Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Eight
“What the fuck happened?” Connor was yelling at Milana but she couldn’t speak. The words wouldn't form and the horror unfolding in front of her eyes was one she couldn't look away from even though she didn't want to see it.
Blood seeped from under Kelley’s head as he lay on his back with his eyes closed. Milana’s whole body shivered and Steel wrapped his arm around her. Connor’s mouth was moving and he had his phone pressed to his ear but Milana couldn’t hear a word he said.
“He has a girlfriend,” she muttered and Connor’s eyes snapped to hers.
“So you tried to kill him?” His voice was harsh and angry and Milana flinched away from him. She'd never seen Connor this upset or angry and the fury that was directed at her filled her with cold trepidation.
Minutes ticked by and then the front door was flung open and paramedics knelt next to Kelley. Steel moved her further away and one paramedic pressed her fingers to Kelley’s neck. “Pulse is slow … we’re losing him!”
His shirt was pulled open, the buttons popping off and bouncing on the tiled floor as they placed patches on him and then his upper body lifted off the tiles and the machine’s lines didn’t move, it was just one flat line.
By the third time they shocked Kelley, a beeping sound came from the machine and the lines spiked. “He’s back.” His head was bandaged and Milana blinked. When had they done that? There was a neck brace around his neck and then they were turning him sideways, sliding a board under him and lifting him onto a gurney.
Connor spoke to the paramedics and Steel’s arm was still around her. She couldn’t move and the puddle of blood on the floor mocked her. Milana stepped forward but Connor’s glare made her halt in her steps.
“I’ll go with him. Get her a fucking sedative or something. I’ll call as soon as I know something.” And then Connor was gone, running out of the front door and jumping into the back of the ambulance. Milana hadn't even realized she'd been sobbing but her tears dripped from her face and she tried to wipe them away.
The sirens were loud and the flashing lights bounced into the front door and cascaded over the white tiles. Milana turned sideways and vomited as Steel held her. Milana started crying again and Steel scooped her up in his arms.
She felt the bed beneath her and looked up as Steel hovered over her. He was holding a washcloth and wiping her face. He handed her a glass of water and she took it from him. She took a sip and then she coughed, the water sloshing over the rim.
“Is he okay?”
Steel lowered his gaze and sat down on the bed in front of her. “I don’t know, Milana. Connor will call as soon as he knows something.”
“He hates me,” she whispered.
“What happened?” Steel’s eyes were soft and worry filled them.
“We were arguing. I found a photo on his phone. Some woman’s photo was on his phone and I confronted him.”
“Sylvie,” Steel whispered.
“You knew?” Milana shook her head and took another deep breath. “Everyone knew, of course everyone knew.”
“Did you push him, Milana?” Steel’s voice was gentle but Milana knew that every single person in that house was there for Kelley, nobody else.
“I threw his phone at his head. He lost his balance and fell backwards. I did not push him,” she said vehemently.
“Okay.” Steel’s hand rubbed over his face and Milana could see the worry in his eyes. “I believe you, Milana.”
Milana clenched her eyes shut and reached for Steel’s hand. She gripped it tightly. “Does he love her? Is she nice? Did you all like her?”
Steel shook his head as Milana opened her eyes. “Don’t do this to yourself. Kelley loves you. He sat in that waiting room for six hours. He didn’t leave once, not for coffee, not to make a call. He waited to hear about you.”
“He wanted a divorce, Steel, before he knew about Kyzer. He told me over the phone that he wanted to divorce me. He wanted her.”
“None of us knew if you were ever coming back. Those first two months,” Steel clenched his jaw and shook his head slowly before looking at her again. “He was different, colder, angrier. Everyone urged him to move on, to get over you.”
“Is he going to die, Steel?”
Steel’s hand tightened around hers. “I don’t know, Milana. I really don’t know.”
They sat on that bed for two hours before Connor called the first time. Kelley had flat lined in the ambulance again and they’d rushed him to surgery. The hospital had called in a neurosurgeon and the prognosis wasn’t good.
“He’s got bleeding on the brain. I overheard two nurses talking, he’s got a ten percent chance of surviving the surgery,” Connor said over the phone.
Steel inhaled sharply. “Fuck … and if he survives the surgery, what’s his prognosis?”
Milana could hear every word Connor said and she wrapped her arms around herself as he talked about statistics and what not.
“I don’t know, Steel, I really don’t fucking know.” Connor’s voice cracked at the end and Milana became aware of voices coming from downstairs.
The bedroom door opened and another guard cleared his throat. “Steel, the cops are here. They want to talk to her.” The man nudged his head in Milana’s direction and another shudder ran through her.
“We can’t put it off any longer, Milana. You have to talk to them,” Steel said gently.
“Will you be there?”
Steel nodded his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The police questioned her for only forty minutes, concluding that his fall was accidental and nobody mentioned the cameras. Milana felt like she was on autopilot, going through the motions and she was afraid that Kelley would die.
