A crunching noise. Glass?
“Alex, can you hear me?” The familiar voice was close. A warm hand touched my cheek.
I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. “Peter?”
“No. It’s James,” the familiar voice said, sweeping the hair away from my face.
“James?” I was so confused. My head throbbed. James? I couldn’t concentrate. Thoughts blurred together incoherently. James? And then, the voice and name connected. James Van Curen was here.
My eyelids fluttered open and, after a few moments, my vision focused. I was in the driver seat of my Mercedes, or at least what was left of it. The entire front end of the silver car was smashed. If I stretched out my hand, I could touch the tree because the windshield was shattered. The airbag in the steering wheel had deflated. Glass was everywhere.
I tried to lift my head, but it hurt too much. I closed my eyes again to stop the searing pain. A siren bellowing in the distance was the last sound I heard.
* * *
The walls were white. The room brightly lit. Square fluorescent lights lined the ceiling. I inhaled a funny smell, too, like sterile alcohol.
I twisted my head to get a better view, but a shot of pain stopped that effort.
“You’re awake!”
I turned my head, a little more cautiously this time. James Van Curen’s handsome face grinned down at me. What was he doing here? Where was I? I glanced around the room again. It didn’t take long to realize I was in a hospital bed.
“Oh… I crashed,” I said stupidly.
“You’re really lucky,” James said. “You have a sprained wrist and a couple of cuts. That’s it.”
I glanced down. My right wrist was tightly wrapped. “Wow. And my car?”
“Totaled.”
Victor was going to be livid. That was officially the end of my driving career.
I tried to sit up, but James pressed my shoulder down. “Not too fast. You hit your head pretty hard.”
“How did you find me?”
“I was still on the line. I heard everything,” James said. “You said you were on Main Street before you dropped the phone. So I rushed over and, sure enough, your little Mercedes was smashed into a tree.” James sat down in the chair beside my bed. “Thankfully, some guy had already called the ambulance.”
“The man with the southern accent?” I remembered the voice.
“You remember him?”
“Vaguely. Was he okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t he crash, too?”
“No. He wasn’t driving,” James said. “He lives on the corner of Main and Timberwood. He heard the crash from his living room and ran out to help you.”
“Then what happened to the car that hit me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“There was another car. The headlights were blinding me in the rearview mirror. The car must’ve lost control, because it bumped me from behind. That’s when I hit the patch of ice.”
James frowned. “There was no other car at the scene.”
“Somebody hit me.”
“You should tell the police officer when he comes back. He came by earlier, but you were sleeping. It sounds like a hit-and-run.”
“Do Emma and Victor know I’m here?”
“I don’t think so,” James said. “The hospital might keep you overnight. I’m going to stay, if you don’t mind.”
“Thank you.” I was glad James was here with me.
Dr. Cooper walked in with a clipboard. He had the same shaggy blond hair as his twin sons. “How are you feeling, Alexandria?”
“Okay, I guess. My wrist is a little sore.” I lifted my right hand.
“Your wrist is sprained. There is a pretty deep gash on your forehead, though it’s not too visible because it’s at your hairline. That’s it, no serious injuries. However, as a precaution, I want you to stay overnight. I want to monitor you closely in case you have a concussion.”
I tentatively touched my forehead and felt a large bandage.
“We are trying to get a hold of your parents, but we haven’t had any luck. The emergency contact in your file is Lauren LaViollette. However, the number that was listed wasn’t hers… it was Peter’s, I believe. We left a message.”
Peter.
He didn’t care that I was in the hospital.
Dr. Cooper must have seen the disappointment on my face and mistaken it for pain. “Would you like the nurse to bring some pain medicine?”
Medicine couldn’t heal my pain. “No thank you, I’ll be fine. When can I go home?”
“Tomorrow. Is there any other way we can reach your parents?”
“Did you call their cell phones?”
“Yes,” Dr. Cooper said. “We left messages.”
Locating my parents was impossible. I’d been trying to locate my parents for sixteen years. No one would be coming tonight. I only had James.
“I’ll check on you in a few hours.”
“Thank you, Dr. Cooper,” I said.
“Mr. Van Curen, thank you again for all your help,” Dr. Cooper said to James.
Once Dr. Cooper left, I turned to James. He had Dr. Cooper’s same sympathetic look on his face. He felt sorry for me, too.
“I’m okay,” I said.
“I know,” James said. “You should get some rest. I’ll be right here if you need me.” A dimple appeared in his left cheek.
“I’m really sorry for the way I’ve been—”
Loud footsteps echoed from the hallway. Someone was running. James and I glanced at the door. And then he walked in, or rather, stumbled in.
He sucked in his breath at the sight of me. “Oh my God, Lex, I just got the message.”
James’s face went blank.
Peter gripped the bottom of the bed rail. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” I probably looked worse than I felt.
“What happened? My mom said you stopped by the house,” Peter said. Then he turned to James. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She crashed into a tree,” James said in an even tone. He was standing now, too.
“Crashed? You let her drive when it was sleeting? Don’t you know she’s a terrible driver?”
