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*Chapter 13*

(quick A/N before I get started on this chapter. I probably should have explained better what an art showing is for an artist but then again I did mention that Glory’s dad is the curator of the London Metropolitan a couple of times and that Glory is already an established artist but to clarify things more an art showing is where an artist displays a gallery of usually 10-20 pieces of art that will be sold off at the end of the night. So I’m going to re-do a few things from the last chapter to fit what was already stated in previous chapters and hope it doesn’t get too confusing. I’ll add more A/Ns if I do any major damage. Oh and one more thing that’s been bugging me for a while now, I haven’t been using the full Brit dialogue. Just thought you guys should know that Dom, Orli, and Billy don’t talk like this in real life, but for the sake of your American dialogue it would be safer if I just stuck to things most people understand. Plus they use the c-word a lil too much if you ask me lol)

Kevin headed towards the doors of the hospital hoping to catch a cab back to his house. He didn’t think he was sane enough to drive at the moment. The thought of having to deal with the press right now was the last thing on his mind. All he wanted to do was go back home to Kentucky and try and to be normal again. “Mr. Richardson!” A voice called out to him. Kevin didn’t even bother to turn around. He didn’t want to have to face anything else today. “Mr. Richardson!” The voice was more persistent until he finally come upon him forcing him to turn around. “Your wife,” The man, a short balding doctor, put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder trying to catch his breath. He had been trailing Kevin down the long corridor for some time now trying to catch the man. “She’s not, she’s,” The man sputtered. He stopped in the middle of his sentence and took a big gulp of air. “She’s not dead.”

“What?” Kevin squinted his eyes in confusion.

“She’s not dead,” The man repeated as he took his hand away from Kevin’s shoulder.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I was just told she had died instantly in a car crash,” Kevin spouted. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him figure out why someone would tell him his wife was dead and then take it back.

“There was a mix up,” The doctor admitted figuring if Kevin was going to sue it wouldn’t take much for him to make up a case with or without his last statement. “The woman she was traveling with was killed. Your wife was saved by her seatbelt.”

“You’re joking right?” Kevin asked suspiciously. If this man wasn’t telling the truth, Kevin wasn’t sure he would be able to hold all of his anger in long enough to not beat him into a bloody pulp.

“If you’ll just come with me,” The doctor held out his hand motioning for Kevin to follow him to the elevators. “My name is Dr. Carmichael,” He tried to explain. “I was working on your wife when she was brought into the ER.”

“No offense, but could you just skip this part?” Kevin asked anxiously.

“Sure,” Dr. Carmichael gave Kevin a reassuring smile as they stepped off the elevator. They had arrived back in the Trauma center. Kevin looked back at the chairs to find Cadence still sitting there looking lost. She gave him a strange look wondering why he was still there. Kevin turned back around as the doctor led him into a small room. Through a large window, he could see his wife’s lifeless form lying in the bed with dozens of wires sticking out of her. He closed his eyes not wanting to see anymore. “You can open your eyes Mr. Richardson. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“My wife is lying there dead and you”re telling me it’s not that bad.” Kevin said through gritted teeth.

He thought he had told the nurses where to send the body an hour ago.

“She’s not dead though, that’s the thing,” Dr. Carmichael told him. Kevin opened his eyes again looking down at the man. “Here you can listen for yourself,” The doctor went over and flipped a switch to an intercom system. The sound of a heart monitor filled the room with its steady beeping. “That’s the sound of that machine,” He pointed out the monitor to Kevin. “She’s not dead.”

Kevin stared at the monitor for what seamed like an eternity. His beautiful wife was still there, her heart was still beating. Kevin felt the happiness soar through his body as he watched her chest rise and fall with every breath she took, she was still there. “Is she okay?”

“As far as we can tell. She’s still unconscious but should come out of that in a few days. We’d like to keep her for observation since there was a slight sign of internal bleeding but nothing too serious. Other than that she broke her left leg and a few ribs. She should be fine in a couple of weeks.” Dr. Carmichael gave Kevin another smile to tell him everything was going to be all right.

