Watched (The Watched Trilogy)

by Cindy M. Hogan

  “You okay in there?” Rick asked.

  “Fine,” I said, looking at my bruised and battered body one more time. I covered my mouth, remembering Jeremy’s body falling onto mine, landing on big roots sticking out of the ground, and watching Nathan perform CPR.

  I had to see Jeremy.

  In the shower, each stream of water stung. I clenched my teeth and worked as fast as I could manage to clean myself. Stepping out of the shower sent stabs of pain in my knees. It did feel good to be clean, though.

  I examined my face again after drying off. It looked like I was an actor, playing a part in a horror movie. The only thing I didn’t have was black eyes. I wondered how well I would heal. Would I be scarred? Maybe I deserved some scars for causing so many people so much pain.

  I didn’t have any makeup to hide the mass of scrapes, cuts and stitches and didn’t think it would do any good, anyway. I used the antibiotic ointment and then the anti-scarring lotion liberally and kept my hair down, in an effort to hide my face. Mercifully, the clothes they gave me were sweats—fashionable sweats, but sweats nonetheless. Marybeth would die, but I had no choice. I wished she were here.

  I took a deep breath before opening the door, giving me courage to face the others. Now I knew what they’d seen when they were looking at me, and it scared me to death.

  They sat, watching TV. Rick stood abruptly and said, “How do you feel?”

  “Much better, thanks.” I looked at the floor, trying to hide my face.

  “Good,” he said. “Let’s go.” He walked to me and took my hand. I was sure it was hard for him to look at me—heck, it was hard for me to look at me. But, to his credit, he never flinched when he did.

  “Where to?” I asked.

  “We’re going to see Jeremy,” Rick said, grabbing my little hospital bag and opening the door. Two FBI agents stepped in front of the door.

  “We’re ready,” Rick said to them.

  One agent started walking down the hall, and we followed. The other fell in behind us.

  “So, what happened, Rick?” I asked in a whisper.

  “We don’t have to talk about it, Christy. Really.”

  “I want to know, I mean, if you can tell me.”

  “Well, remember the guys Jeremy saw at the end of that tunnel he led us down? You know the one under the pool table in the game room?”

  “Yeah.”

  “After the house had been cleared by the FBI and we were in the ambulance, those people who were outside the tunnel ambushed us.”

  “No way!”

  “There were about twenty of them and they went after us.”

  “Don’t you mean they went after Christy?” Summer interrupted. “No one came after any of us—only her.”

  “Thanks a lot Summer,” Rick said, seeing my eyes fill with tears.

  “Well, it’s true, and I’m just saying…” Summer continued.

  “Well, stop saying it,” Rick hissed. “She’s been through enough. This isn’t your fault, Christy. Don’t forget that.” He leaned over and whispered, “I’m glad you’re safe.”

  I leaned into him, unable to speak. Had he forgiven me?

  “Yeah, we are all really glad you’re safe,” Summer hissed. “We can’t wait to go home. The FBI wouldn’t let us go home until you could. Thanks a lot! And we have to lie and say we were in a bus crash. We can’t even tell our families the truth.”

  A bus crash. A good explanation. An easy excuse.

  Outside Jeremy’s room stood two more guards, who hesitantly let us inside. The agents who were outside our hospital room joined them. Jeremy, lying on his bed, looked at me, smiling. I ran to him and hugged him hard, crying.

  “You are okay. I was so worried about you,” I said into his chest.

  That’s when I noticed he didn’t hug me back. I pulled away and looked at him. He still smiled, but didn’t move. Was he repulsed by my horrible face? Or was he mad at me?

  “I was so worried about you, too,” he finally said, his voice catching. His face bore the same wounds, from the slapping branches as mine did, with some covered up with white strips, but his eyes sparkled, like always. “You were so brave. I’m proud of you.” His eyes glistened with tears and one lone tear slowly fell down his left cheek.

  “What’s wrong with you, Jeremy?” Panic welled up in my heart as I waited for an answer. My heart punched hard against my ribs.

