Stars Hide Your Fires
Title: Into The Mystic
Rating: pg-13
Word Count: 2,768 (4/?)
Summary: There is a moment, a split-second, an exact pinpoint in time that splits the child with the person he will be forever...
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Author's Note: This veers from GH canon last May. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. ^_^
Previous
“Come on, push over,” Kristina looks up at Ethan but doesn’t move to his voice like she usually does. He’s holding another styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand, but he looks like he can barely keep his eyes open. “Come on, Kristina, we’ve got to move.”
“You’re right, we do.” Kristina answers. She’s already pushed the driver’s seat up so she can reach the pedals and adjusted the mirrors so she can see out of them. “You’ve been driving for...I don’t even know any more...five days straight. You need to rest. There’s a motel two exits up. We have to stop for a night.”
He leans against the car, bending down to look her in the eye. “Krissy, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
She gives a delicate snort, and he raises an eyebrow, the first sign of life she’s seen from him all night and she has to smile at that. “You can’t think right now. You need to lay down in a real bed, and it has to be tonight.”
He returns with a slow smile. “Well, now...there’s Kristina Davis. I’ve been missing her.”
She has to think about that for a second. It’s true, she hasn’t been herself (or who she always thought she was) in some time. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be back there again.
“You promised me it would be okay,” she pauses. “And I know it will be.” And it’s true, and it’s only just now that she is realizing that. She believes in him completely, and there is a tremendous measure of comfort in that.
But the smile is gone from Ethan’s face. He sucks in a quick breath. “You trust me that much?”
Kristina doesn’t answer him for a few seconds. She stands up out of the car, and when he backs up a half-step, she follows, reaching out and catching his waist with her hands. Before he can stand up to his full height, she leans up on her tiptoes and touchs her mouth to his. She feels his breath stop, and then he sinks down on her for a sweet, far too brief moment.
When he pulls back, he smiles down at her the way he did the night she told him she would marry him someday. She wants to cringe thinking about her grand statement -- it feels like it was a hundred years ago. He chuckles tenderly and brushes her hair back from her face, his hand coming around to cradle to crown of her head. “You’ll do anything to get your way, won’t you?” But his voice is soft, and he touches his lips again to her cheek. “Brat.”
He takes the car keys out of her hand.
***
Ethan did not know particularly why he had made his way to Johnny’s door, but it was just that he had no other specific place to be that day, and as soon as Johnny opened the door, he pushed his way inside and fell down on the couch, palming his aching forehead.
“Well, hello, Sunshine,” Johnny greeted him without humor, slamming the door shut and Ethan winced against the boom. “To what do I owe the honor of your presence?”
“You can congratulate me,” Ethan managed to get out, through his cottoned mouth. “I’m a divorcd man. Have you got anything to drink?”
Johnny’s laugh was like quiksilver to the veins and Ethan fervently wished the he could slap a volume button on the man. “I would tell you that’s not a very good idea, mate, but something tells me you don’t need a baby-sitter now. And what exactly did you do to drive the lovely Mrs. Lovett away?” Johnny fixed a tumbler full of ice with a lady’s finger of scotch. “Here. A little hair-of-the-dog for your trouble.”
And so Ethan recounted the whole sordid tale of really what could be the only fitting ending to his union with Maya Ward, scowling at Johnny who seemed to find the entire affair amusing as all hell. He slapped his signed, sealed and notarized divorce papers on the coffee table between them. “And that’s it. One round-trip to the DR in twenty-eight hours later and it’s another chapter of my life closed.”
“You knew it wouldn’t last forever, mate,” Johnny said, after a moment. “Truth be told, I never thought you were all that attached.” He cracked half of a sly, crooked grin. “Did you drown your sorrows into any pleasurable company on the island?”
Ethan’s scowl deepened. “Is this something we talk about now?”
“So, that’s a no,” Johnny laughed. “Probably would have done you some good.”
Johnny had a point, but something told him that no quick fuck would stop the feeling that he’d been pounding his head against a brick wall for six months. Ethan took a small sip of scotch and felt it burn pleasantly down his throat. “I guess that’s not really it. It’s just...you know. Gets old after a while. All of the easy-come, easy-go.”
