When Our Worlds Collide (34 page)

I flick my phone on dialing the number closer to around one
in the morning. I explain what has happened and hang up. Folding myself into
the fetal position, I cry harder than ever before. I wait and wait until I hear
them. Just a few more minutes and I won’t be alone anymore. I’m not going to be
out here on my own bruised and battered, scared. I’ll gain back my strength
that I lost and fight back.

Chapter Fifty-Two

-Graham-

We hear the sirens a little after one in the morning.
They’re in the distance. Far enough away that no one stops what they’re doing,
not thinking twice about any of it. Amanda’s sitting on my lap running her pink
nails up and down my chest. We’re all playing a game of quarters denting the
hell out of the kitchen table.

I barely pay attention to my shot as Amanda grinds her ass
into my dick. Violet’s been glaring at me from across the table for the past
hour or so. She’s constantly checking her phone with a worried expression on
her face. Amanda’s busy nibbling on my ear when there’s a loud pounding on the
front door. Dan stands to answer whoever is impatiently pounding for entry.

I can’t hear what he’s saying from where I’m sitting. My
body stiffens in full alert as a few cops walk in behind him heading out
towards the back door checking over the rooms leaving us all to what we were
doing. The state troopers shuffled through the kitchen eyeing us over with
disdain, none bothering to ask any questions. I keep looking to Dan trying to
understand what is going on. We are all underage, clearly drunk.

God, I’m going to be in trouble.

Fuck.

“What’s going on?” I whisper to Dan running around the
kitchen frantically dumping any evidence down the drain.

“I don’t know. The cop said that they received a 911 call
from a young girl who was attacked at this address. I didn’t get any other
information from them,” he answers slightly panicked. His hands kneed through
his hair pulling at the ends in frustration. “I have to call my parents to come
back from Nashville early. They are going to fucking kill me.”

“Has anyone seen Craig?” Violet jumps up from the table with
panic in her eyes. She scans the rooms attached to the kitchen. When she gets
back she stands in front of me with a horrified look on her face. Everyone
turns to look at her with bewilderment. I don’t understand the fear until she
scans her eyes around the room. I haven’t seen Craig in the past few hours
either.

“When was the last time you saw Kennedy, Violet?” I ask
dropping the bottles of jack into the sink. I suddenly feel sober, like the
gallon of liquor in my body is suddenly gone.

“She walked out the back door when she saw you and Ms. Slut
of America making out in the kitchen. I haven’t seen her since then. I thought
that she had gone home, but she hasn’t been answering my texts or phone calls
since I saw her run out the back door,” Violet explains. Her eyes are wide
making the nonverbal connection. “Graham, what if…” She lets the thought trail
off before marching out of the room again asking anyone if they had seen
Kennedy or Craig.

The pit in my stomach grows to an unthinkable size as the
terrifying truth sinks in. I know somehow that everything has changed.
Everything is going to be different from this moment on.

I follow Violet through the kitchen out onto the back porch.
We stand there scanning the backyard that’s bustling with cops and EMT’s.
Lights bounce off of the siding and onto the grass. Neither of us can see
anything. I take a step down into the yard.

That’s when I see her.

Kennedy’s lying on a stretcher being attended to by a young
EMT. I know it’s her. I can see her long hair dangling lifeless on her
shoulders.

I need to see her face.

I need to look in her eyes.

I need to see that she’s okay.

It isn’t until they roll her closer to the side yard that I
get a glimpse into her nightmare. Her once perfect skin is covered in blood and
dirt. There’s a wool blanket wrapped around her trying to keep her warm. She’s
shaking uncontrollably.

Violet sees her at the same time I do. She screams running
towards her best friend in a panic. My feet are cemented to the ground. I can’t
move. I can barely breathe. My world is frozen. I watch Violet jump into the
back of the ambulance with Kennedy without a thought. The doors close behind
them. The last thing I see as I walk towards the house is the tail lights of the
ambulance. Back in the house I find most of everyone has cleared out with the
exception of a few of our closest.

Dan’s finishing up talking to the police when he turns to
me.

“She’s going to be okay,” Dan tries to comfort me. I don’t
even think he believes what he’s saying. I can see the wetness surrounding his
eyes.

