by J. A. Little
“I have every right,” I retort. “The second you put your hands on her, it became not only my right, but my responsibility to intervene. You’re lucky I don’t call the cops myself and have you arrested on the spot.”
“Yeah,” he laughs. “Go ahead. The word of a world-class surgeon against that of a bunch of lowlife punks? It’ll never hold.” He says it, but I can see the twitch in the corner of his eye that tells me he’s not so sure.
“Richard, just let them go,” my mother finally speaks up. He turns to face her. I’ve never seen such a hateful look on his face.
“Did you just tell me what to do?”
She shakes her head. “No. I just… Everyone needs time to calm down.”
“He knocked up our fucking daughter, Celia! And she let it happen,” he screams, jamming his finger at me. “You want me to calm the fuck down?”
My mother cowers at his fury.
“Is he hitting you, too?” I ask angrily. This is un-fucking-believable. Richard turns on me.
“You need to mind your own fucking business and get out of my house!”
“Mother!” For the first time in my adult life, I feel sorry for the woman, and I fear what will happen if I leave her here with this monster.
“Just go, Kayla,” she says icily. “You’re not welcome here anymore.”
Logan scoops Claire up in his arms. “Whatever. Let’s get the hell outta here. Do you need to get your stuff, baby?”
“Everything you have belongs to me,” Richard snaps. “You want to play this game? Have fun having nothing. Get out!”
I shake my head as I struggle to hold my ground. Fucking prick. What’s the worst that can happen if I hit him? I know I won’t be able to do much damage, but I can at least get a good punch in there, right? Maybe break his nose and fuck up that perfect face.
“Kayla,” Dean’s voice is in my ear, his hand on my hip. “Let’s go. He’s not worth it.”
Richard smirks. I turn away and begin to follow Dean out when I feel the grip of icy fingers on my upper arm. “You’re going to pay for this,” he threatens quietly. Meeting his gaze, I pry his fingers from my skin and push them back.
“Not before you do.”
Just as we’re heading out the door, Claire panics. “My backpack. I need my backpack. It’s in the closet.” I reach into the coat closet and grab her school bag along with a coat and a pair of shoes.
“Logan, I can walk. I feel stupid,” Claire complains once we’re in the elevator. He sets her down, but barely. His arm is still around her, holding her up.
“We’ll get you what you need, sweetie, okay?” I assure. “You don’t need anything from them. Trust me.”
“I don’t care,” she sighs. “I just want to get out of here and go back to your house.”
“We’re not going to my house.”
“Where are we going?” Logan asks.
“The hospital.”
Chapter 54
Kayla
Dean follows me to the hospital in Logan’s car. Claire is sobbing in the backseat. Logan’s holding her, trying to calm her down, but he’s not exactly the picture of ease himself. They were both fine until about five minutes into the drive, when Claire suddenly lost it, the realization of what just happened hitting her full force.
She’s still crying when I pull into the parking lot of the hospital. I don’t know what to do to help her. I’m not sure there’s anything I can do. I feel useless. I try to push Richard’s words out of my head as we meet up with Dean. He threads his fingers with mine and we follow Logan, who is carrying Claire again, inside through the emergency entrance.
It’s relatively quiet, so the admitting nurse puts us in a room immediately in order to give us some privacy. Dean comes in with us. He doesn’t say much, but he holds my hand and strokes my back. I feel bad he had to see that and be a part of it, but I’m so fucking thankful he was there. If he hadn’t been, I don’t know what would have happened.
“We have to report him, Kayla,” Dean whispers while the nurse is talking to Claire and taking her vitals.
“I know,” I respond. The door opens, and a tall woman with dark hair and glasses comes in.
“Hi, I’m Cindy. I’m a physician assistant on staff here,” she greets. “You’re Claire?” Claire nods. “And you are?” she asks, looking at me.
“Sister,” I confirm. “Kayla Brooks.”
“And you?” she asks looking at Logan.
