Chapter 4

I was once again awoken by the ring of my cell phone.  I groggily sat up and pulled my phone out of my purse once again.  I looked around and saw Kevin and Heidi asleep on the other couch.  AJ and Howie were now gone.  Brian was still sound asleep next to me. 

 

“Hello?” I asked, wondering who could possibly be calling me.  I didn’t know what time it was right then, but I knew it had to be late at night, or very early in the morning.  Was it Josh again?

 

“Julie,” breathed a voice.  It was not Josh.

 

“Who is this?” I asked, confused.

 

“That don’t matter right now.  You’ll be findin’ out soon enough,” the voice said.  I could tell it was a man’s voice, and it sure didn’t sound friendly. 

 

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, trying not to let my voice express my fear. 

 

“You screwed up, baby,” the man said.  “Big time.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I asked, anger taking over my fear.  “What did I do?  Do I even know you?”

 

“You tampered wit my plans,” he answered.  “You screwed me up, and now you’ll be payin’ along wit da rest of them.”

 

I suddenly felt icy cold.  Who was this, and why was he calling me?  What was he talking about?  “Who is this?” I asked again. 

 

“Like I say befo, you’ll be findin’ out soon enough.  See ya later,” he replied, snickering.   

 

“Wait!” I cried, but the line went dead.  He had already hung up.  I slowly hit ‘end’ and began to tremble.  Then the tears came.  I was terrified.  I buried my face in my hands and sobbed. 

 

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my back.  I looked up to see Brian sitting next to me.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked me, his eyes filled with concern.

 

“Some… someone called me,” I said in a shaky voice.  “Brian, I think it was the murderer.”

 

“What?!” he gasped.

 

“This guy called, and he said that I had messed up his plans and that I would find out who he was soon.  He was threatening me,” I whispered, beginning to cry again.

 

“Do you have any idea who it was?” Brian asked, his blue eyes wide with fear.

 

“It was a man, I could tell that.  And he sounded like a black man.  You know, he talked with an accent,” I said.

 

Brian nodded.  “Well, we have to tell Kessler and James.  Maybe this could help them get some suspects.”

 

I nodded.  “How do you think he got my cell phone number though?  And how did he know my name?”

 

Brian shrugged.  “They probably said your name on the news, and I’m not sure how he got your phone number.  I guess he could have gotten it on the internet or something.”

 

I shivered.  “He really scared me, Brian,” I said in a small voice. 

 

“Don’t you worry, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Brian said, putting his arm around me.  I suddenly felt safer and calmer.  I offered Brian a tiny smile, and he smiled back.  

 

I looked over across the room and saw that Heidi and Kevin were still sleeping.  “Where’s AJ and Howie?” I asked Brian.

 

He shrugged.  “I have no clue.  I’ve been asleep.”

 

“Me too,” I said.  “The phone woke me up.”

 

“They probably went down to see Nick or get some food or something,” Brian said.   “Hey, speaking of Nick, have you gotten to see him yet?”

 

I shook my head.  “I don’t know if I should,” I said.  “I mean, I don’t know him really, and…”

 

“You can go see him.  He’s not awake anyway.  Besides, you saved his life,” Brian said.  “Unless you don’t want to see him like that.”

 

“No, I’d like to go in there, if you don’t mind.  I just don’t want to be imposing,” I replied.

 

“No way, I like having you here,” Brian said.  “You’re not imposing on anyone.”

 

I blushed.  “Thanks,” I said shyly. 

 

“Come on, I’ll go in to Nick’s room with you, if you don’t mind,” Brian offered.

 

“No, I’d rather have you with me,” I replied.  “I don’t want to go alone.”

 

“Ok, come on,” Brian said.  He took my hand, and we walked down the hall.  Nick’s room was at the end of the hall.  It was number 330.  There was a solid metal door on it with special lock that was the kind you had to punch a code in to open it.  “You have to hit the code, which is 4,1,1,8 and then the star to get in,” Brian said, as he punched the numbers into the lock and hit the star button.  The door slowly opened, and he led me in.  The door shut behind us.

 

I looked up at Brian when we had entered the room and saw the pained look that filled his face.  I followed his gaze to the bed in the middle of the room, where Nick lay.  Taking a deep breath, I followed him to Nick’s bedside.  I almost broke down into tears when I got a closer look at Nick.  His head was wrapped in gauze, so I couldn’t even see his blonde hair.  He was wearing a neck brace and was strapped down flat on a backboard.  I knew that was to keep his spine straight so there wouldn’t be any more damage to it.   He was on a respirator, which breathed for him, and he was attached to a heart monitor, which beeped steadily. 

