Just For You (23 page)

"He's alive, but it's bad, Cameron. He was coming home from school when a car ran a red light and hit him. Just get here, okay? We'll explain everything. St. Mary's, you know where it's at."

The line went dead and Cameron found himself gasping for air. His head was reeling; he couldn't tell left from right or up from down. The world felt like it was spinning much too fast and he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. His grip was slipping, slipping…

Tears were in his eyes as he threw the phone at the ground, where it shattered. He didn't give a damn. Cameron mumbled to himself, trying to keep back the sobs as he searched for his wallet. Only through enormous effort was he able to call Todd, who offered without the slightest hesitation to drive him to the hospital.

It was nearing 8:30 when they arrived.

* * * *

Imogen sat in one of two small, uncomfortable chairs in the hospital bedroom, chewing on the nail of her thumb. Alex was in the bed, sleeping now, as peacefully as he could be. Mr. and Mrs. Moody were at either of his sides, holding his hands and praying silently. From where she sat she could see the bags under their eyes, the lines of stress and worry which etched themselves onto their foreheads many hours before.

Bobby and Sarah were in the cafeteria, filling up on coffee. The girls were dropped off at Sarah's parent's house.

For now Alex was doing fine. His heartbeat was steady. He was breathing. He wasn't in much pain. His family surrounded him. There was only one other person everyone was waiting on, and Imogen didn't know how Cameron would react when he saw her there, or if he would even care at all. He hadn't come for her, she reminded herself. He was coming for Alex, and Alex was all that mattered. When Sylvia called her and asked her to come to the hospital, she hesitated for a split second. But then there were no other second thoughts; Imogen had to be there for Alex. She had to make sure he was okay. All the all the animosity between she and Cameron could be put aside for a few hours.

Everything was quiet. Then, when the doors burst open, there was only one reason for all the commotion. It was him.

* * * *

When Cameron came in he didn't even see her. He made a beeline straight for the bed, and Todd followed closely on his heels, hands out toward Cameron like he would catch him should he fall.

Cameron's breath caught in his throat when he saw him. Alex looked so small, lying there in that bed with tubes stuck all over his body, in his nose, his mouth, the veins in his wrists. Black and blue bruises peppered every inch of skin Cameron could see. Alex's chest rose and fell slowly and his eyelids fluttered every now and then as he slept. Cameron had to bite down hard to hold back a sob.

He sniffled and looked at Sylvia, who was sitting next to the bedside with Alex's hand in her own, her eyes focused on her youngest son's face.

"Who did it?" Cameron asked. George, his back to Cameron, turned and Sylvia looked up when he spoke. "What sorry son-of-a-bitch did this to him? I'll kill him." It took all he had not to raise his voice, but he checked it, for Alex. It was too difficult to stay calm here. The placid look on everyone's faces and their apathetic attitudes toward this entire incident was enough to send Cameron into a fury.

"Ssh," Sylvia warned. "Now is not the time. Please---"

"Now is not the time?" Cameron moved toward his mother, his hands in tight fists at his sides. George stood up and placed his hands on Cameron's shoulders, the hard sound of the chair legs scraping against the floor ringing in the small, crowded space.

"You need to calm down," George said. His voice was low and threatening. His eyes darkened and his jaw set as he dared Cameron to disobey him. "You think your mother and I aren't distraught about this? You think we don't want to find that man and tear his head from his neck, too? You are not the only one here who cares about Alex."

Cameron sneered in his father's face. "Yeah, well none of you seem to give too big a shit."

George's grip on Cameron's shoulders tightened. He moved so that they were just millimeters apart, their noses almost touching. "There is a time and a place, Cameron. Right now is neither the time, nor the place. You need to sit down, and you need to calm down. You need to keep it together for Alex when he wakes up. That's it, Cameron. That is your duty."

Cameron breathed heavily through his nostrils and with extreme difficulty he was able to tear his eyes away from his father's. The fight for dominance was over and the power dynamic was now established. Cameron was the loser, and he was going to have to concede to the wishes of his parents, whether he liked it or not.

He didn't like it one bit but he knew he needed to do what was right for Alex, and what was right for Alex did not include bickering and arguments.

"Where's Bobby?" Cameron asked, his voice raspy and seething. He looked around the room and that was when he spotted her.

Imogen was standing now; she'd stood up quickly as soon as Cameron and Todd entered the room. She was staring back at him, her hands folded in front of her and her eyes wide. She wasn't breathing.

"What's she doing here?" Cameron asked no one in particular. He never took his eyes from her and she felt her knees go weak. He was trying to kill her with his thoughts, she knew.

"I called her," Sylvia said.

Cameron turned to her. "You… you called her?" He made a face of disgust and his voice was blatantly mocking as he repeated her words.

"Yes," Sylvia shot back, tilting her chin up. "I called her."

"Why? This is a family matter. You want to call up all your friends and ask them to be here? Hell, let's call all the newspapers and invite every single reporter in this town into this room right now. Come on, what are you waiting for?" He made a gesture with his arms and Todd had to stand back to avoid being inadvertently smacked in the face. "I can go down to the waiting room and announce the news, if you'd like, tell everyone my brother's been knocked out cold---"

"Stop it," George snapped. The authority in his voice checked Cameron's rage.

