Back on Solid Ground (41 page)

Stacy, Holly,
Jason and Carlos got in Holly’s car and followed the ambulance out of the
ranch.  When they came to where the cabin had been, the firemen were trying to
contain the blaze, but it had spread to both sides of the cabin and the Viper
sat in a charred heap. 

Jason was on
the phone with Niki’s mother before they got off the ranch.

“It’s pretty
bad, Lillie.  I think you and Chris should be here,” Jason told her, after
relating what had happened.  He talked for a few minutes and hung up the
phone. 

Stacy was
crying silently, staring out the window. 

“Come here,”
Jason said, and he reached over and put his arm around her. 

“Are his parents
coming?” Stacy asked, leaning her head against Jason.

“Yeah. 
They’ll be on the first flight.  We’ll probably get there about the same time,”
Jason said, looking at his watch.

“They’re
going to blame me,” Stacy said, staring out at nothing.

“No they
won’t,” Jason said.

The trauma
team was waiting in the emergency room when the helicopter landed at the
hospital, and Eli arrived shortly afterwards.  He paced the waiting room for
ages and finally sat down and put his face in his hands. A woman from Admitting
came in the room requesting Eli’s assistance in filling out forms and he was
glad for the distraction.  He knew he should call Jason and let Stacy know what
was happening, but he didn’t want to call until he had something to report, so
he continued to wait until a doctor finally came out to the waiting room.   

“We put a
chest tube into your brother and his breathing is stabilized. We need to go in
and get the bullet out, so we’re sending him down to surgery.”

“What
condition is he in?” Eli asked.

“Right now,
he’s critical.  He lost a lot of blood but we’re doing everything possible to
keep him alive.”

The doctor
left the room and Eli was alone in the waiting room again.  He took out his
phone and dialed Jason’s number but he hung up before it rang.  He couldn’t
bring himself to say out loud that his brother might not make it.  The phone
rang in his hand and Eli jumped. 

His voice
cracked when he answered. “Hello.”

“How is he?”
Jason asked, but he knew by Eli’s tone that it wasn’t good.

“Is Stacy
right there?” Eli asked.

“Uh huh.”

“It’s not
good,” Eli said.  “They just took him to surgery to remove the bullet.”  Eli
hesitated then continued.  “He might not make it, Jayce,” he said, his voice
cracking again.  “I don’t think you should tell Stacy that.  She’s been through
so much already, it could send her over the edge.”

“Uh huh,”
Jason said.  “Are your parents there yet?”

“No.  How
close are you?”

“We’re
probably 45 minutes away.  Call me if you hear anything else, okay?”

“I will. 
Hurry,” Eli added. 

He hung up
the phone just as his parents and sister walked in the room.  His mother and
sister had both been crying and his father’s face was drawn and grim.  Eli
hugged his mother and his sister, and when his father offered his hand, Eli pushed
it aside and embraced him.  He filled them in on what the doctor had told him,
leaving out the part about Niki being in critical condition. 

“Where’s
Stacy?” Lillie asked.

“She’s on her
way.  They had to drive from the ranch and it’s a 3½ hour drive,” Eli said. 
“How much did Jason tell you about what happened?”

“He said that
Stacy’s father kidnapped her and that when Niki tried to rescue her, her father
shot him,” Lillie said.  “Is there more than that?”

“She killed
her father,” Eli said.  “And I don’t think that part has even sunk in for her.”

Lillie didn’t
say anything, and Eli took a seat next to his father, and they waited in
silence for news on Niki’s condition. 

Holly pulled
her car into the hospital parking lot and opened her trunk.

“I brought
you some clean clothes,” she told Stacy.

“Thank you,”
Stacy said, and another wave of tears came pouring out. “And thank you for
coming to Victoria.”

The statement
was so ridiculous that Holly had to laugh.  “You’re welcome,” she said, hugging
Stacy again.  Holly pulled her sleeve down and used it to wipe Stacy’s tears. 
She looked over Stacy’s shoulder and caught Jason looking at them.  He had been
watching Holly take care of Stacy and he smiled at Holly when she looked up. The
four made their way to the main entrance of the hospital and without warning
Stacy was swarmed by reporters. 

“Is it true
that you were kidnapped by your own father?” someone yelled at her.

