"Who am I supposed to call?" Libby asked. "We're not supposed to be here."
"Does Heath need an ambulance?"
"I don't know. He won't talk to me."
"Oh god," Polly said. "Are you outside in the cold?"
"He has his coat on."
"Is he bleeding?"
"Yeah," Libby replied. "I told you that one of the guys cut him with a knife."
"Where did they cut him?"
"On his arm and his face. They kicked him a lot. In the head and in his stomach."
Polly wanted to vomit. She could barely function. "Tell me exactly where you are, Libby. I need to find you."
"Come through town to Highway Thirty."
"I know where Seven Oaks is," Polly snapped. "Where are you when I get there?"
"Well, we're not really there. We're across the highway. Heath said he knew where some trails were and we could have some privacy."
Polly's patience was nearly gone. "So you aren't at Seven Oaks?"
"Well, kinda." Libby stopped. "Wait. He's waking up. Heath. Are you okay? I called Polly."
"Libby?" Polly asked. When the girl didn't respond, she said her name again. "Libby!"
"Polly?"
She nearly collapsed with relief at Heath's voice. "Where are you? I'm on my way."
"I'm sorry. I didn't think anything like this would happen."
"I know you didn't. Just tell me where you are." Polly stopped at a light in town and tapped her toes impatiently on the gas pedal.
"It's a gravel road before you get to Seven Oaks. The truck is just off the highway. I'm so sorry."
"Sorries come later," Polly said. "Right now I want to make sure you're taken care of. Where are you once I find your truck?"
"We didn't go very far before we were jumped. Just north and east a little bit. Let me look." He groaned and Polly's heart broke.
"I can't get up to look around. They really took me down, Polly." His words slurred and she cringed.
"Don't move. Don't move at all. Let me talk to Libby."
"Yes Polly?" the girl asked.
"Make sure he's warm. I'll be there in a few minutes. If you have to take your coat off, do it. Rip your shirt if you need to so that you can stop the bleeding."
"I put my scarf on his face. I didn't want to take it back off. But it's getting really red."
"That's good. What about his arm?"
"His coat is around it. I can't get a good look."
"Okay. I'm hanging up to call 9-1-1. But I'll be there before they are. Don't you leave him. When I drive in, I'm going to yell. Just yell back and I'll find you, okay?"
"Okay."
Polly hung up and dialed the emergency number, her fingers shaking on the phone. She gave them the general location and what she knew of the incident. After hanging up, she turned west onto the highway and made one more phone call.
"Polly, don't tell me," Aaron said.
"No. It's not a body, but Heath was hurt. He's south of Boone and I'm headed his way."
"Just a second," Aaron replied, then came right back. "I see the call just came in. What happened?"
"They tell me that they were attacked by some boys. I don't have the whole story yet."
"I'm on my way. Take care of your boy and we'll figure this out."
Polly slowed, looking for the turnoff and Heath's truck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found it the first time. Pulling into the access, she honked the horn several times, reached into the back seat for the dog's blankets and towels, got out and looked for a trail that led east.
"Libby? Heath?" she called and waited, cursing at the sound of traffic on the highway. "Libby!" Polly screamed the name, darting in and out of several trailheads leading off to the east. She stopped and thought. Heath hadn't said anything about more than one trail. It had to be the first one. Polly jogged back to the trail and ran down it, yelling their names. Finally, she heard them.
"Polly! We're here."
She was close and forced her legs to pump faster, then rounded a slight bend and pulled to a stop. Heath was crumpled in on himself, his head in Libby's lap. The girl face was streaked with tears as she huddled over him.
"Polly, you found us," Libby said through sobs that threatened to choke her.
"I'm here. Sheriff Merritt and the EMTs will be here soon." Polly knelt down beside the two, placing the blankets and towels beside Libby. He'd been cut more than just on his arm and his face. Too much blood. "Libby, I need you to stop crying and help me." Polly stood up, paced to the other side of the trail, took a deep breath and steeled herself. This was way too much blood for her.
