In an Instant (6 page)

Chapter Nine

Present – Hospital

I open my eyes and it feels different. I think I’m really awake this time. I look up to see a bag of blood and a bag of liquid hanging above me. I follow the tubes to see they are attached to my arm. It’s surreal, as if it’s not my arm.

I feel nothing. There are machines filled with beeps and lights, but I am unfazed by all of it. If I allow myself to absorb what is happening, the overwhelming suffocation starts to creep up my throat like a boa constrictor. My chest is already getting tight, and I can’t catch my breath. It’s strange that I’m still able to breathe. It must be the tubes in my nose.

With each second, I’m starting to feel more, and I don’t want to. I liked the limbo I was in before.

My head feels heavy. I can’t possibly lift it. Yet I need to push everything away: the pain, the fear. What is important is finding out the truth. I need to know what is happening with everyone else.

I try to sit up, and I see Jake. It can’t be real, but it is. He’s here in my room, sitting next to me.

He touches my hand with his, and I feel my tears welling up. How is this possible? I saw him next to the car. I saw the paramedics pounding on his chest. I saw him lying there lifelessly.

He moves his thumb over my cheek then traces the bandages covering my forehead.

I try to talk, but I can’t. He doesn’t say anything, either, yet the love that fills his expression is enough to give me the strength to fight. I need to stay strong for him. He needs me.

“We’ve got her back.”

I hear a voice I don’t recognize. It pulls me away from somewhere deep. I don’t know where I was, but I want to go back. I want to be with Jake, wherever he is.

His touch felt so real, so soft, so perfect. But reality starts to sink in, and I’m pulled all the way to the surface.

My eyes fly open. I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. Everything is exactly how it was before: the bag of blood and liquid, the machines, the beeps. Now, though, there is a room full of people, none of whom I recognize. They are all wearing white lab coats like Nate’s mom was earlier.

“Daniella, you just gave us quite a scare.” Nate’s mom comes into view. Her voice is soothing and secure.

My chest feels like it’s caving in, yet I’m breathing. I’m awake, and I am breathing.

“You’re okay. We just needed to pull you out of sedation. You were having a reaction to the medicine we gave you.”

I turn my head to see Cam standing in the background. His eyes are swollen and bloodshot, and he’s biting his nails. Classic Cam when he’s nervous.

I hate that he has been crying. I hate even more that I don’t know why.

“Just a few minutes, Cam.” Nate’s mom gives him a head nod with a smile as the rest of the doctors start to clear out.

“Thanks, Mrs. Collins,” Cam says, returning her nod.

She gives me a small, empathetic smile then checks the beeping machine with one more glance before she leaves.

“Hey, D,” Cam says as he pulls a chair next to my bed. “It’s good to see you.” There is sadness in his eyes that makes my stomach turn over. I have never seen this look in Cam’s eyes. He’s always full of energy, the life of the party. “You’ve given me, like, a million scares tonight. How are you feeling?” he asks with trepidation. I can tell there is a giant elephant in the room. There is so much more he wants to say.

I don’t know how I feel. My head still feels like there is a hundred-pound weight attached to it, but it’s the unknown that is churning my stomach, and by the look on his face, Cam is shielding me from the truth.

“Please tell me,” I say.

His brows furrow. He knows what I mean, but his look tells me he’s playing dumb. “We won the race.” He gives a small laugh.
“And you’re going to be fine.” He lifts his hand to grab mine, and I notice his left hand and wrist are wrapped up. He has a small gash on his forehead, too, but it doesn’t look like it needed stitches. Otherwise, he is unscathed.

I squeeze my eyes shut, finding the strength from deep within to ask something I already know I’m going to despise the answer to. “Please, Cam. Tell me the truth.”

As he caresses the bandage on my forehead, I can see a sheen of tears forming in his eyes. “You had to get a lot of stitches, and you have a really nasty concussion. You’re pretty banged up, so they were keeping you heavily sedated to help your body heal, but turns out, you’re allergic to whatever they gave you last, and we almost lost you. Like, your heart stopped, Dani. Your fucking heart stopped, and I was here. The doctors came rushing in …” He shakes his head as if he can’t say anymore.

I don’t even feel the weight of his words. It’s too much to comprehend. Plus, I’m focused on finding out what is happening with Jake and Marcus since no one will talk about them.

“Please tell me.”

