Page 42 of Forbidden Love

“Is everything okay?”

“Can you get Nancy to make her a hot drink? She’s freezing and not responding to me.”

“Sure. I’ll make her a drink myself. Do you want to lay her in bed? It might warm her up faster.”

I nod. I lift Kally into my arms and walk her over to the bed. I lay her down, propped up on her pillows. She doesn’t say anything, but tears roll down her cheeks. I rub them away with my thumb, lean in, and barely kiss her lips. The motion makes my own eyes fill with tears.

This moment makes me realize I can’t reach Kally without help. She’s stuck too far in an abyss for me to do anything without making things worse. The thought of losing her breaks my heart. I lift her cold hand to my lips and place a kiss on her knuckles. I cry for me. For her. For everything she faced without me. I cry because I feel like a fucking failure. I couldn’t even save the one person I love.

The clunk of a cup on the nightstand makes me look up. Caleb sits on the opposite side of the bed, reaches over, and pats my shoulder. He watches Kally closely and growls out his displeasure.

“I need to get her help. I’m so far out of my depth I don’t even know what to do,” I admit.

“We’re advocates for a charity called Woman Matters in Chicago. I’ll give them a call and see if they can give us the name of a good clinic or psychologist here in New Orleans. Give me a few minutes.”

“Caleb.” He pauses and turns back to me. “Why are you helping us?”

Caleb sits back down. “I’ve been where you are. I know what it feels like when you can’t help the one person who means more to you than the air you breathe. I also like you and Kally. And we owe Jared for giving us the information he did to find Shay. Clay was going down a dark hole until Jared reached out to us with information. Trust me, I know what you’re going through.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Let’s just help your girl.”

“Thank you.”

Caleb leaves the room. I climb on the bed beside Kally and tuck her head under my chin. She convulses beside me, and I let my tears fall freely. We’re a broken mess.

Right now, I find it hard to believe we’ll ever find our way back from this. Seeing Kally so helpless, defeated… it’s what I knew Colton would do to her. I just hoped and prayed that he would fall in love with her and spare her this heartache and pain. I think that was what kept me going over the last three years, hoping for the best outcome. But Colton is evil. The fact that he comes from the same gene pool as I do makes me physically sick. How someone I know could turn out so bitter and twisted is beyond me.

He must pay for what he’s done. He must see what destruction he caused to an innocent girl. I’ll never settle until he gets his day.

***

I sit on my couch and tap my knee. I keep looking at the clock, hoping that time speeds up, just so I can get some answers. It’s been two hours since I found Kally sitting on the chair in the dark. Caleb has found a doctor who has scheduled us in for one p.m. She’s coming here since Kally hasn’t left her bed. She fell asleep in my arms, and I left her comfortable and warm. I keep checking on her to make sure she’s still safe. I have this deep need to protect her. I know she isn’t a child, but seeing her so distraught and unhappy is unsettling.

“Clark.” Nancy walks towards me with Caleb. “This is Dr. Bellingham. She’s here to see Kally.”

I nod. I stand up and hold my hand out to the doctor. “Thank you for coming over so promptly. I don’t know what else to do for Kally.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Clark. Please, call me Gail. Shall we sit?” She points to the seat I just got out of.

I feel like a lost puppy, and I hate being so out of control.

I look up as Caleb and Nancy walk away to the kitchen. No doubt Nancy has already got Dr. Bellingham’s drink order to take care of.

“I’ve heard Kally has been through a horrific couple of years.”

I nod. “Terrible time.”

“I can help her. I’m glad you found me. I deal with patients who have been raped, abused, beaten… things that can take a lot out of a person. But you must believe that the Kally you know is still in there. She’s just being shadowed by grief and pain. The body works in mysterious ways to protect us when we most need it. This is Kally’s body’s way of saying she needs help. And we can do that. We can give her all the help she needs.”

“I’ve never seen her like this before. She’s usually so bright and bubbly. My brother has dimmed the life in her eyes.”

Nancy places a tray of coffee down on the table with biscuits and cakes. She’s the perfect hostess. I’ve clearly forgotten the manners she instilled in me.

“What brought you to this point today? What made you realize you needed help?”

“She’s been off for a couple of days. Well, since the funeral of her little girl, really. She’s just…” I pause and try to think about the right words. “She’s like a ghost of herself. She hardly speaks, her eating has become minimal, she spends most of her time in her room, and this morning, I found her in the dark, sitting like a block of ice in the corner of her room. I put her into bed to get her warm and she fell asleep in my arms, but that’s when Caleb, our security guy, said he works with a company in Chicago that might be able to put us in touch with someone here.”

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