Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (30 page)

“Max remember when I
brought you a beer that night.” He nods at me smiling.

“Well let’s bring
Bailey one.” I am up and off my seat in a flash with him
trailing me as I walk down the corridor. I stop at each wall to check
around the corners before moving on. We check all the patient names
on the charts outside each room. After checking about ten rooms I am
about to give up.

“Hey,”
Max calls from three doors down waving wildly. I run to him, seeing
her name on the file we slip into the room closing the door.

I
am beside her in a heartbeat holding her hand and rubbing her hair
off of her beautiful yet very swollen face. I can’t help it,
but yet again I am crying whispering to her, “I’m here
darlin’. I’m with you.”

Max
sits in the chair by the door while I sit beside her, not letting her
hand go. I just stare at her kissing her hand, fingers any part I can
reach without hurting her. I can hear Max snoring after an hour so I
move closer to Bailey resting my head beside hers. I close my eyes
and sing her that lullaby my mom used to sing to us. I repeat it a
few times, still with my eyes closed finally feeling tired I stop.

“That’s
a beautiful song.” My eyes pop open to see a young girl
standing at the foot of the bed smiling at me. “Don’t
worry, I won’t tell that you are here.” I nod in thanks.
She walks to the other side checking the machine and pressing a
button she sees the alarm on my face. “Pain meds, relax.”
She smiles again. “I know her from school; well I am still in
high school. She was a year in front of me but she was always nice to
me. When her friend died and she was in here last year I took care of
her then too.”

“Thanks,”
I whisper but she shrugs.

“It’s
okay, what happened?” She nods at Bailey, making me look down
on her.

“She
got attacked while visiting Summer’s grave.”

The
nurse gawks at me, “No way.” I nod rubbing Bailey’s
face as gently as I can. The nurse waves at me pointing at her watch,
“Shift change is at six.” Smiling I nod, understanding
her. Lying back down beside Bailey I whisper, “I love you,”
before settling in for some sleep.

“Hey
bro” I hear Max in my ear; lifting my head up I gaze at him.

“What?”
he nods to the door. “Lets go Knox; it’s just before
six.” Shit, I can’t believe I fell asleep for that long.
I kiss Bailey and follow Max to the door, both of us sneaking out of
the room like a couple of teenagers creeping out of some chicks
house.

We
make it out of the hospital easily and walk the block back to the
hotel and Max follows me into my room.

“Hey
douche, your room is over there,” I tell him but he shrugs and
dives onto my bed; I’m tired and to worn out to argue. Kicking
off my shoes and jeans I climb under the blankets while Max knocks
out on top fully dressed and boots. My dad is still sleeping. As my
eyes close, I picture Bailey’s face when she told me she was
moving in with me; I smile as I drift off.

Waking
up, I look around the room but it’s empty. Checking my watch, I
jump out of bed; two o’clock already and no one woke me. I jump
into the shower just to wake myself up. Running my hand across my
face, I can feel the growth but I am not about to waste fifteen
minutes shaving. I send Max a text asking where they are while I get
dressed. My phone beeps telling me they are just arriving at the
hospital. Fuck Max! I grab my sweater and run out of the room taking
the stairs because the elevators are slower than crap here.

I
make it to the hospital in time to find the Mortenson’s going
at it again and it gives me an instant headache.

“Why
didn’t you wake me?” I ask Max and my dad as I sit down
beside them.

“You
need rest, son. You can’t pull an all nighter and stay awake
all day too.”

Paige
appears with coffee. “Hey Knox.” She hands me one and
pulls candy bars from her purse “Sorry vending machine sucks.”
She offers me one and I take it only because I am starving.

“Thanks
Paige.” We all sit and wait for hours as the police come and
go, talking with everyone except me but I don’t care. I am fine
with it as long as they don’t accuse me of the shit they were
yesterday.

Frank
sits beside me. “Hi son, how are you?”

“Okay
I guess.”

He
nods. “Yeah I know the feeling. I have to agree with my
daughter; this town really blows.” I can’t help but laugh
at him and his use of Bailey’s saying. “So did she tell
you about this summer?” he asks and I frown.

“No
what do you mean?”

