Full Court Press (26 page)

“Not so fast.” He tsked. “Let’s do this right. Hmm?”

She nodded and Beck snatched her around the waist, not setting her down until they were in front of the bench that she had been eyeing earlier. Beck spun her around and pinned her hips to the edge of the bench with his own. He leaned her forward and planted both of her palms on the vinyl before stepping back.

She wasn’t completely bent over but the position made her ass stick out, making her feel like she was asking for it.

She leaned back to look over her shoulder. “Beck—”

“Ah.” He slapped her ass lightly. “Don’t move. Stay just like that.”

She waited, her excitement building so quickly that when he touched her again, she gasped.

Beck laughed as his hand smoothed up her buttocks slowly, then up her lower back and finally up to her neck. He used light pressure, slowly bending her all the way forward to where her cheek met the vinyl.

She trembled as he used his hand on her lower back to press her torso against the bench.

Her anticipation was growing by the second, coupled with the excitement of knowing someone could walk in on them at any second. “Please...” She looked over her shoulder but he pushed her head back down gently.

“None of that. Now I want you to reach your arms up and grab on to the opposite edge of the bench. Okay?”

She did as he said, gripping the vinyl tightly.

“Good girl.” He pushed her shirt up to run his hands up and down her back. The term made her want to melt again, but instead she gripped the bench tighter and pushed her hips back against his.

Beck hissed out a breath and she smiled, glad she affected him too.

She moaned as Beck split her legs apart and spread them wide, pushing his arousal against her.

“You think that was cute?” he asked. “Did I tell you to do that? No, I didn’t. So if you want this,” he pushed his hips against hers, “you’re going to do only what I say.”

She bit her lip to keep from begging him for it. She didn’t want to resort to that just yet, so she nodded vigorously instead.

“Good. Now—”

His cell phone went off and he cursed, stepping away from her before pulling the noisemaker from his pocket.

He flipped it open. “Yeah? What...is she okay?”

The tone of his voice made Carmondy straighten and turn around.

“How can you not know what’s causing it?”

He seemed to age in front of her eyes, stress lines creasing his face. She reached out to touch him, to comfort him, but his hand shot up, snatching her wrist before it could get close enough.

“You know I live out of town. It will take me almost two hours...just try to hold out until I can get there...I don’t know—” He glanced at Carmondy. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He snapped his phone shut and without another word, used the hand around her wrist to pull her out of the weight room and down the stairs.

His grip was so tight it was painful. She felt her wrist bruising. “Beck.”

“Come on.” He pulled her faster.

She pulled on her hand. “Slow down.”

“Do you have your stuff? Keys?”

“Yeah, Beck, slow down, you’re—”

“Hurry up.” He punched the doors open and kept pulling her out into the parking lot. He was starting to scare her.

“Beck, stop, please.” She tried to pry his fingers off her wrist. “Beck, you’re hurting me.”

Beck stopped abruptly and turned to face her, releasing her wrist quickly. “Fuck. I’m sorry, I just...your Jeep, I need your Jeep.”

She rubbed her sore wrist. “You can’t go anywhere without me, my dad said—”

“I know, so you’re coming with me.” His eyes pleaded for her to understand, though his tone was still harsh.

“Oh...of course.” She didn’t even think about it. “I don’t know where we’re going, so you’re driving?”

He nodded and grabbed the keys when she held them out to him. “Get in.”

She did as he said, sliding into the passenger seat while he started the Jeep. He left the parking lot in a hurry and sped into traffic, driving quickly but not dangerously.

She kept quiet until they got out of town and on the open road. “Where are we going?”

He didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I’m sorry if I hurt your wrist. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay.” She looked at her wrist, which was turning red. “But that wasn’t an answer.”

He sighed and she saw his hands flex on the steering wheel. “I don’t really want to talk, Carmondy. You’ll see when we get there.”

“Okay...well, if you change your mind, you know you can always talk to me.”

