A Proscriptive Relationship (32 page)

“
Jeremy! Get off the phone!” I cried, looking at him in horror. “You’re driving and it’s raining!”

He didn’t look phased. “No, it’s Jeremy. Yes, she’s right here. Hold on.”

I stared at him curiously. Who was it? He held the phone out to me. I grabbed it quickly before he could take his eyes off the road. When I noticed it was my phone, my expression became even more confused. “How did you get this?”

“
I grabbed it off the floor,” Jeremy told me, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes, pressing my phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“
Holly!” Casey nearly screamed into the phone.

“
Whoa, Casey. Quiet down.”

She started saying something, but I couldn’t make out quite what she was saying because she was sobbing to hard. My chest clenched from the sound, but I forced myself not to tear up.

“
Casey, calm down,” I ordered, swallowing nervously. “What are you saying?”

Casey sniffled and I heard her take a deep breath. “My mom won’t let me go to the hospital because it’s a school night and it’s too late!”

“
What?” I cried it outrage. “Lance was flipping shot and she won’t let you go!

“
No!” Casey responded in the same tone.

“
Well, I’m almost there. Lance’s life is more important than school!” I said angrily, clenching the phone in my head. “Oh my God!”

Suddenly I was thrown forwards and I gasped in surprise, my head hitting the dashboard.

“
Sorry,” Jeremy muttered and I was suddenly thrown towards the window. “Almost missed the entrance to the hospital.”

I repositioned myself in my seat, rubbing my head. “Smooth.”

Casey’s voice said, “Holly, you have to keep me updated.”

“
I will,” I told Casey, brushing my bangs out of my face. “But I don’t know if I’ll have service in the hospital.”

“
Then come outside and text me every half hour or so, okay?”

“
Okay,” I responded, looking out my window at the large building. “We’re here, so I’ll text you as soon as I find out what’s going on.”

“
Okay.”

“
Talk to you soon.”

I pulled the phone away from my head and flipped it shut, putting it into my back pocket. Jeremy pulled into a parking spot and I quickly flung open my door, jumping out. Immediately, I started towards the hospital doors.

“
Holly!” Jeremy shouted after me.

“
What?” I called back, turning around.

“
I’ve got to go back to Jenna and Jane, so call me when you want to be picked up, no matter how late, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

“
Any time,” Jeremy responded with a grin. “Oh, and do you want me to call Chris?”

I gave him a crazy look. He raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for an answer. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. After a moment, I finally managed to speak.

“
What? No! Why would I want you to do that?”

“
Support?” Jeremy offered.

I shook my head. “No. I don’t want him here. I’m okay.”

“
Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Positive.”

“
Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything,” Jeremy told me, a frown still loitering on his face.

“
Okay.”

“
See you later, Holly.”

For a brief second I did wish Mr. Heywood was here, but I quickly dismissed the thought. My thoughts were now solely on finding out Lance’s condition. I burst through the hospital doors, sweeping my soaking wet hair out of my face. I went to the reception desk and the receptionist looked up at me with a startled face.

“
May I help you?”

“
Lance Greyson,” I told her, tapping my foot anxiously. “Where is he?”

She looked to her computer and typed something quickly. She scanned the computer screen, a frown appearing on her lips. “Right now he’s in the ICU, and no visitors are allowed in.”

“The ICU?” I responded, feeling my heart drop into my gut. “What’s wrong? Will he be okay?”

“I don’t know,” the receptionist told me, shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s going on, I’m sorry.”

“When can I see him?” I demanded, clenching my fists. “Soon?”

“I don’t know.”

I groaned in frustration. Didn’t this girl know anything? “Where can I wait?”

She pursed her lips. “Are you his family?”

“Close enough.”

“Only family members will be allowed to see him when—”

“I’m close enough,” I snapped, glaring at her. “Please, let me at least wait by his room!”

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist apologized, shaking her head. “Only family can wait in that area.”

