Chapter 9
MEANWHILE, AT THE HOSPITAL
Ryann had been taken through into an examination room to have her wounds checked out by a doctor. James paced the waiting room, wondering what was going on with Chris, whether the kid was alright. Lily sat in a plastic chair, watching James pace and wondering the same things he was, more or less. After a few minutes of this, a doctor entered the waiting room and walked straight over to them.
"You're here with Ms Ryann Evans, correct?" He asked the two people in front of him. James' attention was caught and he stopped pacing.
"Yes, sir, we are. How is she?" Lily wondered.
"Belligerent. She refuses to lie still so that I can assess her wound. She keeps saying she needs to see Sean." The doctor explained, clearly frustrated by the woman he was supposed to be treating.
"Sean's her son... he'll be here soon, hopefully. Um... until then, maybe we could help, somehow?" Lily offered, not sure how she or James would be able to help this woman. She barely knew Ryann and was pretty sure James was in the same boat.
"Anything is worth a try at this point. I'd hate to have to sedate her but, if she continues fighting me, I may have to do it." The doctor informed them.
"She won't want to be out of it when her kid gets here. We'll help, doc." James assured him. The doctor nodded and motioned for them to follow him, which they did. As they entered the room that Ryann was being treated in, her voice became unmistakably clear.
"If you even think about using that needle on me, I'll shove it so far up your..." Ryann was threatening. James smirked and cut her off.
"Now, now, lady. You wouldn't want Sean to hear you talking like that, would you? He'll be here any minute, I'm sure." He told her.
"You're sure? You mean, you've heard from Chris? Are they okay? Is Sean alright?" Ryann begged to know.
"Uh... no, we haven't heard from Chris yet. Tell you what... you calm down and let the medical staff do what they need to do to fix you and then James will call Chris and see what's going on, okay?" Lily bargained. Ryann narrowed her eyes at the other woman briefly before a smirk appeared on her face.
"It's very obvious to me that you're the mother of a teenager. How is Kady doing, by the way?" She wondered, distracted enough now to let the doctor go about his work.
"Still as obnoxious as ever." James laughed, trying to save Lily from an uncomfortable situation.
"You said it." Lily agreed, sighing as she slumped into the chair beside the bed. "Are boys easy to raise?"
"Easy? I don't know about that. I've got nothing to compare it with, so I couldn't tell ya." Ryann shrugged slightly.
"Sean seems like a good kid, though." James mused, playing over the memories of the brief amount of time he'd spent with her son. His innocence had been refreshing after dealing with a troubled child like Kady for so long.
"Oh, he is. When he's not wandering off or climbing trees and getting stuck at the top." Ryann smiled fondly.
"That's a boy thing to do. I did it when I was a kid. Got stuck on plenty of roofs, too." James laughed.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Lily piped up.
"I got in plenty of trouble when I was a kid. Mostly for painting on the walls or daydreaming in school." Ryann remembered.
"You painted on the walls?" James queried, watching the doctor ready a needle and surgical thread. The area around the wound on Ryann's stomach had been doused with antiseptic and a shot of anesthetic had been administered already.
"Yes, I painted on the walls. I was a very creative child. I'm still a creative person, to this day. Which reminds me... Sean won't be getting his dinosaur this week either, by the looks of things." Ryann groaned, catching sight of the needle.
"You were getting Sean a dinosaur?" Lily asked in confusion.
"He wishes. No, I was sculpting him one when Damian decided to pay me a visit." Ryann trailed off, the memory of Damian's visit revisiting her.
"About that... what happened, exactly?" James wondered, turning away as the doctor began stitching Ryann up carefully.
"He decided to pay me a visit and let me know how much he didn't appreciate me sending you and Chris to get Sean from him. He hit me around a bit, gave me a bloodied nose and then shoved me into the edge of the dining table. That's how I did this..." Ryann motioned to the wound.
"And then what?" James pressed, wanting to know as much as he could about Damian's frame of mind before his tag partner had gone to help her.
"Then he left, saying that he was going to take what was his. Then Chris arrived out of nowhere and... here we are." Ryann replied.
"You must've knocked your phone somehow... Chris got a call from your number. He didn't say what was going on, just that he had to go." James explained. Ryann nodded, flinching slightly as the doctor tugged on the thread a little too harshly.
"So, now Chris is out there somewhere... looking for Sean?" Lily wondered, briefly feeling a pang of worry for her daughter's father.
