The Girl With No Name // the 100 Wattys 2018!!

Twenty-Three

"Jackson, could you give us a minute?" Marcus Kane asked.

Theresa still had her back turned to Kane; so, she flashed a pleading look at Jackson, praying that he wouldn't leave. She couldn't be left alone with that man. She didn't know what would happen. "Yes, sir," Jackson replied, sending Theresa an apologetic glance. He walked out of the tent, and Theresa kept her back turned to the man she despised with all of her being.

After a moment of silence, Theresa finally said, "What? You don't want any witnesses when you finish me off?"

Kane sighed. "I was hoping you would give me at least a minute of your time," he replied.

"I'll have to burst that little dream of yours then -- it's not going to happen," she said. She refused to face him; her eyes looked at the ground and her back was still turned.

"I want to apologize for what happened."

"Why don't I believe you?" she asked.

"If I were you, I wouldn't believe me either," he replied. "You know, I don't like looking at your back too much."

"Well, I don't like looking at your face," she shot back. "So, it looks like you're just going to have to deal with it."

"I guess I deserve the treatment that I'm getting," he replied.

"You guess? What? Did your over-inflated ego keep you from seeing how big of an ass you are?"

"I was a little power hungry."

Theresa couldn't keep in her laughter, and she had to turn around now to face him. "A little?!" she exclaimed. "I almost died!"

Kane hung his head down. "Yes, I realize that. I shouldn't have done what I did, and I never meant to hurt you as badly as I did."

"You didn't mean to?!" she yelled, which was starting to disturb the other patient on the other end of the tent. "Then what the hell did you mean to do?! Tell me, what would've happened if Abby hadn't interrupted you?!"

"That's why I'm here," he said calmly, the shame of what he had done was clearly evident on his face. "I know it's a long-shot, but I wanted to apologize for the pain that I've caused you."

"Well, I've never been one for forgiving and forgetting. I like the idea of grudges...of revenge."

He met her eyes, and she saw a pleading look in them. There was a snarl on her face as she folded her arms across her chest. "I hope that one day, you can see that we're really on the same side," he said.

"Go through what I had to...endure the pain that I had to go through...tell me if you could forgive after all of that."

"Abby says it's bad."

"It's better -- no thanks to you."

"Then, why are you here?" he asked.

"Had a fall today. But, I mean I think I've got it pretty good, considering the alternative."

"I don't know what would've happened," he said, looking down at the ground again.

"What?" she asked.

"You asked what would've happened if Abby hadn't found us that night," he clarified. "I don't know what would've happened."

She furrowed her brow. "Make your best guess then," she snapped.

He sighed, hesitating. "My best guess is...well, there's a good chance that I would have killed you."

"Then what stopped you?"