Chapter 6
“Come
on, Marissa, let’s go home,” Joyce said.
The police were done questioning Marissa and had let both her and Kaelyn
off with a lecture and a fine for drinking under the legal age. Kaelyn’s mother had come and gotten her
earlier and taken her straight to the hospital to be with Luke’s family, at
Kaelyn’s insistence. She had calmed
down a bit, but Marissa knew that getting over Luke’s death was going to be
extremely hard on her friend.
“Marissa,
come on,” Joyce said again, intruding into Marissa’s thoughts.
Marissa
wanted to go home. She wanted to forget
this whole night ever happened. But she
could not, and she knew it.
“Not
yet, Mom,” she said. “Can we go to the
hospital?”
“The
hospital? Why?” Joyce asked.
“I…
I need to be with Kaelyn,” she said.
“She’s so upset over all of this.
I want to be there with her.”
Joyce
sighed. She just wanted to take her
daughter home and deal with all this later, but she knew she couldn’t refuse
this to Marissa. She was angry at her
daughter, but she knew she couldn’t show that now. Marissa was upset enough as it was. A lecture by her mother right then would only
make it worse. Joyce knew that Marissa
needed her love and support to get her through this tragedy.
“Alright,”
Joyce said. “Come on.”
She
helped Marissa to her feet, put her arm around her shoulder, and walked her slowly
out to the car.
***
When
Marissa and her mother got to the hospital, Marissa immediately headed to the
nearest nurses’ station, explained who she was, and asked where she could find
Kaelyn. Luckily, the nurse she talked to
knew who she was talking about and kindly said, “Come with me.”
“Marissa,
honey, do you want me to come with you, or just wait here for you?” Joyce
asked, not sure if her daughter needed time alone with her best friend or not.
“Here
would be fine,” Marissa replied, offering her mother a grateful smile. Joyce nodded and sat down in a chair across
the hall, watching as Marissa followed the nurse to a waiting room down the
hall.
“She’s
in here,” the nurse said to Marissa, opening a door for her. “Go on in.”
“Thanks,”
Marissa said softly, slowly walking into the room.
She
immediately saw Kaelyn sitting in a chair on one side of the room, her head in
her hands. Kaelyn’s mother, Donna Ross,
sat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly.
Next to Donna sat Luke’s parents, James and Nancy Milton. They both looked grief-stricken as well. All four of them seemed so lost in their
thoughts that they did not notice Marissa’s entrance.
“Mrs.
Milton?” Marissa asked softly.
Nancy
Milton looked up to see Marissa standing there.
“Oh, Marissa,” she said, offering a sad smile. “Are you okay, dear?”
Marissa
shrugged. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Nancy
nodded. She said nothing more, and her
silence made Marissa feel even more horrible, as she was reminded of the part
she had played in Luke’s death.
Marissa
made her way down the line to Kaelyn.
She took a seat next to her.
“Kae?” she asked softly, willing her friend to look up at her.
Kaelyn
did so, her watery blue eyes meeting Marissa’s.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” she murmured, her eyes filling with fresh
tears. “It seems like a bad dream. But we’ll never wake up from it, will
we? Things will never be the same again.”
Marissa’s
own eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around Kaelyn, cradling her
trembling friend in her arms, wishing she could make this all go away, praying
that it really was just one big nightmare and things would be all
right in the morning.
***
Brian
watched as a girl with short, dark hair came into the waiting room. She didn’t even look at him and the other
guys, but headed straight to the four people on the other side of the
room. He watched her speak shortly with
one of the women and then sit down beside the still crying girl. He watched as they hugged each other and then
put his head down, not wanting either of them to look up and catch him looking
at them. First, staring was rude, and
second, he didn’t want to be recognized by them.
He
turned his attention away from the girls and focused it on a small stain on the
beige carpet beneath his feet. He
fidgeted, wondering what was taking so long for a doctor to come talk to
them. He was growing more uneasy by the
minute, wondering how badly Nick had been hurt.
He
looked up when he sensed someone approaching.
He saw that it was one of the girls from across the room, the
dark-haired one.
The
other guys had looked up too.
“Hi,”
AJ said, forcing a smile at her.
She
did not smile back, but stared at them with wide green eyes. “I… I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes
filling with tears.
“Excuse
me?” Kevin asked.
“I’m
so sorry,” she said, her voice catching.
“What
do you mean, honey?” Brian asked gently.
“Nick. You’re here cause of Nick, aren’t you?” she
asked.
They
nodded. “He was in a car accident,”
Kevin said gently.
“I…I
know,” she choked. “Because it’s all our
fault.”
“What?”
AJ asked, his eyes widening.
“M…
my friends and I… we were coming home from a party… and my boyfriend was
driving… in the wrong lane. Nick hit
us…” she cried, breaking down.
Brian
immediately felt awful for the girl, but Kevin narrowed his eyes at her. “Were you guys drinking?” he asked, his tone
low.
She
nodded slowly, unable to speak. She
looked stricken.
“Don’t
you know that drinking and driving is illegal?” Kevin asked harshly. “Nick is hurt, maybe even dead, all because
of you.”
She
jerked back as if she’d been slapped, letting out an anguished sob. “I’m sorry,” she wept again.
“Sorry’s
not going to change what happened,” Kevin said, his steely gaze never leaving
her tearstained face. “Because of you-“
“Kev,
stop!” Brian cried. Kevin turned and
looked at him sharply. “Stop it. You heard her. She’s sorry.
You can’t put all the blame on her like this. I have a feeling she’s learned her lesson
already.”
The
girl nodded vigorously, her eyes wide with fear.
“Maybe
you’d better go back with your friends,” AJ said.
She
nodded and turned around. Then she
stopped and turned back. “I hope he’s
gonna be okay,” she whispered, then turned away from them again. She glanced back at the four people she had
been with earlier, then back at the Boys, and then she fled the room.
“You
better hope he’s gonna be okay,” Kevin muttered under his breath as he watched
her run out.
“Kev,”
Howie said, resting a hand on Kevin’s shoulder.
“Calm down. You’re just upset.”
“Damn
right I’m upset,” Kevin snapped. “Cause
of a bunch of fucking irresponsible teenagers, my friend could be dead!”
His
voice rose, and Brian noticed the girl sitting across the room raise her head
sharply.
“Shh,”
he hissed to Kevin. He was about to
suggest they find another room to wait in when the door opened and a tall,
middle-aged, dark-haired doctor entered.
“Are
you all with Nickolas Carter?” he asked, approaching them.
“Yes,”
Brian said, his heart pounding.
“Would
you gentlemen please come with me then?” the doctor asked. “I need to talk to you in private.”
***
