Out of Place (17 page)

Chapter 30

The last thing Emily expected to see when she opened her eyes was her parents standing there. There was a brief moment of excitement until she realized it was just the leftover vision from the dream she was having.

The fact that it had been two days and not a single person she knew had come to see her confirmed what she’d feared most. Her family was gone. It was crushing, but then she had to blink again when she saw her mother was still standing there. Her mind was really playing tricks on her.

Blinking away the vision
one more time, it still didn’t clear the hallucination. Maybe it wasn’t in her mind at all. She didn’t want to talk to the aberration, but she did anyway. “Mom?”

Her mother smiled through the tears. “Hi
, baby.” She leaned down and hugged her daughter.

Emily cried tears of joy
and relief. She never expected to see anyone from her family ever again. It was such a relief to know it wasn’t true. But something about it was strange and a kernel of pain wouldn’t go away. “Where’s Dad?” She asked. Her mother didn’t answer. She just cried and Emily knew.

Her mother pulled away. “He’s gone
, Em. He didn’t make it. Your brother, too.”

“What happened?”

Erica shook her head. “Harry caught them together.” She wiped her tears.

Emily felt a new sadness inside her. “What do you mean
, caught them together?”

Erica took a deep breath and blew it out.
She bit back tears. “Your father had an affair with Arlene last year. It was a bad time for us. I guess we hid it well enough from you kids. But your father and I were in a tough stretch. We worked through it and I forgave him. He swore it was over, a one-time thing, and I believed him. We were just starting to get happy again. But Arlene still wasn’t happy with Harry, and she decided to leave him. She was going to move back to Texas, she told Harry everything.” She wiped her tears and continued. “Arlene had asked your father to help her get some stuff out of the attic that morning. So when he came home for lunch, he went over. Harry came home, too, and your father was there. He must’ve assumed the worst.”

Emily felt sick
. If she’d eaten anything at all, it would have come back up.

Erica
looked up and shook her head. “Harry apparently led them over to the house, executed them, and burned the house down. Your brother was sleeping upstairs and he never made it out. I got the call at work that there was a fire. The police didn’t realize what happened until later. And when I heard what happened to your friends, I knew. I used to catch him looking at you; it was creepy, but your father said I was overreacting. But a mother notices these things. I never thought he’d do anything, but once he snapped, all bets were off.”

Emily was torn apart inside. As sad a
s she was to learn the truth, happiness that her mother was alive was a positive she couldn’t discount. But it seemed so hollow. It seemed so surreal. The emotional turbulence was like being torn apart by sharks from the inside out. She turned to her mother. “Where’s Zack?”

Her mother looked at her oddly. “Who?”

“Zack.” She needed to see him. Emily saw a nurse walk by the door. “Nurse?”

A thin
Asian girl with small glasses stopped and turned into her room. “What can I do for you?”

“Where’s
Zack Anderson, he came in here with me. He’s—”

“He’s right down the hall
,” the nurse replied.

“I need to see him.” Emily sounded maybe more urgent than she
wanted to, but the nurse nodded and held up her finger. She left the room.

Erica looked back at her daughter. “Who’s
Zack?”

Emily smiled. “He’s
my friend.” She started to cry tears of joy that he was alive. She knew in her heart he was, but until now, no one had really confirmed it. She’d been asking for him, but all they did was ignore her or redirect her attention. “He’s my very—very good friend.”

“I don’t know any
Zack.”

She laughed softly.
“Neither did I a few days ago. He’s a new friend.”

A few minutes later
Zack appeared in the doorway in his hospital gown. He looked tired and thin, but she was so happy to see him. He moved to her gingerly and bent to hug her. They said nothing for the longest time and just shared the embrace, the relief and wonder that they were both here to do this was amazing.

S
he kissed his neck and said, “I guess our luck didn’t run out.”

Zack
eased away from her and stood upright. “I can’t believe it. When I left you, it was so grim.”

She sniffled in her running nose
and took hold of his hand. “I kept asking for you, but they just kinda ignored me. I didn’t even know you were alive for sure. But I knew,” she pointed to her chest, “in my heart.”

Zack
smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Emily looked to her mother. “Mom, this is
Zack.”

Zack
looked at Erica and nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Erica shrugged. “I guess it’s nice to meet you. But who are you?
How did you two meet?”

Zack
smiled and looked at Emily. “I’m just her hiking buddy.”

Emily laughed, then
, wincing from the pain. “Oww…it hurts when I laugh.” She pushed away her smile. “Zack, what happened to Harry?”

He shook his head somberly. “The police are looking for him.”

She sighed and frowned.

Zack
squeezed her hand. “Hey, don’t worry. The cops are looking for him all over the east coast. It’s a massive manhunt. They’re going to find him.”

Emily nodded and reached out for her mother’s hand.

Chapter 31

Finally leaving the hospital was so welcome. Zack had been cooped up in there at least three days too long and even though he felt good enough to leave, they refused to let him go. Emily still hadn’t been discharged yet. They were thinking about keeping her one more day. Either way, he wasn’t leaving town without her. He sat there in the courtyard surrounded by trees in the shade.

