Rebel With A Cause

by Ashleigh Neame

  “Well hello there, dear,” she said kindly. She reminded Kaitlyn of how a grandmother should act.

  “Where am I?” Kaitlyn asked nervously. “And what am I doing here?”

  The woman smiled at her. “Now, not to worry, dear, but you were in a bit of a scuffle.”

  Kaitlyn raised her eyebrows incredulously. “A scuffle?”

  The woman smiled and patted her knee. “Don’t worry, dear, the policeman will be here later today to explain.”

  Kaitlyn frowned. “What the hell is going on?”

  The woman smiled. “I’m afraid if you don’t remember, I can’t tell you.”

  Kaitlyn wanted to scream. This woman didn’t understand. There was something at the back of Kaitlyn's mind. It was pressing, like a headache, but much worse.

  She just wanted to remember!

  “Come on!” she yelled at the woman. “What the hell is going on?!”

  The woman frowned. “Now, now, there’s no need to take that tone with me, young lady.”

  This time, Kaitlyn did scream. She grabbed the phone beside her bed and furiously punched in Carter’s number. It rang and rang and rang, and then T-Man answered.

  “T-Man?” she asked, surprised. “Where’s Carter?”

  On the other end of the line, T-Man frowned. “Katie? Where the hell are you?”

  “Uh, I’m in hospital,” she replied, biting her lip. “Why are you answering Carter’s phone?”

  T-Man sighed. “I know you’re in hospital. I meant what ward? I haven’t been to visit you yet. Look, Katie, do you remember what happened two days ago?”

  For the second time that day, Kaitlyn wanted to scream. “No, and the nurse won’t tell me. Why? What happened?”

  T-Man sighed again. “Meet me out the front of the hospital in five. It’s too much to explain over the phone, and it’s too hard without seeing the evidence. You need to see it for yourself.”

  They ended the phone call, and Kaitlyn rushed to get dressed. She dumped the hospital gown on her bed and left it rumpled and messy. She didn’t care about her bed, or the gown, or anything. Something was wrong, and she needed to find out what.

  She looked outside, and noted that her room was close to the exit. It was also far away from the nurse’s station.

  She creeped out towards the elevators, and went down to ground level. She walked out of the front entrance, and no one batted an eye. She would have laughed, if it weren’t for the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

  T-Man was waiting for her. When she saw him, his face was set in a grim line.

  “What happened?” she asked, really worried now. “T-Man, what’s going on?”

  He looked at her and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m sorry, Katie,” he whispered. “It’s Carter. He’s not doing so well.”

  She pulled back and gulped. “Not doing so well? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He grabbed her hand and led her through winding corridors – white, like her own hospital room – until she was dizzy. It was so hard to keep track of where she was going.

  They stopped when they reached what was possibly the scariest sight she’d ever seen in her life. The doors to the Intensive Care Unit were in front of them, the letters ICU in bright red on the door.

  “I’m nervous,” she confessed.

  T-Man sighed. “You need to be prepared, Katie. After he was shot…”

  “He was shot?” she whispered angrily. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  T-Man looked at her tiredly. “Katie, while you’ve been gone, I’ve been looking after Carter. I’m his next-of-kin, and I told them I was yours, too. I’ve been making decisions regarding both of you, and I’m tired. Can you please just focus on Carter? I swear, now that you’re better, you can look after him, and I can go home and sleep.”

  Now that Kaitlyn looked at T-Man, she noticed the dark bags under his eyes. She hadn’t noticed them at first, because his skin was so dark anyway.

  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

  She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “So, after he was…shot?”

  T-Man looked at her. “After he was shot, they had to rush him into surgery. Now, they got the bullet out, but he’s still in a pretty serious condition. He needs rest, so the doctors put him in an induced coma. Now, it’s just a waiting game until he wakes up.”

  She closed her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. Carter couldn’t be dead. He was always the strong one, the reliable one. How could he be in a coma?

  “I want to see him,” she whispered. “Take me to see Carter.”