“Logan,” he answers, meeting her inquisitive stare before looking back down at Claire.
“He’s my boyfriend,” Claire adds. Cindy looks at Dean.
“Uh, I’m a… I’m just gonna go wait out there.” He kisses the side of my head and leaves.
“Hmm. Okay. Claire, before we start, I need to ask you if it’s okay to discuss any and all medical information openly.”
“Yes. It’s okay,” Claire says quietly.
“Well, then let’s start out with the basics. What happened?”
I let Claire recall the incident. Logan chimes in with a few profanities, and I level him with a disapproving stare more than once. Cindy examines Claire’s face. Her cheek is slightly swollen and looks like it’s beginning to bruise, but there’s no serious damage.
“All right. Go ahead and lie back, honey. I’m going to check everything out for you.”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“It shouldn’t, no. If something hurts, you tell me right away, okay?”
Claire nods and lies down. Cindy lifts her shirt to her rib cage and pulls her yoga pants down to just above her pubic bone. Claire blushes. I’m not sure she’s ever been to the gynecologist before. Cindy examines Claire’s abdomen. She winces a few times, but reports that it’s more tender than painful.
“Do you know how far along you are?” Cindy asks, reaching into a drawer.
“No.”
“When was the first day of your last period?”
“I don’t know. In March, I think.” Cindy glances up at me, and I shrug. I’ve honestly never really talked about this kind of stuff with my sister, and I certainly don’t know her cycle schedule.
“Okay, this might be a little cold.” She squirts some blue gel onto Claire’s lower abdomen and presses a Doppler against her skin. Claire inhales deeply. “Does that hurt?”
“No, it’s cold,” Claire hisses. Cindy smiles and moves the Doppler wand around. I wait. I’m not sure what we’re listening for, but all I hear is static.
“What’s it supposed to be doing?” Logan asks, looking worried.
“I’m listening for the heartbeat,” Cindy whispers.
“The what?”
Cindy holds up her finger, frowning.
“What’s wrong?” Claire asks.
“Just relax, hon,” she says, lifting the Doppler and wiping the gel off of Claire’s belly. “The baby might be too small to hear. It’s not uncommon, so don’t worry. I’d like to do a trans-vaginal ultrasound. That will give us a good indication of how far along you are and make sure the baby is doing okay.”
“A trans-what?” Logan asks, wrinkling his nose. I laugh unintentionally. Cindy pulls out a long wand with a rounded tip.
“This is called a transducer,” she says, rolling a condom over it. “I’m going to insert this into Claire’s vagina, and it will send out sound waves that reflect back off of the different bodily structures, including the fetus. We’ll be able to see what it’s seeing on this monitor.” She pulls up a small television screen and turns it on. Logan looks horrified.
“We’re gonna see inside her?”
“Yep.” Cindy looks over at me, and I press my lips together, trying not to smile. “Here,” she says, pulling a gown out of a drawer. “I need you to completely undress from the waist down and put this on. I’ll be back in just a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay,” Claire says quietly, reaching for the gown. Once Cindy has left, I turn to Logan.
“Out.”
“No way!”
“You can come back in when she’s changed.”
“It’s not like I haven’t seen her naked before.”
I scowl at him.
“Logan,” Claire sighs. “Please?”
“Fine,” he huffs, leaving the room.
“I need to ask you a question,” I say seriously once he’s left. “How long has this shit been going on with your dad?”
Claire keeps undressing without looking at me. “What shit?”
“Don’t, Claire. Just don’t. Please? I’ve had enough of the lies and the half-truths. I knew something was going on. I should’ve asked a long time ago.” I get a lump in my throat as I try not to cry. She doesn’t need me to cry right now. She needs me to be her big sister. It’s time I started protecting her.
“He’s never hit me before.” She sniffs. “Just pushes and shoves. He’s grabbed me before—really hard. He left bruises.”
“Jesus, Claire,” I gasp. “When did this start happening? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It started last year, I guess. I didn’t want you to know.”
