by J. A. Little
“Hey, man, it’s Andy. There’s been some sort of incident at the DHS building. Call me—”
I immediately hang up on my voicemail. Matty is still at my side, looking up at me anxiously.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I try to soothe, but it’s obvious I’m not convinced. He doesn’t buy it. I dial Andy’s number.
“Who are you calling?” Matty asks. I hold up a finger just as Andy answers.
“What’s going on?” I ask nervously.
“I don’t know yet. Sara just called me. Something happened.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t really understand her. She said something about an attack and…Kayla.”
My heart is pounding right through my chest. I wish Matty wasn’t in the room because he instantly knows something’s wrong. His face goes pale.
“Is she okay?”
I hear Andy swearing and the screech of brakes. “Shit, Dean. I don’t know. She was taken to University Hospital. I’m on my way now.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I hang up, walking out of Emily’s office and grabbing my coat before realizing I can’t leave. There’s no one else here, and I’ve got two new, at-risk kids.
“Is she okay?” Matty begs. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, bud. I’m trying to find that out.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“No. That was her brother.”
Matty’s face crumples, his lower lip trembling. I stop what I’m doing and put my hands on his shoulders. “You need to calm down, okay? I’m going to figure out what’s going on, and I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Go listen to music. Relax. All right?” Matty nods. He looks back down at me as he’s climbing the stairs. I smile as reassuringly as I can.
Walking back into Emily’s office, I don’t realize how badly I’m shaking until I lift my phone and can’t even dial in my passcode properly. I finally get in and hit Kayla’s number. It rings out. I call again and again, but she doesn’t answer. I give up and dial Tracey.
“Can you come watch the boys?” I beg.
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“Did you see the news?”
“Yes, I did. Horrible, isn’t it? Wait—is Kayla okay?”
“I don’t know. Please, T.”
“Get ready to go. Give me fifteen minutes.”
I’m in my car with my foot on the gas before Tracey even gets out of hers. I wave to say thank you and book it as fast as I legally can toward University Hospital. Unfortunately, it’s Friday afternoon rush hour and it’s pouring rain. I find myself stuck behind one slow person after another.
By the time I get there, I’m a fucking mess. Pulling into the parking lot, I can see an ambulance in the emergency bay and wonder if it brought Kayla here. As I jog by it, I pray it didn’t. The techs are inside cleaning, and their rags are stained red.
I get into the emergency waiting area and spot Andy and Sara. He’s pacing the floor while she’s curled up on one of the chairs.
“Do you know anything?”
Andy shakes his head. “No, I just got here.”
I look over at Sara.
“I don’t know,” she whimpers. “I was in a visit with…” She looks up at me. “I was in a visit. I heard shouting—screaming. I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, she was terminating parental rights. It’s not that unusual.”
“So you didn’t go check on her?” I ask sharply.
“I did,” she says in a whimper. “But by the time I got down to where her visit was, the security guards were already there, and there were people everywhere. I couldn’t see what happened. I just saw…”
“Saw what?” My voice is growing louder with every second that I don’t have answers.
“Blood.” She hiccoughs. “A lot of blood.”
“Whose blood?” I beg.
“I don’t know,” she cries. “The security guards were struggling with the mother. She had the baby in her arms, and he was screaming.”
“Dean,” Andy says firmly, sitting down next to his girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her. “Stop screaming at her. I want to know just as much as you do, but not like this.”
I swallow and try to get myself under control. I hate it. I feel completely helpless. Is this how my parents felt when they got the phone call that I’d been in an accident?
“Sorry,” I breathe. “What about Claire? Her parents?”
“I got ahold of Brian and my mom right after I talked to you. They’re on their way. Claire was over at Logan’s, which is only about five minutes away. She should’ve been here by now.”
“Her mom?”
Andy shakes his head. “I left a message on her cell, but I don’t expect her to call.”
“Why?” I snap. I don’t mean to take out my frustration and anger on Andy, but the woman can’t get her shit together long enough to make sure her daughter’s not dead?
Andy takes a deep breath. “Richard’s being accused of medical malpractice and insurance fraud. Word on the street is that they have a lot of evidence. He’s in deep shit.”
“So what does that have to do with Kayla?”
“It doesn’t, but the cops were called to their penthouse the other night while you guys were away. A neighbor reported hearing a huge fight. They arrested him for domestic battery.”
I feel slightly guilty for being pissed at Celia. “Was it bad?”
Andy shrugs. “I don’t know. I was gonna tell Kayla tonight and let her decide what to do.”
What a fucking mess.
Claire and Logan come through the electronic doors. Claire’s face is pale. Logan’s holding her hand. He looks as worried as I feel.
“Is she okay?” Claire says, her eyes widening. None of us have any answers for her, which makes her break down and sob. Logan sits and pulls her down into his lap, trying desperately to calm her. When I ask the receptionist, she tells me she’ll let me know as soon as she can. It isn’t good enough, but all any of us can do is sit and wait.
When sitting becomes too much, I pace. Between Andy and me, we’re going to wear out the linoleum. I check my watch for the time—the watch Kayla gave me two days ago. Right now, looking at the gift makes me both calm and panicked.
