“We have to go to the hospital, if I can get into the room maybe I can…”
“No way Lexie, there’s no way we’re going to crash his hospital room. Shit, what are you thinking, he’s been in an accident he’s hurt and…” Trinity started to say.
She gave her head a definitive shake, as if the matter had been settled. I glared at the back of her blonde head. Trinity was deluded if she thought that I was going to turn on my heel and head back home. With or without her, I was going to see Gabriel Sanders. I clenched my fists into tight balls, holding my tongue for the time being, but planning all the same. Instead of starting a fight I knew I wouldn’t win, I went silent, hoping that Trinity would shift from being pissed off to sympathizing with my predicament. Even as the thoughts filled my mind I hated how calculated I had become, yet my self-loathing wasn’t near enough to make me abandon my plans.
The quiet in the car lengthened until Aiden spoke.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked.
He stared at Trinity. She gave him a one shoulder shrug then cast a quick glance back my way, then back to Aiden.
“I don’t know, what do you think?” she asked him, deliberately keeping me out of the conversation. It irked me that she was being so patronizing, still, I kept my mouth shut. Aiden stared at the road ahead for a long while as if considering his options. I clenched my fists so tight that I felt my fingernails pierce the skin of my palms. Every instinct in me screamed to speak up, order Trinity and Aiden to take me to the hospital, instead I silently fumed.
“I think that Lexie is right…” he started to say.
“What?” Trinity said, her voice going up a couple of octaves.
Aiden threw a hand up, and she stopped speaking.
I did everything in my power to prevent the smile that was creeping across my face from spreading. I turned to face the window, smirking. I loved Aiden more than anyone else in the world right then, it lasted all of a minute.
“Hold up Trin, I didn’t say we should go to the hospital, only that we’ve driven all day and the last thing I want to do is turn around and drive home all night. We should stay overnight and start back in the morning.”
Trinity, who seemed ready to rip Aiden’s head off, deflated, then nodded.
“Yeah that makes sense,” she said.
She leaned into him, covering his mouth with hers. The car swerved and Trinity broke the kiss, giggling. I wanted to strangle her. Even as I imagined my hands around her throat I felt sick. No matter what had happened, Trinity had gone above and beyond the bonds of friendship. She deserved only my undying appreciation, yet that seemed impossible to see against the feelings of desperation that were making me feel almost loopy crazy.
“Camping?” she said, grinning.
Both she and Aiden were oblivious to the idea that Norman Bates had taken up residence in the back seat. Trinity and Aiden fell into a conversation about camping, that was accented by loads of touching, suggestive glances and more than a few unchaste kisses.
I pulled out my phone, careful to conceal it. No matter how gaga they were over the thoughts of camping for the night, I couldn’t let them see what I was up to. It didn’t take long for me to find what I was searching for. As soon as I had, I tucked my phone away, satisfied that neither of them had seen it.
“How much longer to Orion?” I said.
I tried to keep my comment casual, it felt anything but.
Orion was a small town close to where the show was supposed to have happened and where we had found a camp ground to stay for the night.
Trinity tugged her smart phone out of her turquoise straw purse. She checked Google maps then turned to face me. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes dreamy after her conversation with Aiden. She shot me a goofy grin that said sex was first and foremost on her mind. I wanted to be a million miles away from her because the fact that they were enjoying sex and all its carnal pleasures on a regular basis, brought my pathetic reality into perfect clarity.
I hadn’t had sex, a boyfriend or even a date, in the time since Mom had died. Not that I’d had a stellar social life prior to the night of Dallas’s party, but it hadn’t been as dismal as it was now. Sometimes I wondered if the clumsy hand job I had given Paul Triton during a game of spin the bottle would be the extent of my sexual escapades. So much of me wanted to know what it felt like to be naked with a man, have his hands explore every part of me and kiss me the way that Aiden and Trinity did. I wanted love like theirs, but knew it would never happen until I cleared up things with Mom.
Sometimes I thought I was asexual and should probably go ahead and join a convent. But when I had shared a hotel room with Trinity and Aiden, heard the sounds of their pleasure and shamelessly imagined how it would feel to be touched like that, I knew the convent was out.
“Another hour and a half,” she said.
Her face softened. She grabbed my hand, linking her long fingers with mine.
“I really am sorry Lexie, I know how much seeing him meant to you…”
Her voice trailed off and she shot me a tired grin. I fake smiled back, hoping she wouldn’t see the lie in my expression.
“It’s all right, at least we tried, right?” I said, not meaning a word I had just said.
I sighed loudly, as if distraught that I wouldn’t get a chance to see Gabriel. That was the farthest thing from my mind.
“Would you guys be completely pissed if I stayed in a hotel in Apern for the night?” I said, suppressing a manufactured yawn. I already knew that Apern was a thirty minute drive past Orion and just happened to be where the hospital that Gabriel Sanders had been admitted to was. A fact that Trinity could easily have discovered with a thirty-second search on her smart phone. I hoped she wouldn’t bother to check.
