Disclaimer: Anything related to TNA or anyone else clearly doesn't belong to the writers of this story. This is written purely for entertainment purposes. If TNA is willing, though, the writers of this story would very much love to own any of the TNA-owned people mentioned within this story. We also don't own Sterling James Keenan but would very much like to. That is all.
A/N: Rockin' and rollin' right on in to the next chapter! Woohoo! Hello freaks, be warned this chapter gets super dooper emotional. This is quickly turning into an epic to write, and Phoenix and I have done soooo much writing together... I swear, it's like we exist in each other's minds. It's creepy... especially coz she's a NZer... Kiwi-fruit...Enjoy, munchkins… Lizzie
As they stood there, the police and ambulance finally arrived. The cops started moving people away, trying to get a perimeter set up around the site of the accident. As the people slowly thinned out, Chris caught sight of Lily at last. What he saw shocked him to his core.
"Oh, god... no." He whispered, his grip on Kady, and reality, slowly loosening. Kady saw the paramedics moving in to tend to her mother and was determined she shouldn't be alone with strangers. She pulled away from her father and ran straight towards Lily. She was almost there when a police officer got in her way.
"Stay back, please, Miss." He ordered calmly.
"Fuck off! That's my mother!" Kady spat at him before shoving him aside and making her way to Lily. She knelt down next to her and gently took her mother's hand.
"Mom?" She whispered hesitantly, wondering about her mother's state of consciousness. One of the paramedics looked at her sympathetically.
"Sorry, kid. We're gonna need you to move back." He told her, just like the cop had.
"No. I'm not leaving her." Kady replied defiantly, trying to look anywhere but at the blood that was oozing from various parts of her mother.
"Look, as soon as we get her stabilized and into the ambulance, you can ride along, okay. But, for now, we really need you to move back. The longer it takes you to listen, the harder it is for us to help her." The medic explained to her.
Kady reluctantly released her mother's hand and stood up, stepping back slightly. It wasn't long before she felt Chris' arms around her again, pulling her further back. As soon as she was close enough, she leaned back and allowed her father to hold her again. In the back of her mind, Kady was remembering what she'd said to Chris earlier, about how much she would love him to drop dead. Seeing Lily, bleeding and broken, on the ground in front of her, she had to admit that she wouldn't want that for anyone else... not even Chris.
The tears were burning her eyes so she closed them tightly, willing it all away, wishing it hadn't happened. Maybe it was just a dream? She opened her eyes, slightly, to see if anything had changed. A sob escaped her as she realized that the scene in front of her was all too real. Chris tightened his hold on her and she turned in his arms so that she could bury her face in his chest. She'd never meant for this to happen... not in a million years.
"Hush, baby. It's gonna be okay. I'm here, I promise. I'm not going anywhere." Chris whispered softly to his daughter.
"It's your fault! You should never have tried to get into our lives! Everything was fine without you!" Kadence screamed at him, trying to push him away.
She didn't really blame him for this but, it was easier to have someone to hate. She was used to being angry... not to feeling so out of control and scared. Chris didn't let her go. Instead, he let her get her anger out as she pummeled her fists into his chest and continued blaming him. He knew where she was coming from with it and didn't take it personally... well, not really. At least he had her in his arms again, anyway.
"Hey, kid. You still want to ride along?" The paramedic called out to Kady once Lily was on a gurney being wheeled towards the ambulance.
"Is it okay for both of us to?" Chris wondered. The medic debated whether there'd be enough room before deciding that it would probably be easier to have the guy ride along too. That way, he could deal with the kid and let the medics do their jobs.
"Sure. Climb in." He told Chris with a decisive nod. Chris led Kady to the ambulance and watched as they loaded Lily in. Once that was done, he helped Kady climb in and followed after her.
Hours later, Chris was pacing the waiting room as Kady sat in one of the chairs, her knees pulled to her chest. They hadn't spoken a word since the doctor had told them that Lily needed surgery to fix some broken bones and to stitch up some of her wounds. The doctor had told Chris that it was unlikely that Lily would wake up anytime soon. Who knew if she had head injuries. All they could do was wait it out.
