Safe and Sound (14 page)

 
He dropped his hands from Lola’s elbows and whirled around to face his girlfriend. “What did you think was going to happen?”

 
Roxanne had no answer.

 
“Let’s go, Lola. I’ll get some toilet paper from the bathroom to hold against it until we get there.”

 
They walked down the hall beside each other, just like they had every school day for years. It felt
weird
. Lola kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He did the same. They didn’t speak.

 
He felt like a stranger and she didn’t know how just a year had made that possible.
But it had.
So much had changed.
Lola wouldn’t even know where to begin if he asked her what all had changed.

 
It was warm, close to seventy out.
Lola
squinted
her eyes against the sun and looked at Sebastian.
She felt dumb holding a wad of toilet paper against her chin.
Kids looked at her
odd
ly as they went down the steps.

 
“This way,” he said
, nodding toward the school parking lot.

 
Lola followed him
, aware of all the greetings he got along the way. Sebastian had always been popular. Not so much because he was good-looking and athletic, although that didn’t hurt, but because he was a
genuinely
nice person.

 
At the car, he paused
, turning to her
. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe she did that.”

 
I can
, was what she thought. But what she said was, “I’m sure she didn’t mean for me to fall.”
I’m lying
.
Also, your girlfriend’s crazy.

 
The interior of the car was clean and smelled like coconuts. ‘
Between Two Lungs’ by
Florence
and the
Machine
played from the stereo.

 
Sebastian turned the volume down and looked at her.

 
Lola already felt stupid, but it magnified with his intense gaze on her. “What, Sebastian?”

 
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it.
“
Nothing.”
He fiddled with the keys. “Guess I better get you to the doctor.”

 
They pulled out of the parking lot. Lola caught a glimpse of a tall figure with
a
face
de
void of expression near the lilac bush in front of the school.

 
She glanced back as the car drove down the street, but Jack was gone.

 
“Do you have to work tonight?”

 
She jerked her attention to Sebastian. “Um, yeah, I do.”

 
“I’ll
take you and pick you up
when you’re done
, if you feel up to working.”

 
Lola thought of her lost money, thought of her plans to get a car, then to escape.
It made her sick thinking about it.
All that money.
Gone.
Any check she got she’d have to cash and hide from
now
on.

 
“I have to work, and no, I don’t need a ride
there or back
. I’ll be fine.”
Nothing had changed between them.

 
Sebastian’s grip tightened on the
steering
wheel. “What did I do?”

 
Lola froze, disbelieving of the pain she heard in his voice. “What?”

 
The car came to a stop outside the blue building known as Morgan Creek Clinic.
‘Somebody That I Used
To
Know’
by
Gotye
came on
the radio
.

 
“Fitting, huh?”
Bitterness laced his words.

 
She frowned, confused. “What are you talking about?”

 
He gritted his teeth and twisted his body so he faced her. Sebastian stared at her, a tick in his right jaw. “What did I do to push you away? Did I say something? Do something?
What?
”

 
Lola stared at him.
He looked so sad.
She’d never been able to bear his sorrow. What hurt him
had hurt her at one point
.
Apparently it still did.

 
“Sebastian, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” Their gazes met, his doubtful and hers troubled.
“I didn’t—“

 
“Is it because of what I said?”

 
Lola searched her brain. Nothing came to her.
“When?”

 
“The last time we talked.”

 
She couldn’t remember the last time they talked. How could he remember that?
Why
didn’t
she?

 
The a
ir in the car became thick, heav
y, and Lola couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating. “I need—“

 
“God, what is
wrong
with me?” he groaned, thumping his head against the back of the seat. “You need stitches.
Sorry
.”
Sebastian jumped from the car, jogged to her side, and helped her out.

 
The clinic had two doctors and two nurse practitioners; one of the doctors was
Dr. Malory
Jones, Sebastian’s mother.
             

 
Derek Jones, Sebastian’s father, owned a hardware store in town and that’s where Sebastian worked when he wasn’t busy with sports and whatever other extracurricular
activities
he had going on.

 
The
interior
was decorated in mauve and forest green
. There was a small waiting area, a desk for the receptionist, and three rooms to see patients in.
It smelled like lemons in the clinic
.

 
Sebastian
remained beside her
as she registered
at the front desk
, though it wasn’t nece
ssary. She continually felt his eyes on her
.

 
The receptionist, an older lady with white curly hair and glasses, informed Lola, “Since you’re a minor, we need your mother or father to sign a form giving us permission to treat you.”

