Chapter 15
Rejected
Santa Cruz, California
March 27, 1987 (Friday)
3 a.m.
Alone in bed. Check.
Dog by his side on the floor because he didn't much like the mattress. Check.
Two hearts about to be broken. Check.
Hyde and Holly kissed for the first time 3 hours ago; it was, his first real grown-up kiss,
Whores and hangers-on didn't count and Jackie was a lifetime ago when in the grand scheme of things, they
were only kids who had the burden of carrying the aftermath of surviving a tragedy on their backs.
12 a.m.
"Thank you for the nice evening." Holly felt, not good, but relieved that she told him a bit about her past and the
sins of her father.
They stood by her apartment door 4B and she wasn't afraid, he would let her make the first move, by putting her
hands around his waist and bringing him closer until they were in the raptured in the kiss. Longing but not desperate
by any means. He knew this was a big deal for her, it was for him as well.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked when it was over, then she looked at her watch, "It is tomorrow…."
"Of course. Goodnight, Holly."
"Sweet dreams, Steve."
He let the happiness guide him until he got into his car and started thinking on the ride home. He was going to
have to break the most precious heart and his own as well. Hyde couldn't. He may not have killed anyone
physically, but he certainly knew how to kill someone's soul mentally.
In that regard Hyde felt that he was no better than his brother.
The Excuse
She was one of those girls.
A genuine nice girl whom he didn't want to hurt and anyone who thought that otherwise really didn't know him.
Her dark hair was dyed blonde and she always wore it in a professional ponytail. But tonight it was down to her
shoulders in beautiful loose waves. Her eyes were a gray-blue mix and they were gorgeous in the candlelight.
She would want the house. The car. The 2.0 kids. The white picket fence.
He couldn't do it. It wasn't her fault at all. There was a reason to sleep with whores, they didn't have
expectations, except for the ones with dollar signs in their eyes and he could spot those chicks a mile away. It
would have been cruel to go through this whole dinner as if everything were okay. Hyde took a drink from his
beer bottle.
"Holly, oh fuck," he whispered this was going to be much more difficult than he thought.
"You want to break up with me?"
She knew it.
After they kissed each other for the first time.
"I don't think we should see each other anymore."
"Is it because of the things I told you?"
"No. Of course, not….please don't ever think that."
"Do you want a scene, Steve? Because you won't get one. Do you want me to cry and
stomp? Damn. I knew you were too good to be true."
She stood up and reached for her purse behind the chair.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"You can't walk to your house….."
"How noble of you….."
Fuck.
She was unknowingly going to quote that bastard back to him? She didn't know about his 1977
history.
"Holly…."
"I think I can manage calling for a taxi. Goodbye. Just remember, I didn't end this, you
did."
She did her best speed walk as if they needed the nurse to go from one side of the
hospital to the other, she was able to hail a taxi and sputter out her address to the driver
before she sank down in the ripped leather seat and cried her eyes out.
Holly would never forget the first kiss that happened between them not even 24 hours
ago.
It was all her fault why he didn't see a future with her.
A month later
April 27, 1987 (Monday)
Hyde did not want to go for the stress test but it was a new requirement for international travel and the
insurance would only pay for places and doctors that they deemed were important enough to be on their little
approved lists and he couldn't exactly go somewhere else, even if he paid with his own money, it would be too
many people, asking too many questions, that were none of their business.
He missed Holly, he didn't want to break up with her, but it was for the best. When he got home Sid seemed
angry at him and barked as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and drank until he woke up in the middle of the
night having to throw up what felt like were most of his guts. He couldn't give her the life she wanted and
deserved.
It was that simple.
She must not have been in work today because of all the female nurses and medical assistants in the office
today, none of them were her. It certainly had nothing to do with what her father did to her.
"Damn." She whispered as she closed the door. "Don't be too excited. I think we can all
be adults here."
Her being cold was not becoming on her face. "Hi, Holly." He didn't know what else to
say without sounding like a condescending bastard.
"My name is Nurse Sullivan, Mr. Hyde. We're a bit understaffed today and that's why
I'm doing your vitals."
When she was done with the patient she was going to smoke 4 More's on her break
and after work she was going to the bar for her usual rum and cokes. Was he kidding with
the "Hi, Holly?" She knew of some stress related issues, but nothing specific about them
was written in his file as well and it didn't excuse him from breaking her heart, infact, it
made it worse. Weren't they supposed to have learned from their traumatic experiences?
She was going to take her 2 week vacation in Sarasota, Florida starting Monday and visit her Mother's friend
from nursing school…— Kitty Forman.
3:15 a.m.
Alone in bed. Check.
Dog by his side on the floor because he didn't much like the mattress. Check.
Two hearts that were broken and it was all his fault. Check.