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Chapter Forty Eight

By the time that I caught up to Brian, Leighanne, and Noah, I was shaking like a leaf. Brian was the first one to scream when he saw her. A firefighter was crouched down beside her doing CPR.

"Stand back," he said before he went back to what he was doing. Brian and Noah began to practically walk in place as if an invisible glass wall had been erected. Leighanne began to bawl hysterically. I knew I wasn't far behind.

I didn't think the CPR was going to help. Blood. It was everywhere. The image burned into my retinas. The smell was strong. Kay was as white as the roses that were scattered underneath her.

It was like a very sick, very wrong version of Romeo and Juliet. It was cruel that someone in such a state should look so damn beautiful.

"Let me through!"

Mason brushed past me. He knelt down next to the firefighter.

I knew he was studying to be a doctor, but he was way too young to have gotten very far yet. Even so, he surveyed the situation with an eagle eye.

"They're slashed the wrong way," he declared. He looked up.

"Noah, Brian...give me your ties."

They both ripped their ties off of their necks and passed them to him. Mason worked quickly. The firefighter kept up the CPR.

"She's got a weak pulse," Mason said.

I pressed my hands to my mouth. I was sobbing like a baby. This was my fault. How could I have said the things I said to her?

I felt strong arms around me. I glanced up in surprise. Dad held onto me tightly. All of the color was drained out of his face. His eyes didn't leave Kay's motionless body. I buried my face into his chest and sobbed. I had no idea where Trevor was; I was just thankful for my dad.

As I clung to dad, the paramedics arrived. Everyone was sandwiched against the wall. I watched helplessly through the blurriness of my vision as Mason ran through his observations.

The medics moved quickly. Kay was slid onto a stretcher and then hoisted in the air. Uncle Brian and Aunt LeighLeigh trailed after it.

As she passed Noah he called out her name loudly. Of course, there was no response. In less than a minute, all that was left were smashed roses, a blood stained carpet, Mason, and the Carters.

"What happened?" dad asked tensely.

Noah seemed incapable of answering. I took several deep breaths. My brain worked furiously to try to even remotely explain this without telling all of Kay's dirty secrets.

"Something happened to Kay in the past," I said slowly. "And her parents don't know."

"What happened?" dad asked. Noah looked at me. I knew he wanted to know as well.

"I can't say."

Dad's eyes darkened. "Brooke, Kay just tried to commit suicide. If she can't help herself, as her best friend, you can help her."

I sighed. I had already totally ruined her life. I knew that telling what I knew couldn't make it any worse. It was pretty rock bottom.

"Kay was raped like a year ago," I said quietly. "Uncle Bri and Aunt LeighLeigh have been so busy with the wedding that she hasn't felt like anyone cares. She's been drinking and...and...having sex with random guys to make her feel better."

I started to sob all over again. "But daddy, I don't think it makes her feel better. I want to help her, but I don't know how."

Noah turned towards the wall, but I saw the pain in his face. Dad wrapped his arms around me again and kissed the top of my forehead.

"I didn't know," Noah said in a strangled voice. Several minutes passed. My tears had soaked through dad's white dress shirt. Noah turned around.

"Dad, I slept with her. Brooke ran into the hall to rat us out," Noah admitted.

"I said some horrible things to Kay," I added in barely a whisper. "I practically called her a worthless tramp. I ran downstairs, Noah followed...and then she...she..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. Dad looked at us in surprise.

I'm pretty sure he would have taken our toddler drama over our teenage drama anyday.

Dad took a deep breath.

"I want you both to go outside and wait with mom, Landon, and Pey. I'm going to talk to the hotel staff about room changes. Once I get that straightened out, we're all going to change."

"But Kay--" Noah said. Dad held up his hands.

"Brian and Leighanne don't need all of us there. We're going to wait here and see what happens. Once we know more we'll go."

Noah's jaw tensed but he shut his mouth. I wiped my face with the back of my hand. We headed towards the staircase at a much slower pace than earlier in the evening. Before I opened the door, Noah stopped. Dad had his arm.

"And later, we need to talk," dad said.

Noah nodded miserably. We walked in silence down to the first floor.

"I didn't know there was a one o'clock at NIGHT!" Landon said. He was weaving back and forth on mom's leg. Brenna was standing behind mom doing an identical weaving pattern.

"DUH! Papa J and I eats ice cream in the night time!" Brenna declared happily. She glanced around. AJ, Howie, and Kevin were huddled around talking. They must have sent the rest of their families back to the hotels.

"PAPA!" Brenna yelled. AJ looked over at her.

"What's up, pumpkin?"

"I WANT ICE CREAM!"

As it turned out, AJ and Kevin took Brenna and Landon for ice cream. Shelby had gone with Mason so that he could wash off all the blood. Howie told mom he was going back to his hotel, but made her promise that dad would call him when we knew more.

"Is Kay going to be alright?" Peyton asked me.

I met mom's worried gaze. I sighed.

"I don't know Pey."

I rubbed my arms. The night wasn't cold; but I felt frigid. As I looked around, I realized someone was missing.

"Mom," I said slowly. "Where's Trevor?"

Mom looked pained. I think she was hoping that I wouldn't notice his absent. "He took a cab to the airport."

My eyes widened. "Why?"

"He didn't say sweetheart. He was on his cellphone and told me that he got a ticket change. He thanked me for having him and left."

"What a jerk," Noah muttered.

In my mind, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. This whole evening had ended up being crazy. Maybe he just couldn't handle that.

Maybe...

He couldn't handle me.

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Twenty minutes later, we were in new hotel rooms. I changed out of my dress and into a crummy, worn pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. They were my comfort clothes; you know, the kind that should have been thrown away years ago but that are just too warm and familiar to toss away.

"Why did Kay do it?" Peyton asked as she watched me brush out my hair.

I sighed. "It's a long story Pey."

"Is it a bad story?"

I turned around. I couldn't lie to her. "It is."

"Is it as bad as what happened to you with Garrett?" she asked.

"It's worse."

Pey looked down at the floor. "Oh."

I felt bad for her. She wasn't that much younger than I was. If I was in her place watching all this drama unfold, I wouldn't be too excited to grow up.

"I promise I'll tell you the whole story once we know Kay's okay," I promised.

Peyton gave me a tiny smile. "Your life is like a soap opera, do you know that?" she teased.

I couldn't help but return my own small smile. "I know. Truthfully, I'd rather watch one than live one, but what can you do?"

We both shrugged. Pey walked over and grabbed her own brush. Feeling the need for something to do, I took it.

"Sit down. Salon Brooke is back open."

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An hour later, Peyton and I had fallen asleep in my bed when I heard a knock on the door.

It was dad.

"I just heard from Brian. She's going to be okay. Since it's so late, he suggested we don't come until tomorrow morning."

I nodded. "Did you tell him what I told you?"

"I did," dad said. I hated the look of pain on his face. "He feels horrible. I wish you could have told me sooner BooBoo."

"I haven't known long," I said. "Just since...my own thing."

Dad ran a hand lovingly across my cheek.

"Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

I kissed his cheek.

"Okay, daddy."

I headed back to bed. I wasn't sure how much sleep I would get. I was thankful that Kay was going to be okay. But okay was a really wide open term. In this case, okay meant alive. But there was more to being alive that breathing.

I hoped she would finally open up. That was the only way she was going to truly heal.

And for the second time in months, I hoped she could forgive me for all of the horrible things I said.

I needed my best friend back.