  T-Man nodded and pressed the buzzer for entrance. A nurse came to the doors, looked out, and switched on the intercom.

  “State your name, the patient you are visiting, and your relationship to the patient,” she said tonelessly. She was obviously bored. Kaitlyn didn’t think she should be working in a hospital if she was bored.

  T-Man answered for them. “Arthur Harris and Kaitlyn Johnson, here to see Carter Hawke. Next-of-kin and fiancée.”

  The nurse nodded. “Come on in.” She pressed the button to open the doors and waved them in. The impression Kaitlyn got from her was that she didn’t care who visited the patients, as long as she got her paycheque.

  Kaitlyn followed T-Man inside. He led her along an ominously empty, white corridor

  “Be prepared, Katie,” T-Man said. “He doesn’t exactly look like himself.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded at T-Man. He opened the door and she got her first glimpse of Carter. He looked pale and drawn, not like Carter at all. His dark hair was limp and in bad need of a wash. He had bags under his eyes. He looked frail.

  “Oh my god,” she whispered. “Carter.” She rushed to his side and grabbed his hand. “Oh, Carter.”

  T-Man walked up next to her and placed his hands on her shoulders

  “Not the same, is he?” he commented.

  She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. “No,” she whispered. Her voice was thick with emotion. “T-Man, did De do this?”

  T-Man looked at Kaitlyn. “Are you remembering something, Katie?”

  She shook her head. “I wish. All I see is an empty room, and blood. Lots of blood.”

  T-Man sighed. “It would be nice if you could remember something. The cops want to talk to you. At the moment, you’re the only one awake. Aria’s dead, Carter’s in a coma…”

  “Aria’s dead?”

  T-Man rubbed her shoulders a little. “Katie, I think you should sit down.”

  She sat down, doing as she was told. She couldn’t believe it. Aria, dead; Carter, in a coma; she was the only one available, and she couldn’t remember a thing!

  It was awful.

  “T-Man,” she began hesitantly. “Can you take me to De’s house? I have a feeling that if I went back and saw it, saw where it happened, I might be able to remember.”

  T-Man looked at her. “Really, Katie? Are you sure?”

  She nodded and sniffed, wiping a tear away with her sleeve. “I have to. It’s where De raped me, and that’s what started it all. What De did, it started the crusade for revenge. If I go back, and spend time in his house, maybe I could remember.”

  T-Man sighed. “I guess. But we’ll have to tell the police you don’t remember anything, and they’ll have to escort you.”

  She nodded and sat on the edge of Carter’s bed. T-Man let go of her and left the room. Kaitlyn knew he was going to notify the police of her decision.

  She sat there, holding Carter’s hand, and wishing desperately that she could re-wind time. She wanted to go back, all the way back to before she and Carter split up the first time. She wanted to tell him she loved him, and that she would never leave him. He meant the world to her.

  It was sitting there on Carter’s bed, staring at his gaunt, empty face, when she broke down in tears.

  She couldn’t stand everything that De had done. He’d done many evil things, like killing his d
aughter, attacking vulnerable girls, killing his girlfriend, and landing Carter in hospital. It was unforgiveable. Someone needed to make Deangelo Carboni pay.

  Later that afternoon, Kaitlyn and T-Man were in the back of a police car on the way to De’s. T-Man had insisted on coming with her, as moral support.

  Earlier in the day, Kaitlyn had discharged herself, against doctor’s orders, and told the police everything she knew.

  Which, sadly, wasn’t much.

  She’d told the police that she knew Aria was dead, and by De’s hand. She told them that she knew De had put Carter in hospital, but not why.

  The police had accepted that, and agreed to take her to De’s house, under police supervision. Constable Schwartz, the officer from the day it happened, was one of their escorts. He was glad to see that Kaitlyn was ok – except for the memory loss, of course.

  The other officer with them was a female, Officer Lauren Watson. She was one of the cops who had been surrounding De’s house, eventually storming it after waiting for so long.

