Page 88 of Playing for Keeps

“Kels?” My friend jumped at the sound of my voice, her green eyes flashing to mine as I sat down in the chair beside her bed. “You doing okay?”

She took a deep breath, her eyes dropping closed. “You were there.”

“I was.” I reached a hand out for hers, but she pulled back, tucking her arms under her blanket and looking away. Hurt blossomed in my chest and I swallowed down a lump in my throat. “They broke into Vinny’s apartment and kidnapped me and... and Levi.”

Kelly’s eyes opened but she didn’t look up. Didn’t ask me how we found her, who Levi was, or anything else. I wanted her to talk to me, to tell me what had happened. I wanted to be there for my friend in what had to be one of the hardest things she’d ever had happen to her.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, that might make her open up, but she stopped me before I could say a word.

“I just want to sleep.”

My throat tightened and my eyes prickled. “Okay,” I told her. “I just... I’m here for you, Kelly. Whenever you’re ready to talk.”

After a moment, after she gave me no response, I rose from my chair and looked down on my friend. “I love you, Kels. I’ll see you soon.”

Wandering through the hospital corridors, I fingered the bandages on my wrists as I wound my way back to my room. Officer Linden was seated in the chair beside my bed, and he rose to his full height as I came through the door.

“Jen Lucas.” The man had barely raised his arms before I was standing before him, my arms wrapped around his waist. After Corey had been shot, Linden came around nearly every day. He’d come to care for Corey and Frankie when they were being harassed and Corey’s apartment was set on fire, and I’d often sat with him for hours when Corey was in the hospital. “I hear you had quite the ordeal.”

Pulling back, I wiped a tear from my cheek. “I did. But I’ll be okay. I’m just not sure about Kelly and Vinny.”

He nodded, dipping his head before taking a seat in the chair. I sat down on the edge of the bed, legs crisscrossed under me as I draped a blanket across my lap.

“What do I do?”

Linden shifted in his seat, pursing his lips as he brought his dark eyes up to mine. “You be there for them. Find out what they need and give it to them as best you can.”

“And if they won’t talk?”

He shifted again, his weight making the chair groan. “Then you let them know you’ll be there when they’re ready.”

My hand rose to my neck before I remembered my necklace was no longer there. I felt naked without it. I longed for the feel of the smooth stone under my fingertips, to soothe away the anxiety that was gripping at my heart.

“Now,” Linden said, leaning forward. He took his notepad and pen out of his breast pocket and turned his eyes on me. “Why don’t you tell me what happened tonight.”

* * *

I held Vinny’s cool hand in mine, watching as his eyes moved beneath his lids. Spots of red dotted his face and there were thick, purple bruises around his throat. The doctors had given him a sedative to help him rest, and because of his medical history, they were worried about his lungs. A nasal cannula ran under his nose and was secured behind his ears, and the same beeping I’d heard in Kelly’s room now haunted me at Vinny’s bedside.

Laying my head down on the bed next to Vinny, I closed my eyes and tried to keep the horrors of the night at bay. But the darkness behind my eyelids brought with it the darkness of the night, and all the confusion, disorientation, and fear I’d felt from the moment I’d seen Kelly on Vinny’s computer screen, came racing straight back.

Vinny’s hand twitched in mine and I jerked upright, glancing at him. His pale blue eyes were cracked open, the whites bright red as if he were suffering a cold.

“Vinny.” His name came out just a whisper, but the noise was enough to draw his attention my way.

“Jen—” His voice was nothing but a rasp, a violent cough cutting him off. When he calmed, he grimaced, his throat bobbing as he tried to swallow.

“Shh. Don’t talk.” Moving from the chair, I sat on the side of his bed. I leaned forward and placed a hand on his cheek. “The doctor said they don’t want you to speak. You need to rest your throat and let it heal.”

His eyes drooped, then popped open again. He lifted his free hand and moved it back and forth.

“You want to write?”

Vinny’s head dipped forward. He grimaced again as he pulled his head back up.

Though I tried to get up, I couldn’t go far. “You have to let go if you want me to get you something to write on.”

Vinny shook his head, his hand squeezing mine. I gave him a smile and sat back down on the bed. He dragged his eyes down my body, then raised his eyebrow as he returned his gaze to mine.