The Weight of Her

There was a light knock the door a couple hours later. Shaun stirred awake. He had fallen asleep uncomfortably in the hospital chair beside Kennadi’s bed, her hand still in his. He looked around and grimaced, hoping it had been a bad dream, but it wasn’t. He was still here. Kennadi still had not waken up. The only difference was that sky outside had grown darker.

Madison peeked her head in and looked at Shaun sadly. “Grant’s here.” She stated simply, referring to her’s and Kennadi’s older brother, Grant. Shaun nodded and stretched his arms over his head before getting up and following Madison outside into the waiting area.

Grant walked over to them on his way to Kennadi’s room. He hugged both his sister and Shaun. “It’s good to see you again, Shaun.” He said, gruffly.

“Yeah, same here. I just wish it could be under better circumstances.” Shaun replied, looking at him, both holding the same sad expression.

“Me too,” Grant nodded. “It’ll get better though.” They all nodded before Grant walked into Kennadi’s room and Shaun and Madison to the waiting room.

It was now empty and eerily quiet in the room. Shaun sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, willing with all he could for this go away, but whenever he opened them he was still there. He looked at Madison to see her looking into a hospital bag. “What’s that?” He asked, trying to distract himself from the situation.

Madison snapped her head up and looked at him, then down again at the bag. “Oh,” She cleared her throat. “It’s Kenny’s things. Well, what they could salvage from the wreck.” She peered inside the bag curiously. Shaun watched her confused as she began to dig around in the bag for something. She let out a quiet “Aha.” once she found it. A small smile crept on her face as she looked at Shaun. “It’s her journal.”

Shaun’s eyes grew wider. She wasn’t seriously going to read that while her sister was lying unconscious just 30 feet away, was she? That sick feeling that had washed over Shaun when he saw Kennadi’s body washed over him again. Her voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked at her as she said, “I dubbed it the ‘Shaun White Experience’.”

Shaun gave her a weird look and reached over to grab it from her. “Why does that creep me out a little?” He joked, turning the journal over in his hands.

Madison gave a small laugh. “It’s not like that,” She answered, a small smile gracing her face. “It’s just…ever since you guys met, that’s all she had been able to write about. Other things to of course.” Madison assured him. She sighed. “She just really loves you, Shaun.” She stated.

Shaun smiled at the thought. “Yeah, I love her, too.” He said more to himself than her.

“I’m going to go call Todd,” She said, referring to husband, and getting up. Shaun nodded and watched as she began to walk away. She stopped and turned to look at him. “You know, you should take a peek inside it,” she nodded her head at the journal. “keep you distracted.” She shrugged. “You might just read something interesting.” She gave a small smile and walked away to call her husband.

Shaun looked back down at the journal. It was worn and some of the pages were near falling out. He tried to be super careful as he opened it, hearing a slight creak. He slowly turned the pages until her found her familiar curvy handwriting.

My horoscope today said a “mysterious stranger” will walk into my life. Of course it was discarded as usual. And wouldn’t you know? It turned out be true. I wouldn’t exactly call the guy a “mysterious stranger” considering his face is plastered on the window of the Sunglass Hut across the street…

Shaun smiled to himself, knowing exactly where this entry was going. It was quite an unforgettable moment for him and now his theories were confirmed about how memorable it was for her. Though it had only been a brief encounter it obviously left an impression.

Shaun had walked into the empty flower shop hoping for some assistance. And fast. He only about 20 minutes before he would be late. His brother, Jesse, had set him up on a blind date with someone that was supposedly “perfect” for him. Shaun had been dreading it, but figured it couldn’t hurt much. He might end up having a good time. Being the nice guy he was, he decided to buy the girl some flowers. That would get him some brownie points for sure.

He looked around searching for a sign of somebody that could possibly help him. Noticing a bell on the counter, he reached his hand out and tapped it lightly. A small, but audible “ding” emanated from bell.

