More to Us (29 page)

She grabs my arm. "No. Don't go. Please." She squeezes my arm, cringing in pain.

I lean down to her. "Kira, you're scaring the shit out of me. You need to tell me what to do. Should I call an ambulance?" I get my phone out. "I'm calling 911."

"No." She takes my phone. "Just drive me in your truck." She takes a deep breath. "I'll be okay. I just need to get to a doctor."

"I'm not moving you if your leg is broken."

"It's not," she says, quickly shaking her head. "It just hurts."

"You just said—"

"What's going on?" a guy asks. I turn and see Mark behind me. He's the manager.

"She thinks she broke her leg."

He gets his phone out. "I'll call an ambulance."

"No!" Kira says. "Don't call them! If my parents find out I went by ambulance, they'll freak out."

Mark looks at me, his phone in his hand, unsure what to do.

I look back at Kira. "I think you should go by ambulance. If your leg hurts that bad then—"

"It doesn't. It's getting a little better. Can you just get me to a doctor?"

"I can help you move her," Mark says from behind me.

I keep my eyes on Kira. "Can I carry you or will that hurt your leg?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to try it and see."

I turn back to Mark. "Can you help me get her off the machine?"

"Sure." He stands next to me.

"Can I touch your leg?" I ask her.

She nods and I slide my hands under her leg and gently lift it up. "You doing okay?"

She nods again, her eyes on her leg.

"Mark, you help her sit up while I move her leg."

We slowly move her so that she's sitting up straight.

"I'm going to lift you up, okay?"

"Yeah." She holds onto me and I lift her into my arms. "Mark, can you grab my wallet and keys? They're in my locker." I give him my locker number and combination and moments later, he's back and helping us out the door. We go to my truck and he opens it and I set Kira inside. "You still doing okay?"

"Yeah," she says, but she doesn't look okay. She looks scared and in pain.

I secure her seatbelt in place and look at her. "It's gonna be okay."

She nods, but still looks scared.

I go around to the driver's side and head to the nearest hospital. I reach over and hold her hand, and when I glance at her, I see her quietly crying. Shit. She's in pain. What am I doing driving her? I should've called an ambulance.

"Is the pain getting worse?" I ask.

"No. It's the same. I just..." She closes her eyes.

"What?" I squeeze her hand. "What is it?"

She shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

The hospital's just up ahead. I spot the emergency room sign and follow it to the entrance. I park the truck right by the door.

"Wait here," I tell Kira. I go inside and find a nurse.

A few minutes later, Kira and I are sitting in the waiting room, her in a wheelchair with her leg up, and me sitting beside her as she fills out the insurance forms.

My phone's been buzzing for the past ten minutes. I'm late to work. I call Nash.

"Hey, I can't come in," I tell him.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Kira got hurt at the gym. We're in the ER."

"Shit. What the hell happened?"

"She was using one of the weight machines and hurt her leg."

"Did she break it?"

"We don't know yet. She's waiting to see a doctor."

"Don't worry about work. I'll bring a guy in to cover your shift."

"Thanks."

I must sound nervous because Nash says, "Austin. She's gonna be okay."

I nod. "Yeah."

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Bye." I shove my phone in my pocket.

"Can you take this up there?" Kira hands me the clipboard with the insurance forms. I bring it up to the nurse's station, then sit down by Kira again. I'm anxious and fidgety, my foot tapping on the floor.

Kira puts her hand over mine. "Austin, stop worrying. I'll be fine."

I shake my head. "I never should've made you do those extra reps."

"It's not your fault."

"It IS my fault." I look at her. "I should've made you stop, but I didn't, and now you're in the emergency room."

I'm so pissed at myself right now. Why did I listen to her? I knew she was pushing herself too hard and yet I let her do it. Why the hell did I let her do it?

"How bad is the pain?" I ask.

"Not as bad as it was."

"Is it your whole leg or just part of it?"

"Austin, I don't want to talk about it. Can we talk about something else?"

I hear a kid crying and look up and see a young girl, also in a wheelchair with her leg up. Her parents are trying to calm her down.

"You need to call your parents," I tell Kira.

"No. They don't need to know."

"They wouldn't want to know their daughter's in the hospital?"

She doesn't answer.

"Kira, I'm serious. Call them."

"I'm not calling them," she bites out.

"Why wouldn't you call them? You're in the emergency room. Your family needs to know."

"I'm an adult. They don't need to know."

"You're on their insurance. They're gonna find out."

"Shit," she mutters. "Then I'll tell them later. They don't need to know right now."

What is her problem? Why wouldn't she tell her parents?

"You need to at least call Amber," I say.

"She's in class."

"Then text her."

"Stop telling me what to do," she whispers, glaring at me.

I sigh and sit back in the chair, my foot still tapping the floor. I'm so tense right now. I'm angry that Kira got injured, frustrated I can't help her, and worried she's hurt more than she's telling me.

"Austin." She threads her hand in mine. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just in pain and when I'm not feeling good, I get cranky."

"Hey." I lean over and kiss her. "I understand. I just wish I could do something."

"Kira Jacobs?" the nurse says.

Kira raises her hand. "Right here."

I stand up as the nurse comes over.

"I want to go alone," Kira says to me.

"You don't want me coming with?"

"No. Besides, you need to get to work."

"I'm not going to work."

"Austin, just go. Amber can pick me up later."

"Are you kidding? I'm not leaving. You're my girlfriend and you're in the freaking hospital."

The nurse starts wheeling Kira away. I follow beside them.

"I'll call you later, okay?" Kira says.

"No, it's not okay. I'm not leaving you."

The nurse stops as we reach the door that leads to the exam area. "Is he coming with?"

"No," Kira says, looking at me. "Austin, I'm sorry, but I need to do this alone." She nods at the nurse to continue through the door.

I'm left standing there, confused, wondering what the hell just happened. Why is she shutting me out like this? Why would she want me to leave? Why wouldn't she want me with her?

I call Amber. I don't give a shit if Kira gets mad about it. Maybe Amber can figure out why Kira's acting this way.

"Hello?" she answers. She doesn't sound right. Her voice is hoarse and lower than normal.

"Hey, it's Austin. Are you in class?"

"No. I'm not going today. I'm sick. Have you seen Kira? She's usually home by now."

"She's at the hospital."

"What?" I hear the phone drop on something, then hear her voice again. "Kira's at the hospital?"

"Yeah. She hurt her leg. We're in the ER. They just took her to be examined."

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute. Which hospital?"

I give her the name and directions, and a half hour later she shows up.

"Any news?" she asks when she sees me.

"The nurse said they're taking her for x-rays, then they have to wait for a doctor. She said it could be a couple hours."

"Seriously?" She sits down next to me. "Why are these places always so damn slow? And why don't they ever tell you anything?"

"I don't know." I glance at the door that Kira went through. I haven't seen anyone come out of there the whole time I've been waiting.

"It's just like when she fell," Amber says. "She was unconscious and they took forever to tell us anything."

I turn to Amber. "She was unconscious?"

"Yeah. We all thought she had a brain injury but then they told us she passed out from the pain."

"When did this happen?"

"When she broke her leg. She told you about the accident, right?"

"Not really. She said she broke her leg but that it wasn't a big deal."

"Oh." Amber looks down.

"What? What are you not telling me?"

Her phone rings. "Shit, I was supposed to turn this off." She goes to shut it down but then says, "It's Kira." She gets up and races outside to answer it. I follow her, but can't tell what Kira is saying. Amber just keeps nodding as she listens. "Okay, bye."

"What'd she say?"

"She's waiting to see a doctor. She wants me to go in there and wait with her. They only allow one person back there so she said you should just go to work."

Now I'm really getting angry. "What the fuck is going on here? Why does she keep telling me to leave?"