“Is it all right if I take Claire to the cafeteria for something to eat?” Logan asks. “She hasn’t eaten since breakfast.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Go. I’ll text you as soon as we know something.” I feel bad for the poor kid. He’s got three times as much to worry about. Claire, the baby, and now Kayla. He seems to be handling it better than me, though.
A nurse walks into the waiting room five minutes are Claire and Logan exit. “Are you the family of Kayla Brooks?” Andy and I nod our heads frantically. “She’s ready for visitors, but only one at a time right now, please.”
“She’s all right?” I ask. The nurse smiles at me.
“She’ll be fine. We just don’t want to overwhelm her.”
For the first time since Matty called me into the den, I can finally take a full breath. I look over at Andy.
“Go,” he says. “I’ll let everyone know.”
“What about Claire?”
“Probably better not to send her in there without knowing what kind of shape Kayla’s in.”
“Good point. Thanks, man.” I reach out for a handshake and end up completely embracing him.
“Tell her we love her.”
“I will,” I assure. “Can you have Logan call Matty? Tell him Kayla’s okay?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Thanks.”
I follow the nurse down a long hallway lined with glass rooms. Some are open, some are hidden by curtains. She stops in front of one that’s covered.
“Here you go,” she says quietly. “She’s a little shaken up.”
“Okay, thanks,” I answer before heading in.
Kayla’s sitting on a gurney in a white hospital gown. Her head is down, her hands in her lap. Her bare feet a
re dangling beneath her.
“Baby?” She glances up at me for a minute. She’s obviously been crying. Her eyes are red and her makeup is smeared. Her hair is pulled back, but it’s matted around her temples. Her expression is completely blank. “Are you hurt?” She shakes her head and looks back down. I step closer and brush my thumb over a streak of dried blood on her neck. “There’s blood.”
“It’s not mine,” she whispers hoarsely.
“Whose is it?”
“Dana’s. I think.”
I don’t stop there. I lift the sleeves of her gown. She’s got a bandage on her forearm, and I can see more blood seeping through the white gauze. This is definitely not someone else’s. Kayla doesn’t look at me. Her gaze remains focused downward. I search the rest of her body. There are small cuts and bruises here and there, but it doesn’t look like anything too serious.
“Jesus, Kayla. What happened?”
She sniffs and scratches her nose. “I wasn’t paying attention,” she murmurs.
“You didn’t see what happened?”
“I did,” she says softly. “I was distracted. I…” Her eyes flash up, tears filling them.
“It’s okay, baby. You don’t have to talk about it.” I press my forehead against hers. “Everyone’s here.”
“The baby? Is he okay?”
My whole body goes rigid—my stomach suddenly up in my throat. “Baby?” I ask, licking my dry lips.
“The little boy from the visit.”
My mind flashes back to what Sara said. She had the baby in her arms, and he was screaming. I let out a shaky breath. “The news said he wasn’t hurt,” I answer, my voice much stronger.
“Good. Have you seen her?”
“Who?”
“Dana. They won’t tell me anything. They just keep saying she’s in surgery.”
“Do you want me to ask?”
Kayla nods.
“Okay. Lie down and relax. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Do you want me to send Claire in? She’s worried about you.”
“Not yet. I don’t want her to see me like this.”
“Okay. What about Andy?”
“No. Just…just you.”
I nod, pulling the thin sheet over her legs and kissing her forehead gently. “I’ll be right back.” Turning my back to her, I frown. She’s holding in her emotions. I know that she’s probably in shock, but I also know what happens when the shock wears off and all the emotions hit at once.
Outside of the room, I see a nurse sitting at a desk. “Excuse me?”
“What can I do for you?” she asks.
“My girlfriend is Kayla Brooks. She came in with Dana…” I suddenly realize I don’t know Dana’s last name. “The other social worker.”
“Okay.”
“We were wondering how she was?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’ll ask the doctor to come in as soon as he can, though, all right?”
“Thanks.” I look toward the waiting room and debate whether or not I should stop by. “Can you do me a favor?” I ask, turning back toward the nurse.
“Sure.”
“Her brother and little sister are in the waiting area. Will you just let them know she’s resting?”
She smiles at me. “Of course.”
I take a deep breath and walk back into the room. Kayla’s curled up into the fetal position, her back facing me. I don’t say anything, just walk around and sit down in front of her. Her eyes are closed, so I wrap my hand over hers just to let her know I’m here. “I love you,” I whisper, hoping she can still hear me.
Chapter 73
Dean
It’s a couple of hours before Kayla’s ready to see anyone else. I sit in the corner as Logan and Claire come in. Claire looks a little better, which is good. The last thing I want is for Kayla to be worrying about her sister, too. Kayla doesn’t talk much, but Claire does. She even gets Kayla to smile.
Brian and Karen are next, followed by Andy and Sara. None of them stay too long. I think they just want to see for themselves that she’s not seriously hurt. After they all leave, we’re visited by the police, who are looking for a statement. I stay with her as she tells them what happened.
“Lizzie was acting weird,” she starts.
“Elizabeth Turkins?” one of the detectives asks. Kayla nods. “What do you mean by ‘weird’?”
