Slow Burn

Chapter Thirteen

Those were the first words out of Kiera's mouth when she was finally allowed to see her sister. Kate had been taken to the Silver Springs hospital and had just been moved to her room and helped into her bed when both her sisters came storming in.

"Haven't you been there and done that already?" Kiera asked with a worried smile. She was so overcome with joy that Kate hadn't been seriously injured there were tears in her eyes.

Isabel was beside herself. "You could have been killed. Why do you have to do things like this?"

"She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Kiera said.

Isabel was shaking her head. "That's it, Kate. I'm not going to ever let you leave the house again. I'll even give up college and stay home to make sure you stay put and out of harm's way."

"Isabel, you're not being reasonable," Kiera said.

"Reasonable?" She sounded frantic now. "Is it reasonable to get yourself blown up twice in one week? Is that reasonable?" She looked at Kate, pointed a finger, and stammered, "You scared me." She burst into tears and turned her back on Kate. "I mean it. I'm not going to college."

Kiera walked over to the bed. "She's been like this since we heard, but now that she knows you're fine, she'll stop crying."

Kate's head was killing her, and it was difficult to follow the conversation. She was in a dark room, but when Isabel pulled the drapes open, Kate winced. Isabel noticed and immediately closed them again.

"You were really lucky. Your skull should have been split wide open."

"Oh, that's a picture I won't soon be forgetting, Kiera," Isabel snapped. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes.

"Jordan's called a couple of times," Kiera said, ignoring Isabel now. "She's worried about you."

"How did she know-"

"She called to say hello and Isabel told her what happened and how the fire department had to pry you out of your car. It's totaled, by the way."

"You should be thankful I didn't call Aunt Nora. She's only now unpacking, I bet, but she would have dropped everything and come back here. She'd make sure you didn't take any more crazy chances," Isabel said.

Kate closed her eyes. "When can I go home?"

"Tomorrow at the earliest. The doctor may want to keep you longer."

Isabel's voice shook. "Your face looks sunburned. It's probably from the fire. Kate, do you have any idea how close you came to being killed?"

"You aren't going to start crying again, are you?" Kiera asked.

"Sorry. I can't be a robot like you and keep my emotions all bottled up."

Kiera didn't respond to the comment. "We should go and let you rest," she said to Kate.

"Wait," Kate whispered, surprised her voice sounded so weak. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

She started to shake her head and quickly changed her mind. Pain shot up to the top of her skull.

"They think it was a gas leak," Kiera said.

"We heard it on the radio on the way over," Isabel said. "It must have been a gas leak because it's taking forever to put out the fire."

Kiera changed the subject. "You were fortunate the neurologist was here," she said. "I talked to him, and he said he was happy with the scans. It appears you're going to come out of this without any serious injuries."

"Kiera was concerned you jarred something loose in your brain," Isabel said.

"No, you were concerned," Kiera countered.

"Okay, it was me. The doctor was so cute. You know what, Kiera."

"Oh God, here we go again."

"I was just going to say that he would be perfect for you. I know what you're going to say," she rushed on before Kiera could stop her. "He's not interested in you, but you can't possibly know if he is or not until you… you know."

"No, what?"

"Make a move. Talk to him."

"Can we not have this conversation?"

Isabel ignored the request. "Maybe if you put on a little makeup and did something about your hair…"

Kiera folded her arms across her waist and said, "What's wrong with my hair?"

"You need to get a good haircut and not one of those five-dollar places, either, and you should get some concealer to hide those dark smudges under your eyes. You're sleep-deprived, and you know what? I blame it all on medical school."

"At the risk of sounding like you… duh."

Kate started to laugh and then groaned. Her head fell back against the pillows and she closed her eyes. "Stop making me laugh, and take your discussion someplace else. I just want to pull the covers over my head and pretend today didn't happen."

"But Kate, you still haven't told us why you were at that warehouse," Isabel said.

Kate opened her eyes. She started to answer and then stopped. "I don't remember. I mean, I feel like I do, but I can't think right now."

"You don't remember anything?"

Kate took a long minute before answering. "No," she whispered. "Isn't that odd?"

"Don't worry about it. It'll come back to you. Get some rest now. I'll be here later to check on you," Kiera said.

Isabel wasn't ready to leave. She went to the side of the bed and asked, "Do you remember going to Boston?"

Kate smiled. "Yes, I do. And I remember coming home. There was a car… at the airport…"

Isabel patted her hand. "Yes, there was a car," she said. Her voice was soothing, and she was acting as though she was trying to reason with a three-year-old. "You're remembering your car. You drove to the airport."

Kate looked to Kiera for help.

"Isabel, would you hand me the phone before you leave?" Kate asked. "I want to call Jordan."

"Do you remember her phone number?"

"Isabel, the bump on her head didn't turn her into an idiot," Kiera said.

Isabel shrugged. She handed the phone to Kate and patted her hand again. "Tell Jordan we said hello," she said. "And if she wants to come see you, you better tell her not to," she added. "With your streak of bad luck, someone might run over her before she gets to the airport."

"It has been a horrible week, hasn't it?" Kate said.

"It can only get better," Isabel assured her as she followed Kiera out the door.

Kate hoped she was right. She turned onto her side and fell sound asleep.

A couple of hours later she called Jordan. She tried her best to be cheerful, but it took effort. The attempt didn't work. Her friend could hear the stress in her voice.

"Tell me about that first explosion again," Jordan said. "Now that I'm not worried about bumps and lumps I can concentrate. Someone was trying to kill that artist, right?"

Kate went through it all again, and when she was finished with that incident, she told her about the crazy teenager joy-riding in the airport parking lot. Last, but certainly not least, she told her about her latest mishap.

"I don't remember the explosion at all," she said. "But I keep thinking about coffee. Isn't that peculiar?"

"You don't drink coffee."

"I know. That's what makes it peculiar."

"How hard was that hit on your head?"

"Just hard enough to give me a headache. If I didn't know better, I'd think someone was trying to kill me."

Jordan laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. You've just had a bit of bad luck, that's all. Do you want me to come down there?"

"No, I'm fine. Besides, maybe this bad streak isn't over, and I don't want you hurt in the fallout."

"Don't let your imagination get the better of you. Remember, you're not a superstitious person, so don't overreact. Could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Did something happen between you and Dylan?"

Kate nearly dropped the phone. "Why do you ask?"

"He called here looking for you, and when he found out you'd left, he wasn't happy."

"I can't imagine why. So you really don't think someone might be trying to kill me?" she asked, searching for anything that would steer the discussion in a different direction.

"No, I don't think anyone's trying to kill you. I do think you've got an overactive imagination. Get some sleep and call me tomorrow when you're lucid again."

Jordan disconnected the call and immediately dialed Dylan's number. The second he answered she blurted, "Someone's trying to kill Kate."