michael?”

“
He may be in the waiting room. He mentioned grabbing some coffee, too.”

“
Okay. And, Scott?” He raised his brows. “Thank you.” He nodded, donning a glimmer of a smile, and walked down the hall.

Karis could have made the trek to Diane’s office blindfolded. When Robert was sick, she found herself there more times than a patient’s wife should have been. A wonderful doctor and friend, Diane made her office a safe haven for Karis, so today seemed good a time as any to retreat for much-needed solace.

Karis
recognized Diane’s hushed voice just before she made it to the doorway of her office. “Michael, you have to tell her,” Diane whispered, stopping Karis in her tracks. She pressed her back against the wall beside the door.
Tell her
?

“I can’t, Diane. If I couldn’t tell her before, how can I tell her now
? Her best friend’s just been beaten to a pulp. I can’t.” Michael’s voice cracked at bit at the end. “I won’t deliberately mete out more suffering.”

It crossed
Karis’s mind to just walk away, to avoid to inevitable hurt— no goodbye, no fuck you, just leave. But anyone in a similar situation knows that curiosity is a debilitating bastard; Karis couldn’t will her feet to move if she tried.

“Michael,
listen. You think you know how Karis will react. But keep in mind, I know her too, and I was there at one of her lowest points. She’s strong. She can handle the truth. She deserves it. Christ, Michael, if you love her, tell her. Let her make the decision if it’s too much to handle.”

Fuming with anger
at the promise of deception, Karis could hear no more. Another damn lie? If anything, Eve’s attack had brought forth a level of anger Karis had never tapped into before. She all but erupted outside of that room. She took two steps and entered the office. Diane’s eyes widened immediately.

“Handle. what. truth., Michael?” She growled out, glaring at his back, hoping her eyes would burn holes straight through to his goddamned mendacious heart. Whatever it was, from how Diane spoke, she was sure it would break hers, and she be damned if he came out of this unscathed.

Michael
turned, visibly stunned by the voice booming off the office walls. His jaw clenched before he briefly shut his eyes.

“
Can’t tell me what, Michael?” Although her eyes shot daggers, her voice was eerily steady, and he shuddered at the icy coolness. “What do I need to ‘handle’ now? And that’s a droll fucking word...
handle
.... My entire life, I have felt like I have not a
goddamn
thing to hold onto.”

“
Karis, sweetheart, I was going to tell you,” he began.

Her nostrils flared as she pressed her lips into a firm line.
“Going to, Michael? Did we not discuss about that
thing
I claimed you were hiding? You insisted it was nothing. And I bought that shit,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief before pinching the bridge of her nose.
And here comes the damn migraine
, she thought
. Can’t deal with fucking heartbreak without a splitting headache to top it off.

“I didn’t want to hurt you. Please--.”

Not the best thing to say in light of her entire life. She lifted both brows. “But you’d
fuck
me six ways to Sunday, right? Good enough to screw, but not quite worthy of the truth? He jolted as if she had punched him. “Story of my fucking life.” Then she made a sound that was a strange mix of growl and shriek.

“
God dammit. Don’t you assholes know that all you do is hurt me? News Flash--Lying hurts!” Her voice hitched as she swallowed the tears. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a blatant lie or one of omission. A lie’s, a lie. So what is it, Michael? Just fucking say it already. Please.” Her body rocked with anger, but she managed to inhale, readying herself for the verbal punch to her chest, the fracture to her heart that had finally pieced back together when they confessed their love for each other