Catching You (18 page)

“You win. I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?” He didn’t
answer so I threw off the covers and set my feet on the floor trying to stand
up. I took one-step and my leg faltered under me.

“Watch it there. I don’t think you are feeling well enough
to get out of bed. Get back in bed and I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“Fine, I just want you to know I don’t like this at all.” I
grumbled. I lay back in bed and covered back up. I sighed.

I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV waiting for Nick
to come back upstairs with my breakfast. If I had to spend the day in bed that
meant I would not be able to go looking for Bryn’s journal again and get her
for murder.

A few minutes later, Nick came back up with my breakfast. I
looked down at the plate and couldn’t believe that he expected me to eat it
all. It was piled with food: pancakes, sausage, potatoes, and scrambled eggs.
He had even added some strawberries. I looked over, “I don’t know if I’ll be
able to eat this entire plate, Nick. You just brought me enough food to feed an
entire army.”

“I’m just worried about and want you to keep your strength
up. I don’t want you to spend the rest of the vacation in bed. That wouldn’t be
any fun. We only have a few days left and there is so much more stuff I want to
show you.”

“I know.” I took a sip of juice and began shoving eggs into
my mouth.” I swallowed, “You don’t have to stay up here and watch me eat. That
has got to be boring for you; I’ll bring down my plate when I’m done.” I smiled
over at him.

He leaned over, kissed my forehead, and left the room. I lay
back against the pillows trying to think. For some reason, everything seemed a
little hazy. After I finished eating all my food, I pushed the plate aside and
shuffled out of bed. My legs still felt a little wobbly, but I wanted a shower.
I reached in and turned on the water, noticing that took more effort than
usual. I leaned against the shower door trying to catch my breath.

What is wrong with me?
I felt my forehead and was
surprised to find I was running a little fever. I struggled to open the shower
door and slipped inside. I splashed my face with water to see if that would help
a little bit, but it didn’t work. I was hoping I would be able to take a shower
and everything would be good again. I got my hair washed, but didn’t have the
energy to do anything else. I shut off the water and got out. I was shivering.

I managed to dry off and put some clothes on, but that took
a lot of my energy. All I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep for a
week, but I knew that I couldn’t do that. This was going to be the last time
that I would see them until November.

I walked into the kitchen, my plate in my hand, and set it
in the sink. Nick glanced up when I walked in.

“I was wondering when you were going to come down.” He got
up and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

 “We were just about to start playing poker; do you want to
join us?” I shook my head.

“No. I think I will sit here and watch, though. I don’t know
what’s wrong with me, but even after eating I still feel crappy.”

“All right, that’s your loss,” he said, going back to
dealing out cards to everyone.

Thanks for caring
. I sat down on the couch and curled
under a blanket while everyone else sat around and played card games. I still
did not know why I didn’t have any energy.
Maybe I should call Dr. Summers
when I get home.

Steven came in a few minutes later and announced that lunch
was ready and I felt like I didn’t even have the energy to get up off the
couch.

“Do you feel like eating?” he asked me politely. I shook my
head no. He headed back to the kitchen.

Derrick glanced over at me. “Lauren, are you sure you don’t
want to be upstairs in bed?” he asked, concern in his voice. I shrugged and
snuggled deeper into the blankets. He went back to playing the game, sneaking
glances at me the whole time. At least someone cared how I felt. I gave him a
weak smile.

Elisabeth saw Derrick looking at me and piped up, “Lauren,
you really look horrible.”

Bryn nodded. “Yeah, you do.” I could always count on my
friends to be honest with me, even if they didn’t know tact.

“Thanks,” I replied weakly. “I think I will go back
upstairs.” I threw the blanket off me, trying to sit up. I managed that, but
still had to get upstairs. I sat up slowly and inched off the couch, holding
onto each side because I still didn’t feel well enough to move.

At that point, Derrick glanced over. “You look like you need
some help there. Let me help you upstairs.”

He turned to Nick “Count me out this round, I’ll be back
down in a little bit.” Nick barely gave me a glance.

