Chapter Twenty-one, Worse Than Hospital Gitters

Pulling into the hospital parking lot, Beth stared out the window unseeing and tried to clear her head. It amazed her how Adam found a flight to Kansas City, got her on the plane, and had a rental car waiting for her upon her arrival – and all within a few hours. She had climbed into the rental and called to let him know her plane had landed.

I’m praying for you, Beth, he had reminded her. I shouldn’t be far behind you…just a couple days. Mom was already packing your things when I returned from the airport. We have everything loaded in your car, so I can leave first thing in the morning.

Nervous, Beth wished he were here now to lend moral support. How had she come to depend on him so much in such a short period of time? Sucking in one more gulp of air, she steeled herself, grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car. Closing and locking the door, she forced one foot in front of the other until she reached the hospital entrance. Father, please help me… As she entered, the sterile hospital smell assaulted her, making her feel queasy. Reminds me of a funeral parlor decked out in floral arrangements. She shivered.

Stepping inside the elevator, she tapped the button for ICU and took in several deep breaths, hoping to calm her nerves. One step at a time, Beth. Take one step at a time. Hospital does not equal death. It’s a place where people get better...usually.

The elevator doors swished open; she stepped out and followed the signs to the ICU waiting room. When the door came into sight, she started to tremble. Hold on, Beth. You’re doing good. You’re almost there. Just a few more… Her breath caught. Her feet froze some twenty feet away. Kyle! ICU…He’s been in the waiting room…waiting for me. Her heart fell to her stomach with a thud, and then slammed against her chest, one painful beat after another. Oh, Father, help me. Expecting an all out panic attack when his eyes locked with hers, she felt an unexpected calm wash over her.

Deciding she would rather get things over with now so she could focus on her family, she adopted a rather business-like tone and said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Arching his eyebrows, a possessive light filled his eyes as they roved over her. “Are you? You look surprised to see me. You didn’t think I’d stay away with your dad in the hospital, did you? We are going to be family, after all.”

For the first time, Beth took in the selfish twist to his smile, his arrogant stance, the lust lurking behind his eyes. Or, maybe she had seen it all before, but didn’t recognize it for what it was. She shuddered to think how close she had come to giving herself, her whole future, to this man. We would have been married by Thanksgiving.

When she didn’t move to come to him, he grew impatient. “Well? What do you have to say? Where have you been? Why did you run off? Don’t you know how worried I’ve been?”

Realizing he hadn’t run forward to embrace her, hadn’t taken even one step toward her, she knew he wanted her to come to him. He wanted her to feel like the heel and come groveling back to him, begging for forgiveness. It was the way he always controlled her - even when he was the one who had wronged her. But no more. She was a free woman, now. Or, at least she would be as soon as she gave his ring back.

Returning his icy glare, she arched her brows and said, “I already explained why in the postcard. If I wanted you to know where I went, I would have told you.”

For a moment he seemed startled by her demeanor. Then, plastering on his suave smile, he took a step forward, and then another. One measured step at a time, he held her with his intense gaze until he stood before her. “Liz,” he said with a false tenderness in his voice as he reached to touch her face.

She jerked away and took a step back before he could make contact. His hand dropped to his side and for once in his life, he looked confused and worried. Then she watched as anger hardened his face and ignited in his eyes.

“I’m tired of your games, Liz. You’ll be my wife soon and I won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect. Do you understand me?”

She could sense more than see the clenching and unclenching of his fists. If she hadn’t been certain before, she was convinced now that she had made the right decision to call off their wedding.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Kyle.” Digging in her purse, she pulled out the box and thrust it at him. “Here. Take it. I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want to marry you.”

He blinked, looked down at the box, looked back at her, and then shook his head, refusing to take it. “You’re just upset about your dad. You don’t know what you’re saying. Wait until things calm down and then we’ll talk. You’ve obviously been off sulking somewhere and returned confused with all that’s going on. Keep the ring. I’ll give you some time to deal with your dad’s surgery and all. Everything will work out. We’ll get this little misunderstanding taken care of. You’ll see.”

Beth let out a humorless laugh. What audacity! Who do you think you are, she wanted to scream. Instead, she grabbed his hand, forced the ring box into it and said, “Good-bye, Kyle.”

She stepped around him, wanting to escape to the waiting room and into her mom’s warm, comforting arms. But grabbing her wrist, he spun Beth around to face him, bent until his nose nearly touched hers and snarled. “This isn’t over, Liz. Like I said, I’ll give you time to get your head back on straight and then I’ll be back. Understand?”

“Let go of me,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Do you understand me, Liz?”

Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted a nurse at the nurses’ station looking their way. Turning back with her heart pounding in her chest, she said, “You’re hurting me, Kyle. Let go now or I’ll have the nurse call security.”

He seemed to take her measure. She refused to let him bully her and met his glare with one of her own.

He glanced at the nurse and saw they were being watched. Cursing under his breath, he dropped Beth’s wrist and growled in her face one last time. “This isn’t the end, Elizabeth Anne Gallagher. This is not the end.”

Standing to his full height, he took a step back, stuffed the ring box into his pocket and gave her sickening smirk. “See you around.” Turning, he walked away, entered the elevator and was gone.

Beth shuddered, thankful that it was over. But somehow she knew it wasn’t.