“How did this happen? The mix up,” Kevin looked back at the doctor. It didn’t seem right that they had told him only two hours ago that the love of his life was dead before telling him she wasn’t. No man should ever have to go through that.

“The woman who was driving,” The doctor struggled to think of the girl’s name.

“Casey,” Kevin filled in. He knew the girl well. She was right out of college working for Kristen’s manager. The two women had hit it off instantly. Casey wasn’t the assistant anymore, she was the best friend. She spent most of her free time going places with Kristen when Kevin was away or working.

“Yes, Casey,” The doctor paused. “She was driving when the cars collided. She was the one killed instantly. Your wife’s purse and this young woman’s ended up getting thrown from the car. When the police arrived on the scene, they could tell which purse was which and with the state the pieces of identification where in, they had to guess.”

“Because Casey was blonde too, she could have passed for Kristen’s sister,” Kevin slumped his shoulders a little. He was glad his wife was saved but now he had to tell her when she woke up that her best friend had died.

“We’ve notified her family already,” Dr. Carmichael said softly watching Kevin stare into the room where his wife was still lying.

“Can I see her?” Kevin asked. He had to go in and touch her just to make sure she was still there.

“Of course you can,” The doctor smiled and opened another door to his left before motioning for Kevin to go in. The two nurses watching the monitors dropped their clip boards recognizing Kevin as her wife and exited the room to give him some privacy.

Kevin slowly approached the bed thinking this was still a dream. He would wake up and she would be sleeping next to him like nothing had ever happened. Worse yet, he would wake up to find out she was still dead and then have to face a life without her. He walked over next to the bed and sat down on the metal chair one of the nurses had left for him. He took her hand in his pulling it up to his face to gently kiss it. Her touch was still warm. A single tear dropped down Kevin’s face as he buried his face in the itchy sheets covering her. “Thank you god,” Kevin said into the bed. “I promise I will never leave you again,” Kevin looked back up at his wife’s face giving her the same solemn oath he had said on their wedding day. “I will protect you from this,” Kevin squeezed her hand again. “Just don’t leave me.” He whispered.

Minutes slid into hours as Kevin sat their watching her face. The morning grew into afternoon before Kevin finally got up to move. They were transferring her to her own room outside of the intensive care unit since she wasn’t critical anymore. Kevin followed as they wheeled her out into the hallway. He looked across the hall to find Cadence looking on into Todd’s room. Kevin told the nurses to take his wife to her own room. He felt he had to tell the girl his wife was okay, she looked like she was still blaming herself for this. “I thought you’d be gone.” Cadence looked over at Kevin as he walked over to her. Kevin looked into the room to see Todd still hooked up to all the machines.

“I thought so too,” Kevin gave her a quick smile. “I just wanted to tell you though that he didn’t kill my wife.”

“What do you mean?” Cadence looked over at him horrified. If he had convinced himself Kristen was still alive then maybe he should be admitted to the hospital, the psych ward though.

“It was her friend that was killed, not that that’s much better but my wife is still alive,” Kevin rambled. “They looked alike and I guess their ID’s got mixed up or something.”

Oh,” Cadence sighed looking back into the room. “I’m happy for you,” Cadence tried to say without it sounding so false.

“He’ll wake up, I know he will,” Kevin put his hand on her shoulder.

“It would take a miracle, he’s brain dead,” Cadence said glumly.

“I believe in miracles today,” Kevin told her. “It will happen,” He squeezed her shoulder again. “Well, I’m going to Kristen’s room in case she wakes up. I hope to see you again.” Kevin waved before walking off towards the elevators leaving Cadence alone once again.

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Meanwhile (A/N: Batman moment(don’t ask my dad used to watch the TV show with me) back in London Glory was still standing outside in the brisk London air. She was still fuming as she dug through her purse finally finding what she was after, the pack of cigarettes she had forced Elijah into giving her back in Hawaii. She had always hated when people smoked around her so she made it a point to take their cigarettes away, except for tonight though. She pulled one out and lit it up quickly before inhaling the smoke into her lungs deeply. She exhaled forgetting how much she loved the nicotine. “I thought you gave up smoking.”

