Endless Roads
Chapter 19 - Waking Up
Early the next morning, in a gloomy hospital room of Angel Grove Memorial, lay a fragile Kimberly on her bed. It was quiet, cold and dark as she lay there staring at the ceiling above her. It was only a few minutes earlier that she had finally opened her eyes and awaken from her long slumber. Squeezing her eyes shut from the pain of an intense headache, the question of where she was had come into mind. Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, noticing tubes connected from her body to machines that stood next to her. And with that, she soon realized where she was. Frightened that she had returned to a hospital again, she immediately made herself sit up only to feel an immense jolt of pain hit within her abdomen. She let out a loud groan and immediately lay herself back on the bed again. Looking down, she noticed her left leg had been tightly wrapped in a cast, as her eyes widened from shock from discovering that her leg had been broken. Her head felt swollen as if her brain was about to explode, and soon after, she collected enough strength to lift her arm up and guide her hand to the top of her head. Instead of expecting to feel the soft touch of her own hair, she felt bandages. Bandages were wrapped all around the upper portion of her skull, and it was at that very moment that she began to panic.
"Oh my god!" She began to think to herself. "What the hell happened to me!" she thought. As minutes past, she continued thinking to herself, trying to remember what exactly was the reason for lying in that hospital bed. But soon enough, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening in front of her. She brought her eyes up to see a nurse walk in with a clipboard in her hands. As soon as both of their eyes met, the nurse gave out a big smile.
"Oh good!" she exclaimed. "You're awake."
Kim lay there staring at her, not able to find the strength to speak.
"Do you know where you are, Miss Hart?" The nurse slowly asked.
Kim desperately wanted to know what happened to her, so she tried with all her might to open her mouth and say something, but unfortunately she found it extremely hard to get a sound out. Figuring that she wouldn't be able to get a reaction out of her just yet, the nurse moved on and began to push buttons on the machines next to Kim's bed and quickly recorded things down on her clipboard. It took a few minutes after for Kim to gain enough energy to speak and as a result a soft "What happened?" came out.
The nurse quickly turned her head to see Kim's eyes desperately looking up at her.
"You don't remember what happened?" She asked again.
Kim slowly shook her head.
"Well, Miss Hart… y-you were hit a by a car just last night." The nurse said hesitantly. "You suffered a major fracture to your left leg, as well as your head, and you did undergo abdominal surgery… but doctors say that you'll be just fine." She assured her.
Kim turned her head away looking over at the opposite side of the room. After she heard the words 'hit by a car' she immediately remembered the night downtown with Kat.
"I'm going to leave you now so you can rest a bit more, but if you need anything you can buzz me by pressing this button right here." The nurse replied, and placed the buzzer next to Kim's bed, where it could easily be reached.
With the nurse gone, Kim continued to remember back to that conversation with Kat. Everything prior to the hit was all a blur to Kim, but she distinctly remembered the painful words that came out of Katherine's mouth. Listening to Kat describe her feelings for Tommy, of how much in love they both were, was much more painful than she had expected it to be. Standing there, looking at her face to face, as she went on about how of an amazing guy Tommy was; it was enough to drive Kim insane. She knew all of that already, and she didn't need Kat telling her things she hadn't already known.
"I'm just really glad I have a guy like him in my life who really loves me." Kim remembered her saying. "I'm sure Tommy is grateful he has me in his life as well. I swear, we're perfect for each other."
It just made Kim feel absolutely sick to her stomach that Kat had the nerve to rub in a topic of that kind in her boyfriend's ex's face. But what bothered Kim the most was that even though what Kat said was pretty harsh, it couldn't have been closer to the truth. Kim had no right to be furious, because Tommy was Kat's. She was the one who was actually in a relationship with Tommy, Kim wasn't. And what her and Tommy did was absolutely wrong, and she knew that.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was her own fault. She was the one to blame for getting herself in this mess. If she had only listened to Jason, and not ignored all the warnings he had given her, maybe she wouldn't have been where she was in that exact moment. And obviously, she wouldn't have been in the emotional state that she was in when she left Rocky's house.
