Chapter 30

Critical Condition

“Sorry about the bumpy ride. How are Patrick and Sheila doing?” asked Theo over his shoulder. The van swayed roughly as it hit another patch of cracked asphalt. Lisa caught hold of the sliding door’s grab handle to steady herself with her free hand. Her other was in Patrick’s vise-like grip. He lay on the van’s carpeted floor, grimacing in pain with each jolt. A makeshift sling held his dislocated shoulder in place across his chest. He still had his messenger bag tucked by his side and had refused to let it go, so Lisa decided to leave it be.

Lisa glanced back at Sheila, who lay across the van’s back bench, a seat belt holding her in place. The drug dealer was breathing, though unconscious. The aluminum trailer had been almost cleaved in two when the uprooted Douglas fir crashed onto it. Miraculously the Airstream’s door had remained somewhat functional. Theo was able to pry it open with a crowbar and drag Sheila and Patrick from the wreckage. Sheila had been knocked out cold, and Lisa resented the drug dealer’s oblivious state. They’d found Patrick awake and gasping for air under a blanket of fir needles and branches. Other than his injured shoulder and some bloody scratches, he seemed okay, but there was no way to know what internal injuries he may have suffered.

“No change,” said Lisa, trying to hide the panic from her voice. She didn’t need to cause Patrick anymore distress. She blinked back tears. “How much farther?”

“Just another couple of blocks.”

In the chaos following the earthquake, Ellen had instructed Theo to drive Patrick and Sheila to the hospital. The Five Firs food cart pod was just a half mile from Good Samaritan. If they waited for an ambulance, it might be too late.

Ellen had called for a police car to take her to City Hall, but before she left, Ellen wrapped Lisa in a hug and kissed her forehead. “Lisa, please be careful and stay close to Jamie.” She turned to Jamie and hugged her too, then looked at them both sternly. “The aftershocks could go on for hours. Don’t try to cross the river to your apartment. When you’re done here, head straight to City Hall. My aides texted that the building is safe.” As though hesitant to leave them, she paused before closing the police car’s passenger door, “I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

Now in the painfully slow van, Lisa looked at Patrick’s pale face. His eyes were tightly closed and his forehead was covered in a sheen of perspiration.

It might be too late already, she thought.

She craned her neck and looked out the front windshield. Jamie walked in front of the van guiding Theo, pointing out obstacles, and dragging fallen branches, street signs, and other debris out of the way. Their biggest concern had been downed power lines, but so far none had blocked their path. The streets were clogged with people, some injured or just disoriented, while others begged for help and even more offered it, assisting with first aid and rescues as best they could. The constant wail of sirens and car alarms added to the pandemonium.

“Should I help Jamie?” asked Lisa.

“No, just stay put and keep an eye on Patrick and Sheila. We’re almost there.”

In her head, Lisa mentally screamed in frustration at the snail’s pace they were moving, yet on the outside, she stayed calm, kissed Patrick’s clammy forehead, and spoke soothing words. “You’re going to be all right. We’re almost to the hospital. I love you so much, Patrick. Just hang in there a little longer.” She kissed him gently on the lips and squeezed his hand.

Lisa felt the van pull to a stop and looked up, wondering what new obstacle had halted their progress, but she was relieved to see they’d pulled up to the emergency room entrance. The van’s door slid open to reveal Jamie directing a pair of EMTs, who quickly wheeled over stretchers. In moments, Patrick, clutching his messenger bag, and Sheila, still unconscious, were removed from the van and rolled toward the glass doors.

Theo drove off to allow a stream of newly arrived ambulances to take his place. Trotting after the EMTs, Lisa and Jamie stepped into the lobby. The crush of people and motion amazed Lisa. She was stunned that this was the same hospital where she’d been treated just last night. Ceiling panels had broken loose, light fixtures hung precariously from wires, computers lay smashed and useless on the floor, and cracks stood out ominously on the sliding glass doors and windows.

Without warning, Lisa felt the earth sway under her feet, and she grabbed at Patrick’s stretcher. Lights flickered and patients gasped, but the team of doctors, nurses, and aides never stopped moving. Their seemingly erratic motions resolved into a symmetry of treating patients and placing them in levels of triage—critical, emergency, acute. Patrick and Sheila were evaluated in turn by a nurse, and Lisa and Jamie quickly filled him in on what they knew about each of their conditions. In tandem, Patrick and Sheila were wheeled away for treatment.

