Thoughtful (Thoughtless, #1.5)(172)

As he studied me, his face changed again. “I am sorry, Kellan…for what I did to you. To her.”

Looking down, I shook my head. It wasn’t your fault…

He didn’t give me a chance to shift the blame though. Turning to face me, he said, “I want you to take care of her when I’m gone. And…if you hurt her…I’ll kill you. You know that, right?”

I laughed at the humor in his voice; it had been a while since I’d heard it. I considered telling him that I wasn’t going to date her…that I was breaking up with her too, but right at that moment, Kiera sat up straight on the bed and screamed, “No!” She immediately clutched her head and fell back to the pillows, gasping in pain.

Denny was closest to the bed. He stroked her face to calm her down, then twisted to me behind him. “Go get a nurse.”

She’s awake. Relief washed through me, and I didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll be right back.”

Spinning on my heel, I darted out the door. Spotting Kiera’s nurse, I sprinted over to her. “She’s awake! And she’s hurting. She needs you to do…something.”

Grabbing her arm, I tried pulling her to Kiera’s door, but she swatted me away. “Calm down. Let me finish up what I’m doing, then I’ll be right there.”

I inhaled a deep breath as excitement and anxiety coursed through me. She’s awake.

After the nurse was finished jotting down notes, she made her way to Kiera’s room. I waited in the open doorway while she stepped inside. “Good…she’s awake. Probably in a good dose of pain too.” Kiera tried to smile, but it was clearly forced. “My name is Susie and I’ll be taking good care of you today.”

She made Denny get off the bed, then added something to Kiera’s IV. Kiera looked a little nauseous when she noticed she was attached to one. After checking her vitals, Susie asked, “Do you need anything, sweetie?”

“Water…” she whispered.

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

When Susie turned to leave, Kiera’s eyes drifted over to me. Her lips parted and her breath picked up. The machine tracking her heartbeat even started beeping faster. It warmed me that I still affected her. It also broke my heart a little. She made her choice, now I need to let her go…

Denny had moved around to sit on the other side of the bed. He looked my way when he noticed Kiera staring. He raised his eyebrows at me, then shifted his gaze to the hallway. I understood his silent message. Could you give us some privacy? Because I’m about to break her heart. A part of me wondered if maybe he should wait until she’d been awake for longer than twenty minutes, but I suppose it didn’t matter.

I moved into the hallway and found a spot by the door to lean against the wall and wait. It was time.

Denny and Kiera were talking softly, but I could hear a phrase every now and again. “Yes…I’m angry.” “I wish you’d just told me…” “I should have talked to you…” “I never thought you’d hurt me…” “Where do we go from here?”

That last one had been Kiera’s voice. Knowing what Denny’s answer was going to be made me slump against the wall. I almost walked farther away so I couldn’t hear his answer, but my heart stubbornly wouldn’t let me leave. “We go nowhere.” “But I was leaving him. I love you…”

Kiera’s response to Denny’s decree stung, and I forced myself to step away. She was leaving me, she had chosen him.

As I walked down the hall, I contemplated Kiera’s options. Where would she go when she was released? Denny had moved out, so it would be the two of us alone in the house, and I already knew that wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t be able to stay away from her in that situation. And I needed to stay away. I was stopping the cycle we were stuck in, which meant…I had to ask her to leave. But where would she go? Kiera’s words spoken an eon ago echoed through my brain—I managed just fine without you. Yeah…she had, and she would again. She would be fine without me. Just fine.

When I returned to Kiera’s door, I heard the light sounds of two people crying. Respectfully, I stayed away until I finally heard Denny say, “I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow, okay?”

Denny came out of the room a few moments later. He stopped just on the other side of the doorway; his eyes were red and still a little watery. “You okay?” I asked him. Regardless of what Kiera had done to him, I knew what he’d just done hadn’t been easy.

“Yeah…I’m gonna take off. I’m really tired. That was…” He looked back at Kiera on her bed, then back to me, next to the wall. “…More difficult than I thought it would be.”

I stared at the ground for a moment, hating what I was about to do. “Yeah…”

Denny’s hand came into my field of vision. “Good luck, with everything…and again…I’m really sorry about what I did to you.”

I clasped his hand and shook it. “Not half as sorry as I am, for what I did to you.”

Denny gave me a brief smile, looked back at Kiera, then left. I watched him go for a moment, gathering my courage with each step he took, and then I made myself walk into Kiera’s room. I needed to do this now.

Kiera was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, looking like she was trying to keep it together. Even with the bruise on her face, she was so beautiful against the crisp white linens.