Breathless (4 page)

A few minutes later, Peter appeared in the doorway supporting Jon, who was dressed only in a pair of Peter’s swishy sweat pants with a white stripe down the side. Lainey couldn’t help but stare at Jon’s rippled abdomen and the sluggishly bleeding wound. Mom helped him lie down on the couch.

“Thank you,” Jon murmured as his eyes closed.

Lainey crossed her arms over her chest, finally aware she had blood on her hands and her dress. It was no wonder Peter hadn’t asked too many questions; the situation was serious. Peter pulled on his gloves and examined the wound. “He’s lost quite a bit of blood,” he said. “We should take him to the hospital.”

“No!” Lainey said, before blushing again. “I mean, can’t you just treat him here?”

“Lainey, he needs stitches to close the wound, and he could get an infection without antibiotics.”

She felt too protective of Jon to let him out of her sight. He saved her and she owed him. “You can do it here. I know you can. Please don’t take him to the hospital. I can pick medication up from the store if you need it. I’ll do anything!”

“Why does it matter?” her mom asked.

“I just… just… can’t let him go. Don’t make me explain!”

Peter and her mom shared a look before he dug in his kit, asking her turn on the light.

“I don’t have anything to anesthetize him.” Peter pulled out a wipe and began to clean the sand from the wound. “I guess it won’t make much of a difference since he isn’t conscious at the moment. Lainey, come sit by his shoulders in case he wakes up and tries to move.”

She quickly placed herself by the unconscious young man as Peter went to work. Lainey wasn’t squeamish when it came to blood, but she didn’t want to watch. Her eyes wandered over Jon’s chest as it rose and fell without a hitch. The poor guy didn’t even know what was happening. Without thinking, Lainey brushed a stray hair from his face. Jon didn’t stir. He was quite handsome. Lainey gave him a soft smile.

“I’m all done.” Peter finished taping down the bandage. “He’ll need antibiotics to prevent an infection. The wound was quite sandy. I’ll call Doctor Mueller in the morning and explain the situation. He can prescribe one for him.”

Lainey didn’t move as Peter and her mom stood. Her mom picked up the supplies while Peter stood silently. Lainey knew she was being observed.

“It’s after two in the morning. You can explain what happened tomorrow,” Peter muttered, rubbing his hands over his face.

“Can I sleep down here?”

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but her mom answered first. “Yes, we’ll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams, sweetie.”

Mom disappeared from the room. Lainey’s stepfather wasn’t as quick. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a wet washcloth. He handed it to Lainey and she frowned.

“It’s for the blood on your hands.”

Lainey quickly cleaned up, keeping her eyes on Jon. Peter left and returned with two blankets. He spread one over Jon’s lower half, leaving the bandaged wound exposed. The other blanket he wrapped around his stepdaughter’s shoulders.

“Don’t get too comfortable. I’ll be in to check on him every hour so we can take him to the hospital if he spikes a high fever. I won’t risk him getting an infection.”

“I understand.”

Lainey lay down on the floor beside the couch, stealing the pillow off the chair she liked to read in. Peter sighed, leaning over and kissing her forehead. Lainey closed her eyes and waited until Peter left the room before rolling to her side and giving Jon another glance. Where did he come from? More importantly, who stole his clothes?

Lainey bolted to a sitting position, gasping and trying to focus. It was just a nightmare. Her thoughts cleared slowly, replaced by memories of the night before. She looked over at the couch and saw Jon still asleep. A wet cloth rested on his forehead. Peter sat in a chair next to him, staring at her with an open book in his hand.

“You okay?” Peter kept his voice soft.

“Yeah, I just had a bad dream.” Lainey shivered, and pulled her knees to her chest. “I’ve had it before.”

“Was it about Becca?”

She nodded. “What time is it?” The sunlight felt warm on her skin.

“It’s a little after six. I have to head to work soon.”

It took her a moment to realize he was dressed in his scrubs.

