Page 49 of Crucified By the Dark
“He’s a little worse.” Lindsay sniffled, and instead of feeling bad for her, Morry had to force her voice to remain calm.
Lindsay was her only shot at getting any information about Kyle. The hospital staff wouldn’t take her calls or tell her anything, and Andrew was being a grade-A dick.
“The doctors said he needs a transplant in the next few weeks. Now that his native liver has started to fail, it seems to be doing so rapidly.”
“I’m surprised he managed to go this long without needing the transplant,” Morry said.
When Kyle was born, he needed surgery to fix his bile ducts, which were inside out. The doctors predicted that he would need a transplant before he turned eight. Kyle managed to live a relatively normal life, but they’d watched over him day in and day out like a pair of hawks.
When she decided to re-enlist in the army, she’d only done so because Kyle was doing remarkably well, and the doctors couldn’t believe how healthy he was or how hisnative liver, as they called it, had been holding up. They hadn’t felt he would require surgery for many more years, and they were right. But now that the time had come, they couldn’t find a match, and her son was getting sicker with each passing hour.
“Lindsay, does Andrew ever leave the hospital for a few hours? I would really like to visit Kyle again,” she said, trying not to sound as conniving as she felt.
“Well, he does, but I don’t know if I should get any more involved between the two of you.”
“Please tell me you’re joking. If you put yourself any more in the middle of us, we would be sister-wives and fucking Andrew together. You literally fucked him the entire time I was deployed, then smiled to my face when I was home to visit and proceeded to marry him the moment our divorce was final. You now live in my old home with my ex-husband, playing mommy to my son. Do you see the irony in your statement?”
There was silence on the other end of the line, then Lindsay sighed. “Fine, I will text you the next time he takes a break and goes home, but only if you listen to my side of the story. You never let me explain what happened.”
Morry bit her tongue to keep from snapping back. She had no interest in listening to anything this woman said, but Kyle was the only thing that mattered.
“Fine. Tell me what you want to say.”
She plopped down in her chair and prepared not to let the last nerve she had for this woman snap. She never had a very long fuse when it came to assholes, but now she found that people, in general, pissed her off. Maybe it was her age. They say you get more miserable and irritable the older you get. Was thirty-five too young to start hating everyone and swatting them with canes? It had an amusing appeal.
“I never told you this, but when we were in high school, I always had a huge crush on Andrew. He was so handsome and smart and not like the other football guys, but he asked you out before I got up the nerve to ask him or tell you I liked him. The two of you started dating, and I let the idea drop, but the feelings were always there. I was a supportive friend for your first two tours, but the third one was when things changed.”
Morry opened the bottom of her desk, wanting a drink, but the bottle was gone. She narrowed her eyes at the blank spot. Lindsay stopped speaking, and Morry realized she must be waiting for a response.
“I’m listening,” Morry said, not sure what else she was supposed to say to that.Congratulations, you were a good friend until you saw an opening to get what you wanted.Maybe she should have a big fucking trophy made for Lindsay.
“Well, that was the tour my mom died, and then Kyle was hospitalized for a few weeks, and we ended up just hanging out more. I’m not really sure how it happened, but we just started calling and talking about life and our fears, and a conversation led to coffee and….”
“Yes, I know where it ended up.” Morry rubbed her face and was surprised she was going to admit this aloud. “Look, Lindsay, I don’t like or condone what you did. I was happily married at the time. At least, I thought I was until…Fuck, I’ll never get that image of the two of you fucking on my desk in my room out of my head. The thing is, I don’t know if we would’ve stayed together or not, but that’s not the point. You were my friend, or again, I thought you were, and you threw it away. I meant nothing to you. Did you even feel bad for sleeping with my husband in my bed?”
“Oh my god, yes. I’m so sorry about that. I wouldn’t speak to Andrew again until he came over and said you two were getting a divorce. I was mortified that we’d gotten to that point, and then that was how you found out, I….”
Morry bit her lip and stood to pace. “It is what it is now, Lindsay. The point is, the two of you seem happySo, in a strange way, I’m happy for you, but that doesn’t mean I ever want our friendship back. I need you to understand that. You can’t come back from what you did. Also, I like that Kyle seems cool with you and that you’re good to him, but you’re not his mother. I am. If you want ten kids with Andrew, go for it, but Kyle is my son. I’m happy he has so much love, but don’t let the lines blur in your mind, no matter what venomous shit Andrew spews.”
“You’re right, I know. Look, I can’t force Andrew to let you see Kyle or drop the case to keep full custody. He’s been so angry about it and you. Honestly, he won’t see reason, even when Kyle argues that he wants to see you. Sometimes, I think he is just doing it to spite you now, but I…I don’t know.”
Morry stopped at the window and stared out at the compound and bikers sitting outside, taking in the sun.
“I’m not asking you to fight Andrew for me. All I need is for you to let me know whenever he leaves for a few hours or half a day. I mean, he is still working, so he has to leave at some point, right?”
“Yeah, he does.”
“Okay then, shoot me a text and just say, ‘beauty appointment booked’ with the time he is leaving. That’s it. I will do the rest, and he will never know what you are doing. If you were ever really my friend, help me with this until I can get Andrew to back off.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m asking you to help me, Lindsay, please.”
“God, Morry. I wish we could get back to where we were. I miss you. I really am sorry. I was in so much pain when my mom died and…I know it’s not an excuse, and you’ve told me how you feel, but maybe one day, you’ll find it in you to forgive me.”
Morry closed her eyes and shook her head. “You never know, Lindsay, maybe one day,” she said but had no intentions of putting any work into that.
If it happened, it happened, but even if she and Andrew were headed for divorce, a real friend wouldn’t have gone there until the bed was cold and would have at least had the decency to ask. Best friends didn’t do what Lindsay did. They just didn’t.
Lindsay’s tone suddenly changed, and Morry knew that Andrew must have walked into the room. “Yes, that sounds fabulous. I can’t wait to meet you and work on your hair. A wedding is so exciting. Thank you for choosing me. Take care.”
Lindsay hung up, and she had to admit that was pretty slick. Then again, she had a lot of practice at lying. Okay, one call down. One to go.
