by James, Sandy
Laurie could feel her heart pounding like a jackhammer, the sound echoing in her ears. Her feet just wouldn’t move as she stared at her destroyed bedroom. She realized her premonitions had failed her this time. Friggin’ nice time to lose ‘em.
A noise from her bathroom alerted her that danger was still in the house. “Shit!” She quickly whirled and ran back toward the stairs. Loud footsteps suddenly followed close behind.
Too frightened to even glance over her shoulder to see who pursued her, Laurie’s long legs covered the ground to reach the stairs. She only made it down three steps before she felt the hands on her back shove her from behind.
With a terrified cry, Laurie tumbled forward. Her knee painfully collided with one sharp corner then her arm crashed against the wall. As she somersaulted down the long staircase, the world turned over at least three times. Her head slammed into the last step.
Trying desperately to stay conscious, Laurie blinked against the black threatening to overtake her. She could taste blood in her mouth. It took every ounce of her rapidly failing strength to try to move. All she managed to do was push her hands against the floor’s smooth wood and raise her head a few inches. She could feel the warm blood slowly dripping from her forehead and trickling down her temple. She wiped some of it away with the sleeve covering her shaking hand. Willing herself not to give in to the blinding pain, she desperately wanted to know who had caused this misery. The creaks of the old wooden steps told her that her attacker was descending the staircase.
Fighting to stay awake, Laurie strained to see the blurry figure. Dressed entirely in black, she couldn’t even make out if the ski-masked person was a man or a woman. Everything grew fuzzy, hazy.
Her head throbbed in time with the hammering of her heart. Every muscle, every bone, screamed in agony. I’m going to die now.
The world went black.
* * * *
Ross couldn’t even remember the long drive home. His first coherent notion was walking in his black and chrome condo and throwing the keys on the kitchen counter. How had he even made it that far without conscious thought? His mind twisted and turned in so many directions he couldn’t comprehend anything except Laurie’s face.
The face of betrayal.
With a snarl, Ross picked up the closest object and hurled it against the wall. The black lamp shattered as its pieces flew back from the impact. Ceramic littered the carpet and the wall was graced with a huge dent. He’d scarred his perfect condo.
Damn her. How dare she lie to me? Why didn’t she tell me she was one of them?
Feeling the continuing need to destroy something—anything—Ross decided to burn off as much of his crippling fury as he could by lifting weights. He changed into workout clothes and started pumping iron before he damaged anything else.
Punching the button on the stereo in his weight room, Ross let the sounds of Aerosmith flow through him as his body went on auto-pilot through a grueling training session. Despite his valiant efforts to ignore them, Ross’s thoughts traveled down roads he’d hoped he would never visit again.
He recalled the times he and his mother had stood in line to get food from St. Vincent DePaul. The humiliation washed over him with such clarity it might as well have happened yesterday, not nearly two decades ago. It still felt too fresh, too raw.
Someone like Laurie wouldn’t understand that kind of humiliation. She had been raised with a silver spoon in that pretty little mouth.
Ross remembered his little sister being unmercifully teased for wearing her big brother’s hand-me-down clothes and the many noses he’d bloodied and teeth he’d cracked when the opportunity arose to defend her.
He thought about the taunting from the children of the mill’s upper management as they made their way to the Catholic academy while Ross and his sister walked to their decaying public school. Those arrogant bastards always acted like being born to wealth entitled them to hurt others. And Laurie had probably been a part of that crowd, most likely in some private school with crisp uniforms and a polo team.
Ross had vowed that he would rise above his childhood. Above his father’s suicide. Above the wretched poverty of growing up in that God-forsaken city. And he had. He’d earned a full-ride undergraduate football scholarship and had graduated Magna Cum Laude. He’d excelled at law school and had forged a brilliant legal career. Yet so much of him still remained behind in Gary—would always remain in that blighted hellhole.
Sweat constantly dripped from his body, but he didn’t slow his motions. He made his muscles burn in hopes of drowning out the troubling thoughts in his head.
He didn’t want to see the horrible image of his father’s face flushed cherry-red from the carbon monoxide, eyes and mouth wide open, as Ross desperately shook him to try to wake him. He didn’t want to see the paramedics shaking their heads as they covered the man with a white sheet. He didn’t want to see his father lying in the cheap coffin as his mother and sister wept, as people looked upon the survivors with condemnation in their eyes.
He sure as shit didn’t want to remember how much he hated the man to this day for what he had selfishly done to all of them.
And then there was her. He didn’t want to think about her, either. Didn’t want to remember her in the least.
But he goddamn well did.
Ross strained through lift after lift, berating himself for his own stupidity at not paying more attention to things he should have noticed. Like the Montana ranch. She’d said the thing had been in her family for generations. Why hadn’t he considered the wealth behind it? Her parents lived in Paris. How common was that?
God, he was a fool.
If Laurie was so wealthy, why did she pretend to be something she wasn’t? Why did she drive an ancient piece-of-shit Civic? What made her decide to work in a freaking free mental health clinic when she could have a cushy job at the Miller Foundation?
