Stepbrother Scandal Page 3

  Finally, I find it.

  The half empty bottle of vodka sits at the basin of the freezer. A thin film of frosty ice covers the top of it. I grab the handle and pull it into the kitchen. Then I close the freezer door, make my way over to the cabinets and remove a double shot glass.

  Grabbing the icy handle of the vodka with one hand, I unscrew the top with the other. Then I pour the contents into the tall, thin flute. The clear liquid pools to the top where it nearly spills, until I stop it perfectly from overflowing.

  Drinking wasn’t something that I had done before on my own. A few sips here and there at a party is usually my limit. This time, however, I know that I need a few tall shots to take my mind off of what’s been agonizing me.

  I grab the glass and carefully lift it to my mouth. I touch the edge with my lips and can smell the crisp scent of the alcohol. It rushes through my nose, cleansing my senses, and clearing my mind. I ready to tip the glass out and empty the contents.

  RING…

  The phone sounds into the room. I place the glass on the kitchen island counter and look at the receiver. The display screen lights up and shows a number that I don’t recognize. I decide to ignore it and take the shot when the ringer sounds once more.

  I grip the glass, thinking that I need to drink away the pain. However, the ringer seems to be getting louder. Something inside of me tells me to answer the phone. I hold the glass in one hand and lift the receiver from the charging dock with the other.

  “Hello?” I answer.

  “Hi, this is Dr. Payton,” says a man’s voice on the phone. “Can I speak with one of Kellan’s parents?”

  “They aren’t in town,” I say. “This is his sister. Is everything okay?”

  “I’m afraid that I have some bad news,” said the doctor. “Kellan had an accident during his basketball practice this morning. He’s in the hospital.”

  My heart drops, and so does the glass in my hand. It smashes onto the floor and into a million shards that splay on the title floor.

  “Are you okay?” asks the doctor. My face feels cold, and my mouth instantly dries. Finally, I find the words.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Chapter 11

  I can’t believe what I have just heard. Kellan is in trouble, and I have been spending all morning stewing with negative thoughts about him. I rush up the stairs and into my room to change clothes. Jeans fly onto my legs and I button my blouse down the middle of my chest. All along, my heart is racing to the point where I feel it could explode.

  It all becomes too much.

  Why can’t I catch my breath? Suddenly, I’m on the floor. My knees ache from the impact. Sweat pools all over my body. I can’t breath!

  “Calm down, Alexia,” I say to myself. It’s clear now that I’m having severe anxiety. This is something I’ve experienced before while trapped inside of my room. Usually it is over an essay due the next day or something else that I can easily manage. Not this though; seeing Kellan hurt is an entirely different monster to face.

  My hands touch the rough carpet and I force myself upward. After a deep breath, I find my feet. My car keys sit on the edge of my nightstand. I grab them and start down the stairs for the front door.

  On the way to the hospital I feel jittery. Hundreds of thoughts race around my mind as I drive. How badly is Kellan hurt? Has he sustained any permanent injuries? Will he be awake when I get there?

  I wish that I had asked the doctor all of these questions. At the time of the phone call, all I could think about was seeing Kellan. There didn’t seem to be a moment to spare to discuss anything until I was at the hospital.

  Finally, I pull up to the parking garage and find a spot. On my way down the elevator, I can feel the hot summer air whirling around my face. It takes everything inside of me not to burst out in another anxiety attack.

  “How can I help you?” asks the nurse at the front desk. She looks tired as she strokes the long black hair that is braided down her back.

  “I just received a call from Dr. Payton about my stepbrother, Kellan,” I say to the nurse.

  “Give me a moment to check the computer,” she says. Then her fingers move in a flurry as she types a series of clicking noises. The suspense makes the seconds creep by until, finally, she looks up at me. “What was your name, dear?”

  “Alexia,” I say.

  “Perfect,” smiles the nurse. “Looks like he’s just down the hall; I’ll escort you.”

  “Thank you,” I say with a sigh of relief. “Does it say how he is?”

