Just as the barn door opened, a shadow darted from the cellar to the office.
"What was that?" I whispered as I clicked on my flashlight."I hope it's not what I think." Thomas's tone was angry as he put his gun away and flicked on his flashlight before barging into the office.I rushed in after him with my gun raised."Well, looky who it is," Thomas said sarcastically.Joey's dark hair hung over one eye. His other eye was wide with fear as he stared up at Thomas from behind the desk. He was sitting on the floor, holding the front of his shirt like a baby. Pre-packaged goods of all sorts were poking out of his makeshift basket."Empty it on the desk." Thomas said.Joey sighed in defeat and stood, unloading the contents of his shirt onto the desktop. Candy and snacks of all kinds fell out.Thomas and I looked over the pile of junk food. Everyone wanted this stuff, but since they were in such high demand, we were only permitted one selection perA mouthwatering aroma wafted out of the house as I ascended the back steps. Jett must've heard me coming because he started whining at the door before Miranda opened it."Back up, Jett," Miranda tried to hold Jett inside with her foot. "Everything alright? Y'all have been out there for a hot minute.""Yeah, we're good." Pushing back the desire to tell her about Joey's latest bullshit, I laughed at Jett's eagerness to see me. "You can let him out."Miranda moved her foot, letting Jett run. He yelped as he bounded toward me."Case?" Suzie rushed out behind Jett. "Are you okay? I heard you needed stitches."Kneeling to catch Jett before he ran down the stairs, I scratched his head. "Yeah. Do they look okay?"Miranda clicked on her tiny flashlight and moved in my direction, shining the light at my ear. Both she and Suzie hissed."That good, huh?" I chuckled as I grabbed Jett and stood."I'm no doctor, but it looks like Thomas knows what he's doing
"Anyone else wanna play the next round?" Miranda asked as she gathered cards."I'll play. You wanna play, Bae?" Matt pulled Celia toward the table."Wanna give Su her gifts?" I whispered to Thomas.He nodded and tugged me toward the living room. "Alone? Or with everyone else.""Alone." I knew if we did it alone, the gift would be more meaningful. "Su, come here.""Yeah?" Suzie walked into the living room."We have birthday gifts for you," I said."You do?" With wide eyes, Suzie glanced between us."Thomas first," I said.Releasing my hand, Thomas pulled a small pouch out of his pocket. "Squirt, you need to know I'm always gonna be here. I hate thinking about horrible shit, but if anything ever happens to your sister or if one day she smartens up and leaves my dumbass, I want you to know I'm always gonna be here for you. You'll always be my little sister, no matter what."Suzie's sapphire eyes sparkled in the candlelight as her face m
I answered Mom's phone with trembling fingers as footsteps pounded down the hall. "Dad, something's really wrong with Mom.""Thank God! I've been worried sick. There was a horrible accident on the interstate. It took forever to get around it, but I should be home in ten. Why haven't you or your sister been answering your phones and where is your mother? I've been trying to get a hold of her. Wait, this is her phone. Why are you answering her phone? Where's your phone? You better not have lost it again." Dad hadn't listened to a word I said.I tuned him out as he rambled on like Mom wasn't sick and unconscious.A shadow crept over the bed, suffocating Mom's frail form. I glanced up. Suzie inched into the room with her hands covering her mouth and squeezing her nose. We had to do something. Mom's brain could be boiling right this very minute. She could die."Call 911," I instructed my sister."What?" Dad asked from far away.I stared wide-eyed at Suzie as
We never got Mom to the tub. After I heaved everything in my stomach onto my parent's bedroom floor, I held my breath and tried to lift Mom, but she was freaking heavy.Suzie wouldn't come anywhere near Mom once she saw the disgusting mess of feces on the bed. My sister ran out of the room and refused to come back in.Thank goodness Dad got home in record time after Suzie ditched me because I didn't know what else to do. The shock on Dad's face once he saw Mom was something I'd never seen before.Dad was actually scared.After trying to wake Mom up with no success, he told me to grab a blanket from the linen closet. He moved Mom from the bed of her bloody feces to the blanket, cleaned her face, and forced ibuprofen down her throat before carrying her to our SUV.Five minutes later we were speed racing to the hospital until Dad slammed on the brakes. Somehow, we'd landed in the middle of bumper to bumper traffic only a mile from the hospital."Casey, go see what the
