Cross Country Chaos Read online

  Brenda tried to speak, but Kelly steamrolled her. “You want to know what Mart loves about me? He loves making me beg him to fuck me. He loves hearing me scream his name when I come. And by the way, he never mentioned you, so you obviously didn’t leave much of an impression.”

  Brenda’s jaw dropped. Kelly straightened and walked into the lobby. Yes, it was a below the belt hit.

  Way below the belt. There was probably an unspoken law of womanhood she broke by getting that personal, but…

  Now she understood the satisfied smirk on Mart’s face the night he zinged David.

  Oh, it was probably bad karma, but day-umm, it felt good. Brenda was one of those people who used her disability as permission to walk all over people. Instead of being a normal person, she’d spent too much time being told she was “special” and “different” and treated like a princess. Naturally she grew up a spoiled brat bitch. Not many people were willing to look like a bad guy by putting her in her place.

  Kelly turned for one last look and saw Bill sitting a few feet away, laughing. Kelly blushed. She hadn’t realized anyone was close enough to hear. She hurried upstairs to Mart.

  Later, Kelly went downstairs for dinner at Mart’s insistence. He was in pain and asked her to bring him something back. She went to the meeting room where they were serving a buffet and saw Bill. He wheeled over, grinning.

  Motioning her to lean over, he whispered, “That was awesome! I’ve never heard anyone stand up to Brenda the way you did. No wonder Marty’s in love with you. That was hysterical.”

  Kelly’s face reddened again. “I didn’t know anyone could hear.”

  “Don’t worry. I haven’t repeated everything you said. But I’m telling people how you nailed her. That’s too good a story to hold back.”

  Kelly laughed despite her embarrassment. “Thanks.”

  She filled her plate and sat with Bill and a few other wheelers, getting a second round of introductions since she couldn’t remember most of their names. By this time, the story of what happened that morning with Brenda—and the afternoon retribution—had made its way through the racers, and Kelly was welcomed by everyone. She finished eating and filled a plate for Mart, taking it upstairs along with a couple of bottles of water.

  Mart was sitting up in bed, watching TV. “Hey, babe. What did you bring me?”

  She got a towel from the bathroom and spread it out on his lap, setting everything on it. “I tried to get stuff easy to eat one-handed and high on painkillers. Dig in.”

  He laughed and winced. “Thank you. You know how much I love you?”

  She smiled. From what she’d heard from the others at dinner, how frantic he was that morning, how he wouldn’t talk to Brenda on the ride over, even refusing to sit next to her on the shuttle, all doubts had fled.

  “I love you too. I’m sorry about this morning. I’m sorry I caused you a distraction when you should have been focused on racing.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should have told Brenda to bug off, but I was trying to be polite. I saw how well you always handled David and thought I could be big about it. I can’t. She walks all over me. She’s like that with everyone. I should have told her to stay the hell away from me when she showed up.”

  Kelly laughed, and he looked at her. “What?”

  “Bill will tell you if I don’t.”

  “What?”

  She related her confrontation with Brenda. Word for word.

  His jaw dropped. “You didn’t?”

  She nodded.

  Mart grinned. “Come here, you.” He grabbed the front of her shirt with his good hand and pulled her to him, kissing her hard on the lips. “Make you moan, hmm?” She nodded, and he kissed her again. “Lucky for you I’m in pain, or you’d be moaning my name all night.”

  She gasped, his words setting off a warm explosion inside her. “Promise?”

  “You just wait. I’ll be more than happy to make you beg.” He had a playful gleam in his eyes, and she kissed him one more time, noticing the bulge in his lap. She brushed her fingers against him, and he smiled.

  “Maybe I won’t be the only one begging,” she teased.

  “I hope not.”

  When Mart finished dinner, Kelly helped him into the bathroom. The hotel provided them a shower chair so he could manage the tub with his bad shoulder. When he was ready, with his good arm hooked around Kelly’s neck, she steadied him so he could get from the toilet to the tub.

