Chapter 3
Chapter Three
J
Kelly is a sweet girl. I was there when the nurses brought her into the recovery room, and I was there when she opened her eyes after the anesthesia wore off.
She has bright hazel eyes. Well, most of the time.
Right now, they’re a mottled yellow and green from the bruises.
“Done.” I shove Kelly’s phone back into her hands.
She blinks at me, her long lashes flapping up and down. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“But how?” Her voice still holds a hint of awe. “I was sure those photos couldn’t be recovered. Every repair guy said it was impossible.”
“You saved it in the cloud,” I remind her.
“Yeah, but that was deleted too.”
“That’s the thing about the internet,” I say vaguely. “Nothing’s ever truly buried.”
Kelly gives me a grateful smile and swipes through her phone. I lean away to give her privacy and run my finger over the bump on my collarbone.
“This is my dad,” Kelly says, drawing my attention back to her.
I look at the picture on screen and see a short man with grey hair, a wide smile, and eyes like Kelly’s. The old man has his arms in the air, enthusiastically waving at someone.
“This is how he greeted my mom every time she came back from a tour. She was a pilot.” Kelly starts crying. I wonder if the tears rolling down her bruised cheekbone hurt.
“They had the best relationship.”
I lift my lips in an understanding smile.
“Thank you for giving me a piece of him back,” Kelly says. Then she swipes under her eyes to brush away a tear and winces.
I was right. The bruises are still tender.
“How do you know so much about computers when you’re so young?” Kelly asks, looking me over.
“I have a lot of free time.”
Kelly smiles again. Even when she’s crying, she’s pretty.
I can’t help comparing the both of us. Kelly has long, wavy brown hair that’s thick and shiny, while my blonde hair is the color of wheat. Dry wheat. It never shines. It never curls. It just hangs there, lifeless.
Kelly also has more of a womanly figure. Even bruised and recovering from a fractured rib, she makes the hospital gown look like evening wear. I’m younger than her, but I don’t look half as good in these loose gowns.
“Well, I’m grateful that you’re the one sleeping next to me. I’ve only been here a few days, but it gets so boring when you’re gone.”
“It’s not that bad.” I shake my head and smile.
“If it wasn’t for you, this place would have been dreadful.” Kelly shudders.
“After a while you learn to… create your own excitement.”
She makes a disbelieving noise. “I wouldn’t want to stay cooped up here. There’s a whole world beyond these four walls.”
A whole world, huh.
Must be nice.
Kelly’s nose is red, but she’s stopped crying. “When are you getting out and going back to school?”
“Oh, I don’t go to school.”
“You graduated already?” She surveys me. “You look around my sister’s age and she’s in high school.”
I shake my head, hoping the conversation will drop naturally.
“I always see you on your laptop, so I thought you were taking online classes. I didn’t realize…”
My eyes dart away.
Kelly gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I believe you’ll get better, J. And when you do, you should definitely go to college and get a degree in tech or IT. With skills like yours, you could do some serious damage.”
“It’s not a big deal. It’s just a few recovered photos.”
“Are you kidding? You’re, like, a genius.”
My lips coil up because she’s not wrong, but also, it would be impolite to outright agree.
Kelly continues gushing. “If you wanted to, I bet you could build an app and have your own company. In a few years’ time, you’d have people begging to work with you.”
My heart jumps, and my watch chirps in response. I look down at the screen as it flares yellow before dropping back to green.
Kelly’s eyes dart to my watch too, but before she can ask any more questions, the door opens. She looks up and sees someone who makes her eyes swim with fear. Her face pales a shade, and she subconsciously pulls away from me to scoot back into bed.
I look over my shoulder to find one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen strutting into the room. Tall and imposing, he’s got crystal blue eyes and a heart fluttering smile.
There are two women in the hospital cots beside me and four women across from me. All six ladies are different ages, sizes, and ethnicities, but they gasp as one when the man walks in.
