The Apocalypse (4 page)

Stretched out in his nice warm bed, Jake was sleeping peacefully when his mom burst into his bedroom, flicking the light switch so that yellow light flooded the darkness.
He didn't stir, even as she shook his shoulder and hissed his name repeatedly. For the first seven minutes that Diane Allen was in his room, Jake was unaware that anything was going on, but a very firm shake finally roused him.

"Jacob Grant, get up!"

"Mom…" His voice was thick with sleep. Jake opened his eyes and looked at his alarm clock. Illuminated in blue light was
1:24
. What was going on? He'd been dead asleep since long before eleven. "Whaddya want?"

"Hurry." Despite his grogginess, Jake heard the nervous impatience in his mother's tone. He squinted at her and saw how pale her face was. Suddenly, Jake was fearful for what was happening.

"What's wrong?" he demanded. "What happened?"

Diane jerked back Jake's blankets, and a rush of cool air hit his bare chest. Since he was wearing only flannel pajama pants, Jake grabbed for a discarded t-shirt and pulled it on, still eyeing his mother warily. "There was a car accident," she informed him shortly. "Hannah's hurt badly. I need you to keep Isaac company while I run over to the hospital."

Jake's first reaction was the desire to roll his eyes before crawling back into bed, but not even he was that heartless, not even when it came to Hannah Ayers. Besides, Isaac was his friend. He gave
a
brief nod and got out of bed. Diane disappeared instantly from his bedroom. Thoughtlessly, Jake retrieved socks from his top dresser drawer and headed downstairs, where he saw Isaac sitting on the couch.

"Hey," Jake greeted semi-awkwardly, his tone still husky with sleep. Isaac's blue eyes were bright with alertness, and he was as colorless as Diane had been. Jake didn't like it at all.

Isaac moved over on the couch, needlessly making more room for Jake to sit. "Hey," he answered lowly. Isaac swallowed audibly, and Jake could tell how scared he really was.

The two guys sat in silence for roughly five minutes. Jake didn't know how to console Isaac, especially since he didn't know any details, and it didn't seem like Isaac was in the mood to talk anyway. He didn't really understand why Isaac wasn't going to the hospital also; if things were that bad, why wasn't Hannah's brother there? When Diane rushed into the room, Jake looked up and saw her hug Isaac tightly in a lengthy embrace. She stroked Isaac's blondish hair and murmured something that Jake didn't
catch
. Finally, she pulled back.

"Jake, turn the heat up," Diane commanded as she pulled on her brown leather coat. "Make some coffee or something, and for God's sake show some manners." In a motherly gesture that was more Patricia-like, Diane kissed the top of Isaac's head and then moved toward the door. "Be good, boys. I'll call you if there's anything to tell."

After Jake fiddled with the thermostat, he faced Isaac, who hadn't moved at all. "Do you want some hot chocolate or whatever?" The younger boy shook his head, and Jake shifted his weight. "Do you want to talk?"

Isaac looked up, his forehead wrinkled in concern, and his eyes followed Jake's movement toward the nearby recliner. "Greg hit ice." Jake had never heard such fury from Isaac's mouth. Yet his voice was somehow quiet and matter-of-fact. "The bastard apparently tried to brake, and the car spun out of control. It's totaled."

Jake nodded slowly, allowing his mind to process the information. He remembered the weather advisory and glanced outside through the glass of the front door. Nothing but whiteness. He briefly worried about his mom being out on the road too, but Jake let it go, reasoning that she'd be careful.

"Dad called from the hospital around ten-thirty," Isaac went on. Jake remembered that Benjamin Ayers worked almost constantly as an emergency room surgeon. "The ambulance brought H-Hannah in then. Mom sent me over here and then left. I guess it's taken this long to stabilize Hannah."

Although Jake didn't particularly care for Hannah, it upset him to hear Isaac talk. The kid was obviously distressed. "Do you know why my mom left?"

"M-my mom was breaking down." Isaac's voice positively cracked with the admission, and he looked over at Jake worriedly, but Jake made sure his face didn't have any semblance of mocking. "Hannah's messed up bad."

"Was anyone else in the car? What about Hudson?"

Isaac's eyes hardened. "Greg's got a broken arm," he spat out in disgust. "He has a little scratch on his cheek, but they got the glass out quickly enough. He'll be fine." Isaac scoffed. "Until I get my hands on him, that is. I'll kill—"

"Hey." Jake kept his voice soft. He understood Isaac's anger, but now wasn't the time for it. "Hudson's an idiot, I'll give you that, but don't think about him right now, all right? What do you know about Ay—your sister?"

Pain crept onto Isaac's face, and he didn't say anything for several minutes. He shrugged then. "She busted her head somehow, and she had to get stitches in her shoulder, knee, and forehead. Somewhere else too, I think." Isaac swallowed and shook his head. "They're talking brain damage though."

Jake sucked in air sharply. No wonder Isaac was so troubled. Even if Jake knew that Isaac and Hannah weren't super close due to the three years of age difference, no one could have doubted the sibling love there. Hannah was very protective of her brother, and Isaac looked up to Hannah more than anybody. It all went unspoken, but it was obvious.

"What if she dies, Jake?" Isaac's voice was barely a whisper. "I…if her brain swells—what if…" He met Jake's eyes, and Jake was afraid that Isaac was about to break down. "She'll be okay, right?"

"She'll be fine," Jake assured him with a little smile. He stood up and went over to Isaac, prodding his arm. "Come into the kitchen with me." Without waiting on a reply, Jake moved into the kitchen, where it was colder than the living room. As Jake was pouring water into the coffee pot, he saw Isaac entering from the
corner
of his eye. "You should eat something, man. It'll help."