He couldn’t find any answers to his questions, but he was assailed with more memories. Not about his past this time, but about her. Not the elusive Laurence Miller and all of the nasty baggage accompanying that ostentatious name.
Just Laurie.
Ross remembered how every time he saw her, his heart would quicken and his breath would catch in his throat. He remembered how the simplest of her touches could ignite fires inside him he didn’t know could reach such an inferno. He thought about how she made him laugh when he thought he’d forgotten how. And he thought about how she made his heart truly sing for the first time in his life.
Damn her! Why did I have to fall in—?
He stopped abruptly and stared at the mirrored wall, looking for a clarification from his reflection. The reflection only taunted him with its stoic glare.
“I can’t love her. I can’t! I don’t even know her.”
The haughty reflection told him otherwise.
When the phone rang, Ross used it as an excuse to make his arrogant likeness disappear.
Glancing at the clock, he wondered who would be calling well after midnight. The caller ID told him it was Bruiser. “It’s late. What’s up, Bruiser?”
Sheila was on the other end. “Ross, I think there’s something you need to know.”
Ross wasn’t used to Sheila ever taking such a concerned tone. Hell, she was the only brutally honest person he knew. “Spit it out, Sheila.”
“Bruiser knows who Laurence Miller is. I figured it’d be better coming from a friend.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Ross replied with as much calm as he could manage. If he hadn’t already thrown the lamp before, the damn thing would most certainly be sailing across the room now.
“You knew? How—?”
“I found out tonight. Is that it? Because...”
Bruiser must have taken the phone from his girlfriend. “Kennedy?”
Ross would have scowled if he thought Bruiser could see him. “Yeah. What is it, Bruiser?”
“I went by to take a couple of pictures of her house. Sheila freaked out when she s
aw the address. Said it was where she told some limo to go. I had no idea an ambulance would be... Kennedy, the Miller chick is in the hospital.”
* * * *
By the time Ross had taken an extraordinarily rapid shower and driven way too fast to reach Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, it was a little past two in the morning. He jogged through to the Emergency Room entrance, trying to calm the staccato beating of his heart. His stomach churned. His fists clenched. If he didn’t get some answers about Laurie soon, someone was damn well going to get hurt.
When he saw Deepika and Andrew standing in the waiting room, he knew he had to be in the right place. Both of their faces registered their surprise at his arrival. Ross’s surprise came when Alex appeared over Andrew’s shoulder.
Son of a bitch.
Deepika greeted him. “Ross. How did you know—?”
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Ross interrupted. “That’s not important. How’s Laurie? What in the hell happened?”
Andrew answered him. “We’re not sure. She’s still out cold.”
“All we know is she’s got a bad concussion,” Deepika added. “By the time I got home, the ambulance was already there.” She inclined her head at Alex. “He found her at the bottom of the stairs. She must’ve slipped.”
Alex nodded. “Right. She must’ve slipped. It was awful. All that blood.”
Ross ignored Alex so he wouldn’t be forced to pummel the annoying geek. Turning back to Deepika, Ross asked, “Just how bad is she?”
Deepika looked upset which made his stomach churn a little harder. If an emergency medicine doctor was concerned, that couldn’t be a good sign. “Bad. They’re still working on her. I wish they would have taken her to my hospital.” She nervously shifted her weight between her feet. “Oh, bloody hell! I’m going to try to get them to let me back there.” She walked over to the double doors, punched the big button to force them open, and then disappeared into the treatment area.
Ross splayed his hand through his hair in frustration. He turned to Andrew. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Andrew looked at Alex, obviously hoping for a response. When there wasn’t one forthcoming, Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know exactly what happened. Alex told me he was going over to talk to Laurie and saw the front door wide open so he went inside to make sure things were okay. He found her just...just lying there at the bottom of the stairs. Why didn’t you take her home from the clinic? She had to take a damn cab.”
“Long story,” Ross replied.
Andrew fixed a hard stare at Ross. “Yeah, whatever. I hope you’re happy.”
Ross shook his head as he narrowed his eyes. “Of course, I’m not happy. Jesus Christ. I didn’t know she’d get hurt. I wouldn’t have... I never would’ve...” Ross’s anger ebbed, and he hung his head in shame. Andrew was right.
Andrew’s face was still rigid with anger. “But she did get hurt, didn’t she? She went into that house all alone, and she got hurt.”
Ross had no defense. Nothing Andrew could say would possibly make Ross feel any more responsible than he already did.
The three men stood in awkward silence as several minutes passed at an interminable pace. Deepika came back out through the slowly opening double doors.
“How is she?” Ross knew he was practically shouting, but he really didn’t care.
Deepika gave him a look that told him she didn’t like his tone. “She’s still unconscious. No broken bones, but they’re worried about the head injury. They’re taking her for a CAT scan. I’m going back to stay with her and make sure these people know what they’re doing.” She kissed Andrew and disappeared in the treatment area again.