Beck nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

Carmondy felt extremely awkward sitting in her Jeep as Beck drove in complete silence. What would she do in this situation if Beck were a normal guy? She’d probably scoot across the seat, wrap her arms around his waist and lean on his shoulder. She’d tell him everything was going to be okay, and she was there for him.

But Beck wasn’t a normal guy, and she didn’t know if everything was going to be okay because she didn’t know what was going on. She knew it had something to do with his sister but she didn’t even know what was wrong with his sister to begin with.

So what would the opposite be? Leaving him alone? That wasn’t really an option since they were in a car, so maybe she should just give him as much space as possible.

“I’m a little tired,” she lied. “I’m gonna take a nap in the backseat, okay?”

He nodded.

“Please don’t leave me in the car when you get there?”

“I’m not going to leave you in the car to turn into an ice cube.” He drove with alternating hands for a moment while he shrugged out of his jacket. He handed it to her before turning his eyes back to the road.

“Thanks.” She climbed over to curl up on the backseat. She wrapped the jacket around her and used her backpack as a pillow.

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep but the next thing she knew, Beck was saying her name. Peeking her head over the seat, she saw that he was pulling into a small parking lot in front of a huge, old-looking house.

Beck stopped the car and hopped out before reaching in, bumping the front seat forward and pulling her out. She let out a startled squeak before Beck set her on the ground.

He started toward the building at the brisk pace. She had to jog to keep up.

“Are you going to tell me where we are?”

“You’ll figure it out once we’re inside,” he said. “And I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

“It’s not a problem, I’ll just hang out in the...does it have a waiting room?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, I’ll just hang out there, no rush.”

“We could be here past midnight.”

“I said it’s not a problem.”

Beck pushed open the double doors, and Car knew right away that it was some sort of hospital, though not a traditional one. It didn’t have bustling nurses or the beeps and noises of a hospital, but it was all very crisp, sterile, and quiet.

“You can wait here,” Beck said, pointing to a waiting area with big comfortable chairs and couches along with magazines and a water cooler.

“Okay...where are you going?”

Beck didn’t answer her, just went to the front desk and was greeted by the lady sitting behind the computer.

“Mr. Nicholson, they have been waiting for you.”

“I know. Can I go up?”

“Go ahead, room 318. You know the way. I’ll call up there and let them know you’re coming.”

“Thanks.” Beck glanced back at Carmondy one time before jogging off to a non-descript door to the left.

Carmondy knew whatever this was, it was a private matter and she shouldn’t even be thinking about what was going on, but she couldn’t help it. She pulled a couple brochures off a nearby table and glanced at them, skimming through and quickly picking out key phrases.

Sue-Lombard Care Facility...family oriented, long term neurological and psychological treatment center...custom rehabilitation...in-house neurologists and psychologists...providing hope to families...a home away from home for those who can’t be at home...24 hour care...

Carmondy frowned and looked around. A psych hospital? It was very high-end and looked surprisingly homey for a hospital.

She itched to go up to room 318, just to see, even though she knew it was wrong.

Within a few moments, her curiosity won out over her conscience and she stood up, walking confidently to the door Beck had entered. The worst that could happen was someone would see her and ask where she was going. She could just say that she was looking for the bathroom. No big deal.

Once through the door, she breathed a sigh of relief to see it was just the stairwell.

She climbed up to the third story and started slowly down the corridor. It was hard to walk slowly enough to look at each room number while also looking casual. There were others milling around in the hallway so she could still use the bathroom excuse.

Up ahead, she saw a couple hospital employees dressed in scrubs. They hurried into a room and then snapped the door shut behind them. When she listened, she heard voices coming from the room, Beck’s voice among them. She found the room number above the door and confirmed it was 318.

What was she going to do now?

The door swung open and she jumped out of the way and pretended to be walking again but it was only another nurse. Carmondy leaned into an empty doorway labeled 318B. The room was small and dim but she could see it wasn’t a patient’s room, so she stepped in.

She looked around and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw the window gave her a view into the room beside her, the room Beck was in.

