“Yeah,
so quickly I hardly saw it happen. Just, he looked up to where the leaves had
moved, and then I caught a glimpse of him slipping behind a tree.”
“Were you in the forest?” Mary
asked, “What were you doing in the forest?”
“What were you doing in the forest?” Neil asked, “All the way out here?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Dani said.
She paused, “It was aliens. That is probably a more reasonable explanation than
the one we think happened.”
“What do you think happened?” Neil asked, “Or, you know what, nevermind.”
“We were just walking around,” Mary
said, “We lost track of where we were and kept going.”
“Lost track, but you knew exactly
where I could pick you up,” Neil said, “It’s fine. Just don’t drill me on how I
got out into the woods.”
“Did he… do anything to you?” Mary asked. There was an implication there
that she felt uncomfortable making clear, but she hoped Neil could answer
without similar discomfort.
“Neil doesn’t have to tell us
anything else,” Dani said, “He can save it for the police I guess.”
“Thanks,” Neil said, “But he didn’t
even try to mug me. David and I overheard him and another guy talking and why
am I telling you this?”
“Uh,” Mary muttered, “No pressure,
but, what did you overhear?”
“Well, the guy wanted to kill me
about it, so maybe I shouldn’t go around telling people. He thought I was a spy
or something.”
“A spy?” Dani asked. Dani had
previously been paying the least amount of attention possible to their
conversation. But at the mention of espionage she paid much less attention to
the road than before.
“Yeah, or like someone hired me to
listen in on their conversation,” Neil said, “It sounds stupid. I thought he
was kidding at first. But he kept threatening to kill me, and then he said he
was going to do it. And that’s when he ran off. Cause he saw something.”
“It was probably Batman,” Dani said,
“Definitely. Batman just saved your life, Neil.”
“Thanks Batman,” Neil said.
“Come on,” Mary said, to no one in
particular, “He was probably afraid someone was going to report him for beating
up a kid.”
“He didn’t beat me up,” Neil said.
“It looks like he did,” Mary said,
“Sorry. At least he didn’t take any money.”
“You said it was you and David? Where’s David?”
“The other guy chased him I think,”
Neil said.
The truck was silent until they
reached the hospital.
“We’re here,” Dani said, although it
was obvious to everyone where they were.
Dani and Mary helped Neil out of the
truck, although his legs were fine and he didn’t limp. They insisted on trying
to carry him until he shrugged them off and walked on his own. They continued
to flank him as they came to the double doors at the front of the Emergency
Room check in area. They opened the doors for him, which elicited a scoff from
him. Dani thought that was funny and laughed, and then Neil did too, and Mary
failed to hold back a smile as they entered.
After a doctor confirmed that
nothing serious was happening, they sat Neil down to wait for an x-ray of his
face. Neil said it didn’t hurt that bad, but the doctor said that there was
once a man who’d had a steel rod flung through his skull, and hadn’t complained
of much pain afterwards. Mary said Phineas
Gage with a quick precision, and the doctor said that Phineas Gage was
someone else that had happened to.
While they awaited the x-ray, Dani
insisted on staying. “I don’t really want to head home yet.”
Though it was already past ten, Dani
knew her parents might still be up, waiting for her to get home.
“They’ll give up around twelve and
just give me a stern talkin’ to in
the morning,” Dani said.
“I’ll stay too,” Mary said.
“Thanks,” Neil said, and then his
phone chimed the arrival of a text message.
Neil pulled it out, looked down, and
said, “It’s David. He’s wondering where I am.” He immediately typed a reply.
“You tell him where you are?” Mary
asked.
“Yeah,” Neil said.
“Good,” Mary said.
“Good?” Neil asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Cool.”
Dani stood up and walked down the
hall towards the vending machine. She purchased a bottle of soda and walked
back. Mary and Neil were quiet again. “So,” Dani said, “Did Dave say where he
is? Or where he went when the other guy chased him?”NEXT PAGE
No comments:
Post a Comment