“Elliot!” Gasping for breath, his eyes opened, and there before him, sat his father.
“What time is it?” he asked through a dry mouth.
“Just after two. You were screaming.” Dalton Wade sat staring at his son for a long while. He almost seemed to be studying Elliot. After a moment, he spoke. “You were um, you were pleading for someone to stop and kept calling out Gemma’s name. I heard you from downstairs.”
Elliot felt shock color him. He didn’t feel like he’d slept nearly the whole day away. And he didn’t have any remembrance of seeing anyone in his dream. He was surrounded by nothing, in fact. He knew that because he still felt it shroud him. But maybe his mind was shielding him. He didn’t know. “Sorry, I don’t remember anything.”
Dalton nodded. “That’s normal. How are you feeling, otherwise?”
He thought for a moment, feeling the last part of emptiness dissipate from his bones. He still felt ill, like the memories wouldn’t shake from his stomach no matter how hard he tried to block them. But other than that, he felt as good as to be expected, given the circumstances.
“I’m okay, I guess,” he answered almost soundlessly. He sat up, leaning against the headboard and looked at his hands clasped in his lap. He didn’t want to feel anything, so he tried to avoid looking at his father. Elliot knew the moment his eyes met his father’s, he would want to cry again. That’s why he was avoiding his mother so diligently. He wouldn’t be able to withstand the pain in his mother’s green eyes. “I still wish I could go back in time.”
“That’s to be expected, son.” Dalton looked at him, ducking his head to catch Elliot’s eyes. “I haven’t said anything to your mother yet, but she knows something is very wrong. Christie went to her first, of course, so she was worried about you for that. She came to me and asked me to speak with you.”
“Did you… did you say anything to her?”
“No,” his father answered immediately. “No, after I spoke to you, she asked me if you were okay. I simply told her you had a rough night and when you were ready, you would let us in. But I did let her know it was something serious, and that we needed to be there for you no matter what.”
“You make it sound like I did something wrong,” Elliot coughed out a laugh empty of humor.
“I explained it better than that, I assure you,” his father laughed back. But then he sobered. “She’s very worried though. You and your sister hardly ever fight, and this didn’t sound like a small squabble.”
“I didn’t mean to yell at her, I just got so tired of her ragging on me, especially after the night I’d had. It was too much and she didn’t seem to care.”
“I know, and I’ve talked to her about that. Your sister knows better than to talk to you how she did. I did not rear my children to be mean-spirited.”
Elliot nodded. “Gemma is mad at me.”
Shock colored Dalton’s face. “Why?”
“Because I told you what happened,” he replied defeated. “I know I should have stayed quiet, that I was betraying the trust she had in me, I just, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Oh, Elliot.” He was pulled into his father’s embrace. It was warm and reminded him of childhood. “I don’t think she’s mad at you. Not really, anyhow. I’m sure she’s hurt, because what happened to her is not something to be taken lightly. But I don’t think she’s mad at you.”
He couldn’t believe his father, not after the way Gemma sounded when she hung up the phone. He couldn’t get passed the way her voice broke when she learned of his betrayal. “She probably doesn’t even want me to go with her now. Shit, she’s probably already gone to see the police. Probably decided to go earlier to avoid going with me altogether.”
His dad shook his head. “She hasn’t gone yet, son.”
Elliot snorted in disbelief. “She was supposed to talk to me today. She hasn’t yet, and she knows I wouldn’t hesitate to answer if she did call.” He shook his head.
With a sigh, Dalton lifted Elliot’s phone off the nightstand, and handed it to his son. “Try calling her. Maybe she’s afraid you won’t want to talk to her, embarrassed because she was so upset.” Elliot just stared at his phone, as though it would bite him if he tried to touch it. It hadn’t rang all day. “You’ll never know unless you try. At the worst, you call and she doesn’t answer, at least then you’ll know.”
He nodded but wasn’t buying it. He didn’t want to know, because not knowing meant he could pretend. Knowing meant she hated him. But he did know that he couldn’t go on forever not knowing because pretending only would last so long. “Okay, okay, I can do this.”
“Yes, you can,” his father murmured as he rose from the bed to leave the room, giving Elliot his privacy.
She was the first contact on his speed dial. His finger hovered over the number until he breathed out and hit call. With baited breath, Elliot prayed his best friend was still his best friend.
LtB
She’d been lying in bed the whole day not wanting to move. Leigh had left her at ten that morning to shower and get ready for the day. It had been a rough night. Caroline had come in to check on her several times since Leigh left, and her father had even come in to sit with her for a while too. It was strange to see him now. There was always a smile in his eyes. But now, his eyes were dark and sad. Gemma wanted to cry at that because she was the reason he farther was no longer the happy man she knew him to be. If only….
After taking a shower at noon, Gemma made an appearance in the kitchen, but only for a glass of water. She then returned to her room to stare out the window. The television held no interest for her, not that it really had before. There were no movies she could think to watch. And her beloved books only seemed to taunt her. There was always a pretty resolution in her stories, but she wouldn’t be able to find one for herself.