She froze, but no one seemed to notice her. It turned out not to be a window at all, but a two-way mirror. A tall stool and desk, along with a laptop computer, were along one wall but other than that, the room was sparsely furnished, and about the size of a large closet.

Carmondy knew she shouldn’t stay. It was an invasion of privacy and she was almost sure it was illegal, but when she actually took a seat on the stool and looked into the other room she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Several hospital employees gathered around the bed so she couldn’t see much other than the top of Beck’s head. The room was painted beige and had non-descript brown carpet. A small desk and chair stood to one side but nothing was on the desk. On the other wall, there was a dresser and a partway-open door, revealing a bathroom.

A few of the hospital employees moved around, providing her a view of the bed. Beck was sitting on the foot of the bed, leaning toward the headboard where a small blonde girl was curled up, knees to her chest, dressed in a small version of the plain hospital scrubs the nurses wore. Carmondy leaned forward so she could hear the conversation.

Beck’s voice was soft and gentle. “Lily...you need—”

“No!” the girl screeched, her hands tangled in her messy, unevenly cut hair. Carmondy recalled his sister was thirteen but this girl wasn’t the size of a thirteen-year-old, maybe ten. She peeked out from behind her tangled hair and the terror, fear, and confusion in the girl’s eyes made Carmondy’s heart clench.

“Lily, please, you need to take the medication,” Beck said in the soft voice again.

The girl cringed. “It’s not time, it’s not on the schedule.” She pulled on her hair and pushed closer to the headboard.

“I know. It’s a different medication. They are trying something new. They need to change the schedule—”

“The schedule can’t be changed,” she hissed.

“Please, Lily, just take it.” He held out a small cup.

Lily took one look at it and cringed again, suddenly shoving all the hair back from her face. Carmondy could see the family resemblance right away. They had the same features, though Lily’s were smaller and softer.

“It’s not the right time. It’s not the right shape. It’s not the right color!” Lily flung out a hand and knocked the cup and pill to the floor.

A doctor took a step forward, a syringe in hand. “Mr. Nicholson, if we don’t get the medication in her, we are going to have some serious problems.”

Beck nodded. “I know...I know, just give me a minute.”

“We may not have a minute. Her seizures—”

“I know!”

“Please don’t yell at me,” the girl begged, curling into a ball again, going from angry to scared in a split second.

Beck scooted closer. “I wasn’t yelling at you sweetheart, I was—”

The girl started to shake violently. Within seconds, the shaking turned into convulsions and Beck threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

The girl made an involuntary noise of pain while Beck and a male nurse wrapped their arms around her, though Carmondy was pretty sure the pain was caused by the seizure, not the guys. They pinned her arms and legs together, curling her up tightly while she shook. Beck’s hand closed over her mouth, and Carmondy knew it was to keep her teeth from cracking together and breaking.

Carmondy put a hand to her mouth as the girl continued to convulse violently despite the tight arms of the two boys. The doctors and nurses in the room didn’t seem surprised by the seizure, as if it was a normal occurrence.

A few minutes later, the girl finally stopped convulsing and the male nurse released her, leaving her in Beck’s arms.

The girl didn’t seem wild and crazed like she did before. She leaned against Beck’s chest and shook slightly, looking tired.

Beck comforted her, smoothing her hair back and whispering comforting words.

The girl leaned back, and peered up into Beck’s face. “You’re not supposed to be here. You only come on Sundays. You’re off schedule.”

“I know.”

She reached up and touched his face. “Don’t you like me? Why don’t you visit more? Don’t you want to be my friend?”

“Of course I do. I like you, I just—”

The girl suddenly jerked away from Beck. “They’re crushing me!”

“What are you—” He tried to grab her hands as they tangled in her hair again.

“There are so many! So many...they’re crushing me. All of them...I can’t...” The girl started to sound faint.

“What is it, Lily? What’s wrong? I don’t understand.”

“That’s all anyone ever wants. Stick a needle in me. Shove a pill down my throat,” she muttered angrily, pushing her free hand into her tangled hair. “No one likes me. I’m wrong. Messed up.”