But no, she ignored Jason, allowing her feelings for Tommy to develop even more until it finally took its toll. Now she was lying in the hospital paying the consequences for allowing Kat's words get to her. Kim shut her eyes trying her best to remember what happened after she ran away from Kat, but was unsuccessful. The nurse said a car hit her, but Kim couldn't remember that at all. She just couldn't believe that Kat could make her that upset, making her not even notice where she was going or what even happened to her for that matter. However, she knew what the reason was for it. It was Tommy. And now that she was in the hospital again, she knew what she had to do. She had to get away from him, it was finally time for her to listen Jason. She had to get Tommy out of her system.
_____________________________________________________________
A couple hours later, Lacey and Jason arrived back at the hospital, anxious to hear how Kimberly was doing. Both of them found it extremely difficult to sleep that night, which explained the heavy bags under their eyes and their constant yawning, but of course Jason and Lacey would have gone to extreme lengths for their friend and staying up all night was nothing.
Lacey had a quick chat with one of the nurses and learned that Kim had finally woken up that morning, but was still a little groggy. It was great news to Lacey, who soon had a tremendous smile on her face, and began running over to Jason to tell the great news. In half an hour both would be able to see Kim and talk to her and find out what exactly happened to her. That's what Jason wanted to know the most. But was bringing up the subject too early? Was it a better idea to wait until she was better and one hundred percent recovered before making her remember the horrible night? Maybe it was a little selfish of Jason to actually consider asking her right away, but he just wanted to know. He wanted to know exactly what was her reason for disappearing.
Lacey paced back and fourth in anxiety, just wanting to talk to Kim and see for herself that she was fine. The past few days were very hard on her emotionally, and to finally see the end of her worrying made her feel relieved. Relieved that the worrying was over and most important of all, that Kim was ok.
Soon a nurse led both to the room that Kim was kept in. They weren't allowed to see her just yet, but both got the chance to look at her through the window. Lacey gasped from fright after seeing her first glimpse. Kim lay there motionless with bandages wrapped around her head, and a cast around her leg from what she was able to see. Just by looking at her, you knew that Kim had gone through a lot. Jason's heart broke after seeing the sight. It tore him apart just by knowing that what he was looking at was totally preventable.
"So what did the nurse exactly say?" Jason whispered to Lacey.
"She said that she woke up and said a couple of words, so that's a good sign."
"And what's going to happen to her? Is she going to stay here for a while."
"It looks that way." Lacey nodded unable to take her eyes off her best friend. She could see Kim's chest slowly rising from inhaling, which was a good sign; Kim was breathing and obviously alive.
"God, I just want to get in there and talk to her!" Jason intensely replied, banging his fist against the frame of the door.
"Just be patient… we'll see her soon." Lacey calmly muttered, putting her hand on Jason's shoulder.
_____________________________________________________________
While driving down the highways of Angel Grove, over to Angel Grove Memorial, Tommy sat anxiously in his car with his hands tightly gripped around his steering wheel. He decided to leave Kat behind after hearing what she had told him the night before. He figured that it would have been awkward for her to be there. However, noting the fact that she seemed to be pretty normal at the hospital before, it didn't make sense to him. But that didn't erase what Kat had said, and a part of him wanted to not believe it, but this came from Kat; a person he knew would never lie to him. Soon realizing and admitting to himself that Kat indeed would never lie, a huge surge of guilt rushed through him. Kat would never lie to him, and yet he went behind her back and took action to his feelings for Kimberly. He shook his head in disappointment, obviously disappointed with himself for what he had done.
How could he betray Kat like he had? For the past few years he had spent with her, no other woman had the power to steal his affection, but yet Kim did. It certainly proved that Kim meant a great deal, but to cheat on Katherine? He just couldn't believe that Kim had that kind of power, even though it did seem reasonable. She played a huge role in his life, and even if they had become strangers over the years for not speaking to one another, seeing her again sure didn't feel that way. And discovering her vulnerability just made his feelings for her grow even stronger. Listening to how much of a hellhole her life had been, he wanted to help as much as he could, because obviously he wouldn't just sit back and watch others do it. However, Jason was right, his way in helping her was by cheating on his girlfriend, and he knew he had to stop. But how could he just suddenly stop caring for a person like Kim? It was like an addiction that you just couldn't lure yourself away from.