“No thanks to me,” my voice hitches. “Have you seen Craig?”

“Why is everyone looking for him?”

“He’s the one who do this.” I whisper, the words catching in
my throat. “Fuck!” My arms reach out knocking over the empty bottles that
litter the kitchen island. They fall to the floor with the glass breaking all
around my feet.

“What do you mean?” Dan raises an eyebrow at me.

“He attacked her before. I got to her in time before
anything happened. I wasn’t there tonight because I was pissed at her over
something so stupid. I was mad at her for trying to protect me. She was just
protecting me.” I lean my forehead against the kitchen cabinet closest to me.

Dan lets out a long breath. He goes to the pantry coming out
with a broom. He sweeps up my mess tossing it all into the garbage beside me. I
stand there watching him, not knowing what to do.

“That poor girl is going to need you. Get your ass to that
hospital. I’ll be there as soon as my parents get back. Make sure Violet’s not
alone,” Dan says with assurance. It’s typical of him. He’s a giant of a guy,
but has the heart of a saint.

“She’s not going to want to see me.” I turn to look at him
scared shitless of the truth.

“The fact that you believe that just shows how fucking
stupid you really are. Now go,” he pats me on the back shoving me towards the
front door.

I know I can’t drive. I have been drinking too much. It
doesn’t matter how sober I think I am after seeing her. Driving isn’t an
option. I call a cab standing outside waiting for it to show. Time stands still
as I wait. After standing out front for almost ten minutes the yellow cab
finally shows up.

“I need to get to Vanderbilt Hospital and quick,” I asked
the driver as I jump in the back seat.

“If you’re going to puke, try doing it out the window, kid,”
he requests. I roll my eyes. Getting sick is the last thing on my mind. I just
need to get to Kennedy. I needed to see her to make sure she would be alright.
I know she never will be. How could she be?

The ride takes more than twenty minutes. I can tell the
driver is hauling ass for my benefit. I must look like the mess that I feel. I
throw a hundred dollar bill in the front seat telling him to keep the change. I
didn’t want to waste any time waiting for him to count out change for me.

I storm the front door of the emergency room frantically
looking around for any sign of Violet or Kennedy’s parents. They would have
been called. They had to be around here somewhere.

“Graham…” Violet shouts grabbing my attention. I look over
the room again. I see her sitting slouched down in a chair looking helpless. I
approach her to see her eyes rimmed in red and her face blotchy from crying.

“Is she okay?” I stand in front of Violet waiting for an
answer. She flies off of her chair and into my arms stretching her arms around
my neck. She begins to cry again. “Please tell me she’s going to be okay.” I
sit Violet back down beside me holding her hand. I know how I feel, but
Kennedy’s Violet’s best friend, her sister.

“Graham, he beat the shit out of her. He…” Violet lets the
thought break off before finishing. She doesn’t need to say the words out loud
for me to understand.

“Fuck,” I utter under my breath resting my head in my hands.
I’m far from religious. Even with that I found myself praying. Praying to any
spiritual thing out there in the universe that can somehow pull some strings to
insure that Kennedy will be okay. She has to be okay. If she’s not okay then
I’m never going to be okay.

I don’t know how long Violet and I have been sitting in the
waiting room when she abruptly stands from her chair releasing her hold on my
hand. I don’t budge. I don’t want to face whoever she’s talking to.

Someone sits down in Violet’s abandoned seat putting a hand
on my shoulder. Whoever it is, they don’t say anything. I’m to blame for this,
just like I’m to blame for everything else. The car accident, Craig’s first
attack, and now this is on my hands. Ever since I came into Kennedy’s life
nothing good has happened for her.

“I know what you are doing and you can’t,” a soft voice
whispers. I look beside me to see Kennedy’s mother rubbing her hand over my
back. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened to her. Just like she can’t
blame herself for what happens to you. Things happen. Sometimes they are good
and sometimes they are…horrific.” Mrs. Conrad brushes away a few tears from her
cheeks.

I look at her to see how scared she looks. She’s fearful for
her daughter, the type of person she’ll be after the attack. The way she’ll look
at the world knowing how hateful it can be to the kindest of people.