Johnny considered that for a second, his eyes cold and dark. “That’s...that’s just life for you and me, guys like us.” Johnny fixed Ethan with a hard stare. “And if you’re thinking you want something else in your life...it’s something you better figure out pretty quick.”
***
Something is wrong (very wrong), but it takes Ethan a few minutes to realize it, because he wakes up feeling better than he has in weeks (months...as long as he can remember). He is fully stretched out on a halfway decent bed, he’s clean, and Kristina is wrapped around him like a kitten.
After she’d showered the night before, and changed into an oversized black tee shirt, she scoffed at him setting up a campbed on the floor. “No, not again,” she crawled up, fitting very neatly all the way to one side. “Come on, you need some real, honest-to-goodness rest. Just lay down here, I promise to behave myself.”
Ethan had to chuckle at her solemnity, in direct conflict with the teasing glint in her eyes. She looked very small in the big bed all by herself. Surely there would be more than enough room for the both of them. And he had to admit -- somewhat sadly to himself -- even if he were entertaining some notion of putting a move on her (which he was most definitely not), he was far too bone-tired to do anything about it.
He had crawled up next to her and his eyes were closed even before his head hit the pillow.
And now the birds are chirping and the sun is warm outside the window -- they had slept late, far too late, but Ethan couldn’t will himself into moving. One of Kristina’s legs is tangled in between his, and her head is pillowed on his shoulder, her hair smelling clean and sweet right below his chin. He’s pulling her close into his side and finds that he’s absent-mindedly running his fingertips up and down the soft arm thrown across his chest, her little hand splayed out across his heart. How perfectly fitting. From this position, it’s difficult to tell who initiated this little cuddling session, although Ethan’s not sure that it really makes a difference who ‘started it’.
It feels alarmingly good to hold her in his arms. Alarmingly good. In all of this time, Ethan can count the times he’s touched her. And usually, at the most, it was a brush of their fingertips...there was the night she laid her head on his shoulder to rest, after her father’s wedding, when her world was an uncertain place again. He sat up all night, like he has so many times in these past few weeks, keeping watch over her and her nightmares at bay. But the only time he’s ever held her close like this was the night that her world was ripped apart. Just that one time. It’s shocking how familiar she feels against him.
He should sit up, he should remove himself from her, but he doesn’t want to wake her, just yet.
Johnny’s loaned cell phone catches his eye on the nightstand he reaches over for it with his free hand. He’s checked it every morning and every night for some sign from Johnny that things were getting better at home -- or even if they were getting worse, just so they would hear something -- but so far, all they had gotten was silence. He can’t keep zig-zagging and turning in circles all around the country, they need a plan. Kristina expects him to keep her safe, and he expects no less of himself. He turns the phone on and wakes right up.
Voicemail from Johnny.
“This is a message out to L.A., where I’m sure the palm trees don’t like to hear ‘I told you so’. Sometimes when you’re on a heater, you just can’t walk away from the table. Everyone knows that at this point. Still, if you need to chill out with the birds and count your chips, it’s almost 4:30, so you know what they say...Don’t let the boulder catch your ass though, and call ahead first.” Ethan heard Johnny’s sardonic laughter and looked down to see Kristina awake, listening breathlessly, her big brown eyes as wide as saucers. “This message had *better* self-destruct automatically. Hope you’re keeping cool...” Ethan hit the delete button immediately.
Kristina sat up quickly. “What does all of that mean, all that crazy talk? Did he say anything about my mom? What about Lisa, and the cops, and...” She broke off, realizing that Ethan was only half-listening to her.
“It was a message from Luke,” and Ethan finds that he needs to fight off a grin, thinking of the old man. “He has a safe place for us to go.”
***
Kristina learned very early on that Emma had an absolutely adorable fascination with dandelions. It was more than enough to just find a patch of them in the park, and pick a few and watch Emma. The little girl would very carefully arrange a bunch in a circle as if she were completing the world’s greatest masterpiece, or she would take a few and run as fast as she could, laughing and giggling and waving them around like magic wands. Sometimes she would bid Kristina to lie down and Emma would brush the soft end of the flower (Molly had always insisted that they were flowers, and Kristina knew that Emma would agree) over her face and arms.
Spending time with Emma was easy and uncomplicated. She was always happy to see Kristina and all she ever asked her for was juice, hugs, and plenty of uninterrupted dandelion time. She never asked for anything else in return, and never required Kristina to explain herself, or disclose any information, which was a surprisingly nice and rare thing in Kristina’s life.
