Part 23
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"Hello, pretty lady. Is your star boarder accepting visitors today?"
"He's out walking with his father right now, but I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
"Happy? Are we talking about the same person here?"
The smile faded from Annie's face and she linked an arm with Kermit's as they walked through the house together. "Kermit, I'm so worried about Peter. Physically, he's getting better, but he's so sad. I can hear it in his voice. He's not interested in anything anymore. He makes an effort whenever any of you come around or when the girls are here, but..." She shrugged.
They paused in front of the bay windows to the dining room. "Can you see them coming yet?" Annie asked. "They've been gone for over an hour, and they should be getting back any time."
"They're just getting into your backyard now." Kermit watched the two men approach.
As they neared the house, Caine put an arm around Peter's shoulder, though they didn't appear to be carrying on a conversation.
Peter opened the patio door to enter the house, with his father following behind.
"Peter, Kermit's here to see you," Annie announced brightly.
"Oh, yeah, hi, Kermit." A brief forced smile flitted across Peter's face. "Thanks for coming. Um, listen, though. I'm...kinda tired. Wouldja mind if I took a rain check on the visit?"
"Sure, Kid, no problem. I'll sit here and talk with the adults while you take your nap." The good-natured grin on Kermit's face took the sting out of his words.
"Thanks." Peter trudged down the hallway and plodded up the stairs with a measured tread.
Kermit and Caine exchanged a meaningful look.
Caine raised an eyebrow and shrugged one shoulder. "I do not know," he answered Kermit's unspoken question.
"I can't stand to watch this and not try to do something," Kermit said.
"What can you do?" asked Caine.
"I don't know. But anything is better than just watching Peter fade away like this."
"I wish Paul was here," sighed Annie. She reached out her hand to Caine. "Oh, I didn't mean anything by that."
Caine took her hand in both of his. "I wish he were here, too."
"It's just that Paul could always get Peter to open up in ways that I could never understand."
"Yes," Caine said quietly. "It is important that a boy have a father to talk to. I am glad that your husband was able to be there for Peter when I could not." His eyes grew sad. "When Peter was a little boy, he would talk about having strong feelings. Feelings that he would keep bottled up inside. He said it was like...keeping tigers behind a door. He has always had difficulty letting the tigers out."
"Does anyone really know what happened between him and Kacie?" Kermit demanded.
"I heard what Peter said to her," Annie said sadly. "It sounded more to me like he was trying to convince himself that their relationship was over. Oh, the awful things they said to each other that day. I don't understand it at all. I wish I knew what to do."
"Well, look, you two. I've got some work waiting for me back at my computer. I'll stop by again sometime and talk with the kid." Kermit breezed out of the house whistling tunelessly.
"Caine, how is Peter, really?" asked Annie. "You have ways of knowing these things."
Caine took a deep breath and sighed. "His body is healing while his emotions rage inside. He will not share his thoughts with me."
"I've tried to talk with him a couple of times," Annie confided. "But he only shuts me out." Her voice grew more troubled. "I haven't been able to reach Kacie at all. She doesn't answer her phone, and the times Kelly has gone over to her place, she hasn't been home. At least she's not answering her door. Caine, I'm really worried about her. What if she decides to leave?"
"We would have to let her go."
Kacie knelt on the floor taping shut a cardboard box with strapping tape. She glanced up at to see who walked in. "I must have forgotten to lock the door," she said disinterestedly. "Close it behind you when you leave."
Kermit gazed around the apartment at the number of full boxes sitting stacked in the middle of the living room floor. Several more empty cartons lay strewn about. "What are you doing?
"You're a detective," she said flatly. "Use your powers of deduction." She kept on working, the only sounds that of the tape peeling from the roll and the r-r-rip as each strip was cut.
"The hospital said you hadn't been coming to work the past few days."
"I quit."
The packing went on and he moved closer, noting the mechanical, almost robotic, movements. "What are you going to do?"
"What I have to." The packing went on and she never looked up.
"Listen, Kacie, you know Peter didn't mean..."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Funny. That's the same thing Peter says."
She paused the merest fraction of a second at the mention of Peter's name, then kept on taping the boxes shut. "If you don't mind, I've got a lot of things to do here."
"Where are you going?"
"Away."
"How will we know how to find you?"
"You won't."
"Look, Kacie. Don't do anything you might regret."
"I've already done something I regret. I met Peter Caine. Now would you please leave me alone?"
"Is alone what you really want?"
"It's what I've got. Now go."
"Kacie..."
She jumped to her feet and strode swiftly to the door, throwing it open. "Out. Get out."
Shaking his head, he regarded her gravely. "It doesn't have to be like this."
"It is what it is, Kermit." She closed her eyes and her face twisted in pain as she whispered, "Will you please go?"