  “Getting out might be more difficult,” he admitted.

  “Well, keep that arm dry.” At least he was facing the right way, his left arm outside the tub. She wrapped a clean trash bag around his cast.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  “You want help?”

  “Well, yeah. I think I specifically requested a naughty nurse.”

  She laughed. “I thought you were joking.”

  “My dear, about something like that, I never joke. Now get those clothes off so we can get dirty.”

  “Clean.”

  “Says you.”

  It didn’t take her long to get into the spirit. Mart’s shoulder hurt, but between the painkillers and his mood, he more than compensated. They were both exhausted when she helped him into bed an hour later.

  “Oh crap.” He looked at the clock. “I forgot about the meeting.” It was in thirty minutes.

  “Let me guess, you want to go?”

  “I should.”

  “They wouldn’t blame you if you skipped.”

  “I know. But I want to be there.” He rolled to his right side and managed to sit up. “You’ll have to help me get dressed.”

  “I think getting you undressed wore us out.”

  “No, getting undressed was easy. It was what we did later that wore us out.”

  She found him a shirt she could pull over his cast and helped him dress. He let her push him to the elevator. They made the meeting with five minutes to spare, and he received a hero’s welcome. He held her hand throughout the meeting, and at the end they spent a few minutes talking to his friends. Kelly positioned herself behind him to prevent anyone from bumping his bad arm.

  When they returned to the room, she could tell he hurt even though he tried to smile.

  “I’m okay. Just ready to go to sleep.”

  “You sure you want to go tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “I need to.”

  “They won’t blame you if you don’t.”

  “I know, but I should go.”

  She helped him make the transfer from his chair to the bed, and he grunted in pain.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized.

  “It’s okay. I’m sorry I’m dead weight. Please don’t hurt your back.”

  “Hey, you think I’m going to let someone else bathe you?”

  He laughed, despite the pain it caused. “I wouldn’t trade my naughty nurse for anyone.”

  * * * *

  Mart was very sore the next morning, which Kelly anticipated. He still insisted on going. She helped him into the bathroom, staying close if he needed her. Luckily he didn’t have bowel and bladder management issues like Denny, but not bearing weight on one arm drastically limited his mobility and made it difficult for him to do normal tasks.

  “I hate asking you to help me.”

  “Mart, after nearly nine years of dealing with Denny, I don’t think anything you can do will gross me out.”

  “Is it stupid for me to say I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone more than I love you right now?”

  “Why, because helping you wipe your ass doesn’t gross me out?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wait till your shoulder’s better. I’ll expect payback.”

  “Foot massages every night?”

  “That’s not exactly the body part I want massaged, but we’ll call it a start.”

  He laughed, then winced. “Ow.”

  “Hey, love hurts, dear.”

  Kelly helped Mart to the elevator while he carried her bag in his
lap. Downstairs, she noticed his pain pill kicked in. He was more talkative, tried to move himself around. Two volunteers helped him transfer to the shuttle, saving Kelly’s back. She sat on his good side, holding hands, and kept a close watch on him to make sure he didn’t injure himself.

  By the end of the morning, he was ready to return to the hotel and take a nap. Their flight home wasn’t until that evening, so they had time.

  Kelly worked on Mart’s racer while he slept, getting it ready for the flight, deflated the tires, removed the wheels and secured it in its travel case. At least that was something she could do. It was similar to Denny’s, the same brand, only bigger.

  When Mart awoke, ready for a pain pill and lunch, he saw what she’d been up to. “You are the perfect woman, you know that?”

  “If I was perfect, I wouldn’t have freaked out and you wouldn’t have wrecked.”

  He grabbed her hand. “Listen to me,” he said, his tone firm and serious. “You didn’t cause my wreck. It was a stupid accident. It wasn’t because of you. The guy stepped in front of me when I wasn’t looking. Quit feeling guilty. I’ve wrecked before—it happens. That’s why we wear helmets.”

  She nodded, not quite convinced in her heart.

  They received plenty of help at the airport and made their flight. While they were waiting at the gate in Tampa for Mart’s chair to be brought up from the hold, Kelly realized another problem. “I have to drive—you can’t.”

  “We’re in my van.”

  She nodded.

  “You can pull the controls off. Takes a few minutes. I have tools.”

  “That might be easier than me learning how to drive with hand controls tonight.”

  He nodded.

  She turned on her BlackBerry at baggage claims. A flurry of missed calls and voicemails came through from her mother. And Beatrice.

  Mart saw Kelly’s face. “What is it?”

  Her gut tensed, and she shook her head. “I don’t know.” She called her mother first. “What’s wrong?”

  “Did you get my messages?”

  “We just arrived. We’re at the airport waiting for our stuff. What’s going on?”

  Her mother hesitated. “David.”

  “What happened?”

  “Beatrice called. He’s been in an accident.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Kelly’s hands trembled as she tried to disconnect the levers on the van controls. She dropped the wrench again. “Dammit!”

  Mart reached out and took her hand.

  “Calm down, Kel, it’s okay.” He struggled with his anger, that she had to deal with this and take care of him, too. “Give me the wrench.”

  She shook her head. “No, you’ll hurt yourself. I can do it.” She tried again and got the brake disconnected. Following Mart’s instructions, she disconnected the gas and was able to move everything out of the way so she could drive.

  She put the controls in the back of the van with their bags and his racer and lowered the lift. Once he was secured in the passenger seat, she took a moment to compose her thoughts. David was in the ICU at SarasotaRegionalMedicalCenter, and that was their next stop.

  They found Beatrice in the waiting room, and Kelly hugged her. “What happened?” Kelly asked.

  Beatrice shuddered and took a deep breath. “He’d been drinking, and we got into a fight and he left. I couldn’t stop him. A deputy showed up at the door two hours later, said he’d—” She dissolved into tears, and Kelly put her arm around her. Finally, when she could talk again, she went on, “They say he ran off the road, hit a light pole. One of those concrete ones.”

  “How bad?” Mart asked.

  Beatrice shook her head. “He’s on life support. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. They said—” She sobbed again. “They said he’s got no brain functions.”

  Kelly shot Mart a quick look in case he couldn’t help making the joke. His lips were sealed, God love him.

  “Is there anything they can do?” Kelly asked.

  Beatrice shook her head, then looked at Kelly. “You’re still listed as his power of attorney for this stuff. It’s all in his paperwork. He never changed it.”

  Shit.

  Beatrice continued. “I can’t do anything. They’ll let me see him, but that’s all. I told them he wouldn’t want to live like this, but I don’t have any authority.”

  Kelly swallowed hard. She didn’t want to be the one to pull the plug on her sons’ father, even if she knew that was his wish. How do you explain when they’re older that, surprise, he coincidentally got himself killed with a little help from you, and that caps off a nasty custody battle.

  “Can we see him?” Kelly asked.

  Beatrice nodded.

  They followed her to the nurses’ station. Because it was so late, they let them all in for a few minutes. David was unrecognizable, his head bandaged, face cut and swollen, a cervical brace holding his head steady, a ventilator tube in his mouth and IVs and wires all over the place.

  Kelly turned to the nurse. “Can we talk to the doctor?”

  “Follow me. I’ll take you to a private room.”

  Kelly looked at Mart. She couldn’t read his face, watched him stare at David. What emotions were going on in there? She knew he wasn’t getting any pleasure from this, but beyond that, it was hard to say.

  The doctor carried David’s chart. He sat down with them to talk, laid the clipboard on the table. Kelly watched as Mart picked it up and thumbed through it. After the introductions, he took a deep breath. “I need to prepare you for the worst—”

  Kelly cut him off. “Don’t sugar-coat this, and don’t use euphemisms. We want straight answers.”

