She kissed me again, her arms draped around my neck, holding me tight despite the awkwardness of our position.
There was a sharp pain radiating through my chest, but I ignored it, too addicted to those sweet, plump lips of hers.
“Ahem,” someone cleared their throat.
Alicia instantly scrambled off me, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Knowing how straight-laced she was, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had never been caught making out with someone before.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that, for your sake, Detective Fox.” A large, blurry man dressed in a finely-pressed suit stood at the foot of my bed.
“Commander, what are you doing here?” Alicia asked with a hint of fear in her voice. Underneath the sheets, she squeezed my hand a little tighter.
“After investigating the crime scene, we had no choice but to search Mr. Price’s property and we found more than enough evidence to prove that he’s, in fact, H.P. Emulsion.” His voice was serious and grave. “That being said, we cannot arrest him until he has been cleared by his doctor as fit to travel.”
“You can’t arrest him,” she protested, jumping out of her chair. “He didn’t kill those people out of his own volition. He did it under duress so he could pay for his sister’s medical expenses.”
“That may be so, but he’ll still be held responsible for the deaths of seven people, even if he’s charged as just an accessory.” The Commander stepped forward, heading toward me with a pair of handcuffs.
“Is that really necessary? Where am I going to go?” I asked, accepting my fate. I knew that it was naïve of me to think I could get out of all this scot-free.
“This is just a temporary measure until I get some officers down here to guard your room.”
“Sir, you can’t do this!” Alicia continued to plead with the man.
“Do not interfere, detective, unless you want to be suspended for perverting the course of justice.”
Alicia didn’t seem to care because she reached over to stop him. Despite the pain it caused me, I managed to grab her hand, lacing our fingers together.
She looked at me, a questioning expression on her face.
I shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do, Alicia. We both knew this was going to happen.”
Alicia shook her head. “No. There has to be a way out of this.”
“Maybe there is, but even so, there’s nothing you can do right now.”
“Smart man,” the commander interjected before he slapped a cold metal cuff around my ‘good’ arm and secured it to the bed’s railing. “I’ll have guards posted as soon as I can. Try to stay out of trouble until then, Emulsion. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get out of this without a life sentence.”
He then turned to leave before he glanced back at Alicia.
“And Fox, if you try to unlock his cuffs, your badge will be on my desk faster than you can say Hyannis Police Department.”
His footsteps echoed through the cavernous room before he finally disappeared through the doorway, leaving us in a relative silence. Or as silent as you can get with a bunch of medical apparatuses beeping away in a constant jingle.
“I’m so sorry… I didn’t think he would do that… at least not until you were out of the ICU. I’m going to make sure you get a good attorney... I’ll pull a few strings… I’ll do whatever it takes…” she started to rant on and on, building herself up to a frenzy.
“Alicia.”
She stopped pacing and looked at me. “What?”
“I don’t want you to do anything that would jeopardize your job. Even if you want to, they won’t let you testify in my defense. As an officer, they’ll use anything you say against me. I don’t mean to be a pessimist here, but I don’t see a way for us to win this… It was fun while it lasted.” I paused. “And… if you’re interested, maybe we can have a few conjugal visits.” I winked, teasing her slightly, trying to cheer her up.
“You’re the worst, you know that? Here I am, worrying about you and all you can think about is sex.” She ran her fingers through her hair, pinning a few strands behind her ears to keep them out of her face. “You’re a typical guy.”
I tried to shrug, but it was a horrible idea. Pain radiated through my chest.
“Well then, there’s something else you can do.”
“What’s that?”
“Can you call a nurse in here or something? If I’m going to be babysat for a while, I better be doped up on painkillers. And I mean the good stuff. None of that Tylenol 3 stuff they try to give out while they hide the Oxy.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Partly. I’m not a drug addict or anything, but I could really use something for the pain right about now. I don’t have a preference which one they bring, just as long as I can move without this searing pain shooting through my chest every single time.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, and Alicia,” I called out before she could leave. “While I’m stuck here…” I rattled my handcuff for effect.
“Yeah?”
“…take care of my sister, please. She really likes to be read to. I usually get her a few new stories a week, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go to the library anytime soon…”
“Of course, I’ll look after her. I promise.” She squeezed my hand, offering a warm smile.
“And… if it comes down to it and they put me in the slammer, you have to promise me that you won’t let her go to an orphanage.”
