Restored (20 page)

“Not good. I mean, Corrine is fine, and they’re tapering her sedation meds as we speak,” Caleb said. He raked his fingers through his hair, unsure of what to do with his hands. His fingers still shook from all of the caffeine he’d drank over the past few days.

“Well, that’s good,” Walter said in a slow drawl. “What about Alexis? Where is she off to?” Walter asked, oblivious to the intimacy Caleb shared with her.

Caleb’s heart sped up at the mention of Lexi’s name. He couldn’t get his words out. “What do you mean? Did she go somewhere?” Panic laced his voice. A prickle of sweat formed on his forehead and his palms.

“Well, yes. She left today,” Walter said, clearly confused.

“Left?” Caleb asked, impatient for an answer.

“She resigned, Caleb. I thought she would have told you. She said she was going to pursue some other opportunities and that she only wanted you and Corrine to be happy.”

“What? I don’t understand. Where did she go?” Caleb’s voice grew louder. His emotions spun out of control. He opened and closed his fists.

“She didn’t say, just that she was going. No two weeks’ notice. That was it.” Walter’s voice grew harder.

“I’m not with Corrine. If for some reason you see her or talk to her, tell Lexi that,” Caleb said before he left the office. He jogged to his SUV. The door of the clinic slammed behind him. He had to find her. Things couldn’t be like this. His life had become a nightmare.

Caleb drove to Ashley’s house and saw Lexi’s SUV parked in the driveway. Caleb took the steps on the porch two at a time, but he slowed when Mike stepped out of the front door.

“Get out of my way, Mike!” Caleb yelled.

Mike put his arm out to slow Caleb. “Stop, Caleb! You don’t need to run in there like a crazy man,” Mike said as he gripped Caleb’s upper arm.

“She can’t leave, Mike. She just can’t…” Caleb pleaded. He blamed himself for all that had happened. How had it escalated to Lexi leaving? This wasn’t a part of the plan, not on any level.

“Listen to me first.” Mike shut the door behind him and went to sit on the porch steps.

Caleb gave in and sat down beside Mike. “So what is she saying?”

Mike inhaled and slowly breathed out. His shaggy brown hair hung in his eyes. “She doesn’t want to be a third wheel, Caleb. She thinks that if she’s out of the picture, then you might have a chance with Corrine,” Mike said in a controlled tone. “Ashley is a mess too, and I don’t know how to fix this.”

Caleb moved like he was about to get up.

Mike stifled his movements by putting his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “She’s strong willed, Caleb. I don’t think you’ll be able to stop her plans by demanding that she stay.”

“You know Corrine…I don’t love her,” Caleb said adamantly.

“I know that, but Lexi thinks she knows what’s best for everyone. She told Ashley that if you hadn’t met her, then you would still be with Corrine. You know she’s right,” Mike said in a soothing tone.

“I don’t know. Maybe, but that doesn’t prove anything. I’ve never felt the way I do about Lexi for anyone else before,” Caleb confessed.

“Then why did you shut her out when this all happened? Maybe you were grieving something?” Mike asked as his hand finally dropped away from Caleb’s shoulder.

“I don’t think it was that at all. I didn’t want Lexi mixing with all of this mess. God knows she doesn’t deserve to be put through this. I knew that the baby would wreck her.” Caleb looked out toward the road. Darkness surrounded them, but it was broken up by the porch light and a few street lights that edged the street. “Lexi has only been with me. It destroyed me when I had to look in her eyes and tell her that Corrine was pregnant. It all felt like I betrayed her in some way.” Caleb’s eyes were damp, but no tears fell.

“I’m sorry. It’s messed up,” Mike said.

“I don’t think the baby is mine. I had blood work drawn today for a paternity test to prove that,” Caleb said.

Mike’s voice grew raspy. “When will you find out for sure?”

“In two days…” Caleb said.

“Who do you think fathered the child then?” Mike asked. “There wasn’t much time between you two and her getting pregnant, you know—”

“I don’t know who else she’s been with. You know Corrine though. She can be a flirt when she wants to be. At least that’s how she was when we first started dating… I don’t know how she got pregnant. She was always very cautious when we were together.”