Her mind drifted back to the book she’d bought, that she’d stashed just inside of her tattered jacket, upon leaving the Barnes and Noble parking lot. Given the description of that story, she felt even more inclined to want to read that now because there did not appear to be a happy or tidy ending to that tale. Perhaps once the report was filed, and they’d taken everything that was needed, she would begin the book. Fictional monsters were so much easier to deal with now that she’d met real life ones.
The one thing she hadn’t let herself think about the whole day was Elliot. It was too painful. She knew she’d hurt him terribly by being so cold to him. And after speaking with Leigh, after hearing her sister explain Elliot’s reasoning for needing to speak with his father, Gemma felt even worse. Of course he had been affected by what had happened to her. Of course it would bother him seeing her like that. It would affect anyone, even strangers.
She knew he said he would come over after school, since she didn’t know if he had actually gone or not, but she didn’t know if he still wanted to. She didn’t know how he felt about her now. She’d told him she’d call him today, but she had no idea if a phone call from her was even wanted any longer. He probably hated her, no matter what anyone else would say.
So at four minutes before three, the ringing of her phone caused her to jump, and her heart to race. She nearly dropped the phone in her attempt to pick it up, and then again when she saw Elliot’s face lighting up the screen. Swallowing hard, she readied herself for whatever he was going to say. Even it was to tell her goodbye. “Hello?”
“Hi.” Silence filled the air, building a tension that had never existed between them before. “I’m so sorry, Gemma,” Elliot said without preamble. He couldn’t bear the quiet anymore. “I never should have talked to my dad, I just saw him and couldn’t help it and please don’t hate me. Please, I just, I just…please!”
She could hear the desperation in his voice, the pain, and knew he’d needed this. This was Elliot’s dad, someone she herself trusted. She knew, as a doctor he was bound by confidentiality in regards to his patients, and always respected that, and so if Elliot asked him to keep this private he would. But
it was still getting passed knowing that someone else, someone else she looked up to, would know how damaged she was.
“I understand,” she finally spoke, her voice cracking. “For as hard as this is for me, I know you have to be going through something too. I’m sorry for not realizing that last night.”
He wasn’t prepared to hear that. He’d played out an entire grovel session in his mind as the phone rang just so he could keep his friend. So to hear her tell him she was sorry for her judgment threw him for a loop. “Please don’t apologise.”
“I won’t if you won’t again,” she bargained.
“Okay.” He breathed out the weight of his guilt and glanced at the clock. “Have you gone to the police yet?”
“No,” Gemma whispered. “I’ve barely left my room. I told my parents you were in school. Did you go?”
“No, my dad let me stay home. Last night… well today was rough.” Sitting with his feet on the cold floor, he sighed. “Can I still go with you?”
A small smile graced her lips. “I’d like that,” she answered. And then, she apologized one last time. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you like I said I would.”
“Don’t even mention it.” The hurt was still there, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. There was already too much going on to even think of letting more in. Besides, his pain was nothing compared to Gemma’s. “Let me just get cleaned up and I’ll be right over, okay?”
She nodded though knew he couldn’t see her. “Okay.
LtB
His shower was quick. And he didn’t spend any time trying to fix his hair like he usually did, didn’t bother to even pay attention to it in the bathroom mirror. He simply ran his hand through it, threw on some clothes, and was gone. On his way out of the house, his mother gave him a long hug, still unaware of what had happened, and his father patted him on the back, telling him he was proud of him. He didn’t understand what for but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t willing to spend too much time dwelling on it at that moment.
Pulling up in front of Gemma’s house, seeing Andrew Grady’s Tahoe in the driveway and Leighanna and her mom’s cars there too, was surreal. More often than not, at three in the afternoon, Andrew and Caroline were at work, and Leighanna was out somewhere with Trent. He and Gemma always had her house to themselves. And the routine was always the same: homework then movies or mindless television until he had to be home for dinner or it got too dark. Her parents trusted them enough to know nothing was going on that they needed to be worried about.
But now, everything was changed. They were all changed.
He didn’t like it one bit.
He didn’t have to knock. The front door opened the moment he reached the porch. It was Gemma’s dad who had been waiting for him. A lump formed in his throat. He wasn’t entirely ready for this, hadn’t thought out his apology all the way through quite yet. He didn’t know how to atone for abandoning Gemma to the mercies of three horrifying monsters roaming the streets just a short distance from their homes. And he didn’t know what reprimand the “Legal Eagle” would offer to him.
“Afternoon, Elliot,” Andrew nodded, his expression unreadable.
“Good afternoon, sir.” It didn’t matter that Andrew Grady was out of his normal and intimidating uniform of a three piece suit, going for a jeans and a t-shirt this day. Elliot was still overwhelmed by the man. Always had been from the moment they first met, and knew he probably always would be. Andrew was a lawyer. He’d help put people away to jail as a career. “Is um, Gemma ready to go?”
At the sound of her name, Andrew’s face fell, the carefully constructed emotionless mask lost to torment. “I don’t think she’s ready, I don’t think I’m ready either to be honest with ya, but I know she wants to get this over with as soon as possible.” Elliot nodded because he felt the same way. Talking about it, even just thinking about it made him want to throw up. “Thank you, Elliot. Thank you for finding my baby and bringing her home for me,” Andrew whispered fiercely, his hands coming to rest on Elliot’s shoulders in a firm but not painful grip. “I don’t know what I’d do if… if…. Thank you, son.”
