Trifecta (31 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"So what's up with this impromptu invitation?"  Ken leaned over the table and handed Russell a screwdriver.

              "Yeah since when did we score dinner on Russell?"  Tom straightened out the rest of the tools.

             
"What do you mean?"  Russell sat back and assessed his latest challenge, an early 1990's Mac computer.  He remembered when those came out.  His parents bought him one, it had an 80-megabyte hard drive and he was the envy of everyone in the computer club.  Even Jason was impressed.  Now the flash drive Lauren kept misplacing was sixteen gigabytes. Times were different.

He put his hand on his pocket.  She left the flash drive in the kitchen.  He found it on night two of his solitude when he rearranged the kitchen.  Today every drawer, cupboard and crevice had been cleaned and organized.  Everything except the bedrooms and the once studio.

Now he slept on the couch watching the oil lamp he rehung so he didn't have to step into Jason's old room.  As he headed into night three, he was sure he going to end up running through here pulling his hair out and screaming or spending another night cleaning and looking out the front window waiting for car lights.  After a week, he decided he needed a straight jacket, hence the invitation.  "It was about time we had a guys night."  Yes, times were different.  He tightened his grip on the screwdriver and went in for the kill.  "After we eat I got a movie, and I set up the video games."

"Gee, I wish I would have brought my sleeping bag, and the three of us could camp out in the living room and make a tent with your extra sheets."  Ken laughed and took a swig of his beer.

Russell swallowed.  He guessed the guys didn't want to spend the night.

Tom reached over and grabbed the screwdriver.

"Hey."  He kept his grip on the tool.

"Where are the other people who live with you?" 

"Yeah, I was hoping to see Lauren."  Ken looked over his shoulder.

The doorbell rang.

"They forgot their keys!"  Russell dropped the screwdriver, pushed himself away from the table and dashed toward the door.

Before he rounded the corner to the living room, he skidded to a stop, grabbing the doorjamb before he tripped.  The last time the doorbell rang Lauren received a present that would take him months to save up for. 

She walked away too fast.  Disappeared without a note or a call.  For all he knew she was with that doctor right now showing off whatever was in that box.  No wonder she left half her stuff here.  She didn't need it anymore.

The doorbell rang again.

"Dude, are you going to get the pizza or what?"  Tom came over and hit him on the shoulder.

Where he was starving when he got home, now the vision of melted cheese, sauce and chunky toppings caused a sour sensation to rise in the back of his throat and work its way through his body.  "Can you get it?"  He reached in his pocket, trying to ignore Lauren's flash drive, and fished out some money.

"Sure."  Tom gave him a pat, snatched the money and trotted away.

Russell returned to the table.  He sat and reached for his beer.  Once again he stopped himself.  This was the brand Jason got him.  The bribe brand.

No doubt Jason went to his parents.  Right now his mother was probably helping him get ready for the show.  She probably even gave him every reason why he should show his grand art. 

He narrowed his eyes and tried to think what Cecelia would say.  "You love them and it came out in the art.  The world should see it."

"What?"  Tom hit the table.

He blinked and shook his head, not meaning to say the words aloud.  "Nothing."  He took his time exhaling. Was it possible this was a labor of love and not profit?  Jason hadn't strayed once since he concocted his plan.  In fact, he was the one who turned out to be jealous and possessive. He wanted to wear the three of them on his shirtsleeve, show the world, and it came out in his art. 

He stared at the beer bottle wanting the answers.  Unlike Jason, he went to any length to hide them, even after he said he wouldn't.  He even lied.

Ken returned with the three pizza boxes and placed them on the kitchen counter.  "Looks like we are ready for our night.  You ordered a ton.  Are we expecting the rest of your crew?"

"Something's wrong with him."  Tom pointed to Russell.  "He's talking about the world seeing his art."

"What's up, Russ?"  Ken put the boxes in a row and opened them.  "Where is everyone?"

Russell turned and assessed what he ordered.  The vegetarian for Lauren because she felt the vegetables diluted the cheese.  The pineapple and ham for Jason, who was convinced he invented the concept of fruit on pizza, and the cheese for him, though Lauren and Jason would both sneak a piece of that pie.  "What if I told you I was with Lauren?"

"I would ask you why she wasn't here serving us this pizza."  Ken grimaced at the pineapples.

He was about to tell his friend to try it, he may like it.  Lauren and Jason may steal the cheese slices, but he would swipe theirs as well.  Pineapple was his favorite.

"I would say tell me something I don't know."  Tom got up and examined the food. 

"Okay."  Russell got up and put a slice of Jason's pizza on Ken's plate.  "I have another question."

"Shoot."  Tom took a bite and tilted his head.

"What if I told you that Lauren…" He cut himself off and cleared his throat.  If he couldn't own it now, he never could, and he would have to leave things as they were.  He would have to spend the rest of his life sleeping on the couch, watching the oil lamp and waiting for them to come home. 

