The Heart of It All (HeartSick Series Book 1)

by Weston Mitchel

  “Yes.” She nudged at the cheetah print clutch on her lap, adding “they’re in my purse.”

  “Good.”

  Without saying another word, or even giving her a hint as to what exactly he was planning he stood up, gently pulling her up with him, and leaning over and across her, hunched down and spoke to the other half of their double date, “Hey, we’re gonna go get some drinks, y’all want anything?” He asked with raised eyebrows and a sly smile.

  Brian tilted over on to his left side in order to pull his wallet out of his back pocket, rifled through the bills and pulled out a twenty, lifting it out to Austin, the bill between his outreached pointer and middle finger.

  “I’ll take a coke and a hot dog, and whatever the lady here wants as well, bud.”

  “I’ll have the same,” she said with a scrunched up face, shrugged shoulders and leaned in a little closer to Brian, obviously having a good time.

  “Two cokes, and two hot dogs comin’ right up.”

  Austin snatched the twenty from Brian’s fingers, stood straight, and then led Mia by the hand through the jungle of knees, drinks, purses and buckets of popcorn. He wanted to race down the steps, and keep racing right out of the building with his dream girl on his arm, but the reason they were doing this now was because she was feeling sick.

  So he took it easy, literally one step at a time letting her put as much weight on his arm as she needed. Which wasn’t much on the first step down, but by the time they reached the auditorium floor he was sure he was close to holding her upright and steady.

  “So what’s your big plan, Mister?”

  “Not completely sure what the whole plan is yet, just the first part.”

  “Which is?” She asked this placing the hand not holding onto Brian for balance, on her hip, like she was a Kindergarten teacher about to scold a child.

  “Getting outta here.”

  Austin's Escape Plan

  Austin helped Mia climb up into the passenger seat of Ashley’s Jeep, closed the door and started to walk around the front of the car. As he came to the exact mid-point at the front of the car, his stomach began to roil again. His hands began to tremble by the time he got to the driver’s side door.

  Sliding in behind the wheel, pellets of sweat sprang forth from the pores in his brow and forehead.

  I guess maybe, I should’ve given this some more thought. Way to go dummy.

  He reached his left hand out and grabbed the grey molded handle of the door and shut it. He just didn’t do it hard enough apparently, because even without the car being on and seeing a flashing symbol he could tell the door didn’t give the tell-tale click of actually shutting.

  Seriously? I can’t even shut a damn door right now? How am I supposed to drive her back to the dorms?

  This time he wasn’t leaving it up to chance, without looking over at Mia to see how she thought about this, he opened the door and slammed it, giving the jeep a gentle rocking to and fro from the force of the collision. The loud clap of the metal banging into the frame echoed within the car, reverberating through his body.

  The next thing he knew his mind was back on that sidewalk two years ago watching the ambulance drive away with him inside of it.

  His body however was still sitting in the Jeep, his hands at ten and two, the keys dangling from his thumb. His white knuckles and thousand yard stare gazing off in the distance at nothing in particular, giving Mia the obvious impression that something was up. This was turning into a weirder night than even she was accustomed to.

  “Earth to Austin,” Mia said snapping her fingers with her left hand in front of his face. “Come in, Austin.” This time clapping loudly, inches away from the tip of his nose, this too bouncing off the interior of the semi-luxurious SUV, sending faint metallic echoes through both of their eardrums.

  This brought Austin out of his semi-comatose state, but not out of this anxious, fretful situation.

  What did I think would happen?

  “I’m sorry,” he said turning only his head to face Mia, his hands still tightly gripping the steering wheel, “I can’t do this, I’m sorry.”

  Mia just stared at him for a second, confused, not really having a clue what he was talking about.

  “Can’t do what?” She asked shyly, not wanting to make too big a deal out of whatever this was about to be. Is he talking about us? She asked herself. We barely know each other, a little too early to be using the word us, doncha’ think Mia, she thought.

