Kelly raised her eyebrow and sucked on the cigarette again. “Well, I’m giving you one now.”
Christina took in a slow breath and composed herself before speaking. “You were supposed to come get me at the airport…”
“Ugh! Once again, harping on the stuff I didn’t do. Look, boo boo, I forgot, okay? Tony got a great deal on some stuff and I just forgot. Shit happens. You’re fine. I mean, it’s not like you’re dead!” She laughed and tossed her hair off her shoulders. “It’s about time you grew up anyway.”
Christina smiled ruefully. “I don’t really know what I expected calling you. Maybe I thought for once in my life you’d be a real mom and care about me, but hell, I don’t know where my mind was.”
“Watch your mouth, you little brat, or I’ll pop you.” Kelly sucked the cigarette harder, her agitation getting the best of her.
A knock came at the door at that point and Dr. Cotter walked in the room. “Excuse me, there’s no smoking on the grounds.”
“Yeah, that’s what biscuit bottom told me.” Kelly shrugged as she finished off the butt. “And? No one died, right?”
Christina sighed and closed her eyes. “Dr. Cotter, meet my charming mother, Kelly.”
“Mmm,” Kelly groaned out. “I’d like to meet you in the most carnal of ways, if you get my drift, Doc. God damn, you’re fine.”
“Put the cigarette out,” Dr. Cotter growled.
Kelly extinguished the glowing red ember on the window sill and blew the last lungful of smoke out the window before closing it. “Yes, sir! I love a man in control.”
Christina shook her head and rubbed at her forehead. “I’m sorry, Dr. Cotter.”
“No, I’m sorry,” he responded. “That you had to grow up with this.”
“Excuse me?” Kelly retorted as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her ample chest. “Let me guess, Chrissy has been telling you all sorts of sob stories, right? She’s good at that.”
“No, she’s been telling me about her life.”
“Oh yes, poor Chrissy got knocked up at fourteen. Well, if the little slut hadn’t been asking for it, Earl never would’ve touched her. Only fast and loose little sluts get what’s coming to them. If she hadn’t been pushing up on him and wearing those slutty little clothes…”
“Stop it!” Christina barked and jumped off the bed. “How dare you?”
“How dare I? You’re the one who fucked my husband, you little bitch!” Kelly rushed forward and pulled her hand back as if to slap Christina.
Dr. Cotter came between them quickly. “I will call for security. Do you understand me?”
Kelly’s anger disappeared as quickly as it had come. “I understand, Doc.” She shimmied her body up against him and smiled. “Yeah, you want me. That ain’t just a banana in your pocket, is it?”
“Can you cut the shit? I have something you need to know.”
Kelly pouted and backed up a step. “As long as you tell Miss Sob Story to shut the hell up.”
“Since we’re on the topic of her pregnancy at fourteen, was she ever tested for STDs after the abortion?”
“Nah, I had some guy do it real quick. No big deal. Lots of girls don’t wanna go to Planned Parenthood and get treated like shit by the Jesus Freaks, so we just hit him up when we need our stuff vacuumed out.” Kelly shrugged nonchalantly, like talking about abortions was no big deal.
Dr. Cotter glanced over at Christina. “Can I tell her?”
Christina shrugged. “Be my guest. I’m supposed to be silent, right?”
Kelly sucked her teeth. “Girl. You and that mouth!”
Christina smirked. “I guess I learned from the best.”
“Ladies, please,” he pleaded. As they both fell silent he continued, “Christina told me that she had been raped by this man at fourteen…”
“Ugh! The little twat is still maintaining that story? Please, we all know it wasn’t rape. You wanted that shit. You liked it. You’ve always been jealous of me, wanting everything I had.” Kelly fumed as she crossed her arms again.
Christina closed her eyes and didn’t speak. Oh, this is going swimmingly…
Dr. Cotter cleared his throat. “May I continue?”
Kelly waved her hand in the air. “Oh, by all means. God forbid I stop you, Doctor.”
