Chapter Thirty-Two
Hollie
The doctor smiles at me. ‘I take it that’s you?’
My mouth forms a shaky grin. ‘That’s me,’ I say.
‘He’s on a high dose of pain meds. He’s lucid, but a little drowsy. Come with me.’
Mercy holds my hand as we follow the doctor through to a room. AJ lies flat, still strapped to a board and unable to move. His head and neck are penned in by orange foam buffers, tubes attached to cannulas in the backs of his hands running to an IV drip.
Mercy squeezes my hand. With a soft smile she nudges me forward with her free hand. ‘You go,’ she whispers. ‘You’re the one he wants.’
‘You don’t mind?’ I question.
‘I remember my first love. I remember how that feels.’ She tips her head toward AJ. ‘Go.’
I wonder how she knows that AJ is my first love.
Then I remember that she saw him last night, and that she means I must be his.
I mouth her a thank you and let go of her hand, then I take four steps over to his bedside.
The orange buffers might stop his head or neck from moving, but they also conceal his face.
I hover over him, looking down. His eyes are closed. He looks peaceful.
I brush my fingers against his and his eyes fly open. Then he grants me the biggest smile, his grip tightening around mine.
‘Hey,’ I smile.
‘Hey, baby,’ he says back. His tone is deep, but languid and thready.
‘You okay?’ I ask.
His eyelids flicker. ‘Everything hurts.’
I laugh gently. ‘I’m not surprised. You jumped out of a burning building.’
‘You impressed?’
‘Not in the slightest. I thought I’d lost you.’ I feel a surge of tears. I try and smile through it.
‘You didn’t lose me, baby. I’m still here. Not going anywhere.’
‘Good. Because I can’t lose you.’
I see him swallow. Tears roll down my cheeks again. I’ve lifted his hand and am pressing it to my cheek.
‘If I could move… I would kiss you right now,’ I hear him say.
I lean down. It’s an awkward angle, but I manage to press my lips to his. I hear his sigh of relief as I do.
‘Your mum is here,’ I say against his mouth, before pulling away and glancing toward Mercy waiting patiently by the door.
‘Yeah?’
‘Everyone is here. I drove out to Rapture then Chase brought me back.’
‘Is it all gone?’
‘I don’t know yet. But I think Scotch & Smoke is… I don’t think there’ll be much left.’
‘You think my motorcycles survived?’
I laugh as Mercy moves closer. ‘You’re worried about that now?’ I say.
‘You know, I thought if you ever ended up like this,’ Mercy says to her son, looking him over, ‘it would be because of an accident on one of them motorcycles.’
She hovers over AJ.
‘Hey, Mom,’ he whispers, looking up at her.
‘You scared the hell outta me,’ she scolds him, leaning down and kissing his forehead.
‘I’m sure Lo has done worse.’
‘Not sure Lo ever jumped out a burning building, sweetheart. I think you won this round. How you feeling?’
‘Like I just jumped out a burning building, hit the ground and broke both my legs.’
Mercy doesn’t look impressed. ‘Did you not hear me? You scared me.’
‘Sorry.’
Mercy stays awhile longer. Then she excuses herself to go and update everybody waiting outside. When we’re alone again, I take AJ by the hand.
‘When I’m all better, we should take a road trip,’ he says. ‘Just you and me.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘To find Noah. Your Noah. And maybe look in on my Noah on the way.’
I stroke his hair. I want to see him walking again first, let alone taking us on a trip.
‘I’m serious,’ he says, when I say nothing.
‘AJ, you’re strapped to a hospital bed.’
‘I’m not saying right now. But after we’ve moved in together. You know. Couple goals.’
‘Couple goals?’ I repeat, words I never thought I’d hear coming out of his mouth.
‘Look. I don’t mean to sound cliché, but…
when your life is on the line, and you escape death’s fiery flames…
you never wanna waste another moment of your life.
So, I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side, Hollie.
I wanna make plans. Share adventures with you.
Plus, I wanna make you happy. Finding Noah in California is a part of that. ’
There’s a beaming smile on my face. ‘How soon can we leave?’
‘Uh. Well. Pretty sure there’s a tube inserted in my dick right now, helping me pee, so it’s prolly not the best time.’
I’m laughing when a group of doctors enter the room.
‘Smiles all round. That’s always a good sign,’ the older doctor says.
‘What do you say, doc?’ AJ says. ‘Can you take this floatation device off my head?’
