Chapter 28
28
“I need to say it again, Ashley, you should be going to the hospital. You could have hypothermia and that cut on your cheek looks awful.” Professor Reynard had already made her opinion crystal clear, but I had been firm in my request when she picked me up on the side of the road.
I shook my head, huddling into the scratchy blanket I was wrapped in. “I’ll see the campus doctor,” I mumbled for the tenth time. “I’m fine.”
Somehow, I felt like I needed to see this cursed challenge all the way through. If I let Professor Reynard take me to the hospital before returning to campus, would I fail? I had no clue. I only knew what Abigail had done, and since her notes had helped me find my way out of the forest, I trusted her.
The elegant fifty-something woman sighed heavily but turned into the Nevaeh University. She’d found me stumbling along the side of the road some fifteen miles away, in the early hours of the morning. It’d been almost twenty-four hours since I reached the broken bridge but I was alive. Sort of.
“At least let me escort you to the clinic?” She was well-meaning, and incredibly kind, but she—like all the campus faculty—probably had no clue about the shit going on under their noses.
I licked my chapped lips. “No. Thank you.”
She sighed again, slowing to stop in front of my dorm building. “Ashley, I’m not buying your story about getting lost after a party. If someone hurt you, then?—”
“Thank you,” I cut her off in a clipped voice. “I appreciate the ride. But I’ll be fine after a hot shower.”
Before she could protest further, I climbed out of her Mercedes and left her blanket on the seat. Gritting my teeth against the aching pain in my feet, I forced myself to put one foot after another as I headed for my dorm.
Carly pushed open the lobby door, heading out of the building with her phone pressed to her ear but when she saw me she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Ashley?” she gasped, dropping her phone as her eyes widened. “Oh my god, you’re back!”
I nodded, in too much pain to make words come out my mouth. When she rushed forward to hug me, I flinched away.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, face full of concern as she took a better look at me. “Holy shit . Babe, what happened to you? Where have you been? Everyone has been going out of their minds?—”
“Layne?” A familiar voice barked through the air, making me flinch.
I stiffened, starting to turn around but Carly cursed.
“Not now, Nate!” she yelled, “Just… fuck off !”
Even as wrecked and hurt as I was, I could recognize how much it took for Carly to speak to Nate like that. I put a weak hand up, trying to convey that I was fine and she didn’t need to fight my battles for me.
All too quickly Nate was in my face, grabbing my arm aggressively like he was going to shake me. I lashed out, though, swinging my fist to hit him in the jaw.
It connected, but it was weaker than a wet kitten swatting a fly. The only reason it had any effect at all was simply for shock factor. Nate dropped my arm, stepping back with a bewildered look on his handsome face.
“Layne, what the fu?—”
“Fuck you,” I spat, anger the only thing keeping me on my feet. “Fail the challenge? Kiss my ass. If you wanted me dead, you should have done it yourself.”
I tried to hit him again, but he caught my wrist. I stumbled, off balance, and my strength failed. I tumbled, totally unable to catch myself from falling, but Nate caught me.
“Ashley!” Carly yelped as Nate scooped me up in his arms. “Nate, put her down!”
“Carly, shut up!” he snapped, holding me tighter and striding away from my dorm.
I was too weak to fight back. I’d made my point, I’d completed the challenge, and the whole fucking society could rot in hell for all I cared.
Carly rushed to catch up, grabbing Nate’s arm to try and stop him even as my head spun and my vision spotted. I couldn’t have stood on my own two feet now even if I wanted to. I was done.
“Stop! Nate, where are you taking her? What did you do?” My friend was genuinely panicked and ready to go to war for me. Fuck I loved her.
“Nothing!” he roared.
I scoffed. “Liar.”
“Nathaniel Essex, I swear to fucking god I will scream if you don’t put her the fuck down and step away. She thinks you had something to do with this? You’re not taking her anywhere. Or so help me?—”
Nate wasn’t listening, not remotely taking her seriously as he continued striding toward the parking lot with me held in his arms like a sack of rice. For all I was fighting back, I may as well have been.