Quickly Tommy shook his head, suddenly noticing that his thoughts had swung over to Kim's side, when they were supposed to be concentrated on Kat. He couldn't ignore Kat's words, because if they were true, Kim had a lot of explaining to do. It just boggled the mind that Kim would have such intentions, to purposely break a relationship up for her convenience. It just wasn't like her. To think that those days he had spent being with her, having heart felt conversations and taking her back to their spot at the pond, were just ways to support her plan of seducing him to forget about Kat… could that have been true? Tommy didn't know what to believe. He couldn't believe that Kat was telling the truth, and he couldn't believe that Kim had said those things. All he did know, was that he needed to get to that hospital, set the record straight and ask Kim herself if what he had heard was true. And deep down within he hoped that it wasn't.
_____________________________________________________________
Finally being able to visit Kim, Lacey slowly cracked opened the door to Kimberly's room with a vase filled with white orchids in her hands. As she entered, she could hear the faint sound of Kim's breath inhaling and exhaling, proving to her that she seemed just fine. Lacey's lips quivered as emotions began to pour through, her eyes suddenly turning moist as tears began to blur her vision. Kim lay there with her head turned to the side as she continued to sleep while Lacey placed the vase of flowers on the table next to Kim's bed. She didn't want to wake her up, but the sudden noise of her pulling a chair up next to the bed quickly startled Kim, immediately meeting her eyes with Lacey's.
Slowly a slight smile began to form soon realizing that a familiar face had made its presence. "Lacey." She whispered.
"Hey." Lacey answered back, forcing a giant grin on her face. "How you feeling?"
Kim gave out a quiet moan. "Sore." She muttered. "And my head hurts like a bitch." She chuckled, trying to bring in some humor to their conversation.
"Already with laughs I see." Lacey replied hesitantly.
"Yeah." Kim let out.
Lacey was without words. She just couldn't find anything to say, still a bit emotionally paralyzed after what had went down during the past few days. All she could do was sit there and stare at Kim's wounded face. There were dark reddish scars above Kim's left eyebrow, clearly treated with stitches as the wide, white strands of bandages wrapped around her head slightly covered them. Kim's left eye area was slightly swollen as well, not allowing Kim's left eye to fully open. However, despite all of Kim's injuries, seeing her looking up, making full eye contact, and completely alert just amazed her. Just last night, she thought of the worst, that Kim might have been dead, or had permanent brain damage or that by the end of all this Kim wouldn't recover one hundred percent. But Lacey was wrong, because there was Kim, speaking, making jokes, laughing… it was just too amazing for words.
"Lacey don't feel bad." Kim spoke up, noticing the guilt clearly shown through her expressions.
Still more emotions came through, preventing Lacey from saying anything, with tears still pouring down her cheeks.
"It wasn't your fault that this happened." Kim replied again, trying her best to stay strong. Seeing the sadness being expressed from her best friend was surely a tearjerker, but in this situation she just couldn't show that kind of emotion in front of her.
"I'm sorry." Lacey sniffed, quickly wiping the tears that fell upon her cheeks. "I'm just so happy that your okay, and the fact that you're actually talking to me right now… it's just…"
"What? You thought I was dead?" Kim sarcastically asked.
"Kim this isn't funny." Lacey muttered
"You're right… I'm sorry." Kim began to settle down. "I just don't want you to feel like any of this is your fault, because it's not."
"Kim… what happened?" Lacey finally asked.
Soon tears began to form in Kim's eyes, now realizing that this was her time to explain herself. Explain what she had been doing for the past few days and what had led her to this.
"I… I just…" She began. "I guess I just had to get away."
"Get away? Get away from what?"
"I don't know." Kim mumbled. "Everything. You, Jason… Tommy." She soon paused, thinking back to Rocky's party. She remembered all the emotions she felt, the frustration, the anger, the embarrassment… the jealousy. "When I last saw you guys, I guess my feelings just finally took its toll. From my frustration, to Jason and Tommy's arguing… I just felt like I had enough. I needed to get way from it."
"So you just felt like disappearing?" Lacey quickly snapped.
"I know. I'm so sorry, Lace!" Kim cried.
