Don't Make Me Beautiful (15 page)

“See you in a few,” Brian says, squeezing her foot through the covers on his way out. She doesn’t answer.
 
She’s so still, it’s almost as if she really is dead.

Brian tries to erase that horrible image from his mind as he leaves the floor and gets into the elevator, headed down to the parking lot so he can bring his car around to the morgue entrance.
 
The idea of her no longer on this earth is too horrible to contemplate.
 
He barely knows her, but somehow she’s become an integral part of his life. It only took five days for her to go from invisible woman living in a house around the corner to the center of his universe.

He’s alone inside the elevator and only has to wait ten seconds before the doors open again.
 
Now on the ground floor, he begins to step out.
 
He’s so absorbed in the task at hand that he doesn’t recognize the man coming in until the guy has bumped into him, knocking him a little off to the side.

“Oh, sorry, excuse me …,” Brian says, his words trailing off as he recognizes who it is.
 
His heart stops beating in his chest for a few precious moments.

“Hey … ?
 
Don’t I know you from somewhere?” asks the guy, pointing at Brian as he frowns in concentration.
 
He’s wearing a dark blue polo shirt, untucked, with jeans and a Chicago Cubs baseball hat.

Brian’s heart begins to hammer loudly in his chest.
 
It’s almost painful.
 
“Nah, I don’t think so.”

Brian tries to leave, but the guy grabs his arm and stops him.

“Yeah, man.
 
Remember?
 
Your kid busted my window the other day.
 
You came over and offered to pay for it.
 
I remember you clear as day.”
 
John puts his foot against the elevator doors to keep them from closing.
 
Unfortunately, no one else is there to complain.
 
Brian’s stuck having the conversation he wants to avoid more than anything in the world.

Holy shit. I don’t fucking believe it.
 
Nicole was right.
 
He’s hunting her down.
 
“Uh, yeah.
 
That’s right.
 
Sorry, forgot.”
 
Brian holds out his hand for a handshake.
 
He’s outside the elevators, but to leave now would look like running away, and he can’t afford to give John that impression right now.
 
Nicole is too close to making her escape.

There’s nothing Brian would like more than to haul off and punch the guy right in the face, but right now is not the time.
 
Maybe someday the opportunity will arise, and Brian can’t help but put a little extra force into his hand when he grips John’s meaty fist as he wishes for it.
 
The idea that this is the same fist that beat Nicole to a bloody pulp makes him physically ill and more angry than he can ever remember being in his life.
 
He feels almost like he had something to do with her pain, standing here acting all nice to the asshole.

When Brian lets John’s hand go, he puts his palm to the back of his jeans and carefully wipes it off, hoping he can somehow erase the traitorous stink from his skin.

“What are you doing here, man?” asks John, his lip twitching just a little.
 
Suspicion is written all over his face, and the fake-happy voice isn’t fooling Brian for a second.

Play it cool, Brian.
 
Just play it cool for half a minute and then get the hell outta here.
 
“Oh, yeah … I got a buddy up there on the fourth floor.
 
Too much partying or something.”
 
Brian tries to laugh it off, but his face is contorting into weird shapes with the effort.
 
He quits while he’s still ahead and goes back to trying not to look like he wants to murder this abuser, this sorry excuse for a man.

John nods.
 
“Bummer.
 
I hear ya, though.
 
I had alcohol poisoning once, and it was not good.
 
Not good at all.”

“What about you?
 
What are you doing here?”
 
Brian tries with everything he has to be chilled out, like he’s just a neighbor happening upon another neighbor and shooting the breeze.
 
But then he blows it with his next volley, his mouth getting away from his brain.
 
“Is it your wife you’re visiting?”
 
Fuck!
 
Why did I say that?
 
God, I’m such an idiot!

John frowns.
 
“What do you know about my wife?”

Brian attempts to play it off, shrugging.
 
“Nothing. I just figured with that sign on your door and what you said …”

“What’s that?”
 
John’s shoulders go back a little and he holds firm on the elevator doors that are protesting being held open.
 
He’s definitely spoiling for a fight.

Brian scrambles to explain, to get out of the mess he’s well in the process of making.
 
“You know, you told my boy that she can’t take care of herself and you have that sign saying not to knock or ring the bell … I think you mentioned she was sick?
 
Sorry, I must have misunderstood.
 
Listen, I gotta go.”

“Oh, hey, yeah, man.
 
No problem.
 
But no, I’m not visiting my wife.
 
Just, you know … a friend.”
 
John leans towards Brian with an outstretched hand.
 
“I’ll get that bill over to you in the next day or so.
 
Take care, man.”

Brian shakes his hand, resisting the urge to yank it hard and bring John over for a nice jaw-cracking.
 
“Yeah.
 
Take care.”

Brian leaves the elevator and starts walking down the hall as rapidly as he can without seeming like he’s running away.

“Hope your friend’s feeling better!” John’s voice follows him down the corridor.

Sweat breaks out on Brian’s upper lip, but he waits until he’s around the corner before he wipes it off.
 
“Sweet Mary mother of all that is frigging holy,” he says under his breath, taking off at a jog for the parking lot.
 
If it weren’t for bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all.

The only ray of light in this whole mess is that Tana had come up with the idea of bringing Nicole out as a corpse instead of letting Brian take her down to the lobby as a girl in a wig.
 
I would have taken the stairs
, he says to himself, trying to move past the horrible images of Nicole running into her living, breathing nightmare right as she was trying to start over.

