Chapter 39

 

“Hey, there you are, Bianca!”

 

With a feeling of dread, Bianca looked up from the magazine she had been absently leafing through.  In the doorway of the waiting room stood Nick.  She forced a weak smile onto her face.  “Hey, Nick.”

 

“Have you heard anything on Howie yet?”

 

“No, not yet.”

 

“Damn.”  Nick sighed.  “God, I hope he’s gonna be okay.  After AJ… I don’t think I could handle another death.”  He raked a hand through his blonde hair.

 

Bianca stared at him with utter loathing, hatred rising within her.  How could he just sit there and pretend like that, pretend like he cared?  He had done this!!!

 

“I know,” she said emotionlessly, forcing herself to talk to him, to imagine he was Brian or Kevin or one of her friends, not a merciless killer.  She knew if she slipped up and let him know that she knew the truth, her life was the price she would pay.

 

“Have you called the other guys?” Nick asked.  “Kev and Bri?”

 

“I called Kevin.  He said he’s going to try to get here.  And I tried Brian, but he wasn’t home, and his cell number was disconnected.”

 

“Oh yeah, he got a new cell number.  I have it; you want me to call him?  I’m sure you’re tired of calling people.”

 

“Um… yeah, sure.  Thanks.”

 

“No prob.”  Nick got up and moved to a seat near the phone in the waiting room.  He picked it up and dialed out.  Within a few seconds, he had Brian on the other line.  While he told him about Howie, Bianca tried to get her tense muscles to relax.

 

He can’t do anything to me here, she told herself.  It would be too obvious.  I’m safe here.

 

Just when Nick was hanging up the phone, the door to the waiting room opened again, and in walked a man dressed in blue scrubs.  A surgical mask hung around his neck.

 

“Are you both here waiting for Mr. Dorough?” he asked.  Bianca and Nick nodded in reply.  “Okay, I’m Dr. Harrison.  Howard is out of surgery and in recovery.  He’s very lucky; the knife missed all of his vital organs and his spinal cord.  We repaired the tissue damage and closed the wound, and I expect he’ll make a full recovery.”


Bianca let out a relieved sigh, and Nick jumped up to shake the doctor’s hand in thanks.  She glared at Nick behind his back and thought evil things about him as he faked gratitude.

 

“When will Howie be awake?” Bianca asked the doctor.  “Can we visit him soon?  One at a time?” she asked hopefully.

 

“You can visit him in about half an hour, but I warn you, he won’t be very lucid yet.  The anesthesia will just be wearing off, and he’ll be groggy and disoriented.”

 

“Okay,” said Bianca, eager for the half hour to pass.  Hospital rooms made her uncomfortable, but anything was better than sitting in this waiting room with Nick.  Anything was better than making small talk with a murderer.

 

***

 

When a half an hour had passed, Nick looked at Bianca and said, “Think it’d be okay to go see him now?”

 

“Yeah, I think so,” answered Bianca.  “You can go first.”

 

“Thanks,” he said, giving her a small smile and taking off down the hall.  As she watched him go, a feeling of dread filled her stomach.  What if Nick decided to finish Howie off while he was alone in the room with him?

 

Stop it, Bianca scolded herself.  He would never get away with that.  Howie’s probably hooked up to so many monitors right now that they’d know right away if something went wrong.

 

That thought comforted her, and she settled back into her chair, feeling much more relaxed.  Then she remembered AJ.  He had laid low and not spoken to her while Nick was there, and now she looked around the room to make sure he was still there.  She saw his Light in the corner of the room, but it looked different to her, strangely dim.

 

“AJ?” she asked aloud.

 

“I think I overdid myself,” came his voice in her head.  It sounded weak.

 

“What do you mean?  What’s wrong?”  Bianca asked, worried.

 

“Going to Nick’s house, looking through his stuff, talking to you all this time… too much,”  AJ murmured.  “I think the Golden Mist is coming.”

 

“What’s the Golden Mist?!”

 

“Our way of getting energy.  It’s like passing out for awhile and then waking up energized.”

 

“Awhile?  How long is awhile?  Hours?”

 

“More like days.  At least it was last time.”

 

“No!  No, Aje, you can’t leave me for days!”  Bianca cried frantically.  “What about Nick?”

 

“Listen, Bean, you have to hide somewhere.”

 

“Hide?”

 

“Yeah… don’t stay at home… go somewhere else, where Nick can’t find you…”

 

“Like where?  My parents’ house?”

 

“No, he’d guess that.”

 

“Where then?”

 

“Um… how about Howie’s house?”

 

“Howie’s house??”

 

“Yeah… there’s a security system there, and Nick would never expect you to go there.  And it’s not like he’d want to go back there anyway.  Wouldn’t it look suspicious if he was caught poking around the scene of the crime?”

 

“But…”

 

“Do it, Bean, Howie won’t mind.  If he comes around in time, you can talk to him about it, but if not, just go there.  He’ll understand.”

 

“What about the police?  Can’t I just call the police and get this all over with?”  Bianca begged.

 

“Not yet… there’s not enough evidence to prove it’s Nick.  If you go to the police now, they’ll question him again and maybe even arrest him, but if they can’t prove its him, they’ll let him off, and then he’ll know you turned him in and come after you.  We have to wait for solid proof and then go to the police.”

 

“How do we get solid proof though?”

 

“We…”   And then AJ’s voice began to trail off.

 

“AJ!”

 

“Golden Mist… coming…”  he said weakly.  “Be back soon…”

 

“No, AJ!”

 

But he said no more.  She looked into the corner just in time to see his Gold Light slowly fade away until there was nothing.  Frightened tears filled her eyes, and she began to cry, terrified of what was going to happen to her without AJ around.  He brought her comfort and made her feel protected… without him, she felt like a lost little girl, scared, alone, and defenseless.

 

“Bianca, what’s wrong?”

 

Bianca’s head jerked up so fast she was afraid she would have whiplash.  Again, there was Nick standing in the doorway.  She had not even heard the door open.

 

“Nothing,” she said quickly.  “It’s just… relief, I guess.  I was so worried… and… and now he’s going to be okay, and I’m just…”  She struggled for words, her voice shaking with fear and nervousness.

 

Nick smiled, sending chills through her body.  “It’s okay,” he said, studying her.  “I understand.  Are you going in to see him now?”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, I am.”

 

“Okay.  Just warning you – he’s pretty out of it.  He didn’t say anything coherent to me.  I’m not sure he even knew it was me.”

 

“Oh… well, I’m sure he’s not feeling all that great now, so maybe I’ll just head home and visit tomorrow,” said Bianca, realizing this was her chance to make an escape.  “I need to lie down.”

 

“Oh okay.   See you.”

 

“Bye,” said Bianca, forcing a smile at him and then walking swiftly out of the room.  She made herself walk down the hall, but once she had rounded the corner and caught sight of the elevators ahead, she broke into a run, more than happy to escape the hospital and the backstabbing (no pun intended LOL) killer that lurked within it.

 

***

 

 

Next

 

Back to index