Tangled Up Hearts

by Hughes, Deborah

  Trisha’s parents were waiting inside and as soon as Jenna saw her she clasped her hands to her chest. “Oh dear.”

  Thomas put a steadying hand on his wife’s back and smiled at Alyssa, his eyes shadowed with concern. "We are so glad to see you."

  Aware of what a horrible sight she must be, Alyssa dropped her gaze, embarrassed for them to see her in such a state. She wanted so badly to get cleaned up.

  “Alyssa, how are you, honey?” Recovered from the initial shock, Jenna knelt next to her chair, her soft brown eyes full of concern.

  Alyssa patted her arm, saw the dried blood on the sleeve of her sweater and snatched her hand away. “I’m fine, Jenna. Really. How’s Trisha?”

  “The doctor is still with her but I’m sure she’ll be okay.” Jenna took Alyssa’s cold hands in her own and squeezed them gently. “You frightened us half to death.”

  Alyssa’s eyes watered with remorse. “I’m so sorry.” Before she could offer reassurances that she was fine, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. Cole had just come into the room and she could do nothing but stare in horror. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her in such a hideous state.

  The moment he spotted her, he stopped dead in his tracks, his face hardening as his blazing eyes swept over her, missing no detail. The disturbing intensity of those eyes told her that something was going on in that head of his and it wasn't pleasant. Wishing he'd do something, say something, she stared back at him. But he just stood there, his hands clenched into fists, his body rigid. The muscle twitching along his tense jawline told her he was upset but in what way? Was he angry with her for putting Trish in the hospital? For worrying her parents and his? Perhaps he thought her disgusting. After all, she looked like an extra for The Walking Dead and all she could think was she didn't want him to keep looking at her like that.

  Finally he took a step toward her and she turned away from him in a panic. She would surely lose it if he showed her any sympathy or said something mean. She just couldn't handle either situation right now, her emotions were too raw. So she looked at the nurse operating her chair and managed to force a few words past the tightness in her throat. “Get me out of here.”

  She was immediately wheeled off to an examination room, her mother right behind her. Once they were out of his sight she let out a relieved breath. No way did she want to face him again until she'd managed to clean up.

  With some assistance, Alyssa transferred from the chair to the bed and there she lay in quiet detachment as the nurse cleaned away some of the blood that Margaret hadn't dared to touch. The doctor came in to give her a quick examination and dress her head wound. He ordered an MRI to ensure there was no serious damage then looked at her feet when she told him they were bothering her.

  "So what happened here?" He looked up at her with a frown.

  "I ran across a cow pasture and there were a lot of sharp rocks."

  Nodding that her story explained everything though he had to be wondering how in heck she ended up in a cow pasture, he put salve on her cuts and bandaged some of the deeper ones. Once he'd completed that task and she answered all his questions, he left the room and the nurse brought her a washbasin filled with warm soapy water so she could clean herself up.

  Her mother clucked around her, helping where she could, and between them they managed to get most of the blood out of her hair. The matted mess was too tangled to straighten out with just their fingers so the nurse found them a comb and a pair of scrubs for her to change into.

  Seeing her bloodied clothing was something of a shock but her mother quickly tossed them into the trash bin then helped her get into the scrubs. She was starting to feel like a normal person again and once she finally settled back on the bed, satisfied she was as clean as she was going to get, the nurse came back to take her to X-ray.

  Once it was determined that she was suffering no more than a mild concussion, she was taken back to the examination room where her mother was waiting for her.

  "I'll just go get your discharge papers and be right back." The nurse left the room and Alyssa told her mother that her head was fine.

  "There's no crack in my skull, mother, so I guess I'm going to live."

  "Thank God for that." Julia gave her a hug to celebrate then drew back to look her over. "It doesn’t look quite so dramatic with all the blood and dirt washed away.”

  The doctor showed up again to go over her discharge instructions. “You will be good as new in a couple days but if you start feeling sick or dizzy, I want you to come back. You may want to stay off your feet for a day or two until the cuts heal.” He walked to the door. “Make sure you get that pain medication filled tonight, you are going to want it later.”

