Clash of Hearts (Wild Hearts, Contemporary Romance Book 2) Page 5

  Judy grinned. "Yes, you better. Believe me, I can think of some things you could do for me!"

  Kylie closed her eyes and made a face. "Oh, come on, you guys," she said. "If you're going to act like that, get a room! Do you know how gross it is when parents act like that in front of their kids? We try not to remember that our parents are human, it ruins the whole concept of thinking that parents are perfect. The last thing we need to see is you two flirting with each other! If you're going to act like that, please, do it in private so we don't have to see it."

  "Okay, remember what I said about Kylie acting smart?" Katie asked. "Forget I said it, it was a momentary lapse in judgment. She's as dorky as ever, we can all relax now. The body snatchers didn't get her after all."

  Katie turned towards her father. "So, okay, what does this mean? Does it mean that Darren is going to be in some kind of trouble?"

  "Well, I'm going to have to file a report to the insurance companies, ours because they’re handling your medical bills at the moment, and his because they're going to go after him for reimbursement. His insurance company is going to want a copy of the report, there's no doubt about that; on the other hand, it means that he is actually liable for what happened to you. Now, it's up to you, but you could actually sue him for damages, if you want to."

  Katie looked at her father for a moment, and then looked away. "I don't know that suing him is anything I would want to do," she said. "It's not going to change anything, it's not going to undo what happened. Realistically, it would make me feel like I was just trying to get revenge over being dumped. I don't think that it would help me feel better in any way, and I don't think I want anything from him. Am I making any sense?"

  "Well, of course you are," Judy said. "Honey, your father isn't saying that you ought to sue him, he's only saying that you could. You've suffered a lot through this, but it's entirely your decision. No one else can make that decision for you."

  Allen nodded. "It's entirely up to you. I'm not trying to suggest anything one way or the other. I just wanted you to know what's going on here, and that, yes, he did lie to us about what happened. I'm sure he'll claim he doesn't remember or that he's sure I must be wrong, but the fact is there was nothing that could have caused him to lose control of that car. Nothing but his own negligence, that is."

  Katie sat there for a moment, obviously deep in thought. "You know, on the other hand, if I did file a lawsuit, it's most likely that his insurance company would want to settle as quickly as they could. I'm just thinking that it could give me the money I would need to start my own practice. Would that be wrong, do you think?"

  Allen shook his head, and Judy said, "No, honey, I don't think it would be wrong at all. To be honest, I think you have every right to some kind of compensation, after what you've been through. I don't think you should see it as any kind of revenge, though. Your father and I were talking a bit ago, and we both think that it's a blessing in disguise that the wedding has been called off. If this is the kind of man he is, what might have happened in the future? There could be any number of reasons why he might have decided you were some kind of liability to his career, and what if you had children who would be hurt in the divorce, or dragged through a nasty custody fight? It's a hard choice, trying to figure out what to do in this type of situation, but I'm sure you'll do what's right for you."

  Katie was quiet for a few moments, as she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes. "I need to think about it," she said. "This isn't something I can snap my fingers on and suddenly have everything figured out. I need to really put some thought into it, make sure I'm doing the right thing. I don't think money is going to make me feel any better, or help me walk any sooner, but maybe it really would be a good idea to put this experience to work helping other people who are going through something similar. Money could certainly help with the startup expenses, that's for sure."

  Kylie patted her hand. "If there's one thing I know about my big sissy, it's that she will always do what she believes is the right thing to do. That's one of those qualities you've had all these years that I tried to emulate, in my own life. I just want you to know that I'm with you, no matter what you decide to do."

  "We’re all with you," Judy said. "And Kylie's right, you've always been the one who would sacrifice what you wanted when you felt that someone else's needs were more important. You always do what you believe is right, and we have always been so terribly proud of you for that. Maybe using this experience to help others is precisely the right thing for you. And if the accident itself is what makes it possible, well, then there is a certain irony in that, isn't there? Darren may have dumped you, but I will confess that I would think it rather funny if he ended up having to pay for the rest of your education, anyway. Maybe no one else gets a chuckle out of that, but I'll guarantee you I would."