Stacy stopped
cold.  She turned around slowly and looked back at the reporters.  “What is it
with you people?” she asked fuming.  “Do I look like I’m in any condition to
answer your questions right now?”  Stacy looked from one to the other waiting
for an answer but none dared to open his mouth.  She turned back around and
rejoined Holly, Jason and Carlos. 

The four went
inside to look for Eli, and they found him wandering in the hall outside the
waiting room.  There was a look of relief on his face when he saw the group. 

“I’m glad
you’re here,” he told Jason.  “We haven’t heard anything else.”

“We?  Did
Lillie and Chris get here?” Jason asked.

“And Charlotte,” Eli said.  He walked over to Stacy and put his hands on her shoulders and
looked at her.  She was a mess.  She was white as a sheet and had dark circles
under her red-rimmed eyes.  There was dirt on her face and hands and dried
blood caked over a gash on her head.   Her wrists had red welts around them
from where the rope had rubbed them.  Her clothes were filthy and she had welts
around her ankles to match her wrists.

“How long has
it been since you’ve had anything to eat or drink?” Eli asked her.

“I don’t
know,” Stacy said, dismissing his concern.  “How’s Niki?”

“We should
know something soon.  You need to be checked out by a doctor,” he told her,
trying to get a look at the cut on her head. 

Stacy pushed
his hand away. “I’m fine.” 

“Well you
don’t look fine, Stacy,” Eli said, irritably.  “You look like shit.  And Niki’s
going to need someone to take care of him, so you need to take care of
yourself.  Now come on, and let’s get a doctor to check you over.”   He took
her by the arm and started leading her to the ER. 

“I just need
to wash up,” Stacy protested, as he led her down the corridor.  “I’ll look a
lot better when I’m cleaned up,” she said feebly.

Eli stopped
and looked down at her.  “I’m not talking about you being dirty, Stacy.  I’m
talking about you probably needing stitches in your head and needing to be
hydrated.  Now will you please just stop arguing with me,” he said wearily.  “I
can’t handle arguing with you right now.”

“Okay,” Stacy
conceded. 

Eli took her
hand and they walked over to the ER admitting desk.  “She needs to see a
doctor.”

There was a
look of recognition on the woman’s face when she saw Stacy.  “Ms. Trent!” she
said, smiling.  “My goodness, by all means let’s get you looked at.”

The nurse
disappeared and came back almost immediately and led Stacy behind a curtain. 
Eli followed her back and stood by the bed. 

“I’m so sorry
about all of this,” Stacy said, starting to cry again.  “If he doesn’t make it,
I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Tell me
you’re not trying to shoulder the blame for this, Stacy,” Eli said, feeling
totally drained.

“My father
shot him, Eli!”

“Yeah?  And
what?  You’re somehow responsible for your father’s actions?”  Eli lowered his
voice, “If we hadn’t kidnapped you, none of this would have ever happened. 
You’re not thinking straight, Stacy.”  

Stacy didn’t
say anything and the doctor came in at that moment. 

“I’ll go see
if there’s any word on Niki and I’ll see you back in here,” Eli told Stacy.  He
went back to the waiting room where his family and Jason, Carlos and Holly were
all sitting. 

“You
convinced her to see a doctor?” Holly asked, impressed.

“Yeah.  She’s
as stubborn as they come,” Eli said, irritated

Holly nodded
knowingly.  “Totally.”

Jason’s jaw
dropped and he looked over at Holly.  “Pot kettle!” he exclaimed.  “I don’t
think you have a lot of room to talk, Lois.”

“Don’t call
me that!”

“You want to
get a cup of coffee or something?” Jason asked her.

“Yeah,” she
said, and she looked over at Niki’s parents.  “We’re going to get coffee.  Does
anyone want anything to drink?” she offered. 

Jason and
Holly left the waiting room. They got out in the corridor and he reached over
and took her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, and
they walked to the cafeteria holding hands.

The nurse had
cleaned the cut on Stacy’s head and the doctor had closed it up with stitches. 
He wanted to hook her up to an IV to get some fluids into her, but Stacy
refused.  When Eli returned to the emergency room Stacy had a bandage wrapped
around her head and she was just leaving to go find him.  He handed her the bag
with the clothes Holly had brought for her and Stacy went into the ladies room
and washed her face and hands and changed into the clean clothes.  They went to
the waiting room and joined the others, and no sooner had Stacy walked into the
room than Charlotte launched a verbal attack on her, hurling accusations and
laying the blame for her brother’s fate on Stacy.  Stacy stood shocked and
speechless.

