I stayed by the sliding doors, watching my father’s partner talk to the lady behind the desk. For some reason, the grim look on their faces made me want to head back through the doors to go hide. Instead, I waited, waited for something to release me from this out of body experience I was having. When he turned around, I felt like I was left out of some intrinsic, juicy secret. I followed though, to the chrome elevators.
“His condition is stable,” he told me in a hurried whisper. “They’ll be preparing him for surgery soon.”
Normally, someone would have been glad to hear that, but it made my throat constrict more, there were an amalgamation of things that could go wrong in surgery. I didn’t voice my opinion though and filed into the elevator as soon as the doors opened. The music, instead of its normal cheery fervor, sounded oddly like a dirge to me. I tried to ignore it by counting the number of lines on the carpeted ground.
Finally, the elevator made a piercing ping as it stopped at the floor we had chosen, funny I was just at about 37 lines in my counting. In the hallway, I immediately noticed my mother and sister seated in grey adjoined chairs and Avery staring at the wall from her perch on the floor. I didn’t even know when they had left the house. The last I remembered was them looking as if they’d go mad in a matter of seconds. I looked away from Avery when I noticed my sister’s gaze in my peripheral vision, she almost bared her teeth at me. It was even worse with her puffy red eyes.
In an instant, she shot up from her seat and pointed a finger in Avery’s face. Her whole body was shaking, and steam was coming from her ears, almost. “This is all your fault!” she screamed, her words encased by shrieks. “If you didn’t come prancing in here, none of this would’ve happened! I hate you and I always will.”
Avery exhaled shakily. “I know and I’m sorry,” she said in a torn whisper.
“You’re sorry?” Is this a joke? Nothing you say can change anything!”
My mother sighed and spoke up. “Jade, calm down, just—just stop.”
Jade’s nostrils flared as she turned her attention to my mother. “Calm down? You want me to calm down? My father is lying unconscious in a hospital cot and you want me to calm down?” she asked, her voice breaking as new-found tears sprung to her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” Avery said, wringing her hands fearfully, her eyes daring to and from all of us.
Jade, being the temperamental girl we all knew her to be, swiped at her eyes and made fists at her side. “Stop saying that! You are not sorry so just—”
Because my mouth had a newfound tendency to talk without my permission, I said forcefully, “Shut up! All of you!” I was breathing hard, my voice and tone surprising everyone, including me. “You aren’t helping anything because my father is in there and I’m not sure if he’s okay,” I finished, my voice coming out in a defeated huff. I felt moisture springing to my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried but it certainly was not in front of all these people. Besides, real men don’t cry, right?
Well, if that was true, I was sure that I wasn’t a real man tonight. Although I wasn’t sobbing like Jade, I still felt a golf-ball sized gap in my heart much like one I felt years ago after that incident with my uncle. It felt like a void black hole sucking me in from the inside out, leaving nothing less than an empty space. I felt Avery’s tentative touch and how slowly she pulled me into a hug. Her embrace was holding me together and I felt like clinging to her because she anchored me to the present and kept me from slipping into the crutches of the demons of my past depression.
Although I was aware that vulnerability was something not easily shown, I couldn’t help it, especially since her warm tears were soaking my shirt. I’m not sure when or how we ended up on the large group of chairs my mother was seated. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable arrangement, with Avery’s head on my shoulder and my mother’s on the next. Not to mention Jade, who finally thawed out to find out a seat on the floor in front of me and rest her head on my knees. Whatever happened now, we were finding solace and comfort in each other.
Chapter
XXIX
I was jostled awake when my dream took a turn for the worst, I didn’t even want to think about it. My mouth was dry and my eyes scratchy but all I could see was an endless white wall and I could feel pressure on my right shoulder. I glanced over and saw Avery, her hair falling in her face and the light snores floating from her mouth. In my peripheral vision, I could see someone watching me, it was my mother, her eyes red-rimmed and as beady as ever.
