EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA)

by Barbara Cross

  I couldn’t say Daniel saved me because that would start more questions. “The doorman brought up a package and I made him leave. Should I tell Eden?”

  “I have to get in the elevator now. Want to have lunch, so we can talk about it?”

  “I’m not sure if I can,” I fibbed. “I’ll call you later.” I was too scared to go outside.

  Mom was in the kitchen and asked how the movie was. “It was fine. Mom, can I go to London and stay with Aunt Lucy?”

  “What brought this about? When we suggested it, you vehemently opposed it.”

  “I just want to go. I’m so bored here. Dad’s office doesn’t really need me.”

  “I don’t see why not. When do you want to go?”

  “Tomorrow?” I asked and smiled. “Please!”

  “In a rush are you? I’ll call the airlines and check. You better start packing.”

  I jumped up and hugged her. “Thanks Mom.”

  I went in the basement and got the luggage out of the storage room. I packed, but it didn’t take that long. With nothing else to do, I read some poetry. I hadn’t read any books lately, which was so unlike me. Daniel and spy garbage was all that I’d been concentrating on.

  At the same time, I didn’t want to forget any of these memories, so I retrieved my journal and filled in the latest details of my Daniel saga.

  I stared at the two photos of him. Daniel looked exactly the same. But there was an eight-year difference between the photos. How was this possible? I didn’t want to carry his photo around anymore, so I placed all the copied photos and the originals inside the journal and put it in my keepsake box at the bottom of the closet.

  I went on Facebook and unfriended Billy. I also blocked him because I never wanted to see anything pop up about him.

  While checking my emails, I read one from Emma, asking when in August I was arriving at Nana’s. She wanted to plan a summer bash and wanted to make sure that I’d be there. I emailed her back and told her my new plan.

  Staring out the window, I texted Lily that I’d meet her for lunch. Knowing that the NSA was following me, made me feel better. Besides, I had to get rid of the envelope if I wanted any peace from all this.

  I wanted to leave for London without constantly looking over my shoulder for goons. I grabbed a wristlet and slipped the folded envelope inside. It would be a lot easier to whip the letter out if I was approached. I didn’t want to rummage through my big handbag or walk around with it in my hand. Daniel and James told me to do what I thought was best.

  During lunch, I told Lily about my London plan and she got upset. “Is this because of Daniel or Billy?” she asked.

  “I just have to get out of here, Lily. I think I’m going crazy.” I started getting emotional and blurted out, “I can’t handle that Daniel has a girlfriend.”

  “What?” Lily looked dumfounded and I realized that I never told her. I was keeping so much from her, it was hard to keep track. I couldn’t keep this charade up. I wasn’t a liar like Daniel. I hoped that my eavesdroppers didn’t hear my outburst. I didn’t want Daniel to know how much I cared and how much pain I was in.

  Staring at me, she said, “You never told me that.”

  “I didn’t?” I said playing stupid and regained my composure. “Well, he does and her name’s Juliet. Isn’t that really nice?”

  “Is this why you’ve been so upset?” Lily asked. “When did he tell you this?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and shut my eyes. “Does it matter? He has a girlfriend. Bottom line is he’s been leading me on. I don’t want to talk about him anymore. Please,” I begged.

  “Okay, I’m sorry.” Lily looked so confused, but I couldn’t tell her the real story. I had to keep her safe. “Daniel and Billy are both losers,” Lily said, trying to make me feel better.

  I nodded in agreement. “So what should I do about Billy?”

  “You have to tell Eden. She’s his sister. Maybe she’ll talk to him.”

  “What if she gets angry or doesn’t believe me?”

  “So? What if he rapes someone?”

  “You’re right. I’ll call her tonight and I’ll leave with a clear conscience.” Suddenly, I had a brainstorm and shrieked, “Why don’t you come with me? My aunt won’t mind. They have plenty of room and we’d have so much fun together.”

  “I can’t. I made a commitment at my Dad’s office. They would have hired somebody else for the summer.”

