Chapter Four
Trey
The streetlights cast a soft glow around the few vehicles in the parking lot. There isn’t enough light to read by, but bright enough to see clearly. The red glow of my stereo illuminates the inside of my 4x4 as I wait for Natalie to come outside.
It’s only been twenty minutes since I was released with twelve stitches, prescriptions for antibiotics and pain killers, and a white bandage that’s wrapped around my arm, making me look like the beginnings of a mummy. A little overkill.
During the examination, cleaning and suturing, I hadn’t felt anything. The nurse injected me with some type of deadening agent, but now, the damn thing is starting to sting. And my head is throbbing.
But I’m not leaving. Not without talking to her again. She owes me an explanation. I’ve never been able to wrap my mind around why she left. At first, I thought she was sick and just not answering her phone. Later, I feared her father had done something to her and went to the police.
Thankfully, they’d found evidence she was alive. Unfortunately, that meant her father wasn’t going to jail where he belonged, and she’d left me because she didn’t love me. It was like a punch to the solar plexus.
The wind blows a piece of trash across the length of the parking lot. It flips and cartwheels until it lands in the grass. My phone chirps.
Leah: Where are you?
Me: I’m still at the hospital.
Leah: They have to amputate?
It would serve her right if I said yes.
Me: No.
Leah: Getting a sex change?
Me: Fuck, no.
I grab my gut and laugh. My sisters are awesome – most of the time. Leah and Nicole were my rocks when Natalie left.
Leah: Getting a dick out of your ass?
I roll my eyes. Now, she’s gone too far and lost her awesome badge.
Me: No. I don’t have a dick in my ass. Nor, am I getting a new personality or a new face.
Leah: Damn it. You stole everything I had planned to say.
Me: Thank you. The hospital is releasing me now – they were slammed. I’m fine but exhausted. I’m going to head home and get some rest.
I’m not about to tell her about seeing Natalie. As protective as my sisters are, they’d break speed limits to come down here and read her the riot act.
Leah: Fine. Take care of yourself. You know we’re worried about you. Love you, big brother.
Me: Love you, too.
I drop the phone onto the leather passenger seat and return to my post. I’ll sit here all-night waiting for her to come outside if I must. I need to see her again, and I have no idea what she drives or where she’s living.
Twenty minutes later, Natalie stops in front of the exit of the hospital ER and waits for the motion operated doors to slide open. Her head is down as she trudges out of the hospital. Seeing me wasn’t any easier on her as it was me. So, why in the hell did she leave?
My fingers drum on the steering wheel as I watch her move across the parking lot. She travels toward a row of vehicles two down from where I’m parked. The lights of an SUV flash as she uses her key fob to unlock the vehicle.
I shove open the door and jump down. Slamming the door shut with force, I hope to make enough noise that she sees me, because the alternative is a face full of mace that would result in me needing the ER for a second time tonight. Or a knee to the groin. That wouldn’t be much better.
She twists sideways, and her mouth drops open. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.” The space between us disappears as I rush over the uneven parking lot. They’ve managed to build a new ER department but haven’t finalized the parking lot renovation.