Rebel With A Cause (31 page)

She walked around in a mini circle, before a sharp
ping
alerted her to the fact that the elevator was ready. She waited while a small family exited the elevator before darting in
herself
.

Kaitlyn was the only one in the elevator
, and she leaned against the elevator wall. She tapped her fingers in a nervous rhythm on her jeans.

“Come on, Katie,” she whispered desperately. “You can do this. You’re nearly an
adult;
it’s time to grow up.”

The elevator ride was over way too soon, in Katie’s opinion. She felt like she had barely even stepped in, when it was time to step out.

Her shoes went
click-click
on the linoleum floor
as she walked towards Carter’s room.
She walked down the corridor of ward seven, her heart hammering like a hummingbird’s wings.

Like before, the door to Carter’s room was closed. She tentatively wrapped her right hand around the handle to the door
but was surprised when it
was turned without her direction. The door was pulled out from underneath her and she stumbled.

She looked up to see who had opened the door, and came face to face with Bekah, who was smirking.

They locked eyes, and without saying a word
, Bekah flicked her hair at Kaitlyn and walked off.

Kaitlyn had no time to wonder about Bekah. She was too busy focusing on Carter, who was glaring at her, and ugly scowl marring his face.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Hey,” she said quietly. “How are you feeling?”

Carter grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. “You bitch!” he yelled. “You’re a useless bitch!”

The words stung. Hot tears pricked at her eyes. This was not the man she loved. The man she loved would never speak this way. He would do anything to protect her. He loved her.

This man didn’t love her.

“What?” she whispered. “What’d I do?”

He mocked her. “You know what you did, bitch. You kicked Bekah out of my house! What the hell is wrong with you? She’s homeless now!”

Kaitlyn shook her head. “No, I didn’t kick Bekah out. I had no idea she’d even moved out! I’m barely there anymore, Carter, and when I am, I’m in our room. I don’t leave it. Carter, I swear.”

He just laughed. “Don’t lie to me! Bekah’s sleeping in her car now! You’re just too selfish to share me with her! It’s over!”

“What?” Kaitlyn cried.
“No, no, Carter, no.
Please, no!” She fell to her knees, tears finally spilling over. It seemed like ever since De had become a close part of their lives – thanks to her – she’d spent
most of that time in tears.

Carter scoffed. “Oh, don’t give me that crap. You’ve been sleeping around while I’ve been in here, haven’t you?”

Kaitlyn gasped. She was no longer just sad, she was furious. “Like you can talk!” she screamed. “You’ve been cheating on me ever since we got together! I’ve
never
cheated, not once!
You’re
the cheater here, Carter, not me!”

Carter was about to scream back at her, but before he could, Kaitlyn wrenched the door open and ran out. She heard Carter screaming her name, but she ignored him. It was all too much. She loved Carter, but not enough to keep taking his crap. Carter was an angry, bitter man
, and not the one Kaitlyn loved. It was like he’d had a personality transplant. It was worse than him forgetting her. At least if he’d forgotten, she could have shown him the photos, the house, remnants of their life together. Instead of forgetting though, he’d hated her. Kaitlyn had never seen Carter like this before, and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Back in Carter’s room, Carter was cur
s
ing himself for behaving the way he did. He didn’t know why he’d reacted that way, when Bekah was the one he was mad at. Bekah had wanted Kaitlyn out of the way, and Carter resented her for it. But for some reason, he kept taking his anger out on Kaitlyn, instead of Bekah. It wasn’t right. When Kaitlyn had run out of his room in tears, he’d screamed for her. He wanted her to come back so he
could
comfort her, apologise to her. But he knew that wouldn’t happen.

He sighed angrily and lay back on his pillow. He turned his head away from the door
and stared out the window.

He was not surprised when he heard heavy, thudding footsteps approaching his bed. They were quick, and the atmosphere in the room darkened when they entered the room.

“What the
hell
were you thinking?” T-Man whispered angrily. “Kaitlyn’s down in the car
in tears
, because her dick of a boyfriend just accused her of shit she didn’t do! What the hell is wrong with you, man?”

Carter scowled and weakly punched T-Man in the jaw. “What I do is none of your business,” he growled.
“Leave me alone.”

T-Man ignored Carter’s feeble punch and grabbed his shoulders.

“Listen to me you idiot!” he said furiously. “Kaitlyn is like a
sister
to me, she’s like family. I don’t take too kindly to people who mess with my family.”

Carter scowled. “Don’t lie on my account. We both know you’re screwing her.”

T-Man wanted to scream out of frustration.
“For god’s sake!
Get this through your thick skull! There is nothing going on between me and Katie.”

T-Man was so sick of Carter’s crap.
Carter just felt so alone. Instead of sitting here, by his side, Kaitlyn was with T-Man, god only knows where, doing god knows what. All while
he was alone
in hospital, with nothing but his thoughts for company.

Carter sighed. “Just go away. Go and take care of Katie. Tell her I love her.”

T-Man scoffed. “Like she’s gonna believe that. You cheated on her, you dumped her, and now you called her
a bitch…dude,
she thinks you hate her.”

Carter closed his eyes. He was so tired. He was tired of saying the opposite to what he meant. He was tired of being alone. He wanted to leave, to go back home with Katie and spend the rest of his life with her. He knew she was The One, his heart told him so. But he seemed to have no control over what came out of his mouth when she was around.

“I don’t hate her,” he said quietly. “I really don’t.
But I can’t control what comes out of my mouth when she’s around.”

“Bullshit.”

