Resilient (2) (19 page)

They both screamed the entire game. Ian cheered more than yelled. Katrine swore she would never be that mom, but she just couldn’t help herself. She got swept up in the moment. And she was so into the game, the fact that David and Mermadia were there wasn’t even weird. It was a little weird, but it helped that Ian and Maddie were with her. Maddie didn’t say a word to them. She just kind of nodded in acknowledgement. That was very good considering she looked like she wanted to drop kick them both. Katrine said hello and briefly discussed this week’s Teddy switcharoo with her ex. She almost congratulated them on their marriage, but she just couldn’t. She was glad he was happy, because when you’re happy it makes you a better parent, but her good will only went so far.

“That wasn’t at all awkward,” Maddie said, rolling her eyes as they made their way over to where Ian was standing. He had kept his distance to allow them time to talk.

“How’d you do?” he asked, pulling Katrine into his embrace.

“It was fine.” She stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for coming.”

“Wouldn’t miss it. Ted, you kicked butt, bro.” Teddy grabbed his bag and they bumped fists.

“Thanks, Ian.”

“You were the best player out there, little man.”

“Thanks, Aunt Maddie.” He smiled shyly and tucked his soccer ball under his arm.

Ian held Katrine’s left hand. Katrine had her other arm around Teddy’s shoulder, and Maddie was on the other side of Teddy. The four made their way back to Ian’s jeep. Teddy talked about his two goals. Katrine smiled, thinking how beautiful this spring day was. She looked at the people around her and had a moment. One of those moments when it hits you that life is so very good and that you are so very blessed.

Jane was hosting a trunk show at her store, Next Door at Jane’s. A well-known artist from the area was showcasing her hand-made jewelry. Jane had a full spread and plenty of wine, which always helped loosen the purse strings. A portion went to Jane’s store, so the whole gang had shown up. They were happy to contribute because the jewelry was unique and exquisite.
 

“How do I look?” Charlie asked, twirling in a circle. She had about twelve bracelets on each wrist and five necklaces. The girls laughed.

“You look fabulous, daaahhling,” Jane laughed.
 

“Don’t get happy panties, Janie, I’m not buying all of these. I think I’ll pass on this short green necklace,” she said, pulling a beaded one out of the group. When it came to shopping, Charlie didn’t mess around. She could drop some serious coin in under fifteen minutes if she was in the mood.

“Jane, the store looks so amazing. I’m so proud of you,” Katrine said.

“We all are. Pat yourself on the back, girl!” Paige added.

“Thanks, guys. It does look great, right? I’m very pleased with the new gourmet sauce section. The sales have been great. I’m thinking a little cafe section next year, just coffee, tea, and desserts. What do you girls think?” They all said it was a great idea. It was nice to see Jane smiling again. She had been so down the last few times Katrine had seen her. Infertility could be all consuming and extremely depressing. Jane was one of the most optimistic and upbeat people she knew, but even she’d been beaten up by it all.
 

They shopped around and had a few glasses of wine. When it was time to go, the girls decided to grab some drinks and make a night of it. They hadn’t all been together since Charlie’s party. The night air felt glorious, so when then arrived at their favorite wine bar they took a large round table outside. The menus were slabs of wood with worn parchment paper, very old world. They opted to get a few bottles since they were all drinking. There were nibbles at the trunk show, but they were always hungry, so they ordered more food to snack on.
 

Charlie was in the midst of sharing her trials and tribulations of raising a pre-teen daughter when the first bottle was delivered.

“Guys, I just don’t want her to be popular. The popular girls are mean and they become drunken sluts in high school. I want her nerdy. Playing the tuba, math club, staying in every weekend nerdy.”
 

“Not all popular girls are like that, Charlie. You were very popular and you weren’t…oh never mind. That doesn’t help prove my point,” Izzie laughed.
 

“I’m about to ship her ass to Timbuktu with the attitude she’s got now. Or maybe I’ll just give up and let her do whatever she wants.”

“Don’t get lazy about it, then she’ll really get crazy,” Paige pointed out.

