Web Of Lies

Chapter 30 ~•~ 72mph

Luke had left for the gym with Chris and Dad at around half five. However, Dad was far from interested in talking to him. He paid more attention to Chris. I was pretending not to notice because I didn't have the strength to argue with him. It was now quarter to seven and I was lying in the covers talking to Brittany. She'd just broken up with Emmett. It turned out he knew everything that was going on with his mother stealing money from our accounts and was being paid by her to remain silent about it. He confessed to Brittany in hopes that she'd understand that he was protecting his mother. "Do you want me to come over? We can watch Twilight and bitch about Jenna. She's in the kitchen helping Courtney cook. I definitely won't be eating any of it."
Brittany laughed. "You hate Twilight."
"Yes but I love you more than I hate Twilight so I'm willing to suffer through it."
She laughed. "I'd love to but I think I'm just going to spend some time with Mum and Dad."
"Okay," I replied after a moment. She abruptly hung up without saying goodbye. Not wanting to annoy her, I didn't try to call her back.

Today was much colder than yesterday so I threw on the pair of dark blue denim jeans I'd been wearing yesterday and matched them with a black long-sleeved top. I lay on top of the covers and read a few chapters of The Help by Kathryn Stockett on my kindle. I heard Dad, Luke and Chris return but I was too caught up in the book to go downstairs straight away. I read three more chapters before getting up. I got into my black runners that had been under the bed, took Luke's black leather jacket from the bannister at the top of the stairs then ran down the stairs. I went outside to where Luke was washing his car. "I need to use the car," I said. He shrugged. "Please, Luke. I need to go over to Brittany's."
"Why?"
"I just do."
He looked at my blankly. "Fine." He took his keys from the back pocket of his jeans and handed them to me. "You're cleaning the rest of the car when you get back."
"What if I get back late?"
"I don't care," he replied and went inside with the large yellow sponge in the red plastic bucket of soapy water. On the way to Brittany's, the wind became stronger. It caused the car to slightly sway as I was driving. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. While shifting gears, my phone that sat in the cupholder lit up with a new text message. I'd just been about to pick up the phone when everything suddenly went pitch black. It felt like my head was being forced under water. My cheeks felt cold and my lungs burned with every intake of air that I took. All I could hear was a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I tried to move my legs away from the wet warm liquid that was beginning to soak my jeans but with every movement I made, it only caused them to become damper. My eyes began to feel heavy so I decided to rest them but I quickly felt myself drifting into a deep slumber.

"Luke, will you stop," I moaned. He chuckled close to my ear. I don't know why but he kept on trying to force my eyelids open and expose my eyes to the bright Australian sunlight. I gave up on tossing and turning so lightly swatted his hand away. "Open your eyes, Karina," he said softly. I groaned angrily and grabbed his hand before he could make another attempt to open my eyes. His hands felt smaller and much smoother than I remembered. I opened my eyes. They didn't agree to the bright fluorescent lights so I had to squint. I held a pair of hands covered in light blue latex gloves. I didn't recognise the man that that the hands belonged to. He wore a white unbuttoned lab coat over a white collar shirt that was tucked into his black formal linen trousers. I took in my surroundings. The walls of the small room were painted a dull white colour. I returned my attention to the man that had woken me up. Although my surroundings made it pretty obvious where I was and who the man in front of me was, my mind wasn't awake enough to interpret what was going on. It took me a few seconds to realise that he'd been calling my name for the past couple of minutes. "Evening, Karina. I'm Dr. Wilson. Do you know where you are right now?"
I glanced at Luke. Not wanting him to think that there was something wrong with me, I quickly replied without thinking. "A bed."
Dr. Wilson laughed but Luke didn't seem to be anywhere near amused. "Sorry. I meant the hospital."
Dr. Wilson proceeded with the typical 'how many fingers am I holding' procedure before leaving me alone with Luke. "What happened?" Luke asked after a moment of silence. He seemed overly stressed. I shrugged. That action triggered a sharp pain to the crook of my back. I winced. "I remember getting a text from your mom. It was something to do with the wedding. That's all I can remember."
He looked at me blankly. "Oh how the tables have turned," he muttered. I hummed in agreement. "Mum wanted to let you know that we'll be having the wedding at their place."
"Okay," I yawned.
"Tired?" He asked. I shook my head. "How long have I been out?"
He sighed. He seemed pissed off about something. I guess it was because of all the times I'd pestered him about using his phone while driving yet here I was lying in a hospital bed because I'd done just that. "Chris was called on account of a road accident yesterday afternoon. You're lucky Chris managed to hide the fact that you'd been driving at seventy-two miles per hour in a fifty miles per hour road. You were unconscious by the time a stranger found you. You lost a lot of blood. You're just lucky you're AB-Positive."
My eyes fell on the small brown plaster on his elbow pit. He got out of the grey leather armchair he'd been seated in and walked around to the end of the bed. "I'll call your dad and let him know that you're unfortunately still alive."
I narrowed my eyes at him. He slammed the door after him to make it bluntly obvious that he was angry with me. I didn't understand why. I was obviously going to pay for the damages made to his car. Perhaps he was upset because I'd been unintentionally speeding under harsh weather conditions which led to Chris putting his job at risk with whatever he had to do to get me away from being charged with criminal negligence. I attempted to sit up but my back and legs ached from the movement. I groaned in pain. I was no longer moving yet everything was beginning to ache. Out of frustration, I threw the sheets off me. I groaned even louder at the sight of what I was wearing. It was an ugly blue baggy robe that I definitely must have gotten from the hospital while I was unconscious. Luke entered the room while I was resting my eyes. "Your dad and Brittany are on the way over."
"Okay," I mumbled. I opened my eyes to look at him. I didn't bother to refuse the unnecessary attention although I didn't have the energy to speak to anyone.

