A/N: Remember to play and pause as directed. It enhances the reading process!
-Justin
Chapter Four: Surprise!
(Play Monsters by Hurricane Bells- can be found on the New Moon soundtrack...don't judge me)
Dr. George Hashing made his way down the hall slowly, checking in on each patient that had been placed in this ward. As he walked, he flipped through the pages of his clipboard, making a few notes every so often. When he arrived at the nurse's station, an older woman with gray hair and pale skin lifted a bony hand to take the chart from his hands.
"Make sure Alice notes the changes I've made," Dr. Hashing instructed. "Thanks, Mary." Mary smiled and nodded, but her smile was cut short when she noticed the dark-haired teen standing right behind the doctor.
"Dr. Hashing." The voice belonged to Sophie Grafton, Thomas's older brother and Whytnee's best friend. Dr. Hashing turned to face the girl with arms over his chest- he'd dealt with her enough in the past two days to know where this would go. "I've just come from the police department and Amanda said"-
"Good morning, Miss Grafton," Dr. Hashing greeted, cutting her off mid-sentence. She huff ed and gave a pointed glare in his direction. Before either of them could say anything more, a black-haired woman in her forties appeared at the desk. She wiped at her eyes with her hands.
"How's she doing, Ms. Wyatt?" Mary asked with a sad smile. She plucked a fresh tissue from the box above the counter and passed it over.
"Finally asleep," Ms. Wyatt replied a nod and a sniffle. There was a moment of silence and then she turned to Dr. Hashing to say, "I'll be leaving now." Dr. Hashing gave a noise of assent and the two of them embraced quickly. Ms. Wyatt then twisted to face Sophie and told her, "She was asking for you earlier, sweetie." Another hug and then Ms. Wyatt was making her way toward the elevator bank at the end of the hall.
Dr. Hashing faced Sophie. "If you'll excuse me," he said. Sophie opened her mouth, but Dr. Hashing cut her off with, "Mary will answer any questions you might have. I'll be making my rounds." He started off down the hall before Sophie could say anything and she let out a heavy sigh once he was out of earshot.
"Don't mind him, love," Mary commented from behind. "He's got medical students this year."
(Stop the song)
X
"Careful, dear," Whytnee groaned when Sophie hugged her a little too tight. "I've been gutted." She let out a laugh that was too loud in the quiet room, but Sophie was used to this kind of behavior. She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and plopped down while Whytnee pushed herself to a sitting position.
"Am I the first to visit, or did Nick already beat me to it?" Whytnee laughed again and leaned back against the pillow.
"If anyone came in earlier, I don't remember." She sighed, trying to remember what had happened. It was all a blur after Marcus had been attacked. That reminded her. "How's Marcus? Is he still in surgery?"
"What?"
"I mean, he got hurt pretty bad. I assumed he would need surgery." Whytnee sat up a bit straighter to lean closer to Sophie, who swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Her hands went to her blonde hair, twisting and untwisting. She really didn't want to be the one to say it.
It was silent for the next few minutes. Sophie could feel her heartbeat in her throat. She'd known how serious Whytnee felt about Marcus.
(play Everglow by Coldplay)
Finally, Whytnee spoke again. "He's dead, isn't he?" Her tone was strangely calm, considering the circumstances.
"I'm so sorry," Sophie whispered, reaching over to place a hand on Whytnee's arm. She looked down at Sophie's fingers curled over her skin and laid back again. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly after another seemingly endless stretch of quiet.
"No," Whytnee said curtly, lowering the head of the bed. She turned to lie on her side and winced, but stayed like she was. "I want to sleep." Sophie chewed her bottom lip and tried to think of something comforting. Nothing came to mind, and she decided to just let Whytnee be for now. They'd work through it later.
Sophie was halfway out the door when she heard Whytnee speak again. At first, she wasn't sure who Whytnee was supposed to be talking to. "It's only the beginning," Whytnee was saying, almost too quietly to make out properly. "They killed Lucy and Andrew, and they killed Marcus." There was a pause, and then Whytnee let out a heavy sigh, and Sophie left the room wondering if there was any truth to Whytnee's monologue. The cops hadn't said if the murders were connected, but it would've made sense if they were.
(Stop the song)
X
The next day, Wexford High School was brimming with noise about the previous night's events. Nick Carson walked down the hallway, trying his best to tune out the voices chattering about Marcus and Whytnee. Nobody knew anything for certain, and Nick found himself biting his tongue to keep from lashing out at Elliot Stone when he appeared at Nick's locker with phone in hand.
"Have you heard the news?" Elliot's green eyes were on the screen in front of him. Nick ignored him, glaring at the textbook in his hands. "Looks like we may have a serial killer in our small boring town."