“I did,” Glory didn’t even bother to turn around, she knew who was standing behind her on the balcony. He walked over to her putting his hands on the rail looking out on the sky with her. “But if you had friends like that you would smoke too.” Glory commented taking another drag from the cigarette. She glanced over at him for the first time in five years. He had aged slightly, but not much. The only thing that had really changed was the crease in his forehead had become more pronounced and the gray coming in around his ears had spread slightly only making him look more distinguished.

“You know, your mother always blamed me when you took that up the first time,” He commented.

“You are the reason I took it up remember? I was thirteen and you didn’t try to stop me,” Glory inhaled the smoke again. She knew she had hurt him with that comment. “Orlando would kill me if he caught me. We gave up smoking together when he was filming Lord of the Rings.”

“I see,” He looked over at his daughter amazed at the woman standing next to him. She had grown into her body in the five years of his absence. “One of your paintings sold for two point four million dollars, that’s the highest any of them have ever sold for,” He commented trying to make small talk with her. Glory snorted remembering his world revolved around money and only money. He could sense she didn’t want to discuss her paintings, normally she ended up giving most of her money to charity just to annoy him. “So, Viggo told me you and Orlando were married two weeks ago in Hawaii. I wasn’t invited.”

“I didn’t think you would come.” Glory responded.

“I would have, it’s my job to walk you down the aisle.” He looked back out on the city. Glory hadn’t bothered to turn to him again keeping her gaze fixed on the clock tower looming in the distance.

“You lost that right when you left me. Viggo was more of a father to me then you ever were.” Glory spat out finishing off the last of the cigarette. She wanted another one but Orlando would definitely notice that the next time she saw him.

“I guess I deserve that,” he admitted looking down at the ground and his two hundred dollar shoes. “But I’ve changed.”

“So have I,” Glory told him emotionlessly.

“I want to be close to you like we were when you were little,” He paused. “I want you at my wedding. Carol says she would be delighted if you were a bridesmaid.”

Glory looked over at him, the anger flaring in her eyes. “You don’t talk to me for five fucking years and now you come back wanting me to be in your wedding? What is it that you really want from me?” She asked him.

“I want you back, I want you to be my daughter again and trust me.” He pleaded with her.

“Where were you five years ago when I needed you?” She asked him. “When that bastard killed me.” Glory reminded him. She had been dead for nearly twenty minutes before the doctors could revive her again and still her father hadn’t bothered to even call.

“I didn’t know what to say other then you’re the one who got yourself into that mess.” He told her softly. That wasn’t the answer that she had wanted but it was the only truthful one she could give her. He wanted to be honest with her this time around.

“Stay the hell away from me,” Glory warned him as she walked away. “I did your damn little showing. This is the last time I ever want to see you again. Don’t call me, don’t even acknowledge my existence,” She shook her head as she walked away. She stopped before she got to the doors. “You seem to be good at ignoring me,” And with that Glory walked away from him for what she hoped was the last time she would ever see him again even though she had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last.

As soon as she walked into the building she was stopped by Dom. “Glory, I just wanted to say I’m really sorry about what happened earlier.”

“Save it,” Glory cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it from any of you. Just get out of my house before I get home.”

“Where am I supposed to stay?” Dom protested.

“I don’t give a damn anymore,” Glory told him coldly. “Manchester is only about an hour away. Use your imagination.”

“Orlando invited me to stay though, I am still his friend too you know,” Dom tried to defend.

“I don’t care,” Glory said walking past him. At that moment she just wanted everyone and everything to go away.

Inside Winona watched as Glory walked in not looking happy at all. The three guys were all still staring at her waiting for Winona to make a move and talk to them but she wasn’t having any of that. She walked over to Glory catching her arm in the girl’s. “Having fun?”

“Wanna get out of here?” Glory asked. She had to get out of there before she lost it completely. There would be many dead bodies lying around, mainly the guys and her dad, if she stayed any longer.

