Lingering Echoes (28 page)

“That’s a good friend you have back there,” the nurse commented.

“Oh, Brooke?” I gave a good-natured laugh. “Yeah, she’s one of a kind. Definitely keeps life interesting.”

“That’s not who I was talking about,”
the nurse said. “Actually, I meant the tall, blond boy who never left your side the entire night.”

My mouth dropped open into a silent “oh”
, realizing I had misunderstood her.

“He must care about you an awful lot. That much is obvious.”
She smiled to herself, noting the pink blush that escaped against my will.

I racked my brain for the right thing to say, to explain that he was just a friend
, in a complicated kind of way...I stuttered, failing to put into words what I could not even describe inside my head.

The nurse seemed to ignore my efforts
, keeping further thoughts to herself.

“Here we are. But ju
st for a few minutes,” she instructed, moving to the side so I could step past her. Damien’s head turned towards me from where he lay propped up in the bed. I hurried to his side, all thoughts of complicated emotions brushed aside.

“Hey,
beautiful,” he said, reaching out to take my hand. I wrapped both my hands around his, bringing the back of his hand to my cheek. My heart surged to be near him again, to see and feel him alive. My stomach hurt, recalling how close I had come to losing him.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.
I surveyed his face, wincing at the purplish bruises developing just under his left eye, and the mild swelling along his jawline.

“Like I would go through last night all over again, if it meant I’d get to see you
r face again.” He brought my hand to his lips. Releasing me for a moment, Damien’s face twisted as he moved to reposition himself.

“Here, let me,” I said, adjusting the pillows behind his back. I moved around h
is left side, where his arm sat wrapped in a sling.

“I heard you were lucky,” I said, “as far as
gunshot wounds go.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. The bullet shot just beneath my clavicle and out through the back,
just missing my left scapula. Didn’t hit bone or anything. So, no surgery, fortunately. They still won’t release me for a few more days though.” He frowned in annoyance.

“Well, this is one time I’m glad your
dimpled smile won’t win you any favors,” I teased. “You need to stay put.”

Damien looked disgruntled. “If I’m just going to be sit
ting around in a hospital bed, I may as well be sitting around at home, and with a much more pleasant nurse.” He winked at me.

I sighed, sitting do
wn beside him. “I can’t help but feel responsible for what happened. I should have let you go last night.”

“Allie, if I had left as
intended, I would still feel like a coward. Sure, I planned on testifying about my involvement with the gang, and their threats against Tommy Miller. But I’d still be running. And the Samoans weren’t the only thing I was running from.” He softened his voice as he stared into my eyes.

I
trembled with anticipation of his words.

Damien’s
large hand cupped the side of my face. I couldn’t help but lean into his touch, nuzzling against his palm.

“
Allie, I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. I mean, not ever. And it scared me, you know? I thought it’d be easier to move on than to risk roping someone else into my life.”

I looked ba
ck at him with glistening eyes. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“But I was wrong.” Damien squeezed my hand.
“Spending that time with you last night was the happiest I’ve felt in a long time. I’ve never told anyone about my involvement with the gang, or losing my family. And sitting there talking with you, I felt like a weight was lifted—a weight that I didn’t know even existed until I couldn’t feel it anymore. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”

I
wanted to photograph the adoration on his face reflecting so much love back at me. I leaned down, brushing my lips along his. I slid along his swollen jaw, testing its sensitivity.

Damien
murmured, closing his eyes and breathing in my fragranced hair that fell across his face. His full lips slipped over my own. The curve of his palm enclosed around my neck as he slid it back and forth along my heated skin.

A female voic
e cleared her throat behind us. I jumped back, my face flushed with both passion and embarrassment when a nurse I’d never met shook her head at us. “I think that’s quite enough excitement for Mr. Michaels,” she chastised, her thin arms folded against her chest. The nurse eyed both Damien and me from behind her clipboard, frowning at us.

Feeling like a child, I looked down at my feet, avoiding her disapproving eyes. Damien seemed unperturbed.
He wrapped his hand around mine, pulling me closer to the edge of his bed. He looked back at the nurse with a charming smile.

