The Challenge (18 page)

"That's Kris' boyfriend, Henry, I think he's asleep," Lena said.

"The one she was mad at?" Chelsea asked. Lena nodded. "Wow...he looks so sad!"

"You should have seen him before," Lena said. "I hope Kris forgives him."

"How are you doing with all of this?" Chelsea asked.

"I've been better," Lena admitted.

"Kristina has been in hospitals too much for such a young person," Joan lamented.

"Why you say that?" I opened my eyes and asked.

"Kris has had some problems," Stephanie said, "and accidents."

"I'm surprised that girl hasn't broken any bones yet," Joan said. "She gets into fights, she gets hit by vehicles..." she sighed.

"Yep, sounds like Kris," she said.

HENRY

Later on, Lena and Chelsea were sitting with her, while I absently started strumming chords on his guitar.

"Hey, play that again, please," Lena said, suddenly. "That sounds really nice."

It was a folk song about young lovers that I had composed back in England. The title was
Always Together
and it had been one of my favorite songs to sing. I nodded and began playing and singing the song once more. Every time I sang, I thought of my special times with Kris and wondered what the future would hold.

"That was great," Stephanie and the others said when I finished singing. Ethan, Joan and Kris's grandma all returned from seeing Kris. I looked up at them.

"I think she might be getting worse," Ethan said. "She's so pale and unresponsive."

"Is Henry able to see her?" Lena asked.

"I don't see why not," Ethan said.

"Go, do it now!" Lena said, pushing me up to stand. "This might be the only chance you get."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan asked.

"Go Henry! We'll explain," Lena said.

I was frightened, but made my way to the room Kris was in. It was dimly lit and the only light was the one above her bed. She did seem weaker than the previous day.

I walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair, as usual. Gently taking Kris' hand and rubbing the back of it with my thumb, I whispered, "Hey, baby. It's me, Henry. I love you and I'll be here as long as you need me. Everyone is here, waiting for you to wake up and see them."

There was no response. I slid my hand out of hers and strummed a few chords, then started playing my song. "Well, I thought you might wake up if I played a song I wrote about love, our love, baby. Listen to the words, pet."

I sighed as I looked at her face. I would have done anything at that moment to see her beautiful blue eyes, even if they were full of anger.

"You ready, love?" I asked. I started playing the song, ending with the following lyrics:

I just wanna hold you,

Hold you forever and ever.

Don't ever leave me,

For I'm nothing without you...

I kept strumming the chords, but looked up quickly when I heard Kris moan. My guitar instantly hit the floor as I stood up. I leaned over her, one hand holding hers and the other on her cheek.

"Kris?" I said. Her eyes were moving beneath her fluttering eyelids, while my hand tightened. "Come on, Baby." Without thinking, I sang the last part of the song again. As soon as I got to the second to last line, Kris' eyes slowly opened.

"Bright light, ow, painful," she muttered. Henry laughed and turned the dial on the light to dim it. Kris opened her eyes again, and blinked a few times. "Henry..."

I bent down and kissed her. She suddenly winced, as she moved a bit. I pulled away, as Kris whimpered, "Why am I...oh..."

"You're in a hospital, Love," I said. Kris blinked again. "Everyone's been worried."

"How long?" Kris asked, frowning.

"Well, it was Friday when you came in here," I said, "And now it's Thursday. Everyone's been worried, especially me. David's been thrown into jail for probably the next ten to fifteen years, so you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm so sorry about this, Henry," Kris said.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault at all, Kris," I said.

"Thanks, babe. I love you! But now...I'm really hungry!" Kris said.

I laughed. "Man, your friends can sure call it," I admitted. "Nick said that as soon as you woke up, you'd say you were hungry."

"Well, he was wrong!" Kris said in a huff. "I'd been awake for a few minutes before I even registered that I was hungry. Where is everyone?"

"Lena, Megan, your uncle, your aunt, your cousin and your grandma are all out in the waiting room," I said. "That Chelsea girl is there, too."

"Have you guys been here the whole time?" Kris asked.

"Lena, Megan, your uncle and I have," I said. Kris just smiled, looking thoughtful for a while. I sat on the bed and lifted her hand, kissing it. "I'm glad you're back, love."

