We pull into a 24-hour grocery store, and I run inside to buy Tylenol and a first-aid kit along with some gauze and a cheap tee shirt for Austin. I rush out to the car and toss him the tee shirt. I giggle uncontrollably. I’m on the verge of hysteria. He holds it up in the light and reads aloud. “I left my heart in Nebraska?!” He looks back at me. “Seriously, Am-y?”
I laugh out loud. “Nebraska is for lovers!”
Jenni catches my eye and we laugh even harder. Hank’s shoulders shake, and he groans again. “Stop making me laugh, Amy. It hurts too much.”
Austin looks at me in the mirror again. “Fine.” He yanks the shirt over his head. “We need to find a hotel. We’re all staying in the same room. I don’t know who that guy was or if he’ll be back.”
Hank’s head pops up. “What about my nose?”
Austin answers impatiently. “We can’t afford to go to the hospital. They’ll ask too many questions. We’ll have to figure it out ourselves.”
I nod my head in agreement. “Yes, and didn’t you say there’re doctors at the place?”
Hank groans again. “If I can wait that long.”
Austin smirks at Hank. “You saying you can’t handle the pain, Hank?”
Hank’s head shoots up out of the tee shirt, and more blood flows. “I can take it.”
Hank leans his head back and points his nose at the ceiling. Austin sits up and puts a hand to the back of Hank’s head. He shoves Hank forward. “Don’t tilt your head back. That’ll cause more blood to run down your throat. Put your chin down and pinch the bridge of your nose.”
Hank puts his head down and buries his face in the shirt once more. We pull up to a seedy-looking motel on the edge of town. I run inside to pay with cash. I rush back out with the key, and we pull around to the side of the building.
Austin takes charge. “Hank, get inside and wash up the best you can. Amy, go get him some ice. Jenni, you go with Amy. I’ll find a place to hide my car so it’s not in plain sight.”
We find the ice and fill our room bucket. We hurry back to the room. I find Hank sitting on the sink countertop and leaning back on the mirror. “Did you take some Tylenol or Ibuprofen?”
He shakes his head. “Pain medicine is for the weak.”
Jenni raises her eyebrows. “Suit yourself.”
I look around the room and spy two beds and a couch. I take off the cushions. “Hey. It folds out into a bed.”
Jenni winks at me. “That it does.”
There’s a knock at the door. I go to the window, just in case. Austin stands outside. I open the door. He walks right over to Hank and gets up in Hank’s face; closer than I ever thought he would. “Let me take a look.”
Hank looks past Austin to me. “I’d rather Amy did.”
I shake my head. “No way. I don’t do blood. Sorry.”
Hank looks over at Jenni. “Jenni?”
She puts up her hands, shaking her head. “Ditto.”
Austin stares at Hank. “I guess you’re stuck with me, Hank. Now, put your hands down for a second and let me see it.”
Hank mumbles a response. “How do you know what to do?”
Austin growls back at him. “My dad’s a doctor.”
Hank drops the hand towel and his hands. I watch the two of them through the wide-open bathroom door. Quick as a flash, Austin grabs Hank’s nose and yanks on it. There’s a popping sound. I run to the nearest trashcan and hurl. I hear a hard pounding on the wall. Hank hollers again. “Son of a…! I think I broke my hand!”
“Then stop punching the wall!” Austin yells back at him.
“Why’d you move out of the way?” I swear Hank’s voice carries to the parking lot.
“Because you’re a truck, Hank! Why would I want you to hit me?!” Austin’s voice is just about as loud.
I step away from the trashcan. I’m embarrassed by my weak stomach. Hank and Austin have left the bathroom. They stand in the main room and circle each other like a couple of boxers about to go at it. I have to stop this. I yell out the first thing that comes to mind. “Hot Tub! I call first in the hot tub outside!”
They stop their angry dance and look at me.
Austin answers first. “Really? This place has a hot tub?”
Jenni snorts. “I highly doubt it, but if it did, I wouldn’t put a toe in. Who knows what kind of bacteria and fungus are floating around in there.”
Hank pouts. “You shouldn’t say those kinds of things if you don’t mean it.”
I stare back at him. “Well. You shouldn’t put your fist through the wall, Hank. You might have to pay for that.” My mind goes back to the house. “Who were those guys?”
Hank’s eyes blink rapidly. “Which ones?”
I put my hands on my hips and hold my stare. “The ones at the house, Hank. The guys who broke your nose, and the one Jenni knocked out and we tied up and put it in a ditch.”
Hank laughs out loud. “You put Rope in the ditch? He’s going to be so hot when he comes to.”
My eyes narrow. “How’d you know his name, Hank?”
Hank stops. “I already told you. He’s a child of the Sun.”
I think hard. “Yeah, but how did he get out by where we were? Why did he escape?”
Hank’s eyes get bigger, but they never leave my face. “They had me, Amy. I was fighting like four guys, and they are all as big as I am almost.”
I glance over at Austin to see if he believes the story. It looks like he has his doubts as he opens his mouth to speak. “How’d you get away then?”
Hank frowns at him. “I, unlike other people here, fought them all off. So I escaped.”
I study him, trying to decide if any of it is true. “Let’s say I believe you. How did Rope escape and not end up like the others?”
Hank looks at me like he’s all irritated, but I think he’s leaving something out. “It was dark, and he didn’t see me, so he didn’t have a chance to come after me. I was hiding.”
Austin’ s not done with grilling Hank. “So you let Rope go, but stuck around to fight the other four?”
Hank nods. “I sized them all up, and I thought I could take four, but I wasn’t sure about Rope. Now that it’s over, I bet I could have taken him down too.”
I glance at Austin. I decide to give him a shred of dignity. “Well. Austin could have handled Rope just fine, but we were in a hurry.”
Hank looks at me, and then at Austin. Austin raises an eyebrow at me and shakes his head back and forth before looking back at Hank. “She’s totally lying. The guy had me up against the car and then on the ground. He jumped me from behind. I was down for the count, but lucky for me, these two came to my rescue.” He winks at Jenni. I hate the shot of jealousy that shoots right through me. “Jenni can swing a pretty mean tire iron.”
Hank smiles back at Austin, but I can see he’s hurting. “Sounds about right. You had to have two girls save your butt.”
I don’t know why I can’t keep my mouth shut, even as I see Jenni staring at me. “At least he’s not too proud to admit it.” I clap my hands. “Alright. Who’s sleeping where?”
Hank flops down on the bed, spread-eagle. “This one’s mine.” He looks me up and down. “Anyone want to join me?”
Austin flops down beside Hank and throws an arm over Hank’s stomach. “Oh, Hank. I thought you’d never ask.”
Hank shoves him off the bed. “Get off me. Geez.”
Austin hits the floor, laughing as he sits up. “I’ll take that as a No.”
I step closer to Jenni. “I’m sleeping with Jenni tonight.”
Austin looks up at the two of us standing together. He smirks. “Can I watch?”
I take a big, heavy couch cushion from the foldout couch and chuck it at his head. “You’re such a pervy idiot.”
Austin falls over on the floor and flops his arms out to the sides. He stares up at the ceiling. “I guess that’s a No too.”
Jenni clears her throat. “Who gets the other bed?”
Austin reaches in his pocket and pulls out a coin. He holds it up in the air. “Flip you for it.”
I reach out and snatch it from his hand. “Call it Jenni.”
She hesitates. “Tails.”
I flip it and it lands on the floor. Austin covers it with his foot and looks at the two of us. “Go ahead and take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
My heart melts a little, and I put my hand over my heartbeat. “Thanks Austin. That’s so sweet.”
Hank snorts. “Whatever.”