"What should I do?" Libby asked.
"Cover him with those blankets. I have to look at his arm." Polly steeled herself and opened the slash on Heath's coat. The gash on his arm was no longer flowing. She wasn't sure whether or not she had the stomach to tie a tourniquet. Polly pressed a towel against it and cringed when Heath flinched.
"Heath, honey. Wake up. I'm here," she said.
"Polly?"
"Don't move. The ambulance is on its way. Just stay still."
"I'm cold."
"I know you are. We have blankets on you and as soon as the EMTs get here, they'll put you in a warm ambulance. You're going to be okay." The words came out of her mouth and Polly silently prayed, "God, please let him be okay."
"It hurts to breathe," he said.
Polly hoped it was nothing more than some bruised ribs. "I'm so sorry, Heath."
"My fault," he murmured.
She heard the sirens wailing in the distance and stood up. "I'm going out to show them how to get here."
"Don't leave us," Libby wailed.
"Libby, I have to bring them in so they'll get here as fast as possible. We don't want them to spend extra time searching for you, right?"
"But I'm scared. You can't leave."
Polly put her hand on Libby's shoulder. "It will be only for a few minutes."
"No. Don't go."
"I'm leaving. I know you're scared, but you have to suck it up." Polly put her fingers under Libby's chin and brought the girl's face up to look her in the eyes. "This isn't about you. It's about Heath."
Libby closed her eyes. "Okay," she said. Tears streamed from her eyes again and Polly jogged back out until she could see the entrance. She didn't have to wait long for the ambulance and another vehicle from the fire department to pull in. Two young men jumped out and walked up to her. "Miss Giller?"
"He's back here," she said.
"Show us." They followed her along the trail and rushed to Heath's side when they rounded the bend. One of the young men helped Libby extricate herself from Heath and knelt over the young man. Libby walked to Polly, but held back as she got close.
"It's okay," Polly said. "I'm not angry with you at all. Come here."
The girl wrapped her arms around Polly's waist. "I'm so scared."
"Do you know who did this?"
Libby looked at the ground.
"Libby. The Sheriff is going to be here and will ask the same questions. Do you know who did this?"
"No." She shook her head and pressed herself closer to Polly.
"You're sure?"
The girl nodded silently.
~~~
Polly sat in her truck outside the Emergency Room entrance. Libby had called her mother after worrying over what she would say. There just came a point when she had to admit that she'd been with Heath. Aaron had talked to Libby for quite a while, trying to discover who it was that had assaulted them on the trail, but she continued to insist she didn't know.
Now that the excitement was dying down, Polly took a breath and realized she needed to make some calls. Libby was huddled in on herself in the passenger seat. Even though Polly had the truck running to make sure there was plenty of heat, the girl hadn't stopped shivering until they'd reached the Boone hospital.
She swiped the first call opened and felt her muscles relax when Henry answered. "What's up?" he asked. "Need me to grab pizza on th
e way home?"
Polly was so glad to hear his voice she felt her throat close up and tears threaten. "Yeah. Pizza," she said.
"Polly, what's wrong?"
"I'm in Boone at the hospital."
"What happened?" he demanded.
"I'm fine. But Heath got beat up. The ambulance brought him here and I'm sitting in my truck with Libby. I figure it will take a few minutes for them to get things going and I wanted to talk to you."
"Have you been in to sign papers?"
"Yeah. I already did that. Libby's mom is coming to get her."
"Are you telling me that you don't want to talk about it with her in the truck."
"I knew you would understand," Polly gushed. "I love you."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I bolted out of there when Libby called. Rebecca doesn't know where I went."
"Okay," he said. "I've pulled over to think. What do you want to do tonight?"
"I don't know," Polly replied. "If they keep Heath overnight, I'm staying with him. I don't want him to ever think he's alone again."