Isaac managed a half smile. "That's H-Hannah's philosophy," he commented softly. He climbed onto a barstool and watched Jake making hot chocolate. "I wish I could do something to help her."

"And I'm sure Hannah will give you plenty to do when she's home." Jake smiled and tried to lighten to mood. "She'll have you bending over backward bringing her stuff. Probably food."

"True…" Isaac sighed and rested his elbows against the countertop. "You may not like her much, Jake, but she's…I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't
around
."

Jake brought two heavy mugs of hot chocolate to the counter Isaac was sitting at and perched on another barstool. He sipped some of the hot liquid slowly. "She's your sister, dude. Of course you love her." Jake shrugged and looked at the clock. It was almost two o'clock in the morning. "If no one threatens my life for driving in the snow, I'll take you to see her whenever visiting hours start. Okay?"

A little hint of a smile softened Isaac's face, despite Jake's poor word choice. "Yeah," he agreed with a concise nod. "Mom refused to let me go tonight, so… Thanks, Jake." Isaac reached for the other steaming mug of hot chocolate and took a drink. "When Hannah's all good again, will you hold Greg still so I can break his other arm?"

The question reminded Jake of the upbeat, albeit nerdy, lively boy that Isaac normally was. But both of them knew that he was only venting. Isaac wouldn't hurt a fly. "I don't know… I'd be your accomplice then, and I try to pick rougher opponents. Hudson's not much to work with."

Isaac swallowed. "I hate him. I hate him and the freaking ice." Jake studied Isaac and saw growing rage returning. "It's a good thing his car
is
totaled 'cause if it wasn't, I'd total it with Greg's head."

"Ouch." The side of Jake's mouth lifted in a crooked smile. "Now that's something I'd help you out with." Isaac returned Jake's little smile, and they both drank from their mugs silently for awhile, lost in thought. After awhile, Jake spoke again. "You tired?"

"No way," Isaac scoffed. His eyes were still very bright and brilliantly blue, so Jake didn't doubt him in any way. "Couldn't sleep if I tried." Sadly, Isaac tipped his head and offered Jake a cheerless smile. "But I bet you're exhausted, huh? I don't blame you."

"I am, but I don't blame you either." Jake finished off his hot chocolate, stood, and deposited the cup in the sink. Then he faced Isaac. "We could play video games or something if it'd help clear your head."

Isaac shrugged and took another little sip of his drink. "You're tired. If you want to go back to bed, it's cool."

Jake was many things, and while insensitive and rude ranked up there at times, neither quality dominated when a friend was troubled. So he returned Isaac's shrug and meandered back to the living room; as predicted, Isaac followed him and again took up his seat on the couch. Still mildly drowsy, Jake fell into the recliner and positioned the chair into a reclining position. Immediately, exhaustion reentered his body, but Jake stubbornly fought to keep awake.

"I hope somebody calls soon," Isaac muttered, worry unmistakable in his words. "They'll have to learn something soon, right?"

An undecipherable grunt was the initial reply that Jake issued. "Dunno, man. Can I do anything to help you feel better?" Isaac shook his head, and Jake gave a resigned nod. "You know where everything's at here, dude. Help yourself to whatever."

The last thing that Jake heard before falling back into a deep sleep was Isaac's sigh. After that, he was completely out of it. So maybe insensitivity and rudeness still managed a little dominancy.

Pale light, mainly from the bright snow, streamed into the living room. Ever the morning person, Jake snapped out of his reverie. Habit always woke him up at 6:15, even on the weekends; his body's time clock was so dependable that Jake found no need to set an alarm clock. Thus, it was routine that he awoke at a
quarter
after six Friday morning, even though his sleep had been greatly disturbed, and stretched lengthily.

It took Jake a few seconds to remember why he was sleeping in a recliner and waking up with a bad crick in his neck. He was even taken aback to see Isaac Ayers stretched out on the couch asleep, but things suddenly came back to Jake in a rush. He thought about Hannah and wondered how she was doing; apparently no one had called about her, although Jake couldn't be exactly sure that a ringing telephone would have woken him up.

Quietly, he eased out of the recliner and ran a hand through his thick brown hair. Isaac didn't stir, so Jake figured he could take a shower before waking him. He hadn't forgotten his promise to take him to see Hannah, after all. Jake went upstairs, collected clean clothes from his room, and then took a hot shower. Twenty minutes later, he was back downstairs, fully dressed and feeling refreshed.

Jake glanced at Isaac, who was still sleeping, and debated about waking him up. It was probably good for the guy to get some sleep. If Isaac received bad news about Hannah later, he might not get any rest for awhile. With the best interests of his friend in mind, Jake left Isaac alone in the living room and entered the kitchen.

Vibrations from the cell phone in Jake's back pocket caught him off guard as he was opening a package of strawberry milkshake-flavored Poptarts. He flicked his phone open and read a text message from Brent saying that school was delayed for two hours because of the snow and ice. Jake called his friend, and a couple seconds later, Brent's voice came through the speaker of Jake's cell phone.

"Hey, man."

"Hey," Jake replied while putting his Poptarts into the
toaster
. "I won't be at school today. Ayers and Hudson were in a wreck, and I guess she's hurt bad." Jake heard Brent suck air in sharply through his teeth. "Isaac's over, and I'm going to stay with him."

"Good. How bad is Hannah?" Brent sounded genuinely concerned, certainly more concerned than Jake was feeling. "Are you going to see her?"