Chapter 50 – Party Bruises
Adventures of the Melee
Nolan 17, Lissa 17, Ryder 13, Olivia 10
Annabelle 5, Victoria 5, Lucas 4
July 22
"They'll be just fine," Owen smiled as he drove. He wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Amelia or convince himself.
"Mmm," Amelia grinned as she grasped the hand Owen had near the gear shift.
"Right? We made the right choice?" Owen glanced over with a slight chuckle.
"You… are fretting," Amelia giggled. "We did what we did, the choice has been made."
"That's what worries me," Owen joked as he kept his eyes on the road but leaned over to kiss his wife.
Amelia returned the kiss and patted his hand, "Think of it this way, Handsome: the patient is on the table and we've made the cut. No reason to question the need for surgery at this point."
"That's obscure, Amelia," Owen groaned as his brows gathered toward the bridge of his nose.
Shrugging, she gazed at Owen and responded, "True. Sorry - it's the best I've got."
Suddenly, traffic went from moving at top speeds to being at a dead stop. Owen slammed on the brakes, bringing the Boxster to an abrupt but safe halt. In response, Amelia's body lunged forward then was snapped back into place when the seatbelt locked and pulled her backward.
With the wind knocked out of her, Amelia gasped and attempted to inhale. Her eyes conveyed momentary fear. Owen placed his hand on her abdomen and assured her, "It's just a little spasm. You'll be fine. Shh… shh… stay calm and your diaphragm will relax."
Seconds later, able to breathe, her chest began moving up and down with quick breaths. Owen helped Amelia become centered, "Mia. Slow, deep breaths. Fill those lungs and empty them out." Traffic nudged forward and Owen drove about ten feet, keeping his hand on her body. "There you go, Mia. There you go. Nice and deep."
Amelia's eyes were closed as she breathed deep. Owen grimaced at her and ordered gently, "Mia, can you look at me?"
She opened her eyes and rolled the back of her head along the seat with a slight grin. "I… I'm fine… I just… the wind was knocked out of me and I panicked."
Owen inched up as the traffic crawled, then studied Amelia's face deeply, "Are you sure? Did you hit your head when you fell back? Is your neck in pain?"
Patting Owen's hand, Amelia smiled reassuringly, "No worries, Handsome."
"I'm pulling over to assess," Owen declared with furrowed brows. Amelia shook her head, but said nothing. She knew Owen was determined and wouldn't be swayed.
At the next exit, Owen pulled the car onto the exit ramp and into a store parking lot. He released the trunk latch as he hopped out of the car. After grabbing his stethoscope, he walked over to the passenger side, opened the car door, and kneeled down.
"Humor me," he grinned as he placed the ear tips into his ears.
"Really?" Amelia whispered into the head of the stethoscope.
Chuckling, Owen took back the end of the stethoscope and placed it over Amelia's heart. As he worked his way to her back, he prompted, "You know the drill." She took deep breaths, attempting to reassure her husband she was unharmed.
"How are you down here?" he asked as he pressed over the uterus and around her abdomen. "Any nausea?" Amelia shook her head and held back a wince. She forced herself not to flinch, convincing Owen that she had no pain or tenderness in the lower quadrants that hurt as he pressed. "You feel a little rigid," he commented.
Teasing him, Amelia responded, "That's because my protective trauma surgeon husband is over-reacting."
Gently unbuttoning a couple buttons and pulling back the shoulder of her shirt, Owen examined her skin. "Mia, the belt really threw you back. I want to get this checked out. You're already bruising."
"Owen," Amelia sighed as she ran her hand through his hair, "Really… I'm fine. Everything is fine."
"We'll compromise," Owen put forth, "You'll be examined, but we'll wait until we get to Portland."
"How is that a compromise?" Amelia laughed.
"Otherwise, I'd insist we find the nearest hospital," he grinned.
Amelia placed her hands on either side of Owen's face and kissed him. "Get back in the driver's seat, Hunt," she insisted with a sly grin. "Enough of this nonsense."
As Owen stood up and put his bag back in the trunk, Amelia grabbed the blanket she'd stowed behind the seat before they left. Shuffling onto her side, Amelia snuggled under it and pressed her hand on top of the area above her uterus. She informed Owen, "I'm going to nap the rest of the way." Teasing him, she suggested, "Wake me up if you decide to MedEvac me to a trauma hospital."
"Ha ha, very funny," Owen spouted as he leaned over to kiss her before buckling his seat belt. Then he stroked her hair and whispered gently, "Sleep well, beautiful."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Back at the Shepherd-Hunt home, the driveway was filling with cars. Predictably, Ryder had invited Nolan's closest soccer pals. Chris, a funny guy and fellow upcoming USC freshman with a sports scholarship was ready to party. John, an upcoming senior, and Chase, newly graduated and planning to attend UW, were also over. Unbeknownst to Lissa and Nolan, John had pined after her since elementary school. Dominic, another soccer player, rounded out the group of guys who had arrived.
Lissa's friends, Piper, Cindy, Monica and Linnea, had also arrived. Cindy was a highly naïve, formerly homeschooled buxom bombshell with long light brown hair and deep green eyes. Full of book smarts and highly intelligent, Cindy was not particularly savvy in the ways of the world. Monica, a year older, was home for the summer after a year of partying at UCLA. Piper and Linnea, fraternal twins who only faintly resembled each other, had night and day personalities. Piper, a blonde, flirty, and playful upcoming senior tended to live in the limelight more than Linnea, her studious, quiet, brunette sister. Nolan had found Piper off-putting for years. Anytime they worked together on a project, Piper had always found a way to charm the group out of having her do much work. Linnea, on the other hand, was one of those girls who every guy considered a good friend.
Just recently and to everyone's shock, Linnea and Chris had begun dating. Lissa had not had a chance to chat with Linnea much since her first date with Chris. Although it wasn't her business, Lissa felt that she had to warn Linnea about her new beau who had slept with half of the girls at school.
A couple hours into the party, Nolan was fairly buzzed. He found that with each drink, he was less and less concerned about getting caught or about the level of responsibility he had felt compelled to shoulder earlier. He, John, Lissa, Linnea, and Chase were in hysterics as Chris shared a detailed and exaggerated story.
"So, you and Chris," Lissa leaned over to Linnea whispering. "You're… a thing?"
"I guess," Linnea blushed. "Yeah, we've been out a few times since that first date."
Without meaning to, Lissa looked hesitant and disgusted. Linnea responded, "I know you aren't nuts about him, Liss, but he's a really respectful and kind guy when you get him away from all his friends."
Reluctantly, Lissa nodded and mumbled, "Nolan's respectful and kind whether he's with his friends or not."
"You already claimed the perfect man, Liss. The rest of us just have to settle," Linnea grumbled sarcastically as she stood up and walked off.
At an out of the way table close to the water, Dominic and Piper shared a joint. Piper held back laughter when she saw Cindy approach. "You know her?" Piper asked.
"No, who is she?" Dominic chuckled.
"Cindy. She was homeschooled forever. Sheltered little girl," Piper huffed.
"Sheltered little girl with a fantastic rack. She's hot," Dom pointed out.
Piper laughed, "Good luