Divine (14 page)

Truth or paranoia?

“We’ve been at this hospital every day for
weeks,” Mrs. Lovett said. “It’s time our family takes a break.”

“I’ll watch over her.” He would do anything
for her, even fight the Lovetts.

“No, son. You can’t. Go live your life.”

Live his life? “Trina is my life!”

“See, that’s where you’re in a dream. She
isn’t coming out of this. You know it, we know it. You go along,
find a life. Floundering will lead you to dark waters, and trouble
no man needs to become acquainted with.”

Mr. Lovett shifted his weight from one foot
to the next. “Tell me, do you want to end up a hermit? A fighter?
Look at your face. You’re already scrapping.

He didn’t bother with telling the pompous man
a tree gave him the battle scars. Mr. Lovett wouldn’t believe
him.

Think about this hard, son. Losing your leg,
my daughter rejecting you, and now this,” he said with a wave
toward her door, “has put you in a situation you won’t recover from
if you’re not careful. You’re a decent man who deserves a
respectable life.”

“I—”

The guard stood. Sitting, the man was large;
standing, his physique gave the impression he could pound a nail
into a cinderblock with his fist.

Matt shook his head. “This isn’t right.”

“You’ll thank us one day,” Mrs. Lovett said.
“You’ll see.”

The nurse rushed by them into the room. “The
bath won’t take long.” She closed the door, insinuating for
everyone to stay out.

“Don’t forget she’s engaged to another man,”
Mr. Lovett said, slipping a nail into his heart.

Icy tendrils of dread wrapped around Matt’s
throat. Her parents would never let up. For him and Trina to have a
future, she’d have to confront them and somehow convince them to
stop their meddling. That is, if she wanted him. If she did, then
he had no doubt she’d seek him out. In his soul, there was no
question if she’d recover, he believed she would. The question was,
whether or not he was the man for her. For now, he had no choice
but to go after the new life Travis offered in Montana. Feeling
like a chump, he followed the length of the hall and stepped onto
the elevator. With a heavy heart, the doors closed on the woman he
wanted and the pleased look on Trina’s parents’ faces.

Chapter
Seven

A tear slid down Trina’s cheek. Its path from
below her eyes to her jaw warmed a streak on her face. How could
her parents be so cruel?

Anger heated her stomach and upward. The
beeps on the monitors increased. The smell of betrayal drifted in
the form of her mother’s perfume and her father’s aftershave.

She wanted to yell. Tell them to leave her
alone, to stay away from Matt. She fisted her hand and slammed it
on the bed. “How dare you?” The words came out weak and croaky, but
she spoke. She spoke! She did it! Her brain finally sent the
necessary commands to let her move.

Eyelids heavy, crusty even, as if someone had
thrown sand in her face, she dragged the sides of her fingers
across her lashes to clear her vision. Shadows formed. She squinted
from the sunlight beaming in the window and looked at her brother
sitting in a chair.

“Trina!” Bradley’s shell-shocked tone
revealed his surprise.

Sun-tipped, light brown hair hung wild on his
forehead. Greenish-blue eyes brightened when they met hers.

“Hi,” she managed to whisper around a lump
filling her throat.

“Oh, thank God. My baby,” Mom gushed racing
past Dad at the foot of her bed to stand beside her. “You’re awake.
I’ll be right back.” She kissed her cheek and darted out the
door.

“Baby girl.” Dad’s tight voice about melted
her into a puddle. He kissed her forehead. “Welcome back.”

Bradley rose from his seat, stood close to
her bed, and squeezed her hand. “You’re a sight.”

She smiled at the unusual feeling that
continued since her brain engaged. Her body moved when she told it!
What a feat! “My body is listening,” she said with a scratchy
voice. Sand didn’t just go into her eyes, it went in her mouth.
“Water,” she rasped and rested a hand to her neck.

Bradley set his coffee on the hospital tray
and lifted a rose-colored cup with a lid and a straw sticking out
the top. “Want me to hold it?”

“No. I got it,” she said and held the first
thing for who knows in how long. Bradley covered her hands,
securing her grip. The cool water eased the burn, and her stomach
growled from the fresh aroma of coffee.

Her mother rushed into the room with a woman
following in purple scrubs.

“Hello. I’m so glad to finally meet you,” the
nurse said in the sweet voice she’d heard so many times. “I’m your
nurse, Brittney.”

The dark-haired, blue-eyed woman gazed upon
her with the same sincerity and caring that had filled Brittney’s
words when she’d spoken to her. A comfort she had grown used to and
expected. “You’ve been an angel to me.”

Brittney grinned. “You’ve enjoyed our
talks.”

“I did. Unfortunately, you couldn’t read my
thoughts to know you didn’t have a one-sided conversation.”

Brittney touched her arm. “I thought you
heard me. I have to ask you some questions. Can you tell me your
name?”

Bradley took her cup, set it on the tray, and
grasped her hand. She beamed, loving his support, and eyed the
nurse pushing buttons on the monitor. “Katrina Lovett.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“I was in an accident.” The memories flooded,
slammed her as if she lived it again. Her heartbeat tripped, and
her breathing quickened.

“That’s okay.” Brittney patted her arm. “You
don’t need to say anymore.”

She let out a breath. In college, she’d
learned retelling what happened helped the recovery. “The car I
rode in crashed into a wall.”

“That’s right.” Brittney’s face stayed placid
and her pitch even, but she could tell something bothered her.

“Is everything okay?”

“Why don’t you relax while I take your
vitals? The doctor will order a battery of test. Until then, I need
you to rest.”

Brittney slipped a thermometer in between her
lips before she responded. “Your heartrate is beating a little
fast. Would you take a couple of deep breaths and release them
slowly?” She put a blood pressure cuff on her arm.