  “Not much.” He chuckled. “I’m just a little paralyzed.”

  “Paralyzed? No, no,” I said, laying my head on his chest hoping I would feel his strong arms wrap around me and hold me tight. They didn’t, and I let the tears flow freely, wetting his shirt. No one spoke for a long time.

  I looked him straight in the eye. Tears still spilled easily from his now. “What happened? Paralyzed? How?” I asked even though I knew the answer. He was paralyzed because he tried to protect me.

  “Well,” he said, trying to hide how his voice cracked with emotion. “A bullet—”

  The door to the room suddenly swung open and a man, who was obviously a doctor, said, “Well, well. Who’s this?” He looked at me, his deep voice soothing. “I mean, I saw these two kids yesterday and now there’s one more.” He gestured toward Rick and Summer and then planted his eyes on me.

  “This is Christy,” Jeremy said.

  “Ahhh. Your partner in crime. I should’ve known. Her face looks as bad as yours. I think she might have more steri-strips than you.” He moved over to me and grabbed my chin, looking closely at my face. “I take that back. Her cuts seem to be healing better than yours.” He chuckled. “Maybe it’s all these tears. Salt water has such a great healing effect. Now, what are these tears for? Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “Only every inch of me.”

  “All bruised up—like someone else I know, huh?” He looked at Jeremy, moving toward him. I stepped away and watched as the doctor gently touched several spots on Jeremy’s face. All I could feel was pain for this man who gave his life for me—worse, really. Now he would have a frozen life, unable to do anything that he used to. My insides churned.

  “I was just filling Christy in on what happened to me. Could you just tell her?”

  There was more? I was going to be sick. I felt hot and looked around for some way to get more air.

  “Are you sure, Jeremy? I could leave and come back.”

  “No. Really, it’s okay. Tell her everything. She won’t rest until she knows every last detail.” He winked at me. How could he do that? He should be mad at me, not playful. He would live a life of sorrow because of me. I tried to hold it together to know the full extent of the damage I’d caused. I leaned on the closest wall to help with the shaking.

  “Well, okay…” The doctor turned to me. “Jeremy was shot. The bullet grazed his lower spine and miraculously missed all his vital organs as it exited his left side. His vertebra chipped a bit, but we think this paralysis will be temporary. Once the swelling goes down and some time passes, we hope he will return to normal.”

  “Oh.” I felt a bit of relief. He had a chance to be normal again. I couldn’t help but ask, “What are the chances?”

  “It’s hard to say. Everyone is so different.”

  “Is it more likely than not?” I whispered.

  “Yes.”

  I expelled a puff of air and relaxed. My urge to puke left me as I moved toward Jeremy again. “Do you hurt or do you feel nothing?” I asked.

  “I can’t feel anything. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”

  “You always look on the bright side of things. How?”

  “It’s natural for me.” He chuckled.

  After checking a few of the machines, the doctor turned and looked at Summer and Rick and said, “Now, you two watch out for Christy here. Don’t let her laugh too much. We don’t want her cuts to bust open.”

  Only Rick and Jeremy laughed. Summer sneered.

  “I’ll be back a little later, Jeremy. And Christy, be good.”

  “I’ll tr
y.” I answered, watching him leave, wondering why he hadn’t said to “be safe.”

  “Hey, Jeremy,” Summer said. “Why am I still here? It’s not like I saw anything. Those goons out there wouldn’t explain why I had to sit around here waiting for Christy when I could have been home two days ago.”

  “We didn’t know exactly what the bad guys knew, so we had to play it safe to keep you safe. We didn’t know if they knew only Christy and Marybeth had seen the whole thing and that you had seen nothing. I think it’s pretty clear now that our mole, Agent Durrant, told them about who knew what. When push came to shove and they only had a slim chance of getting rid of one of you back at the safe house, they went for Christy.”

  A strange relief washed over me, glad I’d been the target, but glad they hadn’t gotten me.