  About a minute after he walked out, her father, Jack, Jenna and Thomas entered the room. Though she was relieved that Cole was not among them, Alyssa couldn’t help but wonder where he'd gone off to. Did he not care what happened to her? The thought hurt more than she cared to admit and she pushed the feeling away.

  Jack’s worried frown cleared when he saw that she was smiling and he went straight to her and gave her a hug, though he took great care in doing so. “My God, Al, we were so worried about you. We are so glad you are okay, you just don’t know how much.”

  Alyssa squeezed his hand, holding it tight as she looked into his dark brown eyes. “Jack, tell me Trisha is okay.”

  Jack patted her hand. “Trisha is okay.”

  Julia sank down on the bed beside her and slid an arm around her shoulders. “She’s in no danger and she’s so happy that you are here and that you are fine.” After pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head, Julia pulled back to get a better look at her. “I must say, you look a sight better, sweetheart.”

  Thomas leaned down and kissed her cheek. “You gave us quite the scare. I think I’ve aged ten years in the past few hours.”

  Feeling quite horrid for what she put them through, Alyssa shrugged with apology. “I’m so sorry.” And then, because she needed to lighten the oppressive atmosphere, she tried for some humor. “For someone who just added ten years, you sure look great for your age.”

  Thomas laughed. “Thank you.” He pulled the wheelchair over to the bed. “Trisha is impatient to see you. The doctor wants to keep her overnight. You’ll have to go to her room to see her.”

  Alyssa sat up and put a hand out for help. “Let’s go then.”

  Jack and her father helped her into the wheelchair while Thomas held it steady. Though everyone was taking great care to ensure her comfort, she felt a little dizzy during the transfer and put her head down for a minute to steady herself.

  Her mother touched her arm. “Are you okay?”

  Alyssa nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

  It was a silent, slow procession to Trisha's room and the moment she entered it she spotted Cole standing next to the bed, his head turned in their direction.

  Alyssa forced herself to ignore him as she zeroed in on her friend. Trisha was deathly white against the green pillowcase but her face lit up the moment Alyssa came through the door. Her joy, however, soon turned to tears which fell in rapid succession down her pale cheeks.

  “Oh, Al, thank God.”

  Thomas pushed her chair close to Trisha’s bed. The two girls reached for each other and hugged tightly, both of them crying. “Trisha, I’m so sorry. I would give anything to take back these last few hours.”

  Trisha gave her a wobbly smile. “You’d even run over that poor rabbit?”

  Alyssa’s eyes flew accusingly towards her father. “Daddy! Did you tell them?”

  Her father smiled in apology though his expression was very grave. “Darn right. That “poor rabbit” caused us all a great deal of stress.”

  "It was a damn fool thing to do, Al,” Cole said, his cold voice like a splash of ice water to her soul.

  Alyssa drew in her breath. How dare he stand there and judge her? Finally she turned to look at him. His stance w
as as rigid as it was earlier. She could well imagine he was fighting hard to keep his temper in check. No doubt he wanted to throttle her for causing so much trouble. It took courage to meet those eyes of his but when she did, she saw they burned with emotion, searing holes right through her. Feeling the sting of that gaze made her draw back and look away. Since Trisha was watching them with an anxious expression on her face, she managed to speak with relative calm. “When I swerved to miss the rabbit, it was not my intention to hit the trees instead.”

  “You put that rabbit’s life above your own. Do you know how much worry that senseless action has caused?” Cole’s anger, barely leashed, was so focused on her that Alyssa could almost physically feel its intensity.

  “Cole!” Jenna reproved her son softly, laying a hand on his arm. The sleeves of his light blue shirt were pushed up to his elbows and Alyssa saw that the corded muscles in his arms were taut, his hands fisted at his sides. He was unshaven again and the gruff look made him more ominous than usual. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was actually worried about her. But she knew better.

