Chapter six
Andy's POV
After I left Elle I jumped in my car and drove in the generally direction of the beach. I really needed to clear my head and that's the one place where I can actually relax.
I park the car and climb out, locking it as I walk away. I find a spot where there's hardly anyone and sit my arse on the sand and look out at the water. There aren't many people down here now since the weather has started to cool off. I pull my sunglasses over my eyes and start to aimlessly draw in the sand with a nearby stick.
I can't believe Bradie would say that to me. I completely trust Elle but knowing Bradie's past, there is no way I want him spending any time alone with her. I can never forget that moment when I lost most of my respect for him.
It was a year ago now and I was driving around, bored out of my brain and decided to stop at the DVD store and rent a movie. I walked in, found a copy of Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy and took them to the counter. While I was digging in my wallet for my member card I heard Bradie's voice and looked up.
I was surprised to see him and Brooke walking past the store laughing loudly. I handed over my card and paid with cash before grabbing the DVDs and going in search of them both. I found them a couple of shops away in the back of a coffee shop, completely oblivious to anyone around them.
They had their heads together, their backs to the door, unaware that they were being watched. I swear my chin hit the floor with the DVDs when I saw Bradie shove his tongue down her throat. I might have gagged a little too. I'm pretty sure I made some sort of noise because the next thing I knew, Bradie was picking the DVDs off the ground as Brooke grabbed my hand and towed be towards the booth they were sharing.
I didn't know whether to yell, scream or just vomit. Both of them swore to me that they hadn't done anything else, that there was nothing really between them and they both swore it will never happen again if I didn't tell Shaun what I'd seen.
I couldn't believe that Bradie would do this to Shaun. I mean, for fuck's sake, it wasn't just Shaun and Brooke on the line here; it was the fucking band too. If it ever got out that Bradie was shagging Brooke, even though they reckon that didn't happen, then the band, our careers, everything would be over. How could he be such a selfish fucking prick like this?
And the biggest pisser about this situation is that if I spill the beans and tell Shaun then it will be my fault for what happens next. Yeah, fucking thanks a lot Bradie.
I re-focus on the water in front of me as I try to force that from my mind and think about what's currently going on.
I'm pissed beyond belief at Bradie for saying that about Elle. It's like he's almost trying to bait me into an argument by saying that. I grab my phone from my pocket and dial Vicki's number. I had been talking to her on MSN this morning about the situation before Elle got up. She's the only one that knows what happened with Brooke and Bradie besides me, and even then, she doesn't know the full story. I wouldn't betray my band or my friends to anyone. Not even Vicki.
I have known her since pre-school and went all the way through primary school with her. We were best mates, and probably still are, to some degree. I know she felt something for me a few years back, but I could never want more than friendship with her.
We were talking about Bradie's confession to me on MSN this morning and she agreed that I had my rights for being pissed at him. How am I supposed to trust him?
"Hello?" I hear her say.
"Hey Vic, its Andy."
"Oh hey, how are you?" she says.
"I'm okay I guess. I'm at the beach at the moment."
"Really, you're that pissed off?" she says with a laugh.
"Yeah, I am" I say, standing as I do. "You wanna meet me somewhere for a coffee?" I ask her.
"Okay, what about the coffee shop on Main Street?"
"Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes" I reply as I walk towards my car and unlock it.
"See you then" she says and I hang up.
Climbing into my car I start the engine and head towards our meeting place. I really need to talk to someone about how I'm feeling and Vicki is about the only one who'll understand. Don't get me wrong, I would love to tell Elle what I'm feeling but since she doesn't know about the history between Bradie and I, I wouldn't feel comfortable bitching to her about him. I can't talk to Bradie yet or I'll just knife the fucker. So Vicki it is.
I'm almost to the coffee shop when I hear my phone buzz with a message. I grab it and open it to see who is messaging me when I hear a horn blare and look up in time to see a car coming at my driver's side door. I hit the brakes but it's too late and the impact throws me across the centre console, my phone flying from my hand and my head hitting the dashboard.