"We were so worried about you KIM!" Lacey snapped back again, this time not fighting back her tears. "We called the police, we went hours in search of you… God! I even thought you were dead!"
Kim said nothing. Clearly Lacey was upset about this whole thing, and there were no excuses for what happened. Kim simply laid back and listened to what she had to say.
"Jason and I stayed up every night, hoping that you'd either call or walk through the door!" She continued on. "And then… and then we hear that you got hit a BY A CAR… you have no idea what we've been through!"
"I'm sure I don't." Kim painfully replied.
Lacey quickly calmed herself down, soon noticing the harshness that was coming out of her. She then slowly leaned over in her chair towards Kim and quietly asked, "So where were you?"
"A motel." She softly muttered. "I stayed there for two nights."
"Jesus, Kim." Lacey sneered in disgust after realizing that while her and Jason were back at the apartment thinking of the worst, Kim was simply sleeping in some motel room.
"I was just so lost Lacey." Kim replied. "I was so frustrated and confused… I felt like I was going insane. I just had to get away…"
"You didn't think at all about how we'd feel?"
"I guess I was just too caught up with myself to actually realize that it would have such a huge impact on you guys… and I'm sorry for that. I really am."
Lacey paused. The sincerity in Kimberly's voice had hit her. Her yelling came out because of her deep concern for her friend, now it was time to hear what Kim had to say.
"Listen, I'm sorry I had to lash out like that." She replied. "It's just all this stress lately… but I'm just glad it's all over."
"I guess this was it." Kim continued to speak. "These past few hours since I woke up, all I have been doing was thinking… thinking about what exactly happened to me."
"And what exactly happened to you?"
"I finally cracked. My mind had been moving like a thousand miles per second, and just last night it got to me."
"Kim, do you remember what happened last night?" Lacey asked, anxious to know.
Kim thought back, envisioning Kat's face in her mind. And soon the hurtful words came back to her. "I bumped into Kat." She began to explain. "When you disappear hoping to get away from everyone, carelessly bumping into someone you know can shock you in ways you would never believe."
"What does Kat have anything to do with you getting hit though?"
"Her words." Kim began to cry.
"What do you mean?" Lacey asked with growing concern.
Kim's face scrunched up as the familiar pain she felt when she spoke to Kat hit her once again.
"Kim, obviously you're upset about something. What did she say to you?"
"She began talking about Tommy." Kim sobbed. "I mean, the whole reason why I left was to get away from the thought of him, and yet she brings him up. All I remember is listening to her go on and on about how in love they are, how they belong with each other and that they're so lucky to be with each other. Hell! She even went as far to mention their sex life!"
"Oh my god." Lacey quietly muttered underneath her breath as Kim continued to explain.
"And all I remember feeling was this pain of frustration and jealousy. I just couldn't take it anymore! And so I ran off… I had to get away from that… and that's the last thing I can remember." Kim finally finished.
Lacey was in shock. Kim getting hit may have been an accident, but it had been driven. Kat's arrogant words about Tommy drove Kim up the wall, clearly setting her off to run away and not even pay attention to where she was going. Kat had something to do with this accident and she just couldn't believe it. A flame of rage within her had been brightly lit.
"I can't believe her." She replied, blankly staring over at the other side of room across from her.
"So I'm paying the consequences." Kim whispered, not noticing what Lacey had just said. "And I finally realize what I have to do."
"She was just sitting there outside in the waiting room last night, just sitting there, innocently." Lacey continued on. "Like nothing happened."
"Lacey! Are you listening to me?" Kim spoke up.
"What?" She blurted out.
"I said I finally realize what I have to do." Kim said again. "Tommy needs to be out of my life. I can't be near him."
Lacey stared at her for a moment, a bit unsure as to what she was saying. "Totally and utterly out of your life?"
Kim nodded. "So if he's here… I don't want to see him."
_____________________________________________________________
Lacey slowly walked out of Kimberly's room, which immediately caught the eye of Jason, who was patiently waiting out in the hallway. He quickly got up from his seat and walked over to Lacey. The anxiety in his eyes was intense.
"How is she?" He automatically asked.
Lacey was still in a state of shock from learning about what Kat did that she didn't even notice that Jason was standing right there. She looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to find the words.
"I-is she okay?" Jason asked again, a bit frightened with Lacey's expression.
