That Blue Gibson

CH 55

Liz stood at the bottom of the steps while Jack and Owen weaved themselves around Kyle's legs. She forced a smile when Jack looked to her.

"Daddy's here!"

"He sure is, buddy!" she chirped, shooting Kyle a glare when Jack wasn't looking. She pushed away from the wall and headed for the kitchen where she angrily leaned against the farmhouse sink to text Travis. Kyle set the boys in front of the TV and turned on their favorite show then limped into the kitchen where Liz ignored him.

"What, was I supposed to call first?" he asked, his voice bitter and sarcastic.

"Yes, Kyle," Liz said quietly so the boys wouldn't hear her, "You're supposed to call first... or at least fucking knock!" She turned away from the kitchen window and had to grab the counter top to steady herself. She hadn't noticed from across the dim living room, but now that he was just feet in front of her she could see that he looked awful. His skin was a grayish pall, his eyes were sunken and glazed over, his sandy blonde hair was greasy and his right hand was covered in a filthy bandage. "Are you okay?" she managed, holding her hand to her throat.

"Oh, now you fucking care about me?" he snapped, stumbling forward a bit.

Liz felt a small tingle of fear run up her spine and consciously went into survival mode. "Come upstairs with me," she said softly, trying to keep herself from shaking. Keep him calm, keep him talking.

He stared at her a moment, taking in her leggings and loose shirt before nodding. Liz let out the breath she was holding and crossed the floor to him, gently taking his crutches and leaning them against the wall. She helped him up the back staircase and into her bright white bedroom, keeping the door behind them open in case the boys needed her. Her mind was racing as she ran the water in her claw foot soaking tub, trying to remember the signs of addiction he had when they had first met. He definitely looked like he had been using, smelled like it too, she thought bitterly. 

She looked up when he limped into the bathroom, his shirt already gone and pulling at his jeans. Standing to help him before he crashed into her tiled floor, she undressed him with the cold, clinical-like demeanor of a nurse and helped him into the bath. The tattoo Andy had given him years ago of her name spread proudly across his chest, and Liz resisted the sudden urge to trace her fingers over it like she had done so many times before. The script was in Jane Austen's handwriting that Andy had borrowed from her published journals, due to Liz's namesake Elizabeth Bennett and it was a gesture she thought was incredibly romantic when she was twenty-two. She realized he was watching her and blushed a little, feeling like she had been caught.

"Andy gave me this one when I got out of the hospital," he said, resting his leg on the side on the tub so she could see the pinup vignette on the side of his calf. "I thought-"

"Kyle...," she sighed, trying to stop him before he went any further. She hated the tattoo, she hated that he had manipulated one of her oldest friends in order to get it and she hated how she was portrayed in it.

"You don't like it," he said miserably.

"It's not going to fix this," she said, gesturing between the two of them. She heard her phone chime in the bedroom and moved to get it, but Kyle's arm shot out of the tub to stop her, holding her arm so tightly that she whimpered.

"Are you with him now?" he pulled her down so that their faces were just inches apart.

Liz calculated how much time she had before Travis arrived. She figured he should be there any second and swallowed hard. "Yes," she whispered, forcing herself to stare him down in spite of the acute fear she felt. She sensed Travis before she heard her front door open, a skill she had acquired over years of wishing he would leave her alone, but now she felt her entire body relax knowing he was nearby. Kyle had just settled his leg back into the tub when she noticed the tiny scabs running up and down his tattooed arms, confirming Liz's fear. She instantly let out a sob, surprising both herself and Kyle.