  “Not up to date,” the nurse explains as she stands up from the desk. “But this is his doctor right here.” A man in a white coat and gray hair looks over at us as we walk down the hall.

  “Can I help?” he asks.

  “Dr. Payton,” says the nurse. “This is Alexia. She’s our little jokester’s sister. I’ll see you a little later when he’s ready to check out, Alexia.”

  “Stepsister,” I interject as the nurse walks away. “And what to do she mean by jokester?”

  “Your brother has been causing a lot of belly aches, Alexia,” explains Dr. Payton with a smile.

  “So he’s okay?” I ask.

  “For now,” explains the doctor as we walk toward Kellan’s room. “He needs to stay the night so that we can keep an eye on him.”

  “Okay,” I say briskly as the door is opened. I look forward to a white hospital bed with crisp sheets. Kellan is resting in the middle with of seems like his entire body bandaged together.

  Chapter 12

  “Kellan?” I ask as I rush over to him. He looks up and me and smiles.

  “Hey there,” he says. “Come to see the cripple?”

  “I’ll leave you guys for a short bit,” says Dr. Payton. “Then I’ll be back once we hear more of a report.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” I say before he leaves the room. “What happened?”

  “We didn’t win,” Kellan says, sarcastically.

  “Can you be serious for just one moment?” I ask as I examine his body. His right arm is wrapped tightly in a white cast. His leg is in a sling, but doesn’t appear to be broken.

  “It’s just a little or two fracture,” he says. “They think that my leg will be fine. Can you take me home now?”

  “The doctor seemed pretty worried,” I say. “Can’t be just a couple of broken bones.”

  “There’s a very little chance that it’s worse,” Kellan sighs. “I’m pretty sure that I’m okay.”

  “Can you please stop being vague?” I ask. “Getting answers out of you is like pulling teeth and I’ve been a nervous wreck all morning.”

  “You’ve been worried?” Kellan says as he looks at me in surprise.

  “Of course,” I say. Our glances connect but something inside of me makes me change the mood. “Asshole.”

  “There she is!” he laughs. “My wicked stepsister.”

  “Have you told your dad?” I ask while deciding to ignore his comment.

  “Hell no! And you can’t either.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” I ask. “They are going to find out.”

  “Remember how much he hates that I play basketball? This is the perfect opportunity for him to get me to leave the team.”

  “I hate to break this to you, Kellan, but you won’t get to play this season with all of this going on.”

  “Don’t say that!” he yells. “What are you, my dad?” Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Dr. Payton returned to the room.

  “Hey there,” Dr. Payton says. “I have some of the results from your detailed scans, Kellan.”

  “Am I free to go?” Kellan asks.

  “You have slight hemorrhaging,” explains the doctor. “Around your liver. I’m a but worried that this will get worse, so I want to keep you for the night.”

  “Fuck, no!” Kellan groans. His attitude makes me angry at first until I see the pain in his eyes. Without warning, I feel that I’ve found a window inside of my stepbrother’s d
amaged soul.

  “I’m sorry about him,” I say to the doctor. “He’s just worried about playing basketball.”

  “Let’s worry about you getting better,” explains the doctor. “I’ll have a nurse come in and check on you in a bit.”

  “Thank you,” I say. The doctor leaves and I step back in front of the hospital bed. Kellan looks angry as he stares out the window. “I’m sure that you’re right about this. Pretty soon, you’ll be back on your feet and ready to play.”

  I’m not completely convinced of what I should say, but I still hope that it helps for him to hear it. I spend another thirty seconds looking outside of the window with no response from Kellan.

  “Okay, then,” I say as I tap him on the arm. “I’ll just go.” I turn around to leave when I hear his voice sound through the room.

  “Please don’t,” Kellan says, softly. “I... I don’t want to be here alone.”

  I turn around and his face appears to brighten. Could it be that he does have feelings for me after all? Either way, I feel awful for having terrible thoughts about him about last night. Plus, if I were in his shoes, I would want me to stay as well.