Kadence stretched her legs, moving into a more comfortable position before pulling her knees up again. Chris watched the movement from the corner of his eye and wondered what the hell he'd do if Lily never woke up. How would he take care of Kady who would, no doubt, be worse after this whole thing? He was praying, wishing, hoping and willing for Lily to be okay. He was pretty sure that the same thoughts were flowing through his daughter's mind. What would she do without Lily here to save her from him?
A small laugh almost escaped him but he turned it into a cough. The last thing he wanted was to make Kady genuinely angry at him right now. He walked over to the row of seats opposite her and slumped into one. The whole waiting process was probably the hardest part of all this. The longer they waited, the more sure Chris was that something had gone wrong on the operating table. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the doctor walking towards them. Kady saw him, though, and got to her feet, practically running up to him.
"Is she okay? What's happening?" Kady asked quickly as Chris got to his feet.
"She's about as okay as can be expected. Nothing went wrong during the operation. We've had to put pins in her left arm to hold the bone together, as well as stitch up multiple lacerations. All in all, it went quite well." The doctor explained.
"Can we see her?" Kady wondered hopefully.
"Not just yet. She's in recovery at the moment and probably won't be transferred to a ward until tomorrow sometime. We need to keep her under observation to see what her brain activity's doing. She took quite a nasty knock to her head." He replied. Kady wanted to kick him for sounding so condescending. Chris must've caught the tension rising in Kady because he put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently.
"Thanks, doc. We'll come back tomorrow, first thing." He told the doctor who nodded and walked away.
"Let go." Kady ordered, shaking herself free of Chris. Her clothes were covered in blood from kneeling down next to Lily earlier but she didn't care. All she wanted was to see her mother, to see if she was really still alive.
"I'll call Jenna and see if she can come get us. Stay put." Chris told her as he made his way over to the pay phones.
Kady watched him for a little while before looking around. The waiting room was almost empty. No one was paying her any attention. She wondered if she'd have any luck trying to find her mother on her own. Knowing she'd probably get into a lot of trouble for trying, she decided to go outside and get some air. She felt stifled, as if she was suffocating in here. Waiting until Chris had turned his back to her, Kady slipped out the doors and wandered away from the hospital a little way.
The tears once again stung at her eyes as the image of her mother bouncing off the car played through her mind. She needed to talk to someone... anyone other than Chris. Spotting a young couple sitting on a bench not far from her, she decided she'd chance it and walked over.
"Um... excuse me... would one of you have a cellphone I can borrow? My mother's been in an accident and I need to call someone." Kady told them, her voice wavering with emotion. The woman reached into her handbag and pulled out a cellphone, offering it to her kindly.
"Thank you, so much." Kady gushed as she accepted the phone. She quickly punched in Danny's cellphone number and walked away from the couple slightly, so she'd have a bit of privacy.
"Danny here. Talk if you must." Danny's familiar greeting met her ears soon after.
"Danny... something bad has happened." Kady told him, barely in control of her own voice.
"Kady? What's going on? Did you have another fight with Chris?" Danny wondered, suddenly worried about his friend.
"Worse. Mom... she's... fuck! She was following me... she got hit... I couldn't stop it, Danny, I couldn't." Kady sobbed, losing all semblance of control over the situation.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, I can't understand you. What happened to her?" Danny urged, knowing it had to be bad if Kady was calling him.
"She got hit by a car... it came out of nowhere. I... I... I don't know what to do." Kady continued to sob into the phone.
"Where are you? I'll be there as soon as I can." Danny told her, knowing she needed help. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on but if what he'd gathered so far was true, Kady wouldn't be in a very stable frame of mind.
"The hospital." Kady answered quietly, the sobs weakening her.
"I'm on my way. Sit tight." Danny replied quickly before ending the call. Kady hesitantly made her way back to the couple she'd borrowed the phone from and handed it back.
"Th... thank you." She stammered as the woman took it. The couple nodded, in shock at the mess of a person standing in front of them. It was then that Chris came running out the hospital doors, having noticed that Kady was gone.
"Kady! Damn it, girl. I tell you to stay put so you walk away? What the hell is wrong with you?" He fumed as he spotted her and jogged over.
"I... I needed some air." Kady told him. Chris softened slightly, seeing how upset she was.
"Come here." He offered, opening his arms to her. She shook her head and backed off.
"Jenna's on her way to pick us up. We'll go back to her place and get some rest, okay?" Chris explained his plan to her.