Ross needed to discover the truth of what had really happened to Laurie. He sure as hell wasn’t doing any good just standing around the waiting room, twiddling his thumbs and staring at Andrew and Alex. He turned back to Andrew and tried to keep his tone calm. “I’m going back to the house to see if I can figure some of this out, maybe find out why she fell.”
Andrew nodded and fished in his pocket for a second before producing his keys. Sliding a key around the silver ring, he handed it to Ross. “Good idea. Here’s the key, but I’d bet it’s still unlocked. You’d think as smart as they are, the two of them would remember to lock the damned door. At least tonight, Deepika had a good excuse.”
Ross nodded. He still didn’t know what to say to Andrew. He hoped Laurie’s partner didn’t hate him as much as Ross hated himself.
“Ross, about what I said...”
“Just drop it, Andrew.”
“It wasn’t fair. Hell, I should’ve taken her home. The stupid owner... Never mind. She fell. It could’ve happened even if one of us was there. It’s not your fault.” He offered his hand to Ross.
Ross shook Andrew’s hand. “I didn’t want her to get hurt. I’d die before I’d let anyone hurt her.”
Andrew nodded. “I’m just pissed. And I’m worried about Laurie. Why don’t you give me your cell number, and I’ll call you if there’s news.”
A few minutes later, Ross was steering his Lexus toward Bolingbrook.
The instant he pulled into the driveway, waves of emotion moved through him. The house represented the essence of Laurie, and he wasn’t sure he was really prepared to face it. He knew the instant he walked inside he would remember all the wonderful things they’d shared. He wasn’t sure he was ready to forgive her, if he’d ever be able to forgive her deception about her name. He finally forced himself out of the Lexus and toward the front door.
It was unlocked.
Ross walked into the living room and stared at the familiar movie posters and stacks of magazines and personal items. The sight made him ache inside.
If she only wasn’t... Wasn’t what? One of “them”? But Laurie wasn’t like the rich kids he’d grown up hating. She didn’t flaunt her wealth, didn’t parade what she had over other people.
Damn, he was tired of thinking. Didn’t Laurie always tell him he thought too much? God, please let her be okay. Please.
He prowled through the rooms, searching for any clue as to what could have caused Laurie to tumble down the stairs.
The idea of her tripping didn’t sit well. He’d seen her in motion, remembered how graceful she was when she moved. She was an athlete. There was nothing about Laurie remotely clumsy.
The lower floor yielded nothing to aid in his discovery of the truth, so he headed toward the stairs. At the bottom lay the debris left behind by the paramedics. Then Ross noticed the pool of blood, Laurie’s blood, on the bottom step and on the floor. His heart seized in panic as it betrayed his true feelings.
I’m in love with Laurie Miller.
He wanted to run back to her as fast as his overpriced car could take him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her it didn’t matter who she was or where she’d come from. He wanted to make her well again, to make her laugh again.
Steeling himself against his roiling emotions, Ross forced himself upstairs. Something told him an important piece of the puzzle waited there that he needed to uncover. He smiled, thinking maybe some of her intuition had rubbed off on him.
He knew what he’d been looking for the second he saw her bedroom. This wasn’t an accident. He doubted anyone had even bothered to look upstairs when they’d been tending to Laurie’s injuries. Ross popped his cell phone open, called Bruiser, and then dialed 911.
The car, the office, and the house. This wasn’t random. Someone was after Laurie.
It was time to find out what in the hell was really going on.
* * * *
Ross made his way back to Laurie’s hospital room sometime after dawn. The police were handling the investigation, and Ross had answered all the questions he could.
Trying to find some help to get some information on Laurie’s condition, he stopped at the closest work station. A brunette nurse dressed in pink scrubs greeted him. “You must be Ross.”
He nodded. “How did you know
my name?”
She smiled at him as she wrote something on an open chart. “Dr. Sen told us you’d be back. Laurie’s doing much better. She came around for a few minutes, but she was a little disoriented.” She shut the chart, put it on an enormous pile, and picked up another.
“Isn’t that a bad sign?”
The nurse waved the pen she held in her hand in dismissal. “Perfectly normal. CAT scan showed no brain injuries. But between the meds and the knock she took, she’s just going to be a little loopy for a while.”
“Is there anything I can do for her?”
“Just stay close by. Concussion patients are usually confused when they wake up, especially since they’re in a strange place.” The nurse put the chart aside and grabbed another a white-coated doctor handed her as he walked past the desk. “She’s gonna be fine. Go on. Go sit with her. I think Dr. Sen’s still in with her.”
Ross nodded, unable to tell the nurse that Laurie probably had no desire for him to be within a mile of her. She must hate me now. I walked out on her. She’s lying in a hospital bed because of me.
Slipping into her room, the first thing he noticed was how fragile Laurie looked. The blue hospital gown seemed to swallow her whole. The bandage on her forehead barely covered the nastiest of the injuries to her face. In the dimmed light, Ross could see several cuts and contusions on her forehead, cheek, and arm. A dark bruise shadowed her right eye. He figured there plenty more hurts hidden under the thin gown. He felt an overpowering need to use his bare hands and rip the heart out of whoever did this to her. God, he wanted to throw something.