to get you out of here before the police show up.”
“Ryan’s going to need a doctor,” I said, rushing down to Ryan’s side. He was still breathing, but he’d been beaten badly.
“Ryan? Can you hear me?” I asked, but he didn’t respond.
Jared nodded, and then effortlessly lifted Ryan into his arms to put him in the back seat of my car. Kim ran around to jump into the back and covered him with her coat.
“He doesn’t look good, Nigh,” Kim said, cradling him in her arms.
Jared opened the passenger side door. “Get in, Nina, I’ll drive.”
We flew through the darkness; making every red light a blurry afterthought. I wrapped my arms around my chest, finding it hard to breathe.
Jared rested his hand on my forearm. “Are you hanging in there?”
“I’m just worried about Ryan,” I whispered, peeking back momentarily at my friend. Jared’s hand gripped tighter.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Nina. Ryan’s going to pull through.”
“You shouldn’t have…you could have been killed, Jared.”
Jared raised an eyebrow, looking at me as if I were overreacting.
“It was necessary.” His hand left my arm and gripped the steering wheel. “They’re lucky I spared them their lives after he—,” he paused, seeing my expression. “You don’t need to worry…I won’t let anyone hurt you. Least of all me.”
When the scowl didn’t leave my face, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong with me, Jared. You’re bleeding, Ryan is…,” I turned around, “Ryan? Can you hear me?” I touched his battered face gently with my finger tips.
I could see Jared in my peripheral vision, his entire body tensed as if I was touching a live grenade.
“We need to get to the hospital!” Kim begged, holding her fingers to his wrist.
“Hang on, Ryan. We’re almost there,” I said, wincing when he did.
I had to turn back around to wipe my tears; I didn’t want him to see me cry. Jared tucked my hair behind my ear, and with his warm thumb wiped the moisture away. I didn’t notice that I was turning my ring mindlessly around my finger until Jared gently squeezed my hand.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
Ryan was whisked away to surgery and Kim, Jared and I were directed to the ICU waiting room. Jared sat beside me, brushing my bangs back from my eyes.
Kim sat on the adjacent couch, her knees shaking up and down. She bit her nails, staring straight ahead. “I called Beth half an hour ago! When are they going to get here?”
I couldn’t look at her; Ryan’s blood was smeared on her shirt and jacket.
Beth, Josh and Chad filed into the waiting room, wide-eyed and breathless. Beth crashed into me, hugging me until I thought my ribs would break.
“Oh my God, Nina!! Are you okay? Is Kim okay?”
“We’re okay,” I whispered.
Beth put her hands to her mouth when she noticed the blood on Kim’s clothing and shook her head. “Ryan?”
“He’s still in surgery,” Kim said. “He has some broken ribs, and they think the knife may have punctured his spleen. They’ll remove it if they can’t get the bleeding stopped.”
My eyes welled up with tears.
“Whoa,” Josh sighed, rubbing his forehead in disbelief.
Beth hugged me as we both cried. She walked over to Kim and sat down. When Kim only offered a weak smile, Beth pulled her into her arms.
Jared put his arm around me and led me back to the couch. Kim rehashed the account to the others until Josh interrupted.
“Why didn’t you just give him the damn ring, Nina?” he asked in an accusatory tone.
“This isn’t Nina’s fault,” Jared grimaced, squeezing me closer to his side.
“Her father gave her that ring, Josh,” Beth added.
“It’s just a ring,” he murmured.
Jared looked into my eyes with an understanding expression; he didn’t want me to feel worse than I already did. I didn’t expect anyone to understand my attachment to the ring anymore than I expected them to understand my relationship with my father.
“How did you get away?” Beth asked.
I felt Jared shift uncomfortably beside me when Kim spoke, “Jared took all four of them on. He was amazing. Apparently he’s taught his little sister everything she knows.”
All eyes darted to Jared, who leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “I’m in the security business.”
“Where? In Iraq?” Josh sneered.
“Nah,” Jared said, downplaying Kim’s explanation.
I knew better. I had just glimpsed into a fraction of Jared’s secret.
I jerked against Jared’s shoulder when he whispered that Ryan was being wheeled into Intensive Care from recovery. “It’s okay, you’re safe,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the top of my hair.
“Oh,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I must have dozed off for a second.”
“More like an hour,” Kim said with heavy eyes.
Jared squeezed me to him. “You didn’t miss anything; you needed to rest.”
“What time is it?” I yawned.
“Seven thirty,” Beth said, looking as exhausted as I felt.
The nurses pushed the stretcher down the hall with a barely-coherent Ryan attached to monitors and tubes. I ran into the hallway and grabbed his hand, walking with them.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice broke before I could attempt a braver tone.
Ryan mumbled something inaudible and I felt my face compress. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk.” I choked at how familiar those words sounded. “We’ll be right down the hall, okay?” I kissed his hand and he smiled, reaching his shaky fingers to brush my cheek with the back of his fingertips. I held his hand to my face for a moment, kissed it, then let go as they passed through the double doors.
The doors shut in my face, and I brought my hand to my mouth to stifle the cries. Beth came up behind me and Kim joined us, followed by Josh and Chad. We all huddled in the middle of the hall as we hugged and cried.
I had been nestled in Jared’s warm arms for twenty minutes when a nurse came out.
“He’s resting now. If you would like to freshen up and come back later, he may be ready for visitors then.”
“But…how is he?” I asked.
“It’s still early, but he’s young and healthy. I’d say he’s going to recover quite nicely,” she smiled.
We shared a collective sigh as she wheeled around and disappeared behind the double doors.
“I’m going to head home. Call me when he wakes up,” Chad said.
“Can I catch a ride with you?” Kim asked. With that, Beth, Kim, Chad and Josh all stood up.
“You’re staying?” Beth asked.
I nodded and stood up to hug her.
“I’ll stay with her,” Jared said.
Beth smiled through her fatigue before Chad led her out by the hand.
“You’re exhausted,” Jared said. “I should take you home.”
I shook my head. “I can’t leave him here alone. I almost got him killed.”
Jared’s faced twisted when he spoke. “He almost got himself killed.”
“He tried to keep them from attacking me!” I said, offended.
“Fat lot of good it did him,” Jared said dismissively, rolling his eyes.
“I know, Jared. If you hadn’t shown up, Ryan would have bled out and I would have been left handed for the rest of my life, however brief.”
