REPRESENTED (46 page)

“What’s that baby, you want Don?” Cassie was confused.  She would have thought Karin’s first words would be for her and she was strangely hurt.

Karin tried to move her head but it was held fast with the tapes that kept her pinned to the bed immobilizing her badly fractured body. 

Cassie got the impression of a nod.   She glanced at Don who was coming closer to the bed.  She looked at him beseechingly.

“You want to see me?” Don drawled uncomfortably as he looked at the horribly beaten woman.  He hated hospitals but he knew they could really promote the hell out of this.

Again an impression of a nod before her tongue made a slight appearance on her chapped and cut lips that were also swollen, bruised, and an angry black gray color.  They both could see her trying to swallow.  “oooaadah” she said breathily.

“You want some water baby?” Cassie asked hoping she was hearing correctly.  That she could do as she reached over for a cup of ice chips.  Gently she took one in her fingers and rubbed it on Karin’s lips.  The tongue reached out to it.  She could barely see the green eyes through the slit but another impression of a nod.

“P P Pommote” she lisped.  It exhausted her but she wanted to get the point across.

“You want us to promote the situation?” Don grasped at the word.

Again the impression of a nod.  The tapes stretched tautly under chin to the bar over her head holding her immobile.

Don glanced at a horrified Cassie “we can do this tastefully but we would be foolish not to continue with what she put into place and capitalize on it from there.  I can have anonymous sources and all that get it out on the wires.”

Cassie looked at Karin, her broken and battered body looking so helpless in the bed.  Some of the bandages were colored underneath the surface from where blood had continued to leak out.  They were frequently changed but this was one hurt woman.  She was concerned about Cassie and the publicity though?  That was insane.  Was the real Karin even in there?  The doctor’s had some doubts about if she would ever be normal again.  They were pretty certain she shouldn’t retain any hope against brain damage much less what she would look like as she healed from this horrible beating.  The green eye opened wider for a fraction of an instant, if Cassie hadn’t been right there at that moment she would have missed it. It winked as best it could through the swelling.  Again, a faint nod causing the tape to move slightly.

“You want us to promote this, this…” she hated to say accident, it wasn’t an accident, it was a horrible beating, an attack, she had been sickened by the dried blood she saw all over the room where they had found the Laze-e-boy chair bloodstained, the smell had been horrible as well, would she ever get it out of her head?  Whoever had done this had been thorough.  A baseball bat held skin and bone matter in its splintered wood.  The plates in Karin’s head would keep her swollen and brilliant brain when they were ready to puzzle piece it back together.

Again a wink and a faint nod.  “Goooooo” she slurred through the swollen tongue, swollen lips, and missing teeth.  They had to pull many of the fractured pieces in order to keep her from swallowing them and causing more damage or cutting her lips, cheeks, and tongue on the jagged edges.

Cassie turned to Don and nodded, he looked relieved.  He knew it was a grotesque part of the business but this was what had to be done to keep up the press, to capitalize on it, in the long run they could take this horrible publicity and generate a lot of sympathy for Cassie and Karin.  He had a camera phone and took one picture of a recognizable Cassie looking over the bandaged and immobile Karin.  He had his sources and would release both ‘official’ and unofficial statements.  Already somebody had beaten him to it on several fronts; someone in the know had implied that Karin had been beaten because Cassie hadn’t signed with certain PR firms in New York.

