*****CHAPTER 11*****
The ambos carried the still figure of Rose Phillips out on a stretcher. Kane thought he saw Rhys Sutherland pull up briefly in his car, but he was so tired that had to be his imagination. Scott hadn't been any help, staggering around, cursing when he spilt his coffee, shrugging when Kane asked if he was coming to the hospital. "She either karks it or she doesn't, mate. Me, I'm having brekkie."
The doctor said Rose had suffered a stroke and would be monitored over the next forty-eight hours. If she woke she'd need therapy and may never fully recover. Another stroke could kill her.
He dozed on a chair in the waiting room of the emergency department until a nurse shook him awake, telling him he'd be more use to his aunt if he got home and had a proper sleep, they'd let him know if anything happened. Maybe they were right, he'd never been so tired. Scott wasn't in so he showered and crashed and dreamt of Kirsty.
*****
Scott had rattled round the house looking for loose cash. Rose didn't fail him, he found a stash, freshly drawn out of the bank and earmarked for some bills. The chick he met in the bar was real impressed with the amount of money he had to blow.
*****
"Kirsty, he looked rough, reeked of alcohol..."
"So you make it up as you go along as usual!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Neither do you, Dad..."
"You explain it to me then." Rhys said sarcastically. Shelley had been adamant they at least clear the air with Mrs Phillips and Rhys had gone along with that - an apology to Kane would have stuck in his throat. But when he'd got to the Phillips' house Rose was being taken away in an ambulance, Kane looked like he'd gone ten rounds in a boxing ring, and Scott was leaning drunkenly against the front door. It was obvious the Phillips brothers had been in a bar brawl and at some stage when they got home Rose Phillips had got in the way.
"I don't know... but it doesn't have to be the way you say."
"Have it your way." Rhys couldn't be bothered arguing any more, he just needed his daughter to know what Kane Phillips was really like. Kirsty may have kept her promise not to see Kane, but he hated the way she kept taking his side, kept insisting the family should sit down and talk with him. No chance! Clara Denton repeatedly suggested the same thing and he and Shelley repeatedly told her there was no way they were putting Dani through the hell of seeing her rapist again. Things had already spiralled out of control.
*****
Dave Fletcher sat in his Yabbie Creek office, fuming. He hadn't forgotten the punch Kane Phillips had swung at him that day outside Summer Bay Hospital or the taste of the blood running down his face. Now some people in Summer Bay, even Rhys Sutherland, were backing down over his plans for Phillips. Someone had to pay. And the price would be high.
*****
"'Cos she karked it, ya bloody drongo!" Scott said, losing patience. Rose's credit card had been burning a hole in his pocket ever since he'd found her number. Zoe, the chick he'd met last night, had hinted she'd like to meet up again, but she didn't like to leave her friend, if only Scott had a mate...but, Jeez, all Kane was interested in was this Kirsty Sutho, who was way, way out of his league.
"We could hire a car, drive up the coast..."
"When?"
"Well, like now of course, when d'you think?"
"No, I mean Auntie Rose. Ma. Whatever. When'd it happen? Why didn't you wake me?"
Scott shrugged vaguely. "The doc rang coupla hours ago. About these chicks..."
"I already told you, I'm not going."
Scott argued a while longer. He knew he could make Kane go, but Zoe mightn't want to know if Scott turned up looking like he'd been in a fight.
"You'll keep," he threatened darkly as he left.
Kane felt the world slipping away. After all he'd discovered in the past couple of days, about Rose, about Richie, and now she was dead, and Scott carrying on as though nothing had happened. Things might have been okay if he was with Kirsty, but he couldn't be with Kirsty because of what he'd done to Dani and because of Richie. Kirsty deserved far, far more than someone who had all this evil from Richie inside him. More than all the sadness that falling in love with a Phillips would bring her. He was crying as he tapped into the mobile.
