Somewhere Between Water and Sky (Shattered Things #2) (41 page)

He blinks and she places her finger on her bottom lip.

“
Yeah that didn
’
t sound the way I thought it would in my head.
”

He smiles and pushes the wheelchair over to her bed.

“
Come on, Gidget. Let
’
s go for a ride.
”
He finds my eyes and motions with his head to the door as he lifts her off the bed. She only grimaces slightly as he gingerly places her on the chair. I walk over and open the door so they can roll past me with ease.

“
Where are we going?
”
Jessa asks.

“
Well, my dear. We
’
re going to go check on Kevin the Misguided Hero. It seems his family doesn
’
t want any visitors with names that rhyme with Epiphany, but we
’
re taking matters into our own hands, as we do.
”

She nods with finality and reaches for my hand. I let her grab it and walk beside her chair as we weave in and out of families waiting outside of rooms and nurses dodging us as soon as they see Jessa.

“
Do we know why Kevin
’
s parents don
’
t want an epiphany that looks like Stephanie?
”

I laugh and study the linoleum.
“
It
’
s a long story.
”

“
Well,
”
Jessa says, waving her other free hand.
“
It
’
s a good thing we have the time and the most boring hospital staff around, now isn
’
t it?
”
She winks at me.
“
I want the full story when we get back to my room.
”

I
’
m about to tell her of course, because at this point I can
’
t imagine ever going without telling Jessa anything, when Ren stops the wheelchair. I look at him over Jessa and he motions to the room next to us.

“
Room 502. That
’
s you.
”
And he smiles at me before pushing Jessa further down the hall, much to her dismay.

“
Renfro, roll me back this instant, I want to see the epiphany!
”

“
Relax. We
’
ll come back. I figured they would want some privacy.
”

“
You
want privacy,
”
she shoots back, and Ren throws his head back and laughs.

“
You got me, Jess. It
’
s true. I want us to find some privacy with those broken ribs of yours.
”
He pauses the rolling long enough to get the attention of a nurse walking down the hall. Obviously she doesn
’
t know about Jessa because she stops.

“
Excuse me, do you know of an empty room where we can get some privacy?
”
Ren winks at the nurse and she frowns and shakes her head and keeps on walking, passing me by and muttering about the
stupid youths overtaking the hospital with their stupid decisions.

Ren catches my eye and I wave and he motions me closer to the door. I find a spot on the wall opposite the door and lean against it and try to remember how to breathe. I stare at the numbers until they start to swim in my vision and I shake my head.

What am I even going to say?

Hey Kev, remember that time you took a bullet for me? Well
…
funny story
…
I realized I love you but also I kind of hate you because why the fuck did you not let me kill my own father?

Lame.

My head falls into my hands and I sigh.

I have no idea how the hell I
’
m going to find the courage to walk through that door.

.::.

Ultimately, it
’
s my need to eavesdrop that gets one foot in front of the other.

Just as I am about to lose my shit because I can
’
t just do the thing and open Kevin
’
s door, I hear Jude
’
s voice coming from his hospital room. I look around.

I know I shouldn
’
t listen.

My feet propel me forward and I lean my ear against the wood paneling.

Should
and
do
are two very different words in the English language.

Jude
’
s voice breaks the silence again and I hold my breath.

“
Welcome back, tiger.
”

Kevin mumbles something unintelligible and Jude chuckles.

“
Yeah it
’
s good to see you too, kid.
”
He pauses and I can almost see him studying his hands.
“
So now that you
’
re awake
…
do you know how badly I want to punch you right now?
”

Kevin coughs.

“
W-what?
”
His voice is soft and strained. I wrinkle my nose.

