White Liar (13 page)

 
 
 
After he parked his car, he stepped out of it and stared dumbly up at the large building that his friend was housed in.
 
After several seconds, maybe even minutes later, Justin wasn’t all too aware of the timing, his feet started to work on their own.  He felt dazed, confused and not one hundred percent sure of what he was getting ready to walk into.
 

 
 
 
When he entered the hospital a cacophony of scenes, sounds and scents bombarded him all at once.
 
The low hum of the overhead lights was almost too bright for the sterile white walls surrounding him.
 
The smell of antiseptic burned in his nose.
 
The noise of the intercom, paging doctors and nurses here and there, the sound of a baby crying registered somewhere along the way and then he saw her.
 

 
 
 
Alana.
 
John’s baby sister by three years was huddled up against the wall.
 
At that exact moment, her red swollen eyes lifted to his and their gazes locked.
 
He could see the pain in her face and could feel the helplessness roll off her in waves.
 
Holding out his arms to her, Justin waited for her to come to him.

 
 
 
She didn’t hesitate.
 
Jumping up, she ran into his arms and he wrapped himself around her, holding onto her for dear life.
 
He'd known Alana since she was nothing more than a toddler.
 
She was aggravating most of the time, infuriating at others, and irritating the rest, but she was like a baby sister to him.
 

 
 
 
He felt the wetness of her tears begin to soak through his shirt and squeezed her to him a little bit tighter.
 
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered into her hair.
 
“He’s strong, he’ll fight.”
 
At this point Justin wasn’t sure if he was saying those words more for himself or for Alana.
 
She didn’t offer any response, only burrowed deeper into his embrace.
 
Closing his eyes, Justin prayed to God that he was right because a life without John just didn’t seem feasible.

 
 
 
“You didn't have to come, Justin.”
 

 
 
 
Lifting his head, Justin opened up his eyes and nodded a greeting to Mr. Rhodes, John’s father.
 
 
John was his best friend and he wouldn't be anywhere else right now.
 
His hold loosened on Alana and at the sound of her father’s voice, she turned around and stepped out of his arms.
 
She haphazardly wiped at the tears that were trailing down her face with the back of her hands, trying hard to put on her bravest face.
 

 
 
 
“How is he?” She asked, attempting to compose herself and her voice barely audible.

 
 
 
Mr. Rhodes frowned and Justin heard Alana choke on another broken sob.
 
Feeling so helpless, he placed his arm over her shoulder and looked up expectantly at Mr. Rhodes.

 
 
 
“He’s in a coma right now.
 
We…,” he stopped and Justin watched as he huffed out a forced breath before continuing. “We don’t know how long he was unconscious before we found him.
 
His throat was already swollen closed so we don’t know how long he was without air.
 
The next twenty four hours will be the most telling.”
 
Mr. Rhodes turned his head and covered his mouth with his hand.
 
He shook his head, looking like a man who was wrestling with every emotion that a worried father would and should have right now.
 
Defeated, he turned his sad eyes back to Justin. “That’s all we know right now.”

 
 
 
“Mrs. Rhodes?” he asked. “Is she…”

 
 
 
“Yeah,” he motioned with his head behind him. “She’s in there with him now.
 
They will only let one of us in there at a time.”

 
 
 
Justin could only stand there, not really knowing what to do or say.
 
He still had his arm around Alana and Mr. Rhodes just stood in front of him.
 
They all had their own thoughts but none of them were up to voicing them.
 

 
 
 
A door opened just a few feet from the trio, Mrs. Rhodes walked out.
 
She had the same swollen eyes as Alana and another chord broke in Justin's chest.
 
This was bad, he thought to himself, real bad and what was worse, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

 
 
 
“Justin,” she hoarsely croaked out and stopped.
 
Their eyes connected and for the second time since he received that damning phone call Justin felt the definite sting of tears burning behind his lids.
 
Unable to speak, Mrs. Rhodes walked straight up to him and engulfed him in a motherly hug.
 
Justin closed his eyes and selfishly soaked in the hug, not only because she needed it, but because right now he needed it too.
 

 
 
 
All too soon though, she let him go and took a step back.
 
He could tell that she was schooling her features in that motherly way of hers.
 
“Justin,” she sighed. “There is nothing you can do here tonight.
 