“Nate!” Carly screeched.
“I’m taking her to the fucking hospital, Carly,” he snapped with cold fury. “If you’re concerned, come with us.”
The last thing I heard before slipping into unconsciousness was the beep of his truck unlocking. Then somehow it morphed into the beep of a heart rate monitor as I drifted back into waking.
Confused and scared, I blinked my eyes to clear the grit and looked around. I was in a hospital room, a private one with an enormous vase of flowers by the window and a huge leather armchair in the corner. An armchair within which Carly slept peacefully with her red-blond hair a total mess and her clothes crinkled to hell.
How the fuck did I get there? How long had it been? The last thing I remembered was flagging down a car and finding one of the university professors driving…
No, that wasn’t right. She dropped me back and I saw Carly and… Nate .
That fucker.
All the anxiety and fear rolled through me from the last…however fucking long I was in the forest. Chills chased across my skin and I gingerly pulled the hospital blanket up higher. I was wearing a gown under the sheets, but it was softer than the standard scratchy crap most doctors used.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t dying of thirst anymore. There had been a moment before Professor Reynard picked me up that I genuinely considered drinking from a muddy puddle. I’d been so thirsty, but I was okay now.
Following my own train of thought, I glanced down to my hand where a thick cannula and IV line had been taped down. That line was attached to a half empty bag beside the bed, which solved the mystery. I’d been rehydrated while I slept, I guess.
“Ash?” Carly asked in a quiet voice, stirring in her uncomfortable position. “Are you awake?”
“I think so?” I replied, my voice husky. “Unless this is all part of a weird head injury dream.” Which was definitely a possibility seeing as I wasn’t in any pain and that seemed…odd.
Carly gave a slightly unhinged laugh, unfolding from the armchair and approaching my bed. “Girl, this would be a fucked-up kind of dream because you are a mess . I need to let your doctor know that you’re awake. Is that okay?”
I hesitated, nervously looking around the room without even realizing what I was doing.
“It’s just me,” she said softly, sinking her butt into the seat beside my bed. “I wouldn’t let anyone else in here until you could give consent, I even stationed security in the hall to make sure no one snuck in while I was peeing.”
Surprise ripped through me and my eyes widened and my lips curved in a smile. “You’re my hero. Thank you. Security was probably not necessary, but I appreciate you nonetheless.”
She wrinkled her nose, squinting. “You’re joking, right? I nearly ended up in a fistfight with Nate while you were in the ER.”
My jaw dropped. “What? Why?”
“Because the arrogant fuck was telling the nurse he was your brother and legally responsible or some bullshit like that. I politely informed him to go fuck himself and that he wasn’t any more your family than a pregnant porcupine was.” Carly grinned, clearly proud of herself. “Besides, since you were unconscious and not carrying any ID or money, I signed all your admission paperwork and put you under my insurance.”
I gave a startled sound, lifting my hospital bracelet to read the name. “Tracy Briggs. Uh, how does your sister feel about me stealing her identity?”
Carly shrugged. “She’d be cool with it.” Her little sister was studying abroad, but from what Carly had told me she seemed like a nice kid. “Besides, Nate made a big enough stink that everyone knows that’s not actually you but it was nothing a generous donation to the hospital couldn’t fix.”
I smiled, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “Thank you. I’m lucky to have you, Carly.” Then an unpleasant thought struck me and I winced. “Uh, assuming you had no idea about what just happened to me? If you knew and didn’t warn me?—”
“No! Fuck no!” she vehemently denied. “I have to assume it was something society-related from what you said to Nate but I swear on my own life, I knew nothing . And honestly, I don’t think he did, either. When I tell you everyone was losing their damn minds with worry, I mean everyone . Nate included.”
I didn’t believe that for a second, he was probably just putting on a good show. For what? I had no clue. I was too foggy to argue, though.
