Don't Explain (26 page)

Caitlyn closed the magazine and placed it onto the small table next to
her. She thought about calling Alexis to come sit with her, but she didn’t want
to bother her. Making her sit in a waiting room for news about someone she
probably didn’t like all that much wasn’t a nice thing to do.

Caitlyn looked at a clock high on the wall. It had been a long time since
Caitlyn had eaten, and she wondered if she should sneak down to the cafeteria
for a few minutes, but she was sure that the second she got up there would be
news and they wouldn’t be able to find her.

When she looked back down, she was surprised to find Michael standing in
front of her. She jerked her head back, “What are you doing here?”

Michael sat in the chair beside her. “I was working a shift in the ER and
saw that your mom came in. Are you alright?”

Caitlyn smiled half-heartedly. “Not really. I have no idea what is going
on, and I can’t help but think that I could have prevented this from happening.
I was out shopping and getting my hair done while my mom was lying on the
basement floor. I was supposed to be there with her.”

Michael grabbed her hand, but she pulled it back quickly, stuffing it
between her crossed legs.

“The fall broke your mother’s left femur and hip. They are putting some
metal rods and screws into the bones so that they can heal properly.”

Caitlyn tried to focus on her mother, and not on the man next to her. She
wanted to pretend that he was just some doctor telling her this news, but she
couldn’t. She wanted to slap him in the face even more, but she was able to
restrain herself. “How long will it take her to recover?” Caitlyn asked.

 “She’ll be in the hospital for a couple of days, but she’s going to need
some help after that. Maybe some time in a nursing home.” Michael tried to grab
her eyes with his, but she didn’t look up at him. If she did, the butterflies
would return to her stomach and the ache in her chest would become more acute.

“She’s not going to like that.” Caitlyn shook her head. “No. I’ll have to
stay with her until she’s better.”

Michael leaned back in the chair. “It’s going to be a long time. Several
months at least. If I were you I wouldn’t commit myself that quickly.”

“Well, I don’t have any other commitments now, do I? Since I could be
arrested, maybe they’ll go easier on me if I am taking care of my ailing
mother.” Caitlyn glared at Michael.

“Wait. What happened?”

Caitlyn jumped in her seat when she felt her phone pulsate in her pocket
and gave Michael a crooked, fake smile. She wished he would just go away. He
had no reason to be there; it wasn’t his job or responsibility.

She held up the black, vibrating device and waved it at Michael. “I gotta
take this.” Caitlyn didn’t recognize the number, but she didn’t care. She’d
talk to a telemarketer about her menstrual cycle if it got her out of this
conversation.

“Hello?”

“Caitlyn? It’s Charles from breakfast.”

Caitlyn quickly stood up from her chair and glanced back at Michael with
wide eyes, and he gave her a strange look back. It was weird to be near
Michael, but it was weirder to talk to Charles while sitting next to Michael.
She turned away and whispered, “Hi, Charles.”

“I’ve been thinking about you all day, and I’ve worked up an appetite
from sitting through that conference, so how about that dinner?”

“I forgot about dinner.” Caitlyn tucked a stray strand of hair behind her
ear and sat down on the edge of the chair. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud,
but it was true. The moment she saw her mom lying at the bottom of the
staircase, she had forgotten about all about Charles, Michael, the fake
pregnancy, and the fire until someone reminded her. All the good and the bad in
her life didn’t matter.

“I can’t go to dinner with you tonight. I’m sorry.”

Charles was silent. Caitlyn glance over at Michael who had leaned forward
with his forearms resting on his knees and carefully examined his hands. He
didn’t look up at Caitlyn when she glanced over at him

Caitlyn could feel the tension all around her. She didn’t want this
stress right now. She wasn’t supposed to have it. Michael was supposed to be
forty-five minutes away, and she was supposed to accept Charles’s dinner
invitation.

She couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “My mother has been hospitalized
and is having surgery. I can’t leave until I know that she’s okay.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.”