“Are you going to tell me what just happened?”
Winona tried to pry it out of her as they stopped to check on the last of Glory’s paintings.

“Nope,” Glory said shortly as she smiled politely to someone who looked like they were about to compliment her. She couldn’t stand to have another person tell her she was talented tonight. “Let’s just leave now.” She said gathering their coats and heading out into the night air.

“Shouldn’t you tell Orlando where you went?” Winona asked as Glory flagged down a cab.

“Who?” Glory asked before realizing what Winona had meant. “He’ll understand.”

“Okay,” Winona shook her head knowing that wasn’t true but Glory was in one of her moods where no one would have been able to talk her out of whatever she was about to do. “Where are we going?”

“I know a place,” Glory said with a slight grin across her face.

Two hours later Winona found herself sitting at a table right next to a stage with some muscular guy wearing nothing but a shiny yellow g-string dancing in front of her. “So, they’re going to get naked?” Winona asked Glory who was busy stuffing some money into the g-string of a tall, dark, handsome, almost naked guy. Glory was about to answer Winona’s question when the guy dancing in front of Winona ripped off the tiny piece of material. “Never mind,” Winona laughed watching Glory gulp down another mysterious pink drink. From what Winona had counted that would be the ninth one Glory had drunk since getting there.

“I love being home,” Glory shouted laughing as the guy dancing in front of her leaned forward to pull his own g-string off. “Naked guys and we’re allowed to drink here,” Glory clanked her glass against Winona’s finishing off her own drink.

“Don’t you think you should slow down?” Winona asked. Her world was spinning pretty fast. She couldn’t even imagine what was going on inside Glory’s. “Better yet, don’t you think we should be going home?” Winona asked looking past Glory. It was a little past two in the morning already. She was sure Orlando was going to chew them both out the second they walked into the house.

“Why bother?” Glory asked. “Actually, I know of another place.” Glory stood up dragging Winona with her out the front of the strip club and down the street a little. Winona was glad that she had drunk a few glasses of wine otherwise she would have been freezing her butt off in the black mini-skirt she was still wearing. Glory pushed her into a tiny pool hall.

“Wow, another bar,” Winona commented as Glory pushed her down into a booth. A tall bartended walked over to them.

“I’ll have a rum and coke and she’ll have a Sprite.” Glory told him slipping him some money for the service. Normally she would have had to go up to the bar but fortunately the young bartender seemed to like having two young women wearing short dresses in his company.

“Why can’t I have any more alcohol?” Winona slurred. She hadn’t realized the wine she had consumed before had messed with her like this until now. She figured it had to be because the tiny dive they were in now was nothing compared to the club they had just been in. The club was filled with strobe lights and dancing people to keep the alcohol from settling in. Here though, the dim lights were only obscured by the glaring TV above the bar and the lights over top of the three pool tables. The smoke must have helped that too even though Winona couldn’t remember it being that smoky in there until she looked across the table to see Glory puffing a lit cigarette. “And since when did you smoke?”

“Pissed off habit,” Glory took a drag again. “And you don’t need any more booze. You can’t even keep your head up long enough to look at me,” Glory laughed as Winona slumped forward on the table a little.

“I’m fine, I just need a little nap.” Winona mumbled lying her forehead against the cool table.

“I’m sure you do,” Glory shook her head seeing the girl was almost passed out as the bartender came over to them. “Thank you,” She said taking her drink from him. “Do me a favor,” She grinned at him. “Just bring me your bottle of Jack. It’ll save you the trip.”