“Regardless of whatever happened, she got pregnant. Were you with her when she had the abortion?”
“Nah. I got some shopping done. He slipped her some meds, cracked her open and did it. No big deal. Bitches get it done every day.”
“Is there a chance he could have had sex with her before, during, or after the procedure?”
“Well, if Christina was a whore with him like she was with her step daddy, maybe. Hey, he did cut me a deal. Fifty bucks off. I just thought it was because I was a frequent flyer, if you catch my drift.” Kelly laughed.
“Look, I’m going to cut to the chase. Christina is HIV positive.” Dr. Cotter lay all of the cards on the proverbial table and Christina tensed as she waited for her mother’s reaction.
“Ew, so she was taking it up the ass from someone and got the nasty. I always knew she was nothing but a dirty slut.” Kelly shuddered and wrinkled her nose. “You better know that I’m not gonna have you infecting my babies.”
Dr. Cotter shook his head. “HIV is passed in many ways. Not just through anal sex. The problem is…Christina’s immune system is down and she’s gone into full blown AIDS. It takes some time for the immune system to get down that low, so she’s had it a pretty long time. Is there any chance that your ex-husband could have been HIV positive?”
“More like that nasty bitch gave it to him. How dare you accuse my husband of being a nasty person?” Kelly snarled, her anger palpable. “It’s not my problem that this disgusting whore wrecked my family. She’s not gonna infect us with her germs.”
“Maybe you should be tested…” Dr. Cotter started.
Kelly rushed forward and slapped him on the cheek. “How dare you? I’m not nasty like that little bitch. She can stay here in this hospital, she’s not coming home with me.”
Christina sat down on the edge of the bed and her shoulders bowed in with the weight of her sorrow. “Just leave,” she whispered. “I don’t need you. Just go.”
“I hope your nasty ass dies. No one needs your shit. It suits you well, poor little lying Christina, telling stories all the time, this is what you get. Didn’t you ever read the story of the big bad wolf? Well, guess what, baby? You cried wolf so many times and now no one cares. No one gives a fuck. Just die and do the world a favor. I wish your daddy had shot you on the sheets instead. You’ve been nothing but trouble for me my whole life.” Her voice dripped venom and with a sniff, she hurried for the door.
Christina smirked and looked up at her mother, her eyes swimming with tears. “Hey, better get checked, you might be following me to hell. I may not be perfect. I might have told some lies. But I never, ever lied about what Earl did to me. You couldn’t stand that I got pregnant by him and you didn’t. It was a competition between us my whole life. You hated me because I was pretty. Because I was smart. Because people were nice to me. It’s not my fault you got knocked up at fourteen and had me at fifteen. You made the choice to lie down and get pregnant. I guess you were nothing but a little slut then, too. So the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But don’t worry, Kelly. You don’t ever have to worry about me calling you or coming to see you again. You see, I was strong enough to get out of the shit storm you created once. I was a fool thinking I could swim back into the rip currents and not drown. Maybe I have AIDS, but I’m still a better person than you. I’d never turn my back on my kid. Ever. Go on and go snort some more coke with Tony and forget I was ever here. I don’t need you. You weren’t there when I was a kid. Everything was about making whoever you were boning happy. Not about being a mom. So go. You’re free.”
Kelly snatched the door open and flounced out in the hall. “A nasty bitch with AIDS is in that room!”
she yelled as she walked away.
Christina closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her middle. “It’s over.”
Dr. Cotter sat down beside her on the bed and as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Christina leaned into him, accepting the comfort he offered. “I don’t even know what I just witnessed.”
Christina started to laugh through her tears, the hoarse sound grating her ears. “You just watched me blowing up a bridge, Doc. My whole world just imploded.”
Chapter Six
“Is there anyone else you can call?” Dr. Cotter pressed gently and Christina shook her head.
“Not really.” Another lie. I could call Grace, but I don’t want her to know.
“Well, look. My shift is over at seven, and you would be welcome to come stay with my family for a while.”
Christina pulled away from the doctor and shook her head firmly. “No, no way.”