I hate the thoughts in my head. Maybe I’ve been in my job too long, but I’m done avoiding the tough questions. I need to know.
“Has he ever done anything else? Touched you?”
She shakes her head furiously. “No. Never. He…” She screws up her face. “Gross.”
“Good.” I breathe out in relief. “What about Mom? Has he hit her?”
She nods. “He started a few years ago. It’s been getting worse. They fight a lot. I think he got in trouble at work for something. They fight over money. And there’s a nurse…”
“He’s cheating on her?”
“I don’t know. She thinks he is, but he says he’s not. He says she’s being pathetic and clingy.” Claire pulls on the gown over her bra and slips off her panties before sitting back down. There’s a knock on the door.
“Are you done yet?” Logan asks, sticking his head through. I wave him in. Behind him is Cindy.
“Scoot on down here, Claire. I need your bottom at the edge of the table. Put your feet up here.” Claire does as she’s told. I can tell she’s embarrassed. I brush her hair away from her forehead and try to smile comfortingly. Logan tries to peek between her legs. I slap his arm.
“Really?” I growl.
“Okay. Here we go.”
The screen lights up, and I have no idea what I’m looking at. My sister’s uterus, I guess.
“There you are,” Cindy says, smiling. “You see that?” she points at the screen. Logan and I lean forward trying to get a better look. “That little fluttering. Do you see it?” We all nod. “That’s your baby. Nice, strong heartbeat. Let me get a few measurements, and we’ll see how far along you are.”
While Cindy begins tapping at her screen, I look at Logan. His eyes are stuck to the screen. His mouth is open, but he’s smiling. He reaches for Claire’s hand.
“All right. Your baby is measuring eight weeks, three days.” Logan looks surprised.
“Dude, so she got pregnant, like, the first time? We used…” He stops and looks at me sheepishly.
“She conceived about six weeks ago,” Cindy explains. “The baby is measured from the first day of her last period. And condoms are not 100 percent effective. They break, they leak, and if you don’t use them right, they can fail.”
“I know how to use a condom,” Logan snorts. We all leave that comment alone, but I think he realizes how dumb he sounds making that claim while we’re staring at the ultrasound of the baby he created.
“Relax, hon. I’m going to remove the wand. The baby looks good. You need to get set up with an OB-GYN. I can give you some recommendations if you need them. If you have any bleeding or cramping that lasts more than a couple of hours, you need to get in to see a doctor right away.” Claire listens and nods, but she looks overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed, too. “You can go ahead and get dressed, but don’t leave just yet. Is it okay for me to talk to your sister out in the hall?”
“Yes, it’s okay,” Claire assures.
“I’ll be back.” I smile at her and follow Cindy out of the room, ushering Logan out as well. “Go sit with Dean,” I order.
“Why can’t I listen?”
“Because I said so. Just go sit down.” I can’t believe I just used those words. I used to hate it when my parents said that to me as a child. And yet they slipped out so easily.
At the nurse’s station, Cindy is writing something down. She looks up from her chart as I approach.
“I’m going to send the social worker down, Kayla. We have no choice but to report the incident.”
“I know. It saves me from having to do it.”
“She’ll probably need to talk to all of you.”
“I figured. I work for DHS in foster care.”
“Oh! Well, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this in your own family.”
I don’t respond. I just offer her a half smile and turn to go sit down.
“You and I are going to have a serious discussion about consequences,” I say to Logan as I collapse into a chair next to Dean.
“I get it, Kayla. Shit.”
“You have no idea how your poor choices have affected everyone else. This is not just about you and Claire. I was worried about losing my job, Logan.”
“Did you?” He narrows his eyes.
“No. But a couple of things have to change. One being that you’ll have to leave care now instead of being able to take your time and go when you’re ready.”
“What’s the other thing?” he asks suspiciously. I look at Dean. He shakes his head ever so slightly. He’s right. Logan doesn’t deserve to find out before Matty does.