  “So, is everyone else safe now?”

  “Everyone, including you,” Jeremy said, looking at me. The other kids flew home yesterday.”

  “I’m so glad everyone’s safe,” I said. “What about the terrorists?”

  “As far as the bad guys go, we think we got them all. They’re all either dead or in custody.”

  “Even the senator and the guy with the crooked nose and—,” I asked.

  “All, Christy. You’re safe to go home. It’s over for you.”

  The rock in my stomach didn’t leave me. I was afraid.

  “Don’t be afraid, Christy,” Jeremy said, as if reading my thoughts. “They got ‘em on the run, and besides, I taught you to defend yourself. Just be careful.”

  Would I ever feel safe again?

  “When are we going home?” I asked.

  “This afternoon,” Rick said, almost whispering. “We go to the airport from here.”

  “Today? Are you crazy?” I said.

  “You mean you want to stay here? All alone?” Jeremy asked.

  “I wouldn’t be alone. You would be here.”

  “You need to go home.”

  The door opened and our guards stepped inside. “Time to go.”

  I leaned back down to Jeremy and hugged him. “Thank you,” I whispered. I looked at his blue eyes and felt tears well up again.

  “Don’t cry for me. I’ll be out running before your first tear hits the ground.”

  I smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  “I’ll write to you,” I said.

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “I want to. Where do I send the letters?”

  “Send ‘em to FBI headquarters. Nathan’ll get ‘em to me.”

  “I will,” I said, nodding. “Thank you, Jeremy. Thank you for my life. Promise me you’ll get better.”

  “I will. Don’t worry.”

  “You better!” I said, turning to leave.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Our driver dropped us off curbside at the airport and Summer, Rick, our agents, and I headed inside. The masses of people waiting in line at each airline staggered me. People were everywhere.

  We snaked through the line to check our baggage. Once we reached the representative, she entered our information and then another airline rep. came and led her away. They disappeared behind a door. Only after several minutes did a completely different rep. come to the counter to help us. Chris, my new Special FBI Agent, complained about the wait and the rep. gave us complimentary hygiene kits for our trouble.

  It had only been one hour since they made me put the wig on, and it itched already. Waiting in the long line to check my luggage, I tried to ignore it, but by the time we headed for the security line, I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled hard on Chris’ arm and pointed toward the restroom sign.

  He rolled his eyes and said, “Hurry up. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  I nodded and hurried in, scratching my head through the wig once I got in a stall. I knew I should be careful not to mess it up and make it obvious that I was wearing a wig, but it itched so bad and I had to scratch so hard to satisfy the itch, I was sure it had moved and didn’t look right. I’d fix it on my way out.

  With the itch gone, I headed for a mirror. The wig had moved, the part sat way left and the long black hair ratted at the top. I flipped the long strands to the back and adjusted the part to the center while tucking in any errant strands of my natural blond hair. It didn’t look as good as the makeup artist had left it, but I thought it looked pretty natural.

  I had to spend a minute on my face. It looked terrible. The ointment the doc had me put on my scrapes was shiny and oozy now. The makeup artist had been smart putting a long wig on me so that I could look down and hide my face because the ooziness of the ointment made me look like some monster from a sci-fi flick. I turned to get some toilet paper to wipe it away, when I noticed a nun washing her hands at the sink next to me. I smiled at her. She smiled back, turning to grab a paper towel, but finding the dispenser empty, she turned back to the sink.

  “Here, use this,” I said, handing her the toilet paper I’d just gotten.

  “Thank you, dear,” she said.

  I got more for myself, wiped my face and headed for the exit.

  “Young lady,” the nun called after me. “Here, take this.” She held out a necklace.

  “No, really, that’s okay,” I said.

  “It’s a Patron Saint Christopher charm. He’ll watch out for you as you travel.” She moved toward me, holding it out for me to take. “Please, you were kind to me and I’d like to return the favor.”

