Lost (11 page)

This was not good. It wouldn't be long before one of those previous bystanders contacted the police. The cops were probably on their way here right now. Gaia stood up quickly and reached her hand down to Sam.

“We have to get you out of here,” she said.

He grasped her forearm and allowed her to yank him to his feet. “Why?” he asked. “What's wrong?”

Before she could answer him, he swayed and his knees collapsed, and she had to wrap her arms around his back to keep him from hitting the ground. His eyes rolled back momentarily, and Gaia shook him to keep him awake.

“Sam?” she said. She reached up and slapped him a couple of times for good measure. He blinked rapidly, and it took him a moment to focus, but he finally did.

“Whoa. What was that?” he asked groggily.

“You almost passed out” Gaia said, her brow wrinkling.

“Oh . . . well, I haven't exactly eaten much in the last two days,” he said weakly.

“Jeez!” Gaia exclaimed, covering her hand with her mouth. “What about your insulin? I totally forgot.”

“Actually, I have plenty,” he said, struggling for the Sharpie-like syringe he had in his pocket to demonstrate. “For some reason, back at the compound they were very generous about supplying me with insulin. I guess they wanted to keep me alive.” He sluggishly dragged the back of his arm across his forehead. “What's the rush again?”

“It's him,” Gaia said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. “You really want to answer to the cops right now? Because I don't. Besides, you think he's the last one, but he's not. These people mean business, trust me.”

In fact, Gaia realized as she was standing there, still holding on to Sam, if she was smart, she wouldn't take everything he said at face value. Loki and his men
did
mean business. And she couldn't imagine them letting any prisoner get away unscathed. Was Sam telling her the truth, or had he been turned by Loki? Was he here on a mission for him? Was he here to keep an eye on her?

“So, where do we go?” Sam asked, tucking his hands under his arms.

Gaia looked into his eyes, searching for a change. Searching for a hint of darkness, of watchfulness, of distrust. But there was nothing. Nothing but the same old Sam. Just a weakened, tired version of the guy she once loved. She had to trust him. She had to put her suspicions aside. She was just so glad that he was actually alive, how could she possibly think of anything else?

“I don't know, but you need to keep a low profile, at least until we're sure it's safe,” Gaia said, grabbing his bicep. She turned him toward the street, and they walked into the rain, the drops stinging her face with their force.

“Well, I have no place,” Sam said. “It's not like I can go back to the dorm.”

“So you'll stay with me,” Gaia said, before truly taking the time to think it through. Sam turned to look at her—she could tell from the corner of her eye—but she couldn't look back at him at that moment. She didn't want to know what he was thinking, if he was excited or took this as some sign that she still wanted him.

Right now she had to deal with logistics, not with emotions. And keeping Sam close by, while it did come with its own set of problems, seemed like the safest solution.

Glutton for Punishment

ED STOOD ON THE EDGE OF THE
sidewalk in front of the school, trying ever so hard not to turn around and look each and every time the big metal doors to the school squealed open and clanged shut again. He knew he was starting to appear pathetic. From now on he'd let himself look back every fifth time, maybe. Or maybe every third.

The last yellow school bus sputtered away from him, engulfing him in a cloud of rancid exhaust. He held his breath and tried to look unaffected as a couple of kids laughed at him through the windows. Perfect. Now he was going to smell like the Lincoln Tunnel for the rest of the day. Heather was gonna love that. If it was true that your other senses were heightened when you lost one of them, then she was going to smell him coming from ten blocks away. He pulled his Stussy baseball cap low over his eyes to keep the drizzle from his face and stared at the blue awning on the building across the street, watching it flap in the breeze. He concentrated on not turning around.

The squealing of the door sounded.
Okay, that was one
. . . .

It was followed by a lot of giggling and scurrying and multiple voices. Someone uttered the words
Justin
and
Timberlake.
Definitely not Gaia. He'd never in his life heard Gaia giggle, let alone talk to anyone who ever giggled. And he was categorically certain that she had no idea who Justin Timberlake was. He wished that
he
didn't know.