He couldn’t believe he was being thanked. It just didn’t seem possible after what had happened. But not wanting to dwell, Elliott just nodded. Gemma‘s father didn’t need to say anything more. Elliot completely understood. While he didn’t have a child, and couldn’t sympathize in that regard, he cared about Gemma more than anything, and to have something happen to her that took her away from him, it would crush him.
Just the thought of it had his heart racing violently.
Just then Gemma appeared at the door. She hugged her father tight, her eyes red and wet, and her face paler than it normally was. “We’ll see you there, okay.”
Andrew just nodded again, and after shaking Elliot’s hand one more time, allowed Gemma to leave.
The drive to the police station started out quiet, save for the voice of the GPS giving instructions. The reason for the drive was creating tension so thick it was hard to see. But after a few more minutes passed, Gemma began to fidget and Elliot began to sweat.
“Do you… do you think they’ll be able to find them?” Gemma asked, her fingers wearing small holes in her shirt.
“I hope so,” was Elliot’s reply. He’d asked that same question to his father several times during their initial talk. And each time Dalton merely looked at him with the same hope. “I got a really good look at them so, I hope so.”
“Do you think they’ve done this before?” The words burned on her tongue. The idea made her insides twist and the meager water she’d managed earlier in the day desire to make a reappearance.
Now that was the question. On one hand, Elliot hoped they had, that these assholes were repeat offenders, so that there was a record of their crimes because someone else had been brave like Gemma to report them. On the other hand, just looking at the misery Gemma was living through; he didn’t want anyone else to have to suffer the same, so he hoped the answer to her question was no. There was no winning in this regard. “I don’t know.”
Gemma sat back in the seat, trying to keep from thinking about the last time she was in this chair, only two days earlier. She had just been broken, and Elliot had saved her. She didn’t look when she got in, but she wondered if she had bled onto the leather interior. He loved this car; it was his pride and joy gifted to him upon reaching sixteen. It may have been an older model Honda, but it meant everything to Elliot. She’d hate herself if she sullied it.
Closing her eyes, she tried to take deep breaths, tried to control the images that passed through her mind. She tried to picture a park filled with flowers. Not long after spring began and she’d barged into Elliot’s life, he’d taken her to a park a little ways from their houses, located just beyond Todd Creek. It was a place he’d found one afternoon where you couldn’t hear any cars, only the sound of the wind and the birds. He told her it was a place he liked to go to get away from Christie when she became too overbearing. It was his safe haven, and now she was trying to use the memory as hers.
“How did you find this place?” she asks, the sound of awe filling her voice.
“Was walking with my dad a few years ago after fishing was a bust. We got separated when nature called,” he laughs as her cheeks tint pink. He loves how easily she blushes, and how something as simple as human nature can make her face heat up. “I just started walking, and somehow ended up here. I figured I’d gone too far north of the river, so after committing to memory how to get here, turned around and found my dad not far from the river.”
Gently she moves through the blooming flowers, careful not to crush any, to stilt their life from beginning. There are so many colors, so many vibrant bulbs that she feels blessed to see such a place exist. It’s a comfort, after seeing so many browns and tans in Texas, to find reds and oranges and purples breathing through Colorado and Thornton. “It was a very lucky find.”
He nods at her assessment. “Yeah, I think so too.” His cheeks
warm. “You’re actually the first and only person I’ve told about this place, let alone shown.”
“Really?” she questions with a smirk. She doesn’t believe him. He’s sweet and beautiful, and she knows just from the couple months at school so far how many girls like him. This would be the perfect place to woo one of them.
“Yeah, I uh, haven’t even told Christie or Josh.” He rubs the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “I’ve never trusted anyone enough to share this place with anyone else. I mean I’m sure others know about it, since there’s that trail over there, but every time I’ve come it’s been just me. And yeah, I’ll just shut up now.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me,” Gemma whispers.
“Thank you for just being you.” He makes her smile with those words, before he bends down to pluck a flower from the ground, handing it to her.
“Thank you for finding me, Elliot.” She still had her eyes closed, the flowers swaying and the sun warming perfectly in her memory.
His guilt at her appreciation kept him from responding right away. He still firmly believed if he hadn’t been so stupid, Gemma never would have been in danger. After a deep breath, he reached to hold her hand in his. “Thank you for letting me.”
After that, the drive was once again quiet.
He thought she was asleep as he pulled into the parking lot of the Broomfield Police Department. He thought she was until the car came to a stop and her grip on his hand tightened. Her eyes still didn’t open, but she did turn her head his way.
“Do you remember the first time you took me to your park?” she asked, the picture of them laying among the flowers clear in her mind.
“Yeah,” he answered, remembering how beautiful she had looked resting among the blooms. He didn’t understand it then, but he just knew she looked so pretty with all the flowers around her. And she had managed to turn him into a babbling mess. Shaking his head he realized he should have paid better attention.
Somewhere in Between Page 9