Why don’t you go home and I’ll call you the minute anything changes.”

 
 
 
Everything in him wanted to rebel at that statement.
 
He wanted to stay until he knew that his friend was out of danger.
 
He needed to make sure that he was okay.
 
But by the determined look on her face, Justin also knew that what he wanted wasn't up for discussion.
 
This was family time right now and it didn’t matter how badly that he wanted to be here, they wouldn’t let him stay.

 
 
 
Feeling his heart sink into his stomach, Justin glanced up at Mrs. Rhodes and asked, "Can I at least see him before I leave?” Mrs. Rhodes sadly looked back at him and said, "No, that's not a good idea right now, he's not doing too well."
 
Unable to hide his own disappointment, Justin looked back up at her and pleaded. "If anything changes, will you
 
promise
 
to call me and let me know?"
 
.

 
 
 
“Yeah,” she agreed, placing her hand on the top of his head. “I’ll call you the minute that anything changes.”

 
 
 
Unhappy about having to leave, Justin could only take what they offered and glumly nod. “Alright.”
 
Turning to leave, he stopped and grabbed Alana’s hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze. “He’s going to be okay,” he told her again, wanting nothing more than to reassure her.
 
“This time next week, you’re going to be screaming at him for stealing your bras or something else stupid like that.”

 
 
 
She chuckled but Justin could tell that her heart really wasn’t in it.
 
She wanted to believe, needed to believe what he had said to her was true but when her brother was in a hospital room just a few feet away from her, unconscious and having to depend on machines to breathe for him, it was hard.
 
It was hard to believe that anything in her small world would ever be the same again.

 
 
 
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told her knowing that whether he got a call or not, he would be back regardless.
 

 
 
 
She nodded and then released his hand.
 
He watched her turn around and go to her father who draped his arm over her shoulder.
 
With nothing else left for him to do, Justin left feeling more exposed and raw than he had ever felt in his entire life.
 

 
 
 
One minute Justin was mindlessly walking through the halls of the hospital and the next he found himself walking in the parking lot.
 
All of the minutes in between were pretty much a blur to him.
 
Trying to accept what had happened was tough enough, but understanding the why of it had him utterly stumped.

 
 
 
It all started as a game.  That much he understood.
 
It was all pranks, all in fun and then….this.
 
But how did it get to this?
 
How did the game start?
 
He remembered the first day that Chloe arrived and he could remember the hatred that emanated off of her before they ever really met but he never understood
 
why?
 
 
Why did she hate him so much when she didn’t even know him?

 
 
 
So many questions and not enough answers.  It was beginning to be the freaking story of his life.

 
 
 
“Justin?”

 
 
 
At the sound of the familiar voice, he snapped his head up.
 
Surprise was only one of the emotions that he was feeling.
 
Anger, confusion, rage, frustration were just a few other that swirled around him when he noticed Chloe standing by his car.
 

 
 
 
How dare she show her face here?

 
 
 
At that moment, a fiery red hot flash of anger coursed through him, running rampant through his blood like gasoline.
 
Picking up the pace, he closed the distance between them and pointed his finger in her face.
 
Justin opened his mouth, dead set on telling her exactly where she could go when he first saw it.  Saw the one thing that he would have never thought he would see in
 
her.
 

 
 
 
 
Her vulnerability.
 
 
 

 
 
 
One tear slid from the corner of her eye and his gaze zeroed in on to that single droplet, following its trail as it zigzagged down her cheek.
 

 
 
 
“I’m…
 
sor-ry,” she said, her voice breaking at the end.
 
She lifted her hands up to her face, holding it as if she was working to hold herself together.
 
She started shaking her head
 
back
 
and forth, tears coming in earnest now.
 
“I didn’t know", she cried. "I..I... I didn’t know.”
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 11

 
 
 
Chloe couldn’t stop the tears from coming.
 
She desperately tried to get a hold of herself but the river of teardrops kept flowing down her cheeks.
 
Her hands trembled and she was at a complete loss for words.
 
She didn't know what, if there was even anything at all, she could do or say. She had come here to see Justin, tell him it was all a mistake, that she didn’t mean for any of this to happen but now that Chloe was here, and he was standing in front of her, all she could say to him was "
I didn’t know."