  Allen smiled. "I'm not going to say that I wouldn't feel it was a fitting consequence," he said, "but I don't think I'd be laughing. From my point of view, no matter what good may come out of it, my little girl got hurt. I can't see any humor in that, not any kind at all." He shook his head. "Would there be a kind of justice involved? Yeah, I have to say there would be, if you won damages or got a settlement that helped you make a dream come true. I remember just a few weeks ago, when you thought your dream was to be Mrs. Darren Allsip; I'll be honest enough to admit that I feel a whole lot better about this new dream than I ever did about that one"

  Katie looked at her father. "Really? I thought you liked Darren a lot, like he was the son you always wished you had."

  "Sweetheart, if I had a son like Darren, I think I'd go hang my head in shame. I saw his father at lunch today, and the man couldn't even look me in the eye." He shook his head again. "I thought Darren was a pretty decent young man, but did I ever believe he was good enough for my little girl? Heck, no! It would take an awfully special guy to be good enough for one of you girls!"

  4

  Rob Christopher was whistling as he walked out into the front lobby of his clinic, and his sister, Anna, looked up at him in surprise.

  "Okay," she said, "what's got you in such a chipper mood? Oh, wait, let me guess; your favorite client is due to arrive at any moment, right?"

  Rob gave her an innocent look. "Why, Anna, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. All of my clients are my favorites, don't you know that?"

  "Yeah, right! Tell somebody else, Bubba, because you're not fooling me. I see the way you look at Katie Lou Brennan, and I think asking her sister for a date is probably the dumbest thing you've ever done."

  Rob shook his head. "You've got it all wrong, Sis," he said. "Do I think Katie is beautiful? Heck, yes, I'm not blind. She's got issues, though, and just came out of a bad relationship. The last thing she needs is someone trying to get involved with her, and I'm not going to be that someone. Her sister, on the other hand, who is also beautiful, doesn't seem to have those hang-ups. While I may not see a serious relationship in the future with her, I think she and I can have some fun together. And there ain't nothing wrong with that! So stop trying to play Cupid, and just let me know when my client gets here."

  Anna snorted. "Look, Bubba, like I said, you may fool somebody else, but you ain't fooling me. If she's not your favorite client, then why do you keep scheduling her for just before lunch? The only reason you didn't take her out to lunch yesterday was because you had to swing out to the hospital and see Mrs. Jensen. You do realize you've spent more on taking her out to lunch in the last two weeks then you spent taking me out to lunch in the last year, right?"

  "Oh, baloney! I know darn well that isn't true!"

  "I bet it is," Anna said. "Let's call your accountant, and find out. I'll bet you twenty bucks I'm right."

  Rob didn't get a chance to respond, because the front door opened and Katie Lou came rolling in. He broke out into a big smile, and ignored his sister when she snorted and muttered, "All my clients are my favorites. Yeah, right."

  "Hey, there," Katie called out, a
nd Anna let a smile spread over her face. Rob's red-haired sister was a sweetheart, in Katie's book, and it was fairly obvious that the feeling was mutual. "I know I'm running a little late, and I apologize, but for some reason the silly truck didn't want to start this morning. We had to call my dad to come and give us a jump."

  Kylie had followed her in, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just about sick of that little truck. I mean, I'm glad it was available to drive while my car was broken down, but dad says the engine kit finally came in for my Riviera, and he just got the block back from the machine shop, so I'm going down this afternoon to start putting it together."

  Rob smiled. "Okay, I admit, it's just hard for me to imagine you building an engine for a car. I mean, the engine is probably bigger than you are! I had to overhaul the engine in my first Mustang, so I know it's a lot of work, and it just blows my mind to think of you standing there with an engine, putting pistons in, installing a new camshaft, all that stuff."

  Kylie grinned at him. "Mustang, huh? What engine did it have, a two eighty-nine?"

