The Redemption of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

once greeted me
    with a cheery smile barely acknowledges me. She’s probably still
    upset about how I reacted when she tried to tell me Kayden
    injured himself.

    I keep my gaze fixed on her as she walks down the hall, and
    then Seth nudges me with his elbow and I tear my gaze away from
    her and fix it on him. “Huh?”

    He nods his head at the doorway. “Quit worrying about her
    and go in.”

    I glance at Luke. “Maybe you should you go in first.”

    He quickly shakes his head. “I think he’d rather see you first.”

    I’m not sure if he’s right, but I decide to go in. I inhale
    another breath in preparation and then enter the room. I’ve always
    thought that hospital rooms were the most depressing rooms that
    existed, but this facility is much worse. The walls are
    unembellished, the floor is blemished, and the bed is made up
    neatly for the next patient.

    Kayden is standing in the middle of the room with a bag
    over his shoulder. In my head I’d been picturing that he’d be lying
    in a bed, looking helpless and scared. He’s taller than I remember
    and I instantly tip my head up to meet his emerald eyes. His brown
    hair is a little longer and shaggier, hanging over his ears and in his eyes and he looks like he hasn’t shaved in a while, his face scruffy.
    There’s another scar on his cheek and a bandage on his wrist along
    with an array of rubber bands. His body looks solid, but his
    expression looks breakable and fragile.

    “Callie,” he says, looking stunned and a little upset to see me.
    His bag falls down his arm and hits the floor.

    “Hi.” It seems like the silliest thing I could ever say, but it’s
    the first word to pop into my head.

    The corners of his lips start to turn up, but then it vanishes
    and I question if I ever really saw it. “You shouldn’t be here,” he
    says.

    My heart tightens, twines into knots, binding so tightly it
    begins to wilt into pieces. I don’t know what to do or say so I tell
    him about my road trip. He’s not happy and suddenly he’s leaving,
    walking past me with barely a glance. Then I’m alone, unable to
    move or breathe. All I can think is that this is the end of it. The end to my happiness.

    After standing in the middle of the room for an eternity, Seth
    finally walks in. He approaches me like I’m a skittish cat and I
    glance down at my nails, wondering if he thinks I’m going to
    scratch him.

    “Hey.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets and takes cautious
    steps until he’s right in front of me. “You want to go get that
    breakfast? The first set of pancakes is on me.”

    I love that he doesn’t ask what happened. If I had to speak
    I’d probably crumble into teeny tiny pieces that would get stuck in
    the dirty cracks of the floor. I nod and he swings his arm around
    me and leads me outside, holding me together.

    * * *

    The restaurant is crowded and filled with the voices of
    people enjoying their breakfast with their families. Dishes clank in
    the kitchen and the air smells like coffee and waffles. Luke came
    with us, but he’s been distracted by one of the waitress behind the
    counter pretty much since we walked through the door. I wonder if
    he did it on purpose, to distract himself from what happened at
    the clinic. Luke actually tried to chase Kayden down after he ran
    out of the room, but he came back minutes later, looking upset,
    but he never said what happened.

    “You know what I just realized?” Seth points a syrupy fork at
    me as he chews a mouthful of pancakes. “This needs to be added
    to our list.”

    I glance down at the barely touched stack of pancakes on
    the plate in front of me. “What? Eat pancakes?”

    His neck muscles move up and down as he forces the overly
    large mouthful of pancakes down. “No, eat a lot of pancakes.”

    I pick up the bottle of strawberry syrup that’s in the tray at
    the end of the table. I press my thumb down on the handle, tip the
    bottle, and douse the pancakes with red