|
|
Chapter 29
Kris knocked lightly on the door, then opened it to a sight that shocked her to the core, one she would never forget. Na was pale and seemed so small in the huge bed, I.V.s hooked up to her bruised and stitched left arm, the other in a big, white cast. She paused, trying to keep down the tears that were welling up in her eyes, then walked over to the side of the bed. Avoiding the beeping machines, she gave her friend a light hug and pulled over a chair as Na's eyes fluttered open.
"Kris, you're okay," she whispered, a brief smile crossing her lips before she flinched in pain, "..and you look like a drowned rat!"
"Yup, I'm fine, I took a shower in the great outdoors!" Na gave her a strange look, then started giggling.
"Don't
ask! Anyway, you're gonna be fine, too. Na, I can't tell you how sorry I am-"
Kris' fervent apology was cut off by a sharp look from Nina. Her eyes snapped
with anger as she said quietly, venom in her voice,
"This was not your fault, don't even start that." Kris sighed, a smile
tugging at her lips as she said, "All right Na. I should've figured you'd
never let me get away with that!" Na grinned and every moment acted a little
more like her old self.
"So, are your parents coming?" Kris stared at her, shock written clearly on her face as she glanced at her watch.
"Yeah, in about four and a half hours! Oh crap, I completely forgot about them," she moaned, smacking herself on the head.
"Well, given the situation, I think you're allowed to forget some things. Go get some sleep and clean clothes, Kris. They'll let me out later, even if I have to take out the I.V. myself. There is no way I'm gonna let this ruin Howie's birthday!" Nina declared, motioning for her to go when Kris only looked at her, an unsure look o her face.
"All
right, I'll see ya in a little bit, Na, if you really want to get rid of me
that quickly. Don't scare the doc too much, okay?" she teased, backing
towards the door. Na grinned, and waved her off as the door closed behind her.
*
Nick watched as Kris closed the door and slowly walked back towards them, her
head down and eyes squinted with concentration. AJ saw the pain etched on her
face like writing, but he also saw the determination in her as she set her muscular
shoulders straight and looked up to face the waiting group. They all looked
like a mess. Howie D.'s hair was unnaturally messy, one or two hairs out of
place and there were no traces of his everlasting smile. Kevin's face seemed
even more serious, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. Nick was looking at
her with the strangest look on his face, his blond hair pointing in all different
directions, though not red anymore, his clothing still damp from her hug. Seeing
him made her remember how wet she was and happy that for once in her life she
wasn't wearing a white shirt. Kris began to shiver lightly as the wet denim
clung to her legs and her hair dripped cold water down her back. She turned
to Nick.
"Nick,
she's fine, you can go see her," Kris said, smiling as he practically ran
down the hallway without a backwards glance. She turned back to the others,
an exhausted smile gracing her tan face as she said,
"She'll be okay! She swore she wasn't gonna ruin you birthday, Howie. By
the way, here's your present for now!" She gave the dark, short man a hug,
one of his perpetual smiles back on his face.
"Thanks, but maybe we should call it off. This isn't right," Howie said, a small frown replacing his smile. Kris shook her head and turned to Brian.
"Hon, my parent's plane comes in in about four hours. Whether this happens or not, they're on a plane right now, so I'm gonna have to get at least a little sleep before I have to get them." Kris and Cora shared a glance, wondering how to break it gently to her. The police would probably want to talk to Kris, and her room had been the room it had all taken place in. It was demolished. Cora put a hand on her friend's shoulder and said, "Kris, you shouldn't go back to the apartment right now. I have some of my stuff at Kevin's, borrow some of my clothes, okay?" Kris looked into her friend's startlingly green eyes and for a moment, saw Christian standing there instead. It was almost her undoing and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she whispered, "Okay, thanks Cora," hugging her friend tight. Kevin watched them, an unreadable expression on his face as he pulled Brian to the side.
"Cuz, he could be at the house right now. Take her to Nick's. He lives closest to the airport and Na probably has some stuff there that she can wear. We'll probably stay here tonight and get the police to check out the house in the morning, okay?"
"No prob. See y'all later," Brian said to the group, wrapping an arm around Kris' thin waist. Kris, half-awake, mumbled teasingly under her breath, "Hick!"
"What was that, Kris?" Brian asked, his eyes sparkling as he pulled her onto the elevator.
"Oh,
nothing," Kris murmured, caught up in his magnetic eyes as she smiled at
him. *
Brian say and watched Kris sleep, her lithe body curled up in a ball under the
light blue comforter. He knew she was hurting more than she'd ever admit and
wondered how they were gonna get through all this. He loved Kris with all he
had and Brian knew she felt a sense of deep guilt over what had happened, as
though it were actually her fault. But when he'd tried to bring it up, she denied
she felt anything of the sort.
*Flashback*
Brian glanced at Kris as they pulled into Nick's driveway, rain lightly pitter-pattering
on the roof of the car. She hadn't said more than two words the whole trip and
had stared out the window blankly, her face a mask over whatever she was feeling.
"Star,
are you okay? Do you wanna talk?" he asked gently, slipping his hand into
hers. It was cold and clammy.
"No, I don't feel like talking, but thanks, Rok," Kris murmured, her
voice monotone, reminding him of a robot.
"Are you sure? I'm worried about you Star," Brian whispered. Kris
said nothing, just stared out the fogging car window. Brian firmly placed two
fingers under her chin until she looked at him, the blue eyes that had the power
to hypnotize him cold and emotionless.