“
Aw, come on, now, Nurse B. This is Allie, the one I told you about. You wouldn’t want to prohibit the best medicine a guy could get, would you?”

The nurse loo
ked me up and down. “Well, I don’t know about that,” she mumbled. “And stop calling me that,” she said to Damien. “I told you, it’s Brenda.”

I released Damien’s hand a
nd moved out of her way, while she examined the monitor beside the bed.

“I better go,” I
said, resigned, shrugging at Damien. “I’ll come see you later.” I kissed him on the side of his head, whispering in his ear, “We’ll be together again before you know it. In the meantime...” I threw a furtive look towards the nurse, grinning. “I’d watch your back if I were you.”

Knowing what awaited me, I hesitated
for one moment with a nervous hand on the doorknob. With a deep breath, I twisted the handle and stepped inside. The hinges creaked as the door swung open, announcing our return.

“Hello?” I called.

The slamming of drawers from my bedroom came to an abrupt halt, followed by hurried footsteps.

“Allie!”
Dad exited my bedroom. He barreled towards me with such force that I took a step backwards when he collided into me and swallowed me up with his bear hug. I returned the embrace. Peering over his shoulder, I caught sight of Nick stepping from around the corner.

Dad
released his impossible grasp, but kept his hands on my shoulders. His eyebrows rose in concern, and his anxious eyes met mine.

“Are you ok? I’m so sorry I left you.
It won’t happen again. That was selfish and stupid of us—”

“Dad,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “Dad, it’s ok. It’s not your fault. And you can’t plan on not leaving me alone again. I’m going to college, remember?”

“Not for another month, you’re not. And until then, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

I sighed at the adamant
look in his eyes. This is what I was afraid of. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to consider it an “overreaction,” all things considered, but there had to be another way than falling prisoner to my father’s watch.

Nick
caught my eye as he and Aaron stepped away from a quick hug. He slipped his hands in his pocket and glanced at his feet. Looking back up, he said to me, “So, you’re ok then, right?”

I smiled at his quiet awkwardness. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.”

Nick nodded. “Good to hear.” He paused, and then he held up a closed fist in the air.

Laughing, I k
nocked my knuckles against his. A moment later, I surprised Nick by pulling him into a quick embrace, but he returned the tight squeeze before letting go, followed by a shy smile. It was going to take some getting used to before we both felt comfortable with the new boundaries we were exploring.

Dad
’s phone rang. Chasing after the muted ringtone, I followed him into my bedroom.

I gawked at the disaster that awaited
me. My large, blue suitcase was pulled out from under my bed, lying open in the center of the room. Clothes from my drawers were thrown on top of it, almost hiding the suitcase. The top of my dresser was cleared from my small collection of hair and makeup products, lying in a toppled heap on the floor. Even my basketful of dirty laundry was sealed inside a Hefty garbage bag next to my bed.

“
Hello? Hi, Holly. Yeah, she’s back. She’s right here. I was just finishing packing up her room. Uh huh. Of course. We can get her a flight for tomorrow afternoon.”

“What?” My jaw dropped.
Dad had his back turned towards me, standing by the window. I swung him around in one swift moment, my hand gripping his shoulder. “What do you mean tomorrow? You’re sending me away?”

Dad
put his hand over the phone, making a “shh-ing” noise with his lips. “No, I understand. Here, I’ll let you talk to her.”

Dad
shoved the phone into my hands. “Talk to her,” he whispered back. “She’ll explain.” He stepped away from me, lingering by the entrance doorway. I stood helplessly with the warm phone in my hands.

“Hi, Mom.
”

“Allie, it’s so good to hear your voice! Your father said you were ok, but I just needed to be sure.
Are you doing all right, honey?”

“Yeah,
Mom. I’m fine. I’ve got some cuts and bruises,” I admitted, knowing she’d be suspicious if I completely sugarcoated the incident. “But I’m fine. We were all lucky.”

