One Moment (The Little Hollow Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Yeah, I did know he was coming. You needed clarity and he brought it to you. You may have a right to be upset right now but don’t take your anger out on me.” That was me told.

She took a deep breath before standing up and holding a hand out to me. “Let’s just go home and binge watch car crash TV, we can talk about this tomorrow.”

I thought back to her and Lewis dancing at the fundraiser. “No, I’ll go on my own. You go have a good time, I promise I’ll be alright.” I could do with some time alone anyway but I could see the reluctance in her face.

“Honestly, Kee, I just want to go have a hot shower and curl up in my bed, I’m not feeling all that sociable.” I gave her a quick smile when she told me to call her if I needed anything. Always so protective.

We headed in opposite directions and I started on the ten-minute walk back to the apartment.

I had goose bumps all the way back, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me. If it was Connor, he was in for a shock. I whizzed around as fast as I could but I couldn’t see anything apart from a few cars parked along the road. Just my mind playing tricks on me then I guessed.

Shaking it off, I let myself into the salon remembering to lock up behind me as Kee had her keys with her. It was pitch black in here and I felt the hairs stand up on my arms. I didn’t know why I was so on edge but I quickly made a dash for the stairs to the apartment and locked the door behind me on the way in, something I never did unless Kee was here with me, before walking towards the kitchen for a glass of water.

I was parched from all the crying and the dancing I’d done with Kee. I was starting to have a good time before Connor had turned up, although I was feeling a little like a third wheel.

Finishing the glass off in three big gulps, I walked to the bathroom and started stripping off to get under the red hot shower. That’s when the tears started to fall again. I hadn’t had time to process what Connor had told me until now, I slunk down the tiles and sat under the water as I let the emotions pour out of me.

He said he didn’t have a choice and I guess I saw that, I just couldn’t understand why he hadn’t contacted me at any point. I had nothing left here, I would’ve went with him, I could’ve started over. Then it hit me.

I was angry at him for not coming back for me but I was furious because he got to start over somewhere where no one knew him. I’d dreamt about being able to do that ever since the accident but I never had the courage to just leave.

But I would’ve left if I had someone to be with, somewhere to go. If only he had just let me know where he was.

I stayed in the shower until the water started to run cold, getting out I wrapped myself in a big fluffy towel and shuffled towards my room. I felt so dejected and unwanted. He wasn’t thinking about my happiness. He was only worried about himself and the backlash it would bring, good riddance to him.

Drying myself off and throwing on some of my comfiest pajamas, I pulled out my laptop and typed Connors name into the search engine. I tried to get in touch with him for the first few months, I thought something had happened to him but then I just got angry and gave up when I couldn’t find any trace of him and tried to convince myself that I didn’t care.

Since then, I hadn’t bothered. I guess I’d tried to lock him away in the back of my mind not wanting to drag up old memories but I was curious now.

I scrolled through the thousands of results that came up but I couldn’t see anything that related directly to him.
I wonder what he did?
I thought. It had to be something with his hands. I shivered as I remembered the roughness of his palm cupping my cheek.

‘Hartley’s Construction’

Well this looked promising. I clicked on the link and it brought up a website with a bunch of impressive reviews splayed across the homepage. Looking through the rest of the site, I stopped on the ‘about’ section where there was a big picture of Connor in all his finery, standing outside a newly built house.

I stared at the photo, he sure knew how to fill out a suit jacket.

He’d done really well for himself and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a little before remembering the situation we were in.

I was supposed to be upset with him but I was tired. Tired of being angry at everything. I closed my laptop down feeling emotionally drained and bundled myself under the covers. I wasn’t cold in the slightest but having something to wrap around myself made me feel safe. Kind of like a cocoon.

I heard the apartment door open and footsteps coming towards my room. “Knock, knock.” I felt tears prick my eyes again at Kee’s voice. A tightness spread upwards from my belly.

I suppressed another sob and felt the bed dip as she climbed in the other side. “Oh, sweetie.” Shuffling over to me, she motioned for me to lie on her chest.

“I’m exhausted, Kee, it’s been a long day and I’ve cried too much over this but I just can’t seem to stop.” She stroked my hair.

“Then cry a little more and get it all out of your system. Nothing can be changed now and as much as I want to sit here and bad mouth that son of a bitch, I actually don’t think I could. But if you need me to listen to you, you go ahead. It’s just, I really do think he had your best interests at heart, Sam. And I think he still does.”

I thought about that for a moment. “I don’t even have the energy to sit here and tell you how angry I am with him. I told him I wanted him to leave so that’s good enough.” I felt her chest rise and fall quickly with a sigh, she moved slightly and came back with a tissue for me.

“I thought so but is that what you really want?” I didn’t know what I wanted. “Or is that just what you thought you should say? You know he loves you, right?” My heart seized, he’d told me he used to before he left.

“Loved. Past tense.” Or had he said he’d always loved me meaning that he still did? “I don’t even want to talk about it. He’s gone back to his perfect life now. He probably has a girlfriend anyway.” I cringed at the thought and Kee looked at me with a sideways glance.

“You’re right, he’s gone now and there’s nothing you can do about it.” I arched my brow at her, well of course I didn’t want to do anything about it, I was the one that sent him away in the first place.

“I looked him up.”

A shocked look crossed her face. “You looked him up?” There was a burst of laughter and I half laughed, half sniffled with her.

“I did. I couldn’t find much at first but then his business website popped up after a while.” I thought back to the photo of him on there. “I can’t help but feel really bitter towards him. He’s done really well for himself, he got away from here and all the shit that came with it.”