“I guess only time will tell,” Mike said.

“I don’t have time. Lexi’s going to leave, and then what? I can’t lose her, Mike. She’s everything…”

“Well, when will Corrine come out of sedation? Maybe she’ll be able to shed some light on the paternity,” Mike said.

“Oh shit! They were decreasing her meds this evening. She should wakeup sometime tonight!” Caleb wanted to stay and talk to Lexi, but talking wouldn’t solve the divide between them. Instead, he’d go back to the hospital, where he might actually get an answer to his problems. “I’ve got to go. Whatever you do, don’t let Lexi leave!”

“I’ll do my best,” Mike said as Caleb headed back toward his SUV.

At the hospital, more disappointment awaited. Corrine was awake, but not yet lucid. She slurred when she spoke, and then slept more. It would likely take a few more hours until the sedation fully cleared her system. Caleb waited, but when visiting hours ended, he was asked to leave for the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Wylie remained, since they were family. He would have no choice other than to return tomorrow, and then he would hopefully be free.

10

Savior

L
exi rolled over in bed and tried to find her way back to sleep. She looked at the clock, surprised to see that it was 2:30 in the morning. She’d actually slept for an hour. Mike and Ashley had persuaded her to stay at least a couple more nights, but she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. She could have been persuaded to stay forever, but knew better. She would still have to pack and figure out just where she was going next. Her plans for leaving were final, but her destination was still unclear. Maybe she’d go back to Tampa? Leaving her steady job at Hale Health had been a rash decision, but what other alternative was there? Mike might have been somewhat convincing about Caleb not being the father of Corrine’s baby, but what if that was just a tactic to get her to stay longer? Maybe Mike had said that to make her give Caleb another chance. After all, he wasn’t a fan of Corrine’s. It would hurt that much more when she found out that Caleb really was the father…

Lexi tried to clear her mind of all the chatter, but it was ruthless. There seemed to be no point in anything. Her father died, and she could barely remember him. She was raised by a mother who loved her but was too consumed with grieving her husband. Then her mom died too, which left her as alone as she’d ever been, as Justin had deserted her. Then she moved to Maine to live with her cousin, which was a reprieve. There was no denying how wonderful it was to live with Ashley. And Caleb fell in love with her, and that too was snatched away. As she played out this story in her head, somehow she finally relaxed enough to fall back asleep.

At five in the morning, Lexi jerked upright, as if she’d been shaken awake. Pain radiated throughout her head and was unlike any headache she’d ever felt. Her breathing was labored, and she intentionally took slow and deep inhalations. As she surfaced from sleep, a still frame of Caleb entered her mind. Something about that image seemed wrong. Was he was in trouble? This wasn’t a panic attack, though she’d had a couple of those after her mother passed. The images and pain she felt couldn’t have been caused by the stress she’d endured—the images of Caleb were too real.

She recalled a similar image she’d envisioned of her mother, but in that image her mother’s body looked vacant. There weren’t any sensory symptoms during that incident either, but her mother had already died at the time of that vision. Shortly after that image of her mother had appeared in her mind’s eye, the phone rang, and she was then notified of her mom’s death.

Ignoring the feeling wasn’t a possibility, so she rushed to ready herself. Her pajamas clung to her body, and she peeled them off. She threw her dampened clothes onto the bedroom floor and quickly put on a long-sleeved T-shirt and yoga leggings. She darted out the door as if she were running a race. She didn’t stop to wake Ashley or Mike, who’d stayed over. She hoped her panic was a product of her own imagination and delusional nightmares. She jumped into her SUV and drove in the direction of Caleb’s house.

Caleb’s home looked as it always did, but her anxiety didn’t lessen. She hurried to get to the house. She jiggled the door handle, but it didn’t budge. There was a light on inside, but the curtains obstructed her view. She banged on the door with the palm of her hand as loudly as she could. If Caleb was awake, then he would hear the banging. After about thirty seconds of knocking, she stopped to listen for any sign that he might be coming. She called his name and hoped he would open the door. Her actions seemed distant, as if she were disembodied, as if the chaos couldn’t touch her. She had to get inside of the house.

