Ruthless People
Chapter II
Lucy was woken by her bedroom door creaking open, allowing the light from the hall to spill into the room. She rolled onto her back and moved over in bed, patiently waiting for her little brother to run in and jump in with her. It had become something of a regular occurrence over the past few nights with Kevin, who was obviously feeling insecure about the massive changes the family was facing. Aunt Caro had tried her best to soothe his fears, but Kevin was a smart little guy, he knew it was something bad when he was allowed two bowls of ice-cream after dinner.
“Lucy…”
Lucy sat up and looked over to where the little voice had came from, and found Kevin standing in the doorway, clutching his blue bunny with the chewed up ears to his chest. He didn’t normally ask if he could sleep in her bed, he just did it, and for the most part she let him away with it. Ever since the night of what she was calling “the explosion”, Kevin had been more clingy with her, never leaving Kate’s side when he had half a chance, and had started wetting the bed on an almost nightly basis; a phase he had grown out of quite some time ago.
“Lucy, I had a accident.”
Sighing, Lucy pushed back the covers and turned on the bedside lamp before getting out of bed; this was a familiar routine between them when they weren’t in their own house. It was almost as if he was too shy to go to anyone but Lucy or their mother, as if he was afraid he’d get into trouble. Kneeling in front of her little brother, Lucy wondered if he’d ever get over his shyness and night time problems, or if it would continue on for a while. But he was only four, there was still plenty of time for him to overcome it all.
“Let’s tell Aunt Caro and get you cleaned up, huh.”
“’Kay.”
He grasped her hand tightly in his and stuck one bunny ear in his mouth with the other. Kevin knew he was lucky to have a sister like this, who didn’t pick on or fight with him, and he loved her more for that.
When they stepped into Caro’s en suite, Lucy took a look at Kevin’s tear stained face - which surprised Lucy as she hadn’t heard him, despite their rooms being next to each other - and wished she had never told her mother what she’d seen. But if she hadn’t, it would’ve hurt them all more if they’d found out later.
“Lucy, is momma happy?”
The question caught Lucy off guard, and for a moment she didn’t know how to answer it. She could lie and tell him that yes, she was happy or she could tell him the truth; that she didn’t know if their mother was happy or if she ever would be again. She was saved from answering when Caro came through.
“She will be. Kids…I know this is hard for you, but it‘s hard on your mom too. She just needs a little time to readjust.”
Seeing how dejected the kids were looking, Caro decided then and there that the remainder of their time with her in LA should be fun, starting now. Lucy was looking almost guilty as she helped Kevin change, and Caro knew it was because she felt their move was due to of her.
“Lucy, it’s not your fault.”
“But it feels like it is. If I hadn’t skipped band practice, I never would’ve seen dad and then mom wouldn’t have asked me what was wrong me, which meant I wouldn’t have told her.”
“You don’t know that. What if your mom had finished her shift early instead and gone home? She would‘ve walked in on your dad. But none of this is your fault; you did the right thing and you told the truth. Even though it hurt your mom, a lot, it would’ve been worse if you’d lied and kept your dads secret.”
“Momma says lyin’s bad.”
Looking at Kevin, who had managed to put his pyjama top on inside out and backwards, Lucy managed a small smile. Leave it to her occasional pain of brother to make her smile.
“And she’s right. Okay, why don’t we get Kevin dressed again, and then we’ll get some hot chocolate before bed. Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah.”
***
It was one of those mornings Kate wished she never had to work. She had a house to finish packing, two confused kids to talk to and a sister who was out for blood. Not to mention an ex-husband who probably felt the same way as Gillian, but for a whole different reason. But going to work today was a necessity, as she had to finalise some paperwork, say goodbye to her colleagues and finally say goodbye to her patients.
The clock by the bed said it was a little after six, which left her enough time to have a proper breakfast for a change and get a few more items packed away so Gillian didn’t have all that plus two kids to look after. She pushed herself off the mattress and winced at the pain she felt in her arm, remembering the altercation with Dave the night before which had left a pretty horrific bruise on her wrist; not something she could easily hide with makeup. She felt tears in her eyes again at the thought of Dave ever doing that to her and tried to stop them falling before she became an emotional wreck again; it was already going to be a hell of a day and she didn’t need the thought of her suddenly violent husband playing on her mind.
“You going to work?”
Kate turned round to look at Gillian, who had been woken by her movement, and nodded. With the kids staying with Kris and Caro for a few more hours, Gillian would have some time to catch up on the sleep Kate had made her lose out on.
“You gonna be okay? Cause you know they’re gonna ask about your wrist.”
“It’ll be fine, and it‘s only for four hours. If they ask, I’ll tell them I got into a fight with Dave, but you kicked his ass the hell out.”
