Chapter 64
Half walking, half crawling, Felice made it back to where she’d left Livvy, who was now slumped sideways on the ground.
She pulled her back upright, leaning her against the tree, and not so gently slapped her cheeks. “Livvy! Come on, girl. Wake up!”
Livvy’s eyelids fluttered open. “Hey,” she said weakly.
“Can you walk? I think we need to get farther away from the fire.”
Livvy coughed and her lips formed a goofy smile. “Where we goin’?”
Felice had no idea how much time had passed since she’d called 911. Time seemed like an abstraction. She closed her eyes. Rest. She needed rest.
The blare of sirens awakened her. She shielded her eyes with her hand. Red swirling lights and bright white blinking lights cut through the darkness. Two ambulances and two fire trucks. They pulled up beside the dorm and the firefighters swarmed out.
“Over here!” she called, trying but failing to stand. “We’re over here!”
One of the firemen ran to her side. He looked down at Livvy. “Is she…”
“She’s in and out,” Felice said, coughing.
“Is there anyone else inside?”
“Don’t know.” Her throat was raw. “Maybe? Two other guys live here. I tried… broke the window… couldn’t see inside. Smoke… and then something exploded.”
“Where?” he said urgently. “Can you show me where they might be?”
Felice pointed toward the far side of the dorm. “Over there.”
The firefighter spoke into the radio on his shoulder. “Unit two, could be two people, west side of building.
“Do you know how the fire started?”
“Sleeping. Loud boom. Maybe something exploded? Couldn’t get out…”
An EMT ran up and knelt down beside Livvy. “Breathing is shallow. Erratic.”
He looked over at Felice. “Your face is cut. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No. My friend. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s in and out.”
“Okay. We’re gonna take care of both of you. My name’s Dave, by the way.”
Her throat ached. “Felice,” she managed to say. “And that’s Livvy.”
“You’re bleeding,” he said, gesturing to her feet, which were covered in blood.
“Oh. Glass. Broke window. Stepped on glass.”
He touched her arm. “Your hands are burned.”
She looked. The palms of her hands were red and blistering. And throbbing. Like her head, but different.
“Stu!” the EMT yelled at his partner. “Get the gurney. We’ve got a victim who’s unconscious.”
A moment later Stu ran up with a rolling gurney.
“What’s wrong with that one?” he asked, pointing to Livvy. He knelt beside her, tried to pull Livvy’s eyelids open.
“Any chance y’all were doing drugs?” he asked.
“No!” Felice coughed.
“You sure?” Dave asked. “No judgment, but your friend looks stoned.”
Felice’s head hurt so much. She tried to concentrate, to remember what had happened earlier in the night. An image flashed in her brain. Livvy, finishing off the wine from the bottle in the fridge. And herself, sipping half a glass of kombucha before the jug got knocked over.
“Maybe?” she croaked. She pointed at Livvy. “She had wine. I thought she was drunk, even though she didn’t have that much, but after the fire I couldn’t wake her up. She couldn’t walk.”
“What about you?” Dave asked. “Did you drink any wine?”
She shook her head and it felt like she’d been struck with a hammer. “No wine. Kombucha. My head hurts.”
The two EMTs exchanged a look. “Sounds like they’ve been drugged,” Dave said.
Stu was sliding Livvy onto the gurney.
“Help her,” Felice managed.
“It’s okay,” Stu said. “We’re gonna take care of both of you.” He placed an oxygen mask over Livvy’s face.
A man’s voice cut through the darkness. “Is she dead? Oh my God. Is Livvy dead?”
Livvy and the EMTs looked up.
KJ emerged from a clump of bushes. His preppy shorts, embroidered with lobsters and sailboats, were filthy, his polo shirt torn. One eye was nearly swollen shut and his jaw was bruised and bleeding.
“I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m so sorry, Felice. We didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to hurt you. It was Garrett’s idea.”
Felice stared at him in disbelief. “You? You did this? You tried to kill us?”
“Not me. Garrett. It was supposed to be a little fire. That’s what he told me.”
“You drugged us?” Felice croaked. “The wine? My kombucha?”
Dave, the first EMT, stood up and grabbed KJ’s arm. “What did you give them, you piece of shit? What was it?”
“Roofies. I didn’t know Garrett was gonna do that.”
“Felice? Livvy?”
KJ swung his head around. Traci Eddings was approaching in her golf cart, yelling their names.
“I’m sorry,” KJ repeated, and then he fled back into the woods.
Traci jumped from the golf cart and ran toward the girls and the EMTs. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Felice found herself choking up, tears streaming down her face. She coughed, tried to speak, but couldn’t find the words.
Dave spoke up. “They got out before the fire was totally involved. Some cuts and superficial burns.”
Traci’s voice rose. “What was KJ doing here? Why did he run off like that?”
“He and someone named Garrett apparently drugged their drinks, then set fire to that building where they were sleeping.”
She turned and stared at the dorm, where a horde of firefighters had hoses trained on the building. Smoke poured into the humid night air. The roof collapsed, spewing showers of glowing orange cinders.
Traci’s voice was anguished. “Why? Why would they do that?”
“Ma’am?” Stu had transferred Livvy to the gurney. “We need to get these ladies to the hospital. You can ask them questions later.”