Joshua's Island (James Madison Series Book 1)

by Patrick Hodges

  Chapter 54

  DAY 60

  JOSHUA

  I hadn't heard a peep from the bully squad on Thursday, as they'd stayed pretty well out of sight. Good riddance, dickheads. Your turn to live in the shadows. I also hadn't laid eyes on Brent since the altercation, but Susan, who was in Brent's Algebra class, had told me his face looked like a big purple balloon. I smiled at the thought.

  Brent, on the other hand, had gotten a week's detention for his attack on me, courtesy of Mrs. Hoffmeyer. According to Kelsey, she and several other teachers had confronted Mr. Baird directly. After a vocal argument, he had relented, and Brent had received the harshest punishment that Baird had ever handed out. About freakin' time.

  I asked Emily if she'd also received detention for punching Brent, but she said she hadn't. Knowing Brent, he probably couldn't admit to his parents that he'd gotten his butt kicked by a mere girl.

  Hearing about Liz's meeting with Mr. Alvarez, combined with anticipation of Eve having dinner with my family that evening, soccer on Saturday and a get-together with David on Sunday, made me almost giddy. It was now November, and my life bore no resemblance whatsoever to the one I'd had exactly two months before.

  As we left the cafeteria after lunch, Emily and Susan decided to go hang out on the Island while Eve and I headed straight for the library, as it was a little too windy to make studying on the Island practical. We didn't need to hide in the corner anymore, which was a nice change.

  As we sat down, I rifled through my backpack, looking for my notebook. It wasn't there.

  “Crap,” I said. “I left my notebook in my locker.”

  “Is it that important?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, there's some stuff in there that I really need.”

  The small building that housed the boys' lockers was only a few yards away from the side exit of the library, so getting there and back would only take a minute. Eve followed me to the side door, opened it and peeked outside, looking in both directions. She turned back to me. “Coast is clear,” she said.

  I edged outside, gave her a cursory kiss on the cheek, and ran into the locker building.

  As I approached my locker, I noticed there was something taped to it: a small piece of paper, about the size of a postcard. It hadn't been there that morning. There were only two words written on it:

  TIME'S UP.

  Oh, balls.

  I ducked down instinctively, hoping the bully squad didn't already have me surrounded. I listened for a few moments, hearing nothing but the distant rumble of playground activity.

  Get a grip, Joshua. This is a final, desperate act of a dying empire. I quickly retrieved my notebook from my locker and prepared to make the short sprint back to the side door.

  It was closed. Idiot! You could have just had Eve prop the door open for you!

  It was only a thirty-yard walk around the corner to the front door, so I decided I'd just use my natural stealth ability to get there quickly. I poked my head out the door of the locker building, still seeing nothing. But as I edged even further out, I noticed a figure standing on the upper concourse, looking down at me.

  It was Rhonda. She was smiling.

  Not good.

  Then I looked back toward the playground and saw two figures rounding the corner, coming toward me. Derek and Phil. From the looks on their faces, they weren't in a talking mood.

  There was no way I could take on both of them at once, so I hot-footed it in the other direction, toward the main parking lot. Not wanting to lead them on a long chase because of my asthma, I cut to the right, running down the main sidewalk.

  I could see the underclassmen's building in the distance so I headed for it, hoping I could find sanctuary among the sea of Kelsey's classmates. But as I sped down the sidewalk, another figure appeared in front of me, about thirty yards away. It was Randy.

  Dammit, these guys are never this well-organized!

  Randy wasn't much taller than I was, but he was as mean as a snake, which is why Brent had let him join the squad. By himself, he wasn't much of a physical threat, but I wasn't willing to tussle with him at that moment – he could, at the very least, slow me down enough for Derek and Phil to catch up, and wherever they were, Brent couldn't be far away.

  I took another sharp right around the main office, past the nurse's office and the girls' locker building. All I had to do was round one more corner and I'd be at the library's front door again. I was glad I wasn't weighed down by a heavy backpack this time.