I hear the screech of tires and a dull thud before I lose consciousness.
Elle's POV
Bradie's phone rings then and he pulls it out of his pocket, checks the display and answers it.
"Hey Mum" I hear him say as I take my empty cup to the sink and rinse it out.
I hear the panic in his voice as he says "What do you mean? What? When? Okay, I'll be there in a minute hang on."
I see him jump up and look up at me.
"What?" I ask him.
"The police just called Mum, Andy's been in an accident."
"What? Where?" I say as panic fills my head.
"Come on, Mum said to come over" Bradie says as he grabs my hand and we run to the lounge room.
"Hey Kids, come next door for a minute" Bradie says to them both as I try to compose myself long enough to assess what to do next.
Max and Lilly hop up and follow Bradie out the front door as I run back to the kitchen to grab my phone and keys.
"Hey Elle" Bradie sings out to me.
"Yeah I'm coming" I reply as I run back to the front door.
"How about you give Alice a call and she could perhaps watch the twins" he says.
"Oh, good thinking. Okay I'll do that now" I say as I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Alice's number.
After a brief conversation she agrees to come over and watch the kids for me. I hang up and follow Bradie and the kids into the kitchen to find Sarah in tears.
"What happened?" Bradie asks her.
"I don't know much yet. The police say he's been taken to the hospital but it's not life threatening or anything like that. He was unconscious when they found him and they think he hit his head on the dash."
"But how did it happen?" I ask her as Bradie throws his arm around Sarah's shoulder.
"Apparently he went through a give way sign and a car hit his driver's side door."
"Well Alice is on her way over to watch the kids for us" I tell her and she nods her head in thanks.
Looking at Sarah so upset is making me feel like I'm going to crack at any moment.
"Mum, will Andy be alright?" Max says from behind me. I turn and notice that Lilly is standing behind him, almost hiding and I realise that they are probably both scared witless.
"I'm sure he'll be fine guys" I say kneeling down and pulling them both to me in a hug. "He's tough, remember. He'll probably just have a terrible headache. But I promise I'll ring you as soon as I know what's wrong with him" I tell them both. "Alice is coming to watch you two and Chris so we can go and find out what's wrong with him okay. How about you take Chris into the toy room and start playing while you wait for Alice?"
"Okay Mum" Max says and takes Chris' hand and leads him and Lilly down the hall to the play room.
"He'll be alright" I say to Sarah as I grab her hand and squeeze gently. "Where's Tom?"
"He just went to the shop to get the paper. He'll be home in a minute I hope. He didn't take his phone so I couldn't ring him" she tells me.
I hear the front door open and Tom comes in whistling, which stops almost immediately when he sees our faces.
Sarah quickly explains what's happened and Tom hugs her tight. "Why don't you guys head off and I'll wait for Alice and come as soon as I can" I say to them.
"I'll wait with you" Bradie says as Tom says thanks quickly and ushers Sarah out the door.
"Thanks Bradie" I say as I pace around the kitchen, willing Alice to hurry the hell up.
I hear Tom and Sarah pull away and Bradie steps over to where I am wearing a rut in the kitchen floor.
"Come here" he says and holds me to his chest while I lose control of my tears.
"What if he's not alright?" I say between sobs. Bradie is rubbing my back trying to calm me and telling me quietly that he'll be fine.
I'm unsure of how long we stood together in the kitchen like that but when I hear Alice's car pull up I suddenly come alive and jump away from Bradie, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I'm just going to go wash my face quickly" I say as I run down the hallway to the bathroom.
When I come back out Alice is already in the play room with the kids.
"Hey Alice, thanks so much for coming over" I say.
She stands up and gives me a quick hug before saying in my ear "keep me posted okay."
"I will" I reply as I release her and go in search of Bradie.
He's still waiting in the kitchen and when he sees me he says "ready?"
