Chapter Five
“Good news, Missy,” said Karen the next morning, using her new nickname for me. “You can be discharged today.”
I guess I should have been happy, but I couldn’t be. What about Tim? I knew this day was coming; that I wouldn’t be here forever, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Karen noticed my less-than-ecstatic expression and gave me a tight-lipped smile. “You can call in and see him before you leave; he’s off today too.”
She took me to his room and left us be. “Hey, Tim-Tam,” I said, using my special nickname for him. He gave me a fleeting smile and took my hand.
“Hey, Missy.” He slumped into the chair beside me and pulled me onto his lap. Again, he didn’t say anything. Eventually he broke the silence.
“Do you have a number I can call sometime?”
I blushed. “Sure. Umm....” I raked my eyes across the room in search of a pen.
“Oh,” he grinned. “Here you go.”
I tore a scrap of paper off the notebook I’d been given to write down anything I remembered. I scribbled the pen across it a few times to get it working, then grabbed his arm and wrote my number on it before holding mine out for him to do the same.
He was entertained by my confidence and decided to tease me about it. “Hey, who said you were getting my number??”
I shook my head and elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow,” he laughed and ruffled my hair.
“Hey!!” I protested. We pretended to fight, which soon became the two of us kissing.
All too soon we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat in the doorway of Tim’s room, snapping us apart. Karen.
“Sorry to interrupt, kids, but we’ve just gotten a call to say that your parents have arrived and they’re out the front. They’ve missed you.”
I groaned into Tim’s neck, but softly so that Karen didn’t hear. “Ok,” I sighed, pushing myself off him. I could feel him gently resisting and all I wanted to do was latch onto him and stay there for all eternity, but I knew that I couldn’t.
Karen made her way over to my chair to push me, but Tim stood up. “I’ll take care of her.”
Trust Tim. He was finally off the crutches and was relying on his “bionic leg” as we’d nicknamed it, yet he still wouldn’t let anyone but himself take care of me.
Karen didn’t even bother arguing with him on the matter. She patted us both on the shoulder and said goodbye to us. She pointed the way to the exit and told us tearfully that she’d miss having us around. Tim hugged her as she calmed herself down and we were on our way.
Outside, there was no car recognisable to me or to Tim. We shared a look of confusion. Our parents were here, weren’t they?
Just as we were thinking this, a black van swerved up to us. A woman in her early twenties jumped out and stood before us for a brief moment; just long enough to say two words to us:
“Get in.”
“No,” was my simple reply. I wasn’t about to go and get into some stranger’s van when they haven’t exactly demonstrated good parking technique.
“Yeah, yeah, stranger danger, I know. I’m a stranger and you shouldn’t get in my car, blah, blah, blah. Just get in the car. I’m not going to, you know, drug you or anything,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Something wasn’t quite right about the situation. This woman was obviously on edge, which couldn’t be for a good reason.
“You’re still hesitating. Look, if it makes you feel any better- my name’s Reason. Nice to meet you, now get in the car. Hey, we’re not exactly strangers anymore.”
This girl was already grating on my nerves. Talk about attitudinal problems! “Alright then, Reason. Give me one good reason I should leave with you.”
Reason rolled her eyes. “Fine then, I’ll go one better and give you two, seeing as you’re not going to believe probably either of them. One- I’m just like you. Two- you’re honestly risking your life otherwise.”
I scoffed to myself- just like her? I don’t think so.
“Yeah, didn’t think you’d believe me. But I swear I’m not a bad person. Trust me. And I only need Mystery, but if it makes you feel better, Tim can come too.”
Reason bit her lip and watched my mind tick over. I looked at Tim, who was studying her closely. I could tell he didn’t know what to make of her. How did she know our names? He turned to look at me. “Safety in numbers, right?”
Reason gave me a sharp nod. “Smart move.”
She lifted me- how she did it I didn’t understand- and the next thing I knew I was in the van.
