Chapter 11
It’s too hot in Texas for titties.
-Kennedy’s secret thoughts
Kennedy
I felt like shit.
Complete and utter shit.
Today was the day of Trixie’s first chemo treatment, and I didn’t even know how the hell I was getting to the hospital.
My truck wouldn’t start, and my father’s car was in the shop for routine maintenance.
Stupidly, I’d taken it in yesterday for him and had started to walk home.
I was only about halfway home when I was discovered by Evander, who’d been on his way to my house to go with me to get the chickens.
He’d then yelled at me for not calling him.
When I’d explained, rather meekly, that I didn’t have his number, he’d given me his card and told me to program in his numbers.
I had kept the card in my hand for half the night, looking at it, wondering if I should or not.
If I had that number…if I used it…then I wouldn’t stop using it.
He would have me calling him at all hours of the day, and I would send him memes. I wouldn’t be able to help myself.
But now I had to.
I looked down at the card for the fourth time.
I shouldn’t call him.
But he’d said anything.
A ride wouldn’t be too much to ask, and since we didn’t have taxis where we lived, he was sure to understand, right?
I started dialing the numbers.
It rang twice.
“Van.”
“Uhh,” I hesitated. “This is Kennedy.”
Everything about his abrupt demeanor changed. “Hey, pretty girl. What’s wrong?”
The worry in his voice filled me with hope.
Hope that he may someday feel the same way about me that I knew I felt about him.
“My truck won’t start, and my sister’s treatment is today.”
“I can be there in thirty minutes. Is that enough time?”
I looked at my watch.
If I had a thirty-minute drive to the hospital, and thirty minutes to wait, that was an hour. I had to be there in an hour and fifteen minutes. That would be plenty of time, right?
“Yes, that’s perfect,” I said, even though it was cutting it kind of close.
But they’d deal.
I really thought that Trixie likely didn’t want me there anyway.
But I’d be there and wait for her to finish and, hopefully, show her that I would support her no matter what.
“Okay, I’ll be there in a few.”
Evander arrived in twenty-two minutes, and he was sweaty as hell when he got out and walked around to the passenger side of the truck and opened it.
I smiled at him, then smiled wider when I saw Gertie in the front seat.
“Hey, boys,” I smiled, or tried to anyway. “Y’all look kind of dirty.”
That was an understatement.
Evander was filthy. He was covered in grease and what looked like mud—but not red mud. Gray.
The dog wasn’t in much better condition.
“We were in the middle of a fuckin’ mud pit trying to get a monster truck unstuck. It took three tow trucks to do it.”
I blinked. “I took you away from a job?”
He shrugged. “You wouldn’t call me unless it was important. And Travis already had it mostly under control. It wasn’t a big deal.”
I decided not to argue, but I did get in the truck and question him about it the moment his ass touched the opposite seat.
“Why were you in the middle of a mud pit?” I asked.
His grin was wicked.
“The guy put his monster truck—and when I say monster truck, I literally mean a monster truck—up for collateral on the bond for his brother. It was a five hundred-thousand-dollar bail and the only thing he had in equity was his truck that he used for shows. When his brother didn’t show for court, he knew the truck was going to be taken…so, in a fit of anger, he took it to the middle of the biggest mud pit he could find and parked it. He didn’t think we could get it.”
He sounded like he was having a grand old time, and the smile on his face was enough to put me in a remotely better mood.
“That’s exciting,” I said softly.
He nodded. “One of the more fun ones, for sure. Where do I need to go?”
The mood lost, I told him how to get to the hospital, and then waved him off as he pulled into the car port of the hospital entrance. “Don’t get out, honey. I’ll just go in here, and I’ll catch a ride home.”
His eyes were hard when he disagreed. “No, you’ll call me when you need a ride, and I’ll come. I just need about thirty minutes to get here.”
I tightened my lips together, and then nodded once. “I guess I can do that.”
He touched one finger to my face through the open truck window, and then winked. “Go or you’ll be late.”
I went and managed to look over my shoulder only three times before I had to turn the corner.
The last look he gave me, as I went, was enough to stick with me for the next four hours while I waited for my sister, who never showed.
***
“Hello?”
I finally got my brother in law to answer his phone, and when he did, he sounded angry and upset.
“Darren!” I cried. “I’ve been trying to reach you and Trixie for the last four hours. Why isn’t she at her appointment?”
He grunted something.
“There was an accident, and Trixie is in the hospital.”
My brows furrowed.
“What kind of accident?”
“She was on the tractor mowing last night, and it tipped over on her.”
I practically ran across the street as I made my way to the second tower of the hospital—the part where the emergency room and the patient rooms were.
The moment I arrived on the floor that Trixie was on, I found Darren in the waiting room, waiting for me.
I was so confused.
So, so confused.
“What do you mean the tractor tipped over on her?” I asked in bewilderment. “Why was she on the tractor in the first place?”
Darren glared at me.
My stomach was cramped so hard that I couldn’t breathe.
“I don’t know,” he lied.
Lied.
I knew when the man was lying.
Trixie had told me he had a tell, one I thought was actually kind of cute…until now.
He scratched his chin, and his nose twitched.
Not that I couldn’t tell just by the tone of his voice.
Trixie hadn’t been on that tractor willingly.
Trixie had told me she hated being on the tractor and only got on it if Darren needed her help with something.
It scared her, and she literally couldn’t stand being on it for more than a few seconds, which most of the time was all that Darren needed from her.
This time, he’d said that she’d been mowing.
Mowing my ass.
“So how is she?” I asked hopefully. “Can I see her?”
He shook his head. “This is the ICU. She’s not good, Kennedy.”
My heart started to hammer.
“What did the doctor say?”
I could tell he didn’t want to talk to me.
Not at all.
But I needed to hear the diagnosis. I needed to know if I would lose her, too.
“She has crush injuries,” he said through tight lips. “She’s in renal failure. She has fluid on her brain that they’re pretty sure will need to be alleviated right now, and her blood pressure is through the roof… They’re not sure any of that will matter at this point because her cancer has made her body very weak.”
I sat down, no longer able to feel my legs.
“When can I see her?”
She was going to die.
I knew that like I knew that tomorrow the sun would rise.
“Visiting hours at the hospital are eight AM to twelve PM, and two PM to six PM. I’m bringing the kids later. Normally, they don’t allow kids, but since she’s not expected to make it through the night, they’re waiving the rules for now. Tomorrow morning will be the best time for you to see her.”
I couldn’t take those kids’ last chance at seeing their mother alive away from them. Tomorrow would have to be okay.
I closed my eyes.
“Okay,” I whispered. “You should go, though. There’s a baseball practice tonight that I know DJ won’t want to miss…if you don’t mind me walking with him.”
He nodded.
“Thanks,” he muttered. “Have a good day, Kennedy.”
Have a good day.
Have a good day?
How could I have a good day when my sister was dying?
I knew she was, too.
I also knew that this wasn’t an accident.
What I didn’t know was if this was Darren’s idea or Trixie’s.
I stood up and started walking, not sure if I wanted to call Evander or not for the ride, but in the end, I knew that he was the only one that I could call at this point.
I pulled out my phone, put it to my ear, and waited.
“Evander?” I asked the moment that he picked up.
“You ready?”
“Yeah,” I nearly choked. “I’m ready.”
“I’ll see you in fifteen. I’m close.”
He hung up, and I sat down next to the exit of the hospital and cried.