Kee patted my hand. “What do you think you’ve done here?” She waved her arms about the place. “You’ve not done too bad for yourself.
We’ve
not done bad and despite everything you’ve been through, look how far you’ve come. I think you forget to give yourself credit, Sam. You staying here dealing with the aftermath on your own, now that’s something to shout about.” I guessed she was right, comparison was, after all, the thief of joy. “You’ve got to let yourself move on and embrace the next chapter in your life instead of holding onto grudges.”

If only it was that easy.

The silence in the apartment was broken by my cell ringing. I looked at my watch, great. It could only be one thing at this time of night. I picked up my phone and frowned at the withheld number on the screen.

“Who is it?” Kee asked, moving towards me.

“I don’t know, it’s a withheld number. What if it’s him?” I wasn’t sure I could talk to him again so soon.

“Just answer the phone!”

I rolled my eyes before sliding the green phone along and pressing it to my ear. “Hello?” There was a crackle before a woman cleared her throat on the other end.

“Hello, can I speak to a…Samantha Reynolds please?”

Oh no.

“Speaking.”

“My name’s Addison Tate and I’m a nurse here down at St. John’s. I’ve got you listed as an emergency contact for a Cindy Reynolds, is this correct?” My world stopped spinning, please god, no.

“Yes, that’s correct, I’m her daughter. What’s happened? Is she alright?” Kee squeezed my arm before walking to my drawers and pulling a tee and jeans out for me.

“She was brought in earlier this evening after being found unconscious. I’m sorry to have to say this over the phone but we’ve had to pump her stomach, she was in a bad way when she was brought in.”

“But she’s okay though?” My heart clenched waiting for her answer.

“She’s stable so please don’t worry, she’s in good hands.”

“I’m on my way,” and with that I hung up and started pulling on my clothes. Kee came in dressed in her own pair of jeans and ushered me out the door.

“I’ve only had one beer so I’ll drive, where are we headed?” I was in so much of daze that I had to pause on the stairs to gather my thoughts.

“Erm, St. John’s hospital. My mom was taken in earlier and had to have her stomach pumped.” Kee swore before locking up the salon and unlocking the car. “She was fine earlier, Kee, sober as a nun and all pumped up about this potential new job. I don’t understand.” I shook my head.

“That’s the thing, it never makes any sense.” She looked in a daze. I kept forgetting Kee had been through all of this too. But now, not only was she fighting with her own memories, she was dealing with my current situation too.

I felt physically sick. What if mom didn’t pull through this? She wasn’t much in the way of family but she was all I had. I put my head between my knees and blew out a long breath.

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes, hold tight.” I felt her hand on my shoulder, she gave it a quick squeeze before concentrating on driving again.

I couldn’t do this. How much more was life going to throw at me before I finally relented and let the negativity consume me?

Twenty minutes later, we parked and ran into the emergency room and up to the front desk. “Hi, my name is Samantha Reynolds and I’m looking for my mom Cindy Reynolds? She was brought in earlier.” The nurse pressed some keys on the computer before looking up at me.

“Room two-twelve; up this corridor then take your first right and it’s down there.” She smiled sympathetically at me and I managed to thank her before briskly walking off. We got to the room and the blinds were drawn so I couldn’t see inside.

My hand was stuck on the doorknob; I couldn’t open the door.

“It’s okay, Sam, just take a deep breath; you can do this. I’m right here with you.” I thought about it for a moment.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go in alone.”

She squeezed my arm. “Of course. I’ll be in that waiting room over there if you need me.”

I nodded before pushing down on the handle. The beeping of the machines assaulted my senses first, along with the sterile smell.

Walking into the room, I could now see my mom lying in the hospital bed with tubes coming out of her mouth and a bandage wrapped around her head.

She looked so fragile, nothing compared to the feisty woman she usually was. I sat down by her side and took her hand, she didn’t even flinch as I squeezed it.

“It’s alright, I’m here now. You’re going to wake up and we’re going to get you help and don’t even bother trying to tell me no. You’re going to rehab whether you like it or not.” I giggled nervously before my emotional barrier came down and the tears that had built up started to fall. “How could you do this to me? To yourself?”

I let go of her hand and wiped furiously at my eyes as someone cleared their throat behind me. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m the doctor on call tonight the nurse let me know you were here. Can we have a word outside please?” She asked, waving her left hand towards the door.

Was it necessary to go outside? She didn’t look like she was going to be waking up any time soon but I followed her out without any complaints.

“My name is Doctor Cromwell. Like I said, I’m the Doctor on call tonight and I was there when your mom got brought in. She was in a pretty serious state. Her oxygen levels were severely low and alcohol poisoning was definitely a factor. We were also worried about the contusion on the side of her head so she was sent for a CAT scan before she started vomiting. It was deemed necessary to drain her stomach of any remaining alcohol but her blood pressure and heart rate dropped and we had to revive her during this process. I know this is hard to hear but I want you to be fully aware of how serious a situation this was.” Staring, horrified, my hand flew to my mouth. “I made the call to put her in a medically induced coma to help her system recover. When the test results come back we should know more but until then we’re going to be vigilant with her care. I know this may seem like a lot of information to take in at the moment but I assure you, we’re doing everything we can to help her make a full recovery.”

She took my hand and squeezed it. Looking up at her she had gentle eyes, most doctors I’d seen weren’t like this they were always in a rush and had fatigue etched onto their faces from seeing so much pain every day. “You’re welcome to stay the night if you so wish, we have family rooms just across the hall and number three is free. I’ll tell one of the nurses to come wake you when we have her test results back.” I shook her hand and thanked her before heading towards Kee.