  After lunch, I began walking home praying that someone would ask me for the envelope. I was so dumb for not going to the lobby when Daniel told me to. I walked up Sixth Avenue and decided not to go through the park. My last walk there still haunted me, so I walked up Central Park South.

  I hoped that I wouldn’t see Daniel. It’d be easier to forget him. Who was I kidding? Like that was even possible. I’d never forget him. At least, I’d always have my photos and my memories. No one could take that away from me.

  As I daydreamed, I started to cross Central Park West in the middle of the street. To my left, the light was red so I started walking. When I was in the middle of the street, I suddenly saw a dark blue car run the red light. Everything moved in slow motion. The car was speeding and I watched it racing towards me. Oh, my God! The car was about to hit me straight on but suddenly veered and clipped me on my left side. I was struck and went flying in the air. There was a loud crash as my body hit the ground. At first, I felt nothing, but then pain started shooting down my arm and leg and my head was pounding. I think I blacked out because when I opened my eyes, there were people all around me. Scanning the crowd for Daniel, I spotted Pierce trying to get through the people hovering around me. A woman was talking to me but I didn’t know what she was saying. She had a thick Spanish accent. Where was Daniel? Didn’t he tell me that nothing was going to happen to me?

  “Are you okay?” Pierce asked as he knelt down.

  “No. My left arm really hurts,” I managed to say. The pain was excruciating.

  A group of men in suits appeared and ushered the crowd away from me. I’m not sure how much time passed, but I heard sirens blaring and hoped it was an ambulance for me.

  I picked up my right arm and was surprised to see the wristlet bag still on my wrist. It hadn’t fallen off. I overheard someone say to call my mom. Pierce asked if I had my cell and I said it was in my wristlet. I heard him tell her that it was a hit-and-run. On top of everything else I’ve been dealing with, this had to happen. At least I was alive, I should be thankful for that.

  I was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital and Pierce was right there keeping an eye on me. With the pain that I felt, I knew my arm was broken. As I waited in the emergency room, I saw Mom rush in frantically. She looked so worried and seeing her so upset made me cry. I waved so that she could see I was alive.

  “Paige, baby, I’m so sorry,” she said and wiped my tears with her hand. “What hurts?”

  Through sobs, I answered, “My whole left side and my head. I think my arm is broken.” I felt everything swelling.

  “You could’ve been killed.” The doctor came in. X-rays and CT scans were ordered and I was wheeled to Radiology.

  When I returned, Dad was waiting with Mom. He rushed over. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not so great.”

  The doctor appeared and said I was very lucky that the car wasn’t going faster. “The radius bone in your lower arm is broken. What’s truly amazing is that your legs weren’t broken.” Then why did they feel like they were? I wondered. “We’ll put on a temporary plaster cast to immobilize the arm and wait for the swelling to subside before the permanent cast is put on.”

  Mom asked, “What were the results of the scan? Is there a concussion?”

  “No concussion just bruising from where the head hit,” the doctor said.

  I spotted Pierce standing near the door. I guess Daniel was done worrying about me.

  Dad was asking a ton of questions, but I couldn’t concentrate because I was getting groggy from the painkillers. I
did hear, “It takes about six weeks for an arm break to heal.” There goes my London trip again. My parents would never let me go now and that meant I would be stuck in this nightmare.

  “Buttercup, the doctor said you could go home, but advises you stay overnight just in case.”

  “No, please, I want to go home,” I pleaded, looking at Mom for help. I wanted my own bed and house. Knowing that between the doormen, the EMIT agents in the building, and everyone listening to everything in my house, I’d be safe there.

  Mom came to my rescue. “Oliver, she’ll rest better at home. You know how hospitals are. She’ll never get any sleep. I’ll take care of her and if anything happens we’ll bring her right back.” Reluctantly, Dad agreed.

  We took a taxi home and everything hurt from the bouncing. Bursts of pain shot through my arm and I flinched. I clenched my teeth and suffered silently, fearing that if I complained, my parents would return me to the hospital. At least, it was my left arm; I was a righty anyway. The cab dropped us off at the building and I was so glad to be home. Dad had to go to a meeting and said he’d be home as soon as possible.