"Sean was at school. I asked Chris to go get him. God forbid Damian gets to him first." Ryann answered, knowing exactly how concerned Lily was. She, herself, was twice as concerned. First and foremost, she was worrying about her son. If Damian chose to hurt Sean, he wouldn't stand a chance. Secondly, Ryann was worried about the person who had been Sean's hero on more than one occasion now. Chris. If anything should happen to him in his quest to bring Sean back to her, she'd never forgive herself. Consumed by worry for a few seconds, she stared at a random spot on the floor while her mind scrambled for answers to questions that she formulated. At the same time she was taking deep breaths to keep some level of self control.
Her deep breathing quickly descended into full hyperventilation as all the possible scenarios played out in her mind. It was like the worst case scenario was on instant replay, because soon it became all she could think of. What if they were in trouble? What if Damian had done something dangerous and taken Sean? What if Sean was hurt? What if Chris was hurt? So many 'what if' questions and, as yet, there were no answers to fill the void of hopelessness that had developed in the bottom of her heart. Every mother's worst nightmare is to be helpless while a very real and present danger confronted her child.
James stood at her side and comfortingly placed his arm around her shoulders while the doctor continued to finish up working on her wounds.
"Take deep breaths, Ryann," the doctor instructed, needing her to calm down so he could finish. "I need you to relax for me."
"How can I fucking relax when my psycho ex-husband is stalking around out there trying to hunt out my son?" she snapped at him, and turned her attention back to James, who was still at her side.
"About Chris," she inquired, hesitantly. "You're his friend right? He... I mean, I can trust him, right? He's the only thing that stands between Damian and my baby, I know it!"
Surprised by being asked such a loaded question, James looked at Lily and took a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Well, I..." he started, slowly. "I... I really don't think I'm the best person to answer that. Not here, at least. She is, though."
He nodded in Lily's direction and she shot him an evil look because he'd dumped the issue into her lap like that. But, when Ryann looked to her, the desperation for an answer was so obvious that Lily knew she had no choice but to take the reigns on the subject.
"You can trust Chris to get your son back," she assured her, confidently. "I've known him for almost twenty years. Despite one serious lack of judgment in his life... I know he'll come through. When he sets his mind to something, he gets it done no matter what. You've got nothing to worry about, Ryann."
"I'll believe that when I have my son back." Ryann softly replied, brushing the tears away with the back of her hand. "James?"
"Yep?"
"Can you call him, or something?"
"What?"
"I need to know! Please!" she begged him, pulling at his shirt. "I wanna know what's going on with Sean..."
"If you want to make a call, I must ask you to step outside," the doctor spoke up. "Calls from cell phones are discouraged from being made inside the hospital."
"Let's go then—" Ryann moved to get up, however was quickly stopped – not only by the pain caused by her sustained injuries, but also by the doctor and James holding her back.
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Evans," the doctor told her. "You have to stay put."
"What?" she exclaimed. "Why?"
"Just to be safe, I don't want you moving around for a while. Once we get your X-rays back and look at the results, then we can decide on an appropriate course of action. For now I need you to remain here."
"But, I—"
"I'll go make the call," James interrupted and hurried to leave. "I'll be back in a minute."
Partly thankful to have gotten out of there before an all-out war broke out, James walked further down the hall and a minute later, he was standing outside of the ER entrance. Flipping open his phone, he quickly hit the speed dial for Chris' number, and raised the phone to his ear. After three rings, the line picked up.
"Hey, man," Chris' voice came through, and James sighed a breath of relief that his friend sounded okay. "What's up?"
"What's up? Dude, Ryann's basically in hysterics, wondering what's happening with her boy. What's going on over there?"
"I got it; everything's cool, Sean's fine," Chris assured. "Almost had a bit of an incident with Damian, but everything's settled. For now."
"Incident? What kind of 'incident'?" James queried, raising an eyebrow in concern.
"I'll explain it later. We're on our way to the hospital now. How's Ryann? Anything bad?"
"Not at all. The lady's got one heck of a voice on her though; she practically tried to rip apart the doctor. She wasn't gonna let anyone touch her until she found out about Sean, but luckily we calmed her down. She got stitches and will have a few nasty bruises as such... but other than that they say she'll be fine."
