by Tiffany King
“Wait,” I said.
He paused in the doorway. “How did it happen?”
“We heard it was a hit and run. Whoever hit her rammed into the driver’s side and then fled the scene. The police will be in soon to talk to you,” he said sympathetically as he left the room.
I sunk into the seat and felt my emotions beginning to take over.
“Krista, don’t let them do it,” I heard Sam say from far off.
The waves were building momentum.
“Mark you have to help her. She needs to be here for her mom.”
“Krista, you have to fight it,” Sam begged me as Mark rained kisses all over my face and rubbed my back.
I swallowed back bile as I fought with the nausea and focused my breathing. The roaring of the waves in my ears was painful. I can’t do it, I thought helplessly.
“You can do it,” Sam said as if she could read my inner turmoil. She tightly gripped my hand as Mark continued to sooth me.
Mark finally took matters into his own hands and leaned in to kiss me on the lips.
I tried to pull back; I didn’t want to make matters worse by being sick all over us.
Mark was having none of that running his hand up firmly behind my head and fastened his lips on mine. The effect was instantaneous, like the lull before a storm, yet the storm seemed to be gone as his kiss worked its magic throughout my body. Who needed breathing tricks when you had kisses like this?
My eyes fluttered open as Mark pulled back. He looked smug and knew that his kiss had worked.
“Well that worked,” Sam muttered dryly next to me.
Shawn stifled a chuckle.
I felt my senses returning, I may not have stopped it the way I was supposed to, but we had fought the storm together and won. I felt slightly off. Instead of the lethargic feeling I was used to, I felt oddly strong like I was riding an adrenaline wave. I looked around and would have chuckled at the old woman’s face if it were different circumstance. I could only guess at what she was thinking about the way we seemed to handle our grief.
“I’m better,” I said meeting the concerned eyes of my friends. “I’m worried about my mom, but I feel much better,” I continued quietly keeping my voice down.
We were interrupted when two policemen walked into the room. Neither of them could give us any new information. It seemed like no one had seen anything. The only lead they had was the paint scrapings on the side of my mom’s focus.
I thanked them for their help and sat back down when they left.
“I’m going to stay here at the hospital tonight.”
“I’m staying with you,” Mark said putting his arm around me.
“I can stay too,” Sam said.
“No, there’s no need for all of us to stay, but you and Shawn can crash at my house,” Mark told her. “Maybe you can stop off at Krista’s and pick up a change of clothes for her.”
“Can you feed my cat too?” I asked.
Sam and Shawn hugged me goodbye and headed out. I was amazed when I looked at my watch and discovered it was almost midnight. I felt bad that Mark was stuck in a waiting room all night, but I was grateful to have him with me.
The doctor came in shortly after 1:00 am and told me that my mom had made it through the surgery okay and was resting now. She still hadn’t regained consciousness, but he said rest was the best thing for her body right now anyway.
Mark and I moved to the loveseat in the corner. I snuggled against his side while we watched infomercials on the television that was mounted on the wall. We had the lounge to ourselves. The elderly woman was picked up by her family shortly after Sam and Shawn left. We talked for awhile until I drifted off.
I woke the next morning with a kink in my back and a stiff neck. Mark and the Boardwalk were once again absent from my dreams, but at least I had gotten a little sleep. I missed the dreams, but had more pressing matters on my mind. I was anxious to see my mom and hoped she regained consciousness today.
Mark was still dozing when I sat up straight. I rubbed the back of my neck to help work out the kink and then stood up, my back groaned from the new position. I went searching for a bathroom. I took a mock sponge bath in the sink and scrubbed the last traces of sleep from my face. By the time I made it back to the waiting room with two steaming cups of hot chocolate, Mark was up and alert.
“I was just on my way to look for you.”
“Sorry, I felt so grimy I decided to wash up a little. Here, I brought you a hot chocolate, the breakfast of champions,” I said with a small smile.
Sensing my stress, Mark led me back to the loveseat and draped his arm around me while we watched television. We sat quietly sipping our hot chocolate. His presence once again offered the comfort I needed. When our cups were empty, Mark stood up and tossed them in the recyclable bin.
“I’m going to go check on my mom,” I said standing. “The waiting is killing me.”
Mark snagged my wrist as I was heading out the door. He pulled me gently in his arms and wrapped his hand around the nape of my neck securing it into place. He leaned in and gave me a kiss that would rival the one from the previous night. The warmth of the kiss spread through every limb in my body and made my toes curl in anticipation. I knew I should be worried about morning breath, but I couldn’t seem to be able to pull up one ounce of embarrassment.
Mark pulled back and I took a small stumbling step backward as all my other senses came back into focus.
“Um, Ms. Miller,” An aggravated voice said behind me. I flushed slightly turning around to face my mom’s doctor. I could tell by his expression that it was not the first time he had called my name. I can just imagine what he was thinking. I was some shallow teenager who makes out in a waiting room while her mom is laid up in the hospital.
