Catching Caitlin (10 page)

My drunk body wasn’t
doing me any favors either. It never cooperated.

I kissed his chest again,
then pushed my ear against him. His heart raced under me, pulsing and
throbbing. He lifted me up and rolled me on my back. “You can’t fall asleep,”
he ordered. My eyes fluttered.

“I won’t, just fuck me
already Hugh, fucking punish me.”

He pulled his cock out,
and lifted up my dress. I could tell I was already ready to go, my thighs had
felt slick all evening. Hot and wet.

He reached down to take
my panties off, picking the band off my waist. “Don’t take ‘em off, just fuck
me.”

He slid his finger over
my pussy, setting me aflame. A surge of energy woke me up, and I burned my eyes
into him. “Where are the condoms?”

He pointed at the night
stand. I fished one out and started fucking with the packaging, splitting it
open. I pulled it out and unrolled the condom on his cock, flicking my gaze up
at him for his approval. He nodded.

He fingered my clit for a
moment, gasping at how wet I was. “You’ll slide right in, Hugh, that thick
dick,” I said. “Just fuck me.”

He nodded and pushed his
cock into me, guiding me toward his hips with his hands. I gasped as he
penetrated me, moving his shaft all the way into my body before I stopped
against his throbbing stomach. The burning grew inside me, ebbing with my
dizziness.

I thrashed against the
sheets, flinging the pillows off the bed. “Oh my god!” I cried. He pumped his
cock into me, making me moan louder. My dress was hiked up over my stomach, and
he had his thumb firmly pressed against my clit. It gyrated with every subtle
movement of his body, and my drunken thrashing only made it travel more.

Sweat beaded on his
forehead, and his movements became quicker, more severe. “You like this?”

I nodded. He leaned over
and squeezed my neck, pushing the air out of me. I squeaked, keeping my eyes
locked with his while the world started growing black.

I whispered, or mouthed,
“Red,” just as he let go. I don’t remember if he saw it or just thought it was
okay. Just as he released me, I felt a white hot knife cut through me.

I arched my weight
against him, clinging my legs and locking my ankles behind his back. I lifted
myself up a foot, letting his head reach as deep into me as possible. I cried
out, suddenly realizing my eyes were wet. He moaned louder than ever, and I
felt his cock throb inside me as he came.

My legs were weak, and I
let go just as the euphoria rushed into me. I was still gasping for air when he
pulled out, and wandered into the bathroom. His face red, his veins bulging.
Was he mad, or just exhausted?

I stole a pillow of the
floor and curled around it. The alcohol must have won, because I passed out,
satisfied and full of warmth.

“C
aitlin,” a voice said.
I squeezed my eyes tighter in response, as if that would drown it out.
“Caitlin. Wake up.” I groaned. A hand shook me, and I didn’t open my eyes. I
could already feel the light trying to get in.

“What is it? What time is
it?” I groaned, still holding my eyes shut.

“Your phone keeps going
off.”

“Who is it?” I rolled
over to face his voice.

I reached out blindly and
Hugh handed me my phone. I cracked my eyes open. “My dad? What does he want?” I
read one of the texts aloud: “‘Why aren’t you answering your phone? Your mom is
in the hospital, call me.’”

My heart raced, and
adrenaline surged through me. I bolted upright.

“What the fuck? Why
didn’t you wake me sooner?” I quickly redialed my dad, I had no idea what could
be going on.

“Oh my god,” Hugh said.
“What do you need me to do?” I shushed him as my dad answered the phone.

“Caitlin?” my dad
answered. “Thank god you called me back. Where are you?”

“I’m in Massachusetts,” I
said.

“Massachusetts? What are
you doing there? Can you come home?” He sounded frantic and out of breath. He
continued, “Your mom was hospitalized last night. I’m here with her. You should
get home as soon as you can.”

“I will, I’ll be there.”
I gave Hugh a look, who must’ve overheard the conversation. He was already
getting his phone out to get things ready.

“Okay, we’re at the St.
Peter Hospital. You can call me when you get here. Or you can tell the head
nurse and she’ll tell you where to go. I have to go now, love you, bye.” The
phone went silent, and I hung up.

Hugh was already on his
phone, talking to James: “Hey James, how soon can you be ready to pick us up
and take us to Bangor?” A pause. “Really? Shit. Well, don’t worry about it
then. I’ll take care of it.”

He hung up. He looked
agitated, his eyes darting all over the room.

I was growing
increasingly worried. “What is it?”

“James isn’t available,
he’s all the way out on the west coast. We’ll have to go get a flight back at
the airport. Let’s get going.”

I threw my suitcase
together in a hurry, barely making sure the zipper wouldn’t eviscerate any of
my new clothes. I felt a gnawing feeling of dread well up in my chest, but it
wasn’t unfamiliar. I think I always knew this day would come, but never like
this.

I didn’t even know how
bad it was.

It didn’t help it was
almost an hour drive to the nearest airport, a whole hour. I couldn’t bear
that.