"Yep, let's go" I say as he grabs his keys.
I follow him out to the car and jump in with him. He's driving like Miss Daisy and my patience is running thin, even though I know he's only trying to be careful.
I start tapping on the door and trying to keep myself still as I endure the very long, very slow ride to the hospital. When we finally park I quickly open my door and start for the entrance with Bradie trailing behind.
We burst through the hospital doors and head to the front desk. "Andy Clemmensen" Bradie says to the nurse and she looks at her list of admissions.
"Are you family" she asks, looking up at him.
"Yeah, I'm his brother" he replies before she nods and looks at her list again.
"He's in room 4 on the second floor. Take the elevator over there" she says and points to her left.
We both race over and wait for the doors to open before we take the elevator to the floor above.
When we step out we see Tom and Sarah in the hallway down from the elevator. We rush over to them.
"What's going on?" Bradie asks them both.
"The doctor is in there now with him" Tom says to us.
I take a deep breath and lean against the wall next to Bradie.
We stand there for ten minutes before the doctor comes out to speak with Tom and Sarah whilst Bradie and I eavesdrop.
"So it appears Andy has a mild concussion and bruised ribs from the impact but that's about it from what we can see from the x-rays. We'll keep him in tonight for observation though. He'll have a pretty bad headache for the next day or two and possibly some facial bruising but he will be fine to go home in the morning."
"Thank you doctor" Tom says shaking his hand. "Are we okay to see him now?"
"Yeah, sure, like I said he's just going to be a little sore" he says as he turns and heads down the hall.
We all file into the room to find Andy on the bed dressed in a hospital gown. I can see the bruising appearing on his face already and I'm reminded of the black eyes he recently had.
Sarah and Tom both say hello to him followed by Bradie. I bend over and kiss his forehead and say hello to him as well. He seems a little bit out of it and his eyes are a bit glassy. I'm guessing they've given him something for the pain.
We all talk quietly to him, Tom and Sarah asking him about the accident but he doesn't seem to remember much about it. We are all startled by the sound of a phone ringing and I quickly recognise Andy's ring tone. Bradie stands and goes through the pile of Andy's clothes on the little set of drawers and finds the phone.
"Just answer it" Andy says to Bradie as I see Bradie push the green button.
"Hello?" I hear him say.
"Who? Oh hi Vicki, how are you? It's Bradie. What? No he's been in an accident; we're here at the hospital with him. Yeah he seems okay. Yeah, alright I'll tell him. See you soon."
He hangs up and turns the phone off before saying "You know you're not supposed to have your phone on in the hospital don't you?"
"Was that Vic?" Andy asks him.
"Yeah, she said to tell you that she's sick of waiting for you and that she's on her way here."
Andy is strangely silent and I can see Tom and Sarah exchanging looks. Bradie looks quite uncomfortable too.
I'm unsure of what to say or do and as I'm about to ask if anyone wants a coffee Tom stands and suggests that they should give Andy and I some privacy.
When they've left the room I move to the seat next to the bed and grab Andy's hand.
"How are you feeling?" I ask him.
"Like shit. I can't believe I went through a give-way sign. What a fucking idiot" he says before saying "oww my head hurts like a bitch."
I contemplate not mentioning Vicki but my brain gets the better of me. "So who's Vicki?" I say, trying my hardest not to sound jealous.
Andy looks almost as uncomfortable as I feel. "Umm, she's like one of my oldest friends from school. I was on my way to meet her for a coffee when I went through that intersection."
"Oh, I see" I reply, unsure of what else to say.
"Look, I swear to you that she's nothing more to me than a really good friend. It's not like that between us alright. She's just someone who's know both Bradie and I for so long and I guess I just wanted to talk to her about what's going on at the moment. I actually can't wait for you to meet her."
"How come she wasn't at your party then?" I ask him.
"She was overseas at the time in London. She works as a photographer for bands. She's done quite a few of our photo shoots actually."
