Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (6 page)

His grasp on my hand tightened while his other hand rubbed the center of his chest. He took slow breaths, trying to steady his pulse.

“Help will be there soon,”
James said, and then asked me again how Brian was doing.

“Still conscious.”

I wasn’t much of a religious girl, but right then and there, I squeezed Brian’s hand and prayed harder than I’d ever prayed in my entire life.

God, please let this not be our last dance…

Chapter 7

I
awoke in the hospital lobby, my face nestled against Mom’s shoulder.

“Brian?” I jumped
up from my seat and my
head swirled. Dizziness overwhelmed me and I plopped back down.

“Don’t get up so fast,” said Mom, rubbing my arm.

“Is he okay?” I held my forehead in my palm. It took me a moment to get my bearings and remember what had happened.

“He’s fine”

“Thank God.” I exhaled. “What time is it?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, answering my own question. 8:32 AM.

Apparently I’d
put up quite a fight last night
and wouldn’t let Mom
take me home. I didn’t remember
most of it because I’d been in such a panic, but I was glad she had stayed with me.

Then I remembered.

“School!” I leapt up again.

“It’s winter break, sweetheart.”

“Oh…” My head was so foggy.

“They said he’s stable,” Mom added, while sending
someone a text on her phone
. I couldn’t see who the recipient was. “Alice. You did the right thing. I’m proud of you for reacting the way you did.”

I smiled stupidly big. Her words gave me the warm and fuzzies inside.

“You can see him if you want.” She motioned toward the receptionist’s desk. “By the way, what were you doing with him last night? I thought you and Sam had gone together to the dance?”

“We did. I didn’t know he was coming. We stepped
outside for some air and… that’s when everything happened.
It was all so fast.”

Her brow wrinkled as if she suspected something, but then she took a breath and let it go with a little shake of her head.

“Oh, alright.”

I was glad she wasn’t going to ask any more questions.

A nurse escorted me to Brian’s room and let me in, then pressed her clipboard to her chest and scuttled off down the hall.

I crept inside, my heart racing, unsure of what I might see.

“Don’t be scared, Alice.” Brian sat up in his hospital bed when he saw me. “It was a heart attack, not a lawn mower accident.”

The thought made me shudder.

There was an IV taped to the inside of his wrist and something else hooked up that tracked his heartbeat. I watched the colored line bolt up and down steadily.

“How are you doing?” I approached. My hand gravitated toward his. I stopped myself and rested it instead on the cold metal bed railing. I didn’t want to risk messing up one of the nearby machines.

“So, Alice, I’m curious. Who did you tell the nurse you were?”

I looked away and bit my lip. “That…
I was a cousin.
” I said it so quietly, I barely heard myself.

“What?” He tilted his head to the side and grinned. “Really? And they believed you?”

I shrugged.

“You could have told them you were my girlfriend. That’s what I told them.”

“Oh.”
Girlfriend?
My cheeks got warm.

Please shoulder, don’t act up now. Not here.
Electrical equipment surrounded me.
I clasped my hands together and pressed my arms close to my body to avoid bumping into any nearby machines. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him by shorting something else out.

“Being my
cousin makes last night kind of weird
though, doesn’t it?”

I chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Kind of.” After everything that had happened last night, he hadn’t changed a bit.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you about the whole heart thing,” he said. “It’s not exactly a weakness I need the whole world freaking out about. Especially you. And I’ve got a reputation to keep up. Would
you
have been intimidated by a guy with a messed up heart?”

I stared at him with pity. “That’s the real reason why you can’t be in the military, isn’t it? And that’s the reason you had problems with your dad. He couldn’t accept it.”

“Yeah, well, I showed him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t even need it anymore.”

“Need what?”

He peeled down the collar of his hospital robe to reveal a fresh line of stitches and bright pink, inflamed skin. I grimaced at first, overreacting, and then forced myself to take a second look. It wasn’t
that
bad.