“Sure, make me out to be the violent one between us, Katie.”
Kate simply smiled and got out of bed to get ready for work. Gillian watched her from the comfort of bed and considered going back to sleep for a while, before changing her mind and getting out of bed to follow Kate into the walk-in closet; something she was jealous of her baby sister for having.
“You do realise, you’re going to have to get a whole new wardrobe, as well as downsize tremendously. Where do find the time to wear half this stuff?”
“Honestly? I haven’t worn most of this in years, but I’ve hung onto it, in case Lucy ever decides she likes my taste in clothing. I know it’s wishful thinking, but you never know. Unless, you want to…?”
“Thought you’d never ask! I‘ve been dying to get my hands on your clothes since you renovated.”
Gillian instantly began rooting through all the drawers at the back of the closet, which contained casual tops and jeans, her face lighting up at everything she seen. Kate, however, was more organised and had her selection made before Gillian moved onto the dresses that were hanging up.
“I’ll be in the shower if you need me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If Caro phones, remind her to take the kids to Vivi’s at twelve.”
“Sure.”
“And if my husband phones, tell him I’m having an affair with the gardener.”
“Shut up, Kate.”
Kate started laughing as she wandered off to the shower, leaving her sister to let out a relieved sigh now that she had accomplished in one morning what she’d set out to do in her time in LA.
***
Kate found that her last day at Cedars had flown by rather quickly. The few patients she’d seen had expressed their unhappiness of her departure, but wished her well all the same. In the time she’d been working there, Kate had formed strong connections to all her patients, so it was only natural they get upset she was leaving.
Standing at the nurses station filling out her last patient transfer order, Kate failed to notice one of her least favorite people walking up to her. Doctor Anthony Keegan was one of the few who came down on Kate’s case hard. Nothing she done ever seemed good enough to him, and he didn’t exactly consider her work as complex as brain surgery. In his eyes, for the past ten years at least, she was the little girl playing make-believe in the real world, but that’s only because Kate wouldn’t sleep with him.
Not after the first time, anyway.
Anthony James Keegan. Six foot, dark hair with green eyes and a doctor to boot, he was every woman’s dream. She knew he played women; not only played them, but played them off against each other just for fun. Once upon a time, she’d naively got caught in his web and it almost cost her her marriage. She was too young to know any better at the time, but thankfully it had only been a one time occurrence despite his attempts to get her again.
“I heard you’re leaving, Doctor Todd.”
“Happy news gets around fast. Yes, I transferred. It feels like the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, I’d say. Rumor has it…Dave was cheating on you.”
“Is that so? Well, you know what this hospital’s like. If I’m not mistaken, someone spread it around that we slept together.”
Kate put her final signature on the form and turned to face Anthony, whose eyes had widened at her bringing up the rumor he hadn’t known that she knew he’d started. Placing a hand on her hip, she watched him stumbling for an apology or a reason for why he done it in the first place.
“That was a mistake. You know that, Kate.”
“Us sleeping together, or you doing the kiss and tell routine?”
Anthony winced at Kate’s harsh tone and realised she hadn’t really forgiven him after all the time that had past since their one night together. He supposed it was only fair, since he hadn’t really been all that nice to her in the past few years. Maybe if he hadn’t opened his mouth about their little tryst, she might have been more of a friend to him than she had been, the way they had been in medical school.
“Kissing and telling was the mistake, CJ.”
Kate scoffed at Anthony’s use of his pet-name for her and walked away. He caught up to her and wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her into the first empty room he came to. It had been quite a while since they’d actually spoken, and now he was doing his best to make up for all those wasted years when they could’ve had a really good friendship.
“CJ, I’m serious. I shouldn’t have told anyone, and I’m sorry I did. Sorry that it hurt you, and that it nearly fucked up your marriage. Not that that matters now, I suppose.”
“Why are you calling me CJ? I haven’t heard that name in years.”
“Old habits die hard? Come on, we went through med school together, we goofed off and screwed up. Are you really sure you want to leave what you have here and travel all the way across America because one asshole doesn‘t see what he has in front of him?”
Kate sighed and lowered her head. Without any thought to it, she walked up to Anthony and wrapped her arms around him. He was right. They had been friends for years and one little slip up caused them to drift apart.
“Don’t try to convince me to stay. I’ve made up my mind; being here just reminds me of everything. I don’t want to subject my children to anymore unhappiness than what they’ve already got.”
“I wouldn’t dare try.”
Tucking her body closer to his, Anthony felt he was finally forgiven for all the sins he’d ever committed against the woman who was once his best friend.
“I’m gonna miss you, Caitlin Jackson.”
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