But now their time was coming to a close for the day, Kristina thought thought to herself with a sigh. She had to meet Robin and drop Emma off, the same as she always did at 5:45. Emma was already whimpering when she saw Kristina packing up their things. She would stay at the park all day and night if she could.
“Come on now, Miss Emma,” Kristina tried to cajole her into a small smile. “I’ll race you to our favorite bench...” And those were the apparent magic words, as Emma was off like a flash. They ran the same path in the park all the time and Kristina knew that Emma knew the way.
She was running after her, listening out for her laughter and the telltale sign of her pink ribbons streaming out behind her. “Emma, wait up there!” she called out, trying to stuff her cellphone and the blanket they were sitting on into her big bag. When she looked up, she felt her heart slam in her throat. Emma was scooped up in Lisa Niles’s arms, jabbering happily and playing with her hair.
“Well, look who I found,” Lisa cooed in a honey sweet voice. She gave Kristina a gently chastising look. “You know, you really should be more careful with Patrick’s daughter.” Kristina found that she was too stunned to answer.
“What. The hell. Is going on here.”
Kristina turned at the sound of Robin’s voice, and was frozen cold. She had never seen such a murderous energy coming off anyone, not even Jason. Maxie was standing beside her, tanned arms crossed in front of her chest like a tiny, glamorous enforcer.
Robin stalked over to Lisa and snatched Emma away, swinging her onto her hip and Emma fussed in protest, not used to being handled so roughly, especially by her normally sweet and loving mommy. “You are to steer clear of my daughter, do you understand me?” Robin said through clenched teeth.
Lisa threw up her hands. “Hey, I was just trying to help out. I saw Emma come flying around the corner, completely unsupervised-” Lisa shot Kristina a pointed look and she gulped- “and I just picked her up to make sure she got back to you, safe and sound.” She tsked with false concerna nd nodded over to Kristina. “Kristina hasn’t been back for a refill on her medication, so it’s understandable how she’d be a little distracted.”
Robin turned her attention back to Kristina and the look she gave her made Kristina wish she were dead. “What’s she talking about, Kristina? What does she mean, Emma was alone? What the hell is she talking about, medication?”
“I...” Kristina felt her voice stick in her throat, unable to face Robin when she was like this (and she knew that it was perfectly understandable, she had grown up with a very fiercely protective mother herself).
“You should go, if you know what’s good for you,” Maxie said to Lisa, a surprising hint of menace and authority in her baby voice.
Lisa shrugged as if they were discussing the weather, and gave a sly smile to Kristina over her shoulder as she turned to leave the park. Robin was still looking at her expectantly.
“I...I just looked away for a second,” Kristina began, knowing full well how horribly irresponsible she sounded.
“Yeah, well, that’s not good enough when it comes to my daughter!”
“Robin...” Maxie gently put a hand on Robin’s arm to try to soothe her.
“No, Maxie, not when it involves Emma and her safety,” Robin protested, but Kristina noted that her voice was lowered, and she was regaining her composure. She stroked little circles up and down Emma’s back, taking comfort in her baby girl’s safety. “And what’s this about you taking medication? What’s she talking about, are you sick, Kristina?”
“I...” Kristina paused, broken out in fear. “I stopped taking them as soon as I knew what they were.”
Robin was very still. “What what were?”
“Robin...”
“No, Maxie!” Robin didn’t break eye contact with Kristina.
She took a deep breath. “Well...I thought she was prescribing me vitamins so the stress of school and waiting to hear back from Yale and...” Kristina realized she was babbling. “Hydrocodone,” she finally mumbled, in misery. She even hated saying the word.
“HYDROCODONE! Lisa Niles was giving you painkillers behind your back and you never told anyone? And then you took care of my daughter? How can you in good conscious let her walk away from that, let her keep practicing medicine?” Robin was all rage. Even Maxie gave her a look like she couldn’t do anything to help her at this point.
But there was nothing more for Robin to say. Kristina was completely ashamed. She had been right- what Lisa did, it could have hurt so many other people, and she had no right to keep it to herself, no matter how much she wanted to keep it to herself. Emma stared back at her over Robin’s shoulder as she was carried away, lifting her little hand in a farewell wave.