“Kinda sucks not knowing what’s going on, doesn’t it?” I say. Logan’s jaw drops in disbelief. “We’ll talk about it later.” I’m still mad at him, but I can’t quite get the image of him cradling Claire in his arms as she sobbed out of my head. I’ve got to give the kid some credit. Yes, he fucked up—they fucked up—but at least he’s here. He’s got to be terrified.
The hospital social worker, Jennifer, talks to Claire first, then to me, Logan, and Dean. She takes our report and calls CPS. They’re going to open the case tonight and talk to us tomorrow. After Claire’s initial blood tests results are back, I’m allowed to take her home. She’s anemic, but otherwise healthy. I’m supposed to keep her home from school for the rest of the week.
I finally call Andy to let him know what happened. It’s late, but he’s still awake—waiting for us.
“I’ll be home soon,” I assure.
“Okay. Be careful, buttercup.”
“I will.”
“I’m going to take Logan home,” Dean tells me when we’re ready to go. “I need to brief Aiden on what’s happening. I told my dad I’d call him, too. He knows a lot of powerful people. Just in case Richard, um, I don’t know. Just in case.”
I know he has to focus on Logan and Wyatt House and I need to focus on Claire, but I can’t hide my disappointment that he’s leaving me.
“I’d come back, but it might be late. I don’t want to wake you up.”
“Then don’t.” Dean tilts his head, looking at me questioningly. I reach into my purse and grab my keys. If I think about this too much, I’ll chicken out. He’s already practically living in our house, so it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? I know Andy won’t care. He’s admitted that he thinks Dean is good for me. Pulling my house key off the ring, I place it in his hand and close his palm. “Come back,” I whisper.
He opens his hand again, looking at what I’ve given him. I shove my thumbnail into my mouth nervously. After a brief second, a cheeky grin appears on his face and he looks back up at me. He pulls my hand away from my mouth, and leaning in, brushes his lips against mine softly.
“Always.”
Chapter 55
Dean
I kiss Kayla softly a few more times, sucking on her bottom lip before finally pulling away.
“Ahhhh,” I groan.
“I gotta go.”
“I know,” she sighs, looking up at the clock on the wall. “Me, too.”
Shoving the key into my pocket, I’m amazed it doesn’t feel heavier. I’m being stupid—it’s a key, it’s not like they weigh a lot—but the implications of Kayla giving it to me are massive. I told her I wanted more, and I do. This is more. This is good. My heart’s beating a little faster, a little harder, but not in that painful sort of way it does when I get the urge to run. I don’t want to run.
We walk toward the exit, where Logan has his body wrapped around Claire protectively, her face buried in his chest. To anyone else, they look like the average teenage couple. To me, they look like kids who haven’t quite realized that their lives are about to become ten times more difficult.
“You ready?” I ask.
They both look up at me, unhappy expressions on their faces. “I have to go to the bathroom,” Claire says in a soft voice. Logan reluctantly lets go of her.
“I’ll go with you,” Kayla tells her. After they make their way down the hallway, Logan turns to me.
“I want to stay with Claire.”
“Yeah, that’s not an option.”
“Oh, come on, man. I’m gonna be eighteen in, like, two-and-a-half days. She needs me.”
“You may be almost eighteen, but, last time I checked, Claire is barely seventeen. What she needs is to go home with her sister. Right now, Kayla is the only person who can really understand what she’s going through with her parents. Besides, you have school tomorrow.”
“Fuck school!” he snaps. “I got more important things to think about.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “You are less than two weeks away from graduation, Logan. You’re going. You want to prove to Kayla that you can take care of her little sister? Stop being a mouthy punk, and start making smarter decisions.”
Logan doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s agitated. He shifts and fidgets. He knows I’m right and he hates it. The girls return, both looking exhausted, and the four of us head outside.
“Are you sure you want me to come tonight?” I ask quietly, pressing my mouth against the side of Kayla’s head.
