Collide: A Riverbend Novel (6 page)

I still wasn't feeling my
best, but I was much better than I was yesterday. I got ready and
headed down to the kitchen to grab something to drink. Reese was
there asleep with her head on the table.

I shut the fridge door loud
enough to wake her. "Morning," I said as I took a long drink of my
water.

My new found interest in
her wasn't enough to change my snarky attitude. I smiled when she
looked at me.

She blinked and sat up
rubbing her eyes.

"You riding with me or
Garrett today?"

"Who’s leaving last?" She
asked as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I don't know. Not sure if
he's leaving early today or not." I sat across from her. "So, the
incident in the hall last night..." I smiled when her cheeks turned
red. "You should really watch where you're going." I meant to pick
with her about it the night before but I felt too bad.

"I should go get ready."
She literally ran out of the room.

Garrett walked in looking
behind him. "What was that all about?"

I shrugged and took another
drink of my water.

REESE

I woke up from more
nightmares. I looked out the window at the snow falling as I
thought of something to draw. I looked down at the unfinished
drawing and realized it was Havock.

I rolled my eyes and turned
the page. I had lived there for three weeks now and the cops still
didn't have any leads on my dad. I put my head to the window and
tried to ease the headache.

With my eyes closed, I saw
my dad. Then I saw my nightmares. Him covered in blood screaming my
name. It changed suddenly to Havock screaming out my name. He was
in pain.

"The time is coming for you
to choose," a dark voice purred in my ear.

I jerked awake with a
scream. I fell off the window seat as tears fell down my face. My
door flew open and Mrs. Johanna was standing there looking around
the room. Once she found me on the floor, she hurried over to me
and held me as I sobbed.

"Shhhh, it's going to be
alright," she said calmly as she held me.

Once I was calm, she pulled
away but stayed seated next to me on the floor. "Do you want to
talk about it?"

I shook my head no and
wiped my eyes. "Just nightmares."

"I'll go get you something
to drink." She kissed my head and left the room.

I heard her coming back up
the stairs then heard her talking to Garrett in the
hall.

"I'll take it to her," he
said quietly. "You go back to sleep."

His mom agreed then my door
opened. Garrett walked in with a cup of water.

He knelt down next to me
and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Here," he said as he handed
me the water.

"I'm sorry I woke you guys
up."

He got the throw blanket
off my bed and wrapped it around my shoulders.

"It's okay." He sat down
next to me. "Want me to stay with you until you fall
asleep?"

"Please," I said
quietly.

He helped me into bed and
laid down next to me. That nightmare really shook me up, and I
didn't want to be left alone.

He wrapped his arm around
my waist. "You're safe here, Reese."

"I'm scared, Garrett. Not
for me, but for my dad."

"They'll find him," he
whispered as he played with a strand of my hair. He twirled it
around his finger and kissed it. He smiled when our eyes
met.