"No! I'm not leaving her! Trust you to want to walk away, now that things are hard!" Kady accused.
"Kady, there's nothing we can do. There's no reason for us to sit around here all day and all night. We'll come back in the morning, I promise." Chris tried again.
"You promise? Fuck you, Chris! Your promises don't mean a damn thing to me! My mother could die and you want to leave? Go, then. I don't need you here." Kady yelled, getting angry with the whole thing again. Chris ran his hands over his head and through his ponytail, wondering how the hell he was supposed to handle this situation. It didn't help him that the couple sitting on the bench were throwing accusing glances his way.
"What the hell do you want me to say, huh? I'd do anything to trade places with her, I would, but I can't. You're stuck with me, Kadence, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." He told her firmly.
"Oh, there isn't, huh? I wouldn't count on that if I were you." Kady growled, hating him for standing there in front of her while her mother was laying in the hospital, effectively in a coma.
"What are you gonna do, kill me? This shit is getting us nowhere, Kady, and I'm sick of it. You can keep being angry at me, keep hating me, keep wishing me dead. It won't change the fact that I'm your father and I'm trying my best to prove myself to you and your mother. Neither of you have made it easy, thus far, and it's only getting worse now. Believe it or not, I care about Lily – always have and probably always will. This is eating me up inside because there's not a damn thing I can do to change it. I can't turn back time, I can't go back and stop that fucking car. All I can do is stand here and twiddle my thumbs while you stand there hating me. So, go ahead, hate me. I'm beyond caring about it now." Chris decided.
No one had ever tried so hard to get through to Kady like he had, and she knew it. Not even Lily had that much energy. But now, Chris felt like had done all he could and there was nothing left for him to prove, especially if Kady wasn't going to be receptive to it. There was only so much he could do.
"Then leave!" she shot back. "If you're beyond caring, just go!"
"And that's what you'd like, isn't it Kadence? For me to leave and prove you right?" he said. "I'm here for Lily as much as I am for you."
"She doesn't need you. We don't need you! For all my life we've gotten by without you—"
"See? It's the same fucking arguments over and over again! It's not going to work, Kady. Get that into your head." With each argument and each battle against Kady, Chris was growing more frustrated, understandably, but also he was losing any chance of getting through to her.
Another long day it was, and already they were both exhausted, so the fighting wasn't helping. But Kady was always going to be willing to put up the fight for as long as she felt was necessary. Her remarkable ability to throw together highly venomous insults and stand up and fight in even the most dire, stressful situations like this one, could be considered a dark gift. Even with her mother almost dead, she wasn't going to let Chris in…
"It's your fault!" she reaffirmed the hurtful words.
"It's no one's fault," Chris countered, immediately catching his anger before it exploded, and forced him self to settle down. "Kady don't spend your time laying blame… on me, or anyone. Because you know something? It's not going to change the fact that I love you, okay? That I care about you; that I want to be with you. And like I said, you can keep wasting your time blaming me… and then what happens if she does die, huh?"
Kady didn't want to think about that possibility at all, figuring that if she had to be left with one parent she'd rather it be Lily than Chris. And the fact that he could talk about her mother possibly dying, so casually, only served to enrage her further, and she moved to hit him again but he caught her at her wrists, pushing her out to keep her away from him until the point she would calm down.
"SHE'S NOT GOING TO DIE!" she screamed. "She won't!
"She might," Chris said again, hating himself for saying it but it was a possibility that might come to fruition, and it had to be acknowledged. "And if she was to, Kadence… would you rather her last minutes be spent alone, with you out here blaming me for everything again? Baby, you have one chance – ONE chance – to make things right between you and her, here. It's up to you if you take it or not, but it's about time you got your damn priorities straight and did what's best for your mother. She's the only one you've got and will ever have!"
Honestly, Chris did not care at this point if Kady hated him for ever, and he wasn't prepared to argue this out with her anymore. Lily was right. No one could make Kady let go of her hate and resentments that she'd carried around with her all her life.
"Don't you get it, Kady? Don't you see what's happening? You don't have a lot of time to make up your mind about what you want to do. Now, there's nothing we can do here. All your mother wanted to know was that you were still somewhat human and that you loved her – hell, she almost died, that's how bad she wanted it from you! The world does not revolve around you, it never did. Maybe for once you should stop feeling so sorry for yourself and think about Lily."