“It won’t come down to that,” Alicia whispered, her tone filled with determination.
I could only hope she was right.
***
My recovery was slow and grueling. The bullet wound simply refused to heal properly and every other day, I seemed to have an infection. The doctors were pumping me full of antibiotics, trying to fight it off, but for a while there, it seemed like I was fighting an uphill battle.
Things only started to look up during the last week or so. I had been stuck in the same hospital bed for a month and only now was I strong enough to sit in the chair beside the bed. At least they had moved me to a private room.
I sat there, looking out the window at the bright blue sky and rolling clouds. It looked like such a beautiful day. All I wanted was to feel the rays of sunlight on my face. To put some actual pants on instead of this butt-exposing Johnny they had me wearing all the time for no good reason.
There was a soft knock on the door. Outside, I knew there would be two sturdy-looking officers standing at attention, making sure I didn’t make my great escape. They had also conveniently put me on the top floor so climbing out the window wasn’t really an option, that is, if they would even open.
“Come in,” I called.
The door opened with a long squeak.
Seconds later, the pitter-patter of small footsteps sounded through the room. I looked to my left to see my little sister running toward me, a bunch of papers in her hand.
Carefully, she climbed onto my lap and gave me a hug.
I smiled, hugging her tightly, glad that she was feeling better enough to get out of bed and act like a normal little girl. She still had to be given a strictly-regimented cocktail of medicine throughout the day, but otherwise, she was free to go home with Alicia and enjoy herself.
“What’s this?” I asked, looking down at the scribbled pages in her hand. “And where’s Alicia?”
“She said she would be here soon.”
“Oh, okay. Do you know what she’s doing?”
Caroline shook her head. “I didn’t ask. I was too excited to show you my story.”
“Your story?” I asked, cocking my head in question
She nodded. “Alicia helped me write it. I had a little trouble spelling some of the words.”
“Oh, let me see.”
She nodded, flipping through the story, reading it to me with as much sophistication as she could muster, doing her be
st to imitate various voices like I did whenever I read to her.
Her story was about a paradise island filled with palm trees and crystal clear water. There were rainbow fish in the water and dolphins that smiled. Alicia, Caroline, and I all lived on the beach, in a giant mansion, where you could stand on the balcony and watch the waves crash against the shore.
The last page of her storybook depicted the three of us together, like a family on the beach.
“That’s a wonderful story, Caroline,” I said, kissing the top of her head. Still, it felt bittersweet. Soon enough, I would be transported to the state prison and the only time I would ever get to see my sister would be when she came to visit. There would almost always be a thick pane of glass between us.
Things would never be the same.
“Do you think it will ever come true?” she asked, her eyes full of innocence. “Alicia said it would if I just believed hard enough.”
I frowned, about to tell her a simplified version of the truth when Alicia walked into the room.
“Have you finished reading your story?” she asked, resting her hand on my sister’s head.
Caroline nodded.
“So, what do you think?” Alicia sat down in the chair next to me. There was a strange glint in her eyes, making me think she was up to something. Not to mention, she had a small messenger bag with her. She never carried a purse…
“I think it’s a very nice story.”
“What would you say about making it come true?”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Alicia, what are you talking about?”
With a grin playing on her lips, she reached into the bag. To my shock, she pulled out three passports.
“Alicia…” I stared at them in disbelief. “Don’t tell me these are what I think they are. You can’t be serious. We can never pull this off without your boss coming after us in a matter of minutes. What about the guards outside?” I started to list all the worst-case scenarios.
This was crazy. It could never work.
“Do you trust me?” she asked, cupping my face until our eyes locked.
I found myself nodding. “I do, but you got to admit, this is insane.”
“So is falling in love with a man like you, but that didn’t stop me.” Her grin deepened. “I have everything planned out,” she whispered. “But, if we want to get on the plane to paradise, then we have to leave…” She paused to look at her phone. “Now.” She was already getting me to my feet.
My hand instantly reached behind me, holding the flaps of my Johnny shut so Caroline wouldn’t see anything she wasn’t supposed to.
Alicia giggled, giving me a hand.
“Well, did you at least get me some clothes or do I have to board the plane looking like this?”
“I got you covered, but you’ll have to change in the car. I need you to look like a sick patient for my plan to work.”