*****
Dani smiled. The smile was fake but nobody saw through it. As a counsellor, Mum was hopeless when it came to her own kids. Dani had spent the morning helping out at the Drop-in Centre, then they'd treated themselves to lunch at the diner and not once did Shelley suspect what was going on inside her head. So Dani smiled when Shelley said she seemed more like her old self and Shelley believed the smile. Last night there'd been another row. Kirsty had been trying to tell Dani about falling in love with Kane, but Shelley overheard and ended the conversation. Like everyone else, she reckoned it was best if Kane was never even mentioned to Dani again. Dani didn't know if it was or not, nothing took away the nightmares. But it didn't matter now, not now she'd decided to end the pain forever. She said she was going to sunbathe on Summer Bay beach. Then she caught the bus to Yabbie Creek.
*****
Kirsty's mobile bleeped and she glanced at the screen. Her heart froze as she read the message.
I luv u 2 much 2 eva hurt u & becoz I luv u I hv 2 go away 4eva. I am so sorry xxxxxx Kane
She called him back but his mobile was switched off and the phone in the Phillips house rang unanswered. Where was he? Didn't he know, no matter what, she'd always love him? The tears rained down Kirsty's face so fast she could barely see. This time she couldn't let him go, not for anyone. She'd been a fool to think she could. This time she'd give up everything to be with him. If she ever found him again.
*****
So where do you go when the love is cold and the emptiness is all around? When another day fades to black and white and the pain never leaves your heart? Sometimes you just want to walk forever, past the edge of time, if it will make all the hurt go away, if it will make everything all right, if it will...
Kane looked once towards Summer Bay, then wiped away the tears. It was better for Kirsty this way. He didn't need any luggage, not where he was going. And he didn't know where that was, only that it was somewhere past the edge of time.
*****
Dani had noticed it often enough on the way to her counselling sessions with Clara Denton. At a certain point as you turned off Yabbie Creek Road you caught a quick, fleeting glimpse of an old bridge, rarely used nowadays, that led out of Yabbie Creek itself. The bridge's view from one side was of ancient red sandstone cliffs towering deep in the distance, from the other, far away, the sea touched the sky like the beginning of the world. It was a magical place, steeped in the history of Aboriginal dreamtime. But it had a darker side. It was a known suicide spot.
It was where Dani stood, shivering though the day was hot, looking down to the water at her wavering reflection, wondering how cold, how quick, how silent the moment would be.
The ambos carried the still figure of Rose Phillips out on a stretcher. Kane thought he saw Rhys Sutherland pull up briefly in his car, but he was so tired that had to be his imagination. Scott hadn't been any help, staggering around, cursing when he spilt his coffee, shrugging when Kane asked if he was coming to the hospital. "She either karks it or she doesn't, mate. Me, I'm having brekkie."
The doctor said Rose had suffered a stroke and would be monitored over the next forty-eight hours. If she woke she'd need therapy and may never fully recover. Another stroke could kill her.
He dozed on a chair in the waiting room of the emergency department until a nurse shook him awake, telling him he'd be more use to his aunt if he got home and had a proper sleep, they'd let him know if anything happened. Maybe they were right, he'd never been so tired. Scott wasn't in so he showered and crashed and dreamt of Kirsty.
*****
Scott had rattled round the house looking for loose cash. Rose didn't fail him, he found a stash, freshly drawn out of the bank and earmarked for some bills. The chick he met in the bar was real impressed with the amount of money he had to blow.
*****
"Kirsty, he looked rough, reeked of alcohol..."
"So you make it up as you go along as usual!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Neither do you, Dad..."
"You explain it to me then." Rhys said sarcastically. Shelley had been adamant they at least clear the air with Mrs Phillips and Rhys had gone along with that - an apology to Kane would have stuck in his throat. But when he'd got to the Phillips' house Rose was being taken away in an ambulance, Kane looked like he'd gone ten rounds in a boxing ring, and Scott was leaning drunkenly against the front door. It was obvious the Phillips brothers had been in a bar brawl and at some stage when they got home Rose Phillips had got in the way.
"I don't know... but it doesn't have to be the way you say."
"Have it your way." Rhys couldn't be bothered arguing any more, he just needed his daughter to know what Kane Phillips was really like. Kirsty may have kept her promise not to see Kane, but he hated the way she kept taking his side, kept insisting the family should sit down and talk with him. No chance! Clara Denton repeatedly suggested the same thing and he and Shelley repeatedly told her there was no way they were putting Dani through the hell of seeing her rapist again. Things had already spiralled out of control.