“
You were supposed to stay in the van.
”

“
I heard shots.
”

“
Kevin. It
’
s a raid. There was going to be shots. Someone was going to get hit
—
you know this. You
knew
this. I don
’
t understand why you bailed on your station. How
’
d you even get the gun?
”

“
It
’
s complicated.
”

“
Shit, Kevin. There
’
s nothing complicated about stupidity.
What
’
s complicated
is that you could have missed Sam and hit Stephanie.
What
’
s complicated
is that because of your absolute insistence that you come out of this a hero, you almost got yourself killed.
”

The hospital room grows silent and I step back for a moment to make sure no one is walking toward the door. Glancing around the hallway again I lean my shoulder against the wall and continue to listen.

“
Kevin.
”
Jude
’
s voice has quieted down to a low pitch, one he reserves for Benjamin, his son.
“
Sometimes, being a hero is more about walking away and trusting that what you love will still be there when you return.
”

“
He was going to kill Stephanie.
”

“
Our men had him, Kevin. We had him and you came into the middle of a firestorm when I explicitly said you needed to stay behind. I said it for a reason.
”

Kevin coughs again and I hear the rustling of sheets and the pouring of water. The conversation pauses as Kevin drinks and then Jude continues.

“
Remember what I told you in the hospital? How you are the person Stephanie needs to shine the beauty in her shattered pieces?
”

“…
Yeah. I remember.
”

“
You haven
’
t found that piece yet. You haven
’
t seen how strong she is
—
how she is so much more than a shattered thing. Once you see that, you
’
ll be content with just being her mirror. You
’
ll see just how capable she is of standing on her own and you
’
ll want nothing more than to show her every single day what she can do by herself.
”

Kevin begins to speak but is interrupted by the door suddenly opening and me stumbling into the room. I send a dazed look toward Emma, watching me with an amused expression, and turn toward Jude and Kevin.

I wave. Awkwardly.

“
Hi.
”

Jude rests his hand on the hospital bed and glances between Kevin and me. I see Emma out of the corner of my eye motion for Jude to follow her and he pats Kevin on the knee before standing up and wincing with the pressure it places on his shoulder.

Emma wraps her arm around his middle and squeezes his side with her fingers.

“
Let
’
s go get you some drugs, huh honey?
”

Jude grunts in response.

“
Uhh. Nap.
”

He turns and points at Kevin.
“
Remember what I said, kid. Oh and, this is your official resignation. I
’
m signing it for you.
”

Kevin shakes his head.

“
I
’
ve been off the team for a while, Jude.
”

Him and Emma laugh on their way out the door.

“
Yeah, Kevin. You
’
ve been off the team. Tell that to the guy who
’
s gun you stole.
”
He levels him with a stare.

“
And tell that to Stephanie
’
s dad.
”

I raise an eyebrow and twist my lips together, fighting a grin.

I kind of like seeing Kevin squirm under Jude
’
s gaze. I watch him roll his eyes and shoo Emma and Jude out of the hospital room with his hand.

And then those baby blue eyes are on me.

“
Hi,
”
he says.

I smile.

“
Hi.
”

“
How much of that conversation did you hear?
”

I avoided his gaze.

“
Enough.
”

“
You know he
’
s not right, you know.
”

I blink and look at him.

“
Jude?
”
I laugh.
“
What
’
s not right about him labeling you a wanna-be hero?
”
I feel myself getting angry all over again and I try to breathe.

“
Kevin, I had him. I had my dad. I had the gun raised and pointed and I was pulling the trigger and I could have done it
…
I could have
—“

He interrupts me.
“
I know.
”

I sit down on the chair next to his bed.

“
Well then why did you have to shoot him? Why couldn
’
t you have just let me take the shot?
”

My eyes are watering now, and just like I had no idea how much it would affect me to see my father killed, I
’
m not expecting this emotion either: the fact that killing him was taken from me. It
’
s one thing to choose to take someone
’
s life. It
’
s something completely different when they
’
re taken from you.

Kevin reaches for my hand and takes a moment before responding.

“
I knew you could do it, Steph.
”
He looks at me.
“
I always knew you could do it. I just didn
’
t want you to have to be the one to pull the trigger.
”

Chapter Twenty-Four

I open my mouth but no sound comes out. Finally, after a few moments, I shake my head in confusion.

“
You
…
what?
”