Goddamnit,Hank groaned as soon as he ended the call. Then he pulled up his contacts and shot Tilly a quick text since Vernon hardly ever checked his phone.
Me:Mornin’ Til. I’m up at Colton’s place. We’ve got a situation here. Can you send Vern by with the truck? Sooner rather than later. Thanks.
He didn’t even manage to put the phone back in his pocket before it rang, Tilly’s shrill voice blasting through the speaker when he answered.
“Now, what the heck have you gotten yourself into now, Mr. Dietrich?”
Yeah, what exactly had he gotten himself into?
Chapter Ten
Finn
Now
“Finn! Finniiie! I got in, Finn. I did it!”
Yes, you did it, he wanted to call back, but not a single sound came out.
“Finn?!”The edge to Cara’s voice grew more insistent. Desperate. Why did it feel like he was underwater? He wasn’t, was he? But everything sounded muffled. Every time he drew in a breath, his right side hurt, this piercing pain stabbing through him. Opening his eyes, everything was just white. And… fluffy? Like he’d landed face-first in a massive, smothering cloud. “Finn? Finn?”His name was followed by astring of sobs. Never had his name been spoken in pain or fear before.
“Cara?”Why was she crying? “I’m coming, Cara,”he croaked, his voice foreign—frightening—to his own ears. Hoarse and twisted. He tried to move, but the pain in his side was so overwhelming that he nearly passed out. There was a tangy metallic taste in his mouth when he swallowed, followed by an all-consuming nausea coursing through him in heavy waves. He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled slowly, despite the pain. One.Assess.He was in pain, but there was no indication that he was seriously injured. No difficulty breathing. And was he upside down? Why the fuck was he upside down? Looking around, he suddenly remembered. He was in his car. It was late.
Cara called.“Finniiie! Please come get me. That bitch, Julia, left with Benji. So much for chicks before dicks, right?”Since when had Cara started cursing? Oh yeah, she was a grown-up now. He remembered. “Call Dad. I’m at work, remember?”That’s what he did, wasn’t it? Worked. Day and night if he could get away with it. If Dr. Carter let him get away with it.“I did. He’s had too much Chardonnay. I heard Dionne Warwick in the background. You know what that means, right Finnie?”Yeah, he knew what that meant. Dionne was their dad’sI’m-making-a-move-on-my-womansoundtrack.“Yuk,”Cara giggled. That giggle. That goddamn giggle in her voice that would, without a doubt, make him drop everything else in a heartbeat.“Finniiie, please. You know you’re my favorite brother. Finn?! Finn, where are you?”
Two.Get help.Patting his jeans, he felt for his cell phone where he usually put it. Everything was off, his head pounding from being upside down. Reaching into his left pocket, his fingertips connected with the phone, and he deftly pulled it out. “Cara, I’m getting us help, okay? Just hang in there, okay? I’mcalling for help.”There was a weak sob followed by an, “Okay, Finn. Please hurry. Please…”A burst of color swept through the car, painting the interior in reds and blues, accompanied by the shrill sound that had become the backdrop to nearly every day in his life. Oh, thank God. “Hang in there, sis, okay? Help’s on its way. Just hang in there.”Another resigned sob from the back of the car.“Okay, Finn.”Why was Cara in the back? She was usually in the front, next to him. Always next to him, scrambling through her oversized tote for some fruit-flavored lip-gloss, fumbling with the stereo, humming,‘Well, it’s like cranes in the skyyy. Sometimes I don’t wanna feel those metal clouds.’Fuck, they loved that song.
Yuk, that fucking taste again, flooding his mouth. Don’t swallow. ‘You wanna swallow Teddy Bear’s load, baby?’
“Finn, I don’t feel so good. I think I drank too much.”The giggle was replaced by a groan. “You gonna be sick? You want me to pull over?”The click of a seat belt. Cara climbing over the mid-console, bumping into him, still groaning. The sickening smell of piña colada. “I’m just gonna lie down for a minute. I don’t feel too good.”Just one look over his shoulder. That was all it took. One moment. “Cara, Jesus! Put your seat—”Then it’d felt like someone had thrown him through the air. Like a giant wave sweeping him away.‘Away, away, away, away,’ Solange cooed.Three.Protect yourself and others.He needed to get to Cara. He needed to. There was a muffled voice from the outside. “Help is on its way. Just hang in there and we’ll get you guys out.”Fumbling for his seat belt, his hand hurt. Not an acute pain, more like a dull one. He tugged furiously at the seat belt, but it was stuck. “Finn?!”Cara’s voice sounded panicked. Terrified. “I’m here, sis. Just hang in there. They’re trying to get us out.”The screeching sound of metal against metal cut through the silence from the outside. “Just hang in there. You’ll be okay. I promise.”Another panicked cry. “Finn?! I can’t feelmy legs, Finn. Why can’t I feel my legs? Finn!!!”Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He pulled madly at the seat belt, but it wouldn’t budge. His ears rang from that awful noise of metal being torn apart, his head feeling like it was going to explode. “Finn… Finn. I can’t feel my legs, Finn.”That wounded edge to his sister’s voice. “You’re gonna be okay, Cara. Listen to me. You’re gonna be fine. Everything’s gonna be fine. You’re okay. You’re okay…”Trying to reach behind him, his hand stung like a motherfucker. Was his hand injured, too? Something wet and slippery connected with his face. Was it raining? How was it raining inside the car? Or was he crying? It didn’t feel like he was crying. “Finn, please… My legs. My legs. My legs, Finn.”Something raw and insistent brushed against his left cheek and something blew against his ear. “Cara? Cara? Are you there?”