  Constable Schwartz – neither Kaitlyn nor T-Man knew his first name – drove them to the scene of the crime. Kaitlyn felt her heart start pounding as they got closer to De’s house. Consciously, she didn’t know why she reacted that way. What she didn’t know was that it was her subconscious reminding her of the horrors that had occurred there.

  They pulled into De’s driveway, and everyone turned to stare at Kaitlyn. She was a faint shade of green.

  “I think I’m gonna be sick,” she whispered. Her stomach was heaving, and she was afraid to open her mouth.

  T-Man grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

  “It’s ok,” he soothed. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  “Although it would help if you did do it,” Constable Schwartz interrupted loudly. “We need to know everything that happened, so we can put Mr Carboni away for good. At the moment, he’s only charged with attempted murder, because the other woman we found with you was already dead when we arrived at the scene.”

  Kaitlyn pressed her lips together and nodded. They all hopped out of the car and walked up to De’s house. They walked up the three steps to his front door and the female officer snapped on some gloves.

  “Are you absolutely sure?” T-Man asked. “We can always turn away and go back to the hospital.”

  She shook her head. “No, I need to do this. I need to get justice for Aria, and for Carter. He almost died for me. I can’t let De get away with it. I was the intended victim, so it’s up to me.”

  They were all silent for a moment, and Kaitlyn’s eyes went wide as what she just said sank in. She clamped her hands over her mouth.

  “How…how did I…?” she stuttered.

  T-Man frowned at her. “How do you know you were the intended target?”

  She looked at T-Man and lowered her trembling hands. “I don’t…I don’t know.”

  She felt like she was about to faint. Just being here, back in this house, was giving her a migraine. It took all of her effort just to stay standing.

  “Hold on to me,” she whispered to T-Man. He grabbed one arm and roped it around his neck, and he used his other arm to hold her around the waist.

  They carefully made their way inside, making sure not to disturb anything. This was a crime scene, after all.

  The lounge was stuffy. It was hot, humid, and it was making her dizzy. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

  Neither of the cops noticed – they were too busy leading the way down the hallway.

  T-Man, however, did notice.

  “We can always run,” he promised her. “Carter wouldn’t want you putting yourself through all this stress.”

  She shook her head, wincing in pain as the movement jarred her head.

  “No,” she gasped. “I have to.”

  T-Man nodded, thinking to himself that if she showed another sign of weakness, he was getting her out of there, no matter what. He couldn’t leave his best mate’s girlfriend to suffer.

  She closed her eyes and mouthed something, too quiet for him to hear. When she opened her eyes, there was a new fire in them.

  “Let’s go,” she said determinedly.

  T-Man nodded and helped her down the hallway after the cops. They soon reached the bare room where it all happened, only it wasn’t so bare anymore.

  The walls, usually a pale, faded yellow, were now splattered with blood. In some places, it was smeared on the wall. She closed her eyes and looked away.

  It took a few minutes, but she was able to look back at the walls. She pretended that it was just an interesting paint job, red and yellow.

  “He blacked out the windows,” she murmured. “He didn’t want anybody seeing in.”

  The police noted the layers of cardboard and newspaper at the windows, underneath the black, thermal curtains.

  “He didn’t really plan on doing it,” she mused. “I had the gun in the first place. I remember packing it in my bag. But why? Why did I do that?” She spun around to T-Man. “Why did I come here?” she demanded. “And why did I come here alone?”

  One of the cops eyed her suspiciously. “How do you know you came here alone?”

  Katie shrugged. “I don’t know, I just do. I can feel it. Everything is here, in my head, but I can’t access it.”

  She felt very frustrated. Why couldn’t she access her own memories?

  Dammit, she thought angrily, those are my memories! Give them to me!

  The tang of blood hit her nostrils. It infected her brain, like a virus. Her head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure.

  She let out a bloodcurdling scream. “Make it stop!”

  She couldn’t breathe. She gasped for air, but nothing came in. She was beginning to get dizzy, from lack of oxygen.