I blinked to ensure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but I couldn’t tell the last time my mother looked so out of it, her hair stuck up as if she’d run her hand through it multiple times. Her normally seam-less clothing was creased and her face red in multiple spots. All I wanted to do was comfort her, to tell her everything would be okay, but I didn’t think I’d sound too convincing at the moment and that would only make matters worse. She folded her arms across her chest and mouthed something to me: ‘We need to talk.’
Nodding, I stood slowly, ensuring Avery’s head was firmly resting on the plastic of the chair. Walking now felt oddly therapeutic as I hastened on the slippery linoleum floors to keep up with my mother’s pace. I watched as her feet hit the ground at immense speeds, it was a wonder she didn’t slip and slide. Outside the air was thick, almost choking, and I fought against the harshness of the early morning wind by crossing my arms tightly over my chest. It couldn’t be past 3 a.m.
“The police will be here hounding us all tomorrow—or today whichever,” my mother stated, her voice clipped and impassive.
I nodded, I knew this, they had an investigation and the criminal was still at large. “Yeah, I know.”
My mother averted her gaze to a nearby row of cars with her brows smashed together as if looking at me was taking a toll on her. “What you don’t know is that they will twist your words and try to guilt you into admitting something you didn’t do. With that said, you will answer nothing without a lawyer present.”
It was painful having her talk to me as if I was some important business associate and not her son. “Okay,” I mumbled. “What about Jade and Avery?”
“Same thing goes,” she replied off-hand, patting her hair down but adding to the disarray. “I’ll tell them in the morning but if I’m sure of anything it’s that we have to get Elijah out of our neighborhood.”
I sighed, I didn’t want to think about why he was even here in the first place or even about why my father got shot. It wasn’t Avery’s fault, she was safely tucked behind the sofa, staying where she was told, while I let my ego get in the way. My thoughts were full of ‘what if’s’, but the events of the past were inerasable. There was nothing I could do; I was completely utterly helpless and that was completely unbearable.
“Uh,” I muttered, causing her head to snap up and look at me expectantly. “I—I’m sorry.”
All the creases of concentration on her face wiped off completely and she looked deflated, totally crushed, so much so that I almost regretted apologizing. Almost. “Honey, it’s not your fault—”
“It is,” I interrupted, nodding. “My ego got the better of me.”
That caused her to smile and I breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn’t a plastic lawyer smile nor a placating one. Instead, her smile was richly pure, it was a relief that I could evoke that from her, especially in a situation like this. “Full of narcissism, aren’t we?”
I chuckled briefly and motioned to go back inside where the chill wasn’t so bad, she linked her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder, letting me lead the way. You see, tragedy has a way of inevitably pulling people closer together, it offers insight and I was very thankful that although we hadn’t spoken much, my mother and I finally understood each other, it was almost telepathic. Whatever it was, it would make leaving much easier.
I had realized some time before that the amount of things our bodies could do in a second was certainly mystifying. That took some of the surp
rise off when I saw Avery tapping her feet, hitting her arms lightly with her fingertips, her eyes darting from place to place and biting down on her lip, all simultaneously. Her eyes met mine and I saw a sigh of relief escape her lips. I tried to smile reassuringly but her lips stayed in the straight line it was firmly placed in.
I wordlessly handed her the Styrofoam cup full of steaming peppermint tea, just thinking about drinking anymore made me queasy, I watched as she eagerly took the cup and swallowed the scalding, hot liquid in continuous mouthfuls. I sat next to her and waited for her undivided attention as she already had mine.
“I’m leaving,” she said, her lips pressed against the cup.
I stared at her dumbfounded for a moment, maybe the cup was distorting her words, I tried to decipher her words. I’m grieving? Yeah, that would’ve been pretty applicable. “What?” I asked finally.
Avery sighed and traced her fingertip over the circumference of the cup. “I’m leaving, Jason.”
