CHAPTER 14
MENDING WOUNDS
For a while, Chase remained rooted in place, his brain unable to successfully fire off any commands to his feet. He could only look on as Peddle retrieved a first-aid kit and hunched down over Dylan. Peddle immediately went to work on taking care of Dylan’s injury as the younger Weaverson lay perfectly still upon the floor.
“It looks like the bullet just clipped the muscle tissue of your bicep. You’re pretty damn lucky your brother has such lousy aim,” Peddle said.
“Give me a break,” Chase muttered, finally shaking the shock from his system. “I wouldn’t have fired if I’d known it was Dylan. By the way, what the hell are you doing here, Dylan? Not that I’m not glad to see you again, but what brought you to this house of all places?”
“I went back to the motel to apologize for fighting with you,” Dylan said, snarling. “But it looks like you’re not ready to move past it.”
Chase watched as Peddle applied some rubbing alcohol to a towel, and then the cloth to Dylan’s wound. During this, he quickly pocketed the .9mm before making any attempt to go near his brother. Chase understood that at this rate, they might never set aside their differences.
Awkward silence filled the air as Peddle finished wrapping gauze around Dylan’s arm. The gas station owner then grabbed a pair of scissors and cut a healthy section of fabric from the roll. Neither Weaverson spoke while Peddle tossed the old rag down onto the ground, retrieved another cloth from Simon, and applied more rubbing alcohol to Dylan’s wound.
While this went on, Chase’s gaze drifted toward Brittany. He couldn’t help but notice that her bright-red mascara had proven ineffectual against either the rain or her tears, or both. Her makeup had left a trail running all the way down to the edge of her chin. Clearly, she got her money’s worth with all the dollar store cosmetics she’d applied on her face.
“You seem to know your way around a first-aid kit, Peddle,” Chase said, shifting his focus before Brittany called him out on staring too hard and long at her.
Peddle shrugged while he briefly inspected the woman, finding no injuries.
“It pays to know what to do should my store get robbed.” He took the used towel out of the room, most likely looking for a laundry basket or hamper to put it in. He returned a moment later, wiping the sweat from his brow as though this had been the hardest task he’d ever done.
Chase shook his head, a new ache slowly stirring inside his skull during this. If he kept this up, he’d reach a full-on migraine before long or worse, maybe even sprout bony horns from his scalp.
“That’s your brother?” Simon asked. He rolled up next to Chase and invited him to take a seat in the bean bag chair sitting in the corner.
Taking Simon up on the offer, Chase pursed his lips and nodded. “Pretty much.”
“Who’s that with him? His girlfriend?”
“I suppose you could say that,” Chase said, trying hard not to think about Dylan’s present romantic situation.
“So where’d you get the gun from, Chase? I thought because of what happened years ago, you weren’t allowed to possess a firearm,” Dylan said, grunting as Brittany helped him stand up. The two made their way to the living room sofa. There, Brittany eased Dylan into a sitting position so as not to exacerbate his pain.
Sensing no need to hide the truth about it, Chase said, “I stole it from a cop.”
Dylan laughed. For a second, he seemed to have forgotten about the fact that Chase had just shot him. Maybe pain was just something Dylan didn’t care to let anyone else see. It made sense. Pa had taught both of his boys not to cry or demonstrate even the slightest weakness in front of others.
Yet the sound of Dylan’s laugh tapped into a gratitude Chase forgot was even possible. For the first time in a matter of days, he actually found himself proud of having Dylan for a brother. Perhaps being in Helensview served as a reminder of just how vital family was, especially to the Weaversons.
“I’m sorry about the fighting, and for shooting at you,” he said, hoping that Dylan would accept these words at face value.
Dylan groaned as he leaned back against the sofa.
“Hey, man, I’m just glad you’re all right.”
This sounded strange coming from Dylan, especially considering how Chase had bolted on him and Brittany back at the diner.
“You were worried about me?”
Dylan nodded. “Big time. See, after you left, Brittany wanted to introduce me to her friends. I surely couldn’t refuse an invitation like that, now could I?”
“I suppose not.” Chase grunted a chortle. “So what happened?”
Brittany heaved a sigh. “I tried calling my friend, Candice. No answer. Then I called Angelica, because Angelica usually hangs out with Candice. They usually drive all the way to Hedon City to go shopping. They make a day of it or something. But she didn’t answer either. So then I tried reaching Julie, and she…”
“I think I get it,” Chase said, raising his hand and trying to be as polite as possible in shushing her. “So what did you do after that, Dylan?”