“Oh.” Lainey returned her attention to the mysterious boy. “How is he?”

Peter closed his book and put it on the side table. “He has a low grade fever. I talked to Doctor Mueller and he sent a prescription to the pharmacy. You can pick it up when it opens. I called in a favor, but I promised to tell him how I came to have a strange young man on my couch, who I found half-naked in the kitchen with my stepdaughter. You wanna tell me what happened last night?”

Lainey sighed and let the rest of the nightmare leave her. “I don’t know where he came from. I went to read on the beach. I know, I was supposed to be asleep. But I couldn’t. I heard him on the beach, coming up from the water. I threw my blanket around him and brought him to the house when I realized he was bleeding.” She rubbed the end of her nose, avoiding eye contact.

“There’s something else. I can tell you’re hiding something, Lainey.” Peter leaned forward on his knees. “What is it? You wouldn’t let me take him to the hospital; it was like you thought he’d disappear.”

She blinked at the moisture forming in her eyes. “I had to help him,” she whispered. “I have questions for him and I didn’t want him to disappear again. He’s the one who saved my life when I was drowning.”

Peter sat up straight, and ran his hand over his mouth. “Wow. I didn’t expect that one.”

“Does that mean he can stay here for now?”

“Lainey…” Peter looked as if he wanted to say something else, but didn’t. “Yeah, he can stay for now. You’ll have to pick up his medication in a little bit. I better finish getting ready for work.” He smiled. “You might want to shower and change first.”

“Why?”

“You have blood all over your dress and smeared on your cheek. You don’t want to freak out Mr. Lester.”

Lainey frowned as she looked at her ruined dress. “Oh, thanks.” Peter started to leave the room, but she stopped him. “Thank you for helping him. Really, thank you Peter. It means a lot to me.”

He grinned. “You’re welcome. I’ll call to check on him a few times today. He’ll need to stay on the couch and drink lots of fluids. I doubt he’ll feel like getting up anyway. Go shower, kid.”

*~*~*

Lainey showered quickly and grabbed her bike. Jon was still out on the couch and Rachel was asleep. Lainey could hear her mom getting ready for work. It was a ten minute bike ride to the pharmacy; she wouldn’t be long. The store sold everything from condoms to gummy bears to cheap containers of bubbles which never worked right.

The elderly Mr. Lester was opening up when she arrived. “Good morning, Miss Stafford. You are up mighty early.”

“Morning,” she answered, parking her bike. “I need to pick up a prescription.”

“Of course, come on in.”

Lainey thanked him as she followed him into the store. It smelled like a combination of old bubble gum and a pine scented cleaning solution. She followed him to the pharmacy counter where Thomas, the young pharmacist, was working to open the register.

“Hi, I need to pick up a prescription.” Lainey rested her hands on the edge of the counter.

“What’s the name?”

“Umm… I think it would be under Peter Stafford.”

His hands were slow on the keyboard. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll have it ready for you.”

Lainey thanked him and walked around the store to waste some time. She was anxious to get back before Jon woke up. Her body took her down an aisle before she realized it; Becca’s favorite aisle, full of candy and other things for only a dollar. Lainey’s fingers hovered over a package of candy necklaces. She and Becca had eaten a whole bag one night and couldn’t sleep from the sugar high. They’d been six and pulled their first all-nighter, though were both so grumpy the next day they fought and didn’t talk for a whole day. Trying to keep it together, Lainey quickly walked out of the aisle and back to the pharmacy counter. Peter had already paid for the prescription. She thanked Mr. Lester and rode home as fast as possible.

She didn’t need to worry. She ran up the stairs, slightly out of breath, to see Jon hadn’t woken up yet. Her mom had already left for work, leaving a note for Lainey about lunch. She worked as a high school math teacher and taught extra summer classes. Lainey set the medicine on the table and went to grab a bowl for some cereal.

“Hi,” a soft voice spoke.

“Oh, hi, Rachel,” Lainey said, twirling around.