 
Lola’s stomach plummeted.

 
“
Call your mom, Lola,” Sebastian
urged
when she didn’t say anything.
“
Here.
Use my phone.”

 
Lola stared at the black phone. Her hand shook as she took it
. When her mother answered, Lola hung her head in relief.

 
“She’ll be here soon,” Lola told the secretary
, handing the phone back to Sebastian
.
             

 
The room she was assigned
to
was painted celery green. Butterflies
hung from the ceiling
.

 
Lola noticed the bruises on her arms when her blood pressure was taken. The nurse eyed them, but didn’t say anything.
When she left, Lola got up and went to the mirror, studying her face and neck. Two small bruises where
Bob
’s thumbs had pressed into her
throat
were visible.

 
Sebastian came up behind her. Their eyes met in the reflective glass.
“Does it hurt?”

 
For a minute Lola thought he meant the bruises, but then realized he meant her chin.

 
“No.
It
feels weird more than anything.
Numb.
”

 
He took the toilet paper from her, turned her around, and carefully dabbed at the wound, eyes down.
“I miss you.” Sebastian looked up at the same time Lola’s stomach dropped.

 
Before she could answer, the door opened and his mother walked in.

 
Dr. Jones
was tall, slim, and dressed in a black jacket and skirt, gold heels on her feet.
She was a feminine version
of
Sebastian
down to the gray eyes and light brown hair
; her features striking more than pretty.

 
Her lips formed into a warm smile and she enfolded Lola in her arms. “Lola. I’m so glad to see you, although the circumstances aren’t the best.” She smelled like
lavender. Lola returned the hug
.
It felt good
to be hugged, to feel loved.

 
Dr. Jones pulled away, took in Lola’s face, and her features softened. “Oh, honey, does it hurt a lot?”

 
Lola shook her head, wiping her
wet
eyes on her arm.

 
“
What happened
?”
She
sat down at the desk and opened a laptop.

 
Lola opened her mouth, but Sebastian spoke first.

 
“Roxanne tripped her.”

 
Dr. Jones
looked up from the screen. “Roxanne?
Your girlfriend?”

 
Face red, he gave a tight nod.

 
She sat back. “I see.”

 
“I don’t think she meant to,” Lola said, her words hollow. Two pairs of gray eyes zoomed in on her, showing their suspicion. She shifted her feet. “At least, I don’t think she meant for my chin to split open and need stitches.”

 
Sebastian snorted.

 
His mother
gave him a look and motioned for Lola to sit on the examining table. “Let’s take a look.”

 
Lola complied
, the paper crinkling under her
as she
lay
down
.

 
Dr.
Jones shined a light on her
and brought her face close to Lola’s
.
“Oh, yes, you do.”
She paused and looked up
at her son
. “Sebastian, why don’t you step out for a
minute.
”

 
He straightened. “But—“

 
His mom
raised a hand. “You’ve been a good friend. If Lola wants you with her while I do the stitches, that’s fine, but for now, you need to leave.”
Her voice was stern and hel
d no room for argument.

 
Sebastian stared at his mother and then Lola before nodding. He left, shutting the door behind him.

 
Lola moved to sit up.

 
“You stay right where you are.”

 
She froze and lay back down.
Dr. Jones
’s face blocked out the light as she scrutinized Lola.
“I’ve known you since you were
four
, Lola. I
read stories to you and fed you
. I wiped your nose. I even wiped your behind on occasion.”

 
Dr. Jones
’s image wavered before her.
Pain tightened her throat.

 
“
You’ve been like my daughter for years. We’ve been close. You and Sebastian were best friends, although for some reason you’re both being dumb this year. What I’m trying to say is
,
I would think you could come to me if something was wrong.”
Dr. Jones
cleared her throat when it cracked.

 
Lola broke down, tears streaming down the sides of her face.
Dr. Jones
pulled her up and cocooned her in her arms.
Lola clutched her to her, pretendi
ng for just a moment it was her mom holding her
.

 
“Now you tell me what’s going on and you tell me the truth,”
she said against her hai
r. “
Who did this
to you? Who gave you those bruises?” Her voice shook and she squeezed Lola close.
“Are you being abused?”

 
It was like a dam broke. Horrible, gut-wrenching sounds left Lola’s lips. She couldn’t keep them in, she couldn’t stop.
Her body was wracked with them, with the need to release all her pain. Dr. Jones rocked her as she cried, stroking her hair and murmuring into her ear.