 

The site of him lying there so lifeless reminded me of Brian’s part in the video for “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely”, only this time, it was Nick, and he was definitely not acting.  As I thought of that video, the song began to play through my head, and I began to cry softly.   I glanced up at Brian and found that he was crying himself as he looked down on his best friend. 

 

“Do you want to say a prayer for him?” I asked Brian timidly. 

 

He looked at me and smiled tearfully.  “I’d like that,” he said.  We joined hands, and Brian said a prayer, pleading for God to heal Nick and to help the police catch the horrible person that had done this to him.   I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped that God had heard our prayer. 

 

***

 

A few minutes later, as Brian and I were heading out of Nick’s room, we met up with Kessler.

 

“Hi, Officer Kessler. We need to talk to you,” Brian said when he saw them.

 

“Sure,” Kessler said.  “What about?”

 

“I think the murderer called me,” I said. 

 

Kessler’s eyes widened.  “Really?  When?” he asked.

 

“Just a little while ago.  He called my cell phone,” I replied.

 

“It was a man?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” I said.  “He was threatening me.”

 

“How so?”

 

“He said that I had screwed up his plans, and so I would have to pay along with the rest of them,” I said.

 

“Who is ‘the rest of them’?” Kessler asked.

 

“I’m not sure, but I think he meant Brian, AJ, Kevin, and Howie,” I said.

 

Kessler nodded grimly.  “Did he give you any hints as to who he is or where he’s at or anything?” he asked.

 

I shook my head.  “He didn’t tell me anything.  All I know is that it was a man, and he had an accent.”

 

“An accent?   What kind of accent?” Kessler asked.

 

“An ebonics accent,” I replied.  The corner of Brian’s mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. 

 

“Ok,” Kessler said. 

 

“Is there any way you can trace the call?” I asked.

 

“Yeah, we can try to.  We’ll get on that right away,” he replied.  “In the meantime, I don’t want you going anywhere.  Where do you live?”

 

“Actually, I live in Illinois,” I replied.  “I’m staying here for the weekend with my boyfriend.”

 

“Are you staying at a hotel?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” I said.  “At the Holiday Inn.”

 

“Ok, listen, do not go back to the hotel.  It would be easier for him to find you there,” Kessler told me.

 

“Where should I go then?” I asked.

 

“Don’t go anywhere,” Kessler replied.  “We have good security here, and it would be best for you and your friend to stay here.”  Then he looked at Brian and added, “That goes for the four of you guys too.”

 

Brian nodded.  “We won’t go anywhere, sir,” he said seriously.

 

“Good.   Now, don’t worry, this arrangement won’t last for long.  But for now, it would be best for all of you to stay here, especially since Mr. Carter is here too.”

 

Brian nodded.  “Yes, sir,” he said.  “Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome.  I need to head back to my office now to do some work.  But don’t worry, there will be plenty of other officers around the building.  I’ll see you in the morning,” Kessler said and started down the hall.

 

“Goodnight,” I said to him.  Then I headed back to the waiting room.

 

***

 

The next morning, I awoke to find the others slumped in the couches and chairs around the room watching TV. 

 

“Hey, guys,” I said. 

 

“Hey,” they all replied. 

 

“The doctors are running some tests on Nick now,” Heidi told me.

 

“Oh, ok,” I said.  “Did you hear about the little phone call I got last night?”

 

“Yeah, Brian told us all this morning while you were still sleeping,” she replied, her brown eyes expressing her concern. 

 

Just then, my phone rang again, startling me.  My eyes widened.  I pulled my phone out of my purse and started to hit ‘talk’, but AJ grabbed it out of my hands.

 

“Can I answer it?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, sure,” I replied nervously. 

 

“Watch your mouth, Bone,” Kevin warned.  AJ rolled his eyes and hit ‘talk’.

 

“Hello?” he said.  I watched his facial expression as he listened.  It was suspicious first, but then he broke into a grin and handed me the phone.  “It’s for you,” he said mysteriously, but I had a feeling I knew who it was.

 

“Hello?” I asked.

 

“Hey, sweetheart,” came a voice.  Just as I had suspected, it was Josh. 

 

“Hi, baby,” I replied. 

 

“Who was I just talking to?” he asked.