  It was Rob's turn to grin. “Nope. Three oh two! High compression pistons, ten to one, and a torqued-up Isky cam to go with 'em. She cranked about three hundred horsepower, and had a four-speed tranny behind her!”

  Kylie nodded. “Not bad,” she said. “But next time, come on down and help me overhaul a real engine. My Riv has a four twenty-five, and I'm going for five-hundred-and-fifty horsepower in this build. Dad says you shouldn't ever pass up an opportunity to build for power, so since we already had the engine out of the car, I decided to just go for it.”

  Katie Lou laughed. “Don't let her get your goat,” she said. “If it wasn't that Daddy insisted, she wouldn't have even thought about building her car into a hot rod. In fact, if Daddy hadn't bought the parts, that poor motor would probably never get put back together."

  "Now, that's not entirely true," Kylie said. "I would've got around to ordering the parts sooner or later."

  "Okay, okay, that's enough car talk for today," Anna said. "In case you've forgotten, Dr. Christopher, Miss Brennan has an appointment with you today."

  "Not only have I not forgotten, but as it happens, I'm all ready for it. Katie Lou, you ready? I've got something new for you today."

  "Oh, I'm ready," Katie said. "Bring it on, I'm ready for whatever you got. So far, it seems like everything is helping me get out of this wheelchair, so I'm all for it."

  Rob smiled. "Well, hopefully this is going to be another step in that direction." He turned and opened the door that led back into the main part of the clinic, and then showed Katie and Kylie to the room they usually went to for her sessions.

  When they got there, the first thing Katie saw was the wheeled walker. "Is that for me?" she asked, her voice high and squeaky.

  "Yep," Rob said. "That little guy is your new best friend. What we're going to do today is see how well you can get by with him around here, and let you start building up those legs for the day you can take him home with you."

  Katie was almost beside herself with excitement, but Rob cautioned her to go slow. He showed her how to use the walker, squeezing the handles to set the brakes when she needed to simply stand still, and to push the brake levers down to lock them for when she wanted to sit down on the seat that was built into it.

  "Now, what you need to do is get a firm grip on the handles, lock the brakes, squeeze them tight, and then use your arms and legs to get yourself up to a standing position. This isn't quite like the parallel bars; you're not standing exactly in between the handles, but you can lean on them. They'll hold your weight and help you stay up while you use your legs and feet to push the walker around. The front wheels are on swivels, so all you’ve got to do is push it along and turn it in whatever direction you want to go. It'll be easy once you get the hang of it."

  Katie rolled her wheelchair up to it, and reached out to grasp the handles. She squeezed the brakes as he'd shown her to do, then rolled her body forward and pushed up with her legs, suddenly finding herself standing. The smile on her face was radiant, as she looked from Rob to her sister and back, and then down at the walker. She released the brakes and took a step forward, pushing the walker ahead. She made it all the way across the room, then turned it around and pushed it all the way back. When she got back to where Rob and Kylie were waiting, she turned the walker and sat down on it, then looked up at them and beamed a smile at them.

  "Oh my gosh," she said. "Oh, Rob, this is so wonderful. Did you see what I did? I made it across the room and back, that's more than twice as far as walking on the bars. If I can do that, don't you think I'm ready to just give up the chair and switch over to this?"

  Brad grinned, and chuckled a bit. "Katie, I don't think you're quite ready switch all the way over just yet. I think you need to spend some time, here at the clinic, getting the hang of the walker. You'll find that after a few minutes, your legs are going to be throwing fits. They're not quite up to normal functioning level, so they're not really ready to start supporting your weight on a regular basis just yet. Let's not rush things, okay?"

  Katie frowned, but nodded her head. "You're the doctor," she said, "but I'm so sick of that chair it's unbelievable."

  Rob's eyebrows went up. "You think I wouldn't believe it? You forget, I've been where you're at. I can understand exactly what you mean, and I remember the first time I got a look at one of these, and knew that it was my ticket out of that wheeled Frankenstein. I understand exactly what you're saying, and I believe you, I really do believe you."

