What just happened?
“That guy sure knows how to make an exit, doesn’t he?” Kyle says as he approaches the bed, his cheeks still a shade of pink.
What was he going to tell me?
Come to think of it, he did say he had something to tell me when all this was over. And it does seem over now.
“Here you go.” Kyle sets the bowl down on the bedside table, just beside Toshi’s note with my name on it. “So, they’re gone now, huh?”
“Yup.” I take a sip. “Funny how the house seems empty without them.”
“Yeah. People who stir things up tend to do that.” He rubs his chin. “Though I can’t say I miss them.”
I let that slide as I set my cup down. “How are you?”
“Good.” He pulls the chair close to my bed and sits on it. “I went to a doctor yesterday.”
“And?” I ask curiously.
“I thought he was going to call the cops. Well, he wanted to. He wouldn’t believe I fell off a roof.”
“What did he think happened?”
“That my wife was beating the crap out of me, I think.”
My eyes grow wider. “Really?”
“He must have thought I was one of those men into bondage or pain or you know, that sort of thing.” He rubs the back of his head.
I chuckle. “Poor Kyle.”
“And if that’s not bad enough, I have to take these pills that taste horrible, too, but hey, they did make me feel better.”
“That’s good,” I tell him.
He picks up the bowl. “So, are you hungry?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You don’t cook, remember?”
“There’s no harm in trying.” He hands me the bowl.
I shake my head, pinching my nose as soon as I get a whiff of something...not right. “I think there might be.”
Kyle’s eyebrows go up. “Really?”
He sniffs the bowl then grimaces in disgust. “Now that I think about it, I’m afraid you may be right.”
“You didn’t even smell it or taste it?” I ask in surprise.
“Nope.” He brings the bowl into the bathroom and moments later, I hear a plop and a flush. “What if I killed myself?”
I laugh, my cup quaking as I lift it to take another sip.
Just as I thought, Kyle never fails to make me laugh, and I have to admit it feels good to be able to laugh again.
Suddenly, with the rim of the cup to my lips, I pause, remembering when I thought that. That time, I had made up my mind to leave Kyle because I didn’t want him to be in danger, even though it hurt so much, much more than I expected. I remember, too, when Syllas threatened to hurt him and how the pain from that overwhelmed me, helping to send me over the brink.
Two different scenes, one common factor – Kyle.