Still Jaded

by Tijan

  accompanied her.

  "What happened to my car? You said the brakes went out?"

  Sheila grimaced. "You can find out how Corrigan is first and then we can talk about that stuff. I'll need to contact my department for more details. They're looking over your car."

  "You think it was the stalker? Whoever is after me did something to my car? That should've been me, not Corrigan. They intended that for me, didn't they?!" I heard my voice rising, but quieted. I couldn't get crazy, not now. "Corrigan was gutted because of me. Now he's in surgery because of me." My voice broke. "I am going to kill whoever did this."

  Sheila reached for my hand. "Corrigan will be fine. As a cop, I'm not supposed to tell you that, but that's how I feel. You three have been through some tough stuff. This is just one more tough situation. He'll pull through."

  Her face closed off, and she looked away. It was like she thought better of what she'd been saying to me and shut up before she said anything else. That's when I asked, "You don't believe any of that, do you? Is he going to die?"

  She blinked a few times and watched the street. I watched her face as the streetlights passed over. Her face was illuminated and then cast in shadow, over and over again. There was a raw strength there, but there was also the truth.

  Corrigan might die.

  She didn't want to say those words to me.

  When we went through the emergency doors, conversations halted. A waiting lounge of chairs was full of Corrigan's fraternity brothers. I recognized both Leah's and Grace's sorority sisters. All of them watched me as I crossed the room and headed straight to the front desk. Sheila went with me to explain my relationship with Corrigan. The nurse sent someone to retrieve a doctor and then gave Sheila directions to another waiting lounge.

  When we got there, Corrigan's parents held their arms out for me. Katrice caught me first and hugged my head to her bosom. She swayed back and forth, her coat swished with the movements.

  "Oh honey. Don't cry. He's going to be just fine," she soothed, wiping away my tears. It seemed like everyone was doing that now. Then she smiled, or tried to smile. Katrice's rosy cheeks were pale. The worry in her eyes was so strong it made her look gaunt. Then Corrigan's father pulled her against his side. "It's okay. He's going to be okay. Corrigan will pull through."

  She turned into him and sobbed. The sounds wracked through me. They shouldn't have been crying. They shouldn't have been facing the threat of losing a son again.

  Stephen sat in the corner with Luca. I was shocked for a moment. I'd forgotten the two had been best friends before. Stephen looked up at me and nodded. Luca didn't look. He sat there. Both of them just sat there. No magazines to look at. No talking. The television wasn't even on.

  Then I felt him behind me. I turned and my eyes widened. Bryce had a crate of coffees in his hand. He froze in the doorway when he saw me and opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

  "Hey." I reached for him, but caught myself. Retracting my hand, I felt…stupid and out of place. Things were off. We were a puzzle, but there were parts missing. We were trying to find how the pieces went together again, but they didn't fit. Something between Bryce and me didn't fit anymore.

  Corrigan.

  "Hey," he said back and slowly handed the coffees to Corrigan's dad.

  A doctor came to the door and cleared his throat. "I was told that Miss Jeneve arrived. It's good timing because we just got out of surgery. Mr. and Mrs. Raimler, as I told you before, your son had some massive internal bleeding. We were able to locate the bleeding and stop it. It should heal up fine. There's bruising all over his body, but the most shocking will be on his face and neck. That will clear up in a week or two. We didn't find any fractures or internal lacerations, which is a good thing. All in all, your son is very lucky. He's in good health. The car he was driving protected him. He should be waking up from surgery in a few hours. If you have any questions, you have my card. Feel free to call. The nurse will come in a moment so you can check on him, but he is sleeping right now."

  "Thank you, Dr. Lowery." Corrigan's father shook his head. Katrice hugged him. After a few seconds and a few more hugs from Katrice, he nodded again to us and left. It was surreal. We didn't know anything, the doctor came, it was all okay, and then he was gone just as quickly.

  "Oh thank god." Katrice slumped onto a chair. "Oh thank God. Oh thank God."

  Her husband sat next to her. Stephen took the other side. Each of them held her hands as she kept repeating the same words. It took me a moment before I realized that she had started to pray with her head bent down. The rest of the Raimlers prayed with her.

  Bryce and I looked at each other. We were out of place. He jerked his head to the side, and I followed behind as we went into the hallway. When we were away and out of earshot, I breathed out in relief. "Oh my god. I didn't—" Slumping against the wall; I almost fell, but caught myself. I'd been so scared, then mad, then scared, and then I saw Bryce. "I don't know what I'm feeling anymore."

  "Relief." Bryce's voice was strained. "You were so pale when you came in. Never mind. I'd imagine that you're still in shock. You'll be feeling it later, I'm sure."

  "Yeah, maybe." Looking around, I noticed some of the nurses gazing at Bryce. That's when I realized he was dressed in his soccer casuals. "Everyone's going to be talking about you being here."