Sylvia made a face at him and shook her head. "You are acting like a child. I wanted her to be here, that's the end of it."

Imogen blinked. The room was spinning and shrinking around her; there was the distinct feeling that she did not belong here, Cameron was right. Finally she remembered how to swallow, and once her throat was no longer dry, she said, "It's getting late. I have to leave."

No one in the room moved. All their eyes were on Imogen, waiting for an explanation.

Imogen nodded. "I should leave. I'm sorry, it's just that I have wo---"

"Go," Sylvia said. For the first time that night she untangled her hand from Alex's. "We understand. Go."

Imogen smiled, though it was forced. "Please, tell Alex that I love him when he wakes up? I'll come and visit, I promise."

Sylvia stood now, and made her way to Imogen. Imogen could feel the weight of Cameron's stare on her, piercing her, tearing her apart. He watched with repulsion as Sylvia and Imogen hugged. Imogen kept her gaze from him, knowing that if she met his eyes she would fall apart and a war of prolific proportions would rage in no time.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Moody," she managed to say. Suddenly a flood of tears were making their way up and she was powerless to stop them. She felt Sylvia's body fall into her own, felt Sylvia's chest heave in response.

"Don't," Sylvia pleaded, running her hand along the back of Imogen's head. "Don't do that." She pulled from her, her voice thick when she spoke. "I will call you when he wakes up."

Imogen nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve on her jacket. Sylvia did the same.

"Goodbye, Sylvia. George. Todd." She hesitated when it was Cameron's turn. Conjuring up every last bit of courage she had in her, Imogen met his gaze, still fiery, and nodded to him. "Cameron."

It was necessary for her to pass quite close to Cameron if she was going to make it out of the room. He cringed when he felt the air blow against his face when she went by him. His eyes followed her, even when he was required to turn his head, to watch her leave.

For a few split moments, the room was filled with silence.

"Where's Bobby?" Cameron asked again.

"The cafeteria," Sylvia answered.

Cameron nodded and left the room. But it wasn't Bobby he was in search of.

* * * *

She was walking swiftly to the bus stop, her arms swinging back and forth with her long strides.

"Hey!"

She slowed to a stop and took a moment's pause before turning around to Cameron, who was standing at the bottom of the hospital entrance. She didn't say anything, just sighed and waited for the flood.

Cameron swallowed and closed the distance between them a little, until they were roughly five feet apart instead of twenty.

She was still as pretty as he remembered, and he hated that. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, from the crying, and her mouth red and swollen from where she'd chewed on her lips. Her sweater was stretched out at the arms because she'd pulled the ends down to cover her hands. There were makeup smears on the wrists there. She stood with her arms folded protectively over her chest.

They stared each other down but they both knew Cameron was going to speak first. He teased the moment out a bit, tried to make her guess when he would ask the first question. He wanted her to scramble.

"What are you doing here?"

"I already told you. Your mom called me and told me what happened. I wanted to be here when Alex woke up. I took the first train."

Cameron scoffed, taking two steps back and rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb before shoving his hands in the pocket of his coat.

Imogen swallowed. He was mocking her, laughing at her as he moved backward, curls falling into his eyes when he shook his head. Her knees felt weak and her head light. She wanted to cry, to scream, to put her hands on him and shove him to the ground. She stayed where she was.

"I never could get rid of you," he said. "You come all the way over here, knowing that I was going to show up, too. Can't you ever just leave me alone, Imogen? Don't you understand that I want my space? I don't need you around me all the time. You're a nuisance." He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them out at his sides. "You make it worse by never being able to take a God damn hint."

Imogen's entire body was trembling. She wanted to speak but she was so confused, so hurt, by what he just said to her that she couldn't decide which words to say to him first. All she could do was blink away the bewilderment.

Finally her voice came back to her, and she said with angry eyes, "Cameron, not everything is about you."

He smirked.

"Do you know what your problem is?" She said. Her voice was growing stronger, louder, less afraid. "You think the entire world revolves around Cameron Moody. In your head you might be the most important person, but in reality no one cares as much as you want them to care. Your mother called me on the phone today and told me that your brother had a concussion and all I could do was sit there and hesitate because I thought to myself, 'What would Cameron say? How would he react if he saw me there?' That's idiotic, don't you think? It took one second for me to throw caution to the wind, because I knew I wasn't coming all the way out here to see you, or to try and talk with you. This is about Alex, not about you, Cameron. Stop being so selfish for one second because you are not that important. I made the decision to come over here so I could be with your family, so that I could give them as much support as they needed from me because God knows they don't get enough from you."

Cameron's eyes flickered with fire and he stepped forward with a finger pointed at her. "Don't you ever say that to me. Ever!" His voice rang like a gunshot in the silent, cold air. People were beginning to sense that something wasn't right. They started to watch them. "You don't know me, Imogen. You never knew me so do not fucking stand there and try to act like you do."