He saw his father walk around the corner.
Jeremy Anderson still looked youthful with a thick head of black hair and few wrinkles. He’d always been svelte, but was starting to grow that middle-aged belly. His parents were finally heading back home to New Jersey. They were drained and tired and had to get back. “Hey, Pops.”

“You gotta be happy to get out of that place.”
Jeremy sat on the bench next to this son.

Zack
nodded. “Oh yeah.”

“I’d’ve been kicking down walls days ago.”
He leaned back. “You got your mother’s patience, that’s for sure.”

“Her good looks
, too,” Zack joked.

“Hey, punk.”

Zack poked his father in the belly. “And what’s up with this? You look like you gained twenty pounds.”

“Heh, more like
twenty-five,” Jeremy replied. “You’re mother’s already bitchin’ me out about it, so don’t you start.”

“She should.”

“All right—all right, I’m on the case. I gave up the ice cream and the white bread, no more bacon and pizza, only once a week. My cholesterol was a little high too, so my doctor wants me on one of them drugs if I can’t get it down on my own.”

“I’ll take you to the gym with me
. You’ll be ripping back in shape in no time.”

“I started riding my bike every morning
. Then I do pushups and crunches.”

Zack
nodded. “Nice, there you go. Just keep doing that.”

“Actually, I started riding your bike.”

“Which one?”

“The Diamon
dback.”

Zack
made a face. “I’d rather you ride the Cannondale.”

“It has a flat.”

“I’ll fix it up when I get home.” Zack sighed. “Well, did you get it?”

Jeremy
looked around suspiciously. “Don’t tell your mother. If she finds out, I’ll kick your ass from here to Miami and back.”

“I’m not gonna tell her.”

“Oh, here’s your new phone, too.” Jeremy handed him the device.

Zack
checked it out. “Nice job, a perfect replacement.”

“
They had a white one too, but yours was purple. The carrier had all your info, so they were able to give it to me just as you bought it.”

Zack
put the phone into his pocket. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s in the car.
She’s toast, you know how she hates being out of her routine and being away from home this long is draining her.” He looked around to see if anyone was within earshot. “I put it into your gym bag with your clothes and threw the bag into the rental car we got you.” He held out the keys. “It’s a silver Malibu out in the D-lot.”

“Thanks
, Pop, you’re the best.”

“Yeah, well. If I thought for a second you didn’t know how to use it, I wouldn’t have agreed. But I know you’re not an idiot.”

They stood and walked out to the car. Zack saw his mom, Angela, sitting in the passenger seat. She was an attractive Italian with fine black hair and small red-rimmed glasses. She was thumbing through the screens on her phone.

“See you later
, Mom.” He leaned into the window and gave her a kiss.

“You too
, and be more careful in the future. If you need anything, you know where we are.”

“Yup.”

“And hey, mind your steps with that girl in there. She’s been through so much, and she really cares about you.”

“I will.”

“No, Zack, I’m not being flippant here. She’s a very, very sweet girl, and she’s very vulnerable.”

“I know.”

She nodded. “I know you know, but sometimes men need to be reminded.”

“No
t me.”

Angela nodded. “
Okay, fair enough. Just make sure she knows where you stand, and make sure you stand by what you stand for.”

Zack
smiled. “You’re always shrinking me.”

“Of course I am
. It’s what I do. I know people and I know you better than anyone.”

“Right back at
’cha, Mom.”

She smirked.
“Wise ass,” then she snapped a picture of him as the car pulled away.

He got into the silver Chevy
Malibu and quickly went through his gym bag. He got his fingers around the handle of the pistol and inspected it, a Smith & Wesson MP .40 caliber. There was no way he was going to be unarmed again with this psycho still out there. Zack didn’t care if every cop and the entire armed forces were tailing this guy, he didn’t trust them to close that net. This guy was cunning and nasty and Zack wasn’t going to be backed into that corner again unarmed.

He headed back into the hospital and got a little nervous when he saw some cops milling around in the lobby
, then two camera crews rushed at him. He looked behind, assuming they were going towards someone else, but then he realized they were looking at him.

The two reporters barked questions at him
, but Zack just kept moving right past. He didn’t really listen to the words they were saying, but apparently he and Emily’s little adventure was already front page news. The police stopped the reporters from following him into the elevator.

He sighed in relief when the polished stainless steel doors closed. The cops had already grilled him for hours. Then the FBI pretty much asked all the same questions
a day later. Just getting out of here was all he wanted.

The elevator doors opened and he headed down the hallway to the
recovery wing. He saw Erica standing by the door to Emily’s room on her phone. It was weird that she looked so much like Emily. She had the same button nose and soft cheeks, only Erica was shorter and had blue eyes and no dimples that he’d noticed. She nodded to Zack as he walked past into the room. Emily’s face lit up when she saw him.

“You look better,”
he said.

“I’m feeling better.” She pointed to her arm. “They finally took my IV out
, I’m free.”