Derrick helped me into bed, covering me up nice, warm, and
started to head back downstairs when I stopped him.

“Derrick, do you think you could close the door? I need to
talk to you for a minute.” He looked nervous. Closing the door behind him, he
walked back over to the bed.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked, setting his hand on my arm. I
looked into his eyes, he really did look worried and his voice wavered a tiny
bit.

I took a deep breath, “I don’t want Nick to worry, but I
think that I’m still having symptoms from the concussion.”

“Are you sure?” he asked holding his hands at his side. He
was frowning.

 “Well, it’s either that or Steven cooked something bad and
since none of you guys are getting sick…” He nodded.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine by tomorrow. Just rest and drink
lots of fluids and you’ll feel better. If not, call your doctor when we get
home.” He squeezed my hand.

“Well, that’s the thing. Every time I eat something or even
drink anything, I start to feel worse than before.”

“Just make sure you rest and see how you feel in a little. It
could be a flu bug or something. I’m sure the doctor will tell you the same
thing.”

“I don’t know. I just know that I feel like crap and I don’t
know why. I’m scared. “Do you think you could get me a glass of water from the
bathroom? I’m thirsty.”

He came back and handed me a cup. I took a sip and lay back
down. “I’m going to take another nap and see if I feel better when I wake up.
Will you come wake me up in a few hours?” He nodded and left the room.

I woke up to a buzzing sound.
What the hell is that?
I
rolled over and glanced at the clock. It said 6’oclock. I swear there was
something stronger in that drink than just a splash of vodka. I felt around in
the bed to see if I could find the cause of the noise, but found nothing.

I threw the covers off me and got out of bed and walked over
to my suitcase that was still sitting on the floor. I spied Nick’s phone
sitting on the chair he’d left earlier. It was lit up like someone had just
called. I reached over and hit a button bringing up the recent text messages.
It came from Bryn’s phone. I skimmed the message, my face growing paler.

“She doesn’t suspect a thing. I think we’re in the clear.
Or, at least I am.”

What the hell is she talking about?
I set the phone
down as I riffled through the dresser and found a long sleeve t-shirt, since
the weather had cooled a bit today, and put it on. It was forest green and
hugged my curves where I had them. I grabbed the jeans from earlier, slipped my
feet into flip flops and put the phone in my pocket, grabbing my purse and
headed outside. I turned back, remembering the tape recorder at the last minute
and slipped it in my pocket. I planned to take it to the police when we got
back.

Outside, the air was crisp, but the sun was shining more
than I thought, and I pushed my sleeves up a tiny bit. I thought I heard
something in the bushes. I walked slower, not sure what I was going to find. It
could be a wild animal, for all I knew. I peeked around the corner. Bryn was
sitting at the water’s edge dangling her feet in and Nick was leaning over
saying something to her. I crept closer, so that I could hear the conversation.
The microphone was picking up some static. “Did you get my text?” Bryn asked.

“No… what text?” replied Nick.

“I just sent you a text telling you to meet me here, that we
needed to talk. I thought that’s why you were out here,” she said, voice
shaking a tiny bit.

“No. He shook his head. “I needed some fresh air.” He patted
his belt clip that he usually had his cell phone hanging on and found it empty.

“I think I may have left my phone in the bedroom with
Lauren.” He sighed.

“Check your pockets just to make sure,” Bryn insisted. Nick
began shuffling through his pockets, frowning. “We have a problem. It’s not
here.” I must have left in the bedroom when I left Lauren.”

“How could you have been so stupid? All we need is for
Lauren to find it and start to put the pieces together. If she does that, we’re
both screwed.”

I decided that was my cue. “Were you looking for this?” I
asked holding Nick’s cell phone in my hand.

“Where did you find that?” He asked reaching for the phone.
I pulled it out of arms reach. “It was in the chair where you left it. I got
woken up by a text message; let me see if I can find it.” I hit a few buttons
and scrolled down to the newest one.

