Trucker had made a promise. He had hoped he wouldn't have to but circumstances beyond his control forced his hand and he found himself shoveling the last pile of dirt back into the hole. One promise, to a loved one kept; one promise to himself broken. He felt little remorse for what he had done, after all he had given fair warning, but he couldn't help feeling a little sick at the same time. Truth be told he would have done it again. There was a caveat to the self-made promise after all.
Tish sat on the hard plastic chair her tear soaked face in her hands. She couldn't believe what had happened. The night had been perfect. For the first in forever she had been with someone she could really love. There was much more between her and Priestly than lust. There was a friendship, deep and strong. A love that had developed from that friendship. A love pure and sweet and for once she knew what it was like to be wanted for her and not her body.
Anna sat with Noah her head buried in his chest. She couldn't understand how this could have happened. She and Noah had spent the night with Priestly and Tish and Jeff and Jen. They had passed the time laughing and enjoying each other's company. The night had been perfect. She wondered how she could have missed the danger that lurked below the surface.
Jen stood behind Tish a comforting hand placed gently on her friends shoulder. She felt Jeff step up beside her and his arm wrap softly around her waist. How could things have gone so wrong? What could have happened that would have caused karma to deal her friend such a horrible blow? Life had begun to get good, really good for all of them. And, now, well now….the tears fell freely from her eyes and her heart sank.
Zo sat in the corner offering her quiet support. Since she had bonded with Trucker she had come to adopt this group of lovable misfits as her own. She had come to see what Trucker did in them and felt the world be a better place if more of the younger generations were like them. Each one held a special place in her heart and because of that she felt an ache in her heart she hadn't felt before.
The door to the room opened and the doctor slowly entered. He looked at the group that surrounded the bed and he felt the love they all had for each other. He looked at the young man lying in the bed and a beat of anger passed over him. He had heard the story, of how he ended up there, and wondered how someone could so callously hope to destroy what this circle of friends had created.
From what he understood, Tish, had been seeing this other man before she had become involved with his patient. The other man had been abusive and one night he had hit Tish outside the sandwich shop they worked at. Priestly, his patient, had come to Tish's defense as well as her other co-workers. It was after this that a relationship had developed and they started seeing each other.
It had been a year and they had moved on and forgotten about her ex. That was a mistake, for which, Priestly would unfortunately pay. The group had gone out to celebrate their one year anniversary and had ended up dead center of her scorned lovers sights. He had spent a year plotting his revenge and this was it. He waited for Priestly to be alone and he attacked. The assault was swift and surprising; Priestly hadn't stood a chance.
Tish, worried about how long it was taking him to pull the car around went looking for him with Jen. Their screams had brought Jeff and Noah running from the front of the building. Noah found himself running to intercept Anna before she saw the carnage. It took the ambulance five minutes to arrive but to the group it felt more like hours.
The doctor had heard the two men talking to each other, each upset that they hadn't insisted more stringently that one or both of them go with Priestly to get the car. The doctor hoped they wouldn't carry guilt for long, they couldn't have known what was about to happen.
Jen had turned around when she heard the door opened and stood there staring at the doctor hoping to get a sense of the news he had. She read his face and felt herself relax, if only a little. He sensed her staring and smiled at her. He knew what he had to say would be hard for them to hear, but he hoped that they would pick up on the part where he expected Priestly to make a full recovery. He knew the road would be a long hard one, but he didn't doubt that his patient would have the love and support he would need to make it through.
He explained his patient's injuries, a broken arm, cracked and broken ribs, both legs broken and a hard concussion. He explained that his patient should/would make a full recovery but that he was going to need all the love and support he could get. He said that luck was on their side and that the car that had run his patient over wasn't going faster and that it had hit were it had. He left the room and its occupants to digest what he had said and sent a prayer that justice would be served.
Trucker had made a promise to Tad that if he had ever hurt Tish again he would end up on Unsolved Mysteries. It didn't matter that the attack hadn't brought physical pain to Tish, the fact that he had emotionally and mentally hurt his angel was enough. Besides, his affection for Priestly was as strong as it was for any of them. While he didn't make Unsolved Mysteries he did make the nightly news for a few months.