Instead of being embarrassed, I felt a small surge of anger inside. He had no idea what I have to deal with and he definitely didn’t spend the night on a small uncomfortable sofa.
“Yes,” I said in a defiant voice.
“How is my mom?” I continued on in a softer voice that could not disguise the pain I felt over my mom.
His expression softened at my apparent concern. “She’s better. She is still in a coma, but that is partly due to the medicine we’re giving her. The less she moves as her injuries heal the better chance she will have of recovering. We’re going to be moving her out of ICU and into a regular room later today. We need to run a number of tests on her this morning, so why don’t you go a home for a little while and get some rest.”
“Can’t I see her now?” I asked in a pleading voice.
“She’s having a CT done now and after that we’re going to do an MRI. Come back after 3:00, she will be in a room and visiting hours are lot more lenient,” he said leaving the room.
“He’s right, let’s go home and get refreshed. That way if your mom does wake up, she won’t stress because you look worn out.”
“It’s too early to call Sam and Shawn to come get us,” I said glancing at my watch, trying to come up with a valid reason to stay.
“They dropped the car off last night after you fell asleep. Shawn didn’t feel comfortable leaving us stranded. Come on, we will go home for a little while and be back before you know it; I promise,” he said, gently leading me toward the bank of elevators.
I followed along reluctantly, glancing back at the double doors to the ICU ward one last time before the heavy elevator doors closed.
Shawn had parked Mark’s SUV on the second level in the parking garage. Mark was helping me into the vehicle when an industrial van with tinted windows pulled up behind his car.
The passenger door opened and a distinguished gentleman stepped out. He looked vaguely familiar and I tried to place him.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” Mark asked beside me, clearly confused.
At his words, it came to me how I knew him. He was much younger in the picture that I had seen, but I could now clearly tell it was him under the wrinkles and gray hair. I tur
ned to look at Mark questioningly who was also confused and saw a hulking shape coming up behind Mark.
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out as I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. I was out before my head hit the ground, and never saw the person who delivered the blow that knocked me unconscious.
Chapter 12
I woke slowly with my head pounding, feeling very disoriented. It was pitch black in my room as I opened my eyes. I reached over to turn on my bedroom lamp, but felt nothing but open space. Where was my lamp?
And then it all came flooding back to me. My mom in the hospital and Mark’s dad showing up in the parking garage, but I didn’t remember anything after that.
I abruptly sat up. Where was Mark?
My sudden movements only accentuated the painful throbbing, like someone was hitting my head with a hammer.
“Mark,” I said quietly, feeling around with my hands. “Mark,” I said much louder, starting to feel panicked. I climbed off the cot I was laying on, dropping to my knees. “Mark!” I said again, my voice rising to a near scream.
I crawled around on my knees, holding my hands in front of me like a blind person. “Mark. Where are you?” I said choking on a sob. I continued to reach out my hands, finding nothing but cold hard wall. The darkness was beginning to taunt me as the sobs ripped out of me. I crawled back over to the cot and curled up into a ball.
I tried as hard as I could to stay calm, but the panic was beginning to overwhelm me. I closed my eyes and began holding my breath. Smother it out, I chanted in my head, smother it out. The room felt like it was spinning, leaving me groggy. Unable to keep my eyes open, I drifted back to sleep.
The second time I woke was less confusing as I expected the oppressive darkness when I opened my eyes.
I hoped my eyes would adjust to the darkness, but it was no use. There was not even the slightest bit of light to help.
I lay on the cot for a few minutes, trying to figure out why this was happening to us, and why Mark’s dad was involved.
“Mark,” I said trying one more time to see if he was with me, but there was no answer.
I cautiously sat up and was relieved that my head at least felt a little better. I swung my legs off the edge of the cot and stood up. Reaching my hands out, I took a cautious step forward encountering the rough bricks of a wall. I trailed my hands along the wall trying to get a feel of the room and its dimensions. It felt like it was about the size of my bathroom at home, minus the fixtures.
There was only one door which seemed to be bolted on the outside. The only fixture in the room was the cot I had awakened on.
I sat back down on the cot trying to control my senses. I had lost all sense of time and could not tell if it was day or night. I focused, trying to use my heart as a gauge. It was just beginning to ache, so I knew that meant I had been away from Mark roughly four to six hours. I wonder what Sam and Shawn could be thinking?
None of this made any sense. Why would Mark’s dad kidnap us? If only I could remember more of the details before I had blacked out.
Other questions of more concern pressed on me.
Where was Mark, and what had they done to him? What about my mom? What if she woke up and I wasn’t there?
My head began to ache again, so I lay back down to deal with the pain. The endless darkness made it difficult not to feel tired, especially lying there with my eyes closed.
Suddenly, I could hear the lock on the door being disengaged. Light flooded the room followed by the door being pushed open.
Blinking in the sudden brightness, I looked up to see a heavy duty florescent light above the cot. It was making a faint buzzing noise and was flickering like the bulb needed to be tightened. I stared at it blankly for a moment while my eyes adjusted.
