Talk to Me
| Chapter 4 After thanking James and talking with her Lieutenant Kris decided it was time to leave. She declined several offers for places to stay. She just wanted to be alone for a little bit. She drove for hours not really in any specific direction or to any particular destination. Eventually, she ended up at some beach somewhere along the west coast. Getting out of her Mustang she went and sat on the sand and watched the lazy waves of the gulf tickle the shore. Eventually, she fell asleep waking to the November mid-day sun glaring in her eyes, but not really warming her skin. Suddenly, she felt completely alone. Her brain was so foggy with emotion she couldn’t think. She had no idea what to do or where to go. As almost in a trance she got up and went back to her Mustang only to begin driving again. It usually brought her peace, cleared her head. Today, it did none of that. Again after several hours of driving she found a place and stopped. This time when she got out she went and sat on some steps. She couldn’t see the beach, but she could hear the surf and smell the salt in the air. She just sat and waited. Eventually, darkness came and with it brought a deeper chill to the air. Kris didn’t move. She didn’t cry. She didn’t shiver. She didn’t talk. She didn’t even think. She just sat and waited. Waited until she saw two headlights pulling up toward her, then she hugged her knees to her chest and continued to wait. Now she did shiver. Not from the chill in the air. ‘Is it too late? I don’t know where else to go.’ “Umm, Nick bro, were you expecting company?” Aaron asked. “Nope.” Nick knew the car and had seen Kris sitting on his steps. He just didn’t know how to react to that. “Nick, you have a girl sitting on your steps. Are you sure you didn’t forget something, a date maybe?” Aaron was smiling. “Naw. But, um, when we get out can you do me a favor? Can you just go on in? I don’t know what this is about or how long it will take. Ok?” A bit of worry was creeping into his thoughts when Kris never moved off the steps nor even bothered to look up. When his headlights hit her face he recognized that look in her eyes. “Sure. No problem Bro. You know her?” “Yeah. Kinda. I met her right after the tour ended. We’ve run into each other a few times over the year. Partied together too.” “Oh. Ok. Take your time. Mind if I play a few games?” Aaron asked cheerfully. He knew Nick would say yes, he always does. “Help yourself.” They both got out of the car and Aaron ran inside. Nick walked up to and sat down next to Kris. Neither of them spoke for the longest time. Nick was surprised when Kris spoke first. “It’s Evie.” “Huh? What’s Evie? What’s happened?” Kris finally looked at Nick. Her eyes were red and puffy and the tears that wouldn’t fall earlier fell in abundance now. She had started to tremble and her throat felt like it was on fire from trying to control all this and speak too. “It’s Evie.” She said again. “She was in an accident..........hospital.........unresponsive.....”And that was basically all Nick could understand. Kris buried her head in her arms, which were still wrapped around her knees. Then he heard a muffled, “I didn’t know...........go............you..............sorry.” Again, he only caught a few words of what she was saying, but still understanding her completely. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” He put his arm around her and helped her surprised that she was actually able to stand on her own. “How long have you been here?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Why didn’t you call? I would’ve come to where you were.” She shrugged again. Nick led Kris to the couch and told her to lie down. Looking around he realized that Aaron must have gone into one of the other rooms to play. Covering Kris up with a blanket, he told her to stay put, that he’d be back just as soon as he figured out exactly where Aaron was. Kris nodded her head, tears still streaming down her face. Aaron had actually taken the games up to the room he was staying in. Nick took the time to explain a little more about who Kris was and why she was there at that moment. Of course, he left out many details, including their argument and the hurtful things he had said. “That’s cool. I’ll just chill up here. We didn’t have anything planned for tonight anyway, besides pizza.” Just happy to have time where both of them were off so they could see each other Aaron didn’t mind at all. “And Pizza we’ll have. Give me a bit and I’ll order some, ok?” “Yup. Now get outta here so I can beat your wimpy high score.” “Wimpy, huh? You’ll take that back before you leave here. I am the master!” “Oh, yeah? Dream on bro.” The two brothers joked for a few more minutes and then Nick went back down to check on Kris and to find out exactly what had happened to Evie. When he got downstairs he found that Kris had cried herself to sleep. Sitting Indian-style on the floor next to her he studied her face. She didn’t have any makeup on, but then he thought she doesn’t need it. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with untamed curls escaping around her face. Her eyes were puffy from crying and he could still see the fresh tears along her cheeks. She was lying on her side, knees curled up in fetal position, and her hands were tucked under her cheek. Softly he spoke. “Why did you come here? Why’d you choose me? I guess I just figured I’d be the last person you’d want to go to with something like this; not that I’m complaining. I guess I’m just a little confused, ya know.” Getting up off the floor he brushed a stray hair away from her eyes and she sighed then smiled in her sleep.
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