“I should call your doctor,” Carly said when I didn’t comment. “If you’re okay for me to do that?”
I nodded, resting my head back against the pillow. “Yeah. Probably a good idea. Thank you, girl, you’re the best.”
She shook her head. “Stop it, you’re making me blush. You’d do the same for me.”
Before I could make her uncomfortable with my gratitude, she hopped up and slipped out of the room. I caught a glimpse of a heavy-set security guard standing right there, guarding the door, and I let out a long sigh. Carly wasn’t fucking around, and I loved her for it.
I closed my eyes while I waited, but within a few minutes she was back with a distinguished male doctor. He was calmly professional as he checked me over, chatting in a comforting manner all the while. There were a few questions about what had happened to me, but purely from a medical care point of view. I told him everything, not caring about keeping secrets.
When he was done, he hung my chart back on its hook and gave me a serious look. “I think you should speak with the police about what happened to you, Ashley.” He’d been using my real name the whole time, and Carly hadn’t blinked twice. I figured she’d told him. “Kidnapping, assault, drugging…these are serious offenses and if you know who is responsible then they need to be held accountable. You could have died. You do realize that?”
I nodded. “I do. I think that’s what they hoped would happen.”
His lips pinched and he gave a sigh. “It’s up to you. I’m keeping you another night for observation and fluids, though. Are you hungry? I’ll send one of the nurses in with food shortly.”
The doctor left, and Carly just stared at me with tears in her eyes, horrified. “Babe…that’s…”
“Fucked-up? I’m well aware.” I sighed, then shivered. “Can I be a pain in the ass and see if they can get me another blanket? I’m stupidly cold for some reason.”
“Um, maybe because you spent nearly two days walking around the woods in your underwear in late October?” she replied, incredulous. “But yes. Be right back.”
True to her word, she was back within a matter of minutes carrying a stack of extra blankets and an assortment of chocolate bars.
“I grabbed these from the vending machine, but the nurses are planning on bringing you real food as well,” she said, depositing the stash onto my bedside unit and unfolding the blankets onto my bed.
A pissed off sort of scowl pulled her expression tight, though, and I squinted at her suspiciously.
“What happened?” I asked. “You look…you know. Stabby.”
She took her time getting my blankets spread out, avoiding eye contact all the while, then sighed. “Heath wants to see you. He made me promise to ask.”
I frowned. “No.”
“Oh thank god,” she exclaimed with a rush of relief. “Because I already told him to go sit on a cactus and spin, so I really didn’t want to have to apologize if you were happy to see him.”
That made me chuckle. “You’re good. I don’t want to see any of them. Nate set this whole thing up, I’m sure of it, but there’s no way he acted alone. Don’t trust them . That was the message I got right before it happened, and it’s time I started listening.”
Carly nodded soberly. “Got it. Help yourself to snacks, I’ll go tell him not to hold his breath.”
I did as I was told, grabbing a Special Dark from the pile and damn near inhaling it while she was gone from the room. It was all quiet for a while, until the door opened again and I heard her yell a parting remark.
“Not my problem, Heathcliff, take it up with Nate. This is his fault.” Then she slammed the door once more. “Done. Now…are you going back to sleep or are we hanging out?”
I snuggled deeper into my blankets, my head still like cotton wool from whatever medication they had me on. “Hanging out,” I mumbled. “Sleepy hanging out.”
Carly just nodded and started dragging the wide armchair over from the corner. “That, we can do.” She got the chair to where she wanted, right beside my bed, and got comfy. “Let’s see what movies we’ve got to choose from.” She flicked on the overhead TV using the remote, and started searching, but I just smiled and patted her leg.
“I’m glad you’re here, friend,” I said quietly.
She patted my hand back. “I’m glad you’re here too, friend. Let’s never scare each other like that again, okay?”
I nodded. “Deal.”
It was an agreement I intended to keep.