Not Scared Anymore

Chapter 35 - Kevin

Kevin was sitting at his desk in the middle of the afternoon, staring at a mess of code, when his phone rang; Denise's name flashed on screen. It had been three full days of radio silence from Stephanie. He figured she was sending Denise to do her dirty work. With a sigh of trepidation, he answered.

"Are you busy right now? Can you talk?" she started without a greeting, and her voice was strained.

Kevin got up and closed the office door.

"I have some bad news." Kevin's heart sank at those words.

"She's done with me, isn't she?"

There was an awkward pause, and Denise's voice was soft when she spoke. "Kevin, Stephanie was in a car accident last night. I just got off the phone with her Mom. Apparently, she's going to be fine, but she's still in the hospital, and they are running a bunch of tests."

Kevin's world crashed around him, and he heard the blood rushing in his ears. He gripped his chair so tight his knuckles were white.

"Oh my god. How bad was it?"

He could hear the waver in her voice when she answered. "I don't know. I just found out. I'm going today to see her. All her Mom said was that she would be okay."

Kevin was silent for a minute. "Is she... What... I mean, Can I..."

"I can pick you up on my way."

"But, is she going to want me there?"

Denise paused before answering. "Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that she considered you to be her friend a lot longer than you were ever more-than-friends. And I think she would want to see her friends."

"I don't want to make things worse if she doesn't want me there."

"But what if she does?"

"If she kicks me out then I guess I'll have my answer."

"I'll pick you up at 5."

*

When they got to the hospital, they met Stephanie's Mom and Mark in the waiting room. Denise immediately met her Mom with a hug, and introduced Kevin. His reception was less than warm.

"So, you're Kevin, are you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Did you come here trying to ease your guilt?"

Denise interjected, "His what, Carrie?"

"It's his fault she's here!"

Even Mark looked alarmed, but Denise didn't hold back, "Carrie, be reasonable, it's not his fault. How could this be his fault? Now will one of you two," waving between Mark and Carrie, "please tell me literally anything about Stephanie."

Carrie was staring daggers at Kevin, so Mark answered.

"She's conscious. They are doing some tests now. They'll come get us when she's back in her room."

"Okay. So now we wait?" Denise started taking off her coat.

"Now we wait." Mark replied, and sank back down in his chair, looking weary.

*

After half an hour of waiting while feeling Carrie's eyes burning into the back of his head, Kevin was irritated. Mark was constantly taking phone calls, Denise was too stressed to be much of a conversationalist, and Kevin was ready to scream. Or run. When a doctor came out into the waiting room, Denise nearly leapt out of her skin.

"Mrs. Halder?" The doctor said.

"Yes?" Carrie clutched the collar of her sweater.

"All the tests came back clear. There's no internal bleeding, but she does have some broken ribs and broken arm. We don't know how bad the concussion will be yet. You can go in and see her now."

Carrie followed the doctor back while Denise and Kevin stayed in the waiting room. Mark came back in the waiting room.

"Was that the doctor?"

"Yeah. Carrie went in to see her. Broken arm, broken ribs, and a concussion. But all the tests came back clear."

"Oh, thank God."

He pulled out his phone and left the room again. Kevin wanted to take the phone and smash it. He couldn't understand why Mark was there at all, and it made him nervous.

Kevin leaned over to whisper to Denise, "Do you know what the deal is between them right now?"

"Not even a little bit. Last I heard, Stephanie turned him down, and you had disappeared."

Kevin looked down at his shoes, and noticed a bit of green tape stuck to the toe. He wondered where he picked that up.

Denise continued with a shaky voice, "she went to her Mom's house for a few days to think. I talked to her on Monday, but other than that it was just texts saying she was fine. She texted me last night and said she was coming home today. I told her to let me know when she got back but I never heard from her."

Carrie appeared back in the waiting room.

"Where's Mark?"

Kevin answered without looking at her, "Phone." He jammed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction Mark had gone with his phone.

"Oh, that boy. Well, come on Denise." She turned on her heel and headed back through the door.

Denise stood and gently squeezed Kevin's shoulder before following.

Kevin pulled out his phone to clear up some work emails. Jared was freaking out about another investor, but Kevin couldn't summon enough energy to care, and ignored them all.

Denise came charging out into the waiting room looking for Mark. Kevin caught her stormy expression, and was scared of asking his next question.

"Should I go, or...?"

Her response was even louder than he thought possible. "Kevin, you stay right where you are or I am going to kill you after I kill Mark. Can't leave his goddamn phone alone for five goddamn minutes." She stalked off down the hall, and emerged a minute later hauling Mark beside her by his sleeve.

She returned to the waiting room quickly and flopped down beside Kevin.

"So?"

Denise swore under her breath. "She looks terrible. God, seeing her like that hurts. Carrie's the one who called Mark back to be here. He was heading back to Vancouver but he cancelled his flight at her urging. I do not understand what's happening. I assume that's being dealt with right now."

"So, Stephanie knows I'm here?"

"Of course. She seemed okay about it."

"Well, that's a start."

They lapsed into companionable silence until Mark came back to the waiting room, chased by Carrie who scrambled to keep her purse from falling off her shoulder. Mark looked like he was the one who had been hit by a car, Carrie looked flustered and was pleading with Mark.

"She doesn't know what she's saying. She's concussed. Just stay a few more days, and if you're here, she'll see. She'll remember!" Mark stopped and turned to look at Carrie.

"Carrie, I'm sorry. I just can't. She said she doesn't want me here and I am going to respect her wishes. I have to get back to work." He bent and kissed her on the cheek. "She can call me if she changes her mind. Good bye, Carrie." He turned towards the exit and nodded at Denise and Kevin on his way out.

They were both wide eyed and looked back at Carrie. Locks of her blonde hair had escaped from her bun, and hung limply around her face. She was clutching her collar again. Kevin couldn't imagine what she was going through.

Finally, she turned towards Kevin, her voice vitriolic. "She wants to talk to you now. She's in 112."

He stood up on shaky legs and headed down the hallway everyone else had walked except him.