  “Drive, I… I can’t drive,” Austin said, loosening his grip, blood flowing back into his fingers, and now rushing to his face as embarrassment began to settle in. “I thought I would be able to, especially to get you home, or to a doctor or whatever it is you needed, but… I can’t.”

  Mia gave a long drawn out “Ohhhhhh,” in response, as if finally thinking of an answer to a riddle that her friends had gotten minutes before, or finally seeing the 3D object at the center of one of those prismatic, cubical paintings at the mall.

  “No biggie,” she said smiling, even though it looked as if even this was a laborious act in her increasingly sickened state.

  She opened her purse, swept her hair out of face and back behind her ear again, and pulled her phone out. Turning to Austin and holding the phone up like she was in a commercial, endorsing a lemon-lime soda, making sure the label was facing him.

  “That’s what UBER, is for.”

  Just like that, no pushing for answers, no needing a story to be told to her about why he couldn’t or wouldn’t drive. Just a smile, kind words and a solution. Mia figured that there would still be more than enough time in their future together, that there was no need for answers now, that would all come in due time, and she was right.

  ***

  Brian had just started to wonder just what in the hell was taking those two so damn long, when he saw a pimply faced boy of about 16 holding a tray of something, waving to him from the aisle.

  “Is that joker pointing at us?” He asked Ashley, leaning back to give her a better view. She scooted to the front of the bench and peaked over Brian’s body while pointing at Brian’s sizable head, with a “who us?” gesture. Receiving a brief nod and a thumbs up, followed by the come hither pointer finger curling up and down rapidly.

  “Stay here,” he told Ashley, “I’ll go see what’s up.”

  By this time you gotta figure that this row of people watching the match had to be tired of this group going back and forth but none showed any objections, verbally or physically. They just moved their knees to one side or the other, some of the nicer people standing to give more room for the big guy to scoot by them. Once he reached pizza face, he gave him a good stare down that might make John Cena cower, never mind this skinny scrape of a kid.

  “What?”

  “Uh-uhm, your friend with the hot chick said to give this to you, said he felt sick and needed to leave.” He said this handing him the tray, and then briskly walking back down the steps not wanting this encounter to last any longer than it needed to.

  Brian looked down at the tray, two hot dogs, two cokes and a big purple ball of fluff attached to a set of keys, laying in the middle.

  “Hey! What about my change?” He shouted down at the boy still hopping down the steps.

  The boy turned hurriedly and yelled back with a cupped hand around his mouth, “He said that was my tip!” and scurried off as he reached the main floor.

  At first Brian was a bit pissed, but by the time he reached Ashley again at their seats, he was ready to enjoy some much needed alone time with his date finally.

  “Looks like we got ditched,” he said falling down backwards hard onto the bench spilling only a few drops of the cokes but deftly saving it from complete annihilation.

  Great, Austin is starting to rub off on me… he thought, because it couldn’t be the fact that he was nervous to be alone with Ashley, so obviously it had to be Austin’s fault, somehow.

  “What?” Ashley shouted this out loud enough to do more
than just garner the attention and wide eyes of those around them. A few of the closer seated next to them were actually giving Brian a look that not so politely asked “What the hell are you doing to her?”, but realizing she was fine quickly there after went right back on ignoring their existence once again.

  Ashley didn’t see any of this of course, nor would she have given a damn if she did. She grabbed her purse off the floor, threw it in her lap and started rummaging through it.

  “There’s no way she would just leave me like that”, she said as she pulled her phone from the glittery bag, sliding buttons here and pushing one there, bringing it to her ear.

  Uber Back

  The ride back to the dorms went by quick and took a hundred years at the same time. Once they got in the backseat of the Chrysler, Mia slid in first, only scooting to the middle. Once Austin got in and closed the door, she snuggled up into his side and he put his arm around her over her shoulders letting her head rest softly against his shoulder and chest, a few of her hairs grazing against his neck and cheek blown around by the air conditioner.