  Mom made me lie down on the couch in the living room, and said, “Stay here till I get back. I’m going to run down to the pharmacy and drop off these prescriptions. When I get back, I’ll help you upstairs to your bedroom.”

  The phone rang as soon as I was alone, but I knew I had to answer it. “Hello?”

  “Girlie… the next time it’ll be much worse. We want that envelope. We’ll call again to make arrangements.” His voice made my skin crawl.

  What was I doing? These people could’ve killed me.

  My cell rang and while answering it, I dropped it to the floor.

  “Sorry, I dropped it,” I yelled. Every move hurt from the jostling. “Hello.”

  “Paige, it’s Pierce.”

  “Where’s Daniel?” I had to know.

  “He’s out-of-town on assignment.”

  Just great! On to his next case, leaving me to fend for myself, so much for the ‘I won’t let anything happen to you’ nonsense.

  “Next time they call, please follow their instructions and we’ll take it from there.”

  “Fine, I will. Bye.” I didn’t want to talk to any of them. I called Lily to tell her what happened, but it went to voice mail.

  Mom helped me upstairs when she returned and helped me change my clothes. Dad walked in and before he could say anything, my cell began ringing.

  “Answer your call, Buttercup, I want to talk to your mother.” He leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

  As I answered, I heard Lily say, “I just heard what happened. How are you?”

  “To be honest, I feel like death on a cracker,” I joked, trying to make light of the situation.

  “Be serious, please.”

  “I want to go to sleep, wake up and find out it was just a bad dream,” I admitted.

  “I’m so sorry. At least it wasn’t your leg,” Lily said trying to find something positive to say.

  “Yeah, but I’m stuck here. My parents won’t let me go to London now. Aunt Lucy doesn’t need to deal with two patients.”

  I was getting sleepy, so I ended the call, but between the pain and the horrible nightmares, I hardly slept.

  

  When I woke up, I felt like I’d been hit by a train. Everything hurt. Glancing at my legs, I saw they were covered in huge black, blue and yellow bruises. I called for Mom and when she saw them she gasped.

  She found the sweatpants I asked for and helped me put them on. I didn’t want to see my legs. This was going to be horrible since I couldn’t dress myself. I guess it was better that I broke my arm in the summer. Trying to put on winter clothes as opposed to summer clothes would’ve been horrific.

  When I complained that I didn’t want to be stuck in my bedroom all day, Mom agreed and thought it was best that I stayed in the living room, so I didn’t go up and down the stairs all day. She set up the couch with pillows, blankets and put my laptop on the coffee table. I lay there and tried to ignore the pain coursing through my body. Amber kept me company and stared at me like she knew something was terribly wrong.

  Whenever the painkillers kicked in, I was able to fall asleep.

  Mom finally left me alone to run an errand and the phone rang. It was Nana joking that I broke my arm because I was jealous of her broken leg.

  That evening, Martin, Marina and Anna came over. Mom ordered Chinese food and they left after Anna fell asleep in her stroller.

  Afterwards, my parents asked if I could handle the drive to Long Island for the weekend. I quickly said yes. I’d rather sit in a chaise and look at the water, than sit on a couch and stare at the walls. Painkillers and rest was all that I needed for now. Cutchogue wasn’t London, but it would do. The envelope would wait because I needed to get out of here.

  

  I found and Dad in the kitchen drinking coffee.

  “Morning, Sweetie. How are you feeling?”

  “The same,” I said shrugging. What else could I say?

  “I’m sorry. It’s going to take time to heal.”

  “I know. I can’t wait to go see Grammy.”

  “Oh, Aunt Cecile, Uncle Ian and Lily wanted to come in today and see you, but when I told them we were heading out to Grammy’s, they’re going to meet us out there” Mom said.

  “That’s great!” I was excited to see Lily.