He looked up to see a girl pop her head out from a door in the back. She had a sandwich in hand, with a bite taken out from it just previously. “Shit,” The girl muttered, with a mouth full of food. She quickly swallowed and called out to him, “I’ll be there in a minute.” Shaun nodded mutely, but continued to watch her as she set the piece of sandwich down on a plate hidden from his view and wiped her hands of any crumbs.

As she got closer, Shaun had to hide his intake of breath. She was certainly gorgeous. Her dark brown locks were pulled up in a loose ponytail with a head band holding her bangs out of her face. On her slim body was a yellow strapless tunic, but due to her petite frame she could easily sport it as a dress. Her skin was fair with hints of natural makeup. She smiled friendly at him, showing her perfect, white teeth that had previously been hidden behind her soft, pink lips.

“Can I help you?” She asked in her raspy voice. She set her hands on the counter and looked inquisitively at him.

“I uh…I need a dozen rose, please?” He meant to state it, but it ended up sounding more like a question.

She nodded and a curious smile graced her features. She walked to a nearby cooler and pulled out a vase of fresh red roses. “Lucky girl,” She said, as she began to pull out some ribbon from beneath the counter.

“Ah,” Shaun said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “blind date actually.” He corrected.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “You’re getting a blind date roses?” She asked incredously.

“Is-is that bad?” He asked, wondering if there was some set of rules for blind dates he didn’t know about.

“Well roses are…” she paused trying to think of the right words without tying to offend him. “they’re just more of a special occasion flower. Plus, it can be kind of intimidating.”

“Intimidating?”

“Yeah, roses can cause quite a dent in your wallet and adding on to the fact that you’re a famous snowboarder.” She gave a small laugh. “I’m nervous just standing next to you, dude.”

He gave a small laugh like she had. “Yeah, I can see what you mean by that.” He said. “So then, what do you suggest for a blind date?” He asked, gaining his confidence back and smiling at her.

“I know just the flower.” She walked out from behind the counter and motioned for Shaun to follow.

He turned around and began to follow her. His eyes traveled down her back side, getting a glimpse of her butt peaking slightly under her dress. He began to grow nervous again. Looking down he noticed the bunny slippers on her feet and laughed. “Nice slippers,” he said, walking behind her slightly.

She stopped and looked down, forgetting that she had been wearing them, and blushed a dark shade of crimson. “Yeah, w-well they’re comfortable.” She managed to stammer out, completely embarrassed by her mistake.

“I can believe that.” He laughed.

“You’re just jealous.” She joked.

“Yeah, do you know where I can get a pair? I’ve been searching all over.” He joked back, not wanting her to feel awkward around him.

“Sorry,” she shrugged. “I can’t reveal my secrets. I mean, I had to kill a man in Reno for these. It’s just complicated.”

They both laughed at her statement and smiled stupidly at each other. After some time she cleared her throat and looked at the plant in front of her. “These are daffodils. They’re one of my favorites and pretty inexpensive.” She said, looking up at him then adding, “And not so intimidating.”

He smiled and agreed with her. “I’ll take some of those then.” He answered.

She nodded, reaching over to pull them from the soil. She walked back behind the counter and washed off the dirt from the stems, then wrapped a ribbon around them in a delicate manner. She showed them to Shaun, which he gave a nod of approval, and she rang them up.

“Thanks…” he trailed off, implying he didn’t know her name.

She caught on and answered, “Kennadi.”

“Kennadi.” He repeated, liking the way her name rolled off his tongue. “I’m Shaun.“ He introduced himself.

“I know.“ She said, trying to keep the blush from rising in her cheeks at the look he gave her. “Uhm…you’re face is plastered all over the shop next door,“ she pointed to the store across the street hoping it would explain everything.

He laughed. “Well thank you Kennadi.” He said, grabbing the flowers from her.

“You’re welcome.” He began to walk away, when she finally called out, “I hope you’re date goes well.” He waved and smiled before walking out of the store. Secretly he was hoping it would be disastrous so he would have an excuse to come back and see her.