They were talking about me like I wasn’t in the room.
“Actually, someone hit me,” I said. No one paid attention.
“Let her drive?” James said to Peter. “How is this my fault? She’s been a wreck because you’ve been avoiding her. She was coming from your house, looking for you.”
Peter flinched.
I waved my good hand in front of them. “Stop! Screaming at each other isn’t helping.”
They both glanced down at me in the hospital bed.
“Where are Emma and Victor?” Peter asked.
James shook his head.
Peter’s blue eyes lit with rage. He unleashed a string of profanities. When he was done cursing the world, he looked at James. “Do you mind giving us a few minutes?”
James glanced at me. “Will you be okay?”
“Are you serious? Of course she’ll be okay,” Peter said. “What? Do you think I’d hurt her?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said to James.
James didn’t look so sure. “I’ll see if I can find that cop who wanted to take your statement.”
Peter pulled up a chair and grabbed my good hand. “Lex, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, you wouldn’t have been driving from my house.”
“Don’t. It was an accident. I shouldn’t have been out on the road while it was sleeting in the first place.” I brought my hand to Peter’s face. My fingertips grazed his cheeks.
He closed his eyes. “Can you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. It’s my fault we were fighting. I should’ve told you about dinner with James. I’m sorry. It really was just dinner.” The tears I’d been fighting back spilled over.
“Lex, don’t cry.” Peter wiped my tears. “I wa
s jealous of James and I couldn’t control my temper. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
We sat in a comfortable silence, hand in hand until there was a light knock at the door. An older man in a trench coat peered into the room. “Hello. My name is Detective Henry. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
James walked in behind the detective and took his seat in the chair to my right.
I remembered Detective Henry from his lecture at school about Megan Lackey’s death. Why was he here? Surely, the detective was too high up on the totem pole to take statements about car accidents. Or maybe not. This was Hazel Cove.
“How are you feeling?”
“A little tired,” I admitted.
“You’re Victor Ramsey’s daughter?”
Peter’s head snapped up.
“Yes,” I said. “Did you get a hold of him?” Victor was the last person I wanted to see tonight.
“No. I’m trying to put names with faces. Being new in town is tough. I saw your last name and figured you had to be Victor’s girl. He’s a mighty fine attorney.”
I tried to smile. Peter snickered.
Detective Henry’s eyes darted between Peter and me. “I was going to send one of my men down here to ask you some routine questions regarding the accident tonight, but your friend, Mr. Van Curen, mentioned that we might be dealing with something other than a single-car accident. That’s why I’m here.”
“Okay.”
“Mr. Van Curen informed me that there was another car involved in tonight’s accident?”
“Yes.”
Peter squeezed my left hand.
Detective Henry scribbled in his notepad. “Would you mind walking me through what happened?”
“Um, okay.” I tried to sit up. “Well, I was driving, obviously. It was difficult to see because of the weather, so I was going way under the speed limit. I figured the car behind me would stop tailgating and pass me, but it didn’t. The next thing I knew, the car hit my bumper. I skidded across the ice, off the road and into a tree.”
“What type of automobile was it?”
“I could only see the headlights, but it was definitely a car. The lights weren’t high enough to be a truck or SUV.”
“How hard were you hit?”
“Hard enough. It wasn’t a tap. Maybe the driver lost control of his own car and bumped me? The roads were slippery.”
Detective Henry ran a hand over his mustache. “I’ll have the guys check your bumper for dents and scratches. We don’t have much to go on, since you can’t identify the car, but we’ll see what we can do.” He snapped his notepad shut. “Now, I have to ask. Are you absolutely sure there was another car? It’s okay if you just lost control. You are a young driver, it happens.”
I raised an eyebrow at the detective. “A car hit me from behind.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can to find out who it was.”
A nurse knocked on the door. “Don’t we have a full room?”
Detective Henry nodded at the nurse and then waved to me. “I’ll be in touch. Thank you, Miss Ramsey.”
The nurse shuffled around Peter to my IV bag. “All right, sugar, I’m going to give you some pain medicine so you can get some rest.” She injected a clear liquid into the bag.
The nurse left and an awkward silence fell over the room. I waited for someone to say something. They didn’t.
I sighed. “I guess you two should be properly introduced. Peter LaViollette, meet James Van Curen. James, Peter.”
Neither moved or said a word.
James finally stuck out his hand. Peter, reluctant at first, shook James’s hand. They held the shake for a moment too long and by the look of their forearm muscles, a little too tight.
Well, it was a start.
“See, that wasn’t so bad.” I yawned. The pain medicine coursed through my veins. My arms and legs felt detached from the rest of my body.
Peter pushed the hair from my face. “Are you sleepy, Lex?”
“Mmm-hmm.” My lids were heavy.
James pulled his chair to the bed. “I’m staying tonight,” James said to Peter.
“Why?” Peter asked.
“Because I promised Alex I would.”
My eyes fluttered open. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, James. I’ll be fine.”