I stand pulling her into a hug. The hug might have been for
my benefit or for hers. I don’t think it really mattered. It just seems like
the right thing to do.

“I’m so…sorry,” I apologize pulling away from her to pace
the length of the empty waiting room. It’s just Kennedy’s parents, Violet, and
I in here. They all watch me.

“Graham, she’s going to be okay. Maybe not right away, but
at some point she’ll be okay. She’s going to need you,” Mr. Conrad explains
sitting down in the seat that I occupied only minutes before. He’s watching me.
I can’t hold it in anymore. I fall to my knees and ball. I mean I really let it
all out. I don’t think I’ve ever cried like this.

“She has to be okay,” I say through the sobs to anyone
willing to listen as I sit in the middle of the room clenching at my stomach.

“She will be, sweetie,” Mrs. Conrad explains again.

“I’m going to fucking kill him. I warned him…” I say out
loud not really caring who’s listening to me as I get up and pace the waiting
room again. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Mr. Conrad stands stepping in front of me stopping my
assault on the carpet. “I think that’s the last thing Kennedy needs right now,”
he pats me on the shoulder. How could he be so calm and keeping such a level
head about this?

The four of us sit in the waiting room for god knows how
long until a doctor comes out to talk to Kennedy’s parents. They step aside
leaving Violet and I alone again. Dan races through the doors wrapping Violet
in a hug. He kisses her on the head repeatedly telling her that everything’s
going to be just fine. I wish I believed him.

“Graham, if you want to see Kennedy you can go back to her,”
Mrs. Conrad says with a pained smile. “I need to warn you that she looks bad.
Don’t be alarmed when you first see her for the first time.” Mrs. Conrad grabs
my hand squeezing it with reassurance. My legs feel numb. They don’t want to
move.

“She’d want to see you whether you believe it or not,” Dan
says while still holding tight to Violet.

I take a few steps towards the waiting doctor that’s
standing in the door way to the emergency room. He gives me a sympathetic
practiced smile. This can’t be easy on the staff. No one wants to see anyone
hurt the way Kennedy has been tonight. I can imagine it’s especially hard the
younger they are.

I follow him until he points to a shut door. He tells me
that it’s okay to go in. He must see the fear in my eyes. He nods his head with
some form of understanding of what I’m going through. I stand frozen for a few
minutes until I build up enough courage to walk in. I grab the door handle to
slide the door open. There’s a curtain blocking me from seeing her, but I can
hear her. Her soft sweet voice is strained with a rasp that fills the room as
she talks with a nurse.

I don’t think I can do this.

The nurse, a petite middle aged lady with dark brown hair
pulled into a ponytail, flings the curtain open exposing Kennedy. She’s sitting
up in her bed halfway. She’s taking a sip of water through a straw. I stand
watching her until she looks up to see me. Recognition passes through her eyes.
She already knows what I’m thinking. Knowing Kennedy she won’t go easy on me.

“You can come in, you know. Don’t have to stand in the
hallway looking all distraught,” Kennedy forces a smile. It doesn’t quite make
it to her eyes. Just like typical Kennedy, she’s more worried about how I feel
than how she’s doing. I don’t deserve her.

You’re just now figuring this out?

Jackass.

Closing the distance between us I make my way towards the
side of her bed. Grabbing the chair sitting beside the bed to take a seat, I
reach for her hand. Not being able to stop myself I place my head down onto our
mingled hands before I start to cry.

I wasn’t positive how I would feel when I saw her, but now I
know.

I love her.

To see what he did to her makes me murderous. I’d gladly
spend the rest of my life behind bars for the tenth of revenge that Craig
deserves.

“Say something,” I say softly. Kennedy reaches over rubbing
her hand over my head. She plays with my hair just like she used to when I’m
upset. My head tilts up. I look at her shaking my head. “I should be comforting
you, not the other way around.”

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours,
Graham?” Kennedy asks still holding my hand. She already knows the answer. She
always knows what I’m thinking and feeling before I even know myself.

“You already know, babe.”

She smiles at me. This one’s real and makes it to her eyes.

Thank the lord. I thought I’d never see that again.

“I want to hear the words from you. Assuming’s never a good
thing to do.”