Deciding to play dumb I nodded in response. “It’s been a long night and if you’re sure Elijah isn’t in Aspiration Park then fine.”
“No I’m leaving town, I’m going home.”
I cringed at the way she said home. For some reason, I imagined here to be her home now and nowhere else. It made something hit me, a realization. Anything here was temporary for her and I hadn’t realized that. I wanted to be selfish a little while longer. “You’ll look suspicious if you leave.”
“I won’t, the key witness saw everything. Besides you have one of the best lawyers in the city on your side.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Why now though?”
“Because,” she started, making sure not to meet my gaze. “I’ve got to get Elijah out of here before he hurts someone else.”
I nodded understandingly. She would make herself bait; it all made sense. After all, she was the one he was really after and he’d enjoy being lured in an attempt to capture her. “We can leave in the evening tomorrow.”
“Jason, you don’t understand, there is no we, you aren’t coming.”
“Yes I am.”
Avery gave an exasperated huff. “No, you aren’t, Jason. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. And you’re the key witness anyway.”
“Like you said, the best lawyer in the city is on my side.” I countered, my creased forehead, casting a shadow over my face. “And what if something happens to you? Avery, you’re being extremely selfish.”
Avery’s voice raised a little at that. “Me? You’re being so stupid. This doesn’t involve you, stay out of it.”
As a chain reaction of sorts my voice rose too. “After my father got shot, then yes it does,” I said a little too loudly.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t come, I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she exclaimed, crushing the small Styrofoam cup more and more, making the brown liquid ooze between her fingers.
I raised a brow at the sight before sighing loudly. “And what about you? Why should I let you go?”
She bristled. “You aren’t letting me do anything. I make my own decisions.”
“I don’t care,” I said, completely flippant. “If I’m not going, you’re not either.”
“Yes, I am,” Avery said defiantly.
“No, you aren’t,” I countered.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“No—wait, Jason, I’m serious,” Avery mumbled, trying to keep a straight face.
I lowered my voice, noticing the silent hallways in comparison. We were making quite a ruckus and it was a wonder no nurses had been up to kick us out yet. “Remember I’m the stubborn one,” I warned in a mock-threatening voice.
Avery gently thumped my arm with pursed lips. “I just—I—don’t want you to leave and then something happens here…”
“I don’t want to be here in case anything happens anyway,” I replied in a would-be calm tone.
“Even if he comes to?”
I sighed and leaned forward in the hard, plastic chair. “I don’t think I’ll be the first person he’d want to see.”
Avery cringed. “And what about your mother or Jade?”
I paused for a moment; they could both be as temperamental as Avery was when they wanted to. “I’ll handle it.”
I gazed down the hallway and wondered where my family was. They’d met me in the lobby and mentioned something vaguely about going for a drive, I just hoped they hadn’t done anything stupid. Besides, normal visitors weren’t allowed to stay past nine, but being normal was far from our forte. I guess even here, our popularity gave us access to the inaccessible, as strange as it seemed.
Avery and I sat in silence for the remainder of the time. She had left for a few minutes to visit the restroom but afterward, we just enjoyed the feeling of the other’s company, despite knowing what we would have to do in a few hours instead of on the weekend as she had previously planned with my father. The hours flew by quickly and without us knowing it, it was noon, there was hardly any way we could’ve known as well, with the walls thickly blocking us from the outside world. Maybe at some point, we got hungry but mutually agreed in silence that any food would result in crippling nausea. I only hoped that keeping ourselves hungry would pay off.
At about two in the afternoon, a steady stream of students trickled into the desolate hallways and soon enough a sizable crowd had formed with a low din of chatter. Some persons were even crying at the clearly distressing situation, they didn’t even know my father and they were this emotional. It was hard to make sense of everyone’s words when I was pulled into rib-crushing hugs ever so often. Avery was trying really hard, I could tell, to humor them soaking her shirt with tears.