Chris finished for now, but there was still a lot more he wanted to tell her; that she needed to hear. Kady stared at him with sullenness, having no quick comeback to shoot down his words. He started to walk off, but stopped a couple of steps later though didn't turn around.
"I'm going back in to see if there's anymore information on Lily. You should give her the one thing she's wanted from you, Kady. If you don't, then you really are the twisted, evil little girl that you say you are. And you'd just prove that you don't deserve to have a mom as devoted as Lily. You'll be on your own, just like you always wanted." He walked back into the hospital, again leaving Kady alone to absorb the meaning of her words.
Kady screamed and slid to the ground, sobbing. What an asshole! And the worst thing of all was that he was right, in every sense! If Lily was to die because of her daughter's stubbornness and hate, then Kady could not blame anyone but herself. She'd never admit it to herself, let alone out loud. And she let Chris get to her. He knew how to better than anyone, including Lily.
"Kady!"
She dropped her hands from her face and looked up and saw both Danny and Jenna tearing across the huge hospital parking lot in her direction. Kady managed to pull herself up by holding onto a handrail that was near her, and used what little strength she had left to push herself off the ground. Danny practically knocked her down again, but she quickly caught her balance and returned his embrace. She allowed herself to cry again, knowing she had the closest people she had to a family with her now.
"Oh God, Kady…" Jenna softly cooed, and she helped Danny get the girl to a nearby bench, to give her some rest and support. Kady sat down, and they sat either side of her. "What the hell happened? I saw the accident scene, it's—"
"I know!" Kady interrupted her, not wanting to think about the carnage of the accident. "I just… it just happened! I walked off, and Mom was calling after me but I ignored her!" she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I should've stopped, why the fuck didn't I just listen to her?"
"Because then you wouldn't have been yourself," Danny pointed out and pulled his best friend in for another hug. "There's no way you could've known what was gonna happen. You couldn't have seen it coming…"
"She could die!" Kady yelled. "And that'd leave me with Chris!"
"Kady," Jenna joined in. As tragic as the situation was for Kady, Jenna was quickly losing patience with her. Granted, she had never gotten along particularly well with Lily or Chris, but they were still this girl's parents, and one of them was fighting for her life. Kady wasn't exactly seeing the bigger picture. "Being with Chris should be the least of your concerns right now! I figured you would be more concerned right now with how your mom is doing rather than what life would be like if you got stuck with Chris Harris."
"But—"
"Where is he, anyway?" Danny wondered, and looked all around. There was no sign of him.
"He went inside to see if there's any news on mom," she replied. "I don't care what he says. I'm staying; I can't leave her."
"Kady—"
"No, Jenna! If she does… I wanna be here." Kady's voice choked up again, eyes squeezed shut as she tried to internalize the pain. All these years she spent her life hating her mother for not telling her about her dad, and all these years hating Chris for not being in her life… the idea of Lily dying now seemed too painful for her to deal with.
"You're not going to be able to see her until tomorrow, anyway," Chris spoke, approaching all three of them. Jenna rubbed Kady's shoulder and stood up.
"How is she?"
"I couldn't get anything," he told her sadly. "I got told the same shit as before. They won't know anything until tomorrow at the latest… Kady," he looked at his daughter, who refused to return the favor. "There's nothing more we can do here!"
"He's right, you know… and trust me, I never thought I'd say that," Jenna attempted a weak joke and rubbed Kady's arm. "You need sleep."
"Leave me alone!" she stood up, pushing Danny off her and took off running in the opposite direction to where they were.
She didn't know where she was running to and she didn't care, it wasn't as if she was paying much attention to what direction her feet were taking her in. All she knew was that she wanted to be as far away from people as possible. Chris watched her go, but couldn't bring himself to follow. The kid had probably seen enough adults for one day and perhaps needed time alone, but that still didn't kill the paternal instinct he had to go after her.
"I got it." Danny spoke up, catching the look on Chris' face. He turned and ran off in the same direction his friend had gone. Being that running was part of his personal training regime, he soon caught up with her.
"Kady... slow down. Where are you going?" Danny called to her.