My head pounded and my
mouth was dry. Nothing seemed to make sense, and I just wanted to crawl into a
hole and die.

Hugh was silent on the
way to the airport, only offering console when I looked near breakdown. “I’m
not surprised,” I admitted, wringing my knuckles until they were white and red.
He was speeding down the road, weaving in and out of traffic. “She’s always
been a drunk, so was my dad too. Until I visited them last.”

Hugh kept his eyes
forward. “Your dad was a drunk too?”

“Was. He said he’d been
sober for two years when I moved back in...” I stared at the non-smoking
sticker. I wanted to just peel it off. What about drinking?

“I hate not being there.
Why wasn’t I there?”

“You didn’t know this was
going to happen.”

“I should’ve known!” I
yelled. He didn’t even flinch. “I didn’t even say hello to her when I came
back. I avoided her for god’s sake.”

Hugh didn’t answer.

***

A
t the ticket counter, he
asked if there was any way we could get two tickets to Bangor.

The man behind the ticket
counter frowned, and looked it up, “It’ll be expensive...” he said.

“That’s for me to worry
about,” Hugh nearly spat on him. “I wasn’t aware you were a financial expert,
seeing as you work at an airport service counter.”

The man behind the
counter held up his hands in surrender. He found two tickets, and Hugh bought
them.

Hugh checked our bags and
paid the exorbitant fee for getting on a plane so close departure. I was
waiting for the teller to ask for a bribe just to let us leave the counter with
tickets by the end of it.

We headed for our gate.
Thankfully, the airport wasn’t too swamped, so we we were able to rush through
security relatively quickly.

The plane was leaving in
forty-five minutes minutes. Another forty-five minutes longer from getting back
to Maine. Hugh appeared to be doing well though, at least he wasn’t caving
against my tension. I felt like I was falling apart, and he remained as strong
as a rock the whole time.

I don’t think I would
have made it to the plane if he hadn’t kept his composure.

At the gate, we had our
tickets scanned and we took our seats. The plane would be my cage for the next
four hours, while I panicked.

***

A
fter what felt like
years and not hours, we made it to Maine. After landing and deplaning, we
rushed through the terminal to pick up our bags.

I was given luggage
grabbing duty while Hugh wrangled a taxi to take us to the hospital.

As we parked at the
hospital, Hugh had to practically hold my wrist to keep me from lunging out of
the car before it came to a stop. Inside, we found the nurse, who had a tired
look in her eyes. I slammed my hands on the counter a littler harder than I
meant to.

“I’m... here to see Mrs.
Winters,” I gasped. “I’m her daughter.”

The nurse looked at her
computer screen and told me she was in room 201. Hugh and I made our way there.
My throat was tight, my mouth was dry.

The door to her room was
already open, and I caught a glimpse of her on the bed through the blinds.

“Should I wait outside?”
Hugh asked, pointing to a chair nearby. “I understand if you want me to.”

“No, no, please. You’ve
been so much help, come in.”

She was propped up on her
bed, and my dad was holding her hand. She looked worn and exhausted.

My dad was sitting next
to her, holding her hand. They were just talking.

“Speak of the devil,
there she is,” my mom whispered. Her voice was hoarse. “I thought I might not
get to see you again.”

“Don’t say that.” I
fought back my tears, but I didn’t see the use. I fell to my knees and threw my
arms around her, squeezing her so tight that I think her machine chastised me
with a beep. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” I wailed.

My dad patted my
shoulder, and when I looked at him I felt tears roll down my cheeks.

“It’s okay sweetie, I’m
glad that you’re here now,” my dad said.

“What happened?” I asked,
looking at my mom. My dad answered me.

“I went in to tell your
mom something last night, and I found her on the floor, unconscious. I tried to
wake her, but it wasn’t any use. I called the ambulance and they rushed her
here.”

“Oh my god,” I said,
covering my mouth.

“Yeah.” My dad looked
down at my mom, tears welling in his eyes. He looked ragged too, like he had
been up all night. “She had alcohol poisoning. If I hadn’t come in to her room
—”

“I would’ve been a
goner,” my mom cut in. “The doctors told me my liver is in bad shape too. If I
don’t quit drinking, I’ll die.”

I was silent. My mind was
racing.

“If that isn’t a wake up
call... I don’t know what is,” she said, touching my face. “The doctor’s
recommended a rehab clinic, since I could have another run in with death just
getting sober.”

She looked at my dad,
“I’m sorry I put you through this. I’d cry, but I’m afraid I’m too exhausted to
even muster that much.”

I shook my head, “I’m
sorry.”

“Why?”

“I never even said bye
when I left for Reno.” I hid my face, not even able to look at her. “I
ignored
you. I’m a terrible daughter.”

“Well, I’m a terrible
mother to make you want to ignore me. Look at me.”

I looked at her, watching
her eyes glaze over with tears. “I’ll get the help I need, and things will be
different, I promise.”

I burst into tears, and
cried loudly. All my emotions were strung out, I was hungover, and a little jet
lagged. It was all so much for me to handle.