  I rounded the final corner ten yards ahead of Phil and Derek, and twenty ahead of Randy. I was seconds away from the library, and safety. Skidding to a halt, I grasped the door's handle, pushed it down and …

  Before I could open the door, a beefy arm hooked around my neck. I was dragged backwards, losing my notebook in the process. Brent had been waiting for me there.

  I pushed his arm away, but was immediately grabbed again and thrown to the ground, skidding down a slight incline that led from the library to the outer edge of the playground. I looked up to see Brent, his nose purple and swollen, as he picked me up by the front of my shirt and threw me against the trunk of a nearby tree.

  For the first time in two days, I was face-to-face with Brent. I'd convinced myself I was no longer afraid of him, but all that changed when I looked into his pale blue eyes. All I saw was rage. Holding me in place by pushing one arm into my neck, he used the other to punch me in the gut several times. The air left my body, and my chest started to burn.

  This was wrong. This wasn't the Brent I was used to. There was no taunting, no name-calling, no juvenile attempts to get under my skin. This was no ordinary pounding, I realized. This was his final revenge. I was in serious trouble.

  I tried once again, using both hands, to move his arm, and just as I felt it shift, he clocked me in the face, sending my glasses flying onto the concrete nearby, followed by another punch to the gut. I tried to call out, but I didn't have the air in my lungs to make it happen.

  I looked desperately around for help – a teacher, a friend, someone – but as usual, whatever onlookers were present were too paralyzed by indecision to get in the way of such terrible violence. Where are the teachers? WHERE?

  With the taste of blood in my mouth, I lashed out with my foot as hard as I could, and when it connected with Brent's nuts, the results were instantaneous. I dropped hard to the ground as he moved his hands to his balls, gasping in pain.

  I staggered to my feet, disoriented. I couldn't see my glasses, I was out of breath, and I didn't know which way to go. The library door was probably nearby, but I couldn't see it. Everything more than a few feet away was a blur.

  I scanned the area for the nearest patch of empty space to run away. Before Brent could recover, I moved as fast as I could along the concrete toward the basketball courts. I'd only gone a few paces before Randy stepped in front of me with his fist stuck out. I ran right into it with my face, and then I was down on the ground again.

  I couldn't see, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't get up. I tried climbing to my feet again, but before I could, Brent was on top of me. He sat on my chest, grabbed me by the front of my shirt and punched me in the face. Over and over again. All I could see was the front of his fist as he pulled it back, and I saw it was stained red.

  After about the tenth punch, with the world going dark, he finally spoke. “Who's the bigger man now?” he snarled. Another punch.

  I could hear that the crowd of spectators had grown, but it looked like no one was going to intervene in time. A black veil closed over my eyes.

  I heard a girl scream, “Stop it! You're killing him!” Another punch, and then nothing.

  Chapter 55

  DAY 60

  EVE

  I peeked out the side door, looking left and then right, seeing nothing. I turned back to where Joshua was standing right behind me. “Coast is clear,” I told him. He sidled past me, also looking left and right. He turned back to me, gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and th
en sprinted the ten yards to the locker building.

  I returned to the table where our science textbooks were laid out. I studied for a few moments, but my thoughts were on something else. I was so looking forward to meeting Joshua's parents and his sister Alyson. I only hoped they'd like me as much as my family adored him.

  I started practicing how I was going to introduce myself to his parents when I heard some loud footsteps run past the side door. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when two more minutes went by and Joshua hadn't returned, I began to worry. I got up and went back to the side door. Maybe he was just waiting for me to open it so he could get back in.

  I pushed the door open. He wasn't there. “Joshua?” No response.

  I opened the door even wider, wondering if he was still inside the locker building. “Joshua?” I called, making sure it was loud enough so he could hear me.

  Nothing. Where the hell is he? A sense of dread began to form in the pit of my stomach.

  I went out the side door, letting it close behind me. I went into the locker building, where there was only one student. A seventh-grader, probably, who didn't seem to care that a girl was in a place she shouldn't be. I tried to remember Joshua's locker number, he'd shown me last week … what was it … 112? I found his locker quickly enough, and then saw there was a piece of paper taped to the front.