Chris spared a passing glance at Sean, who was now seated in the passenger seat, staring out the window as they drove down the road. The boy had calmed down and was looking forward to seeing his mother. Chris reached over and lightly tapped his arm, and Sean looked up, his eyes becoming wide and attentive.
"Your mom's okay." Chris whispered to him, and watched the boy's expression break into a grin.
"Chris?" James spoke up. "You still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," he replied. "Sorry. So Ryann's been causing a little trouble, huh?"
"A little trouble? Man, I swear if Lily and I hadn't gone in to distract her, she would've done a crazy slasher movie thing and gone after the doctor with the needle, herself!"
"Good to know." Chris rolled his eyes.
"No wonder you two get along so well..."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm just sayin', ya know... You're both stubborn and hate to lose."
"Ha, ha, ha – shut up," Chris ordered, pausing briefly to turn the car into the next street. "Look, we'll be there in about thirty seconds. Go back in there and tell her that her boy is safe. That should keep her from going insane."
"Going insane? I think she's way beyond that..."
Chris didn't bother to reply to James' obvious tactics at trying to bait him, instead he ended the call and lightly threw the phone onto the dashboard. Sean continued to stare up at him with innocent confusion and naivety, as if silently waiting to be addressed. Chris smiled reassuringly and held his hand flat out, towards the boy. Sean looked at the hand and instantly understood the gesture, and grinned before giving Chris a high five. Then, he was suddenly overcome with a sense of uncertainty and fear.
"Is mommy really okay?" Sean wondered, softly, as if almost afraid to ask – for fear of the answer. His smile faltered a little at the prospect that something bad had happened to his mother.
"Of course she is, buddy. You've got one tough momma there, ya know that?"
Feeling happier knowing that she was safe, the smile returned to his face and again lit up his eyes that was enough to warm even the coldest of hearts, and enough to light up the darkest of places.
"Promise that she's okay?" Sean pressed further.
"I promise. And I haven't broken a promise to you yet, have I?"
"Nope."
Chris drove them into the parking lot on hospital grounds, and parked fairly closely to the entrance, switching off the ignition and turned to Sean. The boy had already unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed open the door, moving to get out, but Chris reached over and touched his arm gently.
"Sean, wait up."
"Huh?"
Chris nudged his head to the side, encouraging the child back into the vehicle. Curiously, Sean did as he was told and slid back into the seat and quietly sat there, waiting for him to continue. Chris appeared perplexed about something and his brows furrowed in a visible display of deep thought that he was lost in. He thought over what he went through with Damian earlier, and remembered the absolute terror that the man had instilled into Sean... Chris realized how deep this was getting with them. How deep he was getting in it.
"Look, um, your mom's gonna be a bit sore in there, okay?" he quietly told Sean. "So when we go in, try not to be jumpin' all over her and stuff; just see how she's feeling first, okay?"
Sean nodded, understanding what he was being told. He was mostly interested in Chris' reserved, serious demeanor – the man seemed nervous for some reason, and the boy picked up the reason why. Or at least, he thought he knew why.
"Chris?" Sean spoke up.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"Do you like my mommy?"
"What?"
Chris watched Sean's reserved, shy smile again grow into a wide, expectant grin. Unbeknown to him, Sean had asked the same question of his mother and she had given him the response he expected. There was no reason for him to not expect the man to give him any different an answer. Chris frowned.
"Now, what makes you ask something like that?" he quizzed the child.
Sean shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno. You and mommy keep acting weird when you're around each other and whenever you talk about each other and stuff. Mommy gets red in the face and looks away from me and you kinda go all quiet. My friend, Pete, at school told me that's what happens when grown ups like each other and that's what you and mom are doing, so you like her, right?"
Chris stared at the inquisitive little boy with fascination for a minute, amused and slightly bewildered at Sean's very blunt, straight forward questioning. Such is the innocence of children – they don't sugarcoat anything.
"Sean, I—" he stammered, frantically trying to get his mind around it. "Come on, let's go see her."
That was the last Chris was willing to have of the discussion, especially with a six-year-old boy who was proving just how perceptive children could be. He opened his door and undid his seatbelt, but felt two hands tugging on his forearm.
"You didn't answer my question!" Sean protested, stubbornly not moving from his seat, and crossed his arms defiantly to demonstrate his intent to stay until he got a good answer.
