Random Acts by Mia Kerick

Author:Mia Kerick [Kerick, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

“APPARENTLY, CALEB has sustained a severe concussion. He was assaulted mainly in the area of his head and neck, and on his upper torso as well.” Mr. Jorde took a deep breath, which he exhaled in the manner of a sigh, as if to empower himself to continue to speak. “On one hand he has several broken fingers and a wrist injury as… as when he was knocked to the ground… he tried to protect his head from… from being kicked… with his hands and… yes. That is what he did.”

“Uh, sir, was….” Shit. It was gonna suck to ask him this, but I had to know so I could prepare myself. “Was he, like, sexually assaulted?”

“Oh, no… The doctor said he was beaten about the upper body, and quite… quite cruelly. But not that.”

I nodded to let him know I was with him, to spare him from having to recount any further details. Although I was relieved that Caleb hadn’t been sexually violated, I still felt sick. It crossed my mind that I ought to look around the room for a wastebasket—so if I barfed, it wouldn’t be on Mr. Jorde’s shiny wingtip shoes.

“The doctor, his name is Elbaum—” Mr. Jorde took another deep breath. “—told us that a CT scan of his head showed a great deal of soft tissue swelling, but no evidence of intracranial hemorrhage, which is a positive thing. Chest X-rays showed several broken ribs, but a CT scan showed no evidence of damage to the spleen or the lungs. However, they’ll continue to observe him for several days.”

I struggled to take in what I was hearing. Until then I had successfully pushed all images of a broken, injured Caleb out of my mind. Thinking of him bloody and beaten was not something my brain would allow, probably out of self-protection. But hearing the specifics of his ordeal made it difficult not to imagine the suffering he had endured—and to create a mental picture of the grisly results.

The weirdest thing was, it hurt just as badly to remember Caleb as he’d been on Sunday, when we’d last seen each other, as it did to imagine him injured. That day he’d been supportive of me as a student by creating the perfect environment for me to study in, and as coworker, by encouraging me to attend Danson Elementary School’s Christmas party. He’d massaged and made love to me, making me feel relaxed and fulfilled. He’d been excited about the Nutcracker performance, but also about our first Christmas together. In particular, he had told me he was looking forward to the holiday break so we could spend more time together.

And because I’d attended that goddamned, frigging party, instead of going where I should have gone—to his students’ ballet recital—Caleb was lying in a hospital bed five days before Christmas, beaten to a pulp.

“So, you can see him, but he’s sedated right now, and still intubated, so he won’t be able to converse with you.” Mr. Jorde stopped speaking and looked directly into my eyes.

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