His Every Choice (3 page)

“What do you mean?”

He licked his lips, and briefly closed his eyes. “It’s like, I was gone—but I wasn’t
really gone. I can’t put words to it. I just sensed that my father never really
went anywhere either, and that I’d never truly lost him. Not really.”

“I’m not sure I get it,” she admitted.

“Me either,” he said, a small, bemused smile crossing his lips. “I just came out
of it knowing that being here with you like this is so precious that I shouldn’t waste
another second. Not another second.” He went back to messing with the piece of medical
tape.

“Well I like the sound of that,” she laughed. “I don’t want to waste another second
either. When I thought you might die, I nearly lost my mind.”

He suddenly hoisted himself up on an elbow, with great effort, turning towards her.
“I’m going to say a few more things now,” he said, his cheeks turning red.

“Hunter, don’t exert yourself. Lay down.” She started to get off her chair.

“No, just listen to me,” he said, his voice growling with some of his old intensity.

Kallie did as he said. “Okay, okay. I’m listening.”

“I want to tell you that I’m in love with you, and that I’ve always been in love with
you, since the first moment I saw you at the pool that night. I can still recall
the way you looked, the glimmer of the water in your eyes, the feel of your skin when
I touched you.”

His words were like a fire, burning her, but in the most pleasurable way. She remembered
their first night together too—the magic of it, the uncertainty, the tangible chemistry
that had set her spinning into confusion. “I remember you touching me,” she smiled.

“Ever since that first night, I’ve been running away from what I knew deep down,”
he said. His one hand was closed into a fist, draped over the side of the railing
of his bed as he looked at her.

“What did you know?”

“That I wanted to be with you, and that I needed to be the kind of man who deserved
you. I didn’t think I was that man before, but now I know that I am.” His fist opened
up and revealed the medical tape, which had been crafted into a circular ring shape.
He held it out to her, an offering. “Kallie Young, will you do me the honor—the greatest
honor of my life—and marry me?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But then she realized that all she’d ever
had was this belief that somehow, someway, things would work out between them.

Even when all the odds had been stacked against them, she’d never truly given up.
“Of course I’ll marry you,” she said. “Nothing in the world could make me happier.”

She took the “ring” and slipped it on her finger. “Hey, it fits,” she laughed.

“It’s not much, I know—but it’s the best I can do on such short notice. And like
I said, I don’t want to waste another second. Soon, when I get out of here, you’ll
have something a little more substantial to replace it with.”

“I don’t care about that. I love this ring more than any diamond,” she said, and
she wasn’t lying. She looked down at her finger with the tape ring, and she had tears
in her eyes.

“I love you, Kallie,” he said.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

“Now come here and kiss me,” he told her.

She rose off her seat and did as he commanded.

***

Scarlett wandered outside for a while, just drifting along the street and taking in
the sights and sounds. Los Angeles was so different from New York and the East Coast
in general. The heat, the people in skimpy clothing, and everyone seemed to be smiling
and friendly—unless you were a smoker of course. She’d never been frowned at so much
for smoking as she was in L.A. It was like they thought she was a violent criminal,
the way they turned up their noses and sniffed in disgust at her.

In any case, she was abstaining from smoking for a little while, and so she didn’t
have to deal with any dirty looks from the other pedestrians.

Now that Hunter was going to be okay, Scarlett’s thoughts turned back to herself and
what she was going to do with her life. She was at a crossroads.

Terrence was dead. It was horrible that he was dead—yet she was glad he was dead.
The man was a killer, and her entanglement with him was one of the big regrets of
her life. She’d known he was dangerous of course, he’d pretty much advertised it
in flashing neon lights. But she’d never realized just how far it went, and that
he would do something so drastic to people that he hardly even knew.

She’d obviously been lucky to escape with her life.

But her irresponsibility had almost cost Hunter and Kallie their lives. Because of
her, Hunter had taken a bullet and nearly died.

She knew that the only penance she could do now was to try and pick up the pieces
and find a way to become self-sustaining, to earn her own way in the world and stop
trying to take from others.