Kady didn't slow down, didn't answer him. It wasn't until she realized where she was that Kady stopped. Danny almost ran into the back of her but caught himself just in time. Kady was standing stock still, looking out across a road. Danny looked over her shoulder and almost felt like throwing up. They were at the site of the accident. This must've been where Kady stood when it happened. There was a crew of road workers, hosing down the road while a tow truck slowly pulled away with the car on the back.
Kady let out a strangled sob and Danny put an arm across her shoulders, holding her close to him without saying a word. What was there that could be said? The whole situation was like some kind of nightmare. Truth be told, it was probably something that Kady had dreamed of at least once, although without Chris' involvement. He was sure she'd said something about wishing her mother would get hit by a car at some point in the past. Now, though... things had changed in Kady's life and he knew she never really meant it.
"She could die." Kady whispered, watching one of the road crew sweeping broken glass off the road.
"It's not gonna happen. She's too tough to go without letting you know how pissed she is at you." Danny tried to comfort her.
"I should've stopped."
"Kady, even if you had, this still could've happened. Maybe it would've been you to get hit." Danny pointed out.
"It should've been me. That would've solved everyone's problem." Kady stated surely.
"Don't, please. I know you just want your mom to be okay, and she will be, but you can't say it should've been you. You shouldn't want that." Danny told her, slightly worried.
"Why not? Chris wouldn't care. Mom would get over it, she wouldn't have to worry about me getting in to trouble anymore. It would make life so much simpler for them." Kady reasoned.
"Wouldn't make my life any easier. What would I do without my best friend? My fellow freak?" Danny challenged.
"I don't know. I don't know anything, anymore. What am I supposed to do, Danny?" Kady pleaded, tearing her eyes away from the scene in front of her to stare into Danny's eyes.
"Follow your heart. It's obvious you still have one." Danny shrugged, that being the only advice he could think of to give her.
Meanwhile, Chris and Jenna stood quietly outside the hospital. Neither of them could think of anything worth saying so they occupied themselves by watching the people around them. After a few moments, Chris pulled his cellphone from his pocket. He figured he should probably let management – and Jarrett, know what had happened. Deciding to go straight for the blond man, rather than deal with a million questions from Dixie, he dialed Jarrett's number.
"Jeff Jarrett." Jarrett answered.
"Double J, it's Chris. Something bad's happened here. Lily and I won't be back for a while." Chris explained quickly.
"What's happened? Is it the kid?" Jarrett queried.
"No, it's not Kady. Not exactly anyway. I pissed Kady off earlier and Lily went to go after her... she got hit by a car, man. She's in hospital, pretty much in a coma. They don't now how severe her head injuries are until she wakes up. Could take days before she's out, could be months." Chris told him honestly.
"Aw, hell. Sorry to hear that, man. Is there anything I can do?" Jarrett asked, concern very evident in his voice now. For all his bravado and ego, it was nice for Chris to hear that he was still human.
"Sort out time off for me and Lil?" Chris suggested.
"Done, don't even worry about it. Uh... one problem though. You still hold a title." Jarrett reminded, hating the fact that work had to encroach on what was happening in Chris' life.
"Shit. Um... look, I'm all for losing the title at this point. Some things are more important, ya know?" Chris reasoned.
"Of course. Any chance you could convince James to give up his title as well? Once Lily's back on her feet and everything, you'll get a shot to get the titles back." Jarrett decided.
"I'll call James now and talk it over. He'll let you know." Chris figured before ending the call. Jenna had listened in to Chris' side of the conversation and had pretty much worked out what had happened.
"You're being stripped of the titles, huh?" She wondered as Chris located James' number in his phone.
"Nope. Giving them up willingly, I hope." He offered a weak smile as he raised the phone to his ear again.
"Storm here, talk to me." James' voice greeted him soon after.
"James, it's Chris. Lily's been in an accident so I won't be back to work for a while. I just talked to Jarrett and he suggested that we drop the titles. We'll get another shot at them when I get back. Sound good to you?" Chris spoke in a rush, not wanting to give James time to argue.
"Wait... what was that? Lily's been in an accident? What the hell happened?" James wondered, his brain slowly catching up with what Chris had said.
"She got hit by a car. She's in hospital and the docs have no clue how bad things are until she wakes up. Kady's messed up over it, she saw it happen. I have to stay here and... I don't know..." Chris trailed off, the situation catching up with him.