  "Why wouldn't I? Corrigan's my best friend," Bryce said roughly.

  "I know. I—just… Luca's here with you?"

  "He wanted to be here for Stephen. Those two keep in contact."

  "That's good. It's like you and Corrigan, but—"

  "No girl."

  No girl to mess everything up.

  He might as well have said the words because I heard them nonetheless. Flinching, I turned away and hugged myself.

  "Sheldon," Bryce started to say something but stopped.

  When I looked back, he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was riveted on something down the hallway. Guadalupe was striding our way, determined, and looking pissed off. Her hair was plastered in place, flowing down to her waist. She was dressed in black athletic clothes, skimpy enough to draw attention but not slutty enough to gain disapproval.

  "I may be a bitch, but she takes the cake," I noted underneath my breath.

  "Sheldon." Bryce glared at me, but something changed in his expression. He looked like he wanted to apologize for something. It didn't matter. She was by his side in the next instant and latched onto his arm. She looked at me, but spoke to him, "Honey, I was so worried. Is your friend okay?"

  I sighed, "I can't handle this right now. I shouldn't have too either."

  Bryce looked away.

  "Go away, Guadalupe. Just go away. He doesn't want you here, and he doesn't need you here." I felt Bryce stiffen in surprise next to me but continued, "We've got a huge mess on our hands, and you're not helping. I need my best friend right now. It's not your place to be here."

  She bristled up in anger. "Excuse me? Bryce is with me—"

  "Not here, he's not. He's with me and Corrigan. Shoo."

  She huffed in disbelief.

  Rolling my eyes, I waved her away. When I saw a group at the end of the hallway, I recognized the hotel clerk. Assuming the rest was her entourage, I shouted, "Hey! She's right here."

  Guadalupe started muttering underneath her breath.

  "Oh no," Bryce sighed.

  I didn't comprehend any of it before they were in front of us. The hotel clerk glared at me, but I focused on a thin girl holding a briefcase. She had black glossy hair and pointed features, but I saw how she looked at us. There was a claim in her eyes when she looked at Guadalupe, then she cast disapproval at Bryce and hatred towards me. There was a whole host of other expressions on her face, but I ignored them and asked, "Are you her assistant?"

  Shock flared before she clamped down on it and nodded. She seemed wary now.

  "Good. Take her away. She's going to make things worse. Corrigan would not want her here, and that's all I care about. Bryce
, you can go too if it's that big of a deal. I don't want this to turn into a media frenzy. That's not going to help him. He'd want you here and you focused. She's not going to help that either." I reached out to push Guadalupe towards her assistant, but the assistant was there in a second. She blocked my hand and slapped it away.

  Shocked, my eyes snapped to hers, and I couldn't look away. The girl looked crazy, so I asked, "Do you know anything about brakes? I think the police might want to talk to you."

  "Stop it, Sheldon. She's not your stalker. Maria, take Guadalupe and everyone else." Bryce stepped between us.

  "You'll call later?" Maria snapped as she continued to glare at me.

  I narrowed my eyes and stared her down. The little girl had attitude. I had to give her that.

  "Leave," Bryce clipped out. He gestured to a guy in the back, who nodded and grabbed Guadalupe. He ushered the entourage down the hallway. I heard more mutterings, complaints, and whining, but in a moment they were gone.

  I sighed in relief at the complete silence.

  "Sheldon." Sheila was striding towards me with some other detectives behind her. "How is he?"

  "He'll be okay." I shrugged. "That's what the doc said."

  "Good." She nodded, back to business. "There's been a new development with your case. Someone came forward and confessed to your home's vandalism. I think you'll want to hear this."

  "What?"

  "Come on." She took off.

  I was shaken; confused by everything that had happened. Without thinking, I reached for Bryce's hand. He held onto it with a tight hold.

  Then we followed behind as Sheila showed us through a door. When we went into a back room, I saw that they had set up a temporary office. It looked like a staff break room that was attached to another smaller room.

  Sheila informed me, "She approached us here. We wanted to get the confession on tape so we set up base in this back room. When the interrogation is done, we'll relocate to the police station. Until then," she gestured to a video camera. My eyes widened when I saw Grace at a table with Officer Milon across from her. Sheila gave me a set of headphones, and I plugged in to hear Grace saying, "…didn't want to be included with this. The house thing wasn't planned, but like I said before—I feel terrible. I would never want anyone to hurt Sheldon. I don't want anything more to happen."

  He leaned forward. "Can you state again what you've already said?"

  She looked surprised and confused, but leaned into a small microphone and spoke slowly, "Like I said, I'm the one who pushed Sheldon into the glass table. I was supposed to push her into the pool, but everything got mixed up. I pushed her the wrong way."

  "Why did you do that?"