  They were still holding hands, his arm resting on top of hers, tracing the outline of her arm, and the back of her hand against his palm. His fingers were weaving into hers over her knuckles, not as comfortable as before but still the only place he wanted his hand to be, at the moment.

  Austin could feel the heat radiating from the top her head into his face, the fever coming in hot and heavy. Waiting for the UBER driver, Jeff, to show up however, she had bitterly refused to go to the doctor. She said she just needed to rest, maybe some Tylenol and she would be fine by morning.

  Sitting here nestled in this seat not wanting the car to ever stop, he doubted seriously that this wave of warmth baking the air around her, like standing next to a radiator, would be fixed so easily. She had been adamant about going straight home though.

  Neither one of them said word, once UBER Jeff had pulled out on the street, and gunned it towards the school. They were content just sitting there, his left hand stroking her hair, her left hand resting on his leg, thumb caressing his inner thigh. Mia listened to his heart thump wildly and calmly at the same time in his chest, her head rising and falling with every breath he took.

  Austin tried to keep his breathing soft and shallow so her head wouldn’t be riding a rollercoaster on his chest. Because of this, every sixty seconds or so he would have to draw in one long deep breath in order to properly refuel his lungs.

  When the car came to an abrupt stop, Jeff announcing their arrival, neither Mia nor Austin moved a single muscle. Both of them were afraid to move, not wanting to break away from each other, from this comfort, from this moment of eternity. Another second went by, and another, and five more until the driver turned around frustrated and said, “Guys! Wake up, we’re here.”

  “Sorry,” Austin said softly, and then sincerely to Mia, “come on, Mia, time to go.”

  He reached for the handle, deliberately, as if it was a rabid dog he was trying to pet, giving him a few moments more of her in his arms. When the latch gave way and the door swung open, the sounds of the world outside raided their little bubble of a temporary world, popping it violently.

  Austin got out, helped Mia out of the car, and then with slow, methodically shorter strides than usual, began their journey to her building and to the end of their night.

  “Ya know, you really should go see a doctor or something,” he said trying to sound casual about it, “Nip whatever this thing is in the bud before it has a chance to do some real damage.”

  “I promise, I’m fine… actually I already feel quite a bit better, maybe ruined a perfectly good evening for nothing… but it’s sweet that you care so much.” Mia replied, smiling and looking into Austin’s eyes, him returning the gaze, not paying attention to where they were walking, not paying attention to anything else around them, she blushed.

  “Trust me,” he said leaning into her, letting go of her hand and putting his arm around her waist, ”nothing was ruined.”

  As she followed suit and wrapped her arm around his waist resting her hand in the back pocket of his jeans, he gave her a light kiss, just above her temple, feeling the slight presence of heat from a fever, but not near as warm as it had been even just minutes ago on the ride home.

  Even so he still wished she would go see a doctor or something, but he didn’t want to push it any more than he already had. He couldn’t, not after she had been so easy going about him not able to drive earlier. Without her even asking a single question to the contrary, how could he now do that to her? So he let it be. They continued to walk, silently, slowly and freely.

  Once again before they knew it, the long walk was over as they reached their final destination of the evening. About thirty feet from the doors of Jester West, just off to the side of the front of the building they stood, facing each other. Motionless except for their hearts fluttering like those pterodactyl wings, and their gazes darting from one eye to the other, and with a glance down to the others’ lip thrown in every now and then for good measure.

  “I… uhm, I guess this is where I leave you,” Austin muttered in a hushed uncertain tone. “Why don’cha take two Tylenol and call me in the morning?” He let out a nervous quick sigh trying to release the tension, with a one sided grin, hoping for another smile from her.

  “How about I take two, and you text me when you get home? I may feel and look like death warmed over but I’m not done with you quite yet Mister.”

