Chapter 7
Logan stared in horror at James who lay in the hospital bed. His skin held a strange white pallor and the red stitches on his neck stood out sharply against his tanned skin. Logan was not used to seeing James in a hospital bed and he knew that that image would be permenantly engrained in his head for the rest of his life. Logan knew that this would plague his dreams tonight.
"All we can do now is let him rest," said the doctor with a sigh.
The doctor that was standing by James's bedside looked up from his clipboard at them.
"But is he going to be okay?" asked Mrs. Knight in horror.
"Yes, he should make a recovery," said the doctor. "You got him to the hospital just in time."
"Alright, thank you," said Mrs. Knight.
They watched as the doctor left the room and Mrs. Knight turned to them. She was clutching the ends of her shirt in her fists, anxiety etched all over her face.
"Lets go home," Logan suggested.
Katie was still in the hospital being monitored and now James was here. It would certainly be a long car ride back to the Palm Woods without them, but they were all tired and wanted some rest.
Mrs. Knight stood up from her chair, the tears that she was crying leaving red streaks behind on her cheeks. She walked over to James and placed her hand on top of his head in a motherly gesture of affection.
"We'll be back in the morning to check on you James. Get your rest and get better. You're safe here," said Mrs. Knight.
James didn't respond because he was still eduring the effects of the sedative that the doctor had given him. That caused Mrs. Knight to cry even harder.
"Mama Knight," said Carlos as he crept up quietly behind her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "I think we should go now. He'll be okay."
Mrs. Knight nodded her head as another round of tears clutched her being and left her helpless. Carlos wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the hospital room. Logan followed behind them with his head bent down, deep in thought, wondering who the killer was.
"Do you want to see Katie before we go home?" asked Carlos in a gentle, soothing voice.
Mrs. Knight nodded her head slowly. Carlos led her to a room a little ways down the hall where Katie was. Logan was right behind them. Katie laid in her hospital bed, watching a television set that was suspended from the ceiling. She looked really bony because they had made her throw up a majority of her stomach contents to rid her body of the poison. On top of already being sick, having her stomach pumped wasn't helping her condition.
"Hi Mom," said Katie in a weak voice, taking her red, bloodshot eyes off the television.
"Hi sweetie," said Mrs. Knight, trying to not to give in to her crying again.
"Have you been here for a while?" asked Katie. "Carlos seems to be trying to hold you together."
Katie knew that having someone be her mother's strength was unnatural.
"Yes," said Mrs. Knight. "James has been admitted to the hospital."
"What happened?" asked Katie immediately alarmed.
"He was...he was..."
"He was left for dead in the bathroom," said Logan finishing Mrs. Knight's sentence. "Someone cut his neck open and left him there to bleed to death."
"How awful!" gasped Katie. "Is he going to make it?"
"Yes, he's just in a very weak state at the moment," replied Mrs. Knight.
"Mom, it's okay to cry," said Katie with a sympathetic smile. "There's no need to try to be brave just for me."
Mrs. Knight let the tears run down her face. She leaned her head on Carlos's shoulder as he hushed her, trying to get her to feel better.
"How about you go home and rest Mom?" suggested Katie. "The doctors say that I might be able to go home in the next day or two.
"Alright," said Mrs. Knight. "Love you Katie."
"Love you too Mom," said Katie blowing her a kiss.
Mrs. Knight walked over and kissed Katie on the forehead before leaving the room with Carlos and Logan.
"And it is down to three," muttered Logan under his breath.
They were all seeming to drop like flies. Who would be next? That question was in the corner of Logan's mind and caused him to become consumed by fear and worry.
They got to the parking garage outside of the hospital and went over to the maroon convertible that Gustavo had bought them. Logan climbed into the driver's seat and Carlos and Mrs. Knight got into the back. Logan started the car engine and started to drive home.
The road they were driving on was deserted. It wasn't one of the major traffic roads. Logan had made sure of that. He was uneasy about driving through tons of traffic, especially late at night. He was driving the car because he knew Mrs. Knight wasn't emotionally stable and Carlos was her source of comfort.
They were cruising along the road just fine. They were half way back to the Palm Woods when the car went over a huge bump. The three of them were tossed about. Logan almost lost control of the vehicle. He managed to steer it toward the side of the road before they violently came to a stop.
"What just happened?" asked Carlos from the back seat, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I don't know," said Logan rubbing his neck too. "I'll have to get out and look."
Logan got out of the car and looked to see what had happened. That was when he noticed that one of the front tires had a flat.
"We have a flat," announced Logan.
"Do we have a spare?" asked Mrs. Knight.
Logan popped the trunk and peeked inside.
"Nope," he confirmed.
"Well what are we going to do now then?" asked Carlos knowing that Logan was the brains and would think of something.
"We'll have to either walk to the Palm Woods or wait for a car to go by and flag them down," said Logan.
"Can't you call Camille or something to come pick us up?" asked Mrs. Knight.
"None of the other people I know own their own vehicle. They use a taxi," said Logan.
As they were talking, Carlos saw the faint glimmer of headlights in the distance in the rearview mirror.
"Speaking of a taxi, is that one coming toward us in the distance?" asked Carlos as he turned around and pointed at a taxi coming toward them.
Logan and Mrs. Knight looked in the direction that Carlos was pointing and indeed saw a taxi coming toward them.
"Hey! Pull over!" shouted Logan as he walked into the road, waving his arms above his head.
The taxi's headlights caught Logan in their gaze and braked to a halt. The taxi driver didn't roll down their window so Logan just decided to tell the driver what they needed before the driver got ticked.
"Can we get a lift? We have a flat," said Logan.
Still the window didn't roll down. There was no beeping either so Logan took it as a sign that the driver wasn't irritated.
"So is it okay?" asked Logan wearily.
Logan was smart so he knew that something wasn't right about this driver, but he decided to push his logic aside. They had to get home to Kendall. Plus they were really tired.
"Alright then. Thanks. Mrs. Knight, Carlos how about you get in the taxi?" asked Logan.
He walked to the side of the taxi and held the door open for them. They were both weary but got out of the car and over to the taxi, trusting Logan. They got into the backseat of the taxi.
"I'll be right there," said Logan. "I just need to grab my cell phone. I left it in the car."
Logan walked over to the car. He had his back toward the taxi and was bent over in the car when he heard Mrs. Knight shriek out, "YOU!"
That exclaimation was followed by the violent slam of the taxi door. Logan whipped around so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. He saw the shadow of the taxi driver as they got back into the driver's seat and slammed the door. Logan started to run toward the car to try to save Carlos and Mrs. Knight, but the driver floored the taxi and went flying down the street. By the time Logan was by the side of the road where the taxi had been a moment ago, it was long gone.
Logan couldn't believe that he was so stupid. He dropped to his knees in despair. As his knees hit the dirt ground, he noticed a note. It was probably one the taxi driver had dropped. Logan unfolded the note. It was put together with letters cut out of various magazines. Logan read the note and his heart leapt up into his throat.
As you know, I have taken Jennifer Knight and Carlos Garcia for a little trip.
I'd like you and Kendall to make the trip too. Maybe I'll have to come pick you two up sometime.
Tell Kendall that I said hi.
And that his mom and Carlos only have twenty four hours to live.
AN: Review, review, review! The killer is getting closer to be revealed! :D