"Yeah, I understand that. What's it got to do with our titles, though?" James pondered.
"I won't be there to help you defend them. No point having them. Whoever gets them will just have to realize that we'll be coming for what's ours once I'm back." Chris added in some ego of his own, trying to get James to agree to the idea.
"I guess. Any idea who it'll be that gets them?" James asked sadly, not liking the idea of giving up the gold.
"Logical thing would be The Naturals. Talk to Jarrett about it, he'll tell ya."
"Fuck no, them? Dude... this sucks." James groaned.
"Hey, we've beaten them before, we'll do it again. Nothing to worry about there. I gotta go, man. I'll call in a few days to let you know what's happening." Chris told him.
"Alright, man. Talk to ya later." James agreed.
"Oh, and, James... have a beer for me, would ya? I could damn well use one right now." Chris sighed. James laughed and told him he would before they ended the call.
"You're dropping your titles to The Naturals? The vampire freak boy will be pleased." Kady smirked as she and Danny rejoined Jenna and Chris. It wasn't hard for either of the adults to tell that Kady had probably only just won the battle with her tears. What worried Chris more, however, was the look on Danny's face. Something heavy was weighing on the boy's mind... it was obvious.
"Titles aren't important, right now. You okay, Danny?" Chris asked as he tucked his cellphone back into his pocket.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Danny stammered, only barely realizing that Chris had spoken his name. He was still worrying about the things that Kady had said during their conversation.
"Can we agree that going back to the house is a good idea, now? Kady, honey, you look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet." Jenna smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind Kady's ear.
"I guess. If we aren't allowed to see her until the morning then... yeah. But... what if something happens during the night?" Kady questioned.
"The hospital will call us if anything changes. I already arranged it." Chris told her calmly. The last thing any of them needed was for another argument to break out. Kady reluctantly agreed to leave, letting Danny and Jenna lead her towards the car. Chris followed after them, struck by the fact that Kady was closer to a person who used to be somewhat his enemy than she was to him.
Once they were back at Jenna and Danny's, Danny marched Kady straight to his room, ordering her to get some sleep. She put up a weak protest but it wasn't long before her breathing slowed and she'd drifted off. When he was sure she was asleep, Danny went back out to the living room to find Chris sitting on the couch, leaning back, his head resting on the back of the couch and his eyes closed. Not wanting to disturb him, he went into the kitchen to see if his mother was there. A note pinned to the fridge told him she'd been called back into work.
"Well, this won't be uncomfortable... much." Danny mumbled as he walked to the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
"Uh... Chris... don't mean to bother you but I was wondering if you wanted anything." Danny offered. Chris' head shot up, his eyes open. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Actually, a beer would be good, if you have any." He decided. Danny disappeared back into the kitchen and returned moments later with two bottles of beer. He handed one to Chris and began opening the other for himself.
"I don't think so, kid." Chris chuckled as he reached out and took the beer out of Danny's hands.
"Worth a shot. Can I... can I talk to you about something?" Danny mused, trying to decide whether he should mention his concerns or not.
"Sure. Somethin' on your mind?" Chris wondered, taking a swig of beer. The cold liquid gave him some welcome comfort and it suddenly wasn't hard to see why James drank so much.
"Yeah. Something Kady said earlier... I'm kinda worried." Danny told him. Chris raised an eyebrow, indicating that Danny should continue. He could see the conflict the young man seemed to be having with whatever it was he wanted to say.
"She said she wished it was her that got hit by the car. That if she died, you wouldn't care and that Lily would be better off. I know she was upset and everything but... she's never said anything like that before." Danny admitted. He watched Chris' face closely and saw the concern increase on it.
"I can see why that would worry you. Look, things are going to be tough for Kady for a while. Having me around is new to her, then the accident... too much, all at once. I'd give anything to take some of it away... I really would." Chris reasoned. Danny nodded, and was quite surprised to find himself believing him. Suddenly, Chris didn't seem as horrible as he did earlier that day, not to the point where Danny liked him but just okay enough to say that he didn't actually hate the guy.
"Kady hasn't always been like that, you know," he commented. Chris frowned.
"What?"