  She closed her eyes, her face contorted in pain.

  “No,” she whimpered. “Please, no.”

  Nothing helped. The pressure on her brain was too intense. She couldn’t make it go away.

  For the second time in that room, she passed out.

  Chapter 22

  Kaitlyn woke up in her own bed, back at Carter’s house. She stretched and smiled. That was the best sleep she’d had in a while.

  She got up and opened up the curtains. The sun was shining, birds singing; it was a very picturesque day.

  She felt like all the drama over the past few days was just a dream. The weather seemed to be saying that everything was going to be ok. Kaitlyn certainly thought so, until realization dawned on her.

  It was like a black hole had suddenly come along and consumed all of her happiness. She remembered everything. Carter was in hospital, in a coma no less, because Deangelo shot him.

  Aria was dead, because Deangelo shot her.

  Kaitlyn was traumatized, because Deangelo had held her hostage, in an insane episode of madness.

  She lifted her hands up in front of her, to notice that she was shaking.

  Tears burning her eyes, but not yet revealing themselves, she walked into the living area. Her sinuses felt blocked up with unshed tears.

  She found T-Man sitting on the sofa with a bowl of cornflakes, his spoon clinking against the ceramic in intervals with his crunching.

  “Hey,” she said emotionally. “I remembered it all.”

  T-man looked behind him and choked. “Sorry,” he spat, coughing into the crook of his elbow. “You remember it all?”

  She nodded sadly. “Yeah. I remember it all. Everything. I guess going back to De’s did help.”

  He looked at her, caution clear in the way he moved. “I guess. But you fainted yesterday. The cops were all for taking you back to hospital, but I told them that I was your next-of-kin, and I made them bring you home.”

  She sighed. “I’m glad you did. I don’t think I could have put up with those fake nurses any longer.”

  T-Man got up from the sofa and went to rinse his dishes in the sink. He then grabbed another bowl and filled it with
cornflakes.

  “Another helping?” Kaitlyn asked dubiously. “Dude, you could have used the same bowl.”

  He looked at her and grinned. “Not for me, for you.”

  She scowled. “I don’t need breakfast. I need to go to the police station and tell them everything.”

  T-Man set the bowl on the table then grabbed Kaitlyn, and made her sit down in front of it.

  “Eat,” he commanded. “And by the way, you can’t go anywhere without some fuel in you.”

  She shot him a nasty look. “What are you, my father?”

  It was his turn to scowl. “Dream on. You are way too much of a handful. I don’t know how Carter puts up with you.”

  The mention of Carter made her lose her appetite. T-Man noticed and frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She pushed the bowl away from her. She looked up at T-Man with sad eyes. “T,” she said morosely. “What if Carter has memory loss, too? What if he doesn’t remember me?”

  He instantly regretted his harsh words. “I doubt it, Katie,” he said confidently. “Carter’s injury was only physical. Besides, he loves you too much. Anyone who’s known him for as long as I have can tell.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe. But I didn’t have any injury, and yet I ended up with memory loss.”

  T-Man sat down next to her and grabbed her hands in his. “Katie, you were held hostage, alone, and threatened with a gun. Not to mention De hurt you long before this mess happened. Your body was probably still traumatised from that experience, and going through the madness of the past few days…it was probably just too much.”

  She shook her head, breaking down in tears, as she’d constantly done these past few days. “I just…I won’t be able to cope if he doesn’t remember me,” she blubbered. “My family is in ruins, and Carter is the only constant I have left. Without him…”

  T-Man wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “Tell you what,” he proposed. “You eat a few bites of your cereal and then we’ll go to the cops, tell them everything, and then after that we’ll go and see Carter.”

  She looked at him with watery eyes and gave him a flat smile. “Ok.”

  He let go, but sat there, coaxing her to eat just a few more bites until she’d eaten the whole bowl. When she was finished, he grinned at her and told her to get ready, while he cleaned her dishes.