  “Well that’s where you’re wrong, Miss,” Austin said as he tipped his non-existent hat over his head, pretending to be the gentleman cowboy, or the haughty aristocrat, or whatever the hell she wanted him to be. He was more than willing to fill whatever role she desired as long as he was in her play.

  He continued, “Even when you’re sick and pale you still outshine the rest of the stars.”

  “So I’m pale!” She all but scolded, giving him a look that was stern yet laced with yearning.

  “Uh-no, I mean not normally, it’s just ya know right now you’re-“

  “Just shut up and kiss me already,” she commanded with a sharp edge of sweetness.

  “Why, yes ma’am,” and he obliged, with every atom in his being vibrating with nervous excitement then fusing into passion, his lips met with hers. His right hand reached around and behind her neck, thumb resting just behind her ear lobe, gently pulling her in closer, while his other hand found the small of her back doing the same.

  There were no more nerves, no more fumbling for the right words or actions, there was only this kiss, growing more and more passionate with every split second that passed. Austin knew he had to pull away, but almost wasn’t able to delve into the pool of his willpower deep enough to do so.

  Finally realizing that they both might need a bit of air they, simultaneously, hesitantly pulled their lips away, but leaving their foreheads resting softly against each other.

  “Well,” she said taking a deep breath in of the hot, humid air. “That was…”

  “Breathtaking?” Austin asked with a dry smile.

  She smirked with a small but audible giggle and replied “Yeah, you could say that.”

  Still standing so close together that a sheet of paper couldn’t pass between them, Mia’s finger tracing some unknown shape on his chest, she looked into his eyes and said “Text me as soon as you get home, ok?”

  Shakespeare had it right, even over four hundred years later, parting truly is such sweet sorrow, he thought as she walked up the few steps that led to the door. As she swung the door outward, she turned back and gave him a small wave but a big, wide smile, the kind you saw in commercials for electric toothbrushes. The sickness that made her want to leave in the first place all but gone.

  Bewildered by the light beaming from her, he returned the smile but raised his hand to wave a tad too late. By the time his hand was fully in the air, the door was shut and she was gone. Leaving him standing there like a mime desperately searching for someone to
high five.

  Not wanting to look like a complete and utter fool, he raised his other hand , not that this helped in the fool department, but that just made him feel like a lame John Cusack without the eight D-cell boom box or trench coat.

  So to counter this he balled his hands into fists as if he had just ran up the steps in Philadelphia with “Eye of the Tiger” playing in his headphones. And why shouldn’t he? Right now he sure as hell felt like a champion that’s for sure. That was until a pair of girls walked by him, gawking, smacking gum, one of them mumbling under her breath “OMG, what’s up with this ‘tard?” While the other girl was lifting her phone up in front of her face, a wannabe paparazzi trying to become the next viral sensation.

  That’s about right.

  Short lived or not, his celebration was deserved so nothing could stop his jubilance now.

  No need to press his luck, though, so he swiftly lowered his hands, slid them in his jean pockets and briskly walked away into the night, making sure that the future TMZ hopeful was only able to capture the back of his head as he slunk away.

  Once he was sure that he was out of sight and definitely out of mind, from the looks of those two it wouldn’t take much, he pulled out his phone.

  9:15pm.

  He tapped the recent call log and then tapped on the first number at the top of the list.

  “Hey its Austin… Austin Kyle, did you still want me to come by?” He asked sorely hoping that she had changed her mind. He needed the money for sure, but he would rather be on his way home texting the girl that occupied his every thought and emotion as soon as possible.

  “Yes, please, I’m already setup, and since it’s just you, it really won’t take all that long, I promise,” Izzy replied graciously, trying not sound too excited.

  “Ok great,” he said facetiously, head hung low, it better not. “I’m on my way as we speak.”

  “I actually didn’t think you were going to call tonight, especially not this early. Thank you so much, you have no idea.”