“My wife and kids would understand. It’s not the first time I’ve brought someone home and it probably won’t be the last.” Dr. Cotter shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “My wife keeps the guest room ready at all times.”
“I’m a nasty bitch with AIDS. She’s not gonna want me in her house. Plus, I can’t go back to the dorms until they open in January. I’ll just get a hotel or something.” Christina snorted at the thought of the obviously upper middle class Dr. Cotter taking her home to his family.
“My wife isn’t like that. I’m not going to take advantage of you or hurt you. Just come stay with us for a while. We’ll help you get back to school.”
“I don’t have any money,” Christina argued. “I can’t do anything until I get my wallet back or I get a new debit card.”
“We’ll call the police and see if they found your wallet, maybe they did. It’s probably good to stay in the area for a few days, I mean with Christmas and all…”
Christina’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh God, I’m not ruining your family’s Christmas.”
“You won’t be. We welcome all at our table.” Patrick insisted.
Her nose wrinkled and she wrapped her arms around her middle. “You’re not some kind of psycho Christian cult person or something, are you?”
Dr. Cotter laughed hard, his face suddenly going boyish and soft. “No. We’re atheists.”
“Oh. Well. If you’re sure.”
“I am,” Dr. Cotter said firmly. “Let me finish my last couple of rooms and I’ll be back in about thirty minutes for you, okay?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t come back. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I’m kinda used to it.” Christina shrugged and picked at the fuzz on the blanket on the bed.
“No one should have to be used to someone not coming back. I’ll be here.” As he closed the door, Christina fell back on the bed and sobs wracked her slender frame. What the hell just happened? Rummaging in her plastic bag, she pulled out the little diary and a pen.
Dear Diary,
I just told my mother to leave and never come back. It is scary as hell but at the same time it’s refreshing. It’s over. I don’t have to deal with her anymore. What was I expecting, a feast for my return? Kindness? I should’ve known better than to rely on someone who has never been reliable in her life. But I was a fool. I just wanted my mother, what every girl dreams of in a mom. She wasn’t it and I don’t think her heart is capable of loving someone other than herself. She’s perpetually seventeen, and I’ve outgrown her. It’s a hard thing to deal with, a terrible thing to realize that she’ll never be what I need. Would I want my kid to actually be around her? No. If I die would I want my kid to go to her? Hell no. There’s only one person I want to have my kid if something goes wrong. Grace. But I don’t want her to know what’s going on. Not now anyway. I don’t want her to know that I have lied and am still lying. No one can know who the baby’s father is. No one can know about my AIDS yet. Not right now anyway. I’ll just keep it all a big secret until I can’t keep it a secret anymore. I’ll just pretend everything is fine and cover my ass as I have to until I can’t anymore. I can stay in school until I’m showing, then I’ll have to leave. So I have to make some plans. What the hell is with Dr. Cotter being so nice to me? People just aren’t nice for any old reason. I hope he doesn’t try to lock me in his basement and make me put lotion on my skin or something. My God, that would suck. Can I really trust this dude not to hurt me? Maybe just this once humanity will come through for me and not hurt me anymore. Which hey, I’m not that much to look at anymore. It’s hard to be sexy when you’re missing teeth and look like a boxer’s punching bag. So maybe he’s genuine. I guess we’ll see.
Christina
She closed the diary and jammed it down in her bag again. Blowing out a breath she glanced around the room one last time as she waited. Dr. Cotter knocked and cracked the door. “Are you ready?”
“As I’m gonna get,” she stammered, fear filling her chest. She picked up her bag and slid off the edge of the bed. “After you.”
Dr. Cotter smiled and led the way down the hall. Christina kept her gaze down on the pistachio green tile as they walked to the stairwell. Panic filled her as she followed him down the stairs. A piece of her expected him to attack her, but as they walked out into the bright, sunshiny morning, she realized she was safe. Sunlight bounced off the snow and she winced as she followed him to his SUV. He opened the passenger door for her and she crawled in and buckled herself.