Chris scoffed in disbelief and decided to match the boy's stubborn will, with his own. With a reach of one of his strong arms, he snaked it around Sean's small torso and easily lifted him. He pulled him across to his side of the car, sitting Sean on his lap again.
"Are you always this much trouble for your mom?"
Sean giggled and coyly nodded. "Yup!"
"Uh huh... I can believe that," Chris chuckled. "Come on. No more questions – you want to go see her, don't ya?"
"Yeah!"
"Then let's go."
Sitting on the examination table, Ryann muttered for the doctor to hurry up and finish adjusting the dressings to her wounds. Lily watched, amused by the woman's discomfort in being treated, and looked over to the door for what was the third time in thirty seconds, wondering where James was and whether or not the situation had turned very bad. She wanted to get back upstairs to stay with Kady, but didn't dare leave Ryann alone with the doctor – for the doctor's sake. Luckily, she didn't have to wait any longer as, at that moment...
"MOMMY! MOMMY!"
Sean came tearing around the corner of the door and ran straight to Ryann, whose arms were open to greet him. She let out a small cry of relief when she felt his arms wrap around her neck, and could feel his breath against her skin.
"Hey..." she said, kissing the top of his head. "Oh my god, sweetie are you okay?"
"Mom, yeah!" Sean confirmed.
Whilst mother and son became enthralled with each other, lost to their own states of happiness at being together again, Lily looked back over at the door in time to see both Chris and James walk in. She gasped at the bruises that had developed on him and Chris, in response, looked away, indicating that he wasn't up for a discussion about it right now. Lily looked to James for answers, but he simply shrugged and mouthed the words 'I don't know'. The doctor finished completely and quietly excused himself to go find some forms that needed to be filled out. Ryann finally turned her attention away from Sean for a moment to acknowledge Chris and she cringed upon seeing the bruises.
"Oh, God... Chris... I'm sorry..." She stammered, knowing instantly that he'd run into Damian. She hated having put him in that situation and briefly wondered how he'd gotten Sean out of it.
"Don't be, it's nothing to worry about. Sean's bruises are far more impressive." Chris told her hesitantly, knowing he had to let her know about her son being hurt.
"What? What bruises? Show me, baby." Ryann requested, turning her attention back to Sean. The boy carefully slid the sleeves of his t-shirt up and Ryann, Lily and James all gasped in shock at seeing the angry marks on the boy's skin.
"How did this happen?" Ryann asked. Chris knew she was addressing him, even though her eyes hadn't left Sean. Her fingers were gently tracing the edges of the bruising on one of his arms.
"I think it happened when Damian was holding him up, trying to tell him that you didn't care about him anymore. He must've had one hell of a grip on him." Chris mused, having had time to think it all over in his mind.
"Chris said he was lying so I didn't believe him, mommy." Sean told her, seeming proud. Ryann stifled a sob and pressed a kiss to her son's head.
"Of course I care about you, Sean. You're my little boy. I love you more than anything in this world." She told him seriously. Sean nodded, offering his mother a small smile before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tight.
"So... what happened to you, then?" Lily wondered, taking the quiet moment to pose her own question to Chris.
"Damian didn't want to let him go without a fight." Chris shrugged, thinking that it had to be self explanatory.
"You didn't..." Lily trailed off, seriously hoping Chris hadn't been thoughtless enough to beat on the child's father right in front of him. Chris caught the meaning behind her words and shook his head.
"Heck no. I was more interested in getting Sean to safety. Would I have this many bruises if I'd fought back? I do know how to defend myself, ya know?" He chuckled, trying to break up the seriousness of the moment.
Lily nodded quietly, thankful that at least Sean hadn't had to deal with seeing the two men beating on each other. Even though she didn't know the child or his mother too well, that would be a horrible thing for any kid to see.
"Well, Ms Evans, looks like everything's in order. You're free to go." The doctor told her as he came back into the room.
"Hey, doc, could you check the boy's arms for me? He got a little roughed up." Chris requested, motioning to Sean.
"Doesn't look like he was the only one." The doctor commented before sitting down next to Ryann who now held Sean on her knee. Sean tried to fidget and turn away from the doctor but Ryann held him still.
"Hey, Sean, show me your muscles, dude. Let's see if they're bigger than James'." Chris suggested, knowing the boy would, no doubt, fall for the trick. Sure enough, Sean held his arms up in a 'strongman' pose. Ryann slid the sleeves of his shirt up so the doctor could see the bruises. Sean caught on to the trick and tried to pull away from the doctor but James moved into his line of view.