Step one would be to get a job, and step two would be to get her own place. She appreciated
Kallie’s assurances that she could stay where she was, but Scarlett didn’t want to
take advantage of anyone’s generosity anymore.

It has to end now, she thought.

Just because you were robbed of a childhood doesn’t mean you get to continue it
into adulthood.

Scarlett didn’t know if she’d heard that phrase somewhere—maybe a past therapist—or
if she made it up herself. Either way, she wanted to remember it, because it was
true.

Eventually, she decided it was time to stop wandering the streets and head back to
the hospital. She went up to the ICU and found Hunter and Kallie kissing and laughing
and generally acting like teenagers at prom. They were positively giddy.

“Hey, hope I’m not interrupting?” she said, as she hesitantly entered his room.

Kallie turned to her with flushed cheeks, waving Scarlett in. “Of course not!

Come in here, silly, and celebrate with us.”

“I should have brought champagne,” Scarlett said.

Hunter chuckled. “I’d love a drink right about now. Can you sneak some in?”

“If you want. What’s the occasion?”

Kallie and Hunter exchanged looks and then started giggling again. “Should we tell
her?” Hunter said.

“Why not?” Kallie shrugged.

“Tell me what?”

Kallie held up her hand and extended her ring finger out for Scarlett to see.

“What do you think of it?” Kallie asked.

Scarlett squinted. “Is that some kind of art project?”

“It’s my engagement ring,” Kallie squealed.

“Temporary engagement ring,” Hunter corrected her. “I’ll be getting her a new one
as soon as I get out of here.”

“You’re engaged? Seriously?”

“Yes.” Kallie leaned in and the two of them kissed yet again.

Scarlett was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Hunter looked so positively
alive. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been having what looked like cardiac arrest,
and it had been frighteningly grim. Now, some hours later, he appeared to be in fantastic
shape, as if he were almost ready to leave the hospital.

“That’s amazing. Congratulations,” she told them, and realized that she actually
meant it.

“Thanks,” Kallie said. “You’re the first person we’ve told about it.”

Now she felt that sense of happiness bubbling up inside—the sense that also brought
with it the familiar, old taste of fear. She liked that Kallie liked her. But what
if Kallie’s feelings changed? Scarlett wanted to be friends, but friendship had always
been so quick to turn on her in the past, like a dog gone bad.

Still, she didn’t want to let her past insecurities taint the present moment. She
watched Kallie and Hunter look into each other’s eyes and realized that she could
choose to just be happy for them. She took herself out of the picture entirely.

Here are two people who finally found one another. It’s got nothing to do with
me and my needs and fears and hopes.

One of the ICU nurses came in and checked on Hunter, making small talk and telling
them how pleased the staff was at the quick turnaround he’d made. “It’s like a miracle,”
she said.

“She’s the miracle worker,” Hunter said, grabbing Kallie’s hand. “They should put
her in one of those Disney movies where she goes around singing and dancing and twirling
through the air with her magic umbrella.”

“So now I’m Mary Poppins?”

“Maybe it’s the drugs talking,” Hunter admitted.

The nurse laughed, and then exited the room.

Hunter was growing tired, and his eyes were starting to drift closed now and then.

Kallie looked at Scarlett. “He probably needs to rest.”

“I’m exhausted and I haven’t been through anything,” Scarlett said. “I really can’t
figure out how he has so much energy.”

“You’ve been through something,” Kallie told her. Her voice was earnest.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Scarlett nodded. “Thanks for saying that. Even though I’m not sure I’ve been through
anything that wasn’t my own doing.”

“How long are you going to stay in Los Angeles?” Kallie asked her.

Scarlett thought about it, shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve barely had a chance to
catch my breath.”

“Do you need to go back to work soon?”

“I don’t have a job.”

“Oh.” Kallie shrugged. “Well that’s good, then. You can stay out here until we
go back, when Hunter gets released.”