"Where's the ambulance?" Dad was pissed. He must've yelled it ten times once he spotted me.What I was about to tell him could send him into hysterics.As my feet pounded closer, I noticed he and Suzie were standing beside a group of four strangers. Three men and a woman. Other people who'd lost their patience were leaning against their vehicles, waiting for the traffic to clear.I sprinted up to Dad and bent over, struggling to catch my breath. Running on full throttle in the cold night air forced a sharp cough to erupt from my lungs. "No ambulance... is coming. Cars... are full... of sick people all the way to the hospital... and both roads are completely blocked."Another hard cough raked out of me."Don't get me sick, too." Suzie backed away from me.I threw a mean glare at her. "I'm not sick. I ran my butt off to get back here, you little brat. Excuse me for breathing."Dad set a hand on my shoulder, analyzing the side of my face. "Tell me what happened."
My gaze drifted over Derek as he stared up at the half moon while making the call. The rugged, untamed look was really working for him, and it was impressive how easily he'd rolled with the onslaught of problems.Derek had even offered to be the solution. He knew it could lead to incarceration, but he was willing to sacrifice himself. Somewhere in this rough and dangerous guy lurked a responsible protector.Grant let out a painful groan, pulling me out of my stupor. His face scrunched up as he bent over, clutching his stomach tighter.Suzie's brow wrinkled as she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.When the pain appeared to subside, Grant silently turned and walked back to their truck. Even though I wasn't Grant's biggest fan, I still felt awful for him.Suzie watched him longingly until he opened the truck door. Then she sadly returned to check on Mom.I glanced over at the big man who gazed toward his wife and son as he massaged the back of his neck."I can
"Come on. We need to hurry. I'm parked at least a block from here." Derek released my wrist to pull out his keys. He didn't spare me a glance before briskly making his way up the darkest part of the road. "We need to stay in the shadows so that lady won't see us."I followed him closely and kept an eye out for her. Every car had someone sitting in the driver's seat, but it was too dark to see anything else. And truthfully, I didn't want to see anything at all. I'd seen enough as it was.Derek glanced back to make sure I was still with him. When his eyes met mine for a millisecond, the corner of his mouth tipped up. "Just a little further.""Okay," I whispered.Hollering lady wasn't making a sound. Maybe she went back to her car after that confrontation."This is me." He led me to a dark motorcycle with reflective stripes and inserted his key.My eyes bulged. There was no frigging way I was getting on that deathtrap. "A motorcycle? Do you have a death wish or someth
"Thomas, dude, you're here." Derek's relief was obvious as he fist bumped Thomas. He must've been lying earlier and wasn't sure if Thomas would be here. "Is Mitch inside?""Yeah, but keep it down. He's passed out in back. Said he was feeling under the weather." Thomas ran a hand through his light brown crew cut as his eyes slid from Derek to me. "Dude, you're rude as hell, aren't you gonna introduce me to this vixen?"Derek's eyes flicked to mine. I could see the apprehension all over him. Under the weather. We'd both heard the same thing. Mitch had an illness, and from all we'd seen tonight, it could be assumed Mitch was sick with the same thing as everyone else."Damn dude. Staring at the beautiful woman isn't an introduction," Without grabbing a jacket or shoes, Thomas jogged down the four steps and walked toward me, his muscles taunting me. Thomas was ripped. He held out his hand. "I'm real sorry about Derek. He's known for being moronic from time to time. I'm Thomas—"