He was barely outside before the door slammed shut behind him. The deadbolt slammed home, and the wounded cry that sounded from behind the barrier echoed in Kermit's ears as he walked away.
"Ma'am, my name is John, and this is Dave and Mark." The paramedic sniffed the air suspiciously. "Ma'am? Do you need the fire department,too?"
"No. It's the fireplace. There's no other fire. Please hurry and help my son!"
Dave and Mark walked quickly down the hallway, rolling the guerney with their equipment stacked on top. They entered the den while the first paramedic continued to talk with Annie.
"Can you tell me what happened, Ma'am?"
"The damper stuck in the fireplace and smoke filled the room. My son is recuperating from a gunshot wound and surgery to his lung. He started coughing from the smoke and he couldn't get any air."
John walked Annie to the den and asked his partners, "What have we got?"
Dave arranged the face mask on Peter's face while Carl explained, "The patient's name is Peter, and he's complaining of chest pain and respiratory distress. Breathing is labored. We've got him on full-flow oxygen. Pulse is strong and steady."
They secured Peter on the gurney and made him as comfortable as possible as he wheezed, desperate for air.
"OK, call County General and tell them we're transporting, ETA ten minutes," John directed. Turning to Annie, he asked, "Ma'am, is there someone we can call for you?"
"Please, can't I go to the hospital with him?" Her face was twisted with worry.
"I guess there's room for a ride-along." John patted Annie's arm consolingly. "Your son is in good hands, and we'll have him at the ER in just a few minutes.
Peter was dozing when Annie came into the hospital room and took his hand.
"Peter? Are you awake?" Her hands shook and her voice trembled. "Sweetie? There's someone here who wants to see you. Do you think you're up to it?"
He kept his eyes closed and murmured sleepily, "I'm kinda tired, Mom."
"Too tired to see your old dad?"
Peter stiffened and his eyes flew open. He snapped his head around to face the doorway, where a familiar craggy face stared mistily at him, lower lip caught between teeth. Paul looked older and thinner, but the light in his eyes was full of love.
"Paul?" he asked hoarsely. "Paul, is that really you?"
"He surprised us at home last night," Annie related tearfully. "Todd and Carolyn and the baby were all there, and Kelly was home, too. He..." She started to cry and her husband came close, sliding a comforting arm around her waist. She turned into him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"My father told me you'd come back." Peter's voice broke several times as his eyes filled with tears. "But I was afraid to believe him." He reached out both arms to his foster father. "Oh, God, Paul. I have missed you so much."
Paul released Annie and stepped forward to crush Peter to his chest, both men overcome with emotion. Paul rested his cheek against Peter's dark head. "It's all right, Son. Everything'll be all right."
Peter started coughing, and once he started, he couldn't stop. He was soon gasping for air and pressing both hands against his chest as he curled into a fetal position.
Paul rang for a nurse while Annie did what she could to try and calm Peter.
Dr. McClanahan strode in, followed by a nurse, who quickly ushered the Blaisdells from the room. Annie and Paul were consoling one another when they saw Caine hurrying toward them, a worried look on his face. He didn't seem at all surprised to see Paul. "Peter is worse?"
"I'm afraid it's my fault, Caine," Paul apologized. "I think I was too big a shock for him, and he got overexcited. He started a coughing jag and couldn't get his air."
McClanahan joined them then. "That's a pretty accurate description of what happened. We've got the coughing under control, and have him hooked up to some oxygen, just to supplement his air supply. He re-strained some of those muscles in his chest area, and I gave him a hypo for the pain. He's resting now."
"Can we sit with him again if we promise not to excite him?" Annie asked meekly.
"I don't see a problem with that." The three parents started in, but the doctor put a delaying hand on Caine's shoulder. "Could I speak with you a moment?"
Caine nodded silently. "I will join you and our son later," he told Paul and Annie.
When he and the doctor were alone, McClanahan looked him directly in the eye and asked, "Were you aware that my nurse no longer works here?"
"Yes. A friend told me of it."
"Did she talk to you before she left?"
"Left?" Caine stared at him blankly.
"Left. As in no longer in this city."
"And you feel as if you have lost a child."
McClanahan cleared his throat. "I hate losing a good nurse."
Caine's eyes were full of compassion and understanding. "Do you know where she has gone?"
"No. I hoped maybe you...?"
Caine shook his head sadly. "No. She has not spoken to me since the day my son refused to allow her to see him."
"This in none of my business, Caine, but what the hell happened between Kacie and your son?"
"I do not know. My son refuses to discuss it with anyone." He paused. "No one understands."
"Well, I don't, either. Forgive me for saying so, but your son is a damned fool."
Caine arched an eyebrow at him and smiled faintly. "An astute assessment of the situation." He bowed. "Thank you, doctor. I am grateful for your care of my son."
"It's my job to take care of my patients, even when I think they need a frontal lobotomy."