His Every Word Read Online Free

Scarlett,” she said.
    Scarlett thanked her and sat down on the other side of her.
    “You should call Mom,” Sean said to Kallie. “She’s anxious to hear your voice.”
    “I don’t know if I can deal with her right now. The crying, the emotions—I need to focus.”
    “She’s not going to start screaming and yelling and sobbing,” he said, shaking his head. “Can you think of her for just a second?”
    Kallie nodded, resigned. She was dreading this moment, knowing how frightened her parents must be right now.
    But she also knew that Sean was right. She needed to let them know she was okay. Kallie got up again and went to a small area near a bank of elevators, stood beside a window overlooking the street below.
    She took out her cell and called.
    On the first ring, her mother answered. “Kallie. Thank God you’re okay,” were the first words out of her mouth.
    Kallie started to cry, and then had to smile through the tears. It wasn’t Mom she’d needed to worry about crying after all. It was herself.
    “Tell me you’re all right, Kallie.”
    “I’m okay,” she got out. Taking a few deep breaths, she repeated it. “I’m okay.”
    “Sean told us that Hunter was badly hurt. I’m so sorry, Kallie.”
    “Hunter saved our lives. Did Sean tell you that?”
    “Yes. Sean said Hunter was very brave. Very brave. And strong. I’m praying he’ll make a full and fast recovery.”
    “Thanks, Mom. I hope so too.” She chewed on her thumbnail. “Please don’t worry too much about me, though. I got a few tiny scratches but nothing else.”
    “We are worried. We’ve already booked a flight to Los Angeles and we’re due in tomorrow afternoon.”
    She sighed. “Mom, you can’t take the time off work.”
    “I can and I will. So can Daddy.”
    Kallie smiled. Her mom was talking to her as if she was still in grade school, but actually it felt good to be cared for this way. She wasn’t strong enough right now to be an adult.
    “Did Sean tell you which hospital we’re at and everything?” Kallie asked. “You should book a hotel in the area.”
    “Yes, we’ve already taken care of it all. Do you want to stay in our room? We can upgrade to a suite and put you on a pullout couch.”
    Kallie grinned. Although it appealed to that same part of her that wanted to be a child and taken care of again, she knew that actually having them in the same hotel suite would be grating. “I can stay in my own room, Mom. Besides, I plan on spending the majority of my time at the hospital with Hunter.”
    “We’ll call you as soon as we land, baby,” her mother said. “You take care of yourself and know that we’re all thinking of you and we love you very much.”
    She smiled again and held back more tears. “Love you too,” she said, wiping her eyes as she put her phone back in her purse. As she did so, she noticed a small smudge of something that looked like blood on the underside of her purse. Seeing the bloody smudge in stark relief against the handbag’s fabric, made everything that had happened that day startling real again.
    So much blood, she thought. It was as if Jackson Pollock had wandered into the restaurant and splattered half the room in red paint. That was how bloody the scene had been. Terrence’s blood. Hunter’s blood.
    She shook her head and walked back inside the waiting room to find Sean and Scarlett standing together, huddled almost, nervously.
    “What happened?” Kallie asked, her stomach recoiling, waiting for the bad news.
    “The doctor just told me I could go and see Hunter now,” she replied.
    “Oh,” Kallie nodded, taking it in and processing it slowly. “That’s good news.
    That means he’s relatively stable, right?”
    “I don’t know.” Scarlett paused. “Anyway, I asked them if it was all right if I brought you in with me to see him. At first, they said only the person stated on his contact sheet and immediate family members were allowed, but Sean and I explained the