He angrily pushes away from the bed and stands up. I know none of this is good. If it were, he would have already told me. I need to know how bad.

He pushes his fingers through his dark blond hair and pulls on the ends, focusing on everything in the room except me. His eyes finally meet mine, his tears now clear. With a blink, they slide down his cheeks, and he quickly wipes them with the back of his hand. He shakes his head and looks back down at the linoleum floor of my room.

“I can’t,” he whispers toward the ground.

“Please.” I try with all of my might to sit up to show him I’m fine, that I can handle it. Then the damn rapid beeping starts again.

Why is my body betraying me like this? I need to be strong. I feel strong, but my body is screaming something else.

Cam runs to my bedside. “Dani, stop please. This is why. Everything is okay. You need to worry about you. Only you.” He squeezes my hand with his good hand.

I lie back because I really can’t do much more.

A nurse comes in and checks the stupid machines again. She gives Cam a look that says he needs to leave. I can’t let that happen, not yet.

“Please let him stay,” I blurt out as loudly as I can muster. “I promise I’ll lie down.”

“He can stay for a minute, but I gave you something to help you calm down.” She smiles at me. “Something you’re not allergic to.”

Damn it. I need to stay awake.

“Just rest, D. I’ll tell you everything when you wake up.” Cam gives a sad smile that only reaches his lips, nowhere else. His eyes are brimming with tears, but he’s trying to hold them back for me.

“Okay,” I say, unable to form any other words. My eyelids already feel extremely heavy. Something more powerful than me is pulling them closed. “Okay,” I whisper again.

I hate that nurse for giving me whatever she did. Except, I don’t even have enough energy left to hate. The warm darkness is back.

Chapter Ten

One month ago – February – District Game 2

Our school bus pulls up right behind the bus carrying the team and coaches. The excitement is so thick you could touch it.
We won.
Game two of districts, and we won! Two down; one to go. If we win this next one, we are the official district champions, and then we move on to regionals.

“Hell yeah, girls! Our boys killed it tonight!” Em shouts out to the rest of the bus.

There are twelve of us on the varsity squad, but the four of us know whom she is talking to: Hanna, me, and Mel. It’s our five boys who ruled the game. Always do.

“Nate was amazing tonight,” Em says as she gives Hanna a smile I don’t put much thought into.

“And now it’s time to celebrate!” Hanna shouts out as we jump off the bus.

We can’t stop laughing while we run down our empty school hallway to meet up with the guys. There is something incredible about being in the school at night with no one else there. There is a power that comes with it. You can do anything you want. It’s also eerie; you hear sounds you never hear during the day.

We are waiting for the guys to shower. That is the typical routine. They all change and shower back in their own locker room at our school and then meet us at our lockers.

Our uniforms are easy to get out of, so we just keep our clothes for the night in our lockers and change in the middle of the school hallway. Why bother going all the way to the girls’ locker room clear across the school?

As we get dressed, we decorate the boys’ lockers with washable paint. I’m finishing the D on the
Stud
that I painted across Marcus’s locker. He will hate it, but I can’t help laughing as I stand here in my underwear in the middle of the hallway. I could have already been dressed, but there’s something exciting about the risk of getting caught painting the school in your underwear.
Is that strange?

I also secretly hope Jake walks up and accidentally sees me.

“D, you need some of this.” Hanna hands me her Gatorade water bottle. She’s only in her bra and undies. That’s why I love Hanna; she always pushes it two steps further than anyone else ever would.

Her look tells me it’s not water. Alcohol is forbidden on school grounds, but forbidding something is really more of an invitation for us.

I don’t even ask what it is; I just take a swig, finding out quickly that it’s almost straight vodka. I don’t realize it until I have taken too much. My throat and stomach instantly constrict, and I start to choke.

Hanna bursts out laughing. “Since when are you such a lightweight?”

“A warning that it’s straight vodka would have been nice.” I laugh through my cough.

She smiles. “There’s some Redbull in there.”

“Yeah, like a drop.”

“Two drops, thank you very much.” She giggles as she takes another sip and passes it to Mel.

Mel is already dressed for the night and is now painting a 38 with a heart on Jake’s locker for the number of points he scored in the game.
Mel is by far the most straight-laced, put together one of our group, yet she’s always right there with us.

She takes a drink and laughs. “Damn, Hanna. Are you trying to kill us?”

Em grabs the sports bottle from her. “I’ll be the true test.” She takes a giant.