“She was fidgeting. Her hands and knees were shaking. She seemed agitated. I thought she was high.”
“So the behavior was unusual?”
She shrugs. “I haven’t seen her enough to know. I just got the case from Dana about a month ago. You’ll have to ask her.” Kayla’s eyes scan the detectives’ faces. She’s fishing, trying to find out information that no one’s provided us with yet. They don’t react.
“So she seemed agitated? What happened next?”
“I don’t know. I was distracted,” Kayla answers in a whisper.
“By what?”
She looks over at me. I tilt my head, trying to read her expression, but I can’t. She’s still hiding the vast majority of her emotions.
“I saw someone in the lobby I thought I knew. I…I didn’t even see how it happened. Suddenly Lizzie had a knife in her hand and was swinging her arms.” A look of confusion comes over her face. “I didn’t even move. I didn’t do anything. I just sat there until Dana started screaming. Garrett was on the floor crying, and Dana was screaming. I tried… When I realized what was happening, I tried to stop Lizzie, but she just kept hitting Dana with the knife. I couldn’t make her stop. I didn’t want to leave Dana. I didn’t… I was afraid Lizzie was gonna hurt Garrett. I picked him up and tried to leave to get help, but she turned on me and…” Kayla unconsciously ghosts her hand over her bandaged arm. “I dropped him,” she gasped. “I—I dropped him. And she got him back. Someone opened the door, and they were fighting with her, trying to get the knife and the baby. People started surrounding me. That’s…that’s it.” She shakes her head and the tears that have been threatening to fall finally let go. They drip from her chin and onto our clasped hands. I squeeze tightly.
It kills me that she’s hurting. I’m relieved she’s okay, but I’m also pissed that this happened in the first place. I have to hold myself together, though, because this isn’t about me.
“Thank you, Kayla. I think we have everything we need,” the same detective says.
“I don’t know how she got the knife in,” Kayla suddenly says. “I saw her go through the metal detector. It didn’t beep.”
“It was a ceramic knife. No metal. Some of the newer high-tech scanners can detect it, but not the older ones. There was no way to know.”
After they’re gone, the doctor comes in, followed by a nurse. “You’re all set to go home,” he tells her, signing a form and handing a clipboard to the nurse, who walks out. “I’m going to give you a prescription for pain relief. Take it as needed, no more than every four to six hours. If you have any complications, let us know.”
“What happened to Dana?” Kayla asks him.
He sighs and clicks his pen before shoving it into his pocket. “Your brother is still in the lobby. He spoke with her family.”
I take this to mean he’s not allowed to say. Kayla must come to the same conclusion because she frowns.
“Can you send him in?”
“Sure.” The look on his face is solemn.
“She’s not okay,” Kayla says softly once the doctor has left.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. There was a lot of blood, Dean. So much.”
“They have great doctors here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she says in a weak voice.
The second Andy walks through the door, I know Kayla’s right. Dana’s not okay. I close my eyes and groan under my breath.
“There was too much damage,” Andy tells us. “The knife punctured her lungs and heart. They couldn’t repair it.”
Since I’m still holding her hand, I can feel
Kayla begin to shake.
“She’s dead?” she squeaks. Andy nods. “Her family?”
“They wanted to see you earlier, but it was before you were ready to have visitors. Jesus, buttercup, I’m so sorry.”
Kayla takes short, choppy breaths. The tears begin to fall again, uncontrollably. She lets go of my hand and wraps her arms around herself. There’s nothing I can say or do right now to make this any better.
I flash back to when I was in the hospital and my parents told me that Gage had lost his leg. The feeling in the pit of my stomach made me want to vomit, and I probably would have if I’d had anything in it. Kayla’s face is registering the same emotion.
Andy moves forward to hug her, but she’s motionless. He kisses her head. Our eyes meet, and my own fear and concern are reflected back at me.
He lets her go. “Take care of her,” he says, pulling me in and patting me on the back.
“I will,” I assure.
“I love you, buttercup,” he says. She doesn’t even look up at him.
When he’s left, I help Kayla dress in a pair of scrub pants and a sweatshirt I grabbed from the trunk of my car. She’s a little sore, but she can walk on her own. We get about two feet into the hallway before a nurse stops us and makes her sit in a wheelchair, though. Kayla doesn’t protest. She just sags down into the seat.
At home, I run a bath for her and help her in, making sure to keep her bandaged arm out of the water. She’s still got little spots of blood here and there. I don’t know whom it belongs to, but I don’t want it on her anymore.
“Do you want anything?” I ask, running a washcloth over her skin.
“No,” she says quietly. “I’m okay.”
“Really?” I ask, disbelieving. She looks up and smiles, but I can tell it’s forced.
“I’m just tired.”
Kayla lets me wash her hair without complaint. I know she can do it without my help, but it makes me feel useful. Plus, she’s taken her pain pill and I don’t want her falling asleep while she’s in the tub. A little bit of blood is matted around the edge of her ear. The pink-tinted suds drip down into the water. Luckily, her eyes are closed and she doesn’t see them. When she’s clean, I help her out, wrap a towel around her body, and use another to dry her hair.