He climbed in the driver’s seat and smiled over at her as he buckled in and started the engine. “I’ll let it warm for just a second before we get going.”
Christina nodded and turned to stare out the window. She was shivering in panic. The last memory of being in an SUV hadn’t been the most pleasant. She’d thought Rand was nice too. “I can’t do this!” She scrambled for the door handle and was relieved when the door popped open. “Let me out!”
“Christina, calm down, you’re still buckled in.” Dr. Cotter reached down to unbuckle her and Christina let out a shriek.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Whoa!” Dr. Cotter raised his hands in defense. “I’m not going to hurt you, Christina, I promise.”
“Tell me your name. All of it. That way if you do hurt me I can tell the cops.” Christina panted, her panic growing with each second she stayed in the car.
“You need to calm down for your baby. My name is Patrick Cotter. I live on 112 Maple Street. I’m a decent person. I will not hurt you. I promise. I know it’s hard for you to trust someone, Christina, but you can trust me,” he spoke softly and his eyes seemed sincere.
Christina sucked in another breath of air and her hysteria deflated. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “Just the last time—”
“He drove a jeep. I get it. You need some therapy. I’m betting you have PTSD,” Patrick calmly murmured. “Can you close the door? It’s cold.”
Christina glanced at the open door and her white knuckles gripping the handle. “Okay.” Slowly she pulled the door closed and made sure her seatbelt was fastened. “I’m fine.”
“Okay, I’m going to drive now,” Patrick warned her. “It’s daylight. I won’t pull over or do anything until I get home. All right?”
Christina nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. “Just drive.”
The city moved around them. Even though it was Christmas morning, plenty of people were on the roads. Patrick drove slowly and carefully through the slick streets, finally turning off on Maple Street. Christina held her breath until they parked in his driveway, next to a little black Honda. “Here we go.”
Patrick lived in a very nice neighborhood, in a house that was neither too big nor too small. Christmas decorations were strewn across the lawn and icicle lights dripped down off the porch. “It’s a nice place.” Damn sure better than the cabin.
“I let my wife know you were coming. She was excited and making breakfast. I warn you, Addie probably made a huge buffet.” Patrick grinned and Christina smiled t
ightly in return.
“Okay. She didn’t have to.”
Patrick exited the car and came around to her door. As he opened the door he chuckled. “I know she didn’t. But that’s what Addie does.”
Christina stepped out of the SUV, ignoring Patrick’s hand. Her flip flops crunched on the salted driveway and she froze as a woman’s voice reached her ears. “Hi!”
Her gaze flicked to the hunter green door of the house, which was now open. A middle-aged woman with bright copper red hair and Snoopy pajamas stood in the doorway, holding a big mug in her hand. “Hi,” Christina mumbled back.
“Come on, Pat, get her inside, she has to be freezing. The kids are so excited to have a guest.”
Patrick grinned as he started up the driveway. “I’m coming.” Christina stood rooted in one place until Patrick glanced back at her. “Come on, Christina, we won’t hurt you.”
Christina nodded and slowly followed him up the driveway. She refused to meet Addie’s eyes as she stepped up on the porch. Patrick leaned in to kiss his wife and he slid in around her. The sound of children’s laughter filled the air and Christina’s gut clenched. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
Addie stepped out of the doorway. “Christina.”
Christina looked up at the older woman. “I can’t.”
“Come eat something and get warm. There is no judgment in my home. You are welcome here.”
Tears filled her eyes and a warm droplet splashed down her cheek. “I don’t understand why you’re being nice to me.”
“Because people should be nice to each other. They should take care of each other. Come inside. You have to be freezing.” Addie held out her hand and Christina eyed her warily for a moment before she took it.
“Thank you.” Christina followed her into the house, which smelled like pine and cinnamon.
Three children skidded to a stop in the middle of their dancing. Two little boys with bright red hair and a little black girl stared at her for a moment and Christina felt her stomach clench. She was embarrassed with the way she looked.
Finding Christina (Wild Rose #2) Page 4