Chapter 37

Kadie stood staring at the pair on the couch. She couldn’t figure out why she’d never seen the similarity before, because now it was so blindingly obvious. Richie’s desperate whisper only confirmed what her eyes were telling her. Jay - her Jay - was Jon Bon Jovi’s son. And he didn’t know it. Sweet Jesus, but how much more was the guy meant to have to take today?

“Kadie?” Jay was getting to his feet, her stunned expression scaring him. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

She could feel Richie’s hand still on her waist, his thumb unobtrusively pressing against her back, the touch somehow begging her to keep quiet about what he knew she’d just figured out. Making a swift decision, Kadie knew it wasn’t her place to tell Jay about his parentage. That little task was down to Billie. And Jon of course.

“Sorry baby.” She said with a smile. “I……I had a drink of cold water when I was down seeing the nurse and I guess it was too cold - make me feel icky for a second. I’m okay now.”

“You sure?” Richie played along, looking at her with what Jay saw as concern but Kadie knew was gratitude.

“Yeah. I’m good.” Her eyes reminded him of her request that he take Jon away. “Could you….?”

“Yeah.” Richie gave her a smile of thanks, looking across to Jon. “Jonny, c’mere a minute, will ya? Kadie needs to talk to Jay. Let’s go get a coffee.”

“But…….” Jon fell silent at the glare he received from both Richie and Kadie. There was something going on here that he’d missed.

“Hey, it can only be better than the stuff from over there.” Jay pointed out, and Jon nodded grudgingly.

“You got a point there, buddy.” He rose from the couch. “You guys want any brought back?”

When they both said yes, Jon quickly asked how they liked their coffee, then he followed Richie from the room, closing the door behind them and following his taller friend along the hallway.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” Jon snapped as he caught up to Richie. “And what exactly Kadie needs to tell Jay in private?”

“Well, what d’you think?” Richie looked at his friend in near disgust. “The nurse told Kadie what’s happened to Billie. D’you actually think she’d tell Jay in front of us? In front of his boss?”

“I guess.” Jon gave ground fractionally, knowing Richie was right.

“Anyway, you have another problem now. Kadie knows.”

“Knows what?”

“Aw, Jesus, she knows we’re in Philly, she knows I play guitar, she knows a lot of shit, Jonny. What do you think I’m talking about? She knows you’re…….” Instinct lowered his voice. “She knows you’re Jay’s father.”

“You told her?!”

“No, asshole. Why do you think she slammed to a stop at the door? The way you two looked up, side by side, there was no way she couldn’t see it. Kinda weird - it was like looking at you sat next to you twenty years ago. But without the hair.”

“Aw, shit!” Jon blurted out, stopping in his tracks and staring at Richie. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“Hardly eloquent, but yeah. Shit just about covers it.” Richie managed a tiny smile. “And it’s what you’re hip-deep in right now.”

“Fuck - is she gonna tell him? Is she…….” Jon turned as though to go back to the waiting room, only to feel Richie’s big hand on his shoulder.

“No, she won’t. I told her he doesn’t know, and she’s not going to tell him.”

“How do you know that? You can’t be sure.”

“Actually, somehow, I am.” Richie shrugged. “It was in her eyes. She’s going to hurt him enough right now - she won’t add to it.”

Oddly, that reassured Jon. Over the years he’d learned that Richie was a far better judge of people than he was - Denise excepted - and if he was so dead certain that Kadie wouldn’t tell Jay, then he’d trust that. Or maybe he was just clinging to the hope that she wouldn’t.

In the waiting room, Richie’s swift removal of Jon from the room, leaving them alone so Kadie could talk to him in private did nothing to allay Jay’s fears, and he scoured her face for a hint as she walked toward him.

“Kadie?” He asked in a tiny, soft voice, his eyes desperately frightened.

“No bad news, baby.” She said, not entirely truthfully. Reaching a hand to cup his cheek, she pushed him back toward the couch. “Sit down. There’s no good news yet, but there’s nothing bad happened while we’ve been in here. Sit down and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

He sank onto the couch, Kadie sitting close to him and holding his hands in hers, staring intently into his eyes.

