Chapter 1 When The Snow Settles #3
Not at all surprised by his lack of police work and the huge wet stain on his shirt, she turned her chair around and backed into the slightly cracked room door.
As she wheeled in, she could hear the beeping of machines and the slight snoring coming from her soon-to-be husband.
When Lana turned her chair around, her heart stopped.
Standing directly over Kayden, with her mess of blonde hair, was Kim.
She hadn’t even realized that Lana had let herself in.
Without even thinking, Lana rolled her chair toward Kim as fast as she could, crashing the foot guard into the bitch’s shins.
Kim hollered, backed into the window near Kayden’s bed, her eyes were bulging and wild as she pushed Lana backward.
Balancing on her good leg, Lana leaped from the rolling chair, all sense of pain in the broken limb gone.
“Get away from him, you bitch!” Lana screamed, arms lunging for Kim’s head.
In an instant, she had mounds of Kim’s bleached blonde hair in both fists, her nails digging into and scratching at her scalp as she pulled and tugged her head towards the floor.
“Get off !” Kim screeched as Lana used every ounce of her strength to yank her down, swinging her head side to side.
She twisted Kim’s head as hard as she could, craning her neck in an uncomfortable position, and she wailed louder. That put a semi-sinister smile on Lana’s face as she wanted her to feel as much pain as she could possibly inflict on her before someone came and broke them up.
Kim tried with all her might to break free of the grip, her neck feeling like it might pop free of her head, but it was useless.
Lana’s grip was like a vice, and clumps of her hair were falling free from her scalp.
Kim finally locked eyes with Lana’s injured leg and tried to kick for it, but Lana pivoted her attempt, dragging her cast along the smooth linoleum out of the way.
Kim’s foot slammed into the wheelchair instead, causing it to crash into the wall by the door, and now Lana was up against the window.
Digging her fingers further into Kim’s scalp, she yanked, turning her body hard, trying to bring her to the floor.
As she did, she caught a glimpse of Kayden for the first time in days.
The sight of him made her breath hitch, made her mind go blank for a moment.
The distraction caused her to loosen her grip just enough to give Kim the opportunity to wrestle free.
Before Lana could react, Kim slapped her hard across the face, causing her to stumble back, but not before Lana returned the blow in a reflex, her tight fist landing firmly on her eye.
“You bitch, you started all this,” Kim spat, holding her face.
“Yeah? And I’m gonna finish it too,” Lana challenged.
There was a darkness Lana kept on a leash, under lock and key deep inside, and it took a lot for her to let it loose.
She could take any abuse someone threw at her and shrug it off.
But when it came to her family and the people she loved, all the gloves came off.
Lana, spent, leaned her tired body on the edge of Kayden’s bed and reached for the call button next to him.
Kim turned to run from the room, wisps of her hair still falling free.
As she started for the door, the officer was already standing in the doorway, his weapon drawn and pointed at Kim.
An alarm rang through the intercom, and Kayden’s nurses pushed themselves into the room and swarmed to his bed.
Kim put her hands in the air—there was no escape this time.
“Let me see your hands! Turn around slowly and get down on the ground!” he screamed.
Kim complied, her eyes locked on Lana’s as her left eye began to swell from the punch moments before.
“Put your hands behind your back!” the Officer spat, as the nurses huddled over Kayden’s bed.
Lana’s nurse, Ms. Thompson, grabbed her wheelchair and helped her get back into it.
“How in the devil did you get in here?” she hollered, concerned.
Lana didn’t answer; her eyes were on Kim as the officer pinned her to the floor and placed handcuffs on her.
She couldn’t help but wish that Kim would catch a staph infection for having her mouth smashed into the dirty floor.
He lifted her with one arm and carried her out of the room as she thrashed about like a child in a toy store, throwing a tantrum.
Nurse Thompson began to wheel Lana from the room, but she slammed her good foot down, causing the chair to stop.
“No, I’m not leaving him,” she protested over her shoulder.
“But you should lie down...” Nurse Thompson insisted, but studying the expression on Lana’s face, she knew it was pointless.
“I’ll get you a blanket,” she finished, then rolled her back to his bedside.
Lana finally got a chance to really observe his condition and had to take several breaths to stop herself from crying again.
His mouth was covered with an oxygen mask, but the rest of his face was a bruised and bloodied mess.
He was in traction, which meant he had a severe leg fracture that they had to straighten before they could surgically correct the injury, and his right arm was in a cast up to his shoulder.
He looked in way worse shape than everyone let on.
As the fresh sting of tears filled her eyes, she wondered what he was dreaming about and when he would wake up from this nightmare.
She held onto his good hand and kissed the scraped and bruised flesh.
Hard footsteps approached from behind her; the waft of cologne told her who it was, and she didn’t bother to turn in his direction.
“Are you crazy?” he yelled, holding a huge Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands.
The smell made her miss its taste for a minute.
“I’m not leaving his side, Sam, so just stop now,” she boomed, rubbing Kayden’s hand, praying he would open his eyes and let her know he was OK.
“Fine,” Sam grumbled, “The cops will want to take a statement, though.”
“I know, but not tonight. Please.”
He watched her and the way she looked at Kayden, not realizing how much she already loved this guy.
He remembered a time when she might have looked at him that way and knew he had himself to blame for it.
Slowly, he moved to the sofa in the private room and sat down.
He watched as she rubbed his hand and grabbed a magazine off the table.
He wasn’t going to leave her to deal with it alone, no matter how stubborn she was. He took a sip of his coffee and started reading the National Geographic, about six years older than he’d have preferred.