The Gathering Darkness (32 page)

Evan’s smirk returned.

“I’ll deal with you later,” I said to him, acting brave now that I had my bad-boy at my side. I turned and walked toward the parking lot with Luke.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Evan called out. “And thanks for the kiss. It’s been a long time.”

I cringed.

“I could have taken him, Brooke,” Luke whined as we walked through the school parking lot.

I sighed. “Trust me, Luke; he would have taken you down.”

Luke looked upon me with disgust that I would even think such a thing.

“And when was the last time you saw someone take
me
down?”

I didn’t answer, because he was right. Luke always won his fights.

“That’s what I thought, never!”

“Just take a deep breath and relax, Luke. No one in Boston will ever know. I promise I won’t tell.”

I was trembling on the inside and almost at the end of my patience. It had been a while since Luke and I had hung out together. I’d almost forgotten all the trouble he used to get me into. Like the very trouble that caused my parents to send me to Deadwich in the first place, which, thinking about it now, seemed inevitable. Luke had just been a tool in some greater power’s tool box.

S
o, where are we going?” Luke asked casually as he peeled out of the school parking lot.

“Salem Medical Center,” I answered frantically.

“Uh, is he your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“That was quick.”

My body tensed. I turned and glared at him. “Not fair.”

He was right, though. On my last night in Boston, Luke had kissed me for the first time. Although it was in the police car, it was still our first and only kiss, and then I left him the next day. And technically, I hadn’t known Marcus very long. But already, it seemed as if it was a lifetime ago that we’d met—and in reality, it was. There was no way to explain it to Luke. He would just have to think what he wanted.

I held the amulet in both hands and wished for Marcus to be awake when I got to the hospital. I wondered where his parents were—if they knew yet.

“You like him a lot?”

I rolled my eyes. “Luke, please. Do we have to talk about my love life?”

“Sorry. Geez, you’re in a bad mood.”

“Ya think? Whose car is this anyway?”

It took a few moments, but once I was away from the chaos of the soccer field and on my way to the hospital, the numbness in my brain subsided and my senses rushed back to me. From a vent in the dash, a stream of cold air blew lightly across my face, cooling my fever, and the scent of leather interior awakened memories of Marcus in his leather jacket sitting next to me on the bus for the first time.

“It’s my mom’s new ride.”

I listened for the lie in his voice, but couldn’t find it. “Are you sure about that? You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Brooke, I’m crushed.” He chuckled. “Seriously, she bought it last week. If you don’t believe me, you can check out the papers in the dash.”

“And she’s letting you drive it already?” I looked at him questioningly.

“Um, well, she doesn’t exactly know I have it. My parents are out together in my dad’s car today.” He grinned sheepishly.

I pursed my lips and stayed silent. I couldn’t get Marcus off my mind. I should have gone to the hospital with Amy and Christy and sent Luke home. I would send him home as soon as he dropped me off.

A half-hour later we pulled into the Salem Medical Center parking lot. I unfastened my seatbelt and twisted my upper body to face Luke.

“Thanks. I’ll get someone to drive me home.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to leave?” he asked, surprised.

“There’s someone pretty important in there that I have to be with. Please understand.”

“But I haven’t told you the news I came to tell you,” he whined.

I sighed impatiently. “What news?”

“Um, well—”

“Spit it out, Luke.” I tried to remain calm, but I couldn’t contain the anxiety in my voice.

“Well, Courtney and me, uh—”

“What about you and Courtney?” My hand was on the door handle.

“We’re sorta together.”

It took me a minute to comprehend what he’d just said. “Whatdoyamean ‘together’? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

For half a second, I forgot about Marcus. Images of Courtney and Luke flooded my head, only they were separate images. I couldn’t see them together.

“Will you say something?” Luke asked after a long moment.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“For one thing, you can wipe that confused look off your face and replace it with a happy one.”

“I’m not very happy right now.”

“Oh, right. So do you approve or what?”

“What does Courtney think?”

“Duh, we’re together. She obviously thinks the same as I think.”

“Of course. Well then, I’m happy for you both.”

I wanted to tell him to be good to her, but he would’ve taken it the wrong way. Instead, I smiled and reached over the console and gave Luke a big hug.

“I’m sorry, Luke. My head’s really messed up right now.” I looked at him apologetically.

He gave me a familiar boyish grin. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Wow, you and Courtney huh?” I laughed softly. No wonder she’d been texting me like crazy the past couple of days. I’d been too distracted to look.

At least the lie I’d told Marcus at his uncles wasn’t a lie anymore. Not that I was exonerated from having told the lie in the first place, but somehow I felt better about it now.

“Yup. She wants to come and visit you soon.”

“That’ll be awesome, but let’s wait until things get better around here okay?”

“Sure. Give us a call.”

“Thanks for coming today. I really do have to go now.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Take care.”

“Stay out of trouble.”

I smiled quickly and shut the door. I didn’t look back. Marcus was the only thing on my mind now.

The scorching heat from the sunbaked pavement didn’t slow me down as I dashed across the parking lot. I bolted through the front entrance of the hospital, not stopping until I slammed into the front desk. Breathless, I asked the woman where the emergency department was. After a couple of wrong turns, I found it right where she’d directed me.

The emergency waiting room was overflowing with sickness and suffering—a new chaos. The sounds of babies crying and children whining were enough to drive anyone insane. As I rushed to the desk before anyone could get in front of me, I lost my focus and almost tripped over a man pushing a walker.

Behind the desk, through the window of a large grey door, I saw two paramedics wheeling a stretcher down a hallway. My heart thumped wildly.

“Can I help you?” a small voice asked.

