"DAD! I'm home!" Paige almost screamed, but there was no answer. Paige closed the door. "Dad? Where are you?" She walked in the room, and found her dad lying on the couch, an empty bottle standing on the table next to him.
"Hey Skittles..." he turned around, and looked Paige in the eyes.
Paige looked her dad over. He wasn't in much of a happy mood.
Today, it has been 10 years since Paige's mother died. Her mom always used to call her Skittles, but her father never did. Why would he do that now? Paige felt something was wrong.
Before she could say something, her father already started.
"Where have you been?" He looked at her, he seemed to be drunk. "Have you been to that hospital again?"
"No dad, I said I wouldn't go there. I..."
"You have been there, haven't you? I knew it..." her father interrupted. He stood up, but almost fell on the couch again. He could grip the edge of the couch just in time, and then he grabbed Paige's shoulders.
"You shouldn't and you know it!" He raised his voice.
"Dad..." Paige was scared. "Dad you're drunk. Don't do crazy things now, you'd better lie down. I can make you some coffee if you want, or something to eat..."
"You just want to make up with me like that, don't you? Well, not like that, not here, not now, not as long as my name is William!"
Paige wanted to walk away, but her father didn't let her go. Instead, he slapped her in the face.
"Dad, don't..." He turned away. "You know what happened in that hospital. It was all your fault that she got there! YOU UNDERSTAND?" He turned around and hit her again.
Paige started crying. "You were just making it worse... and you were the doctor who couldn't save her life, remember?"
She pushed her father's hands away, walked through the door and slammed it. She didn't think – she just grabbed her backpack and her coat and ran out of the house, away from her dad.
At the end of the street, she stopped at the bus stop. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She sank to the floor. How could he? It wasn't my fault...it just wasn't...
Paige closed her eyes. She tried to make clear to herself that it wasn't her fault, but her father made her feel guilty, like every year. But this time, he had hit her. That never happened before...
Paige tried to stop crying as the bus came around the corner. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and stepped in.
"To the South Philly Library, please."
"OK... that would be $1.35 please. Thank you."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Lu?" Dana touched Lu's back.
"Yes Dana, what is it?" Lu turned around.
"Sharon woke up a few minutes ago, she is doing better. She wants to talk to you."
"OK..." Lu walked to Sharons room, and opened the door.
"Hey Lu... just wanted to... I think I remember more."
"That's good. You look better too, let me..."
"No," Sharon interrupted. "Let me tell you what I remember."
"Okay." Lu sat down on the chair, next to Sharon's bed.
"I walked into your office, and there was a man, he looked like he was desperate for something. He asked me what I was doing in your office, and I said I had an appointment with you. He said that you weren't here, and I'd better leave, but I didn't want to. And then he..."
Sharon turned her head away from Lu, and started crying softly. "He beat me..."
"WHAT? He beat you?" Lu was stunned. Beat a girl? In my office? He didn't even have the right to be there without my permission, Lu thought. "Sharon, do you remember what he looked like?"
"Yeah, I guess, he was average height, he had dark hair, and he had a real angry look in his eyes. He was..." Sharon stopped talking.
"What is it?"
"I thought I just saw him."
"Where?"
"He just walked there." Sharon was getting nervous.
Lu didn't know what to say. She walked to the door, and looked down the hall. She saw Peter, but realized he would never hurt a fly, and the look in his eyes wasn't angry at all. Suddenly, Kilner passed the room.
"That was him!" Sharon sounded frightened. Lu didn't move, she just couldn't. That was him? Kilner? He...
Lu turned around, trying to find a way of telling Sharon who Kilner was. At that point, Dana entered the room.
"Lu, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Uh... yeah..." Lu slowly realized that she had to stop thinking about Kilner.
"What is it Lu? Are you okay?" Dana grabbed Lu's hand, and looked her in the eyes.
"It's nothing..." Lu lied.
"Lu, if it was nothing, you wouldn't talk like this. I know you better than that." Dana replied. She was afraid that if there was a problem, Lu wouldn't tell her.
"It's just that... he... Kilner..." Lu didn't know how to say it. She was silent for a while. She looked at Dana, and she knew she had to tell her. If she didn't, Dana would find out soon anyway. "It was him," she said.
"What? Kilner? What is it?"
"He was the man in my office. He is the reason for Sharon's concussion."
Dana almost couldn't believe it. Lu was shaking, still not able to realize what Kilner was doing. Dana held her hand and tried to calm her down.
"Lu, let me tell you this. If anyone belongs in jail now, it's him. You know that. We all do. Don't worry, okay? If you want, I can take Sharon as my patient, I think you have you hands full and you are also confused because of Paige."
Lu nodded. Her pager started beeping. This thing really needs to work on his timing, Lu thought.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What have I done..." William sat down, slowly realizing what he did to his daughter. He couldn't believe himself, and he knew that it would be hard to make Paige believe that he was truly sorry.
He stood up, and tought he could try to find her. He grabbed his coat, and walked out of the door. It was raining. He just ran somewhere, trying find Paige, but he didn't know where she could be. The hospital... she could be there. He ran as fast as he could, his clothes were already soaked through.
He ignored the traffic lights and crossed a street. A car came driving down, and slammed on the brakes. William tried to avoid it, but the lights blinded him. Because of the rain, the car couldn't stop in time, and hit William. He flew through the air, and was flung to the ground. The driver was shocked, but knew he had to call an ambulance. He knew the nearest hospital, Rittenhouse, was only a few blocks away.
"There's been a car accident, a man was hit by my car, and he probably won't live long if he doesn't get to the ER soon!" he stressed. "Okay... okay. Please hurry!!" He put the phone in his back pocket, and ran to the victim.
William lay there, on the street, rain pouring down on his chest. He could barely stand the pain. What if I don't make it... and what about Paige? All sorts of thoughts went through his head. He didn't want to die. Not before Paige knew he didn't mean it... that he didn't mean to say such things, or to hit her. He tried to say something, but all what came out of his mouth was a whisper. The driver of the car heard him and knelt down, next to William.
"An ambulance is on the way. Hang in there OK? You can't just die now..."
Please review!!! Stephanie and Charlie