Next
<<<333
Rating: pg-13
Word Count: 2,768 (4/?)
Summary: There is a moment, a split-second, an exact pinpoint in time that splits the child with the person he will be forever...
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Author's Note: This veers from GH canon last May. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. ^_^
Previous
“Come on, push over,” Kristina looks up at Ethan but doesn’t move to his voice like she usually does. He’s holding another styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand, but he looks like he can barely keep his eyes open. “Come on, Kristina, we’ve got to move.”
“You’re right, we do.” Kristina answers. She’s already pushed the driver’s seat up so she can reach the pedals and adjusted the mirrors so she can see out of them. “You’ve been driving for...I don’t even know any more...five days straight. You need to rest. There’s a motel two exits up. We have to stop for a night.”
He leans against the car, bending down to look her in the eye. “Krissy, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
She gives a delicate snort, and he raises an eyebrow, the first sign of life she’s seen from him all night and she has to smile at that. “You can’t think right now. You need to lay down in a real bed, and it has to be tonight.”
He returns with a slow smile. “Well, now...there’s Kristina Davis. I’ve been missing her.”
She has to think about that for a second. It’s true, she hasn’t been herself (or who she always thought she was) in some time. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be back there again.
“You promised me it would be okay,” she pauses. “And I know it will be.” And it’s true, and it’s only just now that she is realizing that. She believes in him completely, and there is a tremendous measure of comfort in that.
But the smile is gone from Ethan’s face. He sucks in a quick breath. “You trust me that much?”
Kristina doesn’t answer him for a few seconds. She stands up out of the car, and when he backs up a half-step, she follows, reaching out and catching his waist with her hands. Before he can stand up to his full height, she leans up on her tiptoes and touchs her mouth to his. She feels his breath stop, and then he sinks down on her for a sweet, far too brief moment.
When he pulls back, he smiles down at her the way he did the night she told him she would marry him someday. She wants to cringe thinking about her grand statement -- it feels like it was a hundred years ago. He chuckles tenderly and brushes her hair back from her face, his hand coming around to cradle to crown of her head. “You’ll do anything to get your way, won’t you?” But his voice is soft, and he touches his lips again to her cheek. “Brat.”
He takes the car keys out of her hand.
***
Ethan did not know particularly why he had made his way to Johnny’s door, but it was just that he had no other specific place to be that day, and as soon as Johnny opened the door, he pushed his way inside and fell down on the couch, palming his aching forehead.
“Well, hello, Sunshine,” Johnny greeted him without humor, slamming the door shut and Ethan winced against the boom. “To what do I owe the honor of your presence?”
“You can congratulate me,” Ethan managed to get out, through his cottoned mouth. “I’m a divorcd man. Have you got anything to drink?”
Johnny’s laugh was like quiksilver to the veins and Ethan fervently wished the he could slap a volume button on the man. “I would tell you that’s not a very good idea, mate, but something tells me you don’t need a baby-sitter now. And what exactly did you do to drive the lovely Mrs. Lovett away?” Johnny fixed a tumbler full of ice with a lady’s finger of scotch. “Here. A little hair-of-the-dog for your trouble.”
And so Ethan recounted the whole sordid tale of really what could be the only fitting ending to his union with Maya Ward, scowling at Johnny who seemed to find the entire affair amusing as all hell. He slapped his signed, sealed and notarized divorce papers on the coffee table between them. “And that’s it. One round-trip to the DR in twenty-eight hours later and it’s another chapter of my life closed.”
“You knew it wouldn’t last forever, mate,” Johnny said, after a moment. “Truth be told, I never thought you were all that attached.” He cracked half of a sly, crooked grin. “Did you drown your sorrows into any pleasurable company on the island?”
Ethan’s scowl deepened. “Is this something we talk about now?”
“So, that’s a no,” Johnny laughed. “Probably would have done you some good.”
Johnny had a point, but something told him that no quick fuck would stop the feeling that he’d been pounding his head against a brick wall for six months. Ethan took a small sip of scotch and felt it burn pleasantly down his throat. “I guess that’s not really it. It’s just...you know. Gets old after a while. All of the easy-come, easy-go.”
Johnny considered that for a second, his eyes cold and dark. “That’s...that’s just life for you and me, guys like us.” Johnny fixed Ethan with a hard stare. “And if you’re thinking you want something else in your life...it’s something you better figure out pretty quick.”