  Lifting her chin in a purely defensive gesture, Alyssa was determined not to show him how hurt she was by his cold behavior towards her. “I just reacted. I didn’t even think ….”

  “Precisely," Cole cut in sharply. "You didn’t think.” At Trisha’s wince, he forced down his anger and softened his voice. “You should try using some common sense on occasion. It might help you evade situations like this.”

  Trisha made a small sound of protest, her distress with her brother’s irrational anger quite apparent as she threw him an accusing glance. “Cole, it was pure instinct to do what she did. I would have done the same thing.” She turned back to her friend, her eyes dark with concern, and smoothed Alyssa’s hair back from her face so she could check out the bandage on her forehead. “Does it hurt very much? And what happened to your feet?”

  Keeping her gaze on Trisha and making a point to ignore Cole, she managed to force out a smile. “It didn’t really hurt that bad. Everything happened so fast, I wasn’t even aware that I’d hit my head.”

  “And the feet?”

  Alyssa looked down at her bandaged feet. It seemed ridiculously funny somehow. She hadn’t so much as scratched them in the accident. “My very impractical shoe choice was not made for walking long distances so I took them off. I guess my feet are a little more tender-skinned than I thought.” She squeezed Trisha’s hands. “But what about you? Are you okay? The baby?”

  “We're fine.” She laughed self-consciously. “You are in a car accident and I end up staying a night in the hospital. Go figure.”

  “Yes. Imagine that,” Cole said softly. What was it he’d been thinking earlier about Alyssa being lucky? Even so, she looked a frightening sight when she arrived at the hospital. The shock of seeing her like that had temporarily paralyzed him. She'd looked so battered and defenseless and everything in him had urged that he rush to her and offer whatever comfort he could give her. All he'd wanted to do was touch her and ensure she was okay then hold her and take away all her pain. How surprised would she be if she knew he'd felt her injuries as if they were his own? Even now, remembering it, he cringed at the image emblazoned in his mind. Blood was everywhere and the cut on her forehead looked painful. When her eyes met his, he'd wanted to kiss away her hurts and make her instantly well. But then her expression turned cold and unwelcoming. She hadn't been the least bit pleased to see him. Even so, he was determined to ignore her displeasure and had taken but a mere step in her direction before she was begging the nurse to get her out of there. It was him she had run from. After everything she had been through, everything she had put him through, she couldn’t let it go. Jesus, how could she dislike him that much?

  Her momentary weakness in the attic and then again at the party obviously meant nothing. Indeed, it had probably made matters even worse. And despite everything, he still wanted reassurance that she was really okay. Just so he could wring her scrawny little neck. Thanks to her stupidity, Trisha came damn near close to losing her baby. It was irrational thinking, but he didn’t feel in a very rational frame of mind.

  “Look, you need to rest. I’m tired myself.” Alyssa gave Trisha another hug then sank back into the wheelchair.

  “I’ll be leaving here in the morning. I’ll come by to see you,” Trisha told her.

  Alyssa patted her friend’s leg and slumped tiredly against the chair. “I really am sorry about what happened.”

  “The important thing is that you are both okay,” Jenna said. She leaned down and kissed Alyssa’s cheek. “Go home and get some rest. We love you, dear.”

  Emotionally vulnerable, Alyssa’s eyes watered. “I love you all too.” Cole would just have to figure it out for himself that he wasn’t included in that declaration.

  She didn’t even look at him as her father wheeled her out of the room.

  CHAPTER NINE

  On a week's leave of absence from work, Alyssa was on her third day when a knock came on her door and Trisha breezed in. Although they'd spoken on the phone several times, Alyssa hadn't been up for company and Trisha had respected that. This morning, however, when Trisha called she told her she was feeling much better and was even ready to get out of her house for a while. And here she was.

  “Hi there.” Trisha leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of Alyssa’s head. Dressed in a gray skirt and an off-white frilly shirt, her short curly hair styled neatly, she looked like she had someplace special to go. “Are you very busy?”

  Alyssa set her book aside. “Not really. What’s up?”

  “I’m taking you out to lunch. How are your feet by the way?”