  She took a deep breath, hesitating, but answered, "It was a hazing thing. The girls from Zeta Gamma Phi approached me earlier in the night. They said I had to do this, but nothing was going to happen to Sheldon. They wanted me to push her into the pool. It was supposed to be a stupid prank, nothing else."

  "And what did they say when you shoved her into the table?"

  She spoke in a monotone voice, like she'd already said it a million times. "They told me that I couldn't say anything. Sheldon would press charges against us. Then they said that I had no proof that they told me to do it. They'd lie and say I did it on my own, that I was jealous of Sheldon and wanted to hurt her."

  "And did you?"

  "No. I cared about Sheldon. She'd been a good friend to me."

  "Why didn't you come forward when it first happened?"

  "Because I was scared. And then when Sheldon was in the hospital, they had me come back to the house. They said the Alpha Mu guys had left Sheldon's home. No one was there and it was the perfect time for another prank." She stopped abruptly and swallowed tightly, glancing downwards.

  Officer Milon looked towards the camera, but didn't comment. His eyes switched back to Grace, whose hands had started to tremble on the table. She tucked them between her legs.

  Officer Milon cleared his throat and indicated the recording device. "Can you please tell us what happened next?"

  Her voice started to shake as well. "Sheldon doesn't know this, but I know the codes for her gate or I did. I think she's had them changed, but I knew them then. Cadence wanted me to let them inside so I…I did. I opened the gate, and then Cadence had a key. I don't know where she got it from, but it opened the door. Sheldon's security system didn't go off because the codes at the gate turned them off. I knew they did that, but… It doesn't matter anymore." She swallowed again and kept going, "The girls destroyed Sheldon's home. I didn't do anything. I refused to, but it didn't matter. They knew I wouldn't stop them. I'd already hurt Sheldon…I couldn't… Cadence said they wanted to get in Sheldon's head. They wanted to make her scared, but it didn't work. They don't know Sheldon how I do. I knew she wouldn't even really care, but Cadence wouldn't listen to me."

  "You didn't try to stop them?"

  She shook her head, and a tear fell down the side of her face. Grace seemed distant, like she didn't realize that she started crying. Another few tears followed, but she didn't wipe them away. She closed her eyes and kept going, "No, but I wish I had now."

  "Why are you coming forward now?"

  "Because I messed up. I thought I could fix things, but I realized that I can't take back what I did. I just want to make things right even if it means…"

  Sheila spoke in my ear, "That sorority house is going to turn against her now. You know that, right?"

  I nodded. Watching Grace, I barely recognized her. She was scared, but she was something else. She looked like she'd already lost what she wanted. I refused to believe that was me. She lost me a long time ago. I had humiliated her in front of her house.

  That's when I wondered, "I think they already turned against her. I said some things last night. I ripped into her. I bet they already turned on her, and this is her card against them. She's going after them."

  Sheila seemed surprised. "Sometimes, Sheldon, you scare me. If you ever turned to the criminal side, I would not want to go against you. That's for sure."

  "That's high praise coming from you." Flashing a smile, I turned and saw Bryce in the background. He still held my hand, but had stepped back a little. My smile left, and I murmured, "Do you need me for anything?"

  She looked over her shoulder and moved back. "I wanted you to know this. You don't seem that surprised."

  "Grace acted weird after that incident. I wondered if she had done something or seen something. It makes sense that she was covering for the girls. Making friends can be a powerful reason for why people do things."

  People liked to be accepted.

  "She has an alibi for the night that someone tried to break in. She's told us that she came forth because she didn't want to be involved with that. She's adamant that the house has had nothing to do with your car brakes. How long has your car been at the hotel?"

  I shrugged. "It's been awhile. I went to the hotel after leaving the hospital. I was there for two days and then I was at Denton Steele's house for awhile. It's been a couple months."

  "Denton Steele?" Her voice sounded hard.

  "Yeah. He was a neighbor growing up. He offered his home, and I had been staying there until a month ago. One of the first nights I got back was the attempted break-in. You don't think it's related to him?"

  Sheila rolled her eyes and grunted. "Who knows with you? You've got so many men surrounding you, it's not healthy. Any girl could be obsessed with them and decided to go after you. Hell, now we have to look into Denton Steele and see if he's got any stalkers. One celebrity isn't enough? I hope Corrigan doesn't become a national name. You will have even bigger problems with him. Girls will go nuts for that one." She stormed off, muttering under her breath.

  The room was full of police, but none of them mattered. It was me and him, always me and him. Then Bryce sighed as he stepped close and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You've changed. He's changed you."

  I rested my hand on his arm.
It was so rigid, but I couldn't think of that. "I want to see Corrigan first and then…" My heart was pounding. "You and I need to talk."

  He nodded.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  We were shown to Corrigan's room, but he was still sleeping. When Katrice and Corrigan's father saw us, they stood. She whispered in my ear, embracing me at the same time, "He loves the both of you." Then she squeezed my hand, kissed my forehead, and left us alone.