"Man, there's no way his muscles are bigger than mine." James figured, barely flexing his arms. Sean forgot about the doctor and looked between James and Chris.
"Yes they are! Aren't they, Chris?" He asked uncertainly.
"Most definitely, they are." Chris nodded. James chuckled quietly.
"If news gets out that a kid's got bigger muscles than mine, I could lose my job." He told Chris quietly.
"Ah, well, I could always ask Sean to step in and be my tag partner." Chris smirked in reply as the doctor talked to Ryann about Sean's bruises.
Not too much later, the group of people left the examination room, Sean holding tightly to his mother's hand. Chris was walking next to him and Sean quietly reached up and slipped his free hand into one of Chris'. Chris glanced down and smiled at Sean before turning his attention to Ryann.
"So, what's the plan? I mean, there's no chance you're going back to your place alone while Damian's still running around. I could take you guys wherever you want to go." He queried.
"Oh, um... no, it's okay. We'll... get a cab... hm..." Ryann trailed off, her brow furrowed in thought.
"Hm, what?" Chris wondered.
"Just trying to work out where to go. Damian knows where Rachel lives... I don't really like the thought of imposing on anyone." Ryann explained.
"Problem solved. You and Sean can hang out at my place. I'll take you over there now, if you want?" Chris offered.
"We couldn't do that. Besides, shouldn't you be spending time with Kady?" Ryann mused.
"Hey, at least if you stay with me, you won't have to worry about Damian for a little while." Chris pointed out.
"Can we, mommy? Please? I don't want daddy to get me." Sean spoke up timidly from between the two adults. His grip had tightened intensely on Chris' hand and he was sure it probably had on Ryann's hand too.
"I don't know, baby. I think we should probably just go stay in a motel or something." Ryann figured.
"And what would happen if Damian finds out where you are? He wouldn't dare come after you at Chris'." James pointed out.
"It was just an offer. No pressure. We should probably go and see how the little monster's doing, I guess." Chris shrugged, turning to look at Lily who nodded in agreement. Ryann looked down at the look of fear still etched on Sean's face and offered him a small smile as they walked.
"Chris... if it's really okay..." She trailed off, not sure how to phrase what she wanted to say.
"Yes, Ryann, it's really okay. As long as you don't mind hanging around while we check on Kady?" Chris told her, picking up on what she meant.
"Thank you." Ryann whispered as they came to the door of Kady's room.
"Don't mention it." Chris smiled, opening the door and allowing the others to go in ahead of himself.
Kady looked over the group of people coming in and groaned quietly. Not only did her parents not get the hint that she wanted to be alone, they were bringing more people in with them now. She wished she could get up and walk out of the room but, alas, her physical state wouldn't allow it at this point. So, all she could do was lie there and wonder what kind of argument was going to break out this time.
"Feeling any better, Kady?" Lily asked as she sat down in a chair beside the bed. James motioned for Ryann to take the one he was standing next to and she obliged, pulling Sean onto her knee. James leaned back against the wall and watched as Chris slumped into the chair on the other side of Kady's bed from Ryann and Lily.
"Well, let me think - my ribs are broken, my skull is fractured, my parents think I'm the most evil thing alive... I'd say I'm doing pretty well, considering." Kady answered her mother wryly.
"Knock it off, Kadence. Seriously, enough with the bullshit now." Chris warned, glaring at her darkly.
"What bullshit? It's the truth, isn't it?" Kady challenged. "Oh, wait, I see what's going on. You're trying to put on a good front for your lady friend. Whatever."
"Kadence! That's enough!" Lily vented. They'd only been in the room for two minutes and already she felt like getting up and walking out again. Kady turned her attention to her mother for a moment before rolling her eyes and looking up at the ceiling, ignoring everyone in the room.
Ryann felt more than a little uncomfortable being there. She wasn't sure what kind of an attitude Kady really had but, the few times she'd seen her, the girl had been more than a little sarcastic. She could almost understand why Chris had gravitated to the bar in order to clear his head. Sean wriggled off her lap and wandered around the room, trying to find something to occupy himself with. The adults were quietly trading smalltalk now, ignoring the girl in the bed, and he was bored. He spotted something on the floor and walked over to it. Finding that it was a sketchbook, Sean located a pencil and knelt down beside it. His mother often let him draw in her sketchbooks at home. A few minutes later, he got to his feet and took the sketchbook over to his mother.