  “Almost as good as new and lunch sounds great."

  Trisha sank into a chair and ran a hand across her stomach, a pleased smile softening her expression. “Great, we are starved.”

  Alyssa slid off the couch and motioned towards the kitchen as she headed off to her bedroom. “Help yourself to a drink if you like. It’ll just take me a moment to get out of these sweats and into something a little more appropriate.”

  “Take your time.” Trisha reached for a travel magazine lying on the coffee table. “I can entertain myself.”

  Alyssa slipped into a dark blue pant suit and a soft pair of black leather shoes. She applied some make-up, artfully covering the slight discoloration that still lingered around her eye and arranged her bangs to cleverly cover what was left of the bump on her forehead. Indeed, it was healing quite well and in a few days it would be hard to tell that she had ever been in an accident.

  Satisfied with the results, she walked back into the living room.

  Trisha looked her over and smiled approvingly. “You look great.” She jumped up and headed for the door. "Let's bust a move."

  Once they were in the car and on their way, Alyssa looked at Trisha with mild curiosity. "So where are we going?" Not that it mattered. She was glad to get out of the house and to be spending time with her best friend.

  “Wait and see.” A secretive smile played about her lips and Alyssa felt just a slight twinge of distrust for it.

  When they turned onto a road leading out of town, Alyssa knew at once where they were headed. “We’re going to The Tower aren’t we?” It was her favorite restaurant. The Tower restaurant was built in a beautiful spot out in the country, nestled atop a hill overlooking a small lake with even more mountains surrounding it. Built several feet above ground, it offered diners a magnificent view. A truly, pleasurable dining experience. Smiling at the description, Alyssa had to give a small chuckle. She'd redesigned their website recently and "a truly pleasurable dining experience" was on their home page. There was no way this lunch was a sudden idea. Turning to Trisha, she eyed her friend with even more suspicion. “You have to make reservations days in advance. How long have you been planning this?”

  “Since last week.” Trisha glanced over at her then quickly looked away. “How are things working out with you and Cole?
Have you given any thought to what I said? About talking to him I mean?”

  Alyssa turned to look out the window. Talking about Cole was the last thing she wanted to do right now. “I thought about it.”

  Trisha seemed content with that, dropping the subject and launching right into a discussion about her upcoming wedding. In no time at all they were pulling into the restaurant's parking lot and once Trisha found a place to park she took a deep breath and turned to smile brightly at Alyssa. But the smile was over-played and she didn’t meet her eyes. “Ready?”

  Alyssa eyed her with a growing, gnawing apprehension tugging away in her gut. Why was she suddenly acting so strange? “I’m starved actually.” She stepped out of the car and watched as Trisha’s gaze swept the parking lot. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Not really.”

  Her mysterious answer increased Alyssa’s unease. Not really? Just what was that supposed to mean? They walked into the small foyer and entered the elevator. When the doors slid open to the dining room, Alyssa spotted him immediately. He was sitting at a table near a large picture window and was as yet unaware of them. Feeling somewhat betrayed, Alyssa turned to Trisha. “What are you up to now?”

  “I just want you two to talk. If I left it up to either of you, it wouldn’t happen.” She grasped Alyssa’s arm firmly but gently and urged her forward. “I really am sorry to have tricked you.” She gave one of those beguiling smiles of hers. “You do forgive me, don’t you?”

  Cole heard their voices and turned, surprise registering in his expression before he narrowed his gaze on his sister, who, of course, blithely ignored it. So he turned that penetrating stare of his back to Alyssa, giving her a quick, sweeping glance before meeting her distressed gaze.

  Although Alyssa didn't want to care, she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. Then she just as quickly dismissed the question. It didn't matter. He didn't matter. Not anymore. Even so, she couldn't hold the stare and dropped her eyes, feeling too vulnerable with him to engage in their usual manner of behavior. After all, her dear friend, whom she trusted to be more understanding, didn't give her time to thicken her emotional armor. If only Trisha had warned her then she could have prepared herself for this meeting.