Seconds Away

CHAPTER 12

I hurried to her bedside. There was a bandage on the side of Rachel’s head, but she looked relatively okay. There wasn’t a ton of tubes snaking out of her or anything like that. Her sleeves were pulled up. My gaze was drawn to that old, horrible burn mark on her inner arm-the one flaw that seemed to enhance the rest of the physical perfection. Rachel’s eyes were wet from what looked like tears.

I wanted to hug her or do something, but instead I stood by her bedside and waited.

“How did you get in?” Rachel asked.

“Spoon is causing a diversion.”

She tried to smile, but broke into a sob instead. “My mom…”

I moved closer to the bed and sat on the edge. I took her hand. “I heard. I’m so sorry.”

Rachel’s head fell back on the pillow. She blinked and stared up at the ceiling. “It’s my fault.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

“You don’t understand,” she said in a small voice. “I got her killed.”

I froze. Rachel started to cry again.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She just shook her head.

“Rachel?”

“You need to leave.”

I ignored that. “What do you mean, you got her killed?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t want to put you in danger too.”

“Don’t worry about me, okay? Just tell me what’s going on. Are you okay?”

The door behind me started to open.

I have fast reflexes. That, I know, was a genetic thing. When your mother was one of the greatest tennis prodigies of her era and your uncle was a professional-level basketball player, that had to help. I didn’t hesitate. The moment I heard the door opening, I dived down and slid underneath Rachel’s bed.

Someone said, “Hello, Rachel.”

My stomach dropped when I recognized the voice.

I could hear Rachel adjusting herself on the bed. “Chief Taylor?”

“It’s been a long time,” Chief Taylor said, which, I thought, was sort of an odd thing to say to a teenage shooting victim. I could see his brown shoes move toward the bed. “How are you feeling, Rachel?”

There was something in Chief Taylor’s voice-a strange sort of tension. He was trying to sound like the confident cop, but something felt off.

“Fine, thank you.”

Rachel’s voice too. There was a strain there, a friction, something playing under their casual words.

“The doctors tell me you were very lucky.”

“Oh yes, very,” Rachel said-and I heard a tinge of anger in her tone. “My mother is dead. I feel so blessed.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Taylor said, ever the idiot. “I meant your physical health. It seems the bullet grazed your skull, but didn’t penetrate.”

Rachel did not speak.

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Chief Taylor said in a voice that didn’t sound sorry.

“Thank you,” Rachel said in a voice that didn’t sound very grateful.

What was going on here?

“Did you know I was first on the scene?” Taylor asked.

“I didn’t, no.”

“Yep. I called the ambulance for you.”

Silence.

“What do you remember about the shooting?” Taylor asked.

“Nothing,” Rachel said.

“You don’t remember being shot?”

“No.”

“What do you remember?”

“Chief Taylor?”

“Yes.”

Rachel yawned. “I’m not feeling very well right now.”

“But you just said you were feeling fine.”

“I’m still on some medications. I’m feeling very drowsy. Could you come back another time?”

There was a long pause. Then Chief Taylor said, “Of course, Rachel. I understand. Maybe we can talk later.”

“Sure.”

I watched his brown shoes head away from the bed. They stopped at the door. “One more thing,” he said.

Rachel waited.

“A homicide investigator named Anne Marie Dunleavy will be coming by to interview you. Don’t feel obligated to talk to her before we speak again, okay?”

Huh?

“If you do talk to her,” he continued, “well, you just said you don’t remember anything. It’s okay to tell her that.”

Double huh?

Chief Taylor opened the door to head out, but there was a nurse at the door.

“We need to roll her down for X-rays,” the nurse said.

“I’ll hold the door for you,” Taylor said.

I was trapped.

As the nurse came in, I stayed where I was. So did Chief Taylor. From the bed I could hear the nurse pull a lever and then those sidebars came up.

They were going to wheel her out in this bed.

There was no way I wouldn’t be exposed.

I looked left and right. Nothing. I could try to commando crawl, but where would I go? Taylor would see me in an instant. The nurse was positioned to roll the bed. Chief Taylor was holding open up the door.

There was nowhere for me to hide.

“Wait…,” Rachel said weakly.

“For what, dear?”

“I’d like to use the bathroom first.”

Ah, Rachel! Good thinking.

“There’s one where we’re going,” the nurse said in a voice that was not going to be denied. She started to push. “It will be easier to go there.”

“But-”

The nurse started pushing the bed. I did the only thing I could. There were bars under the bed. I grabbed them and pulled myself up. I pressed my feet against the underside and lifted my entire body off the floor.

The nurse stopped, probably because of the additional weight. “Is the brake still on the wheels?”

I held on as she checked. Have you ever done that exercise called the plank, the one where you hold your body in an upper push-up until your entire core starts to quiver? Well, that was sort of what I was doing, except upside down. I felt like a bat or something.

I didn’t know how long I could hang on.

The nurse wheeled the bed right past Chief Taylor’s shoes.

My fingers were starting to tire. My stomach was turning to jelly.

The nurse started down the corridor. I watched the distance between us and Taylor’s shoes increase. I wondered whether Rachel had figured out what I was doing and I guessed that maybe she had. When we reached the elevator, I couldn’t hold on any longer. I let go, collapsing back to the floor.

“Nurse?” Rachel said.

“Yes?”

“Could you get me my stuffed bunny?”

“Pardon me?”

“I’m really sorry. Kirbie-that’s my bunny’s name-is in my room. I’m… I’m scared to go anywhere without her. Please?”

The nurse sighed.

“Please?” Rachel said again.

“Okay, dear. Just wait here.”

As soon as the nurse moved away, I slid out from under the bed. “You have a stuffed bunny?”

“Of course not. Get out of here before she gets back.”

“I want to know-”

“Another time, Mickey, okay? Just go.”

The elevator doors opened beside me. I stepped inside and pressed the button. I watched as the doors started to close. Rachel tried to smile at me, but it wouldn’t hold. And then, maybe half a second before the doors shut all the way, I saw someone else behind her.

It was Chief Taylor. And he was staring straight at me.

“Hold that elevator!”

But I didn’t let my fast reflexes work this time. The doors closed all the way. There was a small delay, as if the doors might open again and let Chief Taylor in. But they didn’t.

I headed down to the lobby and walk-sprinted out the door.