  TIME'S UP, it said.

  Oh no.

  I ran back out, and I heard a commotion coming from the direction of the playground. I saw a flurry of movement, so I started walking in that direction. As I got closer, I heard shouting, and more shouting, and then a girl screamed, “Stop it! You're killing him!”

  Oh, GOD…

  I ran forward, pushed past a couple of students, and then I saw it: Joshua was on the ground, and his face was covered with blood. His glasses lay shattered on the sidewalk nearby. Brent was on top of him, and he had his hands firmly clasped around Joshua's throat, squeezing. Joshua wasn't moving, and he was making no effort to fight Brent off.

  “NOOOOOOO!” I screamed. I rushed at Brent, hooking my arm around his neck. I'd never been that physically strong, but adrenaline must have been kicking in, because I was not only able to pull him off but push him a few yards away, down the incline.

  I fell to the ground with the effort, but I clambered back up immediately. I stood in front of Joshua's still-unmoving body as Brent rose to his feet and faced me. The look on his face …

  Unsure of what else to do, I raised my hands in front of me, showing off my fingernails, which weren't long, but could still do damage. I seethed, “Touch him again, and I'll gouge your goddamn eyes out.” Brent just stood there, trying to figure out his next move.

  He never got to make it. Another flurry of footsteps came from the direction of the basketball courts, and a brown-haired blur tackled Brent like he was a football dummy. It was Rick. Landing on top of him, Rick immediately drew his fist back and punched Brent right on the chin. Brent's head snapped back, and all the fight went out of him. Roughly turning him over onto his stomach, Rick twisted Brent's left arm behind his back and wouldn't let go.

  Rick's basketball buddies Damon, Wade and Rodney followed right behind, standing between Joshua's body and the bully squad, just in case they got any ideas. They'd seen enough to know the show was over, and ran away.

  I looked at Joshua. He wasn't moving. I watched his chest, hoping he was still breathing. I saw nothing.

  Oh, God, no…

  I could feel the hysteria rising in me. “Joshua!” I screamed. “JOSHUA!” No response. I knelt by him, putting my ear against his mouth, and thankfully, I detected the faintest rasp.

  I screamed to the crowd, “Someone get the nurse! NOW!” Two of my classmates, Jill and Rachel, immediately ran in the direction of the nurse's office.

  I looked at Joshua's face, which was almost unrecognizable. One of his eyes had swollen shut, and he was bleeding profusely from a large gash on his cheek. I'd never seen carnage like this before. I didn't know CPR or any first aid. I felt so helpless. All I could do was hold his hand and scream his name while the tears started to flow. I was making a scene, but I didn't care.

  I looked up, and I saw that Emily and Susan had pushed through the crowd and were staring at me in horror and disbelief. I yelled, “Em! Call 911! Please!”

  Emily nodded and fished her cell phone out of her backpack. She always had that thing with her. Thank God for that, as I'd left my own cell in the library. She hurriedly dialed, and a minute later, she said, “They're on their way.”

  “Go to the entrance! Show them where we are!” Emily ran toward the main parking lot to wait for the ambulance.

  The school nurse, a former army medic named Rebecca Hollis, ran up and knelt by Joshua's head, carrying a first aid kit and some clean towels. She placed her finger on Joshua's neck. “He's got a pulse, but it's very weak. Eve, give me your jacket, we have to elevate his head.” I immediately tore off my hoodie, balled it up and put it underneath Joshua's head.

  Nurse Hollis began cleaning off his face with the towels. She then opened his mouth to make sure his airways weren't blocked. I couldn't take my eyes off the purple bruises around Joshua's throat, where Brent had actually tried to choke the life out of him …

  A host of teachers had arrived. Where the hell had they been? The Phys Ed teacher, Coach Weiss, took custody of Brent and frog-marched him down to the principal's office. Minutes seemed like hours, and all I could do was hold Joshua's hand.