By the time Winona had woke up, she had the worst headache in the world. Her body kept telling her to go back to sleep but her forehead was telling her to get up. She slowly lifted her head to discover they were still in the dim bar. Glory was sitting at the bar smoking her cigarettes still with an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels in her hand slurring some story to the bartender. Winona pushed herself up and sat down at the bar. “And then he said I would be a bad mum,” Glory told him. Winona looked over at her realizing this was the first time she had ever heard the girl use her natural accent. She knew she was from London, something that Cadence still had yet to learn. But Winona had always thought that since Glory’s mom was American, that’s the accent she would have.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by that,” The guy wiped another glass. Winona looked up at the clock thankful she had only been passed out for an hour. It was almost three thirty but that would be better then morning. The bartender looked over at her realizing she was awake. He walked over to her leaving Glory there still telling her story. “Do you think you could give me a number to call for someone to pick you two up? I’ve been trying to get her to me for the past twenty minutes now.” He said motioning back to Glory with his hand.

“Sure,” Winona mumbled and went back over to the table to find Glory’s purse. “Here,” She handed him Glory’s driver’s license since it was the only thing she knew had the right address and phone number on it.

“Thanks, I’ll have someone down here soon,” He smiled at her wondering if the two pretty women were worth all this trouble.

Glory was still rambling on about something that Winona couldn’t understand when their ride finally got there. The only thing that her still drunk mind could comprehend was knives and idiots. She looked up feeling someone place their hand on her back. “Come on,” She let AJ guide her off of the barstool wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her upright. “You got Glory?” He asked as Orlando rounded the corner walking up to his wife.

“Yeah,” Orlando gritted his teeth walking up to her. “Come on, it’s time to go home.”

“I don’t want to go back there,” Glory pushed his hands away from her. “I know Dom’s still there.” Glory tried to stand up only to fall on the ground in front of Orlando’s feet.

“Glory, just come on, you need to go home.” Orlando reached down only to have her smack his hands away.

“No,” She yelled at him. “You don’t get it. I hate him now, him and my father both.” Glory pushed her face into her knees to try and make everything go away. She was too drunk to have to deal with everything right now.

“You don’t mean that,” Orlando could feel his face getting red in anger. He hated when she was like this, ready to run away again. “Come on,” Orlando easily lifted her up and flung her over his shoulder.

The next morning Glory awoke as something loud hit the floor. She opened her eyes to find she was the thing that had hit the floor, or rather her hand had. She was lying in front of the door on the wood floor. Glory pushed her hair out of her eyes and sat up looking around. “It’s about time you woke up.” Glory looked over at the couch to find Billy sitting there watching TV.

“Why am I on the floor?” She asked him.

“I think you should ask Orlando. He’s the one who dropped you there.” Billy commented.

Glory looked down at her arm to find a row of bruises there before she remembered getting incredibly sloshed the night before. Winona must have called Orlando who, in his anger, literally dropped her on the ground.

“Where is he?”Glory asked.

“I don’t know, he left a note for you in the kitchen,” Billy told her. “So why are you so mad at Dom?”

“What is with you people? Can’t I have just one day of peace without having to deal with something?” Glory asked frustrated. She pulled her high heels off throwing them into the hallway.

“It’s a hobbit thing,” Billy grinned. “But why did Dom high tail it out of here last night?”

“He actually left?” Glory asked taking a deep breath in. Her lungs hurt from the cigarettes. She didn’t even have to look in her purse to know she had smoked them all.

“You did tell him to,” Billy reminded her.

“I know,” Glory sighed and stood up. She walked into the kitchen to find the note from Orlando stuck to the counter. “Meet me at our restaurant at one,” Glory read out loud. “Great,” She shook her head. “Why do I suddenly feel like a three year old about to be put in time out?” She asked herself before heading off to her bedroom to get a shower in before her death.

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Cadence awake with a jolt hearing the phone ringing in the distance. It seemed like she had been home for only minutes but the house was pitch black. She had only meant to sleep for an hour so she could go back to the hospital to stay in Todd’s room overnight. “Damn it,” She cursed trying to find her phone. She was tempted to give it up but she had a gut feeling it was something important. Winona had her cell phone before she left the hospital explaining everything she had missed at the showing so Cadence knew it couldn’t be them again. “Hello?” She yelled into the phone finally finding it.

“Cadence, this is Dr. Carmichael,” He paused to let it sink in who he was. Cadence held her breath in praying this wasn’t the call she had been dreading all afternoon. Todd’s parents had decided to take him off life support so they figured it would only be a matter of days before his body finally succumbed to death. “I just thought you should know he’s awake.”

