Thoughtful (Thoughtless #1.5)(100)
Author: S.C. Stephens

Denny pulled his arm back, like he was going to slug me again, then he glanced over at Kiera and let it drop. “You should go. I’m with her now. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Walking over to Kiera’s bed, I gingerly sat down near her feet. “I’m not going anywhere until she wakes up.”

“Kellan…”

I snapped my gaze to him; it made my head hurt, but I ignored it. “If you hate me, fine, I understand, but I’m not leaving…so deal with it.”

“Fine, but sit in the chair, not by her.” He pointed over to the seat he’d been sitting in. I wanted to tell him to go to hell, that I’d sit wherever I damn well pleased, but I really did feel like shit, and relaxing back in the chair sounded a hell of a lot better than sitting at the end of a stiff bed. Although there was a certain appeal to the thought of being as close to Kiera as possible…

Pushing that thought from my mind, I stood up and moved to the chair. Kiera and I were many things, but still together wasn’t one of them. If she woke up…when she woke up…I’d have to tell her we were over. Regardless of what Denny’s plans with her were now, I was done. I couldn’t do this anymore.

I sat in the plush chair while Denny sat on the bed. I think I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, bands of sunlight were blinding my eyes. Blinking, I looked over at Kiera. She was stone-still on the bed, asleep or unconscious. The bruise on her face looked atrocious in the sunlight. Nurses were in the room checking on her, but Denny was nowhere to be found. “How is she?” I croaked.

A nurse looked over at me and was about to answer when a trio of nurses burst through the door. I frowned as I recognized them as my nurses. The blond one wasn’t so bubbly anymore. “There you are. You can’t just leave like that. You need to come back to your room so the doctor can check on you, and so we can check your bandages…”

Very carefully, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can do whatever you want to me, but unless you plan on knocking me out and dragging me back to my room, I’m staying here.”

The girl behind the blonde frowned; she looked extremely disappointed that I wouldn’t be returning with them. “Well, you at least need to fill out the paperwork…”

I lifted my good hand. “Gladly. You know where to find me.”

The nurse taking Kiera’s vitals gave me an amused smile while the other nurses left in a huff. “And I thought I was stubborn,” Kiera’s nurse said. Standing straight, she gave me appraising eyes. “How is your pain? Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. The only pain I had was from the uncertainty revolving around Kiera. “How is she?” I asked again.

The nurse frowned. “Better than before, but not out of the woods. I’m sorry. I wish I had better news.”

Swallowing, I nodded. It wasn’t her fault. Denny reentered the room with a steaming cup of something that I had to assume was tea. My gaze swung his way. It was his fault…and my fault. We’d both done this.

Denny asked the nurse the same thing I had, and she gave him the same answer. After she left, Denny sat back down on Kiera’s bed with a sigh. He glanced over at me with irritation in his eyes. “You should go home and change…”

I looked down at the shirt streaked in red. I probably should, but I couldn’t leave Kiera. “I’ll change later.”

Denny’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think she’s going to want to see you like that? Covered in her blood? Do you think that will help her recover?”

I leaned forward in my chair. “Do you think it matters what the fuck my shirt looks like when my face looks like this?” I pointed at the eye that was so swollen I could barely see out of it.

Denny sighed and dropped his eyes back to Kiera. A tense silence built up in the room and I gritted my jaw and closed my eyes. Denny and I snapping at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Evan knows where my house keys are hidden. I’ll call him and have him bring some clothes over.” I opened my eyes to see Denny staring at me. “But I’m not leaving, so stop trying to get rid of me.”

“I know,” he quipped. “You just can’t leave her alone, can you?”

Holding his gaze, I calmly said, “No. I can’t. And I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry? Well, that makes everything okay, doesn’t it?” He lifted his free hand in the air and spoke to the room like it was full of people. “No need to worry, everyone, Kellan’s sorry, so everything is fucking perfect again.”