  “Okay,” I say to him. “I’ll stay.”

  Chapter 13

  We spend the next few hours watching television in Kellan’s hospital room. I placed three chairs next to each other to make a makeshift bed. Though, secretly, I want to be lying with Kellan. Even in a hospital bed, his sexiness isn’t watered down.

  He seems to calm and self-assured about the situation. However, now I can tell that he has a soft spot. It’s hidden under multiple layers of tough exterior, but it’s there.

  “Hey,” I hear Kellan say he as leans over the bed toward me.

  “Yes?” I ask with caution.

  “Want to do me a favor?” he asks with a smile. My heart sinks when I see his boyish grin.

  “Sure.”

  “Can you go to the cafeteria and get me some food?”

  “Of course,” I say as I sit up on my makeshift bed. Then I push one of the chairs aside so that I can leave the room. “That’s an easy enough request.”

  “Get some sweets, too,” Kellan says. “I have a craving.”

  “No problem,” I say just before I feel my stomach grumbling. Looking out the window, I see that it has become dark. My watch tells me that it’s just past 8pm, much later than I had thought.

  As I move down the hallway, I see that the hospital is much more quite than when I first entered. Only a few nurses roam the dim corridors as I look for the cafeteria. A sign placed on the wall points in the direction, so I follow it to two swing-to-open doors.

  As soon as I push through the doors, the smell of warm, cooked food floods my senses. Because I’m in a hospital, I’m surprised by the delicious scents.

  “How can I help you?” asked the man at the counter to the cafeteria.

  “What are your best dishes?” I ask him.

  “I know just the thing,” he says with a smile. “I will fix you a plate.”

  “Can I get two?”

  “Of course, little lady,” says the man while I grab two trays. “Coming right up!”

  He loads three plates. The first two have Parmesan chicken, heaps of mashed potatoes, buttered asparagus, and a garden salad. The third plate contains a sampling of various deserts. There is chocolate cake, cheesecake, a tiny bowl of vanilla ice cream with fudge dripping down the top, and two chocolate covered strawberries.

  “Thank you!” I say after paying the bill and holding the trays steady in my arms. I worry that the drinks I have in the cup holders will spill onto the floor. Somehow, I manage to get back to the room, however, opening the door handle is a problem.

  “Let me get that,” says the nurse I met when I first came to the hospital.

  “You’re still here?” I ask in disbelief as she opens the door.

  “I’m always here,” she laughs. “Four days on, four days off.”

  “That sounds like a good schedule to me,” I say.

  “I work a lot,” she says. “But I also have time to spend with my family. Have a good evening.”

  “You, too,” I say with a smile as she exits the room. “Thanks for getting the door.”

  “That food smells amazing,” Kellan says as he gets up from his bed.

  “I know, for a hospital, this is divine.”

  “Have you tasted it?”

  “Not yet,” I say as I set the tray on a rotating holder. “This is handy.”

  “Let’s try at the same time,” Kellan says as he digs his fork into the mashed potatoes. I follow him by doing the same. “One... two... three!”

  We both push the scoop of food into our mouths. The flavor is amazing. Every bite that we eat seems to pop better than the one before it. It only takes us a few minutes to scrape our plates clean before heading to the dessert.

  Kellan takes a scoop of the chocolate cake and puts it into his mouth. His eyes roll backward in delight. Then he scoops another piece and holds it up for me. I lean toward it and press my lips around the fork. As he slides the metal from my mouth, I groan with delight. It’s one of the best cakes I have ever eaten.

  Before I can say something, Kellan sits upward and kisses me on the cheek. I feel my face flood with happiness as he begins working down my neck. Goosebumps rise on my arm with each of his soft kisses.

  “We can’t do anything here,” I remind him.

  “Sure, we can,” Kellan says before kissing my lips. It feels amazing to be back in his embrace. In general, it feels great to take care of him. “Ouch!”

  “Everything okay?” I ask as we stop kissing. Kellan’s face is scourged in pain.