Carter looked up at T-Man. “I’m being honest here, T. I can’t control it. Everything I want to say comes out the opposite. I want to tell her I love her, but it comes out all wrong.”

T-Man looked at his friend. Carter looked so lonely and forlorn. He needed people who loved him, but
he was all alone
. His cousin, his only remaining family, was taking advantage of him.

T-Man sighed. “Ok. I’ll try and bring her back, but you better stop with the mean comments. You’re hurting Katie, and I know when you’re back to normal, you’ll regret
it.”

Carter closed his eyes. “I already regret it.”

T-Man nodded and walked out. He was worried about Carter.
Really worried.
There had to be something wrong with his brain. The doctors missed something, because Carter was not right in the head.

He walked to the nurses’ station and introduced himself. “My name’s Arthur, I’m Carter Hawke’s next-of-kin. I’d like to talk to his doctor.”

The nurse gave him a funny look. “Oh, um, ok,” she stuttered.

The nurse was on the phone, chatting with
someone on the other end of the line. She looked up at T-Man briefly and then hung up the phone.

“Doctor Martin is doing his rounds,” she said pompously. “He should be around
in about twenty minutes.”

T-Man nodded. “Thanks.” He shot the nervous nurse a smile and walked out of the ward. He walked down the stairs, too amped up to wait for the elevator. When he got downstairs, he found Kaitlyn in the hospital café. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “You ok?”

She looked up at him and gave him a small, watery smile. “I guess.”

T-Man sat down opposite her and grabbed her hands. “Katie, I think something’s
wrong
with Carter
.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I think there’s something wrong with his brain.
Something to do with the love-hate part of his brain
.
I know how
much he loves you Katie, and if he was in his right mind, he’d never be saying those mean things.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she sighed. “He has reason to hate me. I put him in danger, and I’m the reason Aria’s dead.”

T-Man frowned.
“Then how about the fact that he loves Bekah now, even though
before he went to resc
ue you, he was furious with her?
”

Kaitlyn shrugged. “Again, it’s all tied to my stupid actions.”

T-Man squeezed her hands. “Look,” he said. “I think something’s wrong with Carter, and I’m staying to talk to his doctor.
You can either come back up with me, or you can wait down here, in the café, alone.”

Kaitlyn sighed. “I guess.”

“You guess what?”

Kaitlyn looked up at T-Man. “I’ll come and wait with you, for the doctor. But Carter’s going to
start in on me again, and I can’t handle that. After all the shit he’s put me through, this is just one thing too much. I can’t…I can’t handle it. It’s just too hard.”

T-Man sighed and stood up. He pulled Kaitlyn up with him and wrapped her in his arms.

“Sorry, Katie,” he said tiredly. “I didn’t realise it was so hard. You know you can always talk to me.”

She pulled away. “Let’s just go and talk to the doctor.”

“I think I know what he’s going to say,” T-Man said. “I think something happened while Carter was in a coma, and his
brain has somehow rewired itself to think love is hate and hate is love. Either that or he has post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Together, they walked up to Carter’s room, and Kaitlyn walked inside, numb from Carter’s constant hatred and rejection.
When Carter saw Kaitlyn, his sad expression turned into rage.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he bellowed. “Get out! I don’t want you here.”

T-Man frowned.
“Dude, chill out.”

Carter scowled. “I hate her! I want her out of here!”

Kaitlyn sighed and walked over to the window seat. She sat down and looked out, wishing that things could be different. Each mean word Carter said was like a blow to the heart. She loved Carter so much. To hear that he hated her, even though according to T-Man, he didn’t mean it, it hurt. She wanted to crumple to the ground and cry.

God, what’s happened to me?
she
wondered.
When did I become this pitiful girl who pines for love?

She sighed. She needed to get away from Carter. He was bringing her down, changing her. If she was changing for the better, she wouldn’t be upset, but Carter was changing her for the worse. She needed to get away from him.

T-Man walked over to Carter and punched him on the arm. Carter scowled.

“What the fuck was that for?” Carter screamed.

Kaitlyn saw red at that. She was sick to death of Carter’s anger, his selfishness, and his ego. She wanted to strangle him, and she’d never wanted to do that
before.

“That’s it!” she screamed, getting up from her seat and looming over Carter. “I am sick of your bullshit! I can’t take it anymore! You hate me, I get it! But stop blaming me for everything shit in your life! I may have fucked up, Carter, but you didn’t have to come after me! You could have let De kill me. You could have stayed away, with your friends and family, and worked on your little plan. I followed my gut instinct and it got Aria killed! It got you landed in hospital! You think I don’t regret everything I did? Yes, I regret what my actions caused
. I regret Aria dying, and I hate being the reason you’re in here. I’m sorry, Carter! I’m sorry! I don’t know what you want me to say
!”

She backed away and sat down, exhausted from her outburst.

Carter’s face was twisted into a horrible, threatening state of pure hatred. He looked like he wanted to strike Katie.

Kaitlyn looked away, tears slowly sliding down her face. She was just so tired, and so lonely. Carte
r hating her was horrible, and she needed to get away. She needed to leave him, or she’d go insane.

She shook her head and stood up. “I’m outta here. Do me a favour and don’t call me, Carter. I never want to hear from you again.”

“Good!” Carter screamed. “I hate you.”

Kaitlyn reached the door and paused. She looked back over her shoulder. “Goodbye, Carter. Have a nice life.”

As Kaitlyn walked out of the hospital and hopped on the train, she realised that she missed Carter, and that she would
continue missing him. She felt like she’d ripped her own heart out of her chest.