"I get that. Tell you what. As soon as Kayla and Andrew leave, Rebecca and I will come down to be with you."
"That's not necessary."
"Polly, I love you, but we're a family. We're a strange family, but we are still a family. It will kill Rebecca not to be able to see Heath. Her imagination will conjure up gruesome images and a terrible tale. It's better for her to just spend some time with him. Have you called Hayden?"
"Not yet. I wanted to call you first. And we need to pick Heath’s truck up."
"Let me ask Eliseo if he can ride down with us. We'll get that taken care of tonight, too. You just be with our boy and make sure he knows he isn't alone."
"I will. Henry," Polly said. "I have to go. I think Libby's mom is here."
"Stay in touch and we'll be there later on."
Polly swiped the call closed and put her phone on the console between the seats. "That's your mom, right?" she asked Libby.
"She's going to kill me."
"I doubt it. She'll be as glad as I am that you two are safe."
Libby gathered up her backpack and opened the truck door.
"Libby!" her mother said, coming around her car. "Are you really okay? Nobody hurt you?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Can we just go home?"
"I told you that you weren't supposed to be dating anyone. What do you think you were doing?"
"We were just talking, Mom. It was nothing."
"I don't know whether to be angry or relieved. Get in the car. I want to have a word with Ms. Giller."
Now Polly was nervous. An angry mother was never a good thing. She got out of the truck and walked around the front to greet the woman.
Libby's mother slammed the passenger door shut after her daughter got in and stepped up to Polly. "I told her that she wasn't supposed to be dating and now I find that not only have they been seeing each other behind my back, they’re even skipping school. I'm terribly sorry that Heath was hurt, but if I were to choose any boy for Libby to spend her life with, it wouldn't be him. He may act like a nice boy, but we all know that he has problems. I don't care what you have to do. Keep him away from my daughter."
Polly reached out to try to stop the woman, but before she could say anything, Libby's mother spun on her heels, walked back around the car, got in, slammed her door and drove off.
"Wow," Polly said. "No good deed and all. And to think he went out of his way for not only Libby, but I seem to recall him rescuing you when your car broke down." She slapped the truck. "Bitch."
Walking toward the hospital, Polly took her phone back out. She didn't want to make this call, but Hayden had to know.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It frustrated both Aaron and Polly that they couldn’t get a straight answer from Heath about who had beat him up. He insisted that he didn't know, but evaded any direct questions about their descriptions or how many boys there were.
She hadn’t slept at all on the chair beside Heath throughout the night and they were waiting this morning for final paperwork to come in so they could leave the hospital.
Hayden had a basketball game this evening, but had ducked out last night with his coach's permission to come see Heath. Even he couldn't get Heath to admit that he knew his attackers.
Rebecca was shocked at the abuse poor Heath had taken, but her curiosity got the better of her and she asked him about every single bruise and scrape, inquiring about how they'd happened and how much they still hurt after several hours had passed.
Henry. Well, Henry had been silent while they were at the hospital last night. Polly knew he’d been shaken by the event. If he hated feeling helpless when she was attacked, this was nearly impossible for him to handle. Henry had leapt into this parenting thing with his heart wide open and his protective nature knew no bounds when it came to his kids. Heath was his son now and nobody got to do this and get away with it. She hoped that a night’s sleep would help him be calmer about the whole thing.
After Heath got settled at home, Henry and Nate were going to Hayden's basketball game in Ames. Polly wanted to cancel the party this evening with her friends, but when Heath heard her talking to Lydia on the phone, he'd put his hand out asking her to listen to him. Rebecca would be home with him and Polly would just be downstairs. Lydia insisted on taking care of dessert so Polly had nothing to worry about.
Sylvie surprised them by actually taking a Saturday night off until she told them that the wedding reception at Sycamore House was just a small group. There was no music or dancing, just a light dinner, and they planned to be out by six o'clock.
