Page 22 of Free to Breathe
And she’s going through this all alone.
Why?
I shake my head in utter disbelief. Fortunately, it’s misinterpreted. “You don’t have that concern, Mr. Hunt. Ten, fifteen minutes tops,” he consoles me. “Worst you’ll feel is a desperate need to relieve yourself once we inject the contrast.”
“Great.” I couldn’t care less if I actually crap on myself in these stupid-ass scrubs. Just as long as Corinna comes out of her test with her mind intact.
I follow the technician down the hall, then enter my room, and minutes later, I’m done. My IV is removed. I’m assured the results will be ready within the week. I pass Corinna’s MRI room on my way out.
“Jesus,” my technician mutters to himself. “That’s the head of radiology doing a live read. Whomever that poor person is, something serious is going on.”
Come on, Corinna, I beg silently.Get out of that damned room and come rage at me. Yell at me. Scream at me. Just tell me this is nothing.
And as I walk away, I hear her scream over the open mic. Her voice is gasping, “Oh God, the
dark. The dark. Get me out of here!”
A male voice says, “After this series, pull her out and amp her meds. We’ll have to rerun this set if we can’t get the picture. Moser wasn’t kidding when he said she was petrified of the dark.”
“Not even close. And to have no family here to get her through this? It’s a damn shame,” a woman’s voice responds.
And my heart shatters in the radiology department of Greenwich Hospital, knowing I could turn around and tell them they don’t know shit.
Her family doesn’t know. I didn’t know.
But I will find out everything. God knows it’s time for Corinna and me to put the past behind us. I’ve never let go of the promises I made to her. But first, I need to know why she pushed me out of her life.
As I’m almost dragged out of the hallway, I see the technicians roll her out on the narrow table to inject her arm again. I’m left asking myself, what the hell happened?
I’m quickly processed out once my tests are done. Changing back into my own clothes, I debate on whether I should linger for a few hours to confront Corinna here but decide against it. There’s hitting someone when they’re vulnerable, and then there is kicking someone when they’re at their absolute lowest. I’d be doing the second if I confronted her at the hospital after she’s been through something so visibly traumatic.
But the time for our come-to-Jesus meeting just became a lot shorter, because I don’t know how long I can keep this from the people who love her the most, and who apparently have less of a clue of what’s going on than I do.
12
Corinna
It’s the day after the MRI, and I’m in the kitchen at Amaryllis Events. I’m on edge not only because I’m waiting for the results but because I’m working all night. Yesterday while I was out, Phil took another order for a birthday cake, this time for a local leukemia patient from Ridgefield. The parents were almost embarrassed to call us for such a small cake, but they were desperate to find a baker. Phil, not having any idea other issues were weighing down my mind, immediately accepted.
It’s just that today, I’m tired. So tired. Tired of handling this alone with no one to lean on but Bryan. Today, I just want to curl up somewhere comfortable and sleep. But a sixteen-year-old high school football player is relying on me, and I can sleep when I’m dead, right? Only, who knows when that day is coming. It might be sooner than any of us anticipate.
And just that quickly, I’m glaring at the phone, willing it to ring. Deep in my heart, I already know what Bryan’s going to say when he calls. It’s why, although my kitchen is prepped, I’m waiting to finish the last cake.
The cake and I are going to be a damned mess, one I don’t want anyone to witness. I’m going to bleed my soul onto that cake before I drop the mask back on my face to deal with another tomorrow.
Hearing a rap against the kitchen door, I turn around. Holly’s head peeks through, and she has her camera in hand. “Hey, Cori. Got a minute?”
“Sure, Hols.” I gesture my baby sister forward. Frowning at the camera in her hand, I hold up my hands. “No, no pictures today.”
Her lips turn down. “Didn’t Phil tell you?”
I run a hand over my forehead. “Likely not. Phil always manages to leave out salient details about crap, Hols. What was he supposed to tell me?”
“Well…” Holly hesitates. She holds up her camera and bites her lower lip. “Phil agreed to…”
I can only guess. “Pictures? Of me decorating the cake?”
Holly nods.