"The whole goth thing? It only started with her maybe three, four years ago. Not long," Danny explained, and sat down across from Chris. "Me on the other hand... I suppose you knew my mom in high school, with Lily, yeah?"
The older man nodded, bringing the bottle to his lips again.
"Yeah, well you'd know she was into all that outcast, goth stuff when she was my age. Even after I was born. Guess it's not surprise I got into it at an early age, like even when I was kindergarten. Nothing heavy," he smiled weakly. "That's where I met Kady."
Chris smiled as well, appreciating what Danny was trying to do – giving him some history on Kady, which was what Chris always wanted but wasn't getting from either Lily or Kady. Her best friend was the next best thing. It was hard to imagine that angry child as a child playing with Barbie dolls or in a pink tutu, or any of the normal little girl stuff.
Danny continued. "I saw some kid way bigger than her and he had stolen some money from her or something like that. Anyway I totally kicked his ass, and of course got in heaps of trouble, and our mothers were called. It was weird when our moms met that day, considering they didn't like each other much, right?"
"Cats and dogs," Chris told him. "Lily was the cheerleader, Jenna... complete opposite. You can imagine the conflict."
"Yeah, mom told me a lot of the stuff she and Lily used to do to each other. What did you do?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. Did you just, like, sit back and watch?"
Chris shrugged. "Pretty much because there wasn't much I could do; we tried... me and David, Jenna's boyfriend at the time... we were both pretty good friends, we knew each other since before high school, but we couldn't get those two to calm down. The rivalry between your mom and Lily was pretty famous through the whole damn town, not just at school. Always at each other's throats. Can't tell you how many times I had to run after Lily when she ran away from school crying."
"Mom made Lily cry, huh?"
"Oh yeah. Heaps of times. That's why it's so strange seeing that you and Kady are best friends."
Danny nodded. "Yeah... mom and Lily didn't even really talk much even as we were growing up together. They'd get along pretty okay for our sake, I guess, but they're not social."
Chris toyed with the bottle in his hands, thinking about what the kid was telling him, and at the same time remembering those times at school when Lily and Jenna were screaming at each other, or when Jenna had just finished pulling a mean prank on Lily and then Lily would run away and he'd have to follow her. "So... why did Kady get into all the goth stuff? I mean, fair enough if you're into and all that, but that wasn't exactly what I had in mind for her..."
"Yeah, I know. I don't know what to tell ya, maybe I just rubbed off on her," Danny weakly teased. "I guess..." he thought carefully, thinking how he should word this without making Chris feel worse than he already was. "I guess I can basically peg it down to her tenth birthday... I don't know if I should tell ya this, man..."
"I can handle it, Danny. I wanna know her. The good stuff and the bad," Chris reassured him. "What is it?"
"Well," Danny continued slowly. "Ever since I knew her, up to that point, every birthday she'd make the same wish when she blew out her birthday candles. The same one, every time, and she'd always write it down and put it under her pillow. She'd always wish that her dad would come home for her..." he trailed off and watched for Chris' reaction.
Chris inhaled sharply and looked down at the bottle in his hands, Danny's words impacting him like a ton of bricks. To think that Kady had waited for him, for so long... he didn't know if it was possible for a child to hate a parent for all their life, and now he knew that Kady didn't hate him the entire time she was growing up.
"She missed you," Danny echoed his thoughts, and Chris looked up with a pained expression.
"I didn't know..." he softly replied.
"After making her birthday wish on her tenth birthday," the boy continued, "and not having it come true... she screamed and ran to her room and locked the door, staying in there for the rest of the night. The next day, it was like she was a completely new person. She didn't care about anything or anyone... that's when she got into the goth thing."
Danny stopped talking at that point, and Chris remained silent. Kady had lost her will to love life because he never came back for her, or proved to her that he was out there still thinking about her and loving her. It was no surprise that as a child she felt rejected. Now it was becoming clearer to him how much his absence really hurt his daughter. That's the worst kind of guilt there could be for any parent.
"I'm sorry, Chris. Didn't mean to lay that all on you."
"Forget it," Chris replied with a weak smile. "I needed to know. I guess I've deserved everything she's screamed at me so far. I really let her down."
"I don't think she hates you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Trust me, I know Kady. She doesn't hate you. I don't think she could hate you no matter how hard she tried."