I unwillingly made eye contact with Luke. "Go on," I sighed. "You look like you've been dying to have a go at me."
He didn't speak until he was back in the armchair. "Are you crazy?" He asked rhetorically but of course, I replied.
"Yes but there's nothing wrong with a little crazy."
He rolled his eyes. "Were you trying to kill yourself!" He yelled. I flinched.
"Good one. Just like the situation I told you about with my dear friend, Hayley."
"Oh shut up, Karina!" He snapped. "Seventy-two fucking miles per hour."
I sighed and just allowed him to continue yelling at me. "Are you done?" I asked after he fell silent for about two minutes. He nodded. We remained in silence for a couple of minutes. I lay with my back facing him. I was more upset with myself for making the stupid comment about my situation with Hayley. It had been over a decade since I last spoke to her yet it still caused me to silently cry next to Luke who was more than likely mentally cursing my very existence. "I'm sorry," he sighed.
"Okay," I muttered. I quickly wiped my cheeks as I heard him approaching the side I was facing. I attempted to turn away but my legs were in too much pain at this stage. He knelt on the floor so that his face was less than an inch away from mine. "I'm sorry," he repeated. I nodded. "I'm just-" He paused as if he didn't know what more to say. "You're an idiot," he mumbled. I nodded. I took him and myself off guard by reaching for his lips. Although I'd initiated the kiss, he was very much in control. "Don't read into this," I said between kisses. He hummed in agreement. His tongue leisurely grinded against mine. I gently tugged on his hair to bring him in closer. He stood up but his lips never left mine. My head crushed into the soft white pillow. He lifted my chin as a means to gain access to my neck. Just when I needed to pull away for air, his lips travelled along my jaw and down my neck. He left chaste kisses along the way. I quietly moaned as he kissed the thin skin on my neck. He remained around that area and began to lightly suck. As previously, I forgot to take into account the potential hickey I'd be forced to conceal with makeup. He rested one hand high upon my thigh, careful to avoid the stitches. We were suddenly interrupted by a loud bang. I shook with startle, causing a sharp jolt of pain to run down my spine. It was Dad. He had clapped his hands together. "It's great to see you're doing great," he said harshly. Brittany stood next to him, looking at her long red stiletto gel nails as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to hide from your father somewhere in the cafeteria before he puts me into a hospital bed," Luke whispered. I laughed. "What happened?" Dad asked after Luke left the room.
"I underestimated the strength of the wind on my way to Brittany's."
Dad looked at me with crossed arms. "Were you speeding?"
I bit the bottom corner of my lip. I shamefully nodded. "Chris managed to sweep it under the rug."
He sighed then approached me to tightly squeeze me with a hug. I couldn't help but yelp in pain. He instantly released me. "Sorry."
He nodded in understanding then kissed my forehead instead.  He sat in the armchair while Brittany came to sit at the edge of the bed. "I love you for wanting to check up on me but if you can't wear heels for your wedding, I will kill you, Karina."
"I can barely sit up, Brittany. I'm not wearing heels."
"It'll make me feel a whole lot better about my break up with Emmett." After she said this, Dad high-fived her.
"I love you guys," I said sarcastically. Dad cleared his throat and looked at me with crossed arms. "Here we go," I sighed.
"Yes, Karina. Here we go! What in God's name were you thinking?"
"Please don't, Dad. I already got a speech from Luke."
"Right. Your Fiancé!" He snapped. I narrowed my eyes at him. "So put aside the fact that I was in a car accident a couple of hours ago, are we really going to do this here?"
Brittany uncomfortably cleared her throat. "I'll be in the cafeteria."
"How many times do you want me to apologise for not telling you about him?"
"Until I get the real reason as to why you didn't tell me."
I nodded. "Well Luke doesn't care whether you approve of him or not. I do."
"Really? Get him up here. I'd ring him but seeing as I only just met him, I don't have his number and quite frankly, I don't want it."
"Stop!" I snapped. "I understand why you're pissed off but that's enough. I was the one that chose to keep it quiet. You know how much I hate attention but I also didn't want Luke to have any involvement with my life outside of us. Especially with our messed up family dynamic."
He looked angry for a moment but his expression quickly softened. "I love you and I'm sorry I didn't show that by staying with your mother for so long and picking now as the right time to divorce her. Of course I'd love to be the one to walk you down that aisle but you're going to have to give me time to get to know him."
I nodded but didn't reply because I had nothing to say. We watched whatever was on the TV attached to the curtain rail around my bed. It was some documentary about penguins. I fell asleep shortly after the documentary ended and the credits were rolling.