Caitlyn didn’t want to blow her chance with Charles. She thought that
they could have something, but she remembered what Michael had said about her
mother and the care she was going to need in the next few months. The care
Caitlyn had to provide her. Not only would her mother refuse to go to a nursing
home, Caitlyn couldn’t afford to put her in one. Maybe she just wasn’t meant to
have a man in her life. But she wasn’t ready to give up that quickly.

“I’d still like to have dinner with you. It can’t be tonight, but when
I’m free can I call you on this number?”

Michael shifted in his seat, grabbing Caitlyn’s attention for a moment,
but Charles brought her back when he said, “I’d like that. It might not be as
convenient, but I’d guess you’re worth the trouble.”

Caitlyn smiled, and then bit her lip to try to hold it back. She felt her
cheeks flush. “Okay I’ll do that then. Thanks for understanding, Charles.”

“No problem. I will be waiting for your call.”

After hanging up the phone, Caitlyn went to save Charles’s number
immediately but Michael interrupted her. “Who’s Charles?”

Caitlyn looked up at Michael who was running both hands through his hair.
“That’s not really any of your business.”

Michael crossed his arms and slouched back into the chair. “Fair enough.”
She watched as he sat there staring across the room blankly. Suddenly he sat up
and slapped his knees. “Well, let me take you to the cafeteria for some dinner.”

Caitlyn sighed. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not? It’s a meal in a hospital. Friends do that for friends who are
waiting for news about their family, and we’re friends.” Caitlyn didn’t know
how to answer him. She searched her mind, but she was blank. “Right?” he asked
when she didn’t respond.

“Let’s not go into this here, now. I’m not in the mood. Besides, you have
a fiancée, who has probably made you a five-star meal, to eat with.”

A small woman pushed through the double doors wearing scrubs. Caitlyn
looked up at her when she called her name.

“Excuse me,” she said to Michael, and then stood up. “Don’t worry about
me. I’ll be just fine. Just leave.”

Caitlyn walked over to the doctor. “Is she alright?”

“Miss Murphy, I’m Dr. Wallace. We’ve moved your mother to the recovery
room. The procedure went well, and we…”

Caitlyn, relieved by her first sentences, tuned the woman out as she watched
Michael get up and leave the waiting room. She never thought it would be like
this. It wasn’t supposed to be, but right now the last person she wanted to
comfort her was Michael.

Damn it, she thought. This was probably her only chance to tell Michael
about Margaret’s un-condition. It didn’t matter now. He’d figure it out. The
fact that she had forgotten probably meant that it wasn’t important for her to
be the one to tell him.

“Miss Murphy?”

Caitlyn shook her head and turned her attention back to Dr. Wallace. “Sorry.
So where do we go from here?”

#

“This isn’t going to work. I want to go home.” Cat Murphy adjusted
herself in the hospital bed.

“Sorry Mrs. Murphy, but you’re going to have to stay here for at least
another five days.” Michael put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to the
steady rhythm of her heart. He looked at her intently and said, “You should
consider a nursing home for a few months while you recover.”

Cat crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes on Michael, “Have you been
talking to Caitlyn? Is this her idea?”

“No. It’s all me.” Michael had not seen Caitlyn for the three days Cat
had been in the hospital. He had been sneaking in and checking on her when he
was in the hospital and had a spare moment. He was avoiding Caitlyn. She had
been cold, and obviously needed some space, so once he heard that Cat was okay,
he left, but he was going to make sure that it stayed that way.

“Caitlyn can take care of me just fine. It’ll be good for both of us.”

Michael shook his head and looped the stethoscope around his neck. “She’s
not qualified. It would be better if you had a medical professional take care
of you. Besides, Caitlyn’s going to have to work on reopening the coffee shop.
You’re going to need someone help you almost constantly.”

“She’s not going to reopen the coffee shop if she doesn’t get the
insurance money, and that is not looking good.”

