Chapter 61

The psychologist turned up shortly after lunch. She was an older woman, her dark hair dusted with silver, with a pleasant smile. She took one look at the crowd around Kristen's bed and suggested that Angie take a walk with her.

Angie left with a worried, anxious look to her eyes, but she was smiling when she returned. Quietly, she told them that she'd managed to convince the psychologist that she was stable now, and that the suicide attempt had been an overreaction to an immediate and unexpected situation on top of a very stressful day, and that she was glad it hadn't succeeded and had no intention of trying again. This success meant that she would be released that afternoon, but she did have to promise to show up to 10 sessions with a therapist in order to avoid criminal charges.

True to his word, the doctor released Kristen, as well. They didn't have any real reason to hold her, but between her unusual 'birth defects' and the fact that they still had no idea what had happened to threaten her life in the first place, the doctor was less than thrilled to see her go. Mark and Steven both held firm, however, and so the papers were signed, albeit reluctantly.

Aaron's car was only large enough to seat four, so Steven, with poorly concealed reluctance, invited Angie to ride with him. She glanced nervously at Kristen, who nodded slightly, and then gave him a weak smile and agreed.

"Kris?" Steven looked at his daughter questioningly, and she bit her lip and looked from Steven and Angie to Kayla and Aaron. Finally she shook her head.

"I'll ride with Aaron, Daddy, and see you at home," she said.

One corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a crooked, cynical smile as he turned to Angie. "I guess it's just you and me, then," he said. "No point in standing around then. Let's go."

She nodded and followed him, but not without one more anxious, unhappy look back at Kristen as she went. Kris blew her a kiss, and gave her an sweet, encouraging smile.

When she turned to Mark, though, Kristen's smile faded, and her teeth once again tugged on her lower lip. "She will be okay, right?" she asked softly. "I thought ... maybe they should have some time to ... you know ... talk things out in private. But I'm not sure he really understands ... she's fragile right now."

He bent and kissed her forehead. "She'll be fine. He knows she's important to you. And they do need that time."

She sighed and leaned against him for a moment. "You're right. I'm just ... nervous. I don't know how everything got so complicated!"

He hugged her tightly. "We all love you, and want you to be happy. That's not all that complicated. Don't worry, love. It'll all work out, you'll see." He hugged her tightly, and leaned close to her ear to whisper, "I talked to your dad about rings for Kayla and Aaron. We should have them in a week or so."

She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling, and he raised his hand to caress her cheek. "You'll see," he said again, softly.

Kristen turned her face and kissed the inside of his wrist, then let him lead her to the car where Aaron and Kayla were waiting. Aaron offered Mark the keys, but he waved them away and crawled into the backseat with Kristen, instead.

Once they were on the way, Kayla turned halfway around in the front seat, wrapping her arm around the headrest, and said, "Okay. We need to decide what story we're going to use at school."

"Story?" Mark asked, shaking his head. "About what?"

Kayla rolled her eyes and sighed. "I imagine the rumors are already flying. 'Kristen had a miscarriage, ' 'Kristen tried to kill herself, ' 'Mark beat her up because he caught her cheating on him, ' and endless variations on those themes," she said, her lip curled in disgust. "You should know how people are by now!"

He frowned thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Point. How about an allergic reaction to something you ate?" he asked, looking down at Kristen.

She nodded slowly. "That would work, I guess. There'll still be a lot of rumors, but when I show up healthy and we're still together, most of them will just look silly."

"Right," he said. "And an allergic reaction would hit fast, and go away just as quickly. And if it'd been a miscarriage, there's no way you'd be back at school tomorrow."

"Right," she agreed. "This shouldn't be too bad ... right?"

He glanced at Kayla, who shrugged.

"It could certainly be worse," Kayla said. "Like you pointed out-- if you're both there, happy, healthy, and still obviously in love, most of the rumors are just going to look stupid. The main thing is to have something to offer them so they don't make up their own idiocy. An allergy works for that."

Kristen relaxed against the seat. "Good. I'm tired of being everyone's target for their nasty gossip."

Mark took her hand in his and squeezed gently, thinking that he agreed with that statement totally and completely.

It was a tense group that sat in Steven's den that evening. They'd started out talking easily enough, but outside of the hospital setting, Angie's presence felt more unfamiliar, almost alien as she hovered awkwardly on the edge of the group. She practically radiated tension, shooting nervous glances at Steven in between quick, guilty, longing looks at Kristen.