"Nothing's been released yet," Nick snapped as he stuffed the book in the cubby space above his head. Elliot shrugged one shoulder and tapped his phone screen a few times. When Elliot made no motion to leave, Nick turned to face him. "Can I help you with something?"
"Guess not," Elliot huffed, shoving his phone into his back pocket. "Thought you might know something since your little girlfriend was the one who got the knife."
"She's not"-
"Go bother someone else, Elliot," Phoebe demanded, suddenly appearing beside Nick. She made a little shooing motion with her hand and Elliot scowled at both of them before turning on his heels and marching off toward the nearest classroom. Phoebe watched him walk away and then twisted around to look at Nick, noticing how he was gripping his backpack so tightly it had turned his knuckles white. "You okay there, sport?"
"I hate him so much."
(Play Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars)
"Understatement of the century, but whatever." Phoebe laughed and turned to open her own locker that was situated a few down from Nick's. Hers was much more festive, with photos and magnets lining the interior. One of the two of them, Phoebe's arm tossed casually over Nick's shoulder. Another picture that showed a stream in the background and Nick reaching down to pull a soaking-wet Sarah Thorne out of the water while Phoebe stood off to the side, doubling over with laughter. Nick remembered taking most of them.
He found himself staring at one in particular- their entire group of friends had gathered for a party last year during the holidays. Nick had been caught by Phoebe under the mistletoe and so had kissed him on the cheek while everyone else cheered. Whytnee had been the one to snap the photo, even managing to capture the tomato-red blush on his cheeks.
"Nick." It had been one of the best nights of his life, and ever since then he'd been searching for an excuse to get back to that moment. "Nick." Of course, in his ever-present obliviousness, he was completely unaware that Phoebe remembered that night perfectly. He also didn't know that if you looked close enough, you'd see the rosy blush coloring her tanned skin as well.
"Nicholas Adam Carson!" Nick actually jumped at the sound of his full name being used. He jerked his head back and forth and then smiled sheepishly when he caught sight of Phoebe hovering over him with her hands on her hips. "The bell is about to ring and we're going to be late if we don't move. Comprende?" She moved one hand to pat his shoulder and he nodded in response, hoping that his face wasn't as red as it felt.
(Stop the song)
X
"Elliot Stone, put that cellphone away." Henry Fowl's voice rang out through the classroom as Elliot swiped through the texts coming in. He raised his head up briefly and then continued scrolling. Mr. Fowl glared at him from the front of the room, where he'd been about to start writing for today's lesson.
"WCPT just released their report." This came from Mitchell Porter, who sat in the back of every class and always had his jet-black hair slicked straight back. He held his phone up like someone had asked for it, and Nick looked back at him.
"What's it say?" Nick asked.
Mitchell's eyes went back to the screen and he read the words out loud. "Marcus Matthews, aged 17, was found dead last night at the home of Whytnee Wyatt, aged 17, in the aftermath of what appears to be a second murder in the small town of Wexford." He paused a moment to look around. "Doesn't say it the other one made it out."
"The other one has a name," Nick began, and Phoebe reached over to touch his arm. Their eyes met for a moment, and he shut his mouth.
"Whynee Wyatt suffered a near-fatal stab wound in the left side," Elliot announced suddenly, standing up out of his chair.
"Dear God," Mr. Fowl muttered. He'd been writing something on the board, but now he let the marker fall into the holder along the bottom and walked over to his desk. He pulled his own cellphone out of the middle drawer and tapped the screen twice.
"You know anything we don't?" Mitchell asked loudly. Mr. Fowl ignored him.
"Looks like she's in the hospital," Sarah called out, waving her hand back and forth. She locked eyes with Nick. "That's all they've said so far."
"We'll go visit her after school," Phoebe promised, giving Nick's shoulder a squeeze. Before she could say anything else, her phone began buzzing on top of her desk. She picked it up with her free hand and let out a little gasp. "Nick, look," she said, holding it out to him. It was a text from Sophie saying that Whytnee was pretty sedated, but stable. "She found out about Marcus," Phoebe continued sadly, scrolling down. "She's pretty upset."
"Obviously," Nick agreed with a nod. "Yeah, let's all go see her this afternoon. She'd like that." He hopped out of his seat to pack his things up as the bell rang out and Phoebe watched him a few seconds.
"Oh," Phoebe finally uttered, and Nick snapped his head back to her. "Sarah's got practice at three, and Thomas got in another fight today. He's grounded."
"Just us, then," Nick offered, and Phoebe nodded with a smile.
"Just us," she agreed.