“
Sweet diggity, that means you’re close to going home.”

She shrugged.
“I hope so, they said tomorrow. Did your parents leave?”

“Yup.”

“They’re really nice. Your mom is so sweet. She’s like one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, sorry about her pinching your cheeks, but she loves dimples.”

Emily laughed a little. “It’s funny, because that sort of thing would normally bother me like crazy, but she’s just so cute.”

“S
he’s perfected a way to invade people’s personal space without getting them upset over it.”

“Your dad reminds me of Charlie Sheen. I mean, not the way he acts, but he look
s like him a little.”

“He does kinda…only pudg
ier.”

Emily reached for the cup of water on her table. “Can I just tell you, I can’t wait to be able to go to the gym.”

“Seriously? Most people want to get out of the hospital and eat a steak or get a hot fudge sundae. But you, you want to go to the gym.” He laughed. “You’re a piece of work.”

She nodded. “I’m an obsessed freak. I know. I don’t hide it.”

“You’re a real fitness fanatic, huh?”

She sipped her water. “
I love it. It makes me feel so good. It shocks me that everyone doesn’t love it.”

“Yeah, I get that. I like to workout
, too. It does make you feel good. I guess it’s so hard to get started that people easily forget how good it makes them feel. And I guess eating a big greasy burger covered in bacon then sitting down to watch a movie feels better to most people.”

“I guess so.” She
glanced up at the television. “Are the cops gone?”

He sighed. “
No, and now there’re reporters all over the place downstairs.”

She
lowered her brow. “Why?”

“It sounds like
they mostly want to talk to you. Apparently, you’re front page news. I glanced at a few things on the web and you’re the soup of the month.”

Confusion seemed to play at her face until recognition set in. “I guess it’s all pretty sensational.”

“Yeah, hashtag—cute blonde escapes her captor, is shot, falls off a cliff and somehow lives.”

Emily just shook her head. “Ridiculous. I’m sure they got the story pretty wrong
, too.”

“T
he stories are pretty speculative.”

Doctor Lowenstein came in
to the room and she smiled at Zack. “Good to see you looking so well in street clothes.”

“Thanks
, Doc. I feel great.”

She stood next to Emily. “Emily,
how’re you feeling?”

Emily nodded, pursed her lips and said, “I’m doing
good. I feel a lot better.”

Dr. Lowenstein smiled. “Well,
I’ve talked it over with my staff and given your improvement and everything, we want to discharge you tonight, in a few hours.”

Emily smiled broadly. “Awesome.” Then she frowned. “But how come the change?”

Dr. Lowenstein tilted her head. “Given the special circumstances, the staff feels the press and police are distracting. And the police chief advised me he can’t keep bodies here to keep things under control. And the truth is, the last day was only precautionary. It’s not uncommon for us to send people home a day early as long as everything seems up and up. So, I’m going to prepare the papers and you’ll be out of here before dinner.” She looked at Zack. “Maybe you should take her out for a nice meal.”

Zack
nodded. “That sounds like good medical advice.”

The doctor patted him on the arm as she walked by.

**
*

Emily stood waiting by the dull green door. The staff agreed to let her leave via this employee exit, to avoid the reporters. Her mother had snuck out a couple hours ago.

Erica didn’t want to leave
, but Emily insisted she should. There was a ton of stuff to do. Emily had already missed the funerals for her father and brother, so it’s not like she had any reason to go home. She didn’t even have a house and her mother was staying in Morristown with her work friend.

She padded down the stairs. Several nurses and aids were at the door waiting
. They greeted her with scattered, muted applause, and even some hugs. It was totally bizarre, but Emily didn’t really know what to do other than soak it in. She’d been here so long some of these people had become like friends even though she’d probably never see them again.

A silver sedan pulled up and
Zack got out. “C’mon.”

She slid into the car and he sped off into the
night. Although they wanted to get her out before dinner, it actually took until about two hours after dinner to get out of there. Her belly wasn’t growling with hunger, but she wouldn’t object to eating a real meal. The hospital food wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t the type of food she was used to eating.

Her body was tired
, but overall she felt good. She slid down into the seat and pulled up her shirt to look at her stomach. Peeling off the bandage, she was very surprised to see the wound was just a tiny thing. “Wow.”

“Lemme guess, you thought it was going to be bigger?”

She nodded. “I haven’t looked at it in a few days.”

“
The ones on my back are like little pinholes. Even the exit wounds are small after they sew them up.”

She looked back at the wound and started to cry.

Zack reached across the seat and touched her hand. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

The slow steady weeping turned into a full on cry. She couldn’t help it, it just wasn’t fair. “He ruined me.”

Zack looked at her. “Hey, you’re fine. You’ll be back in shape in no time.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that.
”

“What is it?”

She wiped her tears. “They said there’s permanent damage. I’ll never be able to carry a baby. I’ll never be a mother.”

Zack
pulled the car to the side of the road. “Emily, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

She
wanted to punch her stomach, but she resisted. Instead, she punched the dashboard of the car repeatedly until her hand became sore.