After a few seconds I was finally able to focus clearly. I looked around at my surroundings and wrinkled my nose in disgust at what I saw. The walls were painted a dingy white and were covered in scuff marks and stains; I didn’t even want to speculate about what had caused them. I saw the door I had discovered in the corner of the room, it was in bad shape like the walls. It was made of steel that had once been painted, but was now peeling in multiple areas. I finished my scan of the room and was right about my earlier estimate of its size. It was roughly 6 feet by 8 feet.
A woman I had never seen before walked into the room carrying a tray, followed by a large burley man. The woman set the tray on the edge of the cot. There was some food and a bottle of water, but it also held several needles.
“Arm,” the woman said.
“What?” I asked.
“Arm,” The woman repeated. “I need give you this shot,” the woman said impatiently. “Either you can let me do it or Bruno can help convince you,” she said, nodding over at the man who was still blocking the doorway.
I didn’t feel like being held down against my will, so I didn’t fight as the woman tightened an elastic band around my arm. It pulled at the fine hairs on my arm, causing me to wince, but she paid no mind. She tapped the skin on the inner side of my elbow trying to coax a vein to the surface. I felt the prick of the needle as it found the vein and watched as she proceeded to inject me with several vials of a thick liquid. I cringed at the thought of them pumping something foreign into my body.
“It’s nice to see you so cooperative; your boyfriend could stand to be more like you.”
My head jerked up. “Mark, where do you have him? You have to let me see him! We have to be together.” My words tumbled out of me in a rush. The mention of Mark had made my heart start racing. “Please you have to let me see him, I need to be with him,” I pleaded.
“We know you need to see him. Why do you think we have you separated?” she said as she gathered her empty vials and headed out the door.
I heard the lock being engaged after the door was closed. What did she mean, that’s why they have us separated? Did they know that I got violently ill when he wasn’t around?
I was so frustrated that I grabbed the tray and chucked it against the door.
The metal tray hit the door with a dull thud, sending the food flying, but the water bottle bounced harmlessly off the wall.
“Well that did a lot of good,” I said to myself.
I needed to think.
It was now obvious that they wanted to do testing on us. Why else would they be injecting my arm with some unknown fluid? They also seem to know exactly what they were doing to us by keeping us separated.
The lights flickered off as suddenly as they had flickered on.
The sudden darkness made me uncomfortable again. I’ve never confided it to anyone else, but I have always been secretly afraid of the dark, and this was the worst kind because I didn’t know my surroundings that well.
I curled back up into a ball tucking my head under my arm. The effects of being separated from Mark were beginning to intensify, causing a dull ache throughout my body.
I tried to take my mind off of the darkness by thinking about sections from my favorite books. This helped slightly; making the darkness easier to bear.
As I lay there, I let my thoughts drift thinking about Shawn and Sam.
Had they realized that something happened to us? Would they come looking for us? Mark’s car was still in the parking garage. I just hoped they wouldn’t say anything to my mom if she woke up. If she knew I was missing she would freak out, and that wouldn’t help her recovery.
My throat was definitely dry from thirst. I had been trying to ignore it, but it only intensified. Especially, since I knew that there was a bottle of water somewhere on the floor. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of drinking their water or eating their food, but after awhile I began to realize I was only hurting myself.
I got down on the floor and felt around trying to locate the bottle of water. I found the wrapped sandwich they brought me and after a few more minutes, I also located the water bottle. It had rolled under the cot after I pitched the tray at the door.
Settling back on the cot, I twisted the cap off the bottle and gulped the water to sooth my parched throat. I screwed the cap back on and picked up the sandwich. I paused before my first bite to take a sniff, it smelt like turkey. I took a small cautious bite, it tasted wonderful and I inhaled the entire sandwich before I knew it. I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I knew I should save the rest of the water, but the sandwich was a little dry. I twisted off the cap and only sipped enough to wet my throat again, then recapped it making sure the lid was on securely.
The darkness of the room and a full stomach began to make me sleepy again. I laid down tucking the water up by my chest so I wouldn’t lose it, and in a few minutes I was out.
The lights woke me up.
I sat up and looked around, but nothing had changed. I just wished that I could see Mark. I missed him so much and needed to be with him.
The lock was released on the door and this time I was surprised to see Mr. Russo, Mark’s dad, accompanied by Bruno.
“Why are you doing this to us?” I asked sadly, “He’s your son.”
“Doing what?” he answered, not acknowledging the second part of my statement.
“Holding us against our will,” I said.
“I wouldn’t worry your pretty head about that now,” he stated in a condescending voice. “You’re insignificant in the whole scheme of things anyway.”
I felt hatred begin to well up inside me.
“What do you mean, insignificant?” I asked incredulous.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You have to let me see Mark. I have to be with him.”
He waved off my questions like I was an annoying gnat, bothering him.
“Enough talking, you will find out all the answers to your questions in due time. I want you to be clear on exactly what you are before I’m done with you.”