“Louis, will you leave him alone already?”Fuck, his hand hurt.“This might fly with your daddies, but it’s not gonna fly under my roof.”Fuck, his entire body ached, and his head felt like it was being stabbed by a million needles.“Get down. Right now!”Fuck, it felt like someone was pounding inside his head, or was it outside?“Don’t give me that face. C’mon, off you go.”
“Off you go, Finn.”His mother’s face smiling at him, nodding at the front entrance to the school. A rush of eager kids blowing past him, backpacks in all the colors of the rainbow. “I don’t wanna go. Why can’t I stay home with you and Cara?”His mother’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “You’re gonna have fun, honey. You’ll see. You’ll learn a bunch of new stuff, and then you can tell me all about later.” “I don’t wanna learn new stuff. I don’t. I just wanna be with you, Mom. You promised you’d never leave.” “Off you go. Off you go.”Or perhaps he was the one who’d left. It was, wasn’t it? Why did he leave? Suddenly, there was a dip next to him. The smell of forest tickled his nostrils. And snow? Was it snowing? And coffee? Something soft and warm brushed against him, and then something cool restedagainst his forehead. Just the whisper of a touch. “Good.”That deep voice again. “Your fever finally broke.”It was like a comforting blanket wrapping around him, that voice. “For a minute there, you had me worried.”He swallowed, his tongue all strange and his mouth dry. So very dry. “Now, you just rest a little more and we’ll have you back on your feet in no time.”Rest? He couldn’t rest. He needed to get to Cara. He needed to get to her. She was afraid. Alone. Hurt, maybe. Yeah, she was hurt. He felt it deep in his very soul. She was hurt.“Cara,”he croaked.
“Cara?”It hurt to speak, it hurt to move.“Shhh, you hush now. Sleep some more.”Sleep. No, he couldn’t sleep. Cara needed him.“Cara?”A soft stroke against his forehead.“Shhh, it’s okay. Everything’s okay. You sleep now.”Sleep. Sleep. He tried to get up, but something was pushing him down. Something warm and solid. Insistent. ‘I tried to run it away, thought then my head be feeling clearer.’“Shhh, that’s it.”‘I traveled 70 states, thought moving ’round make me feel better.’“Yeah, you’re alright, kid. You’re alright.”‘Thought if I was alone, then maybe I could recover.’“You sleep now. I’m here.”I’m here. ‘Away, away, away.’
Chapter Eleven
Hank
Now
“Goddamnit, will you calm down!” Hank had never had a drunk teenager under his roof, but if he had to take a wild guess, it would probably be somewhat like this. Exhausting.
“Let me go! Get the fuck off me!” The man, currently spewing expletives and struggling underneath him, was a lot stronger than he looked. This was the third time he’d woken up, the first two times out of his mind with fever, delirious, screaming, and attempting a jailbreak from the bedroom. This time definitely more alert and less feverish. And a whole lot stronger.
“Calm down, will ya?” Hank used all his weight, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible, but it wasn’t easy. He wasn’texactly a spring chicken anymore and embarrassingly unfit even for his age. Sweat broke free across his forehead and pebbled at his temples.
“Let me go,” the stranger whimpered, his body starting to go slack underneath Hank, eyelids starting to droop with exertion.
“You’re alright. Okay? You’re alright,” Hank soothed to the best of his ability. “But we can’t have you runnin’ around stark naked in my front yard, can we now? That’s taking it a little too far even for these parts of the country, dontcha think? Mike won’t like that, will he now?” Hank almost chuckled at the image of Deputy Mike showing up, having to chase a naked man around in the snow. Yeah, that probably wasn’t a great idea, seeing as Mike was in even worse shape than him and sporting a prosthesis, too. The deputy—back in his teen years when he wasn’t a deputy—had gotten his leg caught in a bear trap up near the creek. Those were illegal, of course, but it must’ve been an old rusty one left behind from years back. They couldn’t save the leg, but it hadn’t kept Mike from going to the police academy and becoming a stellar state trooper.
The stranger finally slumped underneath him and Hank deemed it safe to ease off a little. Which, looking back, was a damn bad idea. Way too premature, since the stranger had felt a whole lot stronger this time around and a whole lot more alert, his words no longer coming out slurred.
As soon as Hank eased off and sat up on the edge of the bed, the guy, stark naked as he was, jumped out of the other side of the bed and grabbed the bedside lamp.
“You stay away from me, you fucking psycho,” he yelled, a wild, panicked look in his fiery brown eyes. “You get the fuck away from me.” He shook Grandma Mary’s ghastly pink blossomed lamp in front of him like a weapon, the frilly shade threatening to fall off any second.