No one dared to ask why Avery was involved, I guess tragedy had a way of unraveling the grapevine. It was strange how these people reacted to something happening to me or my family, the crowd always felt inclined to protect us. That gave me an idea, I pulled my phone from my pocket and excused myself from the sympathetic words of the students.
‘From: Jason (the wanna-be player)
To: Marc
I need your help’
I just hoped my mother and sister would actually allow him to leave for five minutes because as soon as he got to the hospital, they pounced on him. Not to mention the fact that the completely ignored my queries about where they had gone. They adored him, always happy when Marc was brought up in conversation, I didn’t mind though—Marc was a good guy. I was just a little annoyed he didn’t get an opportunity to hang out with Avery as much. Maybe just to see who she actually was instead of relying on information he heard from the grapevine. I was partially to blame too, dropping everything when the new solvable mystery came to town.
Glancing over at Avery, I noticed her rubbing her arms slowly as someone gushed to her in an evidently one-sided conversation. I smiled briefly, she was trying to be nice, trying really hard. And you know, maybe neglecting my friendship for just a little while paid off. I hoped that after this they could be friends, if it all ended well.
“Your mother…and sister…have such…good grips,” Marc huffed out, clutching his phone in one hand and the wall in the other.
I grinned at him, when I said they adored him, I really meant it. It was a wonder he got here so quickly. I waited for him to straighten up from his dramatization of a back-breaking crouch. When he did, he wrinkled his nose at me.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked suspiciously, sliding his phone into his pocket.
I tried my best to hide my amusement while he scrutinized me with a brow raised quizzically. I rolled my eyes at him. “I need your help.”
Marc became somber immediately, nodding. “Yeah man, of course.”
I sighed and ran a finger over my brow trying to decipher the best way to approach the situation. Especially since it could put him in danger as well. “I need you to be a diversion.”
“What?” he asked, his face transforming in
to a confused frown. “What am I creating a diversion for?”
Before speaking, I ensured that no one could hear what I was saying, the last thing I wanted to do is start a frenzy and I was positive that would’ve happened if anyone nearby heard. “We’re leaving—me and Avery.”
Marc inclined his ear to me as if he hadn’t heard right but spoke anyway. “Why do you need a diversion though?”
It was simple actually, I was almost positive Elijah was keeping tabs on whoever entered and exited the hospital, I didn’t know why he had let me go unscathed the previous night, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I knew he wanted Avery and he’d obviously trail us and catch on to our ruse to lure him away much too quickly. To stop that from happening, I needed Marc to drive my van in the opposite direction to the one I was going in. I had even thought far enough to ask the students here to trail him so that when Elijah was close enough to catch on he wouldn’t do anything rash. At least I hoped so; I hope he wasn’t stupid enough to have multiple shootings on his rap sheet.
“The thing is we need to get him out of here before he hurts someone else,” I said hurriedly, noticing a few persons subtly glancing in our direction.
“Wait, wait, wait, who is ‘he’?” Marc asked, doing air-quotes with his fingers.
I slapped my hand against my forehead, momentarily forgetting Marc was not in the know as the rest of us were. “The guy who shot my father,” I said through my teeth, trying to ignore the inquisitive gazes on me.
Marc’s eyes widened and he stared at me open-mouthed. “Bu-But what if he turns on me?”
“He won’t if we enlist a few people,” I said simply, gesturing to the group of students behind us.
He began shaking his head before I could finish. “They’ll do anything for you, not me. You are the Jason Forbes and I am Marc Sullivan; they don’t listen to me like they listen to you.”
I sighed audibly and ran a hand over my face. “Marc, listen to yourself. This isn’t what this is about. My girlfriend and I—” I paused as I noticed how everyone’s attention was now on us, even Avery who was peering at me with an unrecognizable expression. I cleared my throat and pulled Marc further down the hallway and left the scrutinizing gazes behind. “We need your help,” I finished desperately.
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