“So what, you want me to act like I have leukemia or something?”
“That’s a bit excessive. Maybe just the stomach flu.”
“I think I can manage that.” I doubled over and held my stomach, assuming a sort of hunched posture.
“Perfect.” Alicia had snatched a nearby IV stand that I no longer needed. She pulled out a roll of clear tape from her bag and wrapped the IV bag around my arm.
“Thanks for not actually stabbing me with a needle.”
“You know, I should have, as payback for that time you punched me in the gut when you were supposed to be acting.”
“Hey, I just thought it would make things look more convincing.”
“Well, you want me to change my mind and stab you then?”
“I’ll shut up.” I zipped my lips and tossed away the key.
My sister giggled before taking my hand and guiding me to the door. I glanced back at Alicia, just to make sure this was all part of her master plan.
She nodded slightly, giving me a thumbs up.
I followed Caroline out of the room.
To my surprise, there was no one posted outside my door. Down the hall, I could see two officers enjoying some donuts and coffee by the nurse’s station. How fitting.
Quite a few nurses had also gathered around, sneaking in some extra break time.
“Free donuts. Works every time,” Alicia whispered, tiptoeing toward the elevator. She swiped an employee card through the reader, expediting the process.
“Where did you get that?”
“Oh, I have my methods.” She twirled a piece of hair on her finger, batting her eyelashes innocently.
“Should I be jealous?”
“Not at all. Just wait until I get you on that island…”
“Caroline, cover your ears.”
My sister looked up at me with a confused expression on her face. “Huh?”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. We don’t have time for that right now.”
Just then, the elevator arrived and we all hopped in. Alicia pressed the button for the second floor.
“So, what’s the big plan here?” I asked, thinking it was safe enough inside the elevator. It wasn’t like the security guards actually watched the footage. They were probably sitting in their room, enjoying a pizza or something. Probably some donuts too.
“Second floor has a little patio for terminal patients to sit outside and relax.”
“I see, and how does that help us?”
“Well, there’s a fire escape.”
“Aren’t there people who look after the patients?” I questioned, thinking that this was much too easy.
“Oh, there are, but that’s where Caroline and I come in. She’ll pretend to be lost. No one can resist helping a cute little girl. Once they’re distracted, you’ll slip past them and make your way to the fire escape. I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can. Make sure to lay low. Don’t let anyone see you.”
“Yeah, because the first thing I was going to do was draw attention to myself. Cause, you know, that’s a really smart move when you’re a felon trying to escape the country.”
“Good boy.” She then turned toward Caroline. “Are you sure you can do this sweetie? If you don’t want to, that’s okay.” Alicia took on a motherly tone with my sister.
“I can do it,” she nodded, eager to help.
“You don’t have to do it for me,” I said, resting a hand on her shoulder.
“I can do it,” she repeated.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened.
This was it. This was the moment of truth.
Alicia nodded.
Caroline stepped out first, a focused look on her face. No doubt, she was replaying the directions Alicia had given her.
Once she was far enough down the hall, we stepped out together, keeping to the wall, making sure no one saw us together. “Alright, I’ll see you outside.” She gave me a fleeting kiss on the lips before disappearing from sight, pretending to be a distraught parent searching for her child.
I tiptoed forward, following my sister, making sure no one spotted me.
Caroline approached a set of large glass doors and opened them, peeking her head outside, her pigtails swinging back and forth.
“Oh! What are you doing here, princess?” a woman’s voice sounded.
Caroline took a step back, herding the orderlies off the patio and away from the door.
“I’ve lost my mommy…” she said, her bottom lip quivering as she rubbed her eyes. “Do… Do you know where she is?”
The staff flocked around her. A few of them looked around, trying to spot an adult that wasn’t wearing a hospital gown.
I ducked out of view and waited. I was holding my breath, praying that this crazy plan would work.
Carefully, once I felt all the nurses’ focus was on my sister, I shuffled past them and onto the patio.
There, a few people were sitting at picnic tables, enjoying a meal. Most of the food, however, was left untouched.
No one seemed to pay any attention to me as I ditched the IV stand, ripping the tape off my arm. I scanned the area, finally spotting the fire escape. I quickened toward it, hopping over the tiny gate that was supposed to prevent patients from using it during non-emergencies.
Well, this was definitely an emergency.
Forever Together Page 29