Elliott was sweating.  Whoever had beaten Karin Myers had been foolish, very foolish.  He had let the powers that be know that Cassie Summers was not to be touched, that the threat to them all was too great, everyone had agreed, or so he had thought.  Karin Myers wasn’t willing to play anymore; she had them by the theoretical balls and had so for years.  Someone though was greedy; someone wanted the monies that someone of Cassie Summers stature and the others that would come with her could generate.  He wondered what the recourse would be, his superiors were furious as well, someone had screwed up big time, already there was a ‘leak’ and he knew how those things went.  Somewhere, Karin Myers had a network of people who would release well placed ‘secrets’ in retaliation.  If she died something monumental would be released, if her family, her sons, her fiancée or someone within her inner circle was touched, little tidbits would be released if not the whole torrent of information that would ruin many many lives, important and influential lives.  He didn’t doubt for a moment that somewhere there was an expose written out in detail of what had happened all those years ago as well as secrets that she had kept over the years at Kreske’s.  Fortunes would be lost, people imprisoned.  He hadn’t missed that insinuation about her death that had been a thinly veiled threat.  He and the powers that be were all in a jam, they were frantically trying to find out who had ordered the beating, if Karin Myers died they were all screwed.

“Cassie?” Alex and Caleb came into the room.  The security guard at the door recognized them as two of the few allowed into this high security room.  Karin Myers had round the clock security.  Two guards at all times on four hours shifts that every two hours was alternately changed with a new guard from the same company so that no two were on the same four hour shift but rather two different every two hours.

Cassie looked up; she looked awful, nothing like the glamorous pictures in the tabloids or now on the television.  Millions of people worldwide now knew who Cassie Summers was and that she was engaged to Karin Myers who was in critical conditions in a Nashville hospital.  People were debating on same-sex marriage flocking to give their opinion on social media, reverends chiming in on national television to get their five moments of fame, politicians weighing in on the controversial subject, everyone had an opinion.  The fact that Karin had been beaten had some saying she ‘deserved’ it, others were horrified and sympathetic, a lot of people who may have never heard of Cassie Summers or would normally have ignored the tabloids and media were having discussions about the GLBT community, country music, and checking out Cassie’s Southern Rock style.  Good or bad the television had a million angles to wring every possible drop of information from this horrific event and Don would keep releasing tidbits of tantalizing information to keep them coming back for more.

“How’s she doing Cassie?” Alex asked quietly.  They had been horrified when she called them to tell them of what had happened to their mother.  Since Tennessee did not recognize same-sex relationships they had at first barred Cassie despite her fame from seeing Karin.  Both boys had disabused them of that notion and raged at the hospital administration over their excluding Cassie from their mother’s room and care.

“She woke today, she tried to talk” she glanced back at Karin; her breathing had altered for a moment, the beeps of the incessant machines altering slightly as well.  Her ears were already well trained to their sounds and meanings as she sat there day after day to watch over Karin.

“That’s good isn’t it?” Caleb asked.

Cassie looked back him marveling at the similarities in these two young men and their brave mother.  The physical characteristics they shared and yet they were distinctive in their own good looks.  “I don’t know, she’s passed out again, all we can do is wait.”

They could see how exhausted Cassie was and had insisted on taking turns watching their mother breath as the merciless machines beeped on keeping her hydrated and alive.  They knew without even discussing it that their mother would want them to watch out for Cassie as well.  They had taken her down to the coffee shop to get her out of the room but it was obvious she was happiest right here waiting to see if and when Karin woke up.

“Ms. Summers?” the doctor had learned to address Cassie as both boys insisted she was their mother’s partner and demanded that they respect that. 

Both boys looked up from where they were vegetating in chairs on the far side.  Cassie woke from the stupor she was in and looked up.

“Ms. Summers we need to have Ms. Myers moved to another facility.  We can’t handle her security here; there are better facilities that can handle her care much better than our own here.”  He didn’t tell her that the board of directors had decided that they didn’t want or need the hordes of people that flocked to the hospital trying to see the famous couple, to get the first word about them, the reports, the crowds of look-e-loos.  “I’ve arranged to have her transported by air on a helicopter to the airport and then by private plane to New York.”

