Hell to Pay

Part 4: Shaken, Not Stirred

Kathryn sat down on a white smoke colored Juliette Récamier in the large dressing room. Although she was bruised and sore on her bottom and upper thighs, her ego was splintered. Her reflection from a gawdy victorian style gold accented mirror made her angrier. She was fuming after the evening's ordeal earlier and she needed her security blanket, a cherished Martini straight up with a single olive, to settle her nerves. She waited for her maid to bring it to her. Heads were going to roll. NOONE EMBARRASSES KATHRYN MAHONEY!

A mascara blackened her eyes and trailed down to the folds in her neck. It made them look ominous as she peered at herself. The image of the two together vexed her so heavily that visions of her shooting him echoed through her thoughts. Clearly, she saw him clearly, cowered on his knees begging for his life as blood disgorged and drained from his mouth. He clearly gloated about what he did and she needed him to pay for his infidelity. She had made him a promise, but it was drowned out by David's motorcycle. The very one she bought for him just because it was morning when she leafed through the channels and saw a commercial. The very one he sped off on with his mistress.

She pursed her lips tightly until they drained of color. "Damn cheating bastard!"

She kicked off her yellow wedges and let her toes dig into the pale periwinkle colored frieze carpet that lined her oversized walk-in dressing room. They had been scuffed when she was pushed to the ground by her husband, who defended his mistress. The nerve of that asshole!

Matilda, her maid, appeared with her nightcap. "Finally! Why doesn't it take so long for YOU people to do anything damn thing? Why do I even continue to allow you to be employed here?"

Matilda started hesitantly toward her with the drink, then stopped abruptly. Kathryn shot her an icy glare. "Do I ever drink anything in my grand chamber?"

She bowed her head while looking down. "Sorry Madame, would you like me to put it where you usually sit in the evening."

Kathryn rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yes. Where else do I drink it?"

Matilda nodded once and exited the room.

Kathryn emerged her from grand chamber and retired to her Victorian style fainting couch turning on the evening news. She bore her nails into it making several holes before breaking off a couple acrylic appendages off to the quick. The image of Eva wrapping her arms around David skipped in her head like a broken record. Then her chubby fingers strangled the glass stem of her martini as she gulped it down.

"Whore!" She said. Kathryn hurled the glass into the wall behind a 60-inch Magnavox bringing a fearful Matilda back to her room.

The servant trembled in her thick-soled nursing shoes. "Ma-madame is everything alright?"

Kathryn's head turned slowly as her eyes rested on the help. "Bring me another."

She nodded and turned quickly on her heels to leave the room.

Brett Connolly of the WESH 2 news team just started his report of a fatal motorcycle accident on New England Avenue in Orlando, she thumbed up the volume just as he started.

"Two people were involved in the crash earlier this evening on the North side of Orlando, however, survived and one is critical condition." He said.

He stared into the camera with a solemn expression, it was almost as if Mr. Connolly was speaking directly to her. "Police speculate that brake failure may have been the cause leaving one dead and the other fighting for their life on their way to Florida Hospital."

A sneer slowly traveled across her crimson-stained lips.

A little after blasting out of the Monetego Inn's parking garage, David noticed on the first slight turn that the breaks were gone. He did his best not to panic and scare his love. Instead, he had her to say she loved him, to feel her embrace one last time and then had her to wear his helmet so she and their unborn child would live—even if it meant he would die.

Kathryn's cell phone buzzed in her bra. "Yes? I saw. Thank you for your services, I will promptly wire the rest of the money to your account first thing in the morning—as soon as the banks open. One more thing, which one is in route to the hospital?"

She grinned disconnecting the call.

Elation and fulfillment rested upon her shoulders while she picked up the summoning bell. The chime brought in a time weathered butler this time. "Yes, Madame?"

Kathryn refreshed her lipstick, not making contact. "Edgar, pull the car around again. The destination is Florida hospital, my husband's been in a horrific accident."

"Yes, Madame as you wish." He nodded once turning to do her bidding.

After a couple of hours, Kathryn was finally allowed to see her husband after he was stabilized. He laid in a deep drug induced coma in the intensive care unit at Florida Hospital. Kathryn's tears flowed into a dainty light pink handkerchief as the doctor explained her husband's condition.

The corners turned down on the doctor's mouth as he looked over at his patient. "He suffered extensive head trauma. The broken leg and ribs will heal, even his collarbone, but time will tell if he'll recover from his head injury. He engaged the wall of that building at a very high velocity."

He looked up at Kathryn and raised an eyebrow. "The young lady that accompanied him, she was decapitated. Was she a relative?"

Kathryn's eyes jutted to the good doctor. "A female companion? I thought he was alone."

He shifted his weight uncomfortably as he confirmed her question. "The police should be in soon to talk to you. We're going to do everything we can for him. The next 72 are crucial." He gave a quick squeeze to her shoulder and exited the room.

The steady beep of the monitor was hypnotizing. Although her husband's body was battered and bruised, his heart beat was strong. His eyes were swollen to twice their size and they protruded around the tape that held them shut. His left leg laid suspended in a harness hovering over the bed and both of his arms frozen in time in their white cast housings. She looked at the tubes that connected to his body in silence, taking in the sight of the man that once held her heart.

Atlas, she wiped her tears and bent down to gently kiss a part of his cheek that wasn't bruised.

"See dear, if you had stayed a little longer in the garage you would have heard me finish what I was saying. Laugh now, and I'll laugh later. You get better lover, you have a lot of hell to pay."