"She's fine." Lacey finally replied. "Despite the cast, the bandages and the cuts and bruises… she's completely fine." She assured him.
"So what did she tell you?" He asked.
Lacey took a moment to get herself together. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I'll tell you two things, alright?" She replied. "One, don't lecture her, okay? She got enough of that from me. The best thing she needs now is some comforting words from her big brother okay?" She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "And two, Kat's a complete bitch!"
"What?" Jason replied, confused.
Lacey took in a deep breath to control her frustration. "Listen to me… Kim's been emotionally distressed with things such as Tommy for the past week. And you remember how Kat said that she was there when the accident happened?"
"Right…"
"It turns out that Kat had a little conversation with Kim… about Tommy, saying things about their relationship which would clearly upset her in any case."
"Really?"
"Jason, don't you get it? This may have been an accident, but what Kat said to Kim obviously made her upset. So upset in fact, that her mind may have drifted off to another place, leaving her to not pay attention to where she was going or even know what was happening."
"So you're saying that this is Kat's fault?"
"I'm not saying that!" Lacey snapped back. "I'm just saying that Kat had something to do with this… and I'm not just going to ignore it."
"Okay… well can I just see her first?" Jason replied.
"Go ahead." Lacey nodded, and with that Jason darted over to the door and entered the room. Lacey turned around and decided to head to the cafeteria to get herself a drink. She needed a refreshment to calm herself down, because clearly she was outraged about what she had just learned; it drove her nuts. But before she could make it around the corner that led to the hallway of elevators, Tommy's face appeared right in front of her. The flame of rage bursted inside of her from the sight of him, and she couldn't keep her anger in.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She quickly blurted out.
"Excuse me?" Tommy responded confusingly.
"You heard me."
"Well… I just thought I'd come to visit Kimberly… I-is that a problem?" He asked, not sure as to why Lacey was asking him in the first place.
"Is Kat here?" She asked bitterly.
"Why?" Tommy answered, again very confused.
Lacey gave him a glare and gently shoved him at the shoulder. "You better pray to god that you're pretty little girlfriend doesn't get in my face, Tommy." She sneered. "'Cause if she does… that pretty little face, won't be after I'm done with her."
"What the hell are you talking about!" Tommy snapped, obviously offended from what he had just heard.
"I had an interesting talk with Kim just a while ago." Lacey began. "Let me tell you this… You may have been bothered that Kat learned about you guys last night, but I have this feeling that she clued in way before that."
"Huh?"
"I'm saying that Kat might have already had suspicions about you two BEFORE last night!" Lacey raised her voice. "Kim and Kat had a conversation before the accident, and apparently she just couldn't stop talking about YOU in front of her. And from what Kim had to say, it obviously upset her."
Tommy froze while hearing this, because now he was hearing the absolute opposite of what he learned last night. What the hell was going on?
"Now, the way that I see it, Kat's a decent girl. I wouldn't expect her to talk about personal pin points of her relationship, ESPECIALLY to her boyfriend's EX!" Lacey continued to explain. "Not unless she's actually that arrogant and just wanted to rub it into Kim's face, OR she knew there was something there that threatened her relationship with you."
Tommy didn't know what to say. He was absolutely lost, he didn't know what to think anymore, and different stories were hitting him left and right. He was in pure confusion. "D-did Kim tell you exactly what she said?" He asked.
She shrugged. "Kim mentioned that Kat was saying how the both of you belong together, that you guys were meant to be, or whatever. That you both are lucky to have one another." Lacey said. "Now it all sounds sweet as sugar to the ear, but what was her purpose for saying all those things to your ex Tommy? Explain that to me."
Tommy couldn't say a word. Those words were exact to what Kat recalled Kimberly telling her. So which one was the truth?
"Look… I have nothing against you Tommy, believe that." Lacey muttered. "And telling you this isn't easy. But Kim is so lost right now… and for her to feel better again, she believes getting away from those who leave her feeling frustrated or confused will help. So…" Lacey took a deep breath knowing that this would hurt Tommy a lot. "She's requested that you not see her. And I expect you to respect her decision." Lacey muttered then slowly headed to the elevator, leaving Tommy heart broken.