***
Something is wrong (very wrong), but it takes Ethan a few minutes to realize it, because he wakes up feeling better than he has in weeks (months...as long as he can remember). He is fully stretched out on a halfway decent bed, he’s clean, and Kristina is wrapped around him like a kitten.
After she’d showered the night before, and changed into an oversized black tee shirt, she scoffed at him setting up a campbed on the floor. “No, not again,” she crawled up, fitting very neatly all the way to one side. “Come on, you need some real, honest-to-goodness rest. Just lay down here, I promise to behave myself.”
Ethan had to chuckle at her solemnity, in direct conflict with the teasing glint in her eyes. She looked very small in the big bed all by herself. Surely there would be more than enough room for the both of them. And he had to admit -- somewhat sadly to himself -- even if he were entertaining some notion of putting a move on her (which he was most definitely not), he was far too bone-tired to do anything about it.
He had crawled up next to her and his eyes were closed even before his head hit the pillow.
And now the birds are chirping and the sun is warm outside the window -- they had slept late, far too late, but Ethan couldn’t will himself into moving. One of Kristina’s legs is tangled in between his, and her head is pillowed on his shoulder, her hair smelling clean and sweet right below his chin. He’s pulling her close into his side and finds that he’s absent-mindedly running his fingertips up and down the soft arm thrown across his chest, her little hand splayed out across his heart. How perfectly fitting. From this position, it’s difficult to tell who initiated this little cuddling session, although Ethan’s not sure that it really makes a difference who ‘started it’.
It feels alarmingly good to hold her in his arms. Alarmingly good. In all of this time, Ethan can count the times he’s touched her. And usually, at the most, it was a brush of their fingertips...there was the night she laid her head on his shoulder to rest, after her father’s wedding, when her world was an uncertain place again. He sat up all night, like he has so many times in these past few weeks, keeping watch over her and her nightmares at bay. But the only time he’s ever held her close like this was the night that her world was ripped apart. Just that one time. It’s shocking how familiar she feels against him.
He should sit up, he should remove himself from her, but he doesn’t want to wake her, just yet.
Johnny’s loaned cell phone catches his eye on the nightstand he reaches over for it with his free hand. He’s checked it every morning and every night for some sign from Johnny that things were getting better at home -- or even if they were getting worse, just so they would hear something -- but so far, all they had gotten was silence. He can’t keep zig-zagging and turning in circles all around the country, they need a plan. Kristina expects him to keep her safe, and he expects no less of himself. He turns the phone on and wakes right up.
Voicemail from Johnny.
“This is a message out to L.A., where I’m sure the palm trees don’t like to hear ‘I told you so’. Sometimes when you’re on a heater, you just can’t walk away from the table. Everyone knows that at this point. Still, if you need to chill out with the birds and count your chips, it’s almost 4:30, so you know what they say...Don’t let the boulder catch your ass though, and call ahead first.” Ethan heard Johnny’s sardonic laughter and looked down to see Kristina awake, listening breathlessly, her big brown eyes as wide as saucers. “This message had *better* self-destruct automatically. Hope you’re keeping cool...” Ethan hit the delete button immediately.
Kristina sat up quickly. “What does all of that mean, all that crazy talk? Did he say anything about my mom? What about Lisa, and the cops, and...” She broke off, realizing that Ethan was only half-listening to her.
“It was a message from Luke,” and Ethan finds that he needs to fight off a grin, thinking of the old man. “He has a safe place for us to go.”
***
Kristina learned very early on that Emma had an absolutely adorable fascination with dandelions. It was more than enough to just find a patch of them in the park, and pick a few and watch Emma. The little girl would very carefully arrange a bunch in a circle as if she were completing the world’s greatest masterpiece, or she would take a few and run as fast as she could, laughing and giggling and waving them around like magic wands. Sometimes she would bid Kristina to lie down and Emma would brush the soft end of the flower (Molly had always insisted that they were flowers, and Kristina knew that Emma would agree) over her face and arms.
Spending time with Emma was easy and uncomplicated. She was always happy to see Kristina and all she ever asked her for was juice, hugs, and plenty of uninterrupted dandelion time. She never asked for anything else in return, and never required Kristina to explain herself, or disclose any information, which was a surprisingly nice and rare thing in Kristina’s life.
