Disclaimer: see chapter one
Sara's POV
I was sitting there talking with Allie and trying to calm down after kicking Catherine out when the door to my room swung open again. And there was Catherine—again.
"Catherine! I told you to get out!" I was certain the entire hall and possibly the floors above and below me could hear me yelling at her.
"I know what you said, Sara. But I'm not going anywhere. It's going to take more than yelling to get me to leave."
I went to reach for the nurse button on my bed but my hand was stopped by hers. "I know you can only move the one arm, so as long as I'm holding this hand, you can't call for the nurse."
I know I have serious control issues—mainly that I like to be in control. I was not in control of this situation. I smiled at Allie and said, "Put your fingers in your ears and hum for mommy, sweetie."
She puckered her brow and said, "You're gonna say bad words."
"Yes, I am. Now, do as I say, Allie."
She did as I asked her and started humming the theme music to some inane cartoon she must have watched at Catherine's. "I really don't give a damn about what you want anymore, Catherine. I said I want you out of here."
Her blue eyes sparkled as she said, "We both know that the last thing in the world you really want is for me to leave. Just because my kid keeps trying to…"
I squeezed her hand as tightly as I could. I saw her flinch. "I told you at the lake that unless Lindsey was agreeable to us seeing each other I wasn't going…"
Well, that's definitely one way to shut me up. I couldn't even finish what I was saying before Catherine had her lips bearing down on mine and was tracing my bottom lip with her tongue. She slowly sucked first my bottom lip and then my top lip, before pulling back and saying, "Can I talk now?"
All I could do was nod.
"Good. Now listen, I've spoken to Lindsey and…"
"Cath, she doesn't like me. This is never going to work. We both just need to give up the ghost, so to speak. I care…"
Once again, I found myself unable to speak because Catherine's tongue was in my mouth. I couldn't help but wonder if this is where the phrase tongue tied had come from. Probably not, but oh well.
She pulled back from the kiss with a satisfied smirk on her face. Allie, of course, was still humming and had her fingers firmly planted in her ears.
"Now, as I was saying. I know Lindsey blames you for not finding who killed her father." My face sank as she echoed Lindsey's earlier words. "At least, I know that now since she just told me." I turned away from Catherine. I didn't want her to see how hurt I was by Lindsey's revelation that I had let her down and the knowledge that this was the source of her hatred for me.
"Sara, I told her she could continue to be a bitch and I'd continue to see you or she could be a decent human being. Either way, I don't want to lose you."
She didn't want to lose me. I slowly turned to her and saw the tears ready to fall down her dove-white cheeks. "Catherine, I care about you. I do. But your daughter has some serious issues with me. I have someone else to think about now—my child. I'm not entirely certain that I want Allie around Lindsey right now."
She pulled back from me, searching for an explanation. She dropped my hand and took a step back away from the bed. "You don't want Allie around Lindsey."
"No, I don't. Not right now. In the future, maybe. But Lindsey has some issues that she needs to deal with before I'm comfortable with her being around Allie. Allie is going through enough as it is without being subjected to your daughter's angry episodes."
Catherine was processing the information. "Okay then. The kids stay away from each other. But that doesn't mean that we can't go out and do things—just the two of us."
I guess I hadn't quite made myself clear on this issue. "Catherine…"
Before I could finish, my room door swung open once again. This visitor was even more unwelcome than the first. Julie.
She came up to the side of the bed that Catherine was standing on and leaned over and kissed me before I could say anything. "Oh baby, are you okay? The hospital called me."
I looked from Catherine to Julie and back to Catherine again. She smiled weakly and said, "Well, I hope you feel better soon, Sara. Thanks again."
Suddenly my voice had returned, "Catherine! Wait!" But she was gone.
I looked at Julie. Could this day get any more fucked up?
