Page 52 of When I Found You

“Don’t worry about Arthur.” He winks. “He’ll come around.”

“I hope you’re right.” I finish my tea and stand. “Where’s the kitchen? I’ll take my cup in.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re our guest.” Dad takes my cup and gathers up the others. “Relax.”

Once he leaves, I stand and pace the floor. This feels so surreal, staying with my parents like this. I wander down the hall and peer into the rooms taking an inventory of the home’s layout.

The phone rings and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Hello.” Dad’s voice echoes from the kitchen.

I lean against the wall and listen.

“Yes, she’s here.” He pauses. “No. She’s staying here.” Another pause. “Okay. I’ll let her know. Bye.”

“Who was it?” Mom asks him.

“Arthur’s sister, Marcy. She was looking for Kate.”

Fear grips me. He knows I’m here. I can’t stay. Not now. Without waiting for Mom and Dad to come find me, I bolt down the hallway, grab my coat, and venture back out into the cold.

I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I let my feet carry me wherever my heart leads.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Arthur

The cold, sterile hospital environment does nothing to settle my anxiety. Where the hell did she go? I made sure to call Marcy before I left my place, in case Kate tried to contact her. Did she even have my sister’s number? Or her address?

I press the towel covered bag of peas against my nose. They’re turning to mush in the bag, but they’re still cold and soothing. While it treats my physical discomfort, it does nothing to soothe the gaping hole in my conscience.

The more I think about Kate’s confession, the more I realize how horribly I reacted. I should have been more understanding. She’s obviously in some kind of delusional state caused by her injury. Now she’s out roaming the city with nowhere to go.

A gentle knock on the door stirs me from my thoughts. Rob enters the room with a clipboard in his hand. He glances up and freezes instantly.

“What the hell happened to you?” He closes the door and sets the board aside.

“I ran into a door.” My pride hurts enough, I can’t bring myself to tell Rob the truth.

He pulls on a pair of clean gloves and nudges the cold bag from my face. His eyes narrow as he inspects the damage. I wince as he presses and prods my face, asking stupid questions about whether this hurts and then jamming his thumb into the aching protrusion that used to be my nose.

I hiss and mumble one-word responses littered with a few choice swear words to emphasize my enthusiasm.

“It’s broken. I’ll have to reset it.”

“Do whatever you need to do.” I brace myself

He braces his hands on my face and screaming pain ricochets through me as he applies pressure. There’s a distinct crack as it realigns.

“Son of a bitch!” My whole body trembles at the rush of pain and immediate release of pressure. The ache remains, but it doesn’t throb like it did before.

Rob backs away and prepares some bandages. “So, you going to tell me who hit you?”

I scoff. Rob’s too observant. This makes him an amazing physician, but it also makes him an annoying friend. I’ve never been able to hide anything from him.

“Kate.” I dab the towel to my nose to catch any remaining blood.

“Kate did this to you?” Rob’s laughter fills the small room. When he sees my serious expression, he sobers. “Wait, you’re serious?”

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