No matter what had gone on with the show, I had already planned to stay in a hotel. The truth was that there weren’t enough ear plugs in the universe to block out the sounds that I would have to suffer through, or maybe enjoy a little too much, if I slept in the tent with them. The night before in the hotel room we’d shared had already proven that point. No matter how much I didn’t want it to, my body had responded to the sounds of my friend’s lovemaking sessions. There was no way I could let that happen again, not if I had a say in it.
Trinity narrowed her eyes, before saying.
“What are you up to Lexie?” she said.
All empathy had left her eyes and she was all business. Trinity knew me well enough to twig when I was lying, but that was before desperation had turned me into a crazed replica of myself. Since Mom had died it seemed there were no limits to the lengths I was willing to go to get my own way. A twinge of regret made my stomach tug uncomfortably. I rapidly pushed it away, determined. Gabriel Sanders was my last chance, I wasn’t about to let him slip through my hands, not even for Trinity.
I scratched my head and half-grinned, knowing I had to pull out the big guns.
“Have you actually heard the sounds you guys make while you’re camping?” I said, putting emphasis on the word camping. I locked on Trinity for a moment then tilted my head toward Aiden. I saw a red flush travel from his neck to his cheeks until they looked as if they had been slapped. Trinity didn’t show even a hint of embarrassment. She gave me a brilliant smile that made her blue eyes sparkle then released a soft chuckle.
“What can I say, my Aiden’s a great lay,” she said.
I saw Aiden’s face go practically purple. I kind of felt sorry for him, but not enough to drop the subject.
I groaned.
“Whatever, but I’m not about to spend one more night cooped up with you guys, especially not in a tent where there’s no escape from the grunts and pants, and all the other strange sounds that come out of you two. I want to stay in a hotel…”
I lowered my eyes, staring at my hands dejectedly.
“Besides, I wouldn’t be much company, I need to be alone to…” I fabricated a quaver in my voice then blinked a few times to seal the deal.
/> “Oh Lexie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you…”
I heard the emotion in her tone, and knew that I had accomplished what I had set out to do. I ground my fists into my eyes enough to redden them sufficiently. I knew I was a manipulative bitch, and that Trinity and Aiden didn’t deserve to be lied to. I reasoned that it was a small lie, and that in reality they would probably enjoy the alone time. And if things went as planned they would never know that I had gone to the hospital at all.
12. RANSOM
My legs felt like they were made of cooked spaghetti. I leaned hard on Dave, who managed not to buckle beneath my weight. The air that had just tasted so sweet had turned sour, and bitter fluid had made its way to my throat. My stomach heaved unceremoniously, then I was retching and vomiting on the knee-high hay all around me.
The last thing I wanted to do was to waste time throwing up when I should have been at Gabriel’s side, but the stress was too much to take. I couldn’t manage to reel it in enough to get my shit together. When the nausea finally passed, I saw one of the two ambulances parked on the road peal away, sirens wailing. The cloud of dust in its wake grew smaller as it disappeared down the winding dirt road.
“I need to go, I need to follow the ambulance,” I said, barely able to catch my breath.
Dave handed me a white t-shirt that looked like it was one of his. I hadn’t even noticed that I was bare chest, since I had used my shirt to cushion Gabriel’s head. I had no idea where my shirt was now. I tugged the tee over my head. It was snug around the chest and biceps, but stretched enough to accommodate my build. I wasn’t sure if Dave would ever be able to wear it again after I was done with it though.
“I’ll take you to the hospital,” Dave said.
His tone was calm, yet still laced with tension.
“Where’s Pa ?” I asked, finally realizing that I hadn’t seen him since the accident.
“Sanford and him followed the ambulance to the hospital in the truck.”
“Fuck Dave, what the fuck happened?” I asked, finally voicing the words that had traveled through my mind since the stage had collapsed. Dave shook his head, his expression was somber.
“I have no fucking idea,” he said plainly.
Without another word, he took my arm in his long fingers, leading me forward. Before we had got halfway across the wide expanse, separating the field from the road, a woman dressed in a white cotton short-sleeved shirt and black work pants stopped us. She was about thirty with amber-colored eyes, a freckled complexion and coppery hair that was tied back in a severe ponytail that pulled the skin on her face tight.
“I’d like to check you out,” she said.
It was then that I realized that she was a paramedic. Though I knew she wanted to help, the last thing I needed right then was to have anyone stop me from getting to the hospital.
“I’m fine,” I said, throwing her hand off my arm.
I didn’t want to be rude, but I also didn’t have time to waste on an explanation. Nonplused by my less than gracious reception, she was in front of me again.
“You have some cuts and…” she started to say.
“Listen lady I get that it’s your job to fix me up, but I can’t help you there. I need to go to wherever they’ve taken my brother…”
My voice broke and it felt impossible to go on.
Her expression wavered then she released my arm. I moved to leave, but she stepped into my path again, a move that more than irritated me. I opened my mouth, this time I planned on making my intentions crystal clear, minus the niceties. She held up a slender hand for me to wait.
Before she said anything, she appraised the field and the shambles of what had once been the stage.
“Thankfully you and your brother were the only injuries that required much more than a bandaid or two, so if you’re refusing treatment then I’m done here. That means I can take you to the hospital.”