She looked around and ran toward the flower beds. There was a rock wall that retained the shrubbery and mulch. The rocks were smooth but irregular shaped and were stacked in a way that made them look as if they were part of the natural formation. She grabbed one of the cold rocks that resembled a brick. She chose to break the window that was accessible from the porch. She stood back and aimed the rock to hit just under the window’s locking mechanism. She flung the rock, and clangs of shattering glass rang in her ears. She carefully peered through the opening. The rock had traveled through the window and curtains and rested on the hardwood floor, along with several shards of glass. A crooning noise came from inside, and she realized it was Benjamin, meowing erratically. The hole in the window was big enough but still jagged. If she reached into the hole, then she would most likely cut herself. It was just too tight. She ran off the porch to grab another rock. The glass resembled spiky icicles, which she cracked off in a hammering motion. She knocked away enough spikes to allow her hand to reach inside and open the latch. As Lexi pushed the window frame open, splinters of glass dug into her hands. She forced open the curtains and climbed inside. Her shoes crunched on the glass that littered the floor. Once fully inside, a flash of brown ran upstairs. She’d startled Benjamin.

Lexi involuntarily stepped backward when she saw Caleb at the base of the stairs. He was motionless on the floor, with his head facing away from her. Cool air blew in through the open window, which sent chills up her spine. She rushed to his side and fell onto her knees. Nothing mattered other than him being okay. A jolt of pain surged throughout her legs as her knees hit the floor, but she ignored the pain. He was breathing, but she still placed her hand on his chest to feel his inhalations, and she breathed a little easier as his chest moved up and down. She tried to rouse Caleb, but he didn’t respond. She grabbed the house phone and frantically dialed 911. The dispatcher was able to trace Caleb’s address, which was good, as Lexi’s words came out panicked and made little sense.

The ambulance arrived within ten minutes of the 911 call. Lexi rode in the ambulance to the hospital, but was asked to sit in the front passenger seat so she’d be out of the paramedics’ way as they stabilized Caleb.

Once at the hospital, Caleb was taken into the emergency department. Lexi was escorted to another area in the ER. She was prompted to sit down on a patient stretcher in the emergency department, as if she was a patient herself. Blood trickled down her hands, and for the first time she had no recollection of pain or even the urge to faint. Mentally she was unattached to her own senses. Without Caleb, nothing mattered…

A young medical student came in and explained that he would remove the small shards of glass that had been embedded in her palms. Nothing seemed to faze her, not the tweezers pulling on the glass pieces and not even the pain itself. Once the small splinters of glass were all removed and her hands were wrapped in gauze, she asked to see Caleb.

She was given the runaround when she tried to locate him. Finally an EMT who had been on the scene at Caleb’s house spoke to a lady in the nurses’ station, and Lexi was finally taken to Caleb. Her knees were unsteady when she saw him laid out on the hospital bed. His unconscious body looked weak and pale. He was the one who’d taken control—who knew how to react in emergency situations. Now, he was helpless. Lexi sank into the chair at his side and dialed Ashley’s number from the hospital phone. Mike answered, and she told him where she was and all that had transpired. Lexi held on to Caleb’s exposed arm with her own injured hands and laid her cheek against him. She sobbed as she waited for Caleb to wake up, as all the recent events flooded her overwhelmed mind.

Lexi woke up to light stroking of her hair. She couldn’t recall where she was, and relished the soft touches, until her memories came flowing back. As she opened her swollen eyes, she could see that Caleb was awake and they weren’t alone. Mike and Ashley stood at the end of the bed, and on the other side of the bed stood a man and woman, both of whom were smartly dressed—most likely Caleb and Mike’s parents. Mrs. Avery was fixated on Caleb, as if scanning him for any lasting defects. Her eyes were the same signature chocolate brown as Caleb’s and Mike’s.