Chapter 6

Nate and Ashley drove in silence to the hospital. Nate seemed more than happy to be rid of Ashley as he dropped her off by the curb. Truth was, Ashley needed some time away from him too. She couldn’t help but feel a small attraction to him but she couldn’t tell what kind. She wanted him around for company but she wasn’t sure there was a physical attraction. If there was, maybe she was just ignoring it.
Ashley walked up to Kyle’s floor, gave her ID to the nurse and the guard outside Kyle’s room and slipped inside. It was quiet and it gave her time to think.
Stepping over to Kyle’s bed, she found that his tubes had been removed. At least most of them. He still had wires coming off of his body but the breathing tube that had been down his throat was gone. That was a good sign. His eyes were closed as Ashley sat down next to him.
“Hey, bud, how are you doing?” She thought she saw a flicker of movement in his eyelids in response to her question. She hoped it wasn’t her imagination. “It’s Ashley, do you remember me?” His eyelids flickered again. It wasn’t her imagination. “Kyle, open your eyes, look at me.”
She waited. Kyle’s eyes flickered again and then opened. The light blinded his eyes and he closed them again. Ashley walked back to the door, shut the overhead lights off and sat back down. She held his hand, encouraging him to look at her. He responded to her touch, and his eyes found hers.
“Hey buddy, can you look at me?” Ashley waited until his eyes stayed on hers. “I’m here to help you. Can you talk to me?”
“My throat hurts.” Kyle used his free hand to rub his neck. Ashley found him some water and let him drink until he coughed. “Thanks.”
“Kyle, I know you don’t know me very well but I want to be here for you. I want to be your friend.” Kyle didn’t seem convinced by her speech. “I know I told you the other day that I used to have a son. He would be a bit older than you but do you know what happened?”
Kyle shook his head, now she had his attention.
“I was at home,” Ashley paused. This would be harder than she had expected. “I was at home cooking dinner. My husband, Donnie, had gone to the store with our son. He had just turned one. He was so adorable.” Ashley wiped her eyes. Aidan had been her life. He had looked just like his father. The same sparkling and mischievous blue eyes. The same hair that stuck up in the morning but always laid flat on his head by the end of the day making him look like a Precious Moments doll.
“What happened?” Kyle asked then coughed again. The removal of the breathing tube must have been very recent.
“I’m sorry. You know how you had a bad day? I had a really bad day too,” Ashley paused again and tried to smile. “I was cooking dinner inside and I heard the garage door open. That always meant that Donnie was home. I remember smiling because I loved him so much. I loved them both. I remember hearing the van door open and then close. That meant that Donnie had taken Aidan out of the van. It took them a little while to come in so I figured they had gone to get the mail. Donnie did that a lot…” Ashley covered her mouth. The tears were becoming impossible to control. After eleven years she should be able to talk about it without crying but she couldn’t.
Kyle squeezed her hand. “You can tell me.” His words made him sound older than his nine years. Ashley wondered if he had comforted someone else before her.
“It was weird, Kyle. They didn’t come back in right away and that’s not like them. Then I heard these pops. Quite a few of them. I didn’t know what that meant until I ran outside. They were both lying there in the driveway. There was blood everywhere.” Ashley looked at Kyle to see if she got a reaction. Not much of one. She couldn’t decide what that meant. Had he seen his mother lying on the ground? Had he seen what happened to his sister? Either he didn’t so he had nothing to compare her words to or he had and couldn’t bring himself to talk about it.
“Where they okay?” Kyle asked the question slowly as though he knew what the outcome was but didn’t want to hear the reality. Ashley could empathize with that.
“No, they weren’t. I called the police but my husband was gone when they arrived and Aidan didn’t survive long in the hospital…”
“Like my mom?”
“Yes, sweetie, like your mom.” Ashley squeezed Kyle’s hand tighter. She watched a tear roll down his cheek and expected more but none followed. He used his free hand to wipe the one tear away.
“What about Kayla?”
“I don’t know about her. Everyone is looking for her.” Ashley decided to try asking a case-related question. “Did you see anything? Did you see anyone take Kayla?”
“No.” Ashley knew that was a lie. Kyle pulled his hand from Ashley’s grasp and crossed his arms. He was no longer willing to meet Ashley’s gaze. Not a good sign of an interview going well.
Ashley switched the subject back to herself. “I miss Donnie and Aidan so much. Do you miss your mommy?”
“Yes.”
“What do you miss about her?”
“I don’t know. She was cool. She knew when I had a bad day…” Kyle’s voice trailed off. It was obviously a subject he was embarrassed about.