“No way. You have tolerance of steel.” I grab it back, and we all laugh. It’s impressive considering how small she is.

Em gives us a pride filled smile as she pulls on her barely-there skirt, which I instantly envy. She looks amazing.

“Em, when are you and Dax going to start dating out in the open?” Hanna asks as I pass the bottle back to her.

“Yeah,” we all say over one another.

Em’s cheeks actually flush red. I don’t think I have ever seen her blush before. Nothing ever fazes Em.

We are suddenly interrupted by a loud noise down the hall, and we all turn toward it. It’s as if a stick is running over the metal lockers. It’s unnervingly quiet except for this grating metal sound. Then the other end of the hallway erupts with laughter when the boys turn the corner.

As soon as their eyes land on us, there are loud whistles with hooting and hollering.

“Nice bra, Hanna!” Cam shouts down the hall.

It is nice. It’s lace and practically see-through, but she couldn’t care less. And I know Cam has seen his share of bras, so he would know. In fact, he’s probably seen all of Hanna’s.

“Thanks, Cam,” she shouts back. “I was waiting for you, baby.” We all know she’s joking. That’s just the relationship they have.

“D, I like the tighty-whities.” Marcus wraps his fingers around my waist. His beautiful blue eyes lock on mine, and then he leans down and kisses me.

It’s a great kiss, but as I close my eyes, I can only think of Jake. My brain took an instant snapshot of him. The way his jeans hug his butt perfectly; the way his letterman jacket fits as if it were custom-made just for him; the way he makes a simple white T-shirt look like a million bucks as it ever so subtly outlines the perfectly defined contours of his body. Mostly, the way his incredible hazel eyes looked at me and the small smile that formed on his lips, as if he knew my underwear stunt was just for him.

I pull back from my kiss with Marcus and open my eyes to see his stunning smile. It automatically fills me with guilt for everything I was just thinking while his lips were on mine.

He turns to see his locker and starts to laugh. “Stud? Really?” He shakes his head. “Couldn’t you just put the points I scored like Mel did?” he asks through a small laugh as he eyes Jake’s locker.

“But you are a stud,” I say with a smile and reach up on my tiptoes to kiss him again.

He rolls his eyes with a laugh. “As much as I love these”—he snaps my underwear playfully—“you might want to get dressed.”

“What? This look is all the rage.” I wink as I walk over to my locker to grab my skirt.

I notice Jake’s hand in the back pockets of Mel’s jeans. My stomach turns over at the sight of the smile he gives her while he plays with his class ring hanging around her neck. He moves it back and forth out of habit. I doubt he realizes he’s even doing it. It reminds me whom he really belongs to.

“Let’s go, ladies. The game is over. Let the drinking begin!” Dax shouts.

Cam hoots his approval, and the girls and I exchange knowing looks since we already started.

“Let’s do something different tonight to celebrate our colossal win!” Cam shouts.

“I’m in.” Marcus smiles as he eyes my new skirt and pulls me in closer.

“Let’s go to my sister’s bar. She’ll serve us,” Dax offers.

“Yeah, baby! A real club. I feel like dancing.” Cam tries to gyrate his hips.

“Put those things away!” Hanna shouts, laughing at his attempt to dance. “You may be magic on the court, but that’s where it ends.”

“Whatever, Hanna. You know you love it. Besides, we need to get Nate laid, and with my moves, there’s no way the girls will turn us away.” He pulls Nate into a headlock.

“I’m good, thanks.” Nate laughs as he ducks to get out of Cam’s headlock. He’s faster than Cam, so he effortlessly removes himself.

***

Dax makes one phone call, and we are on “the list,” which I think seems like a little much for the dive bar I’m sure his sister’s place is. That is, until we pull up in front of it.

There is a line around the block. Literally, around the block. There are no signs and no windows. From the outside the place looks like an old warehouse or giant storage unit with two large men standing at the door, checking IDs.

“There is no way we are getting in here!” I shout over the music blaring from Cam’s ridiculous sound system.

As usual, I’m in the front with Cam because Marcus, always the gentleman, would never think of letting me sit in the back. Mel, Jake, and Marcus are in the back while the rest of our crew is in Dax’s car. This was the way our group originally divided up the first night both guys had cars, and now it’s always the breakdown of who rides with who. We never swap. I’m not sure why; we just don’t.