‘It’s good news, Mr Callahan,’ the doctor says. ‘I believe we can.’
I swiftly move through the corridor at the medical center and out through the double sliding doors to the waiting area. Echo is waiting with Mercy and the others.
‘He can sit up independently,’ I announce when I reach them. ‘Move his neck from side to side with no issues. He’s out of danger. The doctors say he should be walking again a few weeks after the surgery.’
One by one, I embrace everybody. Mercy is crying again, but this time out of relief.
‘I’ll go outside,’ Echo says. ‘Update the crew.’
The moment he says so, there is movement at the main entrance. I see Echo’s face fall. When I turn my head, Evelyn Wallace walks through the double doors, my father trailing behind her.
‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ Echo grinds out.
I press my fingers against Echo’s forearm, in the hopes that it might stop him from acting rashly.
‘Please. Let me handle this,’ I say.
I turn and walk toward her. Dad catches my eye, his look apologetic. I ignore Evelyn’s presence and walk straight over to him.
‘I was hoping you might come alone,’ I blurt out under my breath, feeling guilty that I don’t even greet him.
He bows his head. He seems unusually subdued. ‘She insisted,’ he says hopelessly.
I look to my left. Evelyn has stopped dead just inside the doors. Maybe it’s because she’s been woken from her beauty sleep, but I swear she’s lost some of her usual menace. She’s makeup free, her hair scraped back off her face, her complexion oddly pallid.
I walk over to her. ‘Evelyn, it’s probably not a good idea… you being here.’
She turns to look at me. I frown. It seems like she’s been crying. ‘How is he? Your… AJ? Was he hurt?’
I raise my brow. I didn’t think she would care, let alone ask how AJ is doing. I clear my throat. ‘He’s going to be all right. He’s broken both his legs, and an ankle. He has to have surgery, but the doctors say that given time, he should make a full recovery. I’ve seen him.’
I’m expecting some kind of dry observation to leave her lips, but instead, she nods her head slowly.
‘Evelyn, Echo Salinger is over there.’
She nods again, this time looking at the floor. She seems to have snapped out of her earlier brain fog. ‘I should speak to him.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not here. Not now. Practically all of Rapture is here. The ones that are left.’
‘Then by all means, let us address the elephant in the room. It would appear the last bastion of their resistance has burned to the ground.’
‘Don’t do this,’ I hiss at her. ‘Not tonight. Don’t be so callous.’
She turns and looks at me. ‘Did you ever know me to be anything but?’
I narrow my eyes at her, watch her inhale then push her shoulders back before she walks toward Echo.
I follow her, but I glance back at my father, and I can’t help but feel disappointment at the sight of him standing with his back shrunk against the wall, staying out of the way, like I often used to do.
Echo walks toward us, his huge presence suddenly magnified by the way he stands before her, his chest thrust out.
‘You’ve got a nerve,’ he grinds out to Evelyn, his bushy brows drawn together.
‘If you think I came here to gloat, I did not,’ she says as they both come to a halt. ‘But even you have to admit, it’s almost serendipitous.’
‘That fire was started on purpose. We have witnesses. They sprayed her with gasoline then struck a match.’
‘I can see how you would try and make out that’s what happened, but the fact remains, that building was made largely out of timber, and barely conformed to even the most basic of fire safety standards. I’ve seen the reports myself.’
Echo can barely contain himself. ‘A man nearly died tonight.’
‘Hollie tells me he’ll make a full recovery.’
Mercy steps forward. ‘You heartless bitch!’ she shrieks, and Echo has to pull her back, kicking and screaming. ‘That man is my son!’
‘Your time is up, Mr Salinger. It’s time to say goodbye and accept the offer of compensation on the table.’
My jaw drops. I cannot believe she is doing this now.
‘Rapture’s not for sale,’ Echo bites out, standing his ground, even as Mercy struggles in his grasp.
‘Rapture is gone,’ my stepmother declares. ‘You’ve nothing left.’
‘EVELYN WALLACE!’
The shout comes from behind me. I whip my head around to witness the county sheriff Luke Saint entering the waiting room in his full uniform, flanked by two of his deputies.
He marches over to where Evelyn is standing.
Behind him, I glimpse my father as his back straightens, a fearful look on his face.
‘Evelyn Wallace,’ the sheriff repeats, coming to a halt in front of her. He removes his handcuffs from his belt. ‘You’re under arrest for solicitation and conspiracy to commit arson in violation of federal law. You’ll need to come with me.’