Amber looks down at her phone, then back at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't know she didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

She glances at the hospital door. "I have to get in there. Can we talk later?"

"No. We're talking now."

"I don't have time to explain it."

"Then give me the short version." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

She sighs. "When Kira told you it wasn't a big deal when she hurt her leg, she lied. It WAS a big deal. It was a HUGE deal. She got hurt really bad."

Fuck. I had a feeling Kira was hiding something from me. I just didn't know what.

"I can tell you more later," Amber says. "Kira said they'd be sending her home in a few hours. I'll give you a call when we're back."

"I need to know what's wrong with her. I'm not leaving until I know."

"She said they think it's a stress fracture. They did an x-ray but they're doing an MRI to confirm it."

"Stress fracture. So that's not that bad, right?"

"No. I had one in my foot when I did gymnastics. I just had to wear one of those boots for a few weeks. But they do hurt a lot, at least mine did. It sounds like she has stress fractures in two places so I'm guessing that's why she's in so much pain. Austin, I really need to go. I told her I'd be right in."

"And what about me?"

She glances down, not saying anything.

"Kira really told you to send me away?"

Amber nods. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," I say quietly.

"I'll call you later." She goes in the hospital and I remain outside.

I can't fucking believe this. Kira wants me to leave? This doesn't even make sense. Why would she push me away like this?

Everything was going so great between us, and now I find out she's been hiding this secret. I don't even know the whole story but I'm still pissed. Why would she hide this from me? I've told her everything about me, even things my own family doesn't know. And then I find out she hasn't been truthful about herself.
 

I guess I should've listened to my gut. I had a feeling something would go wrong between us. And now it has.

Austin

"Hey," I say as Amber greets me at the door. It's just after three. She called me an hour ago to tell me she was back at the apartment with Kira.

I haven't heard anything from Kira. Not even a text. I've called her, texted her, but heard nothing back. It pisses me off, and yet I still want to see her. I have to know she's okay. Amber told me the doctor confirmed that Kira has two stress fractures in her lower leg. He said she'll be fine, but I need to see for myself that she is, and then we have to talk. I need Kira to explain what really happened to her and why she hid it from me.

"Hi." Amber steps aside, letting me in the apartment. She's sniffling and coughing and seems even sicker than she was this morning.

"Is Kira in her room?"

"Yeah, but she's asleep. They gave her some painkillers that make her tired. She'll probably be out for at least an hour. But I thought you should come over now so we could talk."

"I'd rather hear this from Kira."

"She won't tell you. She refuses to talk about it, even with me. She likes to pretend it never happened." Amber goes over to the couch and sits down, hugging one of the throw pillows and resting her head on it, looking tired and like she doesn't feel well. "You want to sit down?"

I go over and sit on the pink recliner that's next to the couch. It belonged to Amber's grandma. I never sit on it, but I don't want to sit on the couch next to Amber and risk getting whatever illness she has.

"So, um, we never get to talk so I want to start by saying thanks for not saying anything to Dylan."

"About what?"

"Me." She sniffles, slouching into the couch, then suddenly straightens up and looks at me. "You didn't tell him, right?"

"Tell him what? I don't know what you're talking about."

"That I'm here in town. And that you know me." She pauses. "Wait. Didn't Kira tell you?"

"Um...I'm still not sure what you're talking about."

"Oh." She looks down at the pillow she's holding. "I just assumed she told you. I mean, I asked her not to, but you two are so close, and you're together all the time. I just assumed she told you and asked you not to say anything to Dylan."

That nagging feeling is creeping up again and I really don't like it. What else did Kira hide from me?

"What did you think Kira told me?" I ask. "Something about Dylan?"

She nods. "Yeah. I thought you knew."

"Knew what?" I move to the edge of the chair. "What's going on?"

She looks at me and sighs. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell him."

Now I'm feeling anxious and a little sick to my stomach. "I can't promise you that until I know what you're talking about. Dylan's one of my closest friends. I'm not going to hide something from him if it's something he needs to know."