Cat was good at talking around subjects, and for the past few days she
had been dancing around this one. Michael didn’t know what was going on, and he
didn’t want to admit to Cat that her daughter didn’t want anything to do with
him, but he was sick of not knowing exactly what was going on.

“What’s going on with that anyway?” He tried to be casual about his
question, but Cat raised her eyebrows at him.

“Caitlyn hasn’t told you what’s going on?”

“All we talk about is you.” He smiled.

“It’s serious. Really serious.” She smoothed out the blanket and winced a
little when she touched her left side. “They’re real morons over there at the insurance
company. Because they think that Caitlyn burned the place down, they’re combing
through all the soot, and talking to everyone she’s ever known. They talked to
her kindergarten teacher. Can you believe that?”

“They think she burned the coffee shop down?” Michael was stunned, and
Cat’s eyebrow rose again.

“They haven’t talked to you about it yet? Caitlyn didn’t tell you this?”

“What are you doing here?”

Michael turned around to find Caitlyn in the doorway with bundle of
flowers. “I was just checking on your mom.”

Caitlyn looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, her
hair was piled messily on the top of her head, and her clothes were wrinkled,
but it didn’t make her any less beautiful. Michael thought that it was amazing
what Caitlyn was doing for her mother. For someone that drove her crazy.

There was no way he was going to let Caitlyn take care of her mother full
time. She wouldn’t survive it, at least not with her sanity.

Caitlyn entered the room, but turned her attention to her mother who
began talking. “Your little doctor friend here was just telling me that I have
to stay here for five more days. Caitlyn that’s not acceptable. There is no way
that I can sleep in this bed for that many days. Have you felt the mattress?
It’s like sleeping on a bag of Halloween candy. Plus, I can’t smoke.”

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing, Ma,” Caitlyn said while throwing the
old flowers away. “If I’m going to stay with you, I’d prefer it if you don’t
smoke.”

Cat grunted. “Your friend here also said that I should go to a nursing
home, but I set him straight.”

Michael was about to defend himself, but Caitlyn was quick to say,
“That’s good, Ma.” She placed the flowers on the bedside table and turned to
Michael. “Can I please speak with you in the hall?”

“I have to get going, but we’ll talk next time.” He promised Margaret
that he wouldn’t talk to Caitlyn alone, and he already failed to mention the
waiting room the other night. He wasn’t sure why he was so afraid of telling
Margaret. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, and they were in a very public place.
There was something about Margaret’s tone when she said it though. Something
threatening. This was strange because Margaret always understood and always
trusted him.

“Please.” Caitlyn bit her lip, and he watched it become plump as she
dragged it through her teeth. This was why he couldn’t be around her. No matter
how hard he tried to make it not true, she turned him on. Messy hair and all.

“Sorry.” Michael turned, left the room, and walked down the hallway
without looking back.

Four days had passed since she found Michael in her mother’s hospital
room. They had successfully avoided each other for those days, but she knew
that he kept checking in on her mother. She started to forgive him. He wasn’t a
bad guy. A bad thing happened to him, and she had to make it right. She
realized that she got so angry because she was still in love with him, and she
had to try one last time before she could really move on.

The more she thought about Margaret's story the more she doubted it. How
could she have had a miscarriage without anyone knowing? Especially Michael. How
could she expect to get pregnant again a couple of weeks later? Internet
searches in her vacuous amounts of free time backed up her suspicions with
science, and she was positive that Margaret was a liar.

Initially, she had been conflicted. She had decided that she was not
going to interfere. She would let nature take its course and let the
consequences catch up with Margaret. Ovulation strips meant that Margaret was
late enough in her cycle to think that she could conceive, and that time was
probably past now. She was already pregnant, or Michael had a few more weeks to
figure it out. But as time passed, it ate away at her. Now that she knew Margaret
was a liar, Caitlyn was determined to expose her to Michael and send her
packing back to California. She had to tread lightly, though, knowing how cheerful
Michael was the last time she saw him. Plus she needed to come up with a method
of telling him that made her seem like the heroine and not the villain.