Trina filled her lungs with air. For the
first time, she truly believed she’d make a full recovery.

“Much better. Your vitals are stronger.”
Brittney removed the thermometer and cuff and raised the bed to a
forty-five degree angle.

“Thank you,” she said and shifted a little in
bed. The muscles in her neck and body resisted with an ache. “How
long have I been here?”

“Four months,” Bradley said.

Coldness crept in, dug into her core. She
lost months of her life. A terrible anguish of shock numbed her as
she digested reality. “Did they find the driver of the SUV who
caused the accident?”

He dropped his gaze to his lap and gave a
slight shake.

Weeks of her life stolen.

“Oh, honey” Mom pressed the back of her hand
to Trina’s cheek, the touch snapping her out of her bitter thoughts
toward the reckless driver. “Everything will be okay now that
you’re with us.”

Brittney braced a hand on the bedrail,
forcing her mother to move, and put her back toward her parents.
She gave Trina a solemn look. “Given what I overheard a few minutes
ago,” she whispered. “And what I’m sure you have heard while in the
coma, I have to ask them to leave. I can’t take the chance of them
upsetting you.”

She referred to the awful things they said to
her best friend. Heat rose from her stomach and covered her face.
Today, she wouldn’t confront them and doubted she’d be able to
tomorrow, but soon, when she felt stronger, she would call them out
on their hatred and dishonesty. “Okay.”

The nurse walked to the door. “Until tests
are run, I have to ask you to leave until the doctor evaluates and
clears her for company.”

“Is that standard procedure?” Mom asked.

“In her case it is.” Brittney opened the door
and held it open.

Bradley squeezed her hand and kissed her
cheek. “I won’t be far.”

She smiled and looked at her mother and
father standing at the end of the bed. They gazed at her like lost
people, trying to find their way out of a maze with one entrance
and no exit. “I’m okay. I’ll see you in a few days.”

At once, they approached each side of the bed
and kissed a cheek then followed Bradley out the door. Brittney
winked and closed the door behind her. The quiet felt strange, yet
welcoming. She was alive and very, very tired.

A whole week had passed without any visitors.
She’d fed herself, brushed her hair, and went to rehab every day.
Thoughts of Matt kept her company, and on the days the nurse took
her to visit the hospital’s flower garden, her thoughts turned to
dreams of when she and Matt would be together in their own backyard
surrounded with flowers. He inspired her. His courage to overcome
his handicap gave her the strength she needed to push forward.

A loud knock on the door startled her, and
she set down her hairbrush. “Come in.”

“Honey, how are you?” Mom rushed over and
grasped both sides of her cheeks. “Are you doing okay?”

“I am.” She touched her mother’s hands a
second before she dropped them to her sides.

“The doctor said more tests have to be run.”
Bradley claimed the chair beside her bed before her parents could.
“They gave us the green light to come see you.”

“I missed you, darling,” Dad said, and kissed
her forehead.

“I missed all of you.” While the last few
days had been extremely productive with her concentrating on
recovery, the time had come for her to straighten out the issue
plaguing her—them trying to live her life for her.

“Everything will be okay,” Mom said, as if
saying it would make it come be true.

With her parents’ constant pressuring to make
her succumb to their every wish, she didn’t know if things would be
okay or not. She was done. Done with them threatening her with
their money. Done with their snobbish behavior. Given a second
chance to live life to its fullest, it didn’t involve them telling
her what she could or couldn’t do. Those days were gone. “It will
be soon.”

A dark-shadow flicker crossed her parents’
features. One she’d seen one too many times when they tried to
figure out how to justify their actions. They were so guilty of
screwing with her life that she didn’t even have to clarify what
she meant. They knew. “Don’t! Don’t avoid eye contact. You’re not
fabricating some lame excuse for what you did.”

Bradley’s eyebrows crunched. He glanced
between them and focused on her. “What am I missing?”

“Matt,” she said, her voice weak.

Bradley groaned. “What do you mean Matt? Mom
and Dad said his brother called and he had to leave.”

“Not true,” Trina said, barely able to speak.
“They made him leave.”

He nailed their parents with a glare. “You
didn’t.” A muscle jumped in his jaw, and he bolted out of his
chair. “You forced him to leave? You lied to me.”

“Now look here, boy,” Dad said. “I did not
raise you to speak to us in a disrespectful tone.”

“No, Dad, you didn’t. You said in order to
deal with people you had to treat them like a horse. You hold the
reins as you direct them where you want them to go.”

“That’s right, son. While this conversation
may be beneficial, the timing is wrong. We need to celebrate your
sister’s well-being.” Dad thrust a hand in her direction to
emphasize his point.

“Agreed. As soon as I find Matt,” Bradley
said, his tone firm.

She loved the newfound courage her brother
used to challenge Dad.

Dad raised a hand, palms forward. “That’s not
possible. What’s done is done. Let him go.”

Heat covered her face. A vice-like sensation
banded her head. “Stop!” Her voice quaked. Standing and stomping
her foot at Dad to make him see reason wouldn’t help, and she
doubted she had the strength. “Bradley, let it go.”

“See, your sister understands we did what was
best.” Mom rubbed Trina’s cheek and cupped her chin. “We did it for
you, honey.”

Part of her wanted to trust them, yet Mom and
Dad’s attitude toward the world outside of the rich and snobbish
wasn’t anything to brag about. They would never treat everyone as
equals.

Mom touched her knuckle. “We need to contact
Cal. Your finger is missing a ring.”

She loved her parents so much. The idea she
may not have gotten a chance to see them again hurt. But today
ended their manipulation of her life. “Mom, I love you.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I love you, too.” Mom’s
hands and body became animated, moving in different directions. “I
can’t wait for you to finish rehab so we can start planning your
wedding.”