“The pacemaker.” He pointed to the place where the lump had been last night. “I don’t need it anymore. Whatever happened to me last night was a miracle. It shorted out the pacemaker but the arrhythmia went with it.” He smiled big and reached for my hand. I pulled away.

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’d been living every day in constant fear that I’d drop dead at
any moment
because
of my
heart
.
Whatever happened yesterday—whatever
you
did to me—saved me.”

“I didn’t do anything, Brian.” I sat on the edge of his bed and rested one knee over the other. “Why would you say something like that?”

“Because I saw it.”

I tried to act unaffected. “Saw… what exactly?”

“The light. The green—”

“Shh!” I touched my fingers to his lips. “No. Don’t say it.”

“Then I wasn’t seeing things,” he said as my fingers slid off his mouth, grazing his chin.

“You can’t tell anyone!”

“I won’t. Alice, I’ll keep
any
secret for you. I’d die to keep your secret if I had to, but you have to promise not to keep secrets from me. Okay? Not if we’re going to be friends. Or… more than that.”

He reached for my hand again, cupped it between his and squeezed gently. “Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Because of you.”

I playfully combed my other hand through his messy hair and grinned.

“I need to figure out what’s going on with me. Promise not to say anything.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” He made a crisscross gesture over his chest and smirked.

“Don’t say that, Brian.”

“Yeah, don’t say that, Brian,” Sam chimed in.

Brian let go of my hand and I spun around to greet her, hoping she hadn’t seen anything incriminating.

“It’s soooo 90’s.” Sam knocked on the door with her knuckles. “Good morning, Alllliiice. Brian.”

“When did you get here, Sam?” I asked.

“A little while ago. Your mom texted me this morning so, of course, I had to come.” She held out her empty hands and frowned. “I brought you some tea but the nurse lady said I couldn’t bring it in here.” She pushed out her lower lip. “Meanies.”

“Did they just let you in?” I cocked my head at her.

“Yeah. The lady said he’s allowed visitors.”

I felt really stupid. Apparently I had lied to the receptionist for no reason.
Oh well.

“You can go with her,” said Brian. “I’ll be okay. Go home and get some sleep, Alice. Just do me a favor and give my mom your cell number, please? I’ll text you when I’m back home.”

I didn’t want to leave him, but with Sam there the whole mood was spoiled. No use hanging around being sleep deprived. If the doctor said he would be okay, that was the only thing I needed to hear.

But now, despite what my brain was telling me, I felt the need to just
be there
. In his presence. It was a strong force pulling me closer.
Keeping me where I was.
Putting my nerves at ease.

I remembered
the
calming
scent of
his
jacket. His warmth.

“Come on, girl.” Sam yanked my arm.

“Ow!”

“Let’s go get you some tea. Buh-bye Brian.”

I waved to him as she dragged me back to the lobby.

“Here.” She handed me a hot to-go cup. “Thought it would help wake you up.” I cupped my fingers around it and took a slow breath of the wispy steam seeping out of the lid. English breakfast tea. Malty and warm. Creamy with a tad of sweetness.

Sam scrunched her lips up to one side and raised an eyebrow. “So, what were you and Brian doing outside last night anyway?” She leaned closer and her eyebrows bobbed up and down suspiciously.

“Nothing. We were
just
talking.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Okay, okay.” My voice lowered to a whisper. Mom was nearby. “We danced to one song and that was it. We held hands and… the next thing I knew… I was calling 9-1-1.”

“Did you electrocute him?” She planted her fists on her hips. “
You
are a terrible girlfriend!”

“Shh!” I looked to see if anyone had heard her. An old woman sitting nearby had a wide-eyed stare aimed at me. I smiled, dumbly, hoping she’d stop looking.

Not that it bothered me, but was I the only person who didn’t know about the whole
girlfriend
thing?

Chapter 8

I
zipped my hoodie closed and flipped the hood up over my head, covering my shoulder so they wouldn’t see the blazing, fiery green glow. Brighter than it had ever been. I fast-walked toward the abandoned building ahead, keeping an eye on my surroundings.