“No,” Scarlett said. “It’s not good. I need to get back and find a job.”

“Like what? What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know. I’ve done some waitressing…”

Kallie gave Scarlett an enigmatic look. “We can find you something better than that.”

“Something wrong with being a waitress?”

“Not at all, but there’s not the best job security or benefits.”

Scarlett nodded. “True.” Also true was that she didn’t particularly enjoy waiting
tables. But it was better than nothing.

“Give me some time to talk about it with Hunter,” Kallie said.

“I don’t want you doing me anymore favors. You’ve done enough.”

“Just don’t worry about it,” Kallie laughed. “It’s going to be fine, I promise.”

Scarlett wanted to believe her. She really did, but she wasn’t so sure.

***

Kallie stayed in the hospital until about nine o’clock that night. Hunter just slept
most of the rest of the day. She wasn’t surprised. After all, he’d been through
the ringer and then some.

Dr. Walsh came in and checked on him once and seemed very pleased with everything
she was seeing, especially the fact that his fever was gone and his temperature was
completely normal. She told Kallie she would be back again in the morning.

Scarlett left around dinnertime, but offered to come back later. Kallie told her
not to worry.

When Hunter woke up very briefly, Kallie caressed his hair and gave him some water
to drink. He was very drowsy and a little bit high from the drugs.

He began singing to her in a quiet voice. “This thing called love, I just…can’t handle
it…”

“Shhh….You don’t need to serenade me right now. Later.”

“I love singing to you, my love.”

“I know.” She laughed.

“I had a dream that Scarlett died,” he said.

Kallie got a chill. “You did?”

“Yeah.” His eyes were far away. “Terrence came back—crawled out of his grave and
killed her in her sleep.”

“Hunter, that’s awful.”

“I know. You keep an eye on her, Kallie, okay? She’s…she needs someone to look after
her sometimes.”

“Okay. I was thinking about seeing if she wanted to nanny for Red and Nicole.”

“Isn’t that your job?”

Kallie shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m really cut out for being a nanny.”

“I don’t think Scarlett is, either.”

“Maybe something else, then.”

Hunter’s eyes were closing again. “Maybe she can direct the movie if Bryson can’t
hack it….” His eyes closed and he began to snore lightly.

Hunter slept for the remainder of the time she was there, and she didn’t want to disturb
him. When they announced that visiting hours were ending, Kallie leaned in and gave
Hunter another long kiss on the cheek. He murmured something—it might have been,
I love you
—but she couldn’t be sure.

“Love you so much,” she said, staring at his beautiful face for a long moment before
she finally left the room.

When she got outside to walk back to the hotel, she found Detective Phillips standing
there. He was wearing another beige suit, and still had dark circles under his eyes.
“Walk you back?” he said.

She started walking in the direction of the hotel, annoyed but unable to quite grasp
why she was so annoyed. “You still look like you need sleep,” she told him, as he
caught up to her.

“I know. I don’t sleep well in hotels.”

“Then maybe you should go home.”

He chuckled. “You know I can’t do that.”

She glanced at him as they walked. “And you know that I’m not really in any danger
from Terrence’s son. He’s hiding, he’s probably in another country. He’s got warrants
out for his arrest.”

“I’m not so sure. We know his father was dangerous to the point of self-destruction.
How do we know Trevor isn’t just as bad as the father?”

“He probably would have done something by now if that was the case. And I think his
father was clearly the bad guy, the one who ran things.”

“Trevor’s record indicates that he’s just as capable of violence as Terrence. You
know firsthand, Kallie.”

She rolled her eyes. Part of her realized that the reason she found the detective’s
presence so aggravating was that she was frightened by what he implied.

“I don’t want to live in fear,” she said, finally.

“Of course you don’t. But this is how things are right now. Eventually, we’ll catch
Trevor and he’ll go away for a long time. Until then, caution is a good and healthy
attitude.”

They kept walking together. As they started to approach the hotel, there was a series
of flashes and pops from nearby. “Kallie! Kallie!” A male voice screamed.