  “I’m... fine...” he moans. “Just moved the wrong way.”

  “Just relax,” I say calmly to him. Kellan turns back to his bed and sinks into the cushions. I still want to make him feel good, but it’s difficult with two of his appendages in a cast. Then I look and see that there is a bulge in his hospital gown. The idea strikes my mind like lightning on a tree.

  “What are you doing?” he asks as I move my hand to his crotch. I can feel it growing under the thin fabric as I began to take hold of it. “Okay, don’t stop.”

  “I will when you’ve finished,” I say as I pull up the gown. His magnificent flesh is pointing up to the ceiling. I lower my head on it and begin to suck.

  “Ahhhhhh...” he sighs. “Amazing.”

  My head twists for another couple of minutes as I make clean sweeps with my mouth against his throbbing cock.

  “Ah... ahhhh...” That was all that it took. Soon pumps of his sweet cream were being pumped into my mouth. His muscular body was tense and heated as I took him down to the last drop.

  Chapter 14

  I slept poorly that night in his hospital room. Not that I had much hope for a bed made out of cushioned steel chairs, but it was the best that I could do besides sleeping on the floor.

  Kellan had insisted that I go home that night, but I wanted to be near him. Besides, if I was by myself, all I could think about was Kellan. Was he okay? Did the doctor give him his results? Did he take a turn for the worse?

  I didn’t want to take that chance, so I decided to stay. When the doctor came into the room the next morning, we had already eaten breakfast after Kellan received a couple more x-rays. Though I was hopeful that everything would be fine, I still expected Kellan to need to stay another night or two.

  “Good morning,” says Dr. Payton. “How are you feeling, Kellan?”

  “I feel fine,” Kellan answers. “The pain pills help, but other than that, I feel great.”

  “Good, good,’ says Dr. Payton. “The nurse who did your scans this morning sounded hopeful as well.”

  “Does that mean that I can go home?” Kellan asks.

  “It’s okay if he has to stay another night,” I say. Then I rub my neck, which still feels sore from sleeping on the hair chairs.

  “That won’t be necessary,” smiles the doctor. “You can go home
as soon as you can get your belongings together.”

  “Alright!” shouts Kellan. I feel relieved knowing that we can finally settle in at home again.

  “You will need a lot of rest,” says the doctor. “Then you’ll need the crutches to keep off of your ankle, followed by physical therapy– and, finally, you’ll need to lay on sports for a while.”

  “No worries,” says Kellan as he tries to figure how to get off the bed. “I’ll do as I’m told.”

  It takes about thirty minutes to get Kellan clothed and back on his feet with the help of crutches. I can tell that he is still sore as he climbs into my car, but he tries not to show it.

  As soon as we get home, he crashes on the couch, and I make us dinner. It feels nice being at home with him, watching television like a normal couple would. Though the lines in our relationship are heavily blurred, I still can’t stop thinking about him as something more.

  Chapter 15

  “I couldn’t be more ready to get out,” my friend Maxine says flatly as we drive home the next night from the mall. Kellan insisted that I hang out with my friend for the day and leave him at home. “My parents are driving me up the wall.”

  “Uh-huh,” I say as I shake my head. I’m not trying to ignore her, however, I can’t stop thinking about Kellan and wondering how he is feeling.

  “Are you even listening to me, Alexia?” Maxine sneered. As her head turned toward me, her frizzy hair bounced all around her soft, round face.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I know that I’ve been distracted.”

  “Is it college?” she asks. I want to tell Maxine and have her assess the situation for me. It would be great to have another person help me through my feelings over my stepbrother. Maxine is always a great source of feedback, however, I know that it will be difficult for her to fully understand. “You’ve been pretty off today.”

  “Yes,” I lie. The truth is, I have too many things on my mind to decipher between what was really causing me anxiety. Being with Kellan at night is peaceful and powerful. I start to feel dependent on his affection for my happiness. “I’m just worried that my mom will freak out.”