Chapter
19
Nick’s eyes opened slowly. The first thing that he was consciously
aware of was the excruciating pain in his head. He brought his hand up to his
forehead, in an attempt to ease the pain when his hand came in contact with a
sticky substance. Nick let out a soft moan once realizing it was blood. He
searched his mind. What had happened? It all came back to him like a punch in
the stomach. The car accident, Rob, he would do anything to end their lives.
Shutting his eyes, he began to think about his friends. His eyes darted open
and he turned slowly to his side.
Brian’s head rested against the busted window. Nick’s breath
caught as he took in the sight of blood. His hands trembling, he ran his
fingers along Brian’s neck, in desperate search for a pulse. He heaved a sigh
of relief as he felt a weak one.
“Bri…can you hear me,” he said softly, his voice nothing more then
a hoarse whisper.
Nick frowned. Brian wasn’t responding. He then remembered that
Howie was right next to him. He gingerly turned to face his friend. He was
breathing, his breaths were coming in short gasps, but he was alive and that’s
all that mattered to Nick. He rested his head back onto his seat. What were
they going to do? What had happened to AJ and Kevin? Were they okay?
“AJ…Kevin? Please…” Neither of them responded either. “Please…wake
up,” Nick pleaded, his eyes welling up with tears. He then gave up, succumbing
to unconsciousness, hoping that when he woke up, this disastrous nightmare
would be over…
Howie’s eyes darted open. His mind raced with unanswered questions.
Where was he?
“Hello Mr. Dorough, how are we feeling,” the middle aged, red
haired nurse asked.
“Wh-what happened…”
“You and your friends were in a car accident.”
Howie struggled to recall the wreck. He then remembered everything
with frightening clarity. “It was no accident,” Howie murmured, shutting his
eyes as he recalled the wreck. “We…got run off the road. It had to have been
Rob.”
“Who’s Rob,” the nurse asked curiously. “Is he that guy that
they’re tryin’ to catch.”
“Yes…it was him, I know it.” Then reality struck. “Oh…my God…what
happened…to-my friends!?”
“They are alright Mr. Dorough. It wasn’t too bad of an accident.
You’ve all got some pretty nasty cuts, bruises and concussions. But, other than
that, I’d say you guys were pretty lucky.”
“So they—they are okay? Can I see them?”
“Nope. Not yet, we still haven’t even moved all of ya back into
your own rooms. You’re all bein’ put in ICU as a precaution.”
“Oh…okay.”
“You just get some rest, and when you wake up we’ll see about
visiting your friends. I’ll go see about getting the police and detectives in
here. If you really think it was that guy, we better let ‘em know.”
“Ok thanks.”
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
AJ slowly took in his surroundings. Where was he? A hospital, he
had figured that much out. But why was he in a hospital? He shut his brown eyes
in an attempt to recount everything he could remember. The last thing that he
remembered was visiting Brian.
AJ glanced around the room he had just been placed in. Where were
his friends?
“Hello, Mr. Mclean,” the nurse greeted.
“Uh…hi. Wh-what happened to me?”
“Oh, but don’t you remember?”
AJ bit his lip in confusion. He tried his hardest to come with
some sort of explanation as to why he was in a hospital. He remembered being in
Brian’s room. Then…then they had gone out. But what happened after that? AJ’s
eyes widened, and he stared up at the nurse.
“The car accident!”
“Now, now Alex, calm down.”
“Oh my God, I remember it all now. The car it hit us and then…then
w-we went in—into a ditch. What about my friends? Please tell me that they are
all right!”
“Mr. Mclean, calm down. Your blood pressure is sky rocketing. You
need to relax. I don’t want to give you a sedative.”
AJ took in a deep breath. “Ok, ok. Just tell me, please what
happened to me friends?”
“Your friends will be fine. In fact, I know of at least two of
your friends that have regained consciousness.”
“Really?” AJ said, sighing in relief.
“Yes, Mr. Dorough woke up along with Mr. Carter.”
“Well that’s good. What about Kevin and Brian, are they okay?”
“Yes, as far as I know they’ll be fine.”
“Ok,” AJ replied, sighing in relief. “I’m gonna get some sleep.
Tell me if anything happens.”
An hour later, Nick awoke to the sterile scent of a hospital.
“Brian?”
“Hey Nick. How are ya?”
“I’m fine. How are you? You looked terrible in the car. You were
cut and I was so scared…” Nick said, his voice trailing off.
“I’m okay. I’m not allowed to be in here for long. I had to beg
them to let me see you.”
Nick nodded his head. He glanced back up at Brian, his bright blue
eyes appearing dull and scared.
“Bri…what’re we going to do?”
Brian sighed and turned his head away from Nick’s blue eyes. “I
don’t know Nick. I don’t know…”
***