The nurse came in with a clipboard and papers for Polly to sign. "Are you ready to go home, Heath?" the young woman asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." He clutched the teddy bear that Rebecca had given him. She’d decorated it with a bandage on the arm and another on its cheek.
"I'll bet you are too," she said to Polly. "Those chairs aren't very comfortable for sleeping."
"We’ll all be glad for our own beds tonight."
With additional help from the nursing staff, Heath climbed into the cab of Polly's truck and after she pulled the seatbelt around him, he leaned back. "I'm glad we're going home," he said.
"Me too. Do you want anything before we leave Boone?"
He turned to her. "Like what?"
"I don't know. Ice cream at Dairy Queen?"
Heath laughed and then clutched himself. "Don't do that to me."
"It was a serious question," she said.
"If you want ice cream, go ahead. I don't feel like it."
Polly grinned. "Is there something else you'd rather have?"
"McDonald's?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course I'll take you to McDonald's."
"Polly," Heath said. "I'm really sorry."
"It isn't your fault. You don't have to apologize for getting beaten up. Especially when you were standing up for someone else."
"But I should have known better."
"Could you really have changed the outcome?" she asked.
He reached up and ran his hand through his hair, flinched and sat back again in the seat. "I don't know."
"I'm giving you a pass today," Polly said. "But you and I are going to have a serious sit-down. There's something you aren't telling me and I'd hope you know me well enough by now to realize that won't fly."
"Mmmph."
She smiled. "But you have a day's respite. I'm too exhausted to fight through this with you and you have to be a wreck."
"I'm okay."
"Yes, I understand how that works. You're the big tough boy and nothing can hurt you. I'm glad that you let me come take care of you yesterday."
He glanced at her and tilted his head.
"If you could have moved, would you have tried to get out of there on your own?"
"Of course."
"That's what I mean. I'm glad you allowed me to help. We didn't know if you had broken ribs or in
ternal bleeding, or how badly you’d been kicked in the head. There were so many things that could have been a problem if you'd tried to move."
"But I couldn't."
She laughed and sang, "Will it go 'round in circles."
"You're weird."
"It's my best thing." Polly turned the radio on. "I'm so glad you're okay and we're heading home. We'll deal with the rest another day. Today you relax and recuperate."
~~~
"We've got this, Polly," Rebecca said. "Go take a nap. Heath's in good hands." She smirked at Heath and rubbed her hands together. "We'll take very good care of him."
The boy was exhausted from climbing up the steps and dealing with the animals. He shook his head, moaned and leaned back on the sofa.
"Let him sleep, too," Polly said. "You know how hospitals are. They're in checking on the patient every few hours. Nobody sleeps."
He gave her a grateful nod.
"We will. Now go." Rebecca made a shooing motion. "If he needs anything I'm right here. Andrew and I will just be at the table working on our comic book. We won't bother him at all."
"No arguing," Polly said. "Promise?"
"We worked that all out last night. Of course we also had to clean up the horrible mess you made when you walked out of here and left cookies in the oven."
"Whoops!" Polly laughed. "You must have done a good job. I don’t smell burned chocolate at all."
"They were only a little burned," Andrew said. "We smelled them when we came back upstairs. Rebecca and I baked the rest of the cookies, too." He swatted at Rebecca. "It wasn’t that bad."
Polly walked behind the couch and stroked Heath's forehead, pushing back his hair. The bandage on his cheek made him look so broken. "Rest. I'm glad you're here and safe. I'll check on you before I go downstairs. And please don't give Rebecca too much trouble."
Heath smiled and a tear formed in his eye. "Thank you for coming to help me."
She bent over and kissed his forehead. "You're welcome. I will always come for you. I promise."
Before she saw any more tears or started crying herself, Polly left the room. The cats followed, weaving in and out of her legs. Obiwan dashed for her room and jumped on the bed before she got there.
Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) Page 15