“I already told you I’m close enough!” I shouted, surely gaining the attention from everyone in the area. “Is it really so much of a problem to let me go wait? Are you even—?”

“
She’s part of the family,” a new, heavily accented voice interrupted. “I’m Laura Greyson.”

My eyes widened and I turned to see a familiar woman with blonde hair addressing the receptionist. When she noticed I was staring at her she smiled at me.

“
Are you family?” the receptionist asked Laura, pursing her lips.

“
I’m his mother,” Laura responded coldly.

The receptionist looked flustered and I smirked. “You may go up then,” she said, looking around. “Do you need someone to lead the way?”

“
No, I’ve already been up,” Laura responded quickly. “I’m going now, and taking this young lady with me.”

“
Of course,” the receptionist responded.

I scowled at her. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

Laura chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder, steering me away from the counter. I looked up at her, my eyes filling with tears again.

“
Is he okay?”

The smile automatically dropped from Laura’s face. My heart dropped once again and I stared at her in horror.

“
He’s not . . . He’s not dead, is he?”

Laura’s eyes flew open in shock and she shook her head frantically. “No! No, no, dear. No.”

Relief brought new tears to my eyes and I scrubbed them angrily. They really needed to stop!

“
Do you know what happened?” I asked, following her down the white corridors of the hospital.

She frowned. “The only thing I know is he was shot twice; once in the scapula and once in the chest. But not in the heart,” she added quickly upon hearing my sharp intake of air. “I got the call maybe an hour before you did, but they haven’t let me in to see him yet. The doctors have been keeping me updated on his condition, though, so I know he is not dead.”

We entered the ICU and Laura turned left, walking down another white hallway. I followed after her. I was unsettled by the quietness of the place—I had been expecting the ICU to be full of frantic and shouting people. The silence seemed deafening.

“
Ms. Greyson!” someone shouted and I looked up to see a tall man in a doctor’s cloak waving over to here. “Come quickly!”

She hurried forwards at once and I followed behind quickly. The doctor let Laura into the room but he held me back.

“
I’m sorry, there’s not enough space.”

“
Oh,” I responded, my heart sinking. “It’s okay. I’ll wait out here.”

The doctor nodded, before going back into the room and closing the door after him. I didn’t move for a moment, staring at the closed door with my thoughts racing. I walked over to a bench against the wall across from the door and slumped down on it, resting my head on my hands. I wanted to know what happened to Lance now! But probably no one would know exactly until he woke up and told us himself. Shootings just didn’t happen around here! And Lance had certainly done nothing to deserve this. So why was he in the ICU now? I clenched my fists, taking slow breaths. It wasn’t fair.

My phone stated to vibrate in my back pocket and as I reached for it my eyes snapped onto the display. Coldness ran through my veins when I realized the call was coming from Lance’s phone. With shaking hands, I slowly flipped it open and put it to my ear.

“
Hello?”

“
Holly, right?”

“
Who is this?” I demanded angrily. “Why do you have Lance’s phone? Are you the one who did this to him?”

“
Yes, this is definitely Holly,” the man on the other side of the phone said with a small laugh. “And to answer your questions in order: Shawn, because I took it from him, and yes, in a way.”

My breath caught and my eyes widened. Shawn? Shawn from the gang, Shawn? And he was the one who did this to Lance? I clenched my jaw, my eyes narrowing.

“
You shot him,” I stated, clenching my phone so hard I was afraid it was going to snap.

“
Is he dead?” Shawn asked in a casual voice. “I aimed for his heart.”

“
Why?” I almost screamed, but immediately quieted myself when I remembered I was still in the hospital.

“
You should know—” Shawn started, but suddenly stopped talking.

“
I should know what?” I demanded.