Another squeal.
Two
 . . .

A blast of the latest Da Brat song from a boom box, accompanied by a few hand slaps. The guffaws of some guys trying to sound older and cooler than they were. Nope. Also not a Gaia - type exit.

Three . . .

Three was good enough. He turned and looked over his shoulder to find a couple of gawky freshmen boys walking out, poring over what was either the latest Spider-Man comic or a porn magazine stuffed inside the latest Spider-Man comic. A few more people spewed from the doors as Ed watched. He glanced at his digital watch and sighed.

He was definitely starting to get the feeling that Gaia was standing him up. And after the day he'd had—watching her roll around on the floor with that oily new guy, getting ribbed over it for the rest of the day—getting stood up definitely didn't feel good.

Okay, give her the benefit of the doubt, Fargo,
Ed told himself, rolling up onto his toes and back down to his heels, marveling over the fact that he could even do that. Maybe Gaia had heard something about her dad and had left school early to go to the hospital.
Maybe he'd snapped out of it and she was by his bedside right now, laughing over the whole silly ordeal. He hoped so. He hoped that he had a message on his machine at home right now from Gaia, gleefully telling him that everything was going to be fine.

But knowing the way Gaia's unlucky life went, that probably wasn't the case.

She's not coming,
a little voice in Ed's mind told him.
But why not? Where is she?
He felt a painful twist in his chest. The twist of insecurity he'd been feeling every five minutes or so ever since gym. But that was stupid, right? It wasn't like Gaia had gone somewhere with . . . what was his name again? Jackass?

He rolled his eyes and tipped his head back slightly, letting a few raindrops tickle his lightly stubbled chin. What had he been thinking, asking Gaia to go over to Heather's with him? Yeah, his intentions had been good. His heart had been in the right place. Heather needed company, and Gaia needed to get her mind off her father. But even if Gaia and Heather had reconciled their differences, was going to visit a blind girl really the best antidepressant? A recently blinded girl, no less? Actually, make that a recently blinded girl whose blindness, at least in Gaia's mind, was Gaia's fault?

“Real smooth, Fargo,” Ed said under his breath. There was no way Gaia was going to show up for this.

The door behind him flew open and slammed
back against the brick wall. Ed's heart leapt.
That
sounded like Gaia. He broke his three-exit rule and turned around, only to find the oily moron himself loping down the steps, with two of Heather's BFFs flanking him. Barf worthy.

Well, at least he now knew that Gaia wasn't with him.

Ed watched Jake as he and his groupies passed by. What did everyone see in this guy that was completely invisible to the eyes of Ed Fargo? Did they not notice the liter of petroleum in his hair? Was he really fooling anyone with that brand spanking new Jeter jersey? It probably still had the little plastic tag holders in it. He'd probably just moved here from Boston and turned against his team in a lame-ass attempt to fit in. Be cool. Well, in Ed's opinion, it wasn't working.

Ed waited until oily boy and his women had disappeared around the corner and glanced at his watch again. He knew that if he didn't leave in the next two minutes, he was going to be late getting to Heather's. And he didn't want to be late because he knew she was looking forward to the visit, but he also didn't want to show without Gaia, because then he'd have to explain her absence to Heather, and that was going to be unfun. Heather would definitely think it was personal, and Ed would have a hard time convincing her it wasn't. Even though it definitely wasn't.

Heather would be hurt and Ed would be mortified, and it was all because Gaia had simply decided not to show for whatever reason. Ed loved her more than anything in the world, but even he could admit that she did have her flaws. Occasional disregard for other people's feelings topping the list.

She isn't coming,
the little voice chided.
I don't even know why you're still here. Glutton for punishment, perhaps?

“Ed!”

He whirled around, knowing it wasn't Gaia's voice but hoping he was wrong. He wasn't Tatiana was strolling down the steps, little droplets of rain shimmering in her hair.

“Waiting for Gaia?” she asked, pausing next to him.