He wouldn’t have seen her.
 
I can take care of her.
 
I can keep her safe
.
 
He never doubted it before, so it’s killing him that he is now.
 
This is no little game of cat and mouse or hide and seek; Nicole is a human being and her life is in very real danger.

Keeping that evil asshole away from her has now become Brian’s life-mission. Seeing the monster acting so casual up close, after having nearly killed that practically helpless woman, makes Brian want to roar like a wounded lion and tear the man to shreds.
 
He’s only ever felt this protective once in his life before, and that was when someone came close to hitting Liam with their car in front of the house.
 
That teenager was lucky to have driven away in one piece.

Brian looks over his shoulder as he walks to his car.
 
He can’t be sure the asshole hasn’t followed him, so he gets into the vehicle and leaves the hospital property entirely. Only after driving around the block several times, does he come back and drive over to the discrete entrance the nurse described to him, on the other side of the building from where visitors would enter.
 
His eyes are scanning the streets and parking lots around him the entire time, hoping not to spot a man in a blue shirt with a red hat.
 
Luckily, he sees nothing.

Pulling into the loading zone, he leaves the car running and jumps out.
 
The door that was cracked open swings out the rest of the way and the nurse is standing there.
 
Nicole is next to her, hunched over, looking like she’s either about to take off running or collapse on the floor.

“What took you so long?” Nicole asks as he approaches, her voice filled with fear.

“I just got delayed on the way down.
 
It’s no big deal, come on.”
 
He puts his arm around the back of her shoulders.
 
“Thanks, Tana,” he says to the nurse, “you’re an angel.”

“You take care of her.
 
And here …”
 
She hands him a business card that he glances at briefly before tucking it into his back pocket. “I wrote my cell number on the back.
 
If you need any minor medical attention or have questions, just call me.
 
I’ll come see you personally at your house, off the books.
 
I’m serious.”

Brian gives her a quick, one-armed hug before leading Nicole to the car.
 
“Thank you.
 
For everything.”
 
He wishes he could tell her right now that she already saved Nicole’s life once, maybe twice with her care and her idea to sneak out like this, but he doesn’t want Nicole to hear it.
 
She’s not ready for that yet.

“Thank you,” Nicole says to the woman over her shoulder.

“Get better,” Tana says just before closing the hospital door behind her.

“Is everything okay?” Nicole asks, allowing Brian to guide her to the back seat.
 
He opens the door and removes his arm from her shoulders so she can get in.

“Yes, everything’s fine. But I want you to lay down back here, okay?”
 
He reaches inside and takes a beach towel he always keeps back there and folds it into quarters, putting it at the far side of the back seat.
 
“Here’s a pillow.”

“Why do I have to lie down?
 
It hurts my ribs.”
 
She looks at him, fear and distrust in her eyes.

He hates that she has to feel that way around him, especially knowing he’s keeping something from her.
 
He’s earning the distrust right in this very moment, but he’s afraid she’ll run back into the hospital and right into John’s arms if he says anything.
 
She always seems to be on the cusp of giving up.

“Because.”
 
He speaks softly, making sure none of his own panic reaches his voice.
 
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.
 
Come on.
 
In you go.”

“Something’s wrong.”
 
Nicole resists, her face taking on the panicked look again.
 
“Tell me.”

Brian takes her by the shoulders and looks her in the eyes.
 
The two of them are inches apart, and he has to battle to keep the tears away as he takes in her bruised face and heavily blood-shot eyes.
 
“Nicole, I don’t want you to panic, but I saw John inside the hospital.”

Tears immediately fill her eyes and she whimpers, her face trembling.
 
“He’s here?”
 
Her whisper sounds like it’s coming straight out of a horror movie.

“Yes.
 
So please, lie down in the back.
 
I need to get you out of here.”

Nicole doesn’t ask any more questions.
 
She crawls into the back seat, crying as she goes.
 
Curling into a ball on the back seat, she sobs quietly.

Brian’s heart breaks as he closes the door at her feet.
 
Relieved that she didn’t run back inside, he rushes to get into the driver’s seat and leaves the property as fast as he can without calling attention to himself.
 
His head is on a swivel, looking right and left for the red hat. At the stop sign just before going out onto the main road, he pulls out his cell and calls the number on the back of the business card, dialing awkwardly while he also turns the wheel.

“Tana speaking.”

“Tana, it’s Brian.
 
You just brought Nic … I mean, Briana, down to the morgue for me?”

“Yes, Brian.
 
What can I do for you?”

“Listen … I don’t want to get you involved in anything anymore than I already have, but I just wanted to give you a heads up.
 
The asshole who did all that … stuff … to Briana?
 
He’s in the hospital.
 
I saw him on my way down.”

“Oh my god, should I call security?”

“No.
 
What I’d love for you to do, though, is just tell him no one with the kind of injuries I’m sure he’ll describe or anyone meeting a description he might use was there on your floor.”

“Why do you think he’s coming here?
 
They’re not just going to let him in, you know.
 
We have security.”

“He’s already in.
 
He was getting in the elevator when I got out.
 
He’s going to check rooms for her and ask questions.
 
If you could head him off, that would be great.”

Tana’s voice drops to a low whisper.
 
“Don’t tell me, let me guess … he’s wearing a navy polo and jeans with a red and navy baseball hat.”

Brian’s heart leaps into his throat.
 
“Yeah.
 
That’s him.”

“I got this.
 
Just get her the hell out of here.”
 
The line goes dead.