I lifted my arm to show him the cast covering me from wrist to elbow. “Sometimes you screw up so badly that apologizing is the only thing left that you can do, Denny. I figured you, of all people, would understand that.” Denny sighed and looked away from me. I sighed too. I was so tired of this. “Look, I know you’re mad. I know I fucked up, okay? But all I’m worried about right now is Kiera…and whether or not she’s going to be okay. So maybe we could…hold off on trying to kill each other until she’s better?”

Denny’s eyes returned to mine. The anger had faded, and all I saw was sadness. “I don’t want to kill you. I just…don’t want to ever see you again.”

His words stung, but I deserved them. Nodding, I whispered, “I know. And as soon as she’s okay, you won’t have to. But until then, maybe we could…sort of get along?”

Denny gave me a curt nod. “Yeah. All right. For her sake, we’ll play nice.”

Closing my eyes again, I laid my head back on the chair. Good. Now let’s just hope she wakes up soon.

My nurses came back a little while later with paperwork and steri-strips. I let them do whatever they wanted while I signed myself out of the hospital’s care. Denny excused himself to make some phone calls once my nurses were gone, so I picked up the phone and called Evan. He was naturally quite concerned when I told him where I was and what I needed.

“The hospital? Why are you at the hospital? Are you okay?” With a sigh, I told him the highlights of my night from hell. When I was finished, he was silent for a really long time. “You were leaving? Without saying goodbye? What about the band? Were you going to tell us, or would we just be wondering where the hell you were next rehearsal?”

I could hear the anger and hurt in his voice. “I was…I would have called when I got wherever…I’m sorry, Evan.” My band hadn’t entered my mind, just escaping Kiera. God, I was a selfish bastard.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Evan hung up before I could apologize again, and I stared at the receiver. So I’d messed up in more than one way. My assholishness knew no bounds.

About an hour or so later, Evan walked into Kiera’s room. He looked at her still body on the bed, then over at me. His eyes widened as his mouth opened in shock. “Jesus,” he whispered.

His eyes flashed to Denny then, and I stood up. “Let’s go in the hallway,” I told him, “so Kiera can rest.” And so he wouldn’t start something with Denny.

Evan clenched his jaw and his fists started curling. One of them was holding a plastic bag full of fresh clothes for me. With my good hand, I pushed on his shoulder to get him out the door. I closed it once we were in the hallway.

Evan eyed me again in the bright fluorescents. “Denny did all this?” he whispered.

I shook my head. “No, Kiera and I were mugged. The robbers did all this.” My voice was slow and deliberate. This is our lie, and we need you to follow it. Please. Let this go. This was as much my fault as his.

Evan looked away, muttering, “Yeah…robbers.” With a sigh, he returned his gaze to me. Sticking out his hand, he passed me the grocery bag. “Here. Clean clothes. And I’ll go get your car too, if you give me your keys.”

“Thank you,” I replied, digging into my jeans for my car keys.

When I handed them over, Evan frowned. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t heard what I’m about to say.”

I tensed my muscles in anticipation. This was probably going to hurt. “Okay, hit me.” I cringed at my own comment. Bad choice of words.

Evan crossed his arms. “You’re a selfish son of a bitch, you know that?”

Yes, I’m aware. My eyes drifted back to Kiera’s door. “Evan…”

“No.” His finger dug into my shoulder. “You seem to think you’re all alone in this world, but you keep forgetting the fact that the three of us followed your ass up here when you ran back to Seattle.” Eyes boring into me, he shrugged. “Do you think we did that because we were bored?” I opened my mouth to speak, and he shoved me in the shoulder again. “No, you stupid asshole. We did that because we love you, and we believe in you. Your real parents may have been shit, but the three of us, we’re your family now. Get that through your damn skull!” His voice was low but intense, and his words sliced me open like razors. I felt raw all over.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t think…”

He recrossed his arms. “No, you didn’t. How could you ditch us like that? How could you abandon us? What the fuck were we supposed to do without you?” He lifted a hand into the air, like he was dumbfounded by my actions.