  Not wanting to hurt her feelings, and knowing that Chris told me to hurry, I took the charm, lifting it up to see a man with a walking staff imprinted on the little gold charm. I said thanks as I hurried out the door.

  Chris stood only a few feet from the entrance, looking like he hadn’t taken his eyes off the door the whole time I was in there. Before I could tell Chris about the nun, he jumped all over me for taking too much time, grabbed my hand and dragged me to the security line. I slid the charm necklace into my backpack, amused at the idea a patron saint would watch over me and his name was Christopher.

  I saw Summer already walking down the aisle for first class ticket holders, and Rick stood at the end of it. He waved his hand at me to go with him. First class would have been nice, but something I could never afford. I pointed at the other line, pulling Chris in that direction, but Chris pulled me toward the first class line.

  “This way,” he said.

  “I don’t have a first class ticket,” I said.

  “You do today,” he said, meeting up with Rick and his agent.

  Rick smiled and said, “Finally.”

  I couldn’t believe he was being so nice to me after what happened at the safe house. I thought it was over between us. In fact, he’d been nice to me ever since he took my hand on the roof.

  He looked me straight in the eye. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Had he forgiven me? He grabbed my backpack, threw it over his shoulder and then took my hand, leading me into the almost empty first class line to airport security while I tried to open my ticket and see what it said. Was I really in first class?

  Both of our FBI agents followed closely behind us, acting like they were traveling, too. It was interesting to see them appear relaxed. I looked around, wondering if there were more agents stashed around the airport that I couldn’t see. There were only three people in front of us in line, and Rick turned to me. “Hey, what’s the first thing you’re doing when you get home?”

  I pulled my hand away from his and opened my ticket, ignoring his question. First class. Rick bumped into my arm, smiled and said, “A gift from the taxpayers of America.” He chuckled.

  Awesome.

  “So, what are you going to do when you get home?” he asked again.

  Home. Unfortunately, we were going home. This really was my last day in D.C. My body tightened thinking of going back to my ordinary, totally uninteresting, boring life back home. I hoped my parents would let me stay home from school until I didn’t have to use the ointment any longer. Fat chance. Would people be able
to see that I had changed—that I could be pretty—even with my face a total mess?

  I hadn’t really thought about what I would do when I got there. All I could think about was what I would miss here in D.C. Friends. People who liked me and wanted to be with me. Guys. Guys who actually liked me. My heart sank as I thought about the loneliness of home.

  I felt a tug at my hand.

  “Well?” Rick stared at me.

  The playfulness in his eyes made my heart sink even deeper. He was going to go home to his friends and would forget all about me.

  “You in there, Christy?”

  I forced a smile. “Sorry. I was just trying to figure out what I’m gonna do.”

  “I know what I’m going to do. After giving my family the biggest hugs ever, I’m gonna make ‘em go swimming with me. I’m dying to swim.”

  This time it was easy to smile as we continued moving toward the security guy. “Swimming’s good.”

  “Yeah. The only thing that would make it better is if you were there with me.” He squeezed my hand lightly a couple of times and rocked gently into the side of my arm.

  “If only,” I said, feeling my skin heat up as he touched it. Truly. If only. Now that I had felt what it was like to have people care about me—how could I live without it? I simply had to make some friends. The thought of going back to everyone treating me the same horrible way for the next two years until I could leave for college crushed me.

  When we reached the security check point, I couldn’t help but notice how close Rick had gotten to me. I tried to suppress the magical feeling it gave me, but couldn’t. If this was the last time I would be with him, I should enjoy it. Why was I being so pessimistic anyway? He could call me. He could visit. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

  After all, who would have believed I would have made friends on this trip? Who would’ve believed I could look pretty? Who would have believed I would kiss someone? Two someones? Even if Rick or Alex didn’t call me, maybe guys would notice me and even ask me on a date next month when I turn sixteen. Thanks to Eugene, I could see how annoying I’d been before I came to D.C., and I would never act that way again. My heart raced at the thought.