“Jay - I don’t want to have to tell you this, and it’s going to be hard for you to hear, baby, but I don’t believe in keeping secrets. Do you want to know everything I know? I mean everything.”

“Yes.” There wasn’t even a hesitation. “Doesn’t mean I’ll like it - from the look on your face, I’m sure I won’t - but I have to know, baby.”

“That’s what I thought.” She whispered, glancing toward the door, making sure it was shut.

Watching her face closely, Jay saw a tear break from the corner of her eye, betraying her own feelings right now, and he tightened his hands on hers. He wasn’t even sure which of them he was trying to comfort.

“Jay, I already told you that your mom was raped.”

“Yeah.” That muscle working in his cheek again as his eyes darkened.

“Whoever did it also beat her, but the reason she’s bleeding so badly…..” A deep breath. “She’s bleeding so bad, Jay, because he……he……shit.” This had to be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life, and she tried to hold her voice gentle, to not give voice to her own disgust. “Jay, the guy who raped her also…..also sodomised her……and that’s what’s causing the bleeding. He’s hurt her very badly, Jay.”

“He what?!” Jay was shaking with anger, tears falling unnoticed over his lashes as his hands clenched on Kadie’s. “The sick fuck……he……he did that to my mom? I’ll kill him!”

“Jay!” Kadie snapped, breaking through the anger fogging his head, bringing him back to her. “Doctor Riviello has taken her up to surgery, to try to stop the bleeding, to repair the….the tears. She’s still in an awful lot of danger, Jay. Doctor Riviello is the best, but even so….you need to understand she might not come out of this, baby.”

“I understand.” He whispered, his eyes burning with rage. “And I understand that I’ll castrate that bastard when I get my hands on him. I’ll…….sweet Jesus, Kadie……what he did…..”

“I know, baby. I know.” She murmured, pulling him into her arms again, but he only clung to her for a second before pulling free, needing to move.

Jumping to his feet, Jay paced around the room, his fists clenching spasmodically as he tried to fight the anger. Tried to hold himself together, because all he wanted to do right now was go out and find the bastard, to make him pay for what he’d done. Somewhere inside, though, he knew he was needed here, knew his mom needed him here, needed him strong, and the two emotions were tearing him apart, between what he wanted to do and what he should do.

Kadie watched him helplessly, knowing he needed to work this through himself, her own mind still whirling with what she’d learned only a few minutes before, and her attention focused onto her thoughts, not her eyes, so she missed the signs of what Jay was about to do until it was too late.

“Fuck!” He screamed into the silence of the room, his rage bursting through as he slammed his fist into the wall. “Motherfucker!!”

He pounded his fists into the wall, grunting with the force of every punch, and in the seconds it took Kadie to get off the couch and over to him his knuckles were raw and bleeding. She could only be thankful he’d chosen a sheetrock wall, and not a brick one, as he’d punched a hole clear through the painted board.

“Jay! Stoppit!” From behind, she wrapped her arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides as best she could.

The sound of her voice and the support of her arms was enough to break into his brain, but she wasn’t strong enough to hold him as he slumped suddenly, dropping to the floor, his damaged hands cradled against his belly. As Kadie fell on her knees beside him, the door blasted open and a security guard appeared, but Kadie threw him such a venomous glare as she waved him off that he backed away, understanding that the only casualty here was a wall.

On her knees, Kadie wrapped her arms around Jay, holding him as he pulled himself back from the brink of that unreasoning rage, pulled himself toward sanity again. After long minutes, she felt him nod against her shoulder, then heard his voice, husky from his screams of rage.

“S’okay, baby.” He whispered. “I’m okay now. I just……”

“Shut up.” Kadie murmured against his ear. “It’s okay, Jay. Just hush.”

He pulled his head back, gazing at her for a moment before pressing his lips to hers, kissing her tenderly, taking strength from her before easing back again. The rage was back to a manageable level now, which meant the pain broke through instead, and he glanced down before looking at her sheepishly.

“Got a Band Aid?” He asked, holding up his bleeding hands.