  Katie rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, I wasn't being literal, I just meant that I really want out of this chair, you didn't have to go through all the drama, there. Yes, I know you know how it feels."

  Rob laughed, and Kylie joined in with him. "Drama, me? It seemed to me you were the one who was being a bit dramatic, not me."

  With a little encouragement, Katie was back upon her feet again a moment later, pushing "Willie," as she named her walker, back and forth across the room. She counted off her steps, and found that there were eighteen steps in each direction. She made eight laps, which meant a total of a hundred-and-forty-four steps, with only a couple of short breaks somewhere in the middle.

  When the session ended, Rob admitted he was impressed. "I never would've believed you could've spent that much time upon your feet today," he said. "That was really quite amazing, but then you've been amazing me since the day we met. Maybe I shouldn't have been all that surprised, after all."

  Katie looked up hopefully. "So, does that mean I can take Willie with me? Are you saying I'm ready to graduate from the wheelchair? Cause if that's what you're saying, then I just might have to kiss you!"

  "No, no, none of that!" Kylie said. "Remember the rules about doctor-patient improprieties. We can't be having anything like that going on, now can we?"

  Katie looked at Rob and winked. "She's just afraid I'll find an excuse to get a kiss from you before she does," she said, and then she and Kylie both fell into fits of laughter as Rob seemed to choke and began coughing, trying to shake off the embarrassment of her words.

  "Well, um, I'm not too sure about the whole kissing thing, but I'll make you a deal. Take Willie out to your truck, and let's go out to lunch. It's almost noon, so the timing is right. If you can manage, all on your own, to get the walker into the truck and out of it, and make it into the restaurant and back, then I'd have to say you're ready to graduate."

  "Seriously? Really, seriously?" Katie asked.

  "Yes, really and seriously," Rob said. "Like I said, you really surprised me today. I didn't think you'd be able to do so much so quickly, but I should've expected it. After all, we're talking about Katie Lou Brennan. Why don't you and your sister head on out to your truck, and let's go see if you can manage to put that thing in the truck and then get yourself into the cab."

  "But, wait a minute," Kylie said. "Even with the wheelchair, it was common for me to help her get into the truck, and then I'd put the wheelchair in the back. Why doe
s she have to do it all by herself?"

  Rob smiled. "Because I'd feel a lot better about letting her take the walker with her if I knew that she could handle it by herself if she had to. Think about it, what if you were busy somewhere and she needed to go someplace; she might not have a problem getting someone to take her, but would they be able to handle the walker? If she can handle it by herself, then she's that much closer to being independent again."

  Kylie started to protest again. "But…"

  "Kylie, he's right," Katie said. "The wheelchair is one thing, but if I'm going to have any hope of actually walking again, then I probably need to be hooked up to Willie for a while. The more independent I can be, the better off I am. I mean, let's face it, independence is what this is all about, right? Me being able to function on my own. Willie doesn't weigh nearly as much as a wheelchair; he's light, and I should be able to handle him. If I can't, then I'm not really ready for him."

  "But—okay," Kylie said. "Okay, I guess I see the point. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

  Rob smiled. "All right, then," he said, "shall we go? I got a feeling this young lady is going to put me in my place, and handle it just fine. Let me collect my sister, and I'll be ready to go."

  Rob opened the door, and Katie took her first steps out into the world with Willie, her new walker. She made her way down the hallway—she was counting steps, and made it to forty-three by the time they got back to the lobby—and she was delighted at the look on Anna's face when the door opened and she was the first one to come through it.

  "Oh, my goodness," the redhead cried. "Well, would you look at you? Katie, that's awesome! You're walking, you're actually walking again!"

  Katie was beaming from ear to ear, and couldn't hold back a giggle of excitement. "Tell me about it," she said. "Your brother says he can't believe I'm doing so well, and to be honest, neither can I! This is a lot easier than it looks, though, so it's not that bad. Get your stuff, he's taking us all out to lunch again!"