Senseless Attraction (23 page)

      “I’m—my dad, he—someone called me,” I stuttered out.

      Concern showed in her eyes. “That was me, dear. He’s out of surgery and it looks like he’s going to be okay. They’re keeping him unconscious until morning.”

      “What…uh, what happened?”

      “All I know is that he was at the supermarket when a man came in to rob it. When he didn’t get the money, he went to shoot the cashier, and your dad jumped in front of her. But they both ended up being shot then.”

      No, no. He was shot, shot by a real gun! How can one do such a thing? And what was he thinking?

      “Alexandra, are you okay?” Tristan asked. I looked up at him and nodded. “He’s going to be okay.” He smiled, and I nodded again. “Can she see him?” Tristan asked what I was thinking.

      The security guy coughed and said, “No visitors now; he’s asleep anyway ‘til morning.”

      “So at least let her see him, so she can reassure herself that he is okay.” Tristan glared.

      “Look, mate, rules are rules,” he said, standing up taller and placing his hands on his belt—one on his Taser gun.

      “Come on, you let Sky through to see her mom,” a voice said behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find a guy about my age standing there—in a tuxedo, of all things—with an older lady.

      “It’s all right, Mack, let the girl through. We’re so slow tonight; the other nurses haven’t come back from break,” the nurse said then grumbled under her breath, “Wenches, just wait till I go on my break. Knowing my luck, we’ll have more patients come in and I’ll have to come back.”

       The security guy grumbled, but opened the door anyway. I said a thank you to the tuxedo guy and went to walk through the door, but stopped and looked back over to Tristan.

      “I’ll be here when you come out,” he said. I gave him a small smile and kept going. The hospital, for once, seemed dead quiet, which was really creepy because from what I had heard, hospitals were usually busy at night because of drunks, drug users, and people in fights.

      I was told where his room was, and the walk down the hall seemed long. I opened the door to room 424 and gasped at the sight of my dad hooked up to so many machines.

      As I took the few steps to his bedside, I fought back the tears wanting to escape.

      “Dad? Oh, Daddy, I love you. Please don’t ever scare me like this again. I can’t lose you too. I don’t know what I would do if I did. And what in God’s name were you doing at the grocery store so late at night?”

      I giggled, bent, and kissed him on the cheek. “She must have been good-looking for you to want to risk your life. I’ll see you in the morning; be a good man and stay safe. Love you.” I gave him one last hand squeeze and kiss on the cheek, then left.

      I went back down the hall, wanting to ask the nurse some questions. The security guy must have seen me approaching because the door opened, and I walked back out into the quiet waiting room. A room that had always made me uncomfortable. At least this wasn’t the hospital I had lost my mother in, because if it was, I honestly didn’t think I would have been able to set one foot in here.

      Tristan stood up as I came out; I gave him a reassuring smile as he walked over to me.

     “Are you okay?”

     “Better. Thank you for…for being here, helping me get to see him. I don’t think I would have calmed down if I hadn’t.”

      “I figured that, and I have to say, you look better now that you have seen him. Before, you were ghostly white.”

      “I just want to ask a few questions and then we can go. If you could just drop me off at home, then you can get back to Sarah. I wonder if she’s still…” My voice travelled off because I had a sudden urge to go outside.

      “Alex? Alexandra, what is it?” Tristan caught my arm. I hadn’t realised I had already started to walk off until I was no longer standing in front of him. “Alex?”

      “I…I don’t know, Tristan. Just…”

      “Alex, didn’t you want to ask some questions?”

       I looked back at him and then to the door again; through them, I could see a girl in a long black dress and her hair pulled up, and the same guy I had seen before in a tuxedo. I shook my head and looked back at Tristan’s worried expression. “Yes, yes, I do have questions. But…wait one minute.” This time, he let go and followed me out the front doors.

      I was walking down the front path; the girl was heading right for me, with tuxedo guy behind her. Where had they come from to be dressed like that?

      My head went to the side, trying to figure out what I was feeling inside of myself, but then she spoke, “It was your dad who tried to save my Momma.”

      I nodded; she held out her hand to me, “I’m Skylar.”

      I smiled at her. “I’m Alexandra.”

“
I
'm sorry about your dad,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

      She nodded. “And I'm sorry about your mom. Is she going to be okay?” she asked with true concern showing in her eyes.