"Dude, spit it out."  Tom took a slice of all three pizzas.

The couch was killing his back. 

"What if I told you that me, Lauren and Jason are together?"  He stared straight ahead, but he said the words. 

The room became silent. 

He clenched his fist.

"I would say that is awesome."  Ken shoved the rest of the slice in his mouth and socked Russell in the arm.  "Dude."

"I would say tell me something I don't know."  Tom took hold of him and turned him.  "How does that work?"

Russell was still back at the awesome remark.  "What?"

"Don't you watch porn?"  Ken's voice was stifled from trying to chew.  "Lauren has enough room for at least two more men, maybe three."

"Hey."  Russell shook his head.  They really didn't need anyone else in the mix.  He turned between his friends.  "Seriously."

Ken went in for another slice of pizza.  "It's a little out there, but sort of cool.  I don't really care.  I think it would be weird at first but it’s still you."

"What about work?"  Russell pressed two fingers into his temple. 

"We work in computers, you would be a God."

That answer was about as honest as he could hope for, and if he were alone he may punch his fist through a wall or burst into tears.  He destroyed them.  Wrecked the two people he loved. 

Tom went to the refrigerator and got another beer.  "Lauren was a given, but I have to admit, if I had Jason living with me, he would be hard to resist."  He raised his bottle.

Ken and Tom both burst out laughing.

He let Lauren and Jason leave, practically pushed them out the door.  His heart raced in that horrible way that told him he needed to get out of here, run and find them, or maybe go throw up.  He moved down his glasses and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes trying to think.  Jason sold them, or did he? Lauren left with a doctor. No she didn't, she only left with a box.

"Dude, where are your better thirds?" 

He wasn't even sure who asked that question.  He needed one of Jason's plans right now, needed to think, needed to ask Lauren what to do.

Without his partners, he would have to use what he had at hand.  He looked up, adjusted his glasses, and opened his mouth to ask them when his phone vibrated on the table.

Maybe it was one of them, and instinct caused him to jump toward the table, almost knocking the computer over.  He managed to grab his phone, and a quick glance at the number told him it wasn't either of his bedmates.  "Hello?"

"Mr. Sinclair?"  A female voice asked.

"Yes."  The voice was too official and he turned to his friends, but they weren't the right ones.

"This is Cedar Sinai Hospital, Lauren Redmond has you listed as her emergency contact."

He froze and tried to listen, but the woman's words were drowned out by his own prayers.  Right now, above everything else, he needed his best friend.

Chapter Thirty

Somehow Jason managed to get himself to the hospital, though the ogre managing the visitor's desk, and now down the hallway toward the surgery waiting room.

Before he entered, he stopped, leaning over and bracing himself on his knees, inhaling in an unsuccessful attempt to catch his breath.  His throat ached for moisture, and his heart thumped a warning for him to take it down a notch. 

With some sort of semblance of control coming over him, he straightened up and fought the need to burst through the door and demand to know what was going on with Lauren.  Instead he opted to turn the knob and walk in like a man who didn't feel like he had a huge metal-toed boot kicking him right the groin.

He may as well have had the groin kicker. 

Russell already arrived.   Of course he got there first.   He sat hunched over, his head in his hands, but looked up at the slam of the door.

They glanced at each other. Jason shoved his hand in his pocket and stepped further into the room, and at last Russell tilted his head.  Jason answered with a nod and sat down next to him.

Jason rocked back and forth in his chair and scanned the room.  At one point the walls were white, but they yellowed with age.  The sparse furniture was a horrible rose color that in some decade when shoulder pads were fashionable may have been acceptable.  The only items adorning the walls were a small television he was sure was devoid of cable and a poster about flu symptoms.  If someone's illness didn't kill them, the décor would most definitely do the job.

He switched from rocking to foot tapping, and peeked at Russell.  With twenty years of words between them, now when they needed to speak the most, they had nothing to say.

Leave it to Russell to do the right thing.  "She's in surgery."

"Hence the surgical waiting room."  Jason squeezed the bridge of his nose.  "Do you know anything?"  Russell always knew everything.  The location of any bathroom, the nearest water fountain, answers about someone's life.

"I got a call she was in an accident.  When I got here they told me to wait in this room.  No one has come in yet."  Russell strummed his fingers on his knee.  "Do you know anything?"

Jason turned.  Russell was asking him?   "Same thing, call, hospital, room, nothing.  Did you try to get anyone?"

Russell shook his head.  "I was waiting for..." He cut himself off.

"For what?"

"Nothing."  Russell shut his eyes.

"Right now all that matters is Laurie is okay."  Jason would raise the white flag for now, for her. 

"Yeah."  He stood up and paced among the row of chairs.  "She was alone."

Jason stared up at the ceiling.  Nondescript white tiles and unflattering fluorescent lights.  "I have already thought of that."

"She hates being alone."  Russell paced the other way.