Lisa and Jamie stood silent and stunned for a moment, a quiet duo in the midst of madness.

“If you don’t require medical attention, I’ll need you to move out of the way,” said a nurse, not unkindly.

Jamie mumbled an apology and said to Lisa, “I think there’s a little flower garden on the side of the building. Let’s wait there.”

Quickly, they stepped outside, and Lisa followed Jamie down a path that led behind the hospital to a small courtyard filled with trees and plants. Some of the paving stones had heaved up and a few planters were cracked, but the roses still bloomed.

They found a bench that was intact and sat down. The cacophony of disaster was muted amidst the greenery, and Lisa noticed that despite the chaos, it was a beautiful evening. The sky was clear and tinted with a golden twilight. A jet plane soared lazily overhead, leaving a white line of vapor in its wake.

“He’ll be okay, Lisa,” said Jamie. “Try not to worry.”

Lisa looked at her best friend and her eyes filled with tears. “What if we didn’t get here soon enough? What if the doctors can’t treat him in time?”

“I’ll go check on him. Will you be okay here by yourself for a little while?”

Lisa nodded.

“If I can find a vending machine, I’ll get us some chocolate. I think we both deserve an emergency candy bar.”

Lisa smiled. “Be careful,” she said. “And I’ll have a Snickers.”

“You got it. I’ll be right back,” said Jamie.

Lisa closed her eyes and tried to block out the noise and concentrate on breathing in and out to calm her rapidly beating heart. Just last night at the party she’d doubted her feelings for Patrick, but seeing him in danger somehow snapped everything into focus. She loved him and she’d do whatever it took to make it up to him. Her mind fled to another moment when, although she’d been hurt and upset, Patrick had known just what to do and say to make everything better.

***

Lisa remembered that night so clearly. She lay awake on her dorm room bed, still reeling from her mother’s visit to the Academy. Desperate for sleep, Lisa just wanted to drift into nothingness, but she’d never gotten used to sharing a room. The sound of her two roommates’ breathing grew more and more deafening. In and out, in and out, the two girls were just slightly out of sync. It was loud enough to keep her awake, but not enough to drown out the sound of her mother’s voice in her head.

If she’d had time to prepare, maybe she could have gotten through to her mom. Lisa ran through their conversation again and again. For a second, Lisa had thought her mom was actually listening to her. Then things had gone south as they always did. It was all so unfair. And now Lisa was sentenced to a year away from her friends, her school, and her family. No one wanted her. No one would help her. She was trapped. She was alone.

One of the girls started to snore. Lisa sighed and rolled over, impatiently wiping her tears away. This was her life now, she thought. This place. These people.

Lisa wished she could share a room with Jamie. She felt a little in awe of her friend and totally jealous. Well, as much as she could be of anyone else stuck at the Academy. The way Jamie talked about her parents wasn’t something Lisa could relate to at all. Jamie was only here because her parents didn’t want her sent to juvie. Her parents actually missed her.

Lisa got up and pushed open the small window next to her bed, breathing in the cool air. Most of the lights were out on the school grounds, and in the sky she could just see the glow of a full moon.

“Lisa,” a voice whispered from outside. She almost jumped out of her skin, then looked into the darkness and saw a shadowy form.

“Lisa, it’s Patrick,” he whispered. “Come outside. I want to show you something.”

“Patrick, what the hell,” she whispered back. “Aren’t you in enough trouble?” She realized with guilt that she’d completely forgotten about him after her encounter with her mother.

“It’s all good,” he said. “Come on. Meet me out front.”

Lisa thought for a minute about saying no, but getting in trouble for breaking curfew was the least of her problems. She could use someone to talk to right now. And she knew she could talk to Patrick. It’s all they’d been doing, she thought ruefully.

“Sure, give me a sec,” she whispered.

Lisa changed out of her pajamas and into a baggy sweatshirt and khaki shorts. She remembered a time when she would never have met a boy without rethinking every article of clothing a dozen times. Here, none of that mattered.

Hastily, she arranged her bed to look like someone was still in it. Carrying a pair of sneakers in one hand, she slipped out of the bedroom, trying not to wake the other girls. She closed her dorm room door and slipped out the side entrance where Patrick waited.

Patrick motioned for her to follow him. She slipped on her sneakers quickly, placing her hand on his shoulder for balance. He felt surprisingly warm in the chill air. Side by side, they made their way down a path toward the lake, Lisa keeping her eyes on the ground so she wouldn’t trip in the darkness. After a few minutes, they were far enough away from the dorms to talk.