“Yeah. You don't know if she went to the hospital already, do you?” Ed asked.

“I haven't heard anything,” Tatiana replied, lifting one shoulder. “She's kind of late, huh?”

“She'll be here,” Ed said firmly, setting his jaw. Wow. He was really good at sounding sure of himself.

“You know, I envy Gaia,” Tatiana said matter-of-factly.

“Why's that?” Ed asked, even though he was sure the answer would be a dig at him.

“She's the only girl I know with a man in waiting,” Tatiana said. Then she smiled slightly as if to say, “Take it as a joke. That's how it was meant.”

“Ha ha,” Ed replied. “Very funny.” His face burned against his will, and he turned away from her, pretending to look down the street as if Gaia might be coming from the back exit around the corner.

“I was just kidding,” Tatiana cajoled. “Well, if you see her, tell her I hope her father is doing better. And if I see her at home first, I'll tell her to call you.”

She's been acting weird all day,
Ed noted as he watched Tatiana walk away. It wasn't like Tatiana to be catty like that. Maybe the pressure of Gaia's dad's coma was getting to her. Or maybe it was just starting to sink in that he and Gaia were really together. Either way, Ed had other things to think about.

Ed listened again for the doors. They were squealing open and slamming closed with much less frequency now. The school was emptying out. Soon the only people left would be the chess team and the chronic detention-getters. Gaia wasn't inside the school. Ed knew this. She wasn't going to show.

He pressed his teeth together and told himself he would wait one more minute. One more frustrating, annoying minute. Then he'd suck it up and walk very slowly over to Heather's. Hopefully there would be enough time to perfect his excuse for being late.

the tiny lines around his eyes that shouldn't have been there for another twenty years

The Little Hostess

GAIA OPENED THE DOOR TO THE
apartment that she currently called home and was met by utter silence. There wasn't a light on in the place, and the shades were down, casting the entire living room in a soft, dusky grayness. Natasha, it seemed, was still at the hospital. Gaia wasn't sure whether to take that as a positive sign or a negative one. She had no idea where Tatiana might be, but it was good, for the moment, that she wasn't around.

Stealth missions were much easier when there was no need to be stealthy.

“Okay, come in,” Gaia said over her shoulder to Sam, who leaned against the wall beside the door. His skin was pale, and there were big purple splotches under his eyes. He was looking dazed and very weak, and he hadn't said much in the last few minutes of the cab ride over. Gaia had to get him hidden away and then get some food into him or she was going to have another hospital run on her hands. And she was not going to let that happen. She'd already found and lost one of the men in her life this week.

Gaia stepped inside and held the door back for Sam, who managed to push himself away from the wall and into the apartment.

“Where are we?” he asked, glancing around the
large, sparsely decorated living room with heavy, glassy eyes.

“This is where I live now,” Gaia answered. “With some friends of my father's.”
My father, who's in a coma a few blocks from here,
she added silently. As stunned and psyched and elated as she was to see Sam, she had to get over to the hospital as soon as possible. She'd gone too long without being there. Anything could have happened to him by now.

“Thanks for letting me . . . ,” Sam started, then trailed off. He brought his hand to his forehead and started to sway, but Gaia grabbed him before he could go down. He let her hold most of his weight as they made their way around the corner and down a short hallway. Behind the kitchen was a tiny bedroom, about the size of a walk-in closet, that years ago in some other reality had been the maid's quarters. It had its own three-foot-square bathroom, and it was half filled with boxes, but at least it was a place where Sam could stay. Where he would be safe.

And it was the only place in the apartment that Gaia could be certain Natasha and Tatiana would never go. Natasha wasn't exactly the nesting type. She hadn't been back there to unpack anything for as long as Gaia had known her. She wasn't even sure if Tatiana knew it was there.

Gaia half dragged, half walked Sam into the small room, and he immediately sank down on top
of one of the shorter piles of boxes. He looked like a rag doll, slumped there in his mismatched clothes with his hair sticking out in all directions. His arms hung limp at his sides, his hands drooping open lifelessly.