It was a dream. She'd had it before, of course it had never taken place in a grocery store but the subconscious was a funny thing, and appeared that the outcome was going to be no different. He was always sharp in his expensive suit and not any older than the day she had left. Oddly, this dream was a bit different, he looked older, much older as if his boyish charm had been suddenly drained from him. Abruptly the realization that this was no dream hit Kendall like a ton of lead destroying her defense.
She stared at him unblinking, her heart beating a tattoo against her breast, as she demanded her heavy feet to move. But they refused as if her high heels had been glued to the linoleum floor. She could hear Binx, at least who she thought was Binx. People were speaking but their voices were distorted as if her ears had been filled with water.
A wave of nausea rolled over her and Kendall felt her stomach flop as she stood glued to the floor. She was too hot and was going to be sick. Kendall knew it.
"Kendall, are you okay?" It was Bianca again, but as she opened her mouth to say something, nothing came out and the world went black.
Kendall let her eyes flutter open, except for the dimmed flourescent light right above her head the room she was laying down in was dark. First glance told her it was a hospital room and the pale blue curtain that roped her off from other patients had been pulled around her bed. Sitting up was difficult as Kendall was uncomfortable in the shapeless and flimsy gown they had put her in but she sat herself upright.
Confusion was beginning to settle in and she quickly checked to make sure that she wasn't hooked up to any machines and she was clear except for the two small bandages on each of her forearms.
"Binx . . . Bianca?" her voice was shaky and she cleared her throat but there was still no answer. She was alone. At least she thought she was alone, until the sharp slide of the metal rings that held up the curtain, broke through the eerie silence.
"You're awake," the soft sound of her sister's voice brought Kendall around and all her confusion seemed to melt away. Unfortunately as it began to melt away one horrible fact was clear. Ethan Cambias.
"Where are Ramsey and Hannah?" It was the first question that popped into Kendall's mind and out of her mouth.
"Don't worry they're with Miranda in the cafeteria getting ice-cream," her sister answered, lowering the bedrail and sitting on the bed beside her.
Kendall sat back against her hospital bed letting the sudden rush of relief swept over her.
Bianca watched Kendall as she closed her eyes and brought a thin hand to her sweaty brow. Ever since her sister had fainted half-an-hour ago a sense of dread had driven itself into her stomach and refused to dislodge.
"I don't mean to pry Kendall, but what happened back there?"
"I don't know," her answer was too short and too vague.
"Well, passing out in the middle of a grocery store isn't exactly normal."
"Is that what happened?"
"Yes, " Bianca answered. "Kendall, are you sure you're okay?"
"Of course," she answered. "It's probably just jet lag or something."
Bianca was about to point out that her explanation made no sense when the door to the hospital room swung open once more revealing three young children and one very awkward looking couple. Without hesitation the three children barged into the room scrambling onto the bed despite the ice-cream cones each was holding.
"Miranda Montgomery, you know better," chided Maggie stepping into the room, her own hands filled with two small Styrofoam-bowls of chocolate frozen yogurt. "Give your Auntie Kendall some breathing room. 'Kay."
Following in behind her with no desserts, his hands dug into the pockets of his coat and his lips in one straight line which usually suggested some sort of stress was Ethan. His dark eyes surveyed the room quickly and landed on her sister. She could feel Kendall tighten up beside her, as if every muscle in her long frame had just constricted at once.
"Well, as I can see that everybody is okay. I think I may as well head on home," Ethan said, his eyes having left her sister's and now on her own. Even though her body didn't feel up to it, Bianca smiled and turned to her daughter who was now sitting on her girlfriend's lap.
"Give your cousin a hug and kiss, Miranda. You won't be seeing him for a while," Bianca said, holding her smile.
Ethan picked Miranda up when she walked over and held her close as he planted a kiss on her plump cheek before lightly setting her back on the ground.
"While I'm thankful for both the hug and kiss Miranda. I think I might actually stick around a little bit longer."
"Why?" It was the first time Kendall had spoken since he had walked in the room and it seemed to surprise everyone as they whirled around to look at her.
"No reason to rush off is there," he answered and though his voice was polite, Bianca sensed an edge of strain in it.
"No, I guess there isn't," Maggie added, and from the rhythm of her voice Bianca assumed that Maggie was feeling the same tensed atmosphere.