I pulled my gaze away from the sights behind the grey door and looked down at the older woman, who sat looking up at me, obviously stressed after a long shift. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and took a deep breath.

“I’m looking for Marcus Knight.”

Silently, her eyes spoke the words, “More information,” to me.

“He was just brought in by ambulance,” I added.

“And you are?”

“Um, I’m his … sister.” I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere with her if I’d told her I was merely his girlfriend.

“And your parents are where?” She looked on either side of me, her eyebrows raised.

I thought fast. “They’re not here yet. I can’t reach them.”

She ran through a couple pages of computer database. After a couple intense minutes, she looked up at me. “Yes. Here he is. He was brought in twenty minutes ago.”

“Through this door, room twenty-one. Tell the nurse at the desk inside who you are before you enter the room.”

“Thank you,” I said, already halfway through the grey door.

My stomach twisted into knots as I walked down a hallway lined with stretchers, filled with people waiting to be attended to. I wondered why Marcus had been taken to a room ahead of these people. The knots in my stomach tightened.

I came upon the number twenty-one, which was pasted to a wall beside a pulled curtain that closed off a room. “Please be awake, Marcus,” I whispered.

“Can I help you, Miss?” a woman in floral scrubs asked.

“Is this Marcus Knight’s room?”

She checked the chart that hung on the wall beside the curtain. “Yes, but I’m afraid you can’t go in.”

My stomach constricted.

“Why can’t I go in?”

“I’m sorry, but the doctor is with him now. There’s a waiting room at the end of the hallway if you want to wait there.” Her smile was rushed as she went off in another direction.

There were too many sick people here and not enough emergency rooms, which confirmed my fears. Things were bad with Marcus if he had a room already.

From the direction I’d just come from, I heard a distressed female voice utter Marcus’ name. I snapped my head toward the grey door.

A tall, fair-haired man and a medium-height, tanned woman with dark hair were being led my way. Not wanting to be seen, I ducked to the other side of a portable linen tower and peeked over a stack of sheets.

“Is he okay? What happened to him?” the frantic woman, who I assumed was his mother, asked the nurse.

“Come in and I’ll let the doctor explain,” the nurse said in a gentle voice.

The curtain opened for them, allowing them access to Marcus and then closed after them. I stretched my neck so I could hear their conversation.

“His vitals are good,” the doctor explained. “The laceration on his forehead is minor. However, he should have woken up by now. We don’t know exactly how the head trauma was sustained.”

“Head trauma?” his mother uttered in a weak voice.

“Mom, Dad, how is he?”

My heart did a back flip. Evan had arrived, playing the concerned brother.

“Evan, did you see what happened?” his dad asked.

“Yeah. He fell during soccer and hit his head on the bench. It’s just a scratch isn’t it?”

I could barely breathe. I needed to be in there, but there was no way I could show myself. Weakened, I leaned back against the wall, my hand absentmindedly fondling the amulet. I realized what I was doing when it warmed beneath my fingers. Its warmth was comforting. I tried channeling its energy to Marcus.

An orderly passed by me and walked into Marcus’ room.

“This is Sam,” the nurse said. “He’s going to take your son for an MRI scan.”

Oh, my God, this is bad
. On weakened legs, I sneaked down the hallway and found the private waiting room. I ducked inside and curled up in a large green chair and waited.

I waited until I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to use the washroom, and remembered passing one in the emergency waiting area.

“Brooke!” Amy and Christy chimed together. “How is he?”

“I don’t know. His parents and Evan are with him.”

“We brought your purse,” Amy said, handing it to me.

“A bunch of guys from the team are here,” Christy said. “Come on.” She put her arm around me. “Let’s go get a drink.”

I walked with them to the cafe down the hallway where half the soccer team was waiting for news of their friend. They circled me; all with the same questioning look on their faces.

“How is he?” someone asked for the group.

“They took him for a cat scan. He hasn’t woken up yet.”

There were low murmurs. The bulk of the crowd broke up and went back to their tables.

“Come sit with us.”

Amy pulled me along by the hand. I let her. I had nowhere else to go.

“How long does an MRI scan take?” I asked a while later.

“I dunno,” Christy said.

They both shrugged.

Someone checked periodically to see if there was any news on Marcus. He hadn’t come back to the emergency room.

After a couple of hours, I was too anxious to sit around and listen to the unimportant ramblings of teenagers any longer.

“I have to go and check on him,” I said, standing up.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Amy asked.

“You can if you want to.”

The three of us walked back to the emergency department. I was allowed to go right through the big grey door, but Amy and Christy had to wait in the waiting room.

A few minutes later I came back out. “They’ve taken him to a room upstairs. I don’t know anything.”

“Wow, I wonder why they admitted him,” Christy said, and then exchanged a discomforted look with Amy.

“Let’s go find him,” Amy suggested, then headed for the main desk. “Okay, he’s on the fourth floor; room 412,” she said on her return.

I felt weak in the elevator, and a thought came to me. “Hey, his parents don’t even know me. I can’t just walk in on them.”

“Sure you can,” Christy smiled warmly. “Amy and I know them pretty good and we’ll be with you. Besides, don’t you think Marcus will want to see you?”

They sounded more optimistic than I felt.

As we approached room 412, I heard a soft cry and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

“I can’t go in there,” I whispered as I listened to the heart wrenching sound of his mother crying.

“Do you want me to find out what’s going on?” Amy asked.

I nodded.

As she was about to enter the room, Evan walked out. I froze. The sight of him sickened me. I wanted to tell everyone what he’d done, but I knew deep down inside that the evil Evan had caused his brother harm not the normal Evan.