I could hear M
om let out a bitter laugh, hinting of anger. “Luck. Ha! That’s the problem, Allie. You
were
lucky. What if luck had not been on your side last night? You could be dead, lying in some shallow grave up there, or floating head-first in some lake from the sounds of it.” I could hear the hysteria forming in her voice. I flinched at the images her words brought to my mind.

“I don’t know what your father was thinking, leaving you alone
like that,” she continued, pausing just long enough to catch her breath. “I mean, honestly, Allie, when he called me to tell me what happened, it was all I could do not to take the first flight down there and pack you up myself. Of all the irresponsible, reckless things for him to do, leaving you alone like that...”

I glanced up at
Dad, who still stood at the doorway. He wasn’t looking at me, but the pained expression on his face told me he could hear every word streaming from the phone.

“It’s not his fault, Mom,” I interrupted in a hushed tone.
“It might have happened any other night of the week, whether he was here or not. I was with this guy and—”

“
And that’s the other thing,” Mom cut in. “What are you doing dating some older guy, with some crazy gang history that would get you into this kind of mess in the first place?”

My mouth fell open in
surprise, and I glanced at Dad. He must have told her the small summary that he knew from Aaron, but not enough for either of them to understand.

“Mom, it’s not like that. You don’t even know the whole story.” I could feel my defe
nses rising, seeking to protect Damien’s name. “Why are you getting so mad and attacking everyone, anyway? It’s nobody’s fault. I told you, I’m fine. He and Aaron saved my life!”

“I almost lost you again, Allie! Do you understand that?” The high pitch of my mom’s voice cracked as she choked on tears. “You are my d
aughter. I have felt twice over now, what it might be like if you weren’t in my life. And I can’t bear the thought.”

We were both silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her
voice lowered. “And that is why I have asked your father to send you back home. You’re leaving for college in the fall and you’ll be gone for months. I would just like a little more time with you.”

I looked around at the tornado in my room, at a loss for words. I couldn’t leave now. Damien needed me. We had been through too m
uch together for me to leave like this.

“Mom,
I can’t.” There was a brief silence.

“What do you mean you can’t?
Is this about that boy?” The annoyance weighed in her voice.

“Sort of.”

Mom huffed unhappily from her end.

“
There’s just a lot you don’t know. About what happened last night. And about what happened last summer.” I chewed on my lower lip, fumbling on how to continue. The silence on the other line returned. I waited.

“Ok, explain to me what
you’re talking about,” she said, maintaining her calm. I looked over at Dad, who listened with interest. I sighed.

“Dad, you may as well have
a seat, too.” He complied, sitting down at the end of the bed. I contemplated how to begin.

Relationships were difficult enough without having to
explain them to your parents, especially over the phone. I had just figured some of this out myself only twenty-four hours ago. I wondered at my ability to express it to my parents—parents who didn’t believe in first loves lasting forever. I feared they wouldn’t understand, but I had to try. If not, I would be on a plane tomorrow, back in Portland.

“Damien saved my life last night.”

Mom scoffed. “Well, it’s the least he could do, considering he seems to have started this whole thing,” she muttered. I could feel the skepticism seeping through the phone. I sighed in discouragement. She wasn’t going to hear a thing I was about to say.

Dad
took the phone from my hands.

“Holly, you need to just listen to our daughter. We both do. If she has something important to share with us, I think it’s the least we can do, considering all she’s been through.
”

I could hear M
om start and stop a number of times, failing to put her thoughts into words. Then there was silence.

Dad
handed the phone back over to me. I smiled in nervous appreciation, putting the phone on speaker.

“Last night was
not the first time he saved my life,” I continued. Dad raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side.

“It was him.
Last summer. He’s the one that pulled me from the river.” Damien’s dark features played in my memory, giving me strength to speak. “I would have been dead a year ago if it weren’t for him.”

The powerful, private momen
ts we shared together in his room emerged in my mind. My heart pounded, in remembrance of last night’s conversation. “And I love him.”