“No, I’m staying,” James said. “Why don’t you go, Peter? There’s no need for both of us to stay.”
“Fat chance, Lover Boy.” Peter scooted his chair closer to the bed. “I’m not leaving her side. Ever again.”
Chapter Eleven
“What are you doing?” I scanned the hospital parking lot to see if anyone was watching us.
“Putting you in the cab of the truck. What does it look like?” Peter scooped me up out of the wheelchair and placed me in the passenger seat.
I didn’t want to point out that my wrist was injured, not my legs. I knew he was only trying to take care of me. Dr. Cooper ordered bed rest for the day, but I could go back to school tomorrow. I had to wear a soft brace on my wrist for the next two weeks, but other than that, I was fine.
I folded my legs underneath me as we pulled out of the parking lot. “I wonder how the hospital released me without a parent signature.”
“Do you think Victor and Emma stopped by last night?”
“I don’t think so. Victor would’ve signed the papers and left. But I think Emma would’ve at least come by the room to see me.”
Peter nodded.
“Or maybe Dr. Cooper took care of it,” I said. That was the more likely scenario.
“Doesn’t matter, right?” Peter squeezed my leg.
He was right. I was out of the hospital and that’s all that mattered.
“It was nice of that kid to ride in the ambulance with you last night,” Peter said.
I guess ‘that kid’ meant James. “And it was nice of him to stay the night, too.”
James had left early in the morning to go to school. I thanked him for all his help and he volunteered to pick up my homework. There were no fights or arguing between the two, although James wasn’t too happy when Peter announced he was skipping class to take me home.
I decided to change the subject to a safer topic. “I’ll have to wear this brace for the party on Saturday.”
“It’s not so bad.” Peter made a left turn.
“You went the other way.”
“What?”
“You took a different route to my house so I wouldn’t see the tree.” We were heading toward the Hallows, but we were coming from the opposite direction. Driving this way, we wouldn’t pass the crash site.
“You’ve had enough trauma in the last twenty-four hours. No sense in reliving it.” Peter turned down Apple Orchard and groaned. “So much for avoiding trauma.”
Bradley and the Rolls were in the driveway, which meant Victor was home. Peter pulled in beside Bradley and ran around to help me out of the truck.
“Good morning, Peter,” Bradley said. “Alex, how’s your wrist?”
Peter and I glanced at each other. If Bradley knew about my wrist, then my parents knew about the car accident.
“A little sore, but it’ll heal,” I said. “Are they inside?”
Bradley’s face fell. “Maybe you could go to Peter’s for the day?”
Peter laid his hand on my back. “That might not be a bad idea.”
I bit my lip. I was in a car accident last night. Emphasis on the word ‘accident.’ It wasn’t my fault. My parents didn’t even have the decency to visit me at the hospital. And now Bradley and Peter wanted me to hide out at the LaViollettes’? No way.
“No,” I said to Peter. “I’m going in. I have to. I completely understand if you don’t want to come. I’m sure it’s going to be World War III.”
“Lex, don’t be stupid. Of course I’m going in with you.”
“Good luck, mates,” Bradley said.
Emma flipped through a stack of papers at the kitchen cou
nter while drinking a glass of orange juice. Victor scrolled through his cell phone on the other side of the island. Mya swept the kitchen floor. It was a picture of domestic bliss. You’d never know that their only daughter crashed her car into a tree the night before and was, up until twenty minutes ago, in the hospital.
Mya was the first to see us. She dropped the broom and ran to hug me.
Victor placed his cell phone on the counter. “You’re out.”
“Yes.” I didn’t know what else to say.
Mya stepped away from me. All the courage I felt a few moments ago was out the door with the sound of Victor’s voice.
Peter grabbed my hand.
Emma hopped off the stool. “Alexandria, you look well! Good morning, Peter. I was going to stop by the hospital once Bradley dropped your father off at work.”
Again, I didn’t have anything to say.
“You have the worst luck driving.” Emma inspected my injured hand. I winced when she pressed my wrist. Her face was close enough that I could smell her breath. Orange juice and vodka.
“I guess so,” I said.
“At least you didn’t scar your face,” Emma said. “Do you want Mya to make breakfast for you and Peter?” She returned to the papers on the counter—last minute details for this weekend’s party.
Victor was silent.
“I’m glad you’re out of there,” Emma said with her back to us. “You know how I hate hospitals. The smell just gets to me. I was hoping you’d be out before I had to go over there. That’s too bad about your car.”
“Ah, the car.” Victor placed a hand on the counter. “You ran it off the road?”
“Someone hit her from behind,” Peter said.
Emma tilted her head. “Someone hit you?”
“Yes,” I answered. My verbal skills weren’t working well this morning.
“The police called this morning,” Victor said. “They didn’t say anything about another car being involved.”
“Detective Henry said he was looking in to it,” I said.
“Do you really expect me to believe you?”
I flinched. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Like the dent in the fender the other day?” Victor’s voice grew louder.
Peter was about to say something, but I squeezed his hand. He couldn’t fight all my battles for me.