"She gets in trouble when she's alone. Remember last time?" 

Russell stopped at the mention of their Vegas trip.

"God, that was great."  Jason didn't realize he said the words aloud until he was met with Russell's glare at the mention of the unmentionable.

"The night or the creation?"  Russell crossed his arms. 

Jason stood, but before he had a chance to say anything, the door opened.

"Who's here for Lauren Redmond?"  A man in blue surgical scrubs entered carrying a folder. 

They both rushed to the man.

"I'm Doctor Roberts."  The doctor lifted his chart.  "Is one of you her husband?  Next of kin?"

"I am." Russell raised his hand.

"We are."  Jason stood next to him.  "We both are."

Now the man looked between them. 

"Please tell us what's happening with my…" Russell paused.  "With our Lauren."

The doctor turned a few pages of the chart and right as Jason went to step closer to Russell, Russell moved over and they collided with each other.

Jason ground his teeth together when Russell jumped away, putting ample space between them.

"Miss Redmond was in a serious car accident.  She was struck by a car when she was running across the street."  The doctor told them.

Russell covered his eyes.

Jason shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  Why wasn't Russell taking over, asking if she were alive, would she be okay?  He waited, wanting his best friend to do what he did best, but Russell remained transfixed, his eyes hidden and his hand shaking.  "Is she alive?"  Jason asked.

"She has a broken leg, a concussion and suffered some internal bleeding, but she is alive." 

Russell still didn't move. 

"Is she going to be okay?"  Jason continued to ask the necessary questions.  He needed to keep his focus, listen to everything.  Be the eyes and ears, but right now being kicked in the groin seemed definitely preferable than having to hear this.

"She is still unconscious.  We're monitoring her." 

Jason heard what the doctor wasn't saying.  The man purposely didn't answer his question.  His stomach bottomed out and he turned to Russell.   

Russell lowered his hand and stared off at nothing. 

"Can we see her?" 

"Yes, we're transferring her to a room now."  The doctor headed out of the room.

Jason walked forward but Russell stayed shaking his head. "Come on.  She can't be alone."  He stepped backwards, not turning until Russell followed.

The doctor led them through a maze of corridors.  Jason was sure he would never be able to find his way out of this hospital again.  Every room seemed to hold some sort of despair or potential for sadness and at last they were guided into their own hellhole. 

"Jason." 

At last Russell spoke, and Jason looked back at his friend.  Any color had long left his face and now seemed to take on a greenish-grey hue.

He spun back and caught sight of what made Russell appear as if he were going to land in his own hospital bed.

Lauren wasn't big to begin with, but the bed, the tubing and the machines surrounding her made her seem tiny.  If he blinked she would disappear.  A car couldn't have done this much damage, more like a semi-truck, there seemed not one spot on her that wasn't bruised or bandaged.

Russell went around to one side of the bed, sat down and took her hand.

Jason followed suit, taking the opposite side and the opposite hand and there they sat with only the intermittent wheezing and clicking of a ton of devices he didn't understand to keep them company.

Her hand was limp, cold, nothing at all like when he would grab her during sleep.  Even if she were exhausted she would moan or give him a squeeze, but now, nothing.  Russell must have noticed it as well. He had Lauren's hand lying flat in his and was simply staring down. 

He looked between Russell and Lauren.  Her between them, them on either side.  This was how things should be.  "You know it did start out as an experiment." 

Russell raised his head, but didn't speak.

"I thought it would be good for us, do what we always wanted. I thought we needed it." He swallowed.  "Damn it, I wanted the inspiration."

Russell pursed his lips and nodded.

"Then it changed." 

"What changed?" 

Jason turned away, studying a pain scale hanging on the wall.  Zero was a happy face with no pain and ten was a sad crying face.  With everything, with Lauren, with Russell, with sitting in this hospital room, he would say his pain rated about a twelve and he wondered what that face's illustration would be, maybe someone's head exploding.  "Somewhere in there I started to care."  He faced Russell. "You and Lauren turned into more than my best friends.  Both of you."

Russell didn't respond.  Jason didn't expect him to, not yet.  He could tell Russell was chewing on the inside of his mouth as if he needed to masticate and digest his words.

Jason waited, the weight on his chest pressing down, getting heavier with each passing second.

Russell slid his free hand across Lauren.  He looked right at Jason and turned his hand over offering it to him palm up. 

Jason inhaled for the first time in a week and took the gift Russell gave him, first putting his hand in his and then moving up and grabbing hold of his wrist.

Russell smiled and reciprocated the action.  "It is more."

"It is."  Jason looked at Lauren.  "I hope she knows it."

"Me too."  Russell tightened his hold.  "Why was she running through Beverly Hills?"

He shook his head.  Dr. Dalton and his handbag of wonders were in Beverly Hills.  The douche was probably still there injecting people who didn't need it while they were here with Lauren.  "I hope she knows we're here."