Brittany slumped back in her seat, grumbling as Chase dismissed her.
“Well, then I asked her if I could borrow her phone to try and call you,” Dylan continued. “That’s what I did before, to let you know not to worry about me. But this time, I couldn’t reach you. I got worried and we left the diner. We drove over to each of Brittany’s friends’ houses to see if they were home. All the driveways on the street were empty. Not a single car to be found anywhere. It was really creepy, man.
“So then we went door to door, pulling up to each house and ringing the doorbell, trying to find someone, anyone, who knew what was going on in town. I guess we’ve been at it for a while, because the past few hours we just tried opening the door without knocking first. Still nothing!”
“Maybe everyone wised up and left town,” Peddle muttered.
“We thought that was the case,” said Dylan. “So we went back to the diner to see if they knew why most of the town would up and leave like that. Strange thing was that no one was at the restaurant, either. The door was locked, the lights were off, and there was no sign of the waitress or the cook. Come to think of it, I don’t believe we saw hide or hair of anyone since we left the diner the first time.
Dylan scratched his chin, his head slanted downward as he stared at the floor, perhaps waiting for a memory to come to him.
“Wait,” he said with a gasp, holding up a finger. “There was an ambulance driving around, but it ignored us when we tried to flag it down. We thought that maybe people had left town because of the statewide emergency that was announced just before the radio signal cut out on us.”
“Statewide emergency?” Chase glanced over at Peddle and Simon briefly before spinning back toward Dylan. “We haven’t heard of anything like this. What do you know about this?”
Dylan flinched, the strain from talking appearing to get the best of him. Realizing that his brother wasn’t really up for continuing this conversation, Chase saw no alternative but to direct his questions Brittany’s way.
Pursing her lips, Brittany cast a glare that dared him to try and ask her for anything after he’d basically told her to shut up.
“Well? Do you know something?” he asked in a tolerant tone.
“The governor advised people to stay off the roads in and around Helensview and Thorpe on account of all the road rage and accidents. The highways aren’t exactly safe right now,” she said, her expression softening a little as her own words drew worry into her features.
That last fact Chase didn’t exactly need to learn from her, but he stayed cordial toward her in the hope she’d tell him more of what she knew.
“So then what made you keep on searching for me?”
Brittany pointed at Dylan.
“Yeah, Chase, I had to find you and tell you it might be a while before we get to Grains Plains. They were practically peeling a motorcyclist off the pavement just north of the Hel
ensview exit,” said Dylan. He adjusted his posture, despite the duress that this simple effort cost him. “You were so right about this. We’d have probably been better off just driving all the way to the farm last night. Then again, if we hadn’t stopped, I’d have never met my darling Brittany here.”
Brittany crossed her arms like Dylan hadn’t even uttered those last words.
“You said you wanted to spend the rest of your life here, Dylan. Now you’re telling me you wished you’d never come into town last night?”
Chase struggled not to laugh as Dylan sputtered for an answer that would soothe Brittany’s temper.
“Stop laughing at me, man,” Dylan insisted, a glint of mock anger in his eyes.
The older Weaverson grinned. “You know you’ve brought this upon yourself, right?”
“Excuse me,” Simon spoke up, interrupting the playful teasing between the brothers. “Shouldn’t we make a plan or something? That’s what they do in the movies.”
Dylan glanced over at Simon as if now only noticing the boy for the first time.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?”
“Simon.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Simon,” Brittany said, flashing a quick smile at him. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any tea around here, do you? I could go for some right about now.”
“Probably not. The only thing we have on hand is caffeine-free diet soda,” Peddle grumbled.
“Watch it, Peddle,” Chase groaned, silently wishing for an end to Peddle’s sour attitude. Maybe diet soda was the only thing they had to drink in the house at the moment, but at least it was something. Somehow, though, it didn’t seem likely that nothing else was available. “Simon, why don’t you take Brittany into the kitchen and let her look around?”
Simon rolled his chair in the direction Chase indicated.
“I’ll look. We might have some diet soda with the caffeine in it,” the boy said, frowning at Peddle on his way out the room with Brittany following right behind.
Chase waited until Simon was gone before busting out with laughter at the disgust plastered on Peddle’s face.