      “Yeah. And your dad?”

      “Yes. He's going to be fine.” She smiled.

      I grinned. “I guess they'll both be getting a serious talk from the both of us tomorrow.”

      Alexandra giggled. “Yes, that will be in the cards.”

      Shivering when the wind picked up, I hugged Kane's jacket tighter.

      Kane stepped forward and placed his hand on the small of my back. “We better get going.”

      Nodding, I met Alexandra's eyes once again. “I'll probably see you tomorrow, right?”

      “I'll be here as soon as visiting hours start,” she said, and pushed her glasses higher on her nose. I couldn't help but smile. She seemed like a nerd, but somehow I knew our lives would be joined from this night on, and I was looking forward to getting to know her.

      I gave a chin lift to her fella, a quick hug to Alexandra, and whispered in her ear, “Are you going to be okay tonight?”

      “I think so...and you?”

      Pulling back, I grinned. “Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

      “Till then.”

      Yep. Nerd. But in a cute way.

      Kane took my hand and led me back to the car. Once I was in, he closed the door, and quickly went around and jumped in. We drove silently to my house while I fought back the emotions that wanted out.

       My momma was going to be okay. That was all I had to think of.

      Kane stopped the car in my driveway. I got out and realised then that I didn’t have my keys. Thank God, for the spare key Momma had hidden under the front door mat.

      “You need a better hiding place,” Kane said. I jumped because I thought he was still in the car and was going to drive away...back to Donna.

      “What are you doing? You should go. I'm fine; you've done your knightly duty.” I needed time alone to cry the shock and fright from the night out of my system.

      I turned back to the door and went to unlock it, but my hands shook so much it made it hard. Kane leaned over, placed his hand on mine to steady it, and unlocked the door.

      “I'm not leaving, Skylar.” His whisper sent a shiver down my spine.

       But he had to leave.

      There was no way I was going to cry in front of him.

      I didn't move to enter the house. Looking down at the mat at the front door, I uttered, “You have to. Donna's waiting.”

      “I don't care.”

       Why?

      With a hand at the small of my back, he gently pushed me forward into the house. I turned on the light and made my way to the kitchen, busying myself with putting on the kettle for a coffee. When I reached up into the cupboard to grab the mugs, I felt him walk up behind me. He put his hands on my waist.

      My movement paused for a second, and then I placed the mugs on the bench. “What are you doing, Kane?” I whispered to the bench.

      “It's okay to let it out, Sky,” he said, with his chin on my shoulder and his hands
still
at my waist.

      “No.” I shook my head.

      “Sky.”

      I shook my head again. “No. No, Kane, you have to leave. Just leave me alone.”

      “Never gonna happen.”

      A sob caught in my throat. “You have to.”

      “No.”

      He turned me in his arms and wrapped them around my waist tightly, bringing me to the front of his body. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn't have it.

      “It's okay, baby.”

      My struggling stopped at his words. I gripped his shirt and broke the dam down. I cried for nearly losing my momma. For the thought of being left alone if anything had happened to her. For the pain she must have felt. For the hurt that sliced through me with that one phone call. For seeing my brave, strong Momma lying silently after being through hell.

      I also cried for something I would never have. Kane.

      After some time, Kane picked me up in his arms and carried me to my bedroom. He laid me out on my bed and left, but only to come back seconds later.

      “I've turned everything off and locked up,” he said.

      I mumbled a thanks through my crying. Seconds later, I felt the bed shift behind me.

      “Scoot over. It's not really big enough for the two of us, but we'll make it work.”

      When I didn't move and he realised I wasn't going to, he somehow moved me across, flipped me over, and cradled me to his body.

      “You're even stubborn when you're like this. Unbelievable,” he muttered to the top of my head, where it was resting against his chest.

      I wasn't the stubborn one. I wasn't the one who wouldn't leave when someone had repeatedly asked them to. Even though I was more than grateful for having him here—something I would never tell him. I placed my arms around his waist and pulled him closer to me. I fell asleep, once I was all cried out.

O
n the drive home, I kept thinking of ways to show Tristan my appreciation. He didn’t have to come—Corbet or Sarah could have taken me—but he took control of the whole situation.  Maybe I could cook for him one night? I could offer to do his homework for a week. Still, I felt nothing would be enough. I also doubted he would want me to do anything for him in return for taking care of me when I needed it.