There was a knock on the door and it was pushed open to reveal Lena standing there. She stared at Kris for a while, before Kris took her hand from mine and waved it slightly.

"You're awake!" Lena yelled. Kris jumped and covered her ears. "Hey! She's awake!" Lena ran into the room and hugged Kris. "You had us sooo worried."

"Hey, Lena...thanks, but can you calm down?"

"Sorry," Lena apologized, hugging her again. "I'm just so happy you're better."

Soon, everyone was in the room. They were almost all as excited as Lena and I had been. Eventually Kris asked about food and Lena, Chelsea and me agreed to get some fried chicken to give the family time alone. Kris reluctantly let go of my hand and I gave it and her forehead a quick kiss, promising to be back soon.

Everything was going well in their relationship now. The only problem we would have after this was at school.

KRIS

I SAT BETWEEN Henry's legs as he sat against a wall. His hands were on my hips, with his fingers moving in little circles. My hair was over one shoulder and every so often Henry would kiss my neck. I was reading the script for our part of the performance. Being unconscious for a week sure did mess up your memory.

It was the last week before Christmas holidays and dress rehearsals were taking place at that moment. The teacher had asked me if I still wanted to go through with it and I didn't even take a second to answer. Of course I did! Just because I was in the hospital didn't mean I didn't want to do the performance. It just meant that I had to relearn some of my lines. I had most of them memorized and the ones I couldn't quite get, I could easily improvise to be as close to the real lines as possible.

"How are you doing?" Henry asked.

I rolled my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I liked being back with him, but if he didn't stop asking me how I was doing or feeling, then I was going to explode!

"For the millionth time, I'm fine," I said, twisting around to look at him.

"Alright, next group," the teacher said. Henry got up and pulled me up gently. I put my script down and led him onto the stage.

That night was the first time since I got out of the hospital that Uncle Ethan and Megan actually left me alone in the house. Okay, so I wasn't alone-I had Henry with me. I was basically just telling him everything that had happened between David and me since I first met him.

"So you ever think you might want kids one day?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, one day." I said. "I didn't want to get rid of the baby, but I just couldn't handle being a mother and I couldn't bear the thought of giving up my own child. I don't like the whole abortion thing, believe me, but there are a few exceptions."

"Do you want kids?" I asked.

"Sure, why not?" Henry said. "They're funny and I can blame things on them." I shook my head. "Oh, there's something Rachel wanted me to tell you. I don't want to go into details, but it's something that's actually got to do with all this and that's got my dad sort of mad."

"Okay," I said.

I'm going to be an uncle," Henry announced.

"Really?" I asked. Henry nodded. "Aw, cool. When?"

"Well, it's December now." Henry said. I nodded. "And she's about two or three months."

"So," I said, "May or June."

"Yeah, pretty much," Henry said. I smiled and leaned back against him, turning my attention back to the movie we were watching.

Henry spent the night. Megan was at a friend's house for the night, and Uncle Ethan wouldn't be home till later, so
everyone
thought it was a good idea for Henry to stay with me. I lay awake sometime into the night. Henry was fast asleep behind me, with his arm around my waist.

As I tossed and turned, my thoughts were first on David, then bounced from that topic to school, my friends and family. And, finally, my mind wondered to Henry and the endless possibilities of the future.

Christmas came at last and everything was good. It was my favorite time of the year and I loved it! I don't know how I managed it, but I saw everyone during the Christmas holidays.

The next semester at school was a constant pain as I tried to get my grades up, but I somehow managed to get through it with Henry by my side.

The last day of school, the last day that we'd all be together before the summer, was kind of sad. Next year, Mark and Darla wouldn't be joining us at school, since Henry's sister wasn't the only one who had gotten into a bit of trouble.

And Henry had the cutest niece! Little Jackie was so adorable! Henry and I had fun playing with her and showing her off to all of our friends. We even pretended sometimes that she was
our
baby!

Darla was going to have a baby in October and Mark was going to be working full time at the club, in order to provide for his wife and child.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm part of a crazy group of people. But every step of the way they were there for me. My history remained just that-history. We trucked on like we always did, through good and bad, and I had no one to think but my closest friends and family. Would I want to give it all up? Not for the entire universe.