"Well, goodnight ladies . . . " he began, stopping to face Ramsey as he finished, "and the gentleman."
He left quietly, his shoes making no noise against the waxed floor of the hospital room or when he shut the door and Bianca felt Kendall's hand grip her arm tightly. It was a subtle sign and one that caught Bianca's attention immediately.
"Maggie," she started, her voice soft and airy. "I don't think the kids should be out so late, but I want to stay with Kendall until they release her."
"Gotcha'," Maggie said standing up from her seat and placing one of the Styrofoam bowls on the now empty chair."C'mon munchkins time to go."
Despite the whining it took no time for Maggie, especially after Willy showed up to help her, to herd all three cranky children out of the hospital room. Hugging and kissing her daughter, niece and nephew had brought Bianca off of her sister's bed and as she shut the door, the sense of dread that had been pooling in her stomach seemed ready to erupt. She took a deep breath, she knew that the fear that was threatening to overcome her was irrational, and slowly she turned to face her sister.
"What did you do Kendall?"
"Don't hate me," was her sister's only answer as her bright-green eyes began to water. "I can take him hating me, but not you."
"Oh, God," Bianca muttered, moving over to the only empty chair and sitting down. What she'd always suspected? What she'd always just chucked up to a silly theory? What she'd never right out and asked Kendall? What she'd always known her sister was lying about? What she'd always just forced to the back of her mind to forget and never reflect?
"What did you do Kendall?"
Ethan's hands shook as he pulled the knot from his tie and slid it from around his neck. Anger had blurred his vision and he was unable to see his room properly as he slid out of his jacket and threw it in the general direction of his bed. In a fit of rage, he'd gotten rid of the simple sleigh-bed him and Kendall had shared and replaced it with one that some king or another had once owned. It was beautiful positioned against the center wall of his room, with its dark polished posts as round as young-oak trunks and the top of the canopy brushing the high ceiling. It was cold and something Kendall would've hated, the precise reason he had purchased it. But none of that matter now. She was back.
His mind had not stopped spinning since he'd seen her standing at the end of the aisle, his thoughts twisting and turning into unanswerable questions and harsh accusations. He couldn't find a moment's peace within his own head, not on the short drive to his home, Rosedown or even in the solitude of his bedroom.
As he readied himself for bed if just for now he wanted to push it away. Pretend that what he'd done at the hospital hadn't been done, hadn't needed to be done. But splashing cold water over his face as he stared into his reflection didn't erase her betrayal or his feelings toward it.
Grabbing the fresh rinse-cup, he pushed himself from the basin and walked away from the bathroom, slamming the thick door behind him. His arms were still trembling as he pulled his pajama bottoms up.
Just like a wave it was coming again.
He quickly unstopped the decanter he kept hidden in his night-table pouring the dark liquid into the glass he usually used to rinse away residual toothpaste. He didn't care. He just wanted it inside him, burning away his headache and his pain. It was going to help him forget and that's all that mattered. It would help him forget if just for now.
He grimaced as he swallowed his second drink and felt the unpleasant burn into his stomach. He let himself slide down the side of his bed and pool onto the floor. Why? Why had she done it? Out of all the things Kendall could've done to him.
She was going to have to pay for what she did, that was undeniable. But how? How could he even a score like this?
He felt as if he'd taken a punch to the stomach and then another and another and another. His body hurt. He hurt. He physically hurt. It was building in his chest, burning inside him until he felt like he could no longer breathe. The scene that was his room blurred once more, but this time when he blinked his vision cleared. He could feel it rolling down his cheek but he didn't care to wipe it away.
There was no pleasant way to rouse after you've passed out and Ethan's eyes snapped open. He was still on the wooden floor of his bedroom, a bugs-eye-view of the roomy space beneath his bed. He was going to have a bitch of a headache and a not so nice crick in his neck in the morning but this fact seemed to escape him as he continued to stare at the polished surface.
It was strange. So very strange the way that answers that had eluded you all day became clear in the middle of the night. His plan was going to work. Kendall might hate him. No, there was no doubt. Kendall would hate him. Her hatred would be undeniable, but he was only getting what he deserved and giving her what she deserved.
A fit of humourless laughter rumbled across Ethan's chest.
"Karma's a bitch, Kendall!" he shouted to his empty room, rolling onto his back with a smile. "I just don't have the patience to wait around for it."
Good? Bad? Tell me what you think.