Chapter 14
Someone up top must have sensed my emotions and decided to add dreary weather to my list of issues. Because the next day, as I got up after a night of crying, one look out my window revealed dark thunderous clouds and drops of rain on the window. Go figure. Weeks of sunny weather had come crashing down into a day ofrainstorms.
I dressed warmly in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt before pulling on a rain slicker. A glance at my cell told me no one had called. Perhaps, the guys were still sleeping. Or maybe they had headed to their own classes for a change. Since I didn't know what the plan was, and I had yet to come up with one, I decided to stop skipping class and head to GothicLit.
Despite my hopes to not look like warmed up death, I probably resembled exactly that when I walked in and headed towards my seat. I passed by several somewhat familiar faces that blurred in my memory. The only way I knew they were familiar was because a few of them raised their hands to me in greeting. College, I learned, was a lot friendlier of a place than high school. Where everyone would have ignored another student walking into class, here we were all acquaintances at the very least and respect was a little higher on the totempole.
The professor walked in, laying her supplies on the table at the front of the room. I didn't know what we went over, and I didn't know what we were supposed to have read—not anymore. I drowned out the professor's words and began doodling on my notebook when I felt the familiar sensation of my phone vibrating in mypocket.
As inconspicuously as possible, I slipped the cell out and checked thescreen.
Grayson:House meeting. 15min.
I didn't know what it was about, but I doubted Grayson had spent the night resting like I told him to. And if that was the case, then he had found something. Without second guessing myself, I quickly stood and gathered my things to quietly make my way to thedoor.
"Harlow?" I froze at the door at the sound of Dr. C's tone. I had hoped she wouldn't notice my departure. "Is everything okay?" sheasked.
Pasting on a smile, I turned back. "Yeah," I professed. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling well." For a change, my inability to hide a tight smile or act like I wasn't exhausted when I was came inhandy.
She looked me over and frowned before nodding. "Alright dear, be sure to get the class assignment from the website and gather any notes before next class," shesaid.
I nodded back. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry for interruptingclass."
Dr. C shook her head and offered me a sympathetic look. "Feel better," she called as I made myescape.
The moment I was out of the building, I booked it to the duplex. Even as the rain came down harder, I flicked up the hood of my slicker and stomped my converse through the wet puddles on the sidewalk. My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket wondering if it was Grayson hurrying me along. Once again, though, it was just an unknown number. I ignored the call and shoved my phone back in my pocket. So distracted by the rain and the phone call, I didn't even notice the sound of tires over wet pavement. Perhaps because they were small, thin bicycle tires. I just assumed that a bicyclist would see me and move out of the way, but when I realized how close it was—just behind me—and how no one had called out, I looked up. My eyes widened as a figure in dark clothing barreled towardsme.
Whoever it was didn't swerve. Their face was covered by a hood and scarf tugged up, I assume to block the rain. Perhaps it was for that reason, that they were heading straight at me. I didn't even manage a scream before I was knocked off my feet. My back hit the concrete sidewalk and dots danced in front of my face. I felt wet pellets of raindrops slap my cheeks before all of the dots grew gradually larger and then encompassed my entire field of vision. I fell into a gray world ofoblivion.
* * *
There was an incessant beeping noise just to the side of my head and the constant barrage was like little nails burrowing holes in my skull. Every beep was a giant crater that dug its way into my brain and rattled around. I made a half-strangled groan at the painful feeling. As soon as I made a noise, there were several footsteps and shuffling across from me. I peeked my eyesopen.
"Sweetheart?" Bellamy's face hovered to the side of mine and I blinked at him stupidly,confused.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. Then something else occurred to me as I looked around the room—a hospital room, I realized, by the white barren walls and fluorescent lights. I closed my eyes, reminded of my mom. "Why amIhere?"
"Little Bit." Knix's deep timbre came from my other side and my eyes flicked back open. "Do you not rememberanything?"
I thought back. I remembered...rain, Grayson's text message, leaving class, and... "Was I hit by a bike?" Iasked.
"Is that what happened?" This time it was Texas squeezing up next to Bellamy beside my hospitalbed.
I nodded. "I think so." That beeping was still going on. I looked over and slapped a hand out towards the heart monitor. "Can you please turn that thing off, it's hurting my head," Isaid.
"Sure." I blinked as Marv stepped in through the doorway, holding two cups of coffee with Grayson right behind him, who also had steaming cups of coffee in both hands. When had they gotten so chummy? Marv handed a cup to Knix and then passed one over to Bellamy before he moved to the monitor. Instead of searching for the right button, he simply reached down and pulled the plug on the monitor. The monitor started going haywire, but as soon as it was out of the wall the screen went dark, and beautiful, blissful silence greeted myears.
I groaned inrelief.
Marv moved back and retrieved one of the cups from Grayson and then, as a unit they moved towards the end of my bed. While I was no longer surrounded by that incessant beeping, I was now surrounded by five imposingfigures.
“Uh…” I looked around the bed. “So…why am I in the hospital again?” Iasked.
“You hit your head when you got knocked down,” Knix answered. “Luckily, you had your ID card on you and when whoever found you called the ambulance, they called your mom to let her know what happened, but all of her calls get rerouted to me for the time being and once we found out why you never showed up to the house, we got here as fast as wecould.”
A warm hand on the top of my foot made me jump and I peeled my gaze from Knix’s face and turned to the end of the bed. Marv’s hand was clenched tight around his coffee cup while his other one held the top of my foot. His face was a mask of pain and concern. “We were really worried about you,Sunshine.”
Something must have triggered me. What it was, I couldn’t say. Maybe it was a combination of his facial expression, their nearness, or the head injury, but when the nickname rolled off his tongue, my mouth opened, and words just tumbled out. Like falling, head first, down a long dark rabbit hole. I might have had a concussion. Brain damage. Too much pain medication. Maybe I just had filled my own head with all of these expectations—real or imagined—and they were finally bursting free. Maybe it wasfate.