"Mom?" Kate whispered, her voice barely audible.
She'd carefully made her way through the hospital, trying to keep a low profile. She'd slinked right past the check-in desk, knowing exactly where she had to go. Room 416.
Kate had stopped outside the room momentarily, almost turning back the way she came; but then she'd thought of her, the last words they'd said to each other, and she pulled the door open with a firm yank.
"Mom." She breathed again, placing a hand on her arm. "Mom, it's me." She said. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard on it, like that would somehow make it go away.
Her mother slowly turned to face her, and a look of confusion shadowed her face for a moment before a smile fell over her lips. "Wayne?" She asked softly, her eyes off somewhere else, though they seemed to be locked on Kate's. "Wayne?" She asked again, her hand stretching out toward her daughter.
Tears sprung to Kate's eyes and her stomach churned. Wayne. That was who she wanted to see. She didn't want to see her daughter; the one who'd protected her from the man that had been abusing her for years. She wanted to see that sick bastard, because as awful as it was - she still loved him.
Kate turned away from her mother, realizing with a pang of guilt how much she'd really hurt her by doing what she'd done. The damage was irreparable, and there was no hope for her of ever making things right.
Without another word, she turned on her heel, heading for the door. She bumped into a doctor her the way out, mumbling a "sorry" under her breath as she shoved past him, keeping her head ducked low.
She vowed right then that she would never go back to that hospital. She would never go and see her mother again. Kate had broken her heart, and there was no way she could fix it. She'd done what she did, and she couldn't take it back. There was no way that she could go back and undo it.
What was done was done, but to face the effects of that head-on like she'd just done…
It hurt too much.