Her face came in and out of sight as the Crown finally caught up to me en masse. “You need to go,” I slurred, pointing haphazardly towards what I thought was the door. “Get outta here, now!”
“Why do you always push me away?” She crossed her arms across her chest as I lay back again. “Better yet, why do I always let you manipulate me? You need me—I come to your rescue. You need me to stay on at work, even though I know that if Kari said the word, you’d get rid of me. Still, I stay and you just treat me like something you’ll toss aside when you’re done. Why do I let you do that to me?”
“Sam. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout . . .”
She snorted and I felt her body rise off from the couch. “I’m sure you don’t. Just like you won’t know what I’m talking about when we discuss your inebriated state in the morning.”
I heard a click and felt a flash of light. I opened one eye to see her aiming her cell at me.
“What ya doin’?” I asked, wanting her to go the hell away. I was tired of talking to her. I was tired of trying to make sense of everything. I was just tired. So damn tired.
She kissed me on the cheek. “Brielle is outside, so I’m gonna go. You going to be alright?”
“Sam,” I slurred, trying to get out one thing that had been on my mind. The darkness was coming for me, but the harder I tried to speak, the harder it got. “Pictures. I think Blaine sent Kari pictures . . .”
The darkness took over and everything went black.
MAX
“What the—” I woke up to a wet, slobbery face. I opened my eyes and they were looking right into Titus.’ He whined and ran in a circle and then barked. The noise level made my brain feel like it was being impaled by razor-sharp swords.
“What the hell happened, boy?” I asked as I sat up as best as I could and tried to get my bearings. My stomach felt like a pit of acid; I could taste the alcohol from the night before. “How much did I drink?”
Titus tilted his head and barked again.
“Quiet down.” I scrubbed my hands down my face and tried to get my head together.
Why am I on the couch?
My shoes and socks were under the coffee table and my shirt folded neatly on top of it.
What the fuck? Where’s Kari?
I looked around the room and spotted a note on the table. I reached over and picked it up.
It all came crashing back to me like a tidal wave. Kari leaving, me not going after her but heading to Casaar’s instead. The Crown.
Sam being here.
I stood up, hesitantly at first, and then realized I felt better than I expected. I pulled on my shirt and wadded up the note. I let Titus out into the back yard and found my phone on the table by the door and looked for messages from Kari.
Nothing.
Damn it!
I went to the kitchen and downed a couple glasses of water, trying to get the fog out of my head. Everything slowly came back to me in detail.
I scrolled through my contacts and dialed Cane.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Hey. Is Kari around? She went to your place last night, right?”
The sound was muffled for a minute. “Yeah, but Jada said Kari got called into work.”
“So she went to the hospital today?”
“Yeah.” I heard a door open and close. Wind whipping across the speaker made it a little harder to hear. “Look, Max. Kari told me everything last night. She was a mess.”
I swallowed hard, guilt and uncertainty settling over me. I didn’t know how to fix this mess but I knew I had to get some resolution one way or the other. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure I saved your ass. Just so you know.”
“How do ya figure that?”
“She’s worried that she’s being selfish by loving you and not being able to have kids. She thinks she’s cheating you outta life or something. So I explained to her that she’s wrong. That you love HER, not her ovaries.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right.”
“I always am, my friend. I always am. But I think she believed me, which is the important part. So now you need to do your part and go to her. Reinforce what I said.”
“The irony of you doling out relationship advice is not lost on me.”
“I’m turning into the wise one. I always said you’d need me one day. Last night was your day. You’re welcome.”
I felt my spirits lift a little. “So she didn’t leave because she still loves Blaine?”
“I think she’d like to de-nut Blaine, if she could.” He snorted. “I’ve always liked Kari. But it’s you, my friend, she loves. She left last night because she loves you. Just like I think you let her leave because you love her.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as his words rang through my head. “Oh, how roles change . . .”
He laughed heartily into the phone. “Go get your girl. I’m running in to talk to my attorneys now.”
KARI
I refilled my coffee in the cafeteria. I needed the caffeine to keep me going. Thankfully, it was a slow day in the ER.