Intercepting Love

1 KATE “So how does it feel to be done with school for the summer?” Evan asked. With my phone propped up on my shoulder, I shoved the last of my belongings into the back of my Jeep and smiled. “It feels amazing, but I’m having a hard time believing that I’m actually done … well, at least for the time being. It went by so fast,” I replied. It was like one minute I was a freshman struggling to make ends meet, and now I was about to do my hospital rotations, making my way to graduating with a medical degree. My rotations, however, weren’t going to be in Raleigh—where I’d spent the last few years at Chapel Hill—they were going to be back at home in one of our local hospitals in Charlotte. Luckily, I already had a job lined up to be one of the private physicians for my hometown NFL team, the Carolina Cougars. I had my brother to thank for it since he was their star wide receiver and it was his idea that I apply for the job. I couldn’t wait to get my medical degree and get started. I’d be able to travel with the team and see new places, all while doing what I loved. It was a dream come true. “Yes, it did fly by,” my brother agreed. “Hopefully, I have a few good years left on the team before I have to retire. Oh yeah, just to give you a heads up, I already warned the guys to keep their hands and eyes to themselves when you start coming around. The last thing I want is for one of them to break your heart.” Chuckling, I started up my Jeep and pulled out of my apartment parking lot. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I’m taken, remember?” I hesitated for a second before adding, “Or … at least, I think I am.” “How long do you think it’s going to last, Kate?” he asked. “Your boyfriend does know that you’ll be travelling everywhere with the team, right? You two will never see each other. I’m sorry, but I don’t see it working out for very long.” “I know that, Evan,” I murmured sadly. “I think Scott knows it, too, but we’ll take it one step at a time. I’m on my way to see him now to drop off some things he left at my apartment. I’ll see you at Mom and Dad’s house for dinner tonight, okay?” I knew he could hear the trepidation in my voice because the phone went silent. My brother was younger than me by only eighteen months, but ever since we were little he had always been more of a big brother to me. I had a strange feeling I was going to see that side of him a lot when I started working with the football players. “All right,” Evan muttered, finally breaking the silence. “Just be careful on your way home.” “Will do.” I hung up the phone, setting it in the center console of my car. The closer I got to Scott’s house, the more the pain in my chest grew; I knew nothing was going to help the ache go away. I’d always known that leaving was going to be an issue, and when I tried to talk to Scott about it over the past couple of months he would always change the subject. Being the coward that I was I never pressed the issue; I let it slide knowing I had more time to address it. That time swiftly approached and here I was on my way to say good-bye. Even though Scott never wanted to talk about it, I could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t happy. Maybe I wasn’t good at relationships. I had no clue how to make things better between us or how to make him smile again. Something was wrong with him, but I had no clue what it was. I’d met Scott during my first year of college, and we went out on a few dates every now and again. He was always busy with baseball and I was busy studying, so we never got too serious. At least, not until he became my patient after a torn rotator cuff put him out of commission for a while. It was then we were able to actually spend time together, and it wasn’t long after that when I fell in love with him. I had to believe things would work out between us, even with the distance. Pulling into Scott’s driveway, I parked my car and blew out a nervous breath. He lived in a moderately sized, brick ranch style house in a nice little neighborhood not far from campus. I basically lived with him and only ventured to my apartment when I needed something of my own. Squeezing my eyes shut, I desperately tried to hold back my tears, but I couldn’t. Come on, Kate, pull yourself together. Scott and I love each other and that’s all that matters. The box sitting in my passenger seat had a few of his shirts, a pair of his sneakers, and his laptop. I was tempted to keep it all just so it wouldn’t feel like we were breaking up. Opening the car door, I threw my blonde hair into a ponytail—so that it wouldn’t stick to my shoulders from the summer heat—and grabbed the box beside of me. Box in hand, I waltzed up to the front door and pressed the doorbell. The sound echoed through his house and as I waited for him to get to the door, my heart literally felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. I didn’t want to leave him. After about three minutes of silence, I rang the doorbell again and knocked as loud as I could. “Where are you, Scott?” I mumbled to myself. Surely, he’ll want to see me before I go, right? Setting