“What’s lazy to some is a progressive parenting strategy to another, just give it a fancy name like the hands off learning model,” Katrine suggested with a grin.

“Whatever you call it, she’s about to get an old fashioned beat down. There’s only room for one diva in my house.”

“It’s a phase, we all went through it. Identity crisis, pimples, raging hormones, I hated middle school, it was the fucking worst,” Maddie groaned.

“Speaking of pimples, I was at the store the other day and I looked down into my basket. Zit paste and wrinkle cream. What’s bad about that scenario? They were both for me. I mean, god! If I have wrinkles, shouldn’t I get a pass on bad skin? Mother nature can be one cruel bitch,” Jane said.
 

“You should try my eye cream, Jane, it’s fabulous,” Charlie suggested.

“Charlie, have you gone to the more earth friendly products yet? You always get the one’s that test on animals.”
 

“Maddie, I would blind a basket of bunnies any day of the week if it meant younger looking skin.” Charlie admitted.

“Whatever, Cruella. I bet you use the tears of Cambodian orphans as moisturizer,” Maddie teased with an eye roll.

“If it worked, hell yes.” She would probably draw the line at orphan tears, but then again maybe not.

The wine was flowing and the lips were flapping. And like always, the conversation turned sexual. It’s just one of those things.

“You know who has the sweetest gig ever? Smurfette. Think about it. Only female in the village, 99 smurfs to choose from, all with different personalities. ‘I think today I’ll take Hefty, tomorrow the one that can build things.’ I mean, you’d never get bored,” Katrine brought up randomly. It doesn’t get more random than smurf sex.

“And when she wants to work out her daddy issues, there’s Papa Smurf, nice,” Izzie added.

“Oh, smurf me, papa, smurf me hard!” Maddie moaned. It was a little louder than appropriate, but then, it was Maddie. She always prized comedic affect over propriety. And of course they all cracked up.

“Why are we talking about smurfs?” Charlie asked.

“Um, weren’t you just talking about getting double teamed by the guys on
Vampire Diaries
? I think any topic is fair game,” Paige pointed out.

“Fantasy sex with hot actors. Totally relevant. Blue cartoon characters that wear white no matter the season, not so much. Besides Smurfette ain’t gettin’ any, those smurfs aren’t interested in her. I mean please, the footed tights with a hole cut out for the tail and no shirt…gay!”

 
It was just like Charlie to protest the topic and then add her two cents.

“The smurfs are not gay! Maybe that one that carries the mirror around all of the time, but that’s it,” Katrine argued.

Charlie took out her phone and pressed a button. “Let me ask an expert…Hey, Tris. We need your gex-pertise about something. Smurfs, gay or straight? Uh huh, uh uh. Okay, thanks. Love you!” She put her phone down on the table. They were all looking at her like she had the answer to end world hunger. “Totally gay.” The smurf sexuality debate continued for about thirty more minutes. Who knew it was such a polarizing topic.

“Do you think vampires wear boxers or briefs?” Jane wondered. And the random thoughts portion of the night continued until they had drained five bottles of wine.

As to the question boxers or briefs, the consensus was commando…

Running in spring when the weather was mild and the trees were heavy with blossoms was definitely on her smile list. What a perfect way to end a great weekend. The night out with her girls and then a tipsy booty call to Ian. But was it a booty call if it was to her boyfriend?
 
She didn’t think Ian cared what she called it as long as she called. He’d been out having beers with some friends, so he was more than willing to come over to her house. He’d kept her up most of the night, so this run was helping the wine head and the exhaustion that had been creeping in all morning.
 

Sweat started to bead on her lower back and her thighs were burning a bit. Despite that fact she still had gas in the tank well into her sixth mile.
 
“Now” by Paramore was next on her playlist and when it started, Katrine quickened her pace and turned the corner on her way to the park. At the end of
 
a residential area lined with trees there was a four-way stop. She paused, looking for cars. As she started to cross the road, the music stopped. Slowing down, she glanced at her arm band and noticed there was no charge.

“Shit.”

