Page 20 of Save Me
“You’re not her brother,” she smiles, “I can tell, sweetheart. My guess is that was your sister back at the beach?”
“You going to say anything?” I ask quietly.
“No, honey, but can you call her parents for me?” she asks with a small pat on my shoulder, the sort your mom gives you when you’re freaking out about a test.
“Sure.” I take out my phone, thanking her with my eyes before turning back to Beth. “What’s your number, Beth?”
“Call Bodhi,” she whispers, “he’s my guardian.”
Her instruction has me wondering if this is the after-effects of being knocked to the head, but when I bunch my brows up in confusion, she just stares back at me, bobbing her head to reassure me that I heard her right. She begins to huddle up into the fetal position once they unstrap her from the gurney, so I put my arm over her tiny, shivering body and begin to call Bodhi. I’m even more desperate for answers after her request, but now is not the time and certainly not with an audience.
“Will you stay with me till he comes?” she whispers, with her big blues looking desperately up at me.
“Of course,” I reply, taking in how frightened she looks, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 7
Beth
Well, after taking an impromptu dip in the Pacific Ocean this morning, I’ve spent the last four hours being poked, prodded, and talked about as though I’m not even in the room. By mid-afternoon, I’m more than ready to go home and put this whole sorry weekend behind me.
My parents are still clueless as to my whereabouts, and Bodhi was out surfing so is only now making his way over to me. As for the boy who held my hand all the way here, he keeps dipping in and out, obviously waiting for a time when I’ll finally be left alone so he can interrogate me. Not to mention the Lord of Darkness is bound to show up at any moment. It’s only a matter of time before word gets to him about my little accident. I was kind of hoping to have avoided him after his threatening visit to the beach last night, however, someone upstairs seems to have it in for me.
The pretty nurse with soft eyes and a no-nonsense attitude keeps frowning at me while questioning where my mother is, but I simply smile and tell her she should be here at any moment. The last thing I want is for my mother to arrive and begin fussing over the gash to my head and near-drowning experience. An action I wholeheartedly recommend one avoids at all costs if they can help it. My feet still feel like ice and the throbbing inside my head is threatening to split my brain in two. It’s hurting so much, it won’t even allow me to simply sleep. Plus, if Mal sees Xander, minus his shirt, here with me in the hospital, he’ll lose his cool; we’ll argue, and Mum will become suspicious. Probably just in time for Oliver to turn up and blow everything to shit. Trust me when I say, it’s easier for all concerned if I leave it to Bodhi to come and sign me out.
Just after the nurse takes my stats, gives me a pitying look over the fact that no one is here for me, she gets up and leaves. She almost bumps straight into my very own Captain America, who admittedly, did literally save my life today. His presence has me anxiously sitting up straight and leaning against the mountain of pillows propped up behind me. He still has no shirt on and is currently showcasing his very much like Captain America physique. I don’t think any of the boys back in Texas had a bod like this, not even Charlie who was a very slender swimmer. To be fair, Xander Fenton does look like the sort to bulk up on carbs and hit the gym just to look good.
Swallowing back my pride after having sworn off his man whorish, called-me-a-dirty-thief, ways, I gesture to the chair beside me so I can try to thank him.
“Thank-”
“Talk!” His blunt, straight-to-it demand, has me shell-shocked for a moment or two, though given what he saw last night, I shouldn’t be surprised by it.
“I can’t,” I answer on a long sigh, casting my eyes down to avoid the deep, penetrating glare he’s giving me. One that would have you confessing to every misdemeanor you had ever committed in living memory.
“Bullshit!” he huffs with a clenched jaw, going from looking like an angry mother to a pissed-off sergeant major. “Who was that guy last night, and why does he have such a hold on you?”
My attempts to look sad and pathetic so he might show some sympathy and leave me alone are futile, given that he is still holding me hostage with that stern, focused and demanding stare of his. Eventually, I sigh again and drop my hands to the bed in defeat.
“Have you ever felt like you’re paying the price for someone else’s mistake?” I ask, looking away from him and out the window, where the day is still beautifully sunny and bright.
“Frequently, usually Casey’s,” he shrugs, then smirks at his little joke. “But I pay for plenty of my own mistakes too. Whose mistakes are you paying for, Beth?”
I open my mouth to argue because I can’t tell him anything. It will only add risk to something that needs no further excuse to push into the realms of life-destroying as it is.
“Beth!” a low growl of a voice, one that is only too familiar to me, snaps my attention away from Xander. Instead, it has me instantly looking up in fear. “What the hell happened?!”
Oliver Lawrence, a man I only met a few months ago, is now walking over from the doorway, demanding answers I don’t want to give him. His words are more of an accusation than a question of concern, but then, that’s all he sees me as - a possession under threat. His eyes dart over to Xander, who is looking on with a deep-set frown and still no shirt.
“Leave us!” he snaps at Xander, eyeing him with no more respect than a piece of dirt on his designer Oxfords.
“Mr Lawrence,” I say meekly, withering under his gaze, which is enough to make grown men weep, let alone little old me. “This is Xander Fenton; he saved my life today.”
“My apologies,” he says, but without softening his stern gaze over my savior. Instead, he looks at him like he’s a danger to his arrangement with me. “How much would compensate your efforts?”
The heat of my embarrassment climbs up my neck and over my cheeks. However, all I can do is close my eyes, so I don’t have to witness the cringe-worthy moment between the most popular boy in my year, and a man nearly twice my age. I listen intently when I hear Xander rising to his feet, finally ready to use his voice for the first time since Oliver entered the room. I grip hold of the sheet lying across my lap, waiting for the onslaught of angry words between these two alpha males. However, all I hear is Xander laughing, almost hysterically. The sound has my eyes bursting open to find out what kind of reaction this is getting from Oliver, I-can-break-you-with-a-snap-of-my-fingers, Lawrence.
As predicted, Oliver looks furious, so much so, that if this were a Tarantino blockbuster, he would have drawn a gun and shot Xander straight between the eyes.