Chapter Twenty-five

Her face went ashen and she blinked. Clearing her throat Kate whispered, "OK."

She pulled away from Colin and walked over to the counter. Kate spoke to the nurse and then moved back to sit on a chair next to where he stood.

He stared at her, wanting to make her understand. "Katrina. Didn't you hear me? Don't you know what that means?"

"Yes. I heard you. I know." She said as she looked at her hands in her lap. Her voice was shaking a bit. "Colin. You should sit down too. The nurse said it'll be a while before someone can see you."

This was not at all the reaction he was expecting. "Katrina…"

Her mind was spinning. She was trying to process it all. "It makes sense now. When Danny told me Kevin drove you back the other day it seemed odd to me. But now I know why. He's your grandfather."

"Yes." He replied

"That's nice that you get to know him. I never knew either of my grandfathers. She continued to look down and laughed nervously. "Well. Actually - if things worked out differently, your father could have been mine - my marriage anyway."

"Katrina." Colin said softly. "You can go. I know you want to."

Her head shot up and she looked at him, her eyes glazed over. "What?"

His eyes shone with unshed tears as he said, "Thank you for bringing me. I'll just call Doc and let him know I'm down here. I'll be fine. You can go."

Kate stared into his eyes. "What?" She repeated.

He wanted to touch her, but knew she would probably cringe if he did. "Go ahead. It's OK. You can leave now."

Kate wiped a tear from her cheek and shook back her hair. "Do you want me to go?"

Nothing could be further from the truth. He wanted her to be right next to him forever. "No. I don't…"

She spoke slowly so he would understand. "Good. Because I'm not leaving."

He didn't want her pity. "Katrina. Don't you realize who I am?"

"I do. Apparently, you're Colin Morley." She said softly.

He nodded. "Yes. My father…"

"Is a horrible, vile, despicable excuse for a human being." Kate said, her voice full of contempt. "I mean - he would be - if he were actually a human being."

"I agree." Colin said softly as fear snaked up his spine. "I don't understand. If you know that, how can you still be sitting here?"

Kate turned and looked deeply into his eyes. "I don't see your father around here at the moment. Do you?"

Colin's voice was broken as he said. "Of course. Look right in front of you. I'm a part of him."

Gently taking his hand, Kate shook her head no as she gazed at him. She took a deep breath and replied. "You're wrong. From what I can see, you're no part of him at all."

**************************

Abby sat in the back of the shop, a vision clouding her sight for the moment. She was so caught up in it she didn't hear the phone ring.

"Abigail!" Lia yelled.

Her head shot up as she looked at her daughter. She took a few steadying breaths before she could speak.

"When did you start calling me Abigail? What happened to Mom - huh?" Abby said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes. Dad's on the phone." Lia said, her eyes full of concern as she handed the phone to her mother.

Lia knew exactly why she didn't answer her right away. She moved to sit beside her and placed a hand on her arm.

Abby took the phone with shaky hands. "Cam. Hi."

"Hi, sweetheart. I know it's probably busy there but I need you to come home." He said softly.

Abby knew exactly why. "It's Lynnie isn't it?"

Cameron should have known that Abby would know that already. "Yes. She saw something and she's really upset." His voice was full of worry as he added. "I take it you saw it too?"

"Yes." Abby sighed.

He tensed up just thinking about her going through this as well. "What about you? Are you OK?"

"Not really." She admitted, her voice choked with tears.

He hated feeling so helpless. All he wanted to do was console her. "Come home, Please. Close the shop early and have Lia drive you. I don't want you to drive home by yourself."

What she and Lynnie had seen was so disturbing that for once Abby didn't argue.

*************************

He came out from getting his X-rays done, shocked to see her still sitting in the waiting room.

"Katrina?"

"Is it broken?" She asked as she jumped up and faced him. Colin's arm was in a sling.

"No. Just a bad sprain. I'll live." He stared at his feet. "I didn't expect you to still be here."

"I told you I would wait." Kate replied.

"I know. I still didn't expect it."

Kate shifted her weight back and forth nervously. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked into his eyes. "Do you need me to drive you somewhere?"

"No. That's OK. I was supposed to meet Doc here anyway. I'll just go to his office." He smiled slightly as he added, "Thank you for giving them a fake name. It made it a lot easier."

She had known it would be a good idea. "Not everyone here knows your father, but when the people who do know him find out who you are it won't be easy for you. I wanted to avoid it while we still can. Danny's dad and Dr. Ramsey both knew him. They probably wouldn't have wanted to treat you and that's not fair. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"So now I'm Colin Molloy?" He asked with a grin.

"It was as close as I could think of on such short notice." She smiled back.

Silence fell between them for a full minute. Colin was speechless. Never in his wildest dreams did he believe this would be her reaction. Not only did she not go running in horror, she actually thought quickly enough to protect him.

Unable to resist any longer, he brought his hand to touch on her cheek. "Katrina - what are we doing?"

"I don't know." Kate admitted as she leaned into his touch. She placed her hand over his. "I just know that for right now - I want to be near you. And I don't even remember exactly how that happened."

"Even though my family…" Colin trailed off as he pulled away.

She cut him off gently. "Colin. It's clear we have a lot to talk about. Right now isn't the time and this isn't the place. Let me just say one thing. I'm not interested in your family. I'm interested in you."

Every word she said touched Colin even more than the last. The very idea that she even wanted to be in the same room as him was unbelievable.

"You are amazing." He said, his voice full of awe.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she stared at him. "So are you. How have you done this for so long by yourself?"

"I didn't have a choice." He shrugged.

"But now you do. Do you want to still deal with this alone - Colin?" Kate asked as she took his hand.

As he stared at her he couldn't believe it was true. He had underestimated her. He'd been running away for so long he never stopped long enough to give someone a chance. It was bizarre to think that she would be the one to give him a chance himself.

"No." Colin whispered, completely overwhelmed as he took a step towards her.

Kate stepped closer. Bringing her hands to frame his face she pressed her lips to his and kissed him gently.

"That's good to know." She said softly as she pulled away. "Because now you won't have to."