Excitement bloomed in my chest. It felt like the first good thing that had happened all day. Not only would she be familiar with the route to the hospital, but she would also be able to break the speed limit along the way. Two things that would get us there faster than if Dave drove.
“You’d do that for me?” I asked, shocked at her offer.
She nodded. “But only if you promise to get checked out at the hospital,” she said, arching a pencil thin eyebrow.
“Yeah, sure.”
It seemed a small price to pay for what she was offering me
“Come on then,” she said, leading the way. “My name is Shyanne by the way,” she threw over her shoulder.
I had been joyriding a few times in the past, but nothing compared to going full throttle in an ambulance with the sirens blaring. Not only did all the cars get out of your way, but the speed and urgency, created this wild energy that was hard to ignore. Shyanne hadn’t been lying when she had said that she could get me there in half the time it would have taken in the truck.
I glanced over at Dave who looked positively green, obviously he and extreme speed didn’t get along. It didn’t help that we were sitting on the side benches in the back of the van. The way they were positioned forced us to look across at each other, and definitely threw our depth perception into a tailspin. Since there were no windows in the back, I relied on the occasional peek through the front window to gauge our bearings. Not that it helped, owing to the fact that I had no idea where we were, or even where we were going. All I knew was that the hospital was thirty miles from where the venue had been.
Even with my sporadic glances outside, I noticed that already the landscape had changed. Gone were the sprawling fields and dirt roads. The black tarmac of the freeway and infrastructure, said we had arrived back in civilization. I wanted to ask Shyanne how much longer it would be before we arrived, but didn’t chance distracting her. At the speed we were traveling, she needed her full concentration on the road ahead.
Dave and I were quiet, him because he was struggling not to toss his cookies, me because it felt like I didn’t have room for small talk in a brain that was so filled with horrible thoughts about Gab, and whether he would survive. I didn’t want to believe that he might already be dead, but I knew it was a possibility. Though I thought he was still alive, because if he wasn’t I was sure that I would have felt it.
The next time I looked outside I noticed that we had arrived in what looked to be a city. The single lane highway had branched out and was packed with commuters, forcing us to slow down considerably.
“It’s just a few more minutes,” Shyanne yelled back.
My heart beat a little faster. A part of me didn’t want to know if Gabriel hadn’t made it, the other piece of me couldn’t go on another moment not knowing. Cars continued moving out of our path, like it was the parting of the Red Sea. Seeing it happen made me realize the favor that Shyanne had done for me. With traffic the way it was, there was no way that Dave and I could have kept up this kind of pace.
“You okay man?” Dave said.
I stared over at him. He had gone from green to sheet white, a thin film of sweat peppered his brow. I almost laughed at the concept that he looked like shit warmed over, yet he was still asking me if I was all right. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.
“Yeah, I’m okay, I just need to get to the hospital and see Gab.”
My voice cracked. I swallowed a few times, doing my best to keep it together. It was a tough feat since the closer we got to the hospital the thicker the air seemed to get. Like I was running out of oxygen. I glanced down at my bloody hands. There were more splinters and cuts than I could count, but it was insignificant compared to what Gabriel had suffered.
“We’re here,” Shyanne said abruptly.
I peered ahead just in time to see the sign for the hospital flash into sight. “I’m going to take you through to the Emergency department since chances are that he’s still there.”
Shyanne pulled the ambulance in front of the entrance. Illuminated red letters
that spelled Emergency were positioned over the sliding glass doors. Just seeing the doors that opened and closed with every person that walked in and out, set my nerves on edge. I had always hated hospitals, despised the smell of antiseptic, the stark white of the walls and floors, and especially all the equipment that reminded me of something from a high-tech torture chamber. I knew it was a juvenile fear but it didn’t make it any less true.
Shyanne was the first out, coming around to the rear of the ambulance to open the back doors. Dave sprung forward, it was the most life I had seen from him since we had begun the drive. Cool air filtered in, making me realize how stuffy the back of the ambulance had been. I followed Dave, hopping down onto the paved lane where the ambulance was parked.
“I can’t stay long, but I’ll at least help you find out more about your brother.”
As soon as we passed through the doors of the Emergency department, the smell hit me, bringing with it feelings of dread and anxiety. Even though I knew that nothing and nobody was going to hurt me, irrational fear settled in the pit of my gut. It seemed crazy that I would have felt more comfortable in a street fight, than being in a hospital.
“Take a seat over there,” Shyanne said.
She pointed to the line of mint green padded chairs that were positioned in a square, forcing all the people waiting for a doctors care, to face one another. A thirty-two inch television was mounted on the far wall. As soon as I glanced at the screen I was sorry I had. Video of the collapsed stage streamed across the television, followed by a snapshot of Gabriel. It surprised me that the accident was already news. Sitting there, watching the pictures race across the screen, made me realize how truly lucky we had been to make it out alive. From the images on the television I knew that if not for the hasty rescue by the guy with the power saw, I would not have been sitting there at all.
Ransom (Holding Ransom # 1) Page 13