“I
will be out of town most of the summer so she will need some place to
stay.”

I
smile at him “Yeah she told me the moving in bit at the
party.” I can still see her blue eyes shining like a massive
lake captivating me, pulling me in to drown in their depts. Frank and
I sit in silence, both lost in our own thoughts when I see that Corey
dude. I grab Frank with me as I stop him.

“Hey
so did you talk to the cops?”

He
looks between Frank and me nodding. “Yeah I did; I just
finished” Frank looks at him expectantly as he scratches his
face. “Yeah listen I just told them what I saw when I arrived
but like I told them I didn’t see who assaulted Bailey.”
He looks uncomfortable standing there under our gazes.

I
am so frustrated with this guy.

“Listen
do you know who the other guy is?” I ask my patience running
low.

“Eh
yeah, it was Ben Miler” I nearly fall over when he tells us.
Gripping the wall as I stumble back into it. Ben! fucking Ben, the
dude who her friend dated, and ultimately killed herself over. My
world just crashes down around me. I can’t believe I couldn’t
protect her from him, him of all people and I was worried about that
douche Brad.

“Hey
you okay?”

I
look around noticing I am on the floor looking up into two worried
faces. “Yeah.” Shaking my head I try to stand but I
can’t; I’m dizzy and my vision blurs.

“Nurse,
Nurse,” I can hear it but I don’t know who says it and
the next thing I know I am in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm.

“Nice
plan bro” Max smiles at me.

“What?”
I ask feeling confused and dizzy.

“Getting your ass admitted
so you can sneak in tonight, genius.” He fist bumps me and I
laugh because I never thought of doing that but I should have.

My
dad just shakes his head. “You know, this has to stop right.”
He looks at us both.

“Both
of my sons in hospital within three months of each other, are you
trying to kill me?” He shakes his head sighing.

“Sorry,”
Max and I say at the same time.

He
looks at us with an unreadable expression and says, “I need a
drink,” sitting down in the chair.

“Oh I’m on it.”
Paige jumps up from her chair, kissing Max as she waves at us tearing
off down the hall.

“I
don’t think she likes hospitals,” Max says.

About
an hour later she walks back into the room in new clothes and a purse
about the size of a backpack also carrying a large bag from Rosie’s
but no shakes.

“Here you go, boys.”
She plunks the bag down for my dad and Max then closes the door to
the room. Luckily I am the only one in here and the other three beds
are empty. When Paige opens the giant bag, and empties its contents
onto the bed, we all stare the pile of mini bottles of booze and cans
of soda and mixer.

“I raided the mini bar in
both rooms.” She smiles at us and my dad nearly keels over.
“Don’t worry, I paid for it all.” She waves at him.
We all help ourselves to a stiff drink, even I do, and I save a
couple of bottles for tonight.

I
play up my dizziness and end up getting admitted over night taking
Max’s idea and running with it. So by eleven o’clock I am
scurrying down the hall and across the lobby area to get to Bailey’s
room. My socks keep slipping on the floor but I move fast creeping
into her room just as a nurse rounds the corner. Sitting beside her
bed I hold her hand and sing to her again. I’m thinking I
shouldn’t have taken out my IV because I can feel myself
getting dizzier so I climb up beside her keeping to the edge of the
bed with my back pressed up against the rail. Still holding her hand
I kiss her gently and close my eyes humming the lullaby to her until
I fall asleep.

“Hey
you.” I feel a poke on my arm turning my head I see the nurse
from last night. “Get back to your own bed, my shift is almost
done.” Nodding I climb down kissing Bailey again before getting
an escort back to my room with the nurse.

“You should not have taken
this out,” she scolds as she reinserts my IV and makes it drip
faster. “This needs eight hours to empty.” She taps the
nearly full bag.

“Sorry,”
I mumble but only because I have to and I really wanted to see
Bailey. She is more important that my IV.

Just
after ten in the morning a doctor walks into my room asking how I am
feeling, then frowning at the IV fluid which is only half empty
before checking his notes. “Oh I must have moved funny during
the night. It came out.” I nod at the IV bag he smiles.