My mom ran her hand
through my hair and sang to me, “It’s okay, it’ll be okay.”

My dad looked at Hugh.
“I’m sorry you have to see all this...”

“Don’t be sorry,” Hugh
said. He extended his hand and my dad shook it. “I’ve seen it before, with my
dad. He had kidney failure a couple years ago.” I stared at him.

“I didn’t know that...
Dad, this is Hugh. I don’t know if you remember him... we used to date in high
school.”

My dad nodded. “I thought
you looked familiar, Hugh Evans, right?”

Hugh smiled. “Guilty as
charged.”

I interrupted them. “Is
Mom going to be all right then?”

“I’m going to be just
fine darling,” my mom said. “The doctors just want to watch me until tonight,
then Danny is going to take me to the rehab clinic.” My dad nodded. “I’m
exhausted though, and I’m glad you could make it. I’m going to take a little
nap for a while.” She looked around the room, “So don’t wake me.” She smiled,
and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

My dad lowered his voice,
“Let’s wait outside, she’s had a long night.”

We made our way out of
the room, and my dad pulled the door shut. We moved over to some chairs and sat
down.

“So Hugh, what have you
been up to since high school?”

“I work at an energy
company in Nevada. I’d say we compete with the one other power company there,
but that’d be unfair to us.”

My dad raised an eyebrow,
“Energy? Like coal or something renewable?”

Hugh leaned in close too,
even though no one else was in the hallway. “All sorts of stuff. If you can
name it, we probably work in it. But our main focus is coal.”

My dad nodded, but I
could tell he was only half-listening. He looked into my mom’s room
thoughtfully. He turned to me and his voice grew serious. “Cate, your mom and I
have been talking.”

“Yeah?”

“We’ve had our troubles
and differences, but now that she’s going to get sober, I’m gonna help. I just
wanted to let you know, since I know things looked dark and tough for a real
long time there.”

It was a relief to hear.
I had been worried about them getting divorced for what felt like forever. My
mom was still stirring in her bed, having apparently given up on sleeping.
“Well, if she’s not sleeping...” my dad said. “I’m going to go back in and be
with Tammy. I want to be next to her when she wakes up next time.” He gave me a
hug, and a kiss on the cheek, before turning to Hugh. “It was good to meet you
again, Hugh. I hope you’re taking care of my Caitlin.” He shook Hugh’s hand,
and slipped back into my mom’s room.

I didn’t move from my
seat. I still felt numb, a little paralyzed. I felt Hugh’s eyes on me. “Thank
you,” I told him, “for everything.”

He looked apologetic,
which was crushing to me.“I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could do.”

I slipped my arm under
his. “It’s okay. I don’t know if any of us really do.” I hesitated for a
second, rummaging through my thoughts. “What scares me the most right now... is
how much I
want
a drink.”

He nodded, but remained
silent.

“Do you think I need to
stop drinking? I don’t want to end up like my mom and my dad, just barely
getting their lives together...”

“I don’t know, I’ve never
really had to deal with anything like this.” He hugged me and held me close,
his heart racing against mine. “Do you want to stay here? In Bangor? Or we can
head home to Reno.”

I squeezed my hands
together, feeling like confused about what I wanted. After a long pause, I
finally looked at him.

“It would be nice to stay
the night in town, since we just flew in. See how things turn out.” I groped
for words. He nodded slowly and a smile crossed his lips. I felt a bit better
already. He took my hand and squeezed it.

“Well, how about this? We
stay for the rest of the week, so you can see how your parents are doing, then
we can head back to Reno if you want. As far as my work is concerned, I’m not
due back until next weekend.”

“That sounds good to me.”
He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, and I felt a little bit of his
guard fall.

“Let me just say goodbye
to my mom and dad real quick, and I’ll be ready to go.” I kissed him for a
moment, holding our lips together and bathing in that warm glow he gave me. I
lingered, before letting go and heading into my mom’s room. She was laughing
with my dad about something.

I don’t think I had seen
them laugh in years. My mom turned to me and wiped a small tear from her cheek.
Her voice was still a bit weak, and a little hoarse.

“Cate, I’m glad you came.
Whose the man you’re with?”

“That’s Hugh... do you
remember him from a couple years ago?” I asked. Her face went blank, and she
furrowed her brow. I continued, “We dated a little in high school, and we ran
into each other when I first moved back.”

Her face lit up, “Oh!
Hugh! I remember him,” she smiled at my dad, before adding, “He was a pretty
nice kid... a little bit of a trouble maker.”

I laughed. “I suppose he
was.”

“Is he still a handful?”

“He’s the vice president
of a power company in Nevada.”

“VP huh? I guess you
don’t need to go back to college, eh?”

I hadn’t even thought
about that. I went blank, and stared out the room window. Hugh was on his
phone, his free hand crossed against his chest and tucked under his elbow. I
turned back to my mom and nervously chuckled. “I guess so.”

“No pressure of course.”
My mom winked at me. She fidgeted with her pillow, and winced a little from
accidentally pulling on one of her IVs. “Are you staying in town?”