She doesn’t suspect a thing. I think we’re in the clear.
Or, at least I am.

“Why did you do it? He was your best friend, almost your
brother and you went and killed him.”

His face paled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I
swear I didn’t do it,” he repeated. “I mean do you think I would really do
something as mean and vindictive as killing my best friend?”

“Don’t lie to me. I heard you two just talking about it.
And, you may not have been the one who hit him, but you didn’t stop Bryn from
doing it.” I watched Bryn out of the corner of my eye for a reaction.

A wave of dizziness came on suddenly and I stood there.

“Are you okay?” Bryn asked, concern in her voice.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to tell her about the
concussion symptoms. The dizziness passed a few seconds later.

“When that car came towards us, he didn’t even have time to
react. He was terrified, but you weren’t there. I was. I got to watch my
boyfriend die, because of you.” Tears started to fall down my face. I tasted the
salt in my mouth.

“Come here, baby.” Nick reached to comfort me.

 “No! You don’t get it. It’s your fault Ryan’s gone and you
killed him.” I began hitting him with my fists, flailing around.

“Derrick told me that you came up with the plan to rig
Ryan’s car so the brakes wouldn’t work when he tried to stop. He told me
everything.” I made sure that I was looking at Bryn when I said those last few
words. Her face was as white as paper.

“Lauren, stop that. It’s not going to bring Ryan back.” He grabbed
my hands. I pulled away as if I’d been burned.

“Don’t touch me,” I said wiping the tears away.

Nick walked towards me. “It’s okay to cry,” he said.

“I told you not to come near me.” I gritted my teeth.

“Did he also tell you that I changed my mind about the whole
thing and wasn’t the one who rigged the brakes?”he asked me.

I glanced up at him, pretending not to know what he was
saying. I wanted Bryn to think I was blaming Nick for everything.

“Why did you do it? He was your best friend.”

He paused. “It wasn’t just me. Bryn was in on the whole plan
to,” he stated.

I turned to Bryn, “Is that true? Did you have something to
do with the accident?” I asked her, rubbing my finger back and forth on the on
button of the tape recorder. She still didn’t know that no matter what she said
I was going to get the whole thing on tape. She was going to be in big trouble,
either way.

“I was trying to protect you. I caught him and Elisabeth a
few months earlier and he begged me not to tell you what he was doing. I told
him either he end things with her or I was telling you everything. He didn’t
believe me. When I found out that he hadn’t ended things as he said he would, I
came up with a plan. He was going to pay for what he was doing to my best
friend. He said Elisabeth was more adventurous than you ever were. That you
were a prude.”

Hearing those words come out of Bryn’s mouth hurt. I had no
idea that’s how Ryan had felt about me. Before graduation, I still thought that
we had a good relationship and we were going to get married someday. I was
wrong.

“So you’re telling me that you rigged the car accident just
because he was cheating on me? I can’t believe you! You should have just told
me. We probably would have broken up because of it, but at least he’d still be
alive. Do you realize what you did?”

“I didn’t think that Ryan realized what he had with you and
I just wanted to scare him a little bit. I didn’t think he would die.”

“Yeah, you didn’t think.” I looked her in the eye. “And your
mistake is going to cost you. I’m calling 911 and you’re going to have a fun
time explaining this to the police.”

“No, please don’t do that. I didn’t mean to do it. I can’t
go to prison. I’m supposed to go to Yale this fall. I don’t look good in an
orange jumpsuit,” she blubbered.

“Well, you should have thought about that beforehand. Do you
want to call or should I?” I held out my cell phone.

“I can do it,” she said taking the phone from my hand. Her
hands shook as she began to dial. I walked away to give her some privacy.

“How did our lives get like this?” I asked Derrick as he
came up beside me. He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. He sounded sad.

I looked down as I felt his hand brush mine. I grabbed it
and held on. “Derrick, thank you,” I said.

“For what?” he asked.

“For knowing just what I need right now. I’m lucky to have a
friend like you.”

“I hope that you’ll consider me more when you’re ready.”