"Mommy, look what I drew." He smiled proudly. Kady's attention snapped in his direction and her eyes locked on the sketchbook.
"No... no... please tell me he didn't..." She trailed off, catching sight of Sean's doodles on the page she'd sketched on earlier.
"I'm so sorry. I let him draw on my sketch pads at home, he didn't know any better." Ryann apologized, seeing how upset it seemed to make Kady.
"Then maybe you should teach him not to touch other people's stuff! He ruined my sketch! I was hoping to paint that when I got out of here." Kady fumed, angry tears in her eyes.
"Calm down, Kady. It's only pencil, you can erase it later." Lily told her.
"And erase half the sketch? Yeah, great. Thanks for that." Kady replied angrily.
"Well, from the looks of it, you're pretty talented. I'm sure you could re-sketch it." Ryann figured.
"Forget it. Why bother. He'll probably just find some other way to destroy it."
"Kadence! Stop it. So he drew on your sketch, big deal. It's not the end of the world. Get over it." Chris told her seriously.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wreck your picture." Sean whispered. Tears had formed in his eyes, threatening to fall and, as he spoke, his bottom lip quivered.
"Hey, buddy, it's alright. Don't worry about it. Kady's just being mean." Chris tried to reassure him.
"What the hell? He does something wrong yet I'm the one getting blamed for being mean? I seriously don't get this shit." Kady commented.
Ryann got up and tried to lift Sean into her arms but winced in pain from the wound in her side. James pushed off the wall and lifted the small boy up for her, holding him close to his chest. Ryann nodded in thanks and started heading for the door.
"I think I should just go. Thanks for everything today, Chris."
"Wait a second... where do you think you're going, huh? I thought we had a deal?" Chris pointed out. Ryann stopped, realizing that she really didn't have many options open to her for places to go that Damian wouldn't find her or come after her.
"I know. I just... I don't want to get in the way." Ryann stammered. Chris looked over at James and reached into his pocket.
"Take them back to my place for me, will ya? Lil and I can catch a cab." He decided. James took the keys and nodded, sending a glare in Kady's direction before following Ryann out of the room.
"I can't believe you... do you have any idea what Ryann and Sean have been through today? Show a little damn respect for others, for god's sake." Chris muttered once the trio had left.
"How am I supposed to know what two complete strangers have been through? I'm stuck in a fucking hospital bed, aren't I? And I'll show respect for them when that kid learns not to touch stuff that doesn't belong to him." Kady shot back.
"I am seriously sick of this shit, Kadence. I thought I could come in here and have a civil conversation with you but, I guess I forgot that you like acting like a spoiled two year old." Chris sighed, rubbing his hands over his head and trying to fight off a headache.
"Oh, whatever." Kady mumbled, glaring up at the ceiling. Lily wasn't feeling well, yet she knew she couldn't up and walk out right now. Things had gone far enough and she was more sure than ever that Chris' idea from much earlier might actually be in order.
"Kadence, you are treading on seriously thin ice, here. I don't think you realize how thin. Cracks are already starting to show and I know that I've had enough of fighting to stop this happening. Chris and I were talking earlier and we've agreed on a way of handling your behavior from this point on." She told her daughter, glancing at Chris to see if he wanted to continue.
"Aw, how cute... you two are agreeing on shit. Which one of you wants the medal and who wants the trophy?" Kady smirked. Chris looked up at Lily and nodded, knowing they had to go through with the idea now.
"You have one more chance, Kady. If you step even your little toe out of line from now on, the result will be that you are put into a boarding school. Grounding you doesn't work since you just sneak out, yelling at you sure as hell doesn't work so, maybe this will get through to you." Chris stated flatly. He couldn't look at her, couldn't bare to see the confusion, pain or rejection in her eyes. He was sure it would be there.
"Excuse me? Boarding school? You have got to be kidding. Mom... he's not serious..." Kady questioned. The idea seemed a little too far fetched, even for her parents. Lily took a deep breath and forced herself to look Kady in the eye.
"He's very serious, Kady, and so am I. Enough is enough. Now you know what the consequences will be if you even think of doing something stupid. If you get yourself together and do as you're told, you'll manage to avoid boarding school. I won't hold my breath for that to happen, though." Lily told her.