the box down, I marched over to my Jeep and grabbed my phone from inside. I dialed Scott’s number and could hear it ringing inside his house, but no one picked up. “You better not be ignoring me,” I grumbled. Even if he was pissed at me for leaving he would never intentionally ignore me; he wasn’t the type of person to do that. Blowing out an angry breath, I placed my hands on my hips and stalked over to his garage. I knew I shouldn’t do what I was about to do, but I had to see him. No one was around to see me punch in the five digit code to Scott’s garage and sneak inside. His shiny, black Ford Mustang was in its usual place, and normally my Jeep would be beside his … but not today. Taking a deep breath, I slowly walked past his car and opened the door that led into his kitchen, nervously biting my lip the entire time. “Scott,” I called out hesitantly. “Look, I’m sorry for barging in, but I didn’t want to leave without saying good-bye. Will you please talk to me? I know things haven’t been the best between us, but I want to see you. I don’t want to leave without knowing we’re okay.” I waited for him to speak, but there was no answer … only silence, except for the sound of the television coming from the living room. “Scott,” I called again, standing awkwardly in the kitchen. “Please, talk to me.” When no reply came, I decided to seek him out. If he was that angry with me for leaving then he needed to say it to my face so we could work things out. He had always told me how he felt, but for the past couple of months he’d kept his feelings and his anger bottled up. I didn’t know how to get him to talk to me, so I buried myself in my school work and figured it would all work out in the end. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to. The living room was vacant when I peeked around the corner, so I slowly made my way down the hall, looking into each room as I passed. Nothing. All that was left was his bedroom, and immediately I faltered, freezing in the middle of the hallway. Dread crept up my spine and my skin broke out in chills. It almost reminded me of the feeling you get when you’re watching a scary movie and something’s about to jump out at you. I didn’t like closed doors, especially, when you didn’t know what you’d find behind them. l*****g my dry lips, I wrapped my hand around the doorknob and twisted it gently, so afraid of what I was going to find on the other side of the door. Was he with another woman? Is that the reason why he didn’t want to answer the door? Please, God, don’t let there be someone else, I prayed. However, another woman in his bed wasn’t what I found. He was alone and asleep in his bed. No wonder he didn’t answer his door, I chided myself. “Scott,” I chuckled, “it’s time to wake up, sleepy head.” I opened up the window to my right so the sun could shine in and light up the room. When that didn’t wake him up, I went to another one and opened it up as well. “I wanted to say good-bye to you before I left,” I continued. “I was thinking maybe we could alternate weekend visits. How about this upcoming weekend I come back here and stay? Does that sound good?” When he didn’t answer, I turned around and placed my hands on my hips. “If this is your way of getting me to stay, you know it’s not going to work, Scott. I really want this to work out, but I’m going to need your help. Please talk to me.” I stared at him, lying in his bed, and waited on him to move or speak … or do something. Instead, he just lied there with his back to me. Swallowing hard, I took a step closer, and another. His chest wasn’t moving and there was no sound coming from him at all; everything was silent. “Scott,” I pleaded. “You’re scaring me.” My breaths came out in shallow gasps as I turned the corner of his bed and got a good look at him. Gasping, I closed my eyes and fell back against the wall, trying to mute the scream that escaped my lips by covering my mouth with my hand. Nothing was going to take away the image of Scott’s lifeless body permanently ingrained in my mind. His unseeing hazel eyes were open, staring straight at the ceiling with no shred of life. And there, lying beside of his motionless body, was a pill bottle … and it was empty. “Oh my God, Scott, what the hell did you do?” I screamed, my voice unfamiliar to my own ears. Frantically, I touched his face and immediately burst into tears when all I felt was cold skin … death. “Why?” I cried, searching his face angrily. “Why would you do this to me?” It was only just yesterday that he was alive and telling me he loved me. Why would he want to kill himself? Backing away from his cold, lifeless body, I closed my eyes and shook my head back and forth vigorously. “I don’t understand. It has to be a bad dream. Oh, please let me open my eyes and it be just a bad dream.” As soon as I opened my eyes, the tears blurred my vision. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop me from seeing something that would forever haunt me for the rest of my life. With shaky fingers, I picked up the piece of paper that was on his nightstand and read the words inside. I was too late. And it was all my fault.