“You have to kiss,” he scolded.
So KP and I kissed as he took one more picture. It was all the effort he could muster as he dropped the phone on the bed and lay back down.
“Okay, buddy, it’s done. The hunt is finished, and it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you for making it soo…” KP swallowed hard, unable to finish.
“Oh, my gosh…so fun,” I interjected trying to keep the mood light.
“You’re not done yet,” Wenton added, speaking with his eyes closed. “My last quest is a two partner.” His eyes fluttered back open again. “You have to end the quest and start a new one, where it all began.”
“The lake?” KP asked.
“Of course,” Wenton said, fading.
“Who am I starting the scavenger hunt for?” KP asked, nearly panicked. He was out of time.
“You’ll find out,” was all Wenton offered. “Can you read to me some more?”
“Don’t you want to see your painting, Wenton?”
“Yeah,” his eyes opened again, “I want to see it.”
I picked it up and turned it around. He smiled immediately.
“I’m a handsome devil. Poor KP. I got all the good looks in the family.”
KP and I stared at him, waiting for his chest to rise after the words. It didn’t. And soon, the little line on the monitor didn’t either.
Tears flooded out of me as I watched KP mourn the loss of his little brother. Doctors and nurses rushed in, then slowly walked out, only noting the time of death. Resuscitation wasn’t possible and would have only been cruel.
When we were alone again, I stroked KP’s hair as he held his brother for the last time. When the door opened behind me, I didn’t even bother to turn around to see who it was.
“Kembrough?”
KP stiffened under my hand, and very slowly turned toward the door.
Two stern-looking but impeccably dressed people stood just inside the door. I knew right away that they were KP and Wenton’s parents. The resemblance was remarkable. I remembered the doctor saying he’d called them yesterday. Took them long enough to appear.
KP stood and faced them. “You’re too late.”
His mother’s eyes widened. “Are the doctors going to do anything?”
His mom was silent as she just stared at Wenton.
“They should take the body then,” the father interjected.
“Wouldn’t you like to say goodbye first?” I asked, then wished I hadn’t as two cold sets of eyes turned on me.
“And who is this?” his mother asked.
KP wrapped an arm around me. “This Caitlyn Ashcroft. My fiancée.”
I twisted the tomato juice tab around my finger. He had asked. I had answered. But were we both doing so for his little brother? It was too much to think about so I just nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry we had to meet today. Wenton was so beautiful. We’re going to miss him…” I couldn’t continue, my tears were choking me.
Finally, the mother approached Wenton’s body and took his hand. “He’s so cold,” was all she could say before she broke down.
KP’s father joined her and patted her arm. “The doctors should probably come take care of this.”
“I’ll let you two have some time with him,” KP said as headed from the room, pulling me behind him. He didn’t stop until we were in some conference room and the door was firmly shut behind us.
“I can’t be here for this. I can’t watch them. Not one day in their lives did they ever love him the way they should have,” he nearly screamed, his hands pulling at his hair.
I pulled his hands down and wrapped my arms around him. “They didn’t love you the way they should have either.”
It was a hard thing to watch such a big powerful man cry so helplessly.
“Wenton’s gone, and there’s not much we can do here right now. Let’s get out of here. Where do you think Wenton would want to be right now?” I asked, hoping a change in scenery would help him.
He wiped his face with his shirt. “Ice cream. If he just died and went to heaven, he would want ice cream.”
“Let’s go get ice cream then.”
We told the nurses we were leaving and took the convertible to a mom-and-pop ice cream shop, and I listened as KP reminisced about Wenton’s life.
A week later, we went to Wenton’s funeral at a big, ornate church with hundreds of people in attendance. KP was livid.
“Where were all of these people when he was locked away alone?” KP fumed.
I rubbed his arm. “I know.”
“No one came to visit him.” KP was beside himself.
“Would he have wanted them to? They seem like a really uptight bunch,” I smiled, putting on a prune-ish-looking face.
It got a little laugh out of him.
“Sorry, your son died,” I acted in a fake British accent, “We’ll miss little Walter.” I was hoping he’d play along.
“Wenton,” he said in a dry monotone.
“Yes, that’s right,” I continued. “William.”
He smiled and pulled me against his chest.
“Who needs them,” I added.
“That’s who needs them,” he said as he kissed my forehead.
The funeral was melancholy and sad. His urn was displayed with the portrait I had painted and a few pictures of Wenton as a child. None of the photographs were of the marvelous adult I had come to love, but his painting was beautiful and had captured the spirit of his heart.
People offered their condolences, and everything seemed stuffy and stilted. KP introduced me as his fiancée, and it went over pretty much as I thought it would, most were too shocked to speak. I wasn’t a famous actress nor was I one of their inner circle, so I had to be an interloper or a gold digger. Instant hatred from all. Or at least that’s how my warped mind saw it.
We didn’t really revisit the fiancée thing too much. It was how KP introduced me because it gave me some footing with the tough crowd but we hadn’t really discussed the truth of such a title. I was happy to let it ride for a while; I think KP felt the same.
In between shaking people’s hands, his parents were trying to make an effort, and I could see them reaching out to me, asking questions about my work at the art center and school. KP smiled when he told his parents that I would be working with him starting next month. He wasn’t sure how I was going to manage school and an animation career, but he knew I was talented enough to make it work somehow. They seemed genuinely interested in my prospects as an animator of a hip new series for teens. I pulled KP aside as soon as I had the chance.
“A what?” I playfully glared at him.
“I forgot to tell you, I sold your series. You start development next month. Hope you don’t mind, you’re working for me now.” KP backed away a little bit.
“You stole it!” I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt.
“You’ll get paid, in fact, my lawyer should be contacting you soon,” KP said, still inching away from me, just in case.
“KP!” I was both thrilled and so pissed off, the monster!
“Don’t get mad, honey. Soon, what’s mine is yours, and yours is mine, so I didn’t really steal it, steal it. I borrowed it.” He smiled as the people started to gather for Wenton’s eulogy.