Cassie exchanged a look with the boys and then looked again at the doctor; she stayed quiet just long enough to make him uncomfortable.  As he shifted on his feet she realized he was lying.  She didn’t care that they didn’t want her or Karin here at this provincial hospital.  She agreed that Karin needed the best  care possible though and in New York she would have a lot more resources than in this burg.  She was already annoyed with several of the doctors who had seen Karin and her injuries.  The morbidly curious and the actual caring doctors were hard to distinguish.  Karin was going to need a lot of therapy both physical and mental; she might need reconstructive surgery, if she survived.  “Is it safe to move her?” she asked as her eyes pinned him to the spot.

“Not right now, we will determine in the next few days but the arrangements are made, if you would like to find doctors in New York…” he trailed off as she made him distinctly uncomfortable with her expression alone.

Cassie dismissed him with a wave her hand, she was disgusted by his attitude.  She didn’t know if it was because of the notoriety, the fact that they were a same-sex couple in this provincial hospital, or what their problem was but she wasn’t going to let this go by unnoticed.  She went out to call Don to make a few ‘statements’ on the family’s behalf and by nightfall everyone in Nashville and beyond knew a new point of view.

Cassie was astonished at the outpouring of love from not only the GLBT community but several singers from Nashville who had treated her like a pariah in the past couple of years sent cards, flowers, and even showed up to offer her their support.  She didn’t know if they wanted to be seen coming or going from the hospital, it was a publicity game for many but she accepted their respects at face value and remembered that Karin was an expert at this game and would understand it better than she.  Some that showed up though had in the past gotten favors from Karin, they showed up to show their appreciation and support to Cassie, for that she was grateful, feeling as though she was accepted despite her controversial coming out years before.

It took two weeks before Karin was strong enough for the transfer.  By then Cassie had arranged for all the boxes that hadn’t been touched out in the garage to be moved to New York.  Few of her own things hadn’t been destroyed in the house.  A cleaning crew had been hired but still the stains of blood on the walls, the floor, and the smell never seemed to go away.  Another crew was coming in to paint, strip, and redo parts of the damaged house as Cassie was putting it up for sale.  She was moving to New York to stay in Karin’s apartment until Karin was well enough to make decisions for herself.  Already she had woken several times, mumbled what could be considered words, and squeezed Cassie’s hands.  Her progress was going to be painfully slow.

As Cassie sat on the balcony in New York with D.O.G. by her side looking up at her adoringly she wondered where she was at, this point in her life, it was frightening and her father had already visited once and couldn’t stand to stay in the room at the hospital where Karin was slowly healing.  The good thing was she did have some of the best doctors in the world working on her.  Her bandages had lessened but by removing them it exposed the extent of her bruises and abrasions that were so incredibly slow to heal.  It had been a horrible beating.  Apparently she was doing well despite the extent of her injuries.

C.A.T. came out and Cassie eyed him suspiciously.  He seemed to enjoy frightening her but she realized he was just a big pussy cat and D.O.G. perhaps sensing her unease had kept the cat occupied with playing when his stalking unnerved Cassie.  She had woken up just that morning and realized the cat was stretched out next to her full body length.  She knew both animals missed Karin and she was only a substitute until she came home.

The months in the hospital were painful for Karin.  Her brain was functioning much better than they had thought it would considering the damage.  Her attitude though was one of anger.  She admitted to herself and the psychiatrist who visited her that she was angry.  She was
very
angry.  She wasn’t angry that she was in this position, she was angry to realize that they could have done this to Cassie.  This mixed up logic defied explanation.  The small plates that were discretely inserted into her scalp hid the damage that bat had caused, in fact one of the doctors was certain some bone regrowth was possible.  Karin was a living experiment to several excited doctors.  The bones in her cheeks while slightly altered gave her a look as though she were perpetually about to wink at the viewer, to Karin it made her feel as though she had had a stroke when they finally allowed her to see herself in a mirror.  Her smile was different with the new teeth that had been drilled into her dental plates.  Her nose had healed fairly well and with the inserts its modification was barely noticeable.  Most of the change in Karin though was mental.  She still had her amazing whip sharp mind most of the time but the anger inside her had altered more than they all knew.  She sometimes frightened Cassie.