Canvas & Keys

5. Now, You're Talkin' Crazy

Chapter 5

Now, You're Talkin' Crazy

All I could see was red.

Red any time I looked up at Vince, smiling and thinking he'd won.

Red when I pulled the bandages off of Beau's chest and back to change them.

Red when I looked at Flannery, who was helping me, and how she seemed to be just as pissed as I was.

"How much longer?" I asked to no one in particular. Besides the four of us – me, Flannery, Beau, and Vince – there were three others, counting the pilot.

"Another half hour, maybe," Flannery answered. She pulled another soiled bandage off of Beau's shoulder, wincing when she saw how deep the gash was. "He's going to need so many stitches...maybe even a transfusion..."

I looked over at Vince, narrowing my eyes. "You better sure as hell hope you've got someone with medical training wherever we're going, because I will not put up with this."

That smile turned into a smirk. "Oh, don't worry. Flannery has enough experience. Besides, she's the one who's been looking after them for the past few weeks...even when I specifically her not to."

The girl in question glared right back at him. "They would have died the second day you had them locked up in that godforsaken warehouse."

"Less baggage," he shrugged. "And less to clean up over the following days."

I turned my attention back to Beau, who had yet to wake up and didn't look like he would any time soon. His forehead beaded with sweat, trailing into his hair. When I ran my hand over it, he was burning up.

"He's got a fever," I murmured to Flannery. "We've got to do something..."

"There's nothing to do. At least not right now. But when we get to the house, I'll treat him myself. No one else will touch him."

I sat back and stared at her as she put more new bandages all over Beau, being careful not to cause him pain, even though he wasn't conscious to feel it. I didn't know the extent of what she'd had to deal with and see over the last few weeks, but it seemed to pain her just as much as it did me. She winced anytime she thought Beau would wake up and start yelling, her eyes going to his face with every little move she made.

"Thank you," I said quietly to her when she finished and looked over. I didn't want Vince and the others to hear my thanks. They could still see, though.

Flannery nodded, though her eyes held something more than a 'You're Welcome'. It was almost like she was silently thanking me, too, for trusting her. Now, it seemed almost silly of me not to, especially watching the way she was treating Beau.

For the remainder of the flight, it was more than tense. Vince wouldn't take his eyes off me, which was creepy enough, and neither had the other two guys who were in the back with us. I wanted to hit him...but who knew what those others would have done, even in the confines of the helicopter.

It was just the way he looked at me – all smug, like he'd won. Of course, that was what I was going for. I had plans of my own, things I'd been working on with Cruz for the past week without Drake's or anyone else's knowledge. Of course, I didn't tell him my whole plan...like actually going with the Order in exchange for my friends' safety, but he knew enough. He was smart, too. And that look he gave me in the car before? Yeah, I knew, by that time, he'd figured it all out.

I just hoped he could keep his mouth shut until I made it back.

I would tell Flannery my plans with Vince over the length of time I'd be with them. And it had to be soon...since I didn't want that length of time to actually be lengthy. Two or three weeks, at most. I needed her for another something, too – my escape with Beau. It would be complicated, especially with Beau's condition, but I couldn't let the Order have him for any longer. Who knew what else they'd do to him?