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I woke up in what looked to be a hospital room but different. The same in that I was in a hospital bed and had machines to my left and right that played the part. A tube stuck out of the top of my right hand and led to a bag above my shoulder.
Different in that there was no outside-looking window, no pictures, and nothing around that projected comfort. There was a small glass square at the top of the door and I could see what looked to be a large man standing outside. Keeping guard, I supposed. Somewhere off in the distance I could hear an instrumental version of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.”
My mind was still on Jess and Sam. Robby and Denise. I pushed the covers back and sat up straight. Then I brought my legs over slowly so they were hanging off the bed. My head started pounding. I tried to grab on to something to keep balance but only managed to grab a blanket with my right hand and a pillow with my left.
The door opened, and I started to panic. There was pressure on my chest. A hand pushed me back into the bed. Someone picked my legs up and set them back in bed.
I looked up. It was Sam.
“Will, can you hear me?” Sam asked. She sat down on the bed, to my left.
“Yes,” I said.
“Do no try to get out of this bed again. Everything’s all right. I promise. You’re at Firelands Hospital.”
I breathed in.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” she asked.
“Someone hit me.”
“Good. Someone did hit you.”
I breathed out. “Where’s Jess?”
“Jess is fine. She’s down the hall. I called Zoe, and she’s with her. They have Denise two floors up. She’s pretty shaken but will be fine. They put her on a morphine drip. Robby is in intensive care. He lost a lot of blood and has some kind of infection in his leg, but the doctor said he’s going to be fine in a week or so. They pumped all kinds of blood into him. He requested a black doctor,” she said, smiling.
“And Jack?”
Sam chuckled. “Jack’s been trying to bust himself out of here for the past two hours. They patched up his leg. He’s fine and wants to go, but he killed someone tonight and they’re being fussy about it. He’s on the other side of the building, and his wife is with him.”
“His wife?”
“I know, right? She’s actually a really sweet person. They’re very affectionate with one another. Go figure.”
I breathed in and out again. “Did you say two hours? How long have I been out?”
She looked at her watch. “It’s almost seven a.m., so you’ve been unconscious for what, four, five hours? Doctor said you have a concussion. And technically, I think you’re under arrest, or you’re going to be until they figure this mess out. None of us are allowed to leave the hospital until Alan gives us the all clear. He was here a couple hours ago and filled me in on what I missed.”
I looked up at Sam. “Are you okay? Did he ... hurt you?”
“You mean Alex? No. His guys roughed me up a little, and I can’t say I was that happy to be naked in front of so many guys while they wrapped me in Ace bandages, but yes, I’m fine. And before you ask, the same with Jess and Denise. Robby got the worst of it, with his leg and all. Alex’s crew has no love for black people, I can tell you that. He looks like Apollo Creed after Rocky II.”
Thank God. I leaned back into the pillow and closed my eyes. I listened to my breathing, the silence around the room, and I began to cry. I covered my eyes with my right hand, trying to hold the tears back. Sam put my left hand in both of hers. “It’s okay, Will. It’s over. Just let it go.”
And I did. At least as much as I could for now. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at Sam. She pulled two crumpled tissues from her pocket and handed them to me. “Here,” she said.
“Are these used?” I asked.
“Does it matter?”
“Not really.” I wiped the tears away, blew my nose, and wadded the tissues in my right hand. I looked back at Sam. “Do you have to go, or can you fill me in on what happened?”
“I can stay as long as you want,” she said. “There’s a lot I don’t know, especially after I talked to Alan. As soon as the old man cracked your skull, Jack literally blew his head off from the other side of the room.”
“Jack?”
“You couldn’t see it because you and Alex and his dad were talking, but Jack was sliding across the floor, as slow as I’ve ever seen him move. He opened the door you came out of and reached for his gun. Then he just lay there, waiting for the right moment. When you ran at Alex, the old man ran after you. By the way, he can walk just fine. He made it over to you in record time. He slammed down his cane on you and as soon as he stood upright over you to do it again, his head just disappeared. I looked over, and Jack was leaning against the wall holding his rifle.”