I gave him a small smile
then closed my eyes.
What the hell was
that?
I wondered as I slowly drifted off to
sleep. I was just too tired to think about it.

~~~

I opened my eyes as the sun
came through the window. I groaned and buried my head against the
pillow.

I pushed myself up and
stumbled to the bathroom. After getting dressed, I headed
downstairs, sat at the table and hit my head against it. I didn't
have the energy to fix my hair and my curls were
everywhere.

"Morning, princess. Rough
night?" Havock asked as he came in.

When I looked up at him I
noticed his right eye was slightly bruised. He turned when I
noticed to keep me from seeing.

"What happened to you?" I
asked then groaned as the movement made my head hurt.

"What'd I tell you about
drinking, Reese? You're too young!'” He teased as his mom came
in.

Mrs. Johanna rolled her
eyes then kissed her husband's cheek when he walked in. "Morning,
babe."

He kissed her.
"Morning."

Havock motioned for me to
follow him. I got up and followed him out. I rubbed my head as we
walked.

"They are about to announce
a family vacation. They do this close to Christmas. They pull us
out of school even though we get a long break and take us on a
trip. Garrett and I dread them. They want to bond and well, it's
lame." Havock straightened up and smiled when his mom came in.
"Hey, mom."

She sat on the couch and
pulled her legs underneath her. She drank her coffee and shook her
head at him. "Not suspicious at all, Honey."

Garrett walked down the
stairs and I noticed his lip busted. Havock grinned
evilly.

"What did I miss?" I asked
as I looked at them both. Then what Havock said sunk in. By law I
wouldn’t be able to go with them. I wondered where I would
stay.

"Have you checked your
blood sugar lately?" Mrs. Johanna asked.

"I haven't yet this
morning," I answered. "I haven't been sleeping well,
though."

She reached over to the end
table and got the glucose meter she kept downstairs just in case.
She motioned for me to come over.

"You slept just fine last
night, didn't you?' Havock said, and Garrett nudged him in the side
with his elbow.

I stood up and moved over
next to her. "After the third time I woke up. Yes."

She took my finger and
pricked it. After the test was over, she frowned. "Insulin. Now,"
she said pointing towards the stairs. She showed me how high it
was.

I groaned and stood up. I
headed up stairs and grabbed my shot then gave myself the insulin.
I laid down on the bed and waited for it to work. I fell
asleep.

What felt like a few
minutes later I heard someone yell my name and shaking my
shoulders.

"Reese?!" Havock shook me
again and when my eyes focused on him, he let out the breath he was
holding. "Shit! You scared me! Mom told me to come check on you
when you never came back downstairs."

"I don't feel too
good."

"Where's your blood tester
thingy?" He asked as he looked around.

"Top drawer. Dresser," I
got out with difficulty.

He got it and hurried over.
"How do I work this thing?"

I explained how it worked
the best I could as I tried to keep myself from going back to
sleep.

I felt him prick my finger.
I then heard the tester beep.

“Is 692 bad?"

“Very.”

"MOM!"

My eyes grew heavier and
heavier, but I kept them opened and focused on Havock.

I heard her run into the
room. Havock told her the number and she told him to call the ER to
tell them we are on our way. She yelled for Rick.

"Load her into the van! I
need to grab her insulin to take with us."

I felt him lift me into his
arms. With Garret's help, they got me in the van. Garrett sat with
me in the back on our way.

"I don't feel good," I
mumbled.

"Almost there," Johanna
said from the front seat.

"I'm almost positive they
will keep you over night. Havock is packing your things and is
going to meet us there."

"Garrett, do I even want to
know what happened to your lip?"

"No ma'am."

"We're here," Mr. Rick
said, and I felt the van come to a stop.

My skin felt hot, I
couldn’t focus on anything, and I needed water. A lot of water.
Garrett carried me in and down the hall as the nurse showed us the
way.

As soon as I was laid down,
I felt a prick in my finger then almost immediately a shot in my
stomach followed it.

"Reese, are you feeling any
relief?" The nurse asked as she laid a cool wash cloth on my
forehead.

"A little," I got out in a
whisper. "I'm really thirsty."

She smiled and patted my
hand. "I’ll get you some ice chips. You don’t need to drink a lot
right away. I don’t want you throwing up."

I nodded then groaned as my
head throbbed. She left and Garrett came to my side. He was about
to say something when the doctor walked in.

"Let's take a look at you,"
he said in a friendly tone. Garrett moved out of the
way.

The nurse came in with a
cup. She stuck a spoon in it and handed it to me. The doctor helped
me sit up. While I chewed the ice chips, the nurse re-tested my
blood.

The doctor looked at it.
"Still high, but much better. Girl, you were knocking on a diabetic
coma's door."

"What?!" Garrett
snapped.

The doctor looked up at him
from his stool. "Garrett Satterly? Played a good season kid. You
playing for a college next year?"

"Yes sir. Florida
State."

"Good." The doctor looked
at me. "I'm gonna have some tests run just to make sure everything
is all right. You hang tight. Lab will be here in a bit." He stood
and left.

"A coma?!" Garrett said as
he came over and sat next to the bed.

"No wonder I didn't feel
good," I said as I gave him a small smile. I laid back against the
bed, and my head pounded like it had a drum in it.

Johanna came in with Havock
following behind her with my bag. She nudged Garrett out of the way
and cupped my face. "You scared me! Did you not take your insulin
when you went upstairs?!"

"I did. I
promise."

I watched as Havock set my
things down. He gave me a strange look then took a seat in the
corner of the room.

"Then what happened?" She
asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't know. I took it,
and I just felt tired so I laid down." I shrugged. "Apparently, I
was knocking on a coma's door."

She pulled the syringes of
insulin from her purse and stared down at them. "Maybe..." She
shook her head. "I'm going to go let the doctor take a look at
these." She left the room in a hurry.

"A coma? Really?" Havock
asked.

"Really," Garrett
answered.

I rubbed my head with my
fingers. "So, what happened to you two?"

Before they answered, Mrs.
Johanna came back into the room. While she talked to the boys I
fell fast asleep.