  “You’ll be able to rest out there and recover from this accident,” said Dad.

  If Dad knew that it wasn’t an accident, but was intentional, he’d be furious. When those goons had called, Daniel told me to go and see what they wanted, but I said no and refused. As a result, I had a broken arm and Daniel was gone anyway.

  When we arrived in Cutchogue, Grammy ran out of the house. “I’ve been so worried about you,” she said, as she hugged me gingerly.

  Grammy wouldn’t stop hovering and Mom seeing that I wanted to rest, dragged her away to do some gardening. I sat on a chaise by the pool thinking about Daniel. I hoped that wherever he was, he was happy. He really was a great guy and his girlfriend was lucky while I, unfortunately, would remain jealous forever. Enough! I had to stop thinking about him.

  Lily arrived about an hour later.

  “I can’t believe this happened to you,” Lily said.

  “Me either.”

  I read and hung out with Lily all day. It was so relaxing.

  “Mom, can I stay with Grammy till we have to leave for London?”

  “I’ll check with Grammy, but I’m sure she’d love it. You need to see the orthopedist next week, so I’ll bring you back after you see him.”

  As long as I knew I could come back here, I could wait.

  I knew I was being watched because I spotted a boat anchored close to Fleets Neck Beach. At least, it wasn’t anchored smack in front of the house. There also was a car parked by the entrance to Grammy’s road. Our road was a dead end so if you parked at the entrance you’d see anyone entering or leaving. Weren’t the neighbors wondering about the parked car?

  Since reading was about the extent of what I could do, I continued with my poetry. I grabbed the Elizabeth Barrett Browning book. In no mood to read her biography, I looked for a required poem on the list.

  THE SOUL’S EXPRESSION

  With stammering lips and insufficient sound

  I strive and struggle to deliver right

  That music of my nature, day and night

  With dream and thought and feeling interwound

  And only answering all the senses round

  With octaves of a mystic depth and height

  Which step out grandly to the infinite

  From the dark edges of the sensual ground.

  This song of soul I struggle to outbear

  Through portals of the sense, sublime and whole,

  And utter all myself into the air:

  But if I did it,--as the thunder-roll

  Breaks its own cloud, my
flesh would perish there,

  Before that dread apocalypse of soul.

  The poem explained the struggle between expressing one’s feelings and the fear of doing just that. Tired of trying to analyze the poem, I put the book back in my bag. The medicine knocked me out and I slept a lot all weekend.

  We left Sunday night. I really didn’t want to go, but I had no choice. I had to see the doctor and had to get rid of the envelope.

  Back home, Mom helped me into my sleep shirt and went to walk Amber with Dad.

  I sat at my computer and planned to thank everybody for the get-well wishes and cards, which were so sweet, but I found an email from Daniel. I didn’t want to open it, but I couldn’t resist.

  Paige,

  I heard from Pierce about your arm.

  I’m so sorry.

  That wasn’t supposed to happen.

  I wish I had been there for you, but I was away at the time.

  If you’d like to talk, you have my number.

  Daniel

  More nonsense! Supposed to happen? Just leave me alone. I deleted his email.

  I emailed Emma and told her that I wasn’t coming. This was so crazy, twice I was going and twice it got canceled. Our regular August trip better happen, or I’ll just scream.

  I got my journal out of the closet and filled in the latest news. I put in my last song about long distance relationships. There was no point in putting the journal back in the closet until after I got rid of the envelope and could finally close the chapter on Daniel.

  

  In the morning, Mom said she was staying home to be with me and would work from home.

  She had to leave, so those goons would call. “You don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

  “You might need help.”

  “I was perfectly fine at Grammy’s.”

  “We were all there to help you.”

  I tried my hardest to get her out of the apartment. When I asked for croissants, she had the store deliver them. When I asked for a book, she called the bookstore and it was brought over. Normally, I liked these conveniences, but today, I was going insane.

  Mom was on the phone with Grammy. I heard the tail end of the conversation as she walked through the living room. “That’s exciting though! I wonder who it is!”