“What did you want to show me?” she asked, shivering.

Patrick took her hand. He’d never held it before. She looked at him, expecting him to kiss her. Instead, he was looking at the sky.

“Look up,” he said.

She followed his gaze and gasped. A huge golden moon was rising just over the mountain. The sky was a deep, dark blue, and the mountain was so illuminated by moonlight that its snowy peak glowed.

For a moment, the chill was gone, and she forgot all about her mother. Right now, a cute boy was holding her hand under a glorious sky.

“The mountain is so beautiful,” she whispered.

“Want to sit? I brought a blanket,” Patrick said. He let go of her hand, and it felt suddenly empty and cold. He spread the blanket on the grass and sat, motioning for her to join him. She sat down, the wool of the blanket tickling her bare legs.

“Jamie told me about your mom’s visit. I’m sorry,” he said.

“Thanks.”

They sat silent for a moment.

“You know what I miss most about home? Not my family or any of my friends. I miss my stuff, and my room,” said Patrick. “I mean, it was a mess and my mom was always on my ass to clean it up, but it was mine. Here, I don’t have anything.”

Lisa thought about her bedroom at home and the last time she’d seen it. She realized she hadn’t given much thought to it, so overwhelming was her experience at the Academy. She blushed, feeling a sudden rush of heat at the thought of all the secret things she had hidden away under her bed and in the back of her closet where she thought they were safe. Her diary, dirty books, half-empty packs of cigarettes, that bong she’d picked up in San Francisco, and photos of her and her friends doing stupid things. She wasn’t there to protect them, and the thought of her mother looking through them all filled her with a helpless rage.

She wrapped her arms around her chest.

“What’s wrong?” asked Patrick. “Are you cold?”

“A little. I was just thinking about my mom going through my stuff.”

“Did you keep a diary?” he asked.

“Yep,” she answered, feeling suddenly very worried.

“Ouch. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“It’s pretty likely the school has it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lisa said, astonished.

“How else do you think they know so much about you?”

“She wouldn’t dare,” Lisa said, knowing as the words came out of her mouth that Patrick was likely speaking the truth. At least now she knew where the school’s intel came from.

“Well, maybe they don’t,” he said. “Maybe you got lucky and your parents just threw out all your stuff and turned your room into a gym.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “You’re not helping,” she said.

“Sorry. What do you miss most?”

Lisa thought for a moment. “I keep thinking about this jewelry box my dad gave me for my seventh birthday. It had a little ballerina in a yellow tutu that twirled around when you opened the top, and it played a song.”

“What song?”

“‘Love Me Tender,’” she said. “I used to listen to it every night before bed.” She felt herself starting to relax. It felt good to talk. “I miss my friends too. They probably think I’m a complete loser.”

“It’s more likely they’ve forgotten you.”

“Again, not helping.” Lisa leaned against Patrick, her eyes on the moonlit mountain. His hand found hers again, and for the first time since her kidnapping, she felt safe. She almost didn’t recognize the feeling. Before the Academy, she’d never felt fear. She used to think of her parents as solid, invincible beings who would never let her down, no matter what she did or said. Ever since those men had dragged her from her bed while her parents stood by and did nothing, she was always afraid. In her time at the Academy, she’d learned again and again not to trust anyone. It felt different with Patrick. He understood because his parents had betrayed him too.

“Does it really matter?” he asked.

“Does what matter?”

“That they’ve all forgotten us. Abandoned us.” Patrick paused, then turned to look at Lisa, his eyes glittering with emotion. “I don’t think my friends or even my parents would recognize me anymore. I mean, I guess I look the same, but on the inside, I’m different. You and me, we’re stuck here, we’re frozen, while the rest of the world keeps moving on. I say we forget them. We don’t need them. From now on, I choose my own family.”

She leaned in and kissed him. “Me too,” she said, then kissed him again.

***

Hearing footsteps approaching, Lisa snapped out of her reverie. She was a little sad to see that Jamie had returned empty-handed. “No chocolate?” she asked.

Her friend’s face looked oddly frozen, her eyes wide. Jamie sat down heavily beside her on the bench. She opened a clenched fist to reveal a folded piece of paper, which she handed to Lisa.

“Jamie, what is it? What’s wrong?” Fear seized her heart. “Is
it Patrick?”

“Lisa. He’s gone.”