  The doctor looked at her, obviously adjusting his approach. “I’m not going to tell you there’s this miraculous hope he’ll get better. He has severe brain damage. When he went through the windshield, it crushed his skull and shattered his cervical vertebrae. It’s a miracle he didn’t die right there. There was a fire station nearby, from what I understand. The EMTs heard the crash. He was intubated in less than five minutes and transported immediately. That’s the only reason he’s alive. To be honest, we’re simply offering supportive care. It is unlikely he will recover from his brain injury.”

  “Most likely scenario?” Mart asked.

  The doctor shrugged. “There are no guarantees. If he survived he would need a ventilator, G-tube, constant care, bedridden, no cognitive mental activity.”

  “A vegetable,” Kelly said.

  The doctor nodded. “I know there are miracles, people awaking from comas after severe brain trauma, but they don’t have the type of traumatic brain injury he does, where he has it. It’s serious enough dealing with either a TBI or spinal injury. But both…” He didn’t finish.

  “If it was your relative?” Mart asked.

  He looked at him. “Honestly?”

  They all nodded.

  “If I knew his wishes, and if knew he wouldn’t want this… Sometimes the kindest thing is to let someone go.”

  Beatrice broke down again, nodding. Kelly put her arm around her. “Beatrice, I want this to be your decision. Whatever you decide, we’ll do.”

  She nodded, crying harder, trying to wipe her nose.

  The doctor shifted, obviously uncomfortable. “Do you want some time to discuss this?”

  Beatrice shook her head and looked at Kelly. “David wouldn’t want to live like that. He wouldn’t want the boys to see him like that.”

  Kelly agreed but kept her mouth shut.

  Beatrice looked at the doctor. “Will he be in any pain?”

  “He’s not in any pain right now. Between the medication and his injuries, he can’t feel anything.”

  She gripped Kelly’s hand with superhuman strength and closed her eyes. “Okay. Can we do it now?”

  He nodded. “I need to get some paperwork.”

  “Doctor, can we talk to you for a moment?” Mart said, indicating him and Kelly.

  The doctor nodded. Kell
y patted Beatrice’s hand. “Wait here, okay?”

  Beatrice nodded, and Kelly and Mart followed the doctor into the hall, closing the door behind them.

  Mart motioned the doctor to him so he could keep his voice low. “We have a problem. This is David’s ex-wife. She’s my fiancée. They have two little boys, and we’re involved in a nasty custody battle.”

  Kelly let Mart do the talking, not surprised his thinking mirrored hers.

  Mart continued. “Is there anything she can sign giving Beatrice permission to do this? Or can she let Beatrice sign the paperwork? Beatrice was David’s girlfriend, they were living together. By all rights, Beatrice should be the one to do this. Kelly and David have been divorced over two years. It’s not Kelly’s fault he was too lazy to change his living will. David doesn’t have any other family. It’s not like someone’s going to object.”

  The doctor followed what he was saying. “If I hand the paperwork to you three and tell you where to sign and someone signs it, frankly, it’s not my business who signs it as long as you are in agreement.”

  “You understand our position,” Mart said.

  “I wouldn’t want my kids thinking I killed their father either. Not that that’s what’s happening,” he quickly added.

  Mart nodded. “Thank you.”

  They stepped inside the room to wait with Beatrice. Kelly sat beside her. “You’re going to sign the papers. David would want it to be you.”

  Beatrice was too overwhelmed to disagree.

  While they waited, Kelly called her mom from a phone in the room. Despite the hour, her mom answered on the first ring. “How much do they know, Mom?” Kelly whispered.

  “Nothing. I didn’t want to tell them anything until I talked to you. Why? How bad?”

  Kelly glanced at Beatrice. Mart was trying to distract her. Kelly pressed the phone to her face. “Beatrice will sign the papers in a few minutes.”

  Her mother gasped. “No!”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Mom, don’t say anything to the boys.”