“Yeah
it happens. I will give you another hour and then release you. You
might as well take all the nutrients you can.” He taps the bag
before leaving. Heaving a sigh of relief I rest my head against the
pillow and close my eyes to try to catch an hours sleep. It comes all
too quickly. Opening my eyes, I have a clipboard shoved onto my
hands.

“Sign
and release,” the nurse states. I sign and she releases,
literally. As soon as I sign, she removes my IV and tells me I can
leave.

Finding
my way back to the lobby, I see my dad walk through the door and
smile at me. “I was coming to find you,” he says reaching
me.

We take a seat on the plastic
grey chairs in the waiting room of ugly grey walls with posters of
diseases and helplines tapped to them. My body sags against the back
of the chair knowing it’s in for a long day of sitting around
and waiting, hoping to hear some good news. My mind drifts as I sit
there bored but not wanting to take any chances of leaving although I
could seriously use a decent meal. I am just about to suggest to my
dad that we skip out for an hour to eat when I see Bailey’s
parents walk down the hall from her room. Frank has his arm around
his Ex who is bawling like a baby. The scene before me drains me of
every emotion I know, every one except fear. My heart plummets to my
stomach thinking this is it, this is the moment when my life crashes
around me leaving me broken and empty.

Bailey

The
blackness holds me hostage, makes my limbs feel like dead weights
fighting against my brain for control. I know I am telling my eyes to
open but they won’t. I know I try to lift my arm but it doesn’t
move. What’s going on? Why can’t I move? I can hear
noises and I swear I can just make out the faint sound of someone
singing. I try to reach it to hold on to it but I can’t. The
effort leaves me tired, weak and lost and I allow the blackness to
pull me down again into nothing.

Again
I hear sounds. I try my best to hold on to them. To concentrate as
hard as I can, to pull myself out of this abyss, to try reach out,
cry out for someone to help me. My struggle feels eternal, like it’s
going on forever. I cry tears of anger and frustration not knowing if
I am indeed crying real tears or not. Holding on to the sound, I
concentrate harder as the sounds grow in intensity. Pushing myself
towards them they become louder and louder until I can hear clearly.
Yes I can hear, I can hear. Sighing in relief I try my eyes they are
so heavy it’s hard. Forcing every ounce of will power I have I
blink. Startled by the bright light but I am doing it, blinking but
only one eye I can only see the left side of the room and my parents
arguing.

Licking
my lips proves to be torture, the sting of my saliva touching them,
gives me reason to moan in pain drawing attention from my parents.

“Sweetheart,”
my mom cries rushing to my side while my dad is on the other. Only I
can’t see him but I feel his hand on my arm. I try motion for
my throat to tell them I need a drink but my mom, who was always crap
a charades, interprets wrong. “It’s okay honey, don’t
talk. The doctor will be here soon.” She pats my shoulder. If
only I could roll my eyes, blinking a few more times clears my vision
a little as a white coat appears beside me.

The
doctor checks the machines and then looks at me. “Hi Bailey,
can you talk?” I try to but my throat is so dry it hurts.
Nodding she lifts a plastic cup to my mouth encouraging me to drink.
“Just suck, they are ice chips.” I do my best to suck as
she tilts the cup a little, emptying some cold ice into my mouth,
quenching the burning thirst. I greedily suck in some more and again
more while she stands and waits finally taking away the cup. “Now
try.” She nods.

“Okay,”
I whisper making her smile.

“It
will take a few hours and a few cups of these,” she waves the
white plastic cup at me. Turning she tells my parents to give me more
ice every half hour until I can manage talking above a whisper then
leaves.

“Sweetheart,
do you remember what happened?” I can hear my dad but still
can’t see him. Turning my head, I wince as pain shoots up my
neck so I quickly assume the position I was just in. My dad walks
around the bed to my left side.

“No
not really,” I whisper again. He holds up the ice and waves it,
parting my lips he tips a mouthful into my mouth, making me gag, but
I swallow the frozen lump.

“I
remember fighting with mom then going to the grave,” my whisper
getting stronger. My dad glares at my mom after I have spoken. I
guess he didn’t know about the telling off or maybe about the
party.

My
mom quickly jumps to her own defense. “It was not an argument,
Bailey. We were talking and it got heated.”