There was no reply and I groaned in irritation. I pulled the phone away and glanced at it, noticing the call had ended. My eyes then went to the service bars, and I realized that I didn’t have service anymore. Cursing under my breath, I jumped off the bench and rushed toward the exit of the hospital. A few doctors gave me wary looks as I sped by, but I paid them no attention. I needed to get out of the hospital, and fast. Would Shawn think I hung up on him and not answer when I called back? I had to talk to him!

Torrential rain greeted me as I stepped outside the building. After a moment three bars appeared and I quickly called Lance’s phone. On the second ring, my call was answered.

“Where’d you go?” Shawn drawled.

“
I lost service,” I told him flatly. “Why did you attack Lance? He has nothing to do with Mr. Heywood or myself!”

“
Wasn’t he with you that night at the towing station? We got the right guy, right?”

I clenched my jaw. “He has nothing to do with anything.”

“
Well, attacking him certainly stirred you up.”

“
Why did you shoot him?”

“
I didn’t shoot him—”

“
But you said—”

“
I said in a way,” Shawn told me, sighing. “Don’t you listen when people talk to you?”

I scowled, clenching my fist. “Then why does he have two bullet wounds?”

“
I only meant to threaten him a little bit and maybe rough him up,” Shawn explained. “But another guy that was with me suddenly pulled out a gun and before I knew it, he was shooting at the British boy.”

“
Why didn’t you stop him?” I asked, growing angrier by the second. “Lance could have died!”

“
If he did, so be it. It wouldn’t be on my name.”

“
You’re a bastard.”

Shawn laughed. “Like I said, I was only threatening him. If anyone is going to die, it’ll be Chris.”

“
Then why did you go after Lance? Why not me? Why him?”

“
Because I have different plans for you.”

My next question stuck in my throat as Shawn’s words processed in my mind.
What was that supposed to mean?
I quickly scanned the area around me, panicking slightly.

“
You still there?”

“
Why can’t you leave us alone?” I whispered, my eyes starting to water once more. “We didn’t do anything! I don’t know what Mr. Heywood did, but it doesn’t involve Lance or myself! Stop attacking us!”

“
So you want me to just go straight for Heywood?”

I paused, clenching my jaw. “No . . .”

“
Why not? I’ll leave you and your boyfriend alone. I’ll just get a whole group of us and surprise Chris while he’s least expecting it and that’s that. I’m sure even he can’t take on twenty people at once.”

“
No!” I shouted. “Are you a coward? Why would you do that? What did he even do to you? It doesn’t even matter, actually. Just stop!”

“
I’m not going to stop until he’s dead.”

“
Why?”

“
He hasn’t told you? Really?” Shawn snorted. “I guess I’m not that surprised.”

“
What did he do?”

He laughed. “I’m not telling you. I’ll let Chris tell you. But it’s the reason why he needs to die, why you’ll get what you deserve, and why British boy was shot. It’ll all make sense when you know.”

There was a click and I knew he had hung up.

I stared at nothing for a few moments. What did Mr. Heywood do? There was no more time for secrets. Lance’s shooting had crossed the line.

LESSON Twenty-three

I still felt rattled after Shawn’s call from Lance’s phone, maybe most of all because it seemed like what Mr. Heywood was keeping secret was the reason for this whole mess. He was going to tell me what happened, no matter what. I wasn’t going to wait either. But first I wanted to see Lance. Turning back around, I barely took a step back towards the hospital door before I bumped into tall figure. Thinking it was Shawn, I stumbled a few steps back, throwing my arms up to protect myself. “Stay back!”

“Holly?”

Upon hearing the familiar voice, I peeked around my hands. “Mr. Heywood!”

The messy-haired man grimaced at me. “Holly, Jeremy told me Lance was shot. Is he okay? When did this happen?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It must have happened recently because he is still in the ICU.” I continued, “Mr. Heywood, it was them.”

“How do you know it was them?”

I flipped open my phone and scrolled down to the text message I had received earlier. “They have Lance’s phone. Shawn called me.”