Dust

Chapter 15

Tim POV: I walk in the house and try not to appear as angry as I am. The girls will start guessing, and that's the last thing I need at the moment. I set down the overnight bag I packed, just in case. The loud thud makes Kristen jump on the couch.

"Oh hey baby... I thought you were going to stay at the hospital with-"

"Nope." I cut her off, pouring myself a cup of coffee. The clock reads 4:32 am. The girls will be up in two hours.

"What happened?" She asks carefully. She comes up behind me, and wraps her arms around my stomach.

"Nothing."

"Come on, babe..." She begins to pout. I take a deep breath and try to think of a way to phrase it all.

"She doesn't remember anything." I say to her. "She remembers me, she remembers Gracie and Maggie, she remembers being pregnant with Audrey, but that's it."

"So she doesn't remember the divorce?"

"So she says..." I say, opening the fridge in search of food.

"Why'd you leave?" She says, as if she didn't know the answer.

"She's psychotic, Kris!" I yell. She hushes me, and points upstairs to where the girls are sleeping. "Even the things she remembers are morphed."

"Maybe she really needs you right now, Tim." She begins to suggest. "Mark called while you were out, and he's really concerned... Even Adam is freaked out." I sit down on a barstool at the breakfast bar and try to digest the situation at hand.

"She's not my wife, Kris..." I say, taking a deep breath. I look over to see a deep look of disapproval in her eyes. "Adam can take care of her just fine. I have a million other things to focus on." I rub my forehead, to see her still frowning. "What?"

"I get that you're not married anymore, Tim, but I don't think she really understands that... And because of that, I think it's kind of cruel that you're acting like this." She says, crossing her arms. I shut my eyes as we sit in silence for a moment. "Mark said she's flipping out, and he doesn't really know what else to do with her." She finishes. I smack the counter, grab my bag and keys, and head out to the truck.

"You're back?" Mark says from a nurses station as I walk into Faith's room. She's sitting up in her bed, with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, a position I've seen her resort to way too many times.

"You want to talk?" I ask her, trying to sound as gentle as possible. She looks up at me with bloodshot eyes. She shrugs, and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Her cheeks are still moist with tears. "You remember who I am, right?" I ask, sitting down. She nods without hesitation. "What do you remember?" She looks around the room to check if we are alone, and then she slowly lays her legs flat on the bed. The sight relieves a little bit of the pain in my chest.

"We were in love, and you got hurt trying to protect me, and you died." She says, her voice sounding hoarse. I'm having to hold myself down in the chair so I don't get up and leave right now. She sounds insane. "I know it's not true, but that's all I remember... I don't know why that's how I remember things.... I don't know what's wrong." She cries. Her tears, from first instinct, begin to disgust me... It's not fair to her. She has no clue.

"We divorced about six or seven years ago." I inform her, as she looks down at her knees. "A lot of things happened between us that weren't ideal, so we aren't on good terms. That's the reason I was rude to you earlier." I place my hand on her arm, feeling my hand flinch at the motion. This is going to be harder than I thought.

"What happened?" She asks, slowly pulling her knees back up, as if to protect herself from the incoming blow.

"Nothing, Faith." I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Please..." She pleads. I look up at the ceiling and try to think of what to tell her and what to leave out.

"You started drinking a little too much." I spit out. She expects more, and awaits for further news. "You had an affair, got pregnant, then drank an insane amount before a charity concert we did together and fell off stage. You hit your head on one of the barricades and it knocked you out cold. You were in a coma for a week." I feel myself shake with a hidden fury as she covers her eyes.

"I am so sorry..." She says, setting her head against her knees. She's trembling like crazy, shaking the entire bed. "Do the girls know?" She asks.

"They saw it on the news. They were aware." I say, rubbing her arm as some sort of reassurance.

"Are they mad?" She asks. The question makes me have to hold in laughter. They are flaming... Audrey's the only one who visits by choice anymore...

"No, honey..." I lie through my teeth.

"Oh my god, you're lying..." She says, covering her mouth in shock. Before I can figure out how she could tell, she says it. "You looked away... You looked away and did that damn thing with your eyebrows, like you're in pain..." She says, pointing at me.

"They just don't understand it completely." I try to help. She shakes her head.

"You were angry with me, I'm sure they're too." She lays down on her side and hugs tightly to her pillow. "Was the affair with Adam?" She asks. I shake my head.

"No, but Adam knew about it. It was with some guy you met at a bar. You called me from a gas station in the pouring rain, crying, because he had beat the shit out of you, and left you in the middle of nowhere..." I say, trying not to have the memory reappear in my mind. I remember her puking on the ride home, and having her cry because she had a broken rib. The things I had to deal with before we split...

"I'm so sorry." She says, wiping her tears. She looks at the window and then back to me. "When did you decide you were done?" She asks, making me cringe.

"When you started sleeping with Adam." I say, looking down at my hands.

"You're lying again!" She shouts. I roll my eyes and tuck her in.

"Get some sleep." I say, kissing her on the forehead. I freeze for a moment after, trying to catch my breath. She lets the subject go for the time being.