His Every Word

His Every Word (For His Pleasure, Book 11)

By Kelly Favor

© 2012 All Rights Reserved

Too many people were talking to her.

First it had been the police, and her brother, and the EMTs, asking her questions and assessing her amidst the carnage and wreckage of the restaurant.

Then they’d taken her by ambulance to the hospital, where Kallie had gotten her ears and head checked. She had some temporary hearing loss in her right ear, which consisted mostly of just ringing—which the doctor who’d examined her claimed would go away in the next day or two.

He’d had to stitch one of the cuts on her left hand. The other cuts on her hands were minor--they were from crawling on the shattered glass that had been all over the floor of the restaurant.

She had other minor cuts and bruises and abrasions on her knees and legs. None of them mattered.

The minute the doctor was done with her, she’d gone to wait in the surgical wing of the hospital. By this time, she had a small coterie of people following her around and trying to talk to her.

Her brother Sean, a police officer, and now a hospital counselor, were all basically making sure that she couldn’t just sit still and have a moment to herself.

She sat in the bland, whitewashed waiting room while an episode of The Golden Girls played on one of the television sets on the wall, and tried to ignore the young man sitting next to her.

“I understand how hard this must be for you right now,” the young man said, softly. He was probably just a year or so older than her, with hair that looked as though a relative had cut it for free.

He was a counselor but he might as well have been a tailor, for all she cared.

Kallie glanced at him. “You don’t understand how I feel right now, because if you did, you’d leave me alone.”

“We don’t think this is a good time for you to be by yourself,” the counselor replied.

“What did you say your name was again?” she asked.

“Ryan.”

“Listen Ryan, I know you’re just trying to do your job—but what I need right now is information about Hunter. Can you tell me anything about him?”

Counselor Ryan gazed momentarily at the floor. He shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m not privy—“

“Exactly. But that’s the only thing that’s going to help me right now.”

Her brother Sean was talking to the police officer in the corner of the room, but keeping an eye on her at the same time.

She shook her head at him as he met her gaze.

“You’re going to be experiencing a lot of different feelings in the next few days, I suspect,” Counselor Ryan continued. “Anger, fear, worry. All of these feelings are normal, and nobody expects you to be anything other than what you are.”

“If you don’t expect me to be different, than why do you keep trying to make me talk? I told you, I don’t have anything to say,” she told him, her voice rising precipitously.

The counselor drew back as if she was a cobra that was suddenly in range to strike.

“I was asked to be here,” he said, his voice betraying the first bit of impatience.

“This is my job.”

“I get it. But you’re not helping me.”

Ryan nodded and sat back heavily in his chair, his shoulder slumping. “Well, I’m going to stay close by, regardless, and when you feel like talking—“

Suddenly, the doors to the waiting room opened and a doctor walked briskly into the room. Kallie looked up, hopeful that he might have information for her.

But he was there to speak with someone else. A woman and her daughter went over and began consulting with him. Their voices were low. Everyone in this room was somber, as if nothing good could ever happen in this place. Nobody laughed, nobody joked. Just low voices and murmuring, that was all you could do here.

They wouldn’t tell her anything. That was another problem, Kallie thought, as she played with one of the small scabs forming on the palm of her hand.

The constant attempts to force her to talk was one thing—but the steadfast refusal to give her any information on Hunter’s medical status was infuriating.

The problem was, she wasn’t family and she wasn’t a spouse. She had no rights, apparently, to be informed of anything about Hunter’s condition. Which essentially meant that she knew nothing, other than what the police had told them, which was that Hunter was in surgery.

Sean crossed the room a moment later and sat down on the other side of her.

Now she had one well-meaning annoyance on her left and another on her right.

“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,” she muttered.

“What’s that?” Sean asked, leaning forward and looking at her.

“Oh, nothing.” She picked a little more at her scab. It started to bleed, just a bit.

“Don’t do that,” Sean told her.

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t pick at your wounds, Kallie.”

She snickered. “This isn’t a wound, Sean. Hunter had a wound. His chest was blown open—there’s a big difference.” Her voice was rising again.

The few people in the waiting room all glanced up at her with strange expressions on their faces.

“I know what happened to him,” Sean whispered. “I was there, too, remember?”

“As a matter of fact, I do remember. I remember that you strutted into the restaurant like a big silly peacock. That’s exactly what I thought at the time.”

“Kallie, stop it.”

She was smiling now, she could feel the smile on her face—a strange mask she was wearing. “And then, the moment Terrence came in shooting, you somehow completely disappeared.” Kallie snapped her fingers. “You just went poof! And, like a magic trick, you were gone.”

“I wasn’t gone,” he said. “I was right around the corner.”

“You missed all of the fun, Sean. And what were you doing when Hunter was busy saving
both
of our lives?”

Sean didn’t answer. He wiped his hands on his knees and she saw that his hands trembled slightly. “I was waiting for it to be over,” he said, softly.

The trembling of his hands snapped Kallie out of her trance, and a wave of pity and despair crashed within her chest. It was so huge, so overwhelming, that she felt like she might fall to the ground.

Suddenly, she was sobbing. Her breath came in giant, heaving gasps, as she felt someone rubbing her back in large circular motions. “There, there now,” the counselor said from nearby.

She looked up and saw Ryan smiling at her as he rubbed her back.

“Don’t touch me,” she said, wiping at her eyes.

He abruptly stopped. “I’m sorry, I just thought you needed someone to let you know they saw your pain. I’m hearing you, Kallie.”