“Do you have a lot of bad days?”
“I just don’t like… I don’t like going to school without Kayla. She’s my best friend and she takes care of me. Mom understood that.”
“What about your dad?”
“He’s always pretty busy. I don’t know if he knew.” Another averted gaze, another lie. Something wasn’t right in the family but Ashley couldn’t put her finger on it.
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Ashley’s gaze shifted from Kyle to the man standing at the door. It was Michael. His grin revealed perfectly straight and very white teeth. Every hair was perfectly in place and up to date. The man was a walking billboard for fashion. He was meant for politics.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were here,” Michael said as he entered the room.
“I thought it would do some good to spend some time with Kyle.”
“Has he said anything?” Was that anxiety or concern in his voice?
“No, we’ve just been getting to know each other a little better.” Ashley smiled at Kyle to bring him into the conversation. He was a child but they didn’t need to speak about him as if he wasn’t there. Kyle forced a smile onto his lips as though he spent his life doing just that. Kyle would make a wonderful husband someday. He seemed to be truly concerned how others around him felt despite his own pain.
“Did you say anything about the girl?” Michael lowered his voice and attempted to speak out of the side of his mouth. Kyle didn’t miss a thing. Ashley avoided pointing out that Kyle was nine, not three.
“No…”
“What girl?” Kyle asked.
“It’s okay, bud, don’t worry about it.” Michael’s patronizing tone did nothing to help the situation.
“Tell me.” Kyle waited while no one spoke. “What girl? What about her? Was it Kayla?”
“No, it wasn’t Kayla. The police found another girl that was missing…” Michael pulled up another chair and sat on the other side of Kyle, taking the hand that Ashley wasn’t holding in his.
“Is she okay?” Silence filled the room again. “Is she okay?”
“No, sweetie; the police found her body.” Ashley tried to break the news as gently as possible but she knew nothing would truly soften the blow.
“What happened? What happened to her?”
“We don’t know much yet. The police are looking into it. Remember the guy that came in with me before? That was Nate and he is going to find the person who did this and arrest them.”
“What about Kayla?”
Ashley knew she couldn’t make promises that couldn’t be kept. Ashley had no way of knowing whether or not Kayla was alive or dead and she didn’t want to promise Kyle anything.
Michael saved her from her thoughts even if Ashley wouldn’t have chosen the words herself. “Kyle, Nate will do everything he can to find Kayla. We all will. I know she’s safe. I can feel it so I want you to feel it to. Can you do that?”
Kyle only nodded his response. Ashley was sure she wasn’t the only one in the room to notice Michael’s change of tone. Maybe this man could connect with his son after all. From experience Ashley knew they would need each other to make it through such a hard time. She had wished for someone like that in her life after Donnie and Aidan died. Her church had tried to reach out to her and they had but she had pushed them all away. What could they give her? What could God give her? He had already taken everything away and she had nothing left to give anyway.
Michael turned his attention to Ashley. “Thank you for coming to see him. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to you after the meeting but thank you for all you’re trying to do. It means so much to our family.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to help any way that I can.”
Michael reached across and took Ashley’s hand in his. His hands felt strong and warm around hers. Somehow the gesture seemed natural although the smile on Michael’s face made Ashley believe it was planned. “Let me say thank you. Let me take you out to dinner. It’s late and it’s been a long day. You could use the break and Kyle could use the rest.” Michael turned his eyes to Kyle. “What would you think of that, son? If I were friends with Ashley would you talk to her?”
Kyle didn’t respond but his eyes grew wide. Ashley wished she knew what he was thinking. His mother had just died days ago and here is father is asking another woman out to dinner. Don’t be silly, Ashley, it’s not a date. But there was something else in those eyes that Ashley couldn’t read. Weakly, the boy nodded.
“It’s okay buddy. I’ll leave it up to you. If you don’t want me to talk to your dad then I won’t. I’m here for you. What would you like?” Ashley pulled her hand out of Michael’s and focused completely on Kyle. The boy needed to know that she was here for him and not for his father or anyone else.
“I…don’t…know.” The words came out slowly from Kyle’s mouth.
Ashley sighed. As innocent as her intentions were with Michael, Kyle might not interpret it that way. “You know what, Michael; I don’t think that would be a good idea right now. I’m going to stay with Kyle for a while longer.”
A strange look crossed Michael’s face but was quickly replaced with a smile. “I understand.” Michael stood, kissed Kyle on his forehead, gave Ashley another smile and left the room. As Ashley watched his retreating back, she wondered if she had made a huge mistake while at the same time realizing that her heart couldn’t have taken even a few moments alone with Michael.