“What?” Cadence yelled again not sure if she had heard him right.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but he woke up about an hour ago asking for you,” Dr. Carmichael paused again. “It seems there was another miracle today.”

“Oh my god,” Cadence dropped the phone and sat down on the couch letting herself cry. This time though she was crying because she was overwhelmed with happiness for the first time in months. He wasn’t dead. Cadence grabbed her keys off the counter running out of her house not even bothering to lock any of the doors before speeding to the hospital.

Cadenced was directed to a small room on the third floor. He had been moved from intensive care and given his own room just like Kristen had. Cadence stood outside the room listening to him talk to his parents grateful to hear his voice again. She took a deep breath and walked in. For all she knew he could still hate her for the things she had said. Todd looked up at her as soon as she walked in and smiled. “Could you give us a minute?” He asked his parents. They both nodded and left the room as Cadence sat down next to the bed.

“I’m so happy you’re okay,” Cadence beamed.

“I came back for you,” Todd told her. “I was there, almost at the light when I was given an option. I chose to have to life I was meant to have with you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cadence said crying again.

“Shh, don’t cry,” He told her. “I’m the one who messed up.”

“But it’s all my fault,” Cadence cried. “If I hadn’t said anything you wouldn’t have almost died and that girl would still be alive.”

Todd cringed at the thought that he had killed someone. “I chose to drive, this is all my fault. I’m willing to take the blame for my own actions.”

“Her family isn’t going to press charges,” Cadence sniffled. “They figured you had suffered enough if you ever woke up,” She told him. “I just can’t stop thinking that if I hadn’t been so insensitive, none of this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Stop beating yourself up over this,” Todd ran his fingers threw her hair. “I think this is God’s way of giving us a second chance. I can be a better boyfriend now.”

Cadence smiled knowing he was right. They had a second chance on their lives. She knew she had to start being the person she had always wanted to become and from looking at him, she knew Todd would understand how she had to be treated. Everything had worked out just like it should have.

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“Stupid British television,” Winona muttered under her breath as she flipped through the channels again. She couldn’t believe Glory only had twenty different channels to chose from here. Winona sighed and threw the remote down on the couch. Everyone was gone for the afternoon leaving her alone. Dom hadn’t even called after he left, for all she knew he could be back in LA by now. Glory had left to go meet Orlando while Billy mentioned something about having to buy something for his girlfriend leaving Winona all alone. She was glad to be alone though. She still felt like she had been run over by a truck during the night. Her body hurt everywhere and her stomach had yet to recover. She was almost sure she had puked on AJ’s shoes but she figured he had it coming.

Winona was about to try and go back to sleep when she heard the doorbell ring. She pulled her robe tighter around her pajamas and walked up to the door. “We’re sorry,” Came three voices as soon as she opened the door followed by handfuls of flowers being thrust into her face.

“What the,” Winona looked past the flowers to find Nick, Dom, and AJ all standing there trying to look pitiful for her.

“We just thought we should come here and apologize for our behavior since, well since meeting you.” Nick started.

“We were acting like immature sex-driven morons.” Dom handed her some more flowers.

“And we just wanted you to know we want to be friends.” AJ explained.

“Nothing more unless you want there to be more and then the other two will be okay with it.” Nick added on to AJ’s comment.

“Guys, this is really sweet,” Winona told them smiling at their generosity. Not many guys she knew would go this far to prove they were sorry for acting like jerks.

“So, can we be friends?” Dom asked.

“I guess,” Winona grinned knowing she couldn’t resist them. “But it’s going to take time.” She told.

“We completely understand.” Nick held up his hands to prove his point.

“Thank you for that.” Winona said leaning up against the door.

“We should be the ones thanking you. Most women wouldn’t forgive us for acting like asses.” Dom commented. “We thought we should make it up to you.”

“I’m not the one you have to make it up to.” Winona whispered to them before shutting the door leaving them out in the hallway.