*****
Dave Fletcher sat in his Yabbie Creek office, fuming. He hadn't forgotten the punch Kane Phillips had swung at him that day outside Summer Bay Hospital or the taste of the blood running down his face. Now some people in Summer Bay, even Rhys Sutherland, were backing down over his plans for Phillips. Someone had to pay. And the price would be high.
*****
"'Cos she karked it, ya bloody drongo!" Scott said, losing patience. Rose's credit card had been burning a hole in his pocket ever since he'd found her number. Zoe, the chick he'd met last night, had hinted she'd like to meet up again, but she didn't like to leave her friend, if only Scott had a mate...but, Jeez, all Kane was interested in was this Kirsty Sutho, who was way, way out of his league.
"We could hire a car, drive up the coast..."
"When?"
"Well, like now of course, when d'you think?"
"No, I mean Auntie Rose. Ma. Whatever. When'd it happen? Why didn't you wake me?"
Scott shrugged vaguely. "The doc rang coupla hours ago. About these chicks..."
"I already told you, I'm not going."
Scott argued a while longer. He knew he could make Kane go, but Zoe mightn't want to know if Scott turned up looking like he'd been in a fight.
"You'll keep," he threatened darkly as he left.
Kane felt the world slipping away. After all he'd discovered in the past couple of days, about Rose, about Richie, and now she was dead, and Scott carrying on as though nothing had happened. Things might have been okay if he was with Kirsty, but he couldn't be with Kirsty because of what he'd done to Dani and because of Richie. Kirsty deserved far, far more than someone who had all this evil from Richie inside him. More than all the sadness that falling in love with a Phillips would bring her. He was crying as he tapped into the mobile.
*****
Dani smiled. The smile was fake but nobody saw through it. As a counsellor, Mum was hopeless when it came to her own kids. Dani had spent the morning helping out at the Drop-in Centre, then they'd treated themselves to lunch at the diner and not once did Shelley suspect what was going on inside her head. So Dani smiled when Shelley said she seemed more like her old self and Shelley believed the smile. Last night there'd been another row. Kirsty had been trying to tell Dani about falling in love with Kane, but Shelley overheard and ended the conversation. Like everyone else, she reckoned it was best if Kane was never even mentioned to Dani again. Dani didn't know if it was or not, nothing took away the nightmares. But it didn't matter now, not now she'd decided to end the pain forever. She said she was going to sunbathe on Summer Bay beach. Then she caught the bus to Yabbie Creek.
*****
Kirsty's mobile bleeped and she glanced at the screen. Her heart froze as she read the message.
I luv u 2 much 2 eva hurt u & becoz I luv u I hv 2 go away 4eva. I am so sorry xxxxxx Kane
She called him back but his mobile was switched off and the phone in the Phillips house rang unanswered. Where was he? Didn't he know, no matter what, she'd always love him? The tears rained down Kirsty's face so fast she could barely see. This time she couldn't let him go, not for anyone. She'd been a fool to think she could. This time she'd give up everything to be with him. If she ever found him again.
*****
So where do you go when the love is cold and the emptiness is all around? When another day fades to black and white and the pain never leaves your heart? Sometimes you just want to walk forever, past the edge of time, if it will make all the hurt go away, if it will make everything all right, if it will...
Kane looked once towards Summer Bay, then wiped away the tears. It was better for Kirsty this way. He didn't need any luggage, not where he was going. And he didn't know where that was, only that it was somewhere past the edge of time.
*****
Dani had noticed it often enough on the way to her counselling sessions with Clara Denton. At a certain point as you turned off Yabbie Creek Road you caught a quick, fleeting glimpse of an old bridge, rarely used nowadays, that led out of Yabbie Creek itself. The bridge's view from one side was of ancient red sandstone cliffs towering deep in the distance, from the other, far away, the sea touched the sky like the beginning of the world. It was a magical place, steeped in the history of Aboriginal dreamtime. But it had a darker side. It was a known suicide spot.
It was where Dani stood, shivering though the day was hot, looking down to the water at her wavering reflection, wondering how cold, how quick, how silent the moment would be.