Kady was quiet for a moment, taking in the information. It was definitely clear to her now that neither of her parents wanted her any more. They were just waiting for her to mess up again so they could send her away and not have to deal with her. Tears started pricking the back of her eyes but Kady fought to stay in control. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
How could they do this to her and live with themselves? How could they be so willing to get rid of their only daughter. Then it dawned on her... Kady realized that her mother would never have thought up something like this on her own; it was not Lily's style to be so bold and be so willing to let her daughter go anyway. Kady knew Lily still felt guilty for Chris not having been in their lives, and so would never have thought up on her own to send her only child away to a boarding school. That left only one possibility in the fifteen-year-old's mind. All of this had to be Chris' doing!
She shifted her focus from her mother to where Chris was, and saw that he was stone-faced the entire time; no emotion had registered on his face, nor could she read anything from his body language, except total seriousness. Overall, it confirmed her suspicions that he was the driving force behind this, and she scowled, barely choking back a gut-wrenching sob.
"This all your fault!" she hissed.
The hatred that dripped from her words stunned her father and Chris folded his arms, stepping closer to the bed.
"Excuse me?"
"YOU! None of this would've happened if it wasn't for you!" Kady accused.
"Kady, stop it!" Lily instructed. "I mean it—"
"Mom, if it wasn't for him you would NEVER want to send me away! Never!" she cried, tears freely streaming down her cheeks. "It's his fault! HE wants to get rid of me!"
Chris's jaw clenched as he fought with all the strength he could find to not start yelling at the child for what she was saying. He was used to her accusations, but the implications behind her words – that he wanted to get rid of her – were extremely hurtful and he wanted to wring her neck for even thinking such things.
"Kadence!" he snapped. "Don't you even dare—!"
"Don't try denying it, dad!" Kady snapped. "You can't handle me because you never had to! Now you wanna get rid of me so you can go off with your new family, with that bitch and her perfect little kid who never does a thing wrong in your eyes! Why don't you just fucking admit it?"
Chris was suddenly rendered speechless at her outburst; his mind and body turned momentarily numb. There was no love in Kady's eyes, only hatred and betrayal, like she never wanted to know him again. Lily was no less shocked that he was, and things could not get any worse at this moment, as Kady had never been so adversarial with them before. Well, she had, but nothing as serious as this.
"Kady, you know that's not true!" Lily tried. "Stop being a--!"
"See? He's even turned you against me, mom!"
"He didn't! YOU did!"
Chris had to sit down before he fell down, and he gripped the side of the chair as he trembled. Despite them having made significant improvements in their relationship, it was obvious that Kady still had lingering trust issues with him and now they seemed to be beyond hope. She thought he was abandoning her for the second time in her life, only this time she was old enough to remember it – and the pain that accompanied it.
Kady continued pushing her mother away from her, and Lily kept telling her to stop and listen to herself.
"Lil," Chris finally found his voice again, and spoke up, catching both of their attention. "Forget it. Let's go. She's going to boarding school."
"What?!" Kady yelled
"Chris, wait!" Lily said, rounding the bed to get to him, just as he was standing up. "Wait! Don't!"
She reached out and jerked on Chris' arm harshly to stop him, which he did. Standing in the doorway, he paused and sighed, turning around to face his ex. Lily's breath caught in her throat when she saw the tears glistening in his eyes, threatening to fall. It was remarkable to her how he was keeping his composure at a time like this, and she had expected him to engage Kady in a fight, but now it was like he had given up.
"Chris..." she softly said. "Chris, don't do this... don't prove her right!"
"Lily, I can't keep listening to being told that I don't love my daughter," he quietly told her, out of earshot from Kady, who watched them curiously. "Especially when the accusations come from Kady, herself! I don't care if she hates me anymore, but she can't keep treating people like this! If she's gonna do this to us, then what chance in hell does anyone else have when they come in contact with her? She's turned into a downright selfish, anti-social princess. I don't know about you, but I don't think we have any choice anymore, Lil! I love her with my life and I swear to God I'd do anything for her, but keeping her here isn't helping. She needs to learn on her own – we can't keep telling her!"
Lily didn't know what to say to that, though she knew he was right. She looked over her shoulder to see that Kady was trying to distract herself by fixing her sketches that Sean had drawn over earlier; the sullenness was still visible on her face. This put Lily in a very difficult position because she knew what Chris was saying, was right, and that Kady needed discipline, but it was still so hard to make the ultimate decision in agreeing with him to send her away.
