Sleuth

Stay

Almost an exact hour later, there was a soft knock on Lauren Hale's hospital door.

Lauren cleared her throat then said, quieter than she intended, "come in".

Before she could repeat herself in a louder voice, the door opened slowly and Kaddian walked through the opening holding a small ice chest.

"Hi" Lauren Hale said with a soft smile.

Kaddian made eye contact with her and nodded subtly before turning to his sister.

"How is Reik?"

Kyrrian blushed immensely as she realized she was going to have to explain to her brother what had... Happened.

"G-good" Kyrrian stammered. Kaddian's brow furrowed and she could tell by the look on his face that he was about to press, so Kyrrian continued, "this is Sheriff Hale's mother, Mrs. Shue".

Kaddian turned and sat the ice chest down before walking over to the chair nestled in the corner and shaking Mrs. Shue's hand.

"Hello, Mrs. Shue, I'm sorry that we have to meet for the first time under these circumstances" he was so gracious and pleasant, Kitty couldn't help but send him a beaming smile. When he turned around and bent down to open the chest, Kitty Shue gave her daughter the most eyebrow-raised, judgmental look ever seen by human eyes.

Lauren Hale rolled her eyes, but smiled when Kaddian stood up and brought her a small bowl with a lid on it and a container in the shape of a sandwich. He handed her a spoon, took the lid off the sandwich container, and opened the lid of the bowl to reveal steaming tomato soup and a grilled cheese. He then walked to the other side of the room and grabbed the small table resting against the wall. He placed it at the perfect angle so that Mrs. Shue and Kyrrian could both claim a portion of it. He placed soup and sandwiches in front of them as well, then grabbed a chair and joined them at the table.

All three women had sat and watched in silence as he had done all this work, and were so preoccupied with their own thoughts that they did not even attempt to eat until he snapped them back to reality by stating, "eat, please".

All three women quickly grabbed their spoons and began enjoying the food.

They were eating in silence when Kaddian suddenly put his spoon down and said, "Happy belated Birthday, by the way".

Lauren Hale and Mrs. Shue also laid their spoons down and finished their most recent bites, but Kyrrian spluttered, almost choking on her food. She could tell, by the look on his face, that Kaddian made that birthday wish with implications.

He knew. Kaddian had already figured out what Kyrrian was too embarrassed to mention.

Kyrrian, again, found herself blaming Scottlin. If he hadn't made her so tongue tied and goofy lately, maybe Kaddian wouldn't have noticed.

After gathering her composure, Kyrrian responded, "Happy Birthday Kade" with a smile.

"I completely forgot" Sheriff Hale said, slapping her hand to her forehead.

"So did we, don't feel bad" Kyrrian added.

"Well Happy Birthday" Lauren said with a smile.

"Happy Birthday, how old are you two?" Mrs. Shue asked without an reservation.

"Twenty-five" Kaddian answered.

"Oh, really? You look much older than that, Mr. Grayson. And have y'all lived here all y'all's life?" Mrs. Shue persisted.

Kaddian wouldn't have been too affected by Mrs. Shue's question if Sheriff Hale hadn't been noticeably squirming underneath her blanket, an ounce of fear in her eyes.