"Brian, I said I'm okay, all right?" Kris snapped, her expressive
eyes quickly flashing with annoyance, pain and fatigue. Brian was just as fed
up and tired as she was, and sick of her lying and hiding her emotions. Anger
flashed in his eyes as he said, "Really, Kris? You're lying to me again,
I can see it in your eyes. Kris, I know this is bothering you, why can't you
open up and tell me? You don't have to be a freakin' glacier and hold it all
in!" Kris jerked away from his touch, refusing to meet his glance at first.
"And
if I am lying, Brian? What do you want me to say? To do? I think I pretty much
said it all to Nick earlier and I have no wish to start it with you. As for
being a glacier, what do you expect me to do? Cry?" Kris unbuckled her
seat belt as she spat out her words, not really caring she was taking out all
her emotions on him.
"I can't let myself cry, someone has to be strong here. I have cried way
too much because of Josh and if I do it again, he'll know. He wants to know
that he's weakened me..and that he'll have won again," Kris half whispered
the last sentence, slamming her door and walking in the huge house without a
backward glance. Brian followed slowly, hurt and confused as he walked into
the huge parlor. By the time he followed Kris upstairs, she was fast asleep
in the guest room, clad in a tank top and a pair of Na's boxers. *
Brian silently watched her for a few more minutes, the silver Promise ring on
her sleep laden right hand gleaming even in the dim light. A smile crossed his
lips as he thought of how happy he'd made her, and vice-versa, that night. The
smile died as Brian wondered how something so good could ruin so fast. Sighing,
he unfolded himself from the chair and slipped into the bed, cuddling close
to Kris' warm body. The police had been unable to find Josh or a trace of him,
which worried him greatly.
"Well, I hope seeing her parents again will help," Brian thought,
wrapping an arm around her waist.
"I love you, Brian," Kris murmured, deep in a dream of her and Brian,
not fighting and happy, like they'd been in the old days (sort of). Brian stared
at her for a sec, then, realizing she was still asleep, murmured quietly, "I
love you too, Star," as his eyes slowly closed and his body relaxed. *
AJ and Howie sat quietly sipping coffee in the waiting room, still at the hospital.
Kevin and Cora were fast asleep on the couch, looking cute all cuddled together
and arms wrapped around each other. They had cleaned up when they got to the
hospital, but though the blood was gone, the strain was still apparent on their
faces. Nick hadn't come out of Na's room since he went in and they weren't expecting
him to come out anytime soon.
"Howie, what are we gonna do about your birthday, man? I'm worried about
Kris, and Na, too. Krissy was tearing herself up inside about this whole thing.
Nick accusing her of the thing she feared most- going after her loved ones because
of her- didn't help, either," AJ whispered quietly, tossing away his empty
coffee cup.
"I talked to Mrs. Carter and she said she would take care of it. It's gonna
be held off until 'necessary problems have been taken care of.'"
"And about Kris- Why did you call her Krissy? How could you tell? She looked
incredibly calm, almost with an emotionless look frozen on her face," Howie
questioned, casting AJ a curious glance. He shrugged, his sunglasses hiding
his emotional eyes as he replied, "That's what I call her, and she calls
me Alex. It's weird, I can just feel what she's feeling, I just know. I can
read her like a book, and she can do that with me, too. She's just become a
very close friend." Howie looked hard at him for a second, then sighed
and let it go, watching the bright red horizon, a fiery, bloody red, as the
sun rose, burning through the dense fog. *
Kris woke to the feel of a soft hand caressing her cheek, a sweet voice murmuring
her name.
"Star, hon, it's time to get up. Your parent's plane comes in in two hours.
C'mon babe, wake up. I love you."
"I love you too, B-Rok," Kris mumbled, opening her eyes to two crystal
blue ones, not unlike her own. A welcome smile spread across his face as he
searched hers for any of the anger she'd displayed the night before.
"I'm sorry Rok, I was tired and strained, still am," Kris apologized,
pushing back a handful of shiny black hair, then pulling him in a close hug.
"I'm sorry too, babe," he replied, brushing her lips with his. *
A few hours later, Kris found herself in one place she had learned to love,
and hate, in her travels with the BsB. The airport. Brian saw her hands were
trembling as they waited outside the gate and squeezed one lightly.
"Kris, it's gonna be okay, I promise," Brian whispered, looking at
her over the rims of his sunglasses. Kris looked up and felt a jolt run through
her body as she stared at his mesmerizing blue eyes. There was just something
about the way guys looked over the edge of their sunglasses that drove her crazy,
in a good way. She was opening her mouth to reply but she was interrupted by,
"Flight 1369 will be unloading shortly, Gate 2A." Kris said nothing
as people started streaming from the gate, most of them looking relieved to
be off the crowded plane. Kris peered over the heads until she saw two tall,
smiling figures walking out of the door. She felt tears welling up as they looked
around, apparently searching, until the man's steel gray eyes stopped on her
and Brian. She held the man's gaze for a moment, a wave of emotions hitting
her as he mouthed, "Kristina?" She gasped, not seeing Brian's face
as she ran into the man's open arms, a huge smile on her own. Brian grinned
to himself and watched from where he was as her mother, who was slightly shorter
than her with the same straight, black hair, embraced her, tears running down
both of their cheeks. Suddenly, piercing blue eyes caught his, and though he
was too far away to hear, could tell she was asking Kris about him. *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~