Kylee returned to Price’s room. She was sitting on his hospital bed when he woke up a little after four in the morning.
“Hey,” she greeted. “How are you?”
He groaned and clasped his head with his hands. “I feel like I was hit by a truck.”
“Just my mom,” she joked.
His eyes darted to her, instantly more alert. “What?”
Before she could explain, a nurse stepped into the room, her curly blond hair pulled up into a ponytail. She gave him a perky smile. “You’re awake! Quite a close call you had.” She grabbed his wrist and consulted a gauge dangling down the front of her scrubs. “The police want to talk to you again. Are you up to it?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sure.”
“Okay.” She patted his shoulder through the thin hospital gown and walked out.
“Kylee. Kylee.”
It took several seconds of staring at the wall before Kylee realized someone was saying her name and shaking her arm. She turned her head, starting at the blurry face before it coalesced into familiar features. “Price?”
He frowned at her, head supported by the hospital bed. “Are you okay?”
I’m fine was on the tip of her tongue, but it also seemed like the biggest lie. “Why?”
“I don’t know. You zoned out or something.”
She’d more than zoned out. She felt like she hadn’t been in the room. “I was thinking.”
“Sure,” Price said. She could tell by the way he averted his eyes that he didn’t believe her. “So what did you think of what the police said?”
“When?” Was he referring to at the lake? Or in the ambulance?
“Just now. That it was your mom that attacked me. Did you know?”
She had no memory of the police coming in and talking to Price.
She wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Yeah,” she answered, her voice quiet. “I saw it happen.”
He waited, his golden-brown eyes on her. Well, one. The other was too swollen to open.
“She killed me too,” Kylee whispered. “It wasn’t Bill.”
Price sucked in his breath. “Kylee. I am so, so sorry.” He reached a hand out toward her, but she made no move to take it.
“We accomplished our mission. It’s over,” she said.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” She put on a big smile. “I’m glad people will stop thinking I killed myself. Maybe Jessica will feel better about life.” She stood up and walked to the window, rubbing her arms against an imaginary chill. Then she faced Price. “We need to go back to Madame Humphrey.”
He hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “You’re not all right, are you?”
“No,” she admitted. She held out her fingers and flexed them, then pulled her arms back to her chest. “I feel like a puppet master trying to move my body with strings. I don’t feel whole.”
“Come here.” Price held out his arms and gestured for her.
She hesitated. “I don’t know if I should.”
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“Listen,” he said, sounding a little irritated. “We’re the same people as before. Being close to me now isn’t going to make things worse.”
She stepped to the bed and lay down next to him, resting her head on his chest and letting him stroke her hair.
But she couldn’t help thinking he was wrong.
She wasn’t the same.
----------------------------------------
Mr. Hudson arrived with Lisa in the morning. They brought gummy bears and chocolate and lots of tears. Kylee felt like an intruder, watching the hugging and heartfelt confessions of love and affection.
The police had found Bill trying to cross the border into Maryland. Kylee wished she could have been there to see it when he was apprehended. But she felt no victory. Bill and her mother were both locked up now.
The hospital staff discharged Price with orders to lay low and call the doctor if he had problems sleeping.
“The police said they got everything they need from you,” Mr. Hudson said as he drove them home, glancing at Price in the rear view mirror.
Price sat in the back with Lisa, who had her arm hooked through his and refused to let go. Kylee was on the other side. Price’s shoulder bumped her with every jolt in the road, but the contact didn’t fill her with the warmth of connection like it used to.
“So they won’t be talking to me again?” he asked.
“Not if you don’t want them to,” his dad said. “They might want you to testify. But it’s up to you.”
“No, it’s fine.” Price’s hand brushed Kylee’s knuckles. “I want to.”
She knew he would do it for her. She returned his touch with a gentle squeeze.
Price pulled on her hand, tugging her toward his bedroom door. “Walk with me.”
She took a startled step backward, surprised to find herself out of the car and in his bedroom. “Why am I here? Where are we going?”
“You’re back.” An expression of relief crossed his face, his eyebrows lifting as he exhaled. “Finally.” He wasn’t wearing his bandage anymore, and his head wound looked much better, the swelling around his eye reduced to a yellow inflammation.
“What are you talking about?” She glanced around his room in confusion. “How did I get here?”
“You’ve been here for three days,” he said, his tone gentle. “But it’s like you’re not here. You move, you respond to what I tell you to do, but you don’t talk. You don’t act.”
“Three days.” Kylee had no memory of those three days. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the back of the BMW with Price and Lisa. Her mind buzzed like a noisy courtroom.
He grasped her hand again. “Stay with me, okay? My dad’s taking us to the boardwalk. All of us.”
The boardwalk. Madame Humphrey. Her mind cleared, and she nodded. “Okay.”
The car ride lasted a second. Price opened the back door and grabbed his bag, taking Kylee’s hand and getting her out, as well. “Is it all right if I take off for a bit, Dad? Meet up with you at lunch?”
“Of course.” Mr. Hudson stood on the sidewalk and pressed a button on the car, and it locked itself. “The usual spot?” He lifted his eyes to the sparkling ocean several yards away, his expression wistful.
“Yeah.” Price squeezed Kylee’s hand. “See ya in a few hours.” He pulled her down the street and turned to her as soon as they were out of earshot. “You still with me?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Good. I thought I lost you again.”
“I don’t remember the car ride,” she admitted.
“It’s okay. You’re here now. Focus.” He moved at a quicker pace than usual, something urgent in the way he strode down the boardwalk.
Kylee kept her thoughts centered on Price and their destination, hoping it would help her stay in the present. She recognized the stores they passed, yet the façades seemed muted, like someone had passed a sullied paintbrush over the whole block.
The bell jingling when Price pushed open the door drew her attention.
“Hello!” he called, not releasing her from his grip. He headed for the room in the back. “Madame Humphrey?”
Kylee resisted his pull on her arm. Why did he have to haul her around all the time?
“Hi, yes, I’m here.” Madame Humphrey’s warm, melodic voice greeted them, and she parted the beaded curtain. “Oh, it’s you!” Surprise registered in her green eyes as they landed on Kylee. “You’re still . . .” The rest of her statement died on her lips.
Kylee remembered why Price was dragging her around everywhere. “Exactly.” She stepped forward. “Why? We got a confession from my mother. Everyone knows she did it. My name’s been cleared.”
Madame Humphrey pressed her finger to her lips, considering Kylee. “It was never about the confession, Kylee. It was about loving yourself enough to chase after the truth.”
Loving herself. The words hit as hard as if someone shoved her. She pressed her hands over her chest, and tears pricked her eyes. She hadn’t loved herself. She’d squandered the gift of life, not realizing how valuable it was until it was gone. But now—now she saw herself differently. As someone worth loving. Someone who deserved to be loved. “Did I not succeed?” she whispered.
“You did succeed. You loved yourself enough to want your own vindication, and you accomplished it.”
“But I haven’t moved on.” Kylee looked around the shop, at the glass jars and smoky incense and dangly necklaces. “I don’t belong here anymore. I can feel it. It’s like I’m half here, only sometimes here.”
“May I speak to you in private, Kylee?” she asked.
“No,” Price said, shaking his head. “I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
Madame Humphrey turned her body, regarding Price. “There,” she said softly. “That’s the reason.”
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