“Yeah, hi.” Rachel sat down on the bar stool at the counter, crossing her arms over chest. “Why is there a strange guy on our couch?”

Lainey grabbed the cereal box and poured the frosted flakes into her bowl. “I found him.”

“Lain, he’s not a puppy dog. You can’t keep him.”

“I know.”

“Where did he come from?”

Lainey shrugged her shoulders as she poured the milk. “I don’t know, but I’d like to find out.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and stood up, moving to get her own bowl of cereal. “I guess I’ll just pretend there isn’t someone sleeping on the couch.”

A soft moan sounded from the living room. Lainey quickly dropped her spoon into her cereal and peeked around the doorframe. Jon was attempting to sit up. She grabbed the medication and a glass of water and entered the living room. The young man smiled at her as she sat down in Peter’s vacant chair.

“Good morning.” Jon pushed himself up the rest of the way, and then adjusted the blanket.

“Hi. How are you feeling?”

“I feel like I got in a fight with a swordfish and he won.”

Lainey smiled. “How did you get the wound?”

“I just told you. I got in a fight with a swordfish. He won.”

She wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not. She made a slight face before opening the pill bottle and shaking one into her hand. She put out her hand, offering it to Jon.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s an antibiotic to fight the infection in your wound.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jon reached out and picked up the pill. He held it in his hand for a moment before tossing it into his mouth and biting down. He grabbed the glass of water and quickly downed the whole thing.

“Yuk! Disgusting!” he hissed, scrunching up his face.

Lainey laughed. “You’re supposed to swallow it, not chew it!”

Jon grimaced, wiping his mouth on the corner of the blanket. “Now you tell me.”

“I assumed you knew,” Lainey said before dissolving into laughter. It felt nice to laugh. She hadn’t laughed this much in so long.

All of the laughter brought Rachel to the doorway. She didn’t come into the room. Lainey finally got control of herself, seeing her little sister watching her. She motioned for her to come over. Rachel shook her head. Jon seemed to notice her gaze and gave Rachel a soft smile.

“Hello.”

“Hi,” Rachel whispered.

“I’m Jon. What’s your name?”

Rachel took a tentative step forward. “Rachel, I’m Lainey’s little sister.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rachel Lainey's sister.”

“You can just call me Rachel.”

Jon laughed. “Oh, sorry.”

“So can you tell me how you got here? My dear sister won’t tell me.” Rachel plopped down on the rug.

“I washed up on the beach. Lainey saved me. She brought me to your home and your dad treated my wound. Nothing special.”

“He’s not my dad,” Lainey interrupted. “Sorry, but he’s my step-dad. He’s Rachel’s dad, but I call him Peter. It’s not important. Sorry.”

Jon seemed to contemplate Lainey’s words before speaking again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything.”

“Really, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“We haven’t really had any time to talk since I’ve been unconscious.”

"Guys!" Rachel put her hands up in the air. "Would you like some breakfast, Jon? I know how to make blueberry pancakes."

Jon shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I’ve never had blueberry pancakes before.”

Lainey laughed as a grin crossed her sister’s face.

“Then I will definitely be making them for you. Not to boast, but I make the greatest blueberry pancakes. You’ll see.”

*~*~*

Lainey sat on the porch swing, adjusting her dress to cover her bare feet. Peter was inside with Jon, examining Jon’s wound and making sure it was healing alright. She didn’t really want to watch. Jon had slept most of the day, but Peter promised he’d be up and about tomorrow. Lainey had so many questions, but she couldn’t ask them.

The swing shifted as her mom sat down beside her. “How was your day? You were pretty quiet at dinner.” She pulled the book out of Lainey’s hand, folding down the corner to mark her page.

“It was okay. Jon slept most of the day. The rest of the time he spent discussing cooking things with Rachel. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to him.”

“I see.”

“I don’t know, Mom. I want to know everything about him, but I don’t know how to start.”

“You might start with asking him where he came from, or about his family. I doubt those are secrets he would keep.”