"Well, she's doing a damn convincing job of acting like she hates me," Chris replied, seriously. "Not that I blame her."
"She doesn't hate the world or anything, it's just that she doesn't know how to deal with it. She doesn't want to know how to deal with it," Danny explained with certainty, knowing how Kady worked better than her own mother, even. He figured that, since Chris wasn't the asshole he thought he was, maybe it was okay to let him know who Kady really was. "Look, I don't know if she'd ever accept you as her dad or whatever, I'm just saying what I know and see. I don't want her to get hurt again, she's my best friend. Just, um... can you answer me something?"
"Sure, kid."
"You want back in her life... so you're not going to leave again, are you? Because she would not be able to handle that."
Chris could see how serious Danny was, and it was touching to know that his daughter had someone she was close to. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and couldn't erase the ideas and thoughts, the images of his only child giving up on life because she had been denied, by him and Lily, exactly what she needed all along. A family. He exhaled and sat up straight, regaining his composure before the emotion could take over, and stood up.
"I'm not leaving her again," he said, firmly. "I can't leave her again. I won't."
Danny also stood up, satisfied with that answer, but still cautious to the idea of this man suddenly reappearing in Kady's life. "I get it. Look, um... if you want you can crash in my room. You'd probably get a better rest there than you would on the couch."
"Thanks for the offer Danny, but I'll be fine," Chris replied, setting the bottle on the table and stretching. The day had again been an exhausting one, and he wondered how Lily was able to put up with this day in and day out for the past thirteen years.
"No, it's cool," Danny insisted. "I'll be in the other room anyway, I'm usually surfing the web at night. I'm a creature that lives in the dark."
Chris looked at him, apprehensively. "I don't—"
"Hey, it's just an offer. Take it or leave it. I'll be in the other room." Danny moved to leave and Chris bit his lip.
"Danny?"
The kid stopped and turned back. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Two minutes later, Chris was standing outside Danny's bedroom door and carefully turned the doorknob, fully aware that Kady was sleeping on the other side. He pushed the door open and peered inside. On one of the two beds in the room, Kady's curled up body lay motionless except for the expanding and contracting of her chest. Chris slipped in and gently closed the door behind him, leaving nothing but the light from the setting sun outside to illuminate the room. He wanted to approach her, but fear was setting in... there was nothing hardened about her now; even her expression was soft, almost peaceful, like all the horrors of the days events had been washed away.
Chris sat down carefully on her bed and stared at her... for the first time ever he was able to get a good look at his child without having to worry about her responding to him. Under all that make-up, she really was a beautiful girl... so many features that resembled a young Lily. It was hard not to see the resemblance in mother and daughter, at least for Chris. He stared at her, reflecting on the last few days that none of them would be forgetting. Except maybe Lily, if she woke up.
"I shouldn't have left you..." Chris whispered to a sleeping Kady. It was a chance to talk to her without her smart ass comments. "It was a mistake, I know that... and... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked out on you, baby. But, uh... I did. I know I fucked up with you, with Lily, with... everything."
Kady remained asleep, undisturbed by his talking, and Chris took that as a sign that she was perhaps sleeping well, which she needed. There was so much that he wanted to tell her while she was awake but she wouldn't let him. So he'd say it to her while she slept... just like when he used to sit up with her at night when she was a baby and talk softly to her.
"No matter what happens with your mom... I'm gonna be with you, okay? I know I made mistakes, Kady, I just..." he paused for a second to recollect his thoughts and then continued. "I need you to give me a chance. Not forgive me... I don't think I could ask you for that. Just... give me a chance, that's all."
He decided to leave it at that, and let her rest. He'd never seen her so peaceful, not since she was a baby, so why disturb a good thing? She'd probably be back to her usual, sullen, sour self when she woke up. Chris stood up and slowly walked over to the other bed and sat down on it. After kicking his shoes off, he was left to try get through the memories of the day before he could get to sleep. Nevertheless, five minutes later he was already dozing off, sleep not waiting too long to overtake him. Unbeknown to him, Kady had been listening to every word, and she stared at the wall, her back to him. Things were falling apart, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
A/N: Wow, right? We're really putting them through hell. MWUAHAHAHA! Please deposit a review and come again! Rock on, friends…