But now their time was coming to a close for the day, Kristina thought thought to herself with a sigh. She had to meet Robin and drop Emma off, the same as she always did at 5:45. Emma was already whimpering when she saw Kristina packing up their things. She would stay at the park all day and night if she could.
“Come on now, Miss Emma,” Kristina tried to cajole her into a small smile. “I’ll race you to our favorite bench...” And those were the apparent magic words, as Emma was off like a flash. They ran the same path in the park all the time and Kristina knew that Emma knew the way.
She was running after her, listening out for her laughter and the telltale sign of her pink ribbons streaming out behind her. “Emma, wait up there!” she called out, trying to stuff her cellphone and the blanket they were sitting on into her big bag. When she looked up, she felt her heart slam in her throat. Emma was scooped up in Lisa Niles’s arms, jabbering happily and playing with her hair.
“Well, look who I found,” Lisa cooed in a honey sweet voice. She gave Kristina a gently chastising look. “You know, you really should be more careful with Patrick’s daughter.” Kristina found that she was too stunned to answer.
“What. The hell. Is going on here.”
Kristina turned at the sound of Robin’s voice, and was frozen cold. She had never seen such a murderous energy coming off anyone, not even Jason. Maxie was standing beside her, tanned arms crossed in front of her chest like a tiny, glamorous enforcer.
Robin stalked over to Lisa and snatched Emma away, swinging her onto her hip and Emma fussed in protest, not used to being handled so roughly, especially by her normally sweet and loving mommy. “You are to steer clear of my daughter, do you understand me?” Robin said through clenched teeth.
Lisa threw up her hands. “Hey, I was just trying to help out. I saw Emma come flying around the corner, completely unsupervised-” Lisa shot Kristina a pointed look and she gulped- “and I just picked her up to make sure she got back to you, safe and sound.” She tsked with false concerna nd nodded over to Kristina. “Kristina hasn’t been back for a refill on her medication, so it’s understandable how she’d be a little distracted.”
Robin turned her attention back to Kristina and the look she gave her made Kristina wish she were dead. “What’s she talking about, Kristina? What does she mean, Emma was alone? What the hell is she talking about, medication?”
“I...” Kristina felt her voice stick in her throat, unable to face Robin when she was like this (and she knew that it was perfectly understandable, she had grown up with a very fiercely protective mother herself).
“You should go, if you know what’s good for you,” Maxie said to Lisa, a surprising hint of menace and authority in her baby voice.
Lisa shrugged as if they were discussing the weather, and gave a sly smile to Kristina over her shoulder as she turned to leave the park. Robin was still looking at her expectantly.
“I...I just looked away for a second,” Kristina began, knowing full well how horribly irresponsible she sounded.
“Yeah, well, that’s not good enough when it comes to my daughter!”
“Robin...” Maxie gently put a hand on Robin’s arm to try to soothe her.
“No, Maxie, not when it involves Emma and her safety,” Robin protested, but Kristina noted that her voice was lowered, and she was regaining her composure. She stroked little circles up and down Emma’s back, taking comfort in her baby girl’s safety. “And what’s this about you taking medication? What’s she talking about, are you sick, Kristina?”
“I...” Kristina paused, broken out in fear. “I stopped taking them as soon as I knew what they were.”
Robin was very still. “What what were?”
“Robin...”
“No, Maxie!” Robin didn’t break eye contact with Kristina.
She took a deep breath. “Well...I thought she was prescribing me vitamins so the stress of school and waiting to hear back from Yale and...” Kristina realized she was babbling. “Hydrocodone,” she finally mumbled, in misery. She even hated saying the word.
“HYDROCODONE! Lisa Niles was giving you painkillers behind your back and you never told anyone? And then you took care of my daughter? How can you in good conscious let her walk away from that, let her keep practicing medicine?” Robin was all rage. Even Maxie gave her a look like she couldn’t do anything to help her at this point.
But there was nothing more for Robin to say. Kristina was completely ashamed. She had been right- what Lisa did, it could have hurt so many other people, and she had no right to keep it to herself, no matter how much she wanted to keep it to herself. Emma stared back at her over Robin’s shoulder as she was carried away, lifting her little hand in a farewell wave.
Next
<<<333