“I don’t know; Dax seemed pretty positive we’d get in. His sister said to drive around back,” Cam says as he lets Dax pull in front of him so we can follow.

As soon as we turn the corner to the back, there is an über cool chick waiting for us outside. She has light purple hair loosely styled in waves. I already like her, and I haven’t even met her yet. The warm smile she gives Dax solidifies it.

“Baby brother!” she shouts to him as she strolls up to his car. “Finally checking out the digs with your crew.”

“You finally said I could come since I’m officially eighteen.” I can see Dax’s smile from here.

“Yeah, yeah. Park your cars, boys. You’re coming in with me.”

As we all walk up to meet Dax’s sister, I can see she’s wearing something straight out of a hip boutique. These are not mainstream, cookie cutter, store bought clothes. She has black tights with holes cut in them and a skintight black shirt that’s just long enough to be considered a dress. She’s wearing these amazing boots with at least four-inch heels and a zipper down the back. The all black look totally works on her, and it makes her pastel purple hair really stand out.

“Daxi!” she shouts as she runs up to him. She has to step up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his shoulders, even with her giant shoes. She’s surprisingly small considering Dax is six-foot-five.

Dax embraces her without a second thought. He couldn’t care less that he’s surrounded by his friends. It makes me wish I had a brother or sister. I love that they are so close.

“Congrats on the win, boys,” she says once they separate as she takes the rest of us in.

“Kari, meet the crew. Crew, meet Kari.”

“Thanks for getting us in here,” Jake says as he steps forward, giving her a smile that reveals his amazing dimples.

“Listen, you’re all still underage, so I’m gonna lay it out straight. There are rules, or you’re out. You drink only in the VIP area. I’m bringing you straight there. You’re lucky it’s empty tonight, so your timing is perfect. That is where you need to hang tonight, or you’re out. I’ll make sure you have a server. Got it? VIP area only. I don’t want to see you guys downstairs with everyone else. Or you’re out.”

“You really seem like you want to kick us out, and we’re not even in yet,” Dax says with a smile.

Kari stops and looks at him with a death glare. We all glance at each other during the uncomfortable silence.

Shut up, Dax. You’re going to blow it.

Then Kari’s bright red lips break into a huge smile, and it’s obvious she was just messing with him. “My baby brother is old enough to be here—well, almost. I still can’t believe it.” She shakes her head with a laugh. “Drinks are on me tonight. But drivers, remember you’re driving.” She gives us all a motherly look. “Now let’s go have fun!” she squeals. Actually squeals. I didn’t peg Kari for a squealer, but it makes me like her even more. I love how real she is.

“Your sister is pretty awesome,” I whisper to Dax as we follow behind her.

“Aw, thanks, D!” She turns back and smiles at me.

“Did I mention she has incredible hearing?” Dax laughs.

“Good to know,” I respond with a smile. “How’d you know my name?” I ask her as we continue to walk through long, narrow back hallways. I’m guessing this is the way they take the real VIPs.

Pictures line the walls, and I can’t believe how many celebrities are in them.

Kari catches my gaze. “Most of them come by here when they come to town on tour.” She smiles. “And to answer your actual question, I feel like I know all of you. Dax talks about you all so much. I’m glad he has you guys.” She wraps her arm around my shoulders.

“It’s funny; I knew Dax had a sister, but I had no idea you ran a place like this or you were, like, a hundred times cooler than Dax.” I give him a sweet smile.

“Well, I kind of made him keep it a secret. I didn’t want you guys to be too tempted.” She laughs. “Hey, I’m not that much older than you. I remember what it was like.”
S
he finally comes to a stop at the end of a long hallway where there are giant mahogany doors in front of us. She eyes all of us one more time. “Okay, remember the rules or …”

“You’re out,” we all repeat with a laugh.

As soon as she opens the giant wooden doors, what is in front of us is unbelievable. There’s a DJ just in our room, and he’s hot, like crazy hot. Oh, and he’s not wearing a shirt, so that adds to his hotness. He gives Kari a knowing smile as he puts on the next song. The entire room is covered in draped white cloths that are all illuminated from underneath. It’s just bright enough to see yet dark enough to give the room an incredibly intimate aura.

The entire room screams class from the mahogany doors to the long, intricately carved wooden bar. There is another topless hottie serving drinks. I feel like I have died and gone to hottie heaven.

All of the girls glance at one another as if silently asking the same question: can this be real? The guys don’t miss our wide-eyed anticipation.