Katrine passed the median. She was still stabbing at her iPod when the music started abruptly, so when the red Beetle blew through the stop sign, she didn’t see or hear it coming…

Chapter 19

“Miss…miss. Can you hear me?”

Katrine felt a jostling of her limbs and something hard under her back. She also heard a muffled voice, it sounded very far away.
 

Are they talking to me? Why won’t my arms move?

Katrine tried to hang onto the voice and open her eyes. She wanted to respond, but no sound came out of her mouth, she wasn’t even sure if her lips had separated. Deciding it was just easier to let the darkness take her, she relaxed back into her own mind.

She was being pushed down a long hallway. Every few feet there would be a light and then a circular mirror above her. She caught sporadic glimpses of herself, but it wasn’t someone she recognized. No longer able to keep her eyes open, she was out once again.

“It’s a miracle she didn’t sustain more severe injuries. We’ll keep her under observation for a few days.”

“I want to see her test results and I want an update every hour on her progress.”

Katrine knew that voice.What was he doing here? And where was here? Finally she was able to pry her eyelids apart. All she saw was beige. She heard beeping and the voices beside her.
 

“I don’t want her released until her scans are clear for 48 hours at least.”

“We’re taking good care of her, Dr. Foster.”

Dr. Foster? Oh crap.

When she opened her eyes, she became aware of two things. One, her ex standing by her bed, and two, every inch of her body was throbbing. She was in a hospital and now it all came rushing back.
 

Stupid. She knew better than to mess with her iPod when crossing a street. That was a rookie move. Always be aware of your surroundings.

“Hey, you’re awake,” David said gently. It was the voice he used when they were married and it was more than a little weird.

 
I must be really effed up.
 

Katrine started to check for the full body cast she must be in to elicit David’s sweet voice.

He came over to her and grabbed her hand.
 

Even weirder.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a car.”

“She’s cracking jokes so she must be doing good.” He smiled.

There was a short woman in a white coat standing next to him.

“Hello, Katrine. I’m Dr. Suárez,. I was the attending in the ER when you were brought in.” She had a kind smile and dark hair pulled into a tight bun.

“How long have I been here?”

“You were admitted about four hours ago. You were hit by a car. Do you remember anything?” she asked as she shined a pen light into Katrine’s eyes.

God, give a girl a heads up before you blind her ass!

“Not really, I remember I was out for a run. I was messing with my iPod and then I guess I ran out into the street or something.”

“Trine, the car ran a stop sign,” David said. She wanted to tell him not to call her that, but she let it slide. He was obviously worried about her.

“How did I get here? I guess a better question is where is here and how did you know?”

“The girl that hit you called 911. They brought you to Trinity.”

“But how did you know I was here? I didn’t have any I.D or a phone.” Her head was starting to pound and the right side of her body felt like it had a pulse. She just wanted to sleep and talking was exhausting her.

 
“Gary was in the ER for an ortho consult when you were brought in. Thankfully he recognized you and called me.” Thank God for Gary. He had been a colleague of David’s for over a decade and knew her well. Not to mention this was David’s hospital.

“Teddy—where is he? Is he okay?”
 

“He’s out in the waiting area and so is Maddie.” Katrine relaxed back into her pillow. “Can I see them?”

Dr. Suárez seemed satisfied with whatever her spotlight examination told her and nodded. “They can come on for a few minutes, but I’m sure you want to rest.” Katrine nodded and attempted to move her hand without yanking out the I.V.
 
It felt like a shank in her arm.

“Am I okay?” she asked, her voice tentative. David bent down and brushed her cheek. Again weird, but comforting. “You have a mild concussion and a severe contusion on your right thigh and upper arm. That was the area of impact. They were able to use surgical glue instead of stitches for the laceration on your face, so the scarring should be minimal. It’s a miracle your injuries weren’t more severe, but God looks out for his angels.”
 

Whoa whoa whoa, now I’m an angel? I must be dying…

She used every ounce of strength she had to keep her eyes from rolling, but damn she wanted to.
 

Just leave and let me see my real family!
 

Okay, that’s not nice. Head injuries must make me cranky.