I heard a rustle in the distance and veered around.

“Alice!” Brian rushed up to me and grabbed my hand. “Come on!”

We ran as fast as we could.

Trying to escape from something. Someone.

Terrified. Confused. I didn’t know who or what was chasing us. Or where we were headed, for that matter. We just had to get there… fast.

Out of breath. So tired. Muscles burned. Feet ached.

It was dark inside and the building was dirty and old—completely falling apart. Broken pieces of glass and furniture littered the floor. Wallpaper peeled. The air smelled of mold. I coughed hard, choking on dust.

I flipped a switch.

No power.

Oh, God. We were sitting ducks.

We ran up a flight of stairs. I knew that up on the fifth floor, a sky bridge connected this building to the next.

Get out before they find you.
A voice lingered in my head. Whose voice?
They will kill you
.

I turned to Brian.

And yelped.

“What? What the hell, Alice?” He looked around frantically. “What is it?”

He had them—the veins. Glowing azure veins resonated beneath the skin of his left arm. The light started from just above his elbow and stretched down to his fingertips, mirroring my own in every way except in color.

“Your arm. You’re…”

“What? We don’t have time for this. We have to find her.”

“Her?” Her who?

“What’s wrong with you? We have to find her and get to the door before they find us.”

Door? What door?

Something crashed behind me and I gasped.

“Let’s go!” Brian grabbed my wrist. We ran, dodging debris and hopping over broken planks of wood and ceiling tiles. More dust clouded the air. I coughed, covering my mouth with my sleeve. The rooms crumbled. Every step was a hazard. The floor could give any second.

Third floor.

Fourth floor.

Fifth floor.

The sky bridge was just ahead. Only a few sliding glass doors and shattered ceiling tiles stood between us and freedom. I rushed toward the doors and started lifting and tossing aside the debris. Brian helped, digging into the piles of musty drywall and kicking pieces out of the way.

Something sliced my palm and I grunted, turning over my hand. A deep, hairline wound split open and blood oozed from my palm.

“I cut myself.” I groaned. “No…”

Brian came to my side and grimaced. “It’s deep.” He looked around for the culprit and found it at my feet—a glimmering tin ceiling panel. “Damn it. That’s no good.”

He wasted
no time in removing his
overshirt and quickly wrapping it around my hand. He tucked a tail end into a fold and pulled it snug. I flexed my fingers. It would have to do.

“I’ll get the rest,” he said, making short work of what was left in our way.

The ground rumbled beneath our feet. It sounded like a floor had collapsed somewhere else in the building.

“Help!”

A female voice. Muffled.

“Help me!” Again.

Brian perked up and listened.

“This way.” He motioned to the right. “I think she’s over there.”

I took a step and stopped
. “No, Brian.” I held my ground. “We have to go forward. We can’t stop for anyone. They warned us.”

Somehow I couldn’t even remember who
they
were.

“Whoever she is, she’s in trouble.” He glared at me as if I were the most selfish person on the planet. “We
have
to help her.”

We had almost reached the next building—and freedom from this deathtrap. There wasn’t much ground left to cover. Only a glass bridge that could crumble in an instant if another tremor came through. The glass already showed stress cracks. But we couldn’t get separated.

The look on his face made me feel like a villain and I couldn’t stomach his disappointment if I said no again.

“Okay. But we have to hurry.” I hopped over a small pile of broken paneling and followed him.

My hand ached. I flexed my fingers and squeezed the blood-soaked shirt. A few droplets of crimson fell to the floor.

Ugh. No.
Now they could track us.

We
were
in trouble.

“Brian! Come on! I’m bleeding everywhere.”

“Please. Help.”
The voice sounded weaker now but closer.

We rushed into a nearby room filled with piles of wood and broken drywall. The pungent scent of decay made my nose wrinkle.

Something moved and I backed up against a wall, afraid the floor might give way.

“There!” Brian pointed.

A dark-skinned hand reached toward us, trapped and camouflaged beneath a pile of rubble.