“And if my
brother dies in there,” Charlotte concluded, “you’ll know that we all think
it’s your fault!”

“Shut up, Charlotte!” Eli said angrily.  Finally, he grabbed his sister by the arm and yanked her
out of the room into the hall.  “How could you do that?” he yelled at her
furiously.  “You have no idea what that girl has been through, so don’t you
dare
accuse her of being responsible for what’s happened to Niki.  You haven’t a
clue what’s going on here, Charlotte.  And none of us, especially Niki, thinks
for a minute that this is Stacy’s fault!” 

Eli was
squeezing Charlotte’s arm hard and she was shocked at his reaction to her
attack on Stacy.  Both of her brothers had always been protective of her and to
have Eli defending some other girl over her was unbelievable.

“Do you hear
me!” Eli shouted angrily.

“I’m sorry,
Eli,” Charlotte said.  “I didn’t mean to make you mad.  But it
was
her
father who shot Niki.”

“Well then if
there’s anyone to blame it would be her father, wouldn’t it?  I swear, if Niki
knew what you had just done, he’d never forgive you.  Now I suggest you get
your butt in there and apologize.”

Stacy had
backed up against the wall after Eli had dragged his sister out into the hall,
and she was staring vacantly into the room digesting the horrible things Charlotte had said.  Holly was livid.  She wanted to step outside and beat the shit out of
the little bitch, but instead she put her arm around Stacy and said, “Don’t
listen to her Stacy.  Nobody blames you.”

“No.  She’s
right,” Stacy said, still staring off into nothing, and this time Jason and
Carlos jumped to her defense as well. 

“That’s
ridiculous and you know it Stacy,” Jason said.  He took her by her shoulders
and shook her to make her look at him.  “It’s not your fault.  Do you hear me?”

“I need to
get some air,” she said dazed.  She opened the door to leave and she walked
right into Charlotte. 

“I’m sorry
for the things I said to you,” Charlotte said.

“Don’t be,”
Stacy said, and she kept walking.

Stacy walked
down the hall and she heard the waiting room door open and close behind her. 
Her head was spinning and she needed to be by herself to think.  She turned
down an empty corridor and sat down on a bench then she curled up on it and
started to cry uncontrollably.  Someone walked up and sat on the bench beside
her and reached over and stroked her hair. 

“Hi Stacy,
I’m Lillie,” she said.  “I’m Niki’s mother.”

Stacy sat up
and tried to quit crying.  She wiped her eyes, but it was a useless effort
because more tears took their place.  “I’m Stacy Trent.”

Lillie
smiled, “I know.  Niki told me about you,” she said.  “I’m sorry for Charlotte’s behavior towards you.  It’s not like her to be so unkind.”

“It’s okay,”
Stacy said. 

“No one
blames you for what happened to Niki,” Lillie said.  “Not even Charlotte. She’s just upset right now.” 

Stacy didn’t
say anything.

“I only hope
you can quit blaming yourself,” Lillie said, brushing tears off of Stacy’s
cheek.  “You weren’t the perpetrator in this, Stacy, you were the victim.  Try
not to confuse that.  You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Okay,” Stacy
said, attempting a smile. 

Lillie
reached over and put her hand on top of Stacy’s. “Did you know you’re the first
girl Niki has ever talked to me about?”

“Really?” 

Lillie nodded
her head, “Ever.  You’re the first girlfriend of his I’ve ever met.”

“I’m sorry it
was under these circumstances.  It hasn’t made for a very good first
impression.”

Lillie patted
her hand.  “You made your first impression when my son told me he was in love
with you,” she told Stacy.   “Niki has always had very good taste.”

Stacy smiled
for the first time.

“And there’s
that beautiful smile he told me about,” Lillie said, smiling back at Stacy. 
She squeezed her hand and then let go of it and stood up.   “Will you come back
in with me?” Lillie asked.

Stacy nodded
her head and stood up.  “It’s nice to meet you, Lillie.”

“It’s nice to
meet you too.”  They started walking back to the waiting room. “You know, you
and Niki have the same eyes.”