“God, I love that man.”
“And then all hell broke loose. There must have been twenty feds that busted through the door you came through. Actually knocked Jack to the ground, which was a good thing or they probably would have shot him. They cuffed Jack, and a few agents attended to us. The old man’s body fell on top of you, so they pulled him off, then pulled you off of Alex. I really hope they took a picture of that.” Sam smiled.
“You are a sick, twisted woman.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Anyway, they rushed Alex out on a stretcher, from where the old man came in. He’s in recovery, and they’re guarding him. By the way, how did you know about the peanut allergy? The popsicle thing was ingenious, but as it was happening, I thought you’d lost your marbles.”
“Sophomore year, Alex and I went for ice cream. We both ordered sundaes. After we started eating, he began to suffocate. His throat was closing. I called 911, but he had an epinephrine injector in his pocket. I just didn’t know it at the time. He almost died. Apparently, the person making the sundaes used a spoon that was in the peanuts. That’s the day I found out he was severely allergic to them. But the man loves popsicles. At least he used to. We devoured them together when we were friends. I was betting both the allergy and his love for popsicles were still in play.”
“Why didn’t he know better? I saw him look at the box.”
“I had Jack switch the contents before we entered the room. He thought he was eating chocolate triumph but ended up eating fudge blister, which has a shit ton of peanuts in it. In preparing for the PopC pitch, I learned every ingredient in every single kind of PopC popsicle.” I started to chuckle, but it hurt all over. “Sorry. Please continue.”
“When we made it outside, you would have thought it was World War III. There were bodies everywhere. I guess hundreds of residents responded to your little text message and took out Alex’s guys. Alan said they found over twenty dead guards around the crematory. A couple of the guys from the Sandusky Alliance were injured really bad in the fighting. Barry White didn’t make it at all. Last I heard more than fifty residents of Sandusky lost their lives tonight.” She paused. “But hey, your girlfriend fought back as well. She’s here actually. She took a shot to the shoulder but she’s going to make it. What Alan didn’t know is how you sounded the alarm.”
“Dad’s notebook. The one we found at Carol’s. It took me a second, but I figured it out when I saw the bible passage.”
“What bible passage?”
“The last page of the notebook said Joel 2:1, and then there was a phone number. Four-one-nine area code. Sandusky. I can’t believe I almost forgot, but my dad would sometimes leave me little notes before a sporting event or a math competition, and he would include that bible verse. It says, ‘Sound the alarm in Jerusalem. Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain. Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the Lord is upon us.’”
I wiped a tear from my eye. “He used that as a little motivation piece when I was growing up. He wanted me to know that as long as I had the Lord everyone else better watch out. Well, when I saw the bible verse and the phone number, I put two and two together. I didn’t know how many people the message went out to, I was just hoping it was the cavalry.”
“What did the message say?” she asked.
“Something like, ‘This is Abe Pollitt’s son, Will. Now is the time. I’m on my way to take Alex down tonight and need your help. We’re at the crematory. Today is the last day Sandusky is held hostage by the Traynors.’ I was trying to do a ‘win one for the Gipper’ speech.” I chuckled. “It’s a lot harder to do in a text message.”
Sam looked away for a moment. “Will, I know this isn’t the best time, but what Alex said about the tuition bill?” She turned back toward me.
I shook my head. “Alex wasn’t lying. I have the invoice. I should say invoices. But I didn’t have the money to cover the tuition bill.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me? We could have figured it out.”
“I’ve messed up so badly over the past few years. I was trying to take care of it myself.” I started to tear up again. “I thought I had it covered, but I need help. I don’t think I can do this on my own.”
“We can discuss it later.” She paused. “Well, you did good, kid.” She leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’m going to make the rounds, but I’ll come right back.”
She opened the door and, just before she closed it, looked back and smiled.