He likes the attention because his chin tilts higher when everyone’s gazes latch onto him.
The male model gets to Kelly’s bed and drags a chair closer to her.
“Honey, are you okay?” He reaches out to Kelly and picks up both of her hands as he inspects her face.
“Oh no. Sweetheart, I heard you fell down the stairs. You should have called me sooner. I would have canceled that business trip to be with you.”
“I-I’m fine,” Kelly stammers. Her throat bobs as if she can hardly speak.
It’s a strange turnaround. She seemed so chirpy before the guy walked in. Sure, she was crying about her dad—but they were happy, nostalgic tears.
I observe the man from a closer vantage point. He has perfectly coiffed black hair and a straight, almost too-perfect nose. He’s wearing a polo and khakis and a large Rolex. It’s the classic “wealthy hedge fund manager” golf course attire.
Every inch of him screams “trust fund kid.”
But I guess that’s the circle of life.
Rich men like beautiful women like Kelly.
And beautiful women like Kelly like rich men.
The guy brings Kelly’s hand to his lips, and I see he’s wearing a wedding ring.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner. I just came in from the airport and got your message.”
Kelly blinks rapidly and turns to me. In a dull voice that sounds like all the sunshine’s been ripped out of her, she tells me, “J, this is my husband Shawn.”
“Hi, J.” Shawn’s voice goes up a couple octaves, as if he’s talking to a baby.
It’s something that a lot of adults do to me. Because I have the sickly appearance of a Victorian child suffering from a bout of tuberculosis, everyone thinks I’m younger than nineteen.
“If you don’t mind, I need to have a private chat with Kelly.” Still flashing me that patronizing smile, Shawn tugs Kelly out of the cot.
I notice her wincing from his grip and sit straighter. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. The doctor—”
“It’s okay, J.” Her eyes have gone wide, begging me not to get involved.
I snap my mouth shut.
Kelly scoops her phone out of the cot and shuffles behind Shawn. The door clicks behind them.
The moment they leave, the other ladies in the room twitter.
“Is he a movie star?”
“I’ve never seen a man that handsome in real life!”
“What a lucky girl. Why, if I were a few years younger…”
I tune them out, something odd needling at my brain. Why did Shawn say that Kelly had gotten hurt falling down the stairs? She told me when she got here that she’d been in a car accident.
Either Kelly is lying or her husband is.
My gut is screaming at me to find out the truth, but when I met Kelly, I promised myself I wouldn’t go hunting for her secrets. She’s treated me like a true friend, and I want to return the favor.
“Young lady,” calls the woman in the cot across from me, “you’re close with that girl. Can you find out if that young man has a brother?”
I ignore her, focused on my thoughts.
I heard you fell down the stairs.
Shawn said that line loudly, like he wanted the entire room to hear. Like he was intentionally planting seeds in everyone’s minds in case someone asked questions.
“Hey.” The granny in the cot next to me frowns and waves to get my attention. “She’s talking to you.”
Kelly never mentioned having a husband. Not once.
And sure, we’re practically strangers who met three days ago when she was admitted, but Kelly is a talker.
Pretty much an open book. I know about her dad and her mom and her younger sister.
I know she used to be a model and she majored in early childhood education with an eye to teach children with learning disabilities how to read.
There’s no way she would have kept the fact that she had a loving husband at home a secret.
Unless she didn’t really have a husband.
Or, more accurately, she didn’t have a loving husband.
“Young lady, don’t be rude,” another patient complains. “I know you heard—”
Without a word, I scoop up my laptop and hurry out of the hospital room.
Kelly didn’t ask me to intervene or to pry, but it’s not like I asked to be sick. Life isn’t fair. We can’t always get what we want.
My slippers smack the back of my heels with every urgent step. There’s an empty hallway with the best Wi-Fi signal in the hospital right around here.
A few more steps…
There.
I sink onto a bench in a not-so-busy hallway and hack into Kelly’s phone.
It’s time to trade a secret for a secret.