  Emily ran up a few minutes later, and right on her heels was a paramedic, a blonde woman who took my place at Joshua's side. I couldn't tell what she was doing, so I just buried my head in Emily's shoulder, fearing the worst. A male EMT rolled up with a stretcher, and as light as Joshua was, it took no effort to lift him onto it.

  I ran alongside as they pushed the stretcher out to the waiting ambulance. Students and teachers alike watched as they loaded Joshua into the back. I made a motion to jump onto the ambulance, but the blonde woman stopped me. “I'm afraid you can't come, sweetheart,” she said.

  I gave her the most determined look that I could. “I'm not leaving him!”

  She looked equally determined. “You can't come. It's against regulations.”

  “He's my best friend! Please!” Another tear rolled down my face. “PLEASE!”

  She looked at me for a few moments, then sighed. “I gotta be out of my mind.” She offered me her hand. “Come on.”

  She helped me into the back of the ambulance. I saw Emily and Susan watching me. I yelled, “Em! My cell's in the library! Call my mom! Tell her where I am!”

  Emily nodded, and then the other EMT slammed the ambulance door shut. Within seconds, we were on the road.

  Joshua's eyes were still closed. The paramedic, who introduced herself as Sam, had strapped an oxygen mask around his face. I was frantic. “Why won't he wake up?”

  “He's unconscious, but he's stable for now. Do you know his information?” She grabbed a clipboard, and I gave her all the information I could, including his name, age, and telephone number. I also told her about his asthma and past injuries.

  “Can I hold his hand?” I asked, feeling myself getting breathy again.

  “Of course,” Sam said.

  I moved around to the other side of the stretcher, holding his hand. My thoughts raced. Why didn't I just hold the door open for him? God, please, don't let him die …

  As soon as this thought crossed my mind, his head lolled to the side, and the sounds of his breathing faded away. “Sam!” I screamed. “He's stopped breathing!”

  Sam felt for a pulse, and apparently got none, because she immediately went into CPR. She pressed on his chest, breathed into his mouth, once, twice, three times. I then realized I was still holding his hand. I couldn't take this anymore.

  “Joshua!” I cried. “Everything's going to be okay! You hear me? It's going to be okay! You're always telling me that!” Sam had stopped the chest compressions and was reaching for the electr
ic heart-paddles.

  I screamed, “You're gonna make it! We're gonna be together! We're gonna be happy! You can't die!”

  No, God, please, no …

  I buried my face in Joshua's shoulder, squeezing his hand as hard as I could. “I love you!” My shout had tapered into a hoarse whisper. “I … love … you.”

  Just then, I felt the slightest pressure on my hand. I sat bolt upright. “Joshua?”

  Sam had cut Joshua's shirt open, and was preparing to administer the first jolt. “What is it?”

  “He squeezed my hand! I felt it!” I leaned forward and shouted in his ear, “Joshua! Wake up!”

  Joshua's back arched, his eyes opened, and he thrashed his head around, obviously disoriented. Sam and I had to hold his shoulders down until the thrashing subsided, which only took a moment. She felt his pulse again, and sighed in relief. “He's back.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Geez, this kid has a strong heart.” Lady, you have no idea.

  “What's your name?” Sam asked me.

  “Eve,” I replied, my heart still racing.

  “Eve,” she said, “keep him focused on you. Keep him with us.”

  I leaned over Joshua, turning his head so he faced me. After a bit, he locked eyes with me. “You stay with me,” I said, and when he nodded, I inwardly said a little prayer. Thank you, God. Thank you.

  I squeezed Joshua's hand reassuringly, and he squeezed it back. He never took his eyes off me, all the way to the hospital.

  Chapter 56

  DAY 60

  JOSHUA

  It felt like there were spider-webs in my brain, and my mind was making its way through a maze of them, looking for an exit.

  I remembered someone screaming, someone squeezing my hand. I remembered opening my eyes and seeing Eve looking down at me. It must have been a dream. Was I dying? Why else would Eve be there? She's my guardian angel. There's no other face on Earth I would want to see if I was dying. I could die happy.