"Oh okay. I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about her before now" I tell him.
"I've been meaning to get the two of you together but she only just got back a week ago I think. I'm sure you'll love her. She is a really nice girl" he tells me.
I secretly already hate her, just for being the one indirectly responsible for his accident. If he wasn't driving to meet her, he wouldn't have crashed. "Can't wait" I say to him with a smile. It's a good thing he's drugged up and can't detect my sarcasm.
Bradie pops his head through the door and asks if he can come in. I stand and tell them both that I'm just going to grab a coffee and call Alice. I bend over and give Andy a kiss before leaving and heading for the elevators.
When I'm downstairs and outside I turn my phone on and dial Alice's number.
"Hey Alice it's me" I say when she answers.
"What's happening? How is he?" she asks.
"He's got a concussion and some bruised ribs but he'll be okay. They're keeping him in tonight though" I tell her.
"Oh okay. The kids are fine, just so you know."
"I'll be home probably in an hour or so anyhow. I'll bring them back with me I think since he seems to be okay" I tell her.
"Alright, I'll see you soon" she says.
"Bye Alice, and thanks again" I say before ending the call.
I put my phone back in my pocket and head inside to the cafeteria to get a coffee. After I have paid and I'm heading for the elevator a girl comes rushing past me and knocks my arm, effectively spilling the hot liquid all over my jeans.
"Oww, oww, shit, oww" I say to myself as I dance around on the spot. The girl keeps running and yells a sorry over her shoulder to me.
I head into the bathroom and dampen some paper towel to soak up the spill. When I've done all I can I grab my cup and make my way to the stairs to go back to Andy's room.
When I approach down the hallway I notice that Sarah, Tom and Bradie are all standing in the hallway again.
"Is the doctor back in there?" I ask them.
"No, Vicki's here" Bradie says.
"Oh, okay" I say as I lean against the wall next to Bradie again and wait my turn.
"Hey Bradie" I hear Andy call out and Bradie goes in the room to see him. When he comes out he says "Elle, Andy wants you."
"Thanks Bradie" I say as I walk in the room to see Andy. There is a girl sitting next to him on the bed with her legs crossed. Her long blonde hair is in loose curls down her shoulders and her beautiful face is beaming with a smile so bright that her teeth are like reflectors.
I recognise her as the girl who knocked my coffee flying. Great, I hate her already.
"Elle, I want you to meet Vicki" Andy says to me. I put my coffee into my other hand and reach out to shake hers. She seems a bit confused by this but reluctantly holds her hand out as well. I grasp it and say "It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, you're the girl with the coffee. I'm sorry about that before, I didn't mean to bump you" she says to me.
"Its fine, all cleaned up now" I says to her as I notice Andy's confused face.
I'm about to explain it to him when Vicki pipes up and says "I was in such a rush to make sure you were okay that I completely didn't see Elle here downstairs and bumped her as I ran past."
"Oh okay. Are you alright" he says to me and I nod, afraid that if I open my mouth that I might say something I might regret.
"Where's Max and Lilly?" he asks me.
"I left them at home with Alice" I say to him.
"Who's Max and Lilly? Are they your dogs?" Vicki asks me.
"No. My children" I say with a tight smile wondering how I'm going to ever like this girl.
"Oh wow. Andy never said you were that old" she says and I feel my hands tighten of their own accord.
"Hey Vicki, can you give us a moment please?" Andy says, obviously aware of the fact I'm about to lose control any second from now.
"Yeah sure, I'll be outside" she says before hopping off the bed and parading out of the room. If her skirt was any shorter I swear she would be wearing a scarf.
"She means well" Andy says before I even think about opening my mouth.
"It just takes a while to get used to her bluntness" he says and I nod my head.
"Seriously though, she's not that bad" he says and I realise then that I haven't actually said anything since she left the room. I lean over and kiss him softly.
"I'm sure I'll get used to her" I say as I sit back up and grab his hand, hoping to God that it's true.