“Oh, please.” She turned to look at Sean again, grabbing his hand in hers now.

Sean looked up at her and she saw clearly how hard this had been on him.

He smiled. “I’m sorry I didn’t try and save you.” The words came out in a choked gasp.

“It’s okay, Sean.” And then she hugged him fiercely, and he hugged her back.

“I’m so sorry, Kallie.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

When they broke off from the hug, Sean was sniffing and wiping his eyes as well.

She hadn’t seen him shed a tear since they were little kids.

“He was very brave for you,” Sean said, finally.

Kallie nodded. “I’m going to fight for him. You know that.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Sean grinned at her.

Counselor Ryan smiled at them both. “And now the healing begins,” he said.

This caused both of them to break into giggles, but they controlled themselves.

The counselor stood up, flustered. “It seems like my expertise isn’t really needed here. I suppose I’ll go now, unless either of you object to that.”

“I’m sorry if I was rude,” Kallie said. “I know you’re doing your best, and I should have been more respectful.”

Ryan arched an eyebrow. “It’s just grief. I know it’s just the grief talking, Miss Young. At least, I hope that’s all it is.” And then he turned and stalked off.

Sean laughed as he sat back in his chair. “You pissed him off. You pissed off a psychiatrist—and their job is to not get pissed off. That’s impressive, little Sis.”

“He’s a counselor, not a psychiatrist.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She couldn’t sit still—her legs were jittering, her feet tapping. “How are we going to find out what’s happening to him?” she asked. “I can’t stand this. I need to know if he’s okay.”

“We’ll find out,” Sean told her. “They’ve got to give the information to someone eventually.”

“He doesn’t have any family, I don’t think,” Kallie said.

“He’s got someone, though,” Sean told her.

“Yes. He has someone,” Kallie replied. “Me.”

***

Another couple of hours passed, and still no word on Hunter.

The police officer that had accompanied them to the hospital eventually departed, speaking briefly with Sean and telling him that that someone from the police force would be in touch again soon.

When Sean came back to sit with her, she asked him if the officer had told him anything else.

“Just that he thinks we should go home,” Sean said.

Kallie didn’t respond. She felt so helpless, trapped, and angry. She couldn’t allow herself to think about what would happen if Hunter didn’t make it.

He has to make it. I know he will.

But everything inside of her was trembling, every cell was sick with worry and fear and despair.

How could he be in surgery for so long? She wondered. The only reason for someone to be in surgery for this many hours was if they were on the brink of death.

She tried to keep positive, but as the time wore on, and with little to no information coming from the hospital staff, she started to lose hope.

And then something finally happened.

Sean was once again trying to get her to leave with him. “If you won’t come back to Ohio with me, can we at least go to a hotel and sleep for a few hours?”

“No,” she said. “I’ll sleep here. I won’t eat—nothing—until someone tells me what’s happening with Hunter.”

“Kallie, you’re being impossible,” Sean said. He looked worn and completely spent, but she couldn’t allow herself to change her mind for his sake.

Hunter had risked his life—perhaps even sacrificed his life—for both of them.

The least she could do was sit here until she knew what had happened to him.

“I don’t really care if I have to wait here all week to get an answer,” she said, and meant it.

Sean put his face in his hands and groaned.

And then someone familiar walked through the door to the waiting room. At first, it was so out of context that Kallie simply thought the person was just eerily similar to someone from the East Coast.

But then the woman who’d walked into the waiting room turned and made eye contact with her, and like a flash—Kallie knew it was actually
her
.

Scarlett had come to L.A., to this hospital.

“Kallie?” Scarlett said, her face pale, eyes wide and terrified.

Kallie stood up and nodded. “Who told you?”

“The hospital called—apparently Hunter still had me as his emergency contact with his doctor in New York.” Scarlett shrugged. “He must have forgotten to make the change.”

Kallie nodded, her lips tightening. She didn’t want to feel so hurt by the realization that Scarlett was going to be treated to prized and private information about Hunter’s health.

Meanwhile, Kallie would be treated like a stranger, with no rights at all.

“All I know is that he’s in surgery and has been for hours,” Kallie said. “They won’t tell me anything else.”

Scarlett shouldered her purse and looked down. “They told me over the phone that he had severe internal bleeding from the gunshot wound. The bullet passed through his lung and nicked his pulmonary artery.”

Kallie put a hand up to her mouth and moaned, remembering all that dark, purple blood coming from his chest.

Scarlett went on. “They’re doing their best to repair the damage to his lung and artery. That’s what the told me right before I got on the plane to come here.”

Kallie sat down again and collapsed into Sean’s arms, as he hugged her protectively.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said, not very convincingly.

“I’m going to let them know I’m here now,” Scarlett said, and walked away from them.

Kallie watched her go. Rage boiled in her stomach and chest, thinking about how Scarlett’s poor choice in romantic partners had caused all of this. She was the reason that Hunter was on the operating table right now, fighting for his life, and yet she strolled into the hospital waiting room like she owned the place.

The woman had no shame, Kallie thought.

“Who was that?” Sean asked her, when Scarlett was far enough away.

“She’s Hunter’s ex-girlfriend. Terrence Craven was her jealous boyfriend.”

Sean shook his head. “Wait a minute. The guy who tried to kill us was her boyfriend? And she’s Hunter’s point of contact in case of a medical emergency?”

“It’s complicated,” Kallie said. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I guess not. Seems like Hunter has a very complicated personal life.”