 

“AJ,” I said, giggling. 

 

“Really?” Josh asked incredulously.  “Wow.”

 

“Yup,” I said, grinning.  Just talking to him made me feel better.

 

“So when are you coming back?” he asked.  “I was worried when you didn’t come back last night.”

 

“I’m sorry, baby, but it’s a long story.  The police want Heidi and I to stay here at the hospital,” I said.

 

“Why?” he asked.

 

“Like I said, it’s a long story.  I really don’t want to talk about it now,” I said.  “I just have to stay for safety reasons.”

 

“Safety reasons?!” he cried.  “Jules, do you want me to come up there and be with you?”

 

I realized I wanted him there with me.  “Yeah, honey, but only if you want to,” I said, trying not to sound too eager for him to come.

 

“Of course I do,” he said.  “I’m worried about you, Julie.”

 

“Don’t be, I’m fine.  But I miss you, and I’d love it if you would come up here,” I admitted. 

 

“Sure, babe.  Which hospital are you at?”

 

“St. Joseph’s,” I replied. 

 

“Ok,” he said.  “I’ll be there pretty soon, ok?”

 

“Ok, baby,” I said.  “We’re in a waiting room on the third floor.  Ask someone at the nurses’ station for us.  I’ll tell them you’re coming.”

 

“Ok,” he replied.  “See you soon, sweetie.”

 

“Ok, Josh.  I love you. Bye!” I said and hit ‘end’, feeling much more content than before.  “My boyfriend’s coming up here.  I hope you guys don’t mind,” I said.

 

“Cool,” Brian said.  “We don’t mind a bit.”

 

I smiled at him.  “Thanks,” I said. 

 

“No problem, Julie,” he replied, smiling back.    I sank back on the couch to wait for Josh to arrive.

 

***

 

Josh got there in about a half an hour.  “Hey, baby!” I cried, leaping up and hurling myself into his arms. 

 

“Hey, hun,” he replied, hugging me tightly.  I finally let go of him and stepped back.  “Guys, meet my boyfriend, Josh Benton.  Josh, meet Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin,” I introduced.

 

The guys all exchanged hello’s.  Then, Dr. Cantrell walked into the room.  “Good morning, everyone,” he said.  We all greeted him.  “Nick’s finished with his tests now and is back in his room.”

 

“How is he doing this morning?” Kevin asked anxiously.

 

“Well, he hasn’t improved at all, from what I can tell, but he hasn’t gotten any worse either,” Dr. Cantrell said.  “It could take some time before you see an improvement.”

 

“But he’s gonna live, right?” Brian asked.

 

“I can’t promise you that,” Dr. Cantrell stated sadly.  “He’s in a coma right now, and he’s still not able to breathe on his own.  Now eventually, he could recover and come out of the coma.  Many patients with head injuries do.  But others do not.  It all depends on how seriously his brain was injured.”

 

“Well, how bad was it injured?” AJ interrogated. 

 

“That’s what the tests we ran today will show.  The results aren’t in yet though, so I don’t know how badly he was injured yet,” Dr. Cantrell said.

 

“When will you know?” Heidi asked.

 

“Hopefully we should get the results back in a matter of hours, and once I read them, I’ll be down to give you more information on his condition,” the doctor promised.

 

“Thanks,” Brian said sincerely. 

 

“You’re welcome,” Dr. Cantrell replied.  “Well, that’s all I came to tell you for now.  I’ll talk to you all later.”  We said goodbye, and he left the room. 

 

“I’m going to go see Frack now,” Brian said, standing up.  “Who wants to come with?” 

 

“I’ll come,” AJ said and followed him out of the room. 

 

Josh turned to me.  “Have you eaten breakfast yet?” he asked.

 

I shook my head.  “Actually, I haven’t eaten anything since supper yesterday.”

 

“Well, you need to eat then.  Come on, I’ll buy you some breakfast,” he offered.

 

“I’m not hungry,” I replied. 

 

“Come on, Jules, you need to eat,” he urged.  “Come on, we’ll just go down to the cafeteria and get something, ok?”

 

“Ok,” I said reluctantly.  “Anyone want to come with us?”  I looked at Heidi.

 

She shook her head.  “No, you guys go ahead.  I’m not hungry either,” she said.

 

“Ok.  We’ll be back soon then,” Josh said, and we left the room.  The cafeteria was on the main floor, so we took the elevator downstairs and headed to get some food.

 

***

 

 

Next

 

Back to index