"I... I don't know if I can send her away, Chris!" Lily nervously admitted. "She already hates us both for even suggesting it. She'll never wanna speak to either of us again."
"As a teenager, how many times did you tell your parents to fuck off and die?" he countered.
"That's not the point! This is completely serious. She's thinking that you're abandoning her for the second time, and that I'm complicit in it!"
"You are complicit, Lily! You're her mother!" Chris snapped, pulling her out of the room entirely. "It's time to stop fucking around and make some decisions for the good of our kid! You're her parent – you're never going to be her best friend. She's not going to like every decision we make for her!"
"She's fifteen, she should have a say in where she goes to school!" Lily pointed out, slumping down on a chair next to the door.
"This isn't about school. This is about doing what's best for our daughter, Lily. She needs to learn, on her own, what the world is like, in a structured environment. NOTHING about this is giving her any stability, and it's hurting so fucking badly!"
Chris sat down next to her and dropped his head into his hands, muffling his soft groaning, frustrated.
"You're just saying this because you're hurting right now," she insisted. "Just take some time and think about what you're saying before you act on it! You could regret it!"
"Not this time, Lily. She's had every goddamn chance in the world to prove to us that she's capable of growing up and making good decisions – she's failed each and every time! And I've had it! You know how bad it hurts for her to scream in your face that she hates you! It's that kind of disrespect that's gonna get her killed in this world rather than help her, and I'm not going to let her hurt herself or anyone else..." Chris vented, gazing around the hospital corridor.
"You saw what she did with Ryann and Sean – if she's gonna be hostile to everyone she meets, it's gonna get her hurt! She's hurt them; she fucking scared Sean out of his wits. Kadence is out of control, and this may be the last chance we have to help her."
"Chris, I just... I don't know if I can betray her like that!" Lily said, looking to the room again.
"Betraying her would mean doing nothing, and you know it. She is beyond control now – beyond any punishment we try giving her; beyond any talking! She doesn't listen, and she doesn't get it!" he insisted. "Lily, we have to do this. I love her so much and it's killing me to see her doing this! Sometimes the right decisions to make are the ones that are hardest... and seemingly hurt the most."
All the hurt Chris was experiencing not withstanding, everything he was saying made so much sense it was scary. Lily knew he was exhausted of energy and options to dealing with their troubled daughter, as was she. There weren't any options left that could possibly have any chance in getting Kady to wake up to what she was doing to herself and others. Chris noticed her distress and slipped his arm across her shoulders, urging her closer, and she leaned her head against his, welcoming the support.
"I don't know if I can do this, Chris... I really don't. I don't know if I can be separated from her and live with myself... it doesn't feel right."
"You haven't been with her for a long time," he replied. "Neither of us have. It's like she's an empty shell. This is the only thing we can do for her now. You think I want her to go? Lily, if you have any better solution that has even the slightest chance of working, please tell me and we'll do it! I'd rather do anything than send her away! But what choice do we have?"
Lily nodded and relaxed against him, thinking over what could happen if and when they sent their only child off to boarding school, an extreme measure to take to help her. Naturally, Kady was not seeing the issue as being one of help by her parents, but instead as the ultimate betrayal and rejection by both of them, but more especially her father. With a sigh, she released some of the exhaustion and frustration that had built up in her, having witnessed the growing war between Kady and Chris. What was even more confusing to her was the protective measures Chris was taking with Ryann and Sean, and it could only make her wonder what he was doing. It didn't bother her if he was going to date this woman, but she hoped to God that he would not value their safety more so than the welfare of Kady.
Lily shook her head, shaking such thoughts out of her mind. She knew Chris would never be so cruel – he loves Kady.
"Lil... ball's in your court," he told her. "Final decision is up to you."
"No. Final decision is up to Kady," Lily insisted. "I'll go and talk to her... if I can convince her to agree to go... then fine."
"And if not?"
"If not then we'll have to find some other way," she shrugged. "But we can't force the child to go somewhere, if she'll just be miserable."
Chris nodded in agreement and watched her stand up and disappear into Kady's room again. He sat there for another few seconds to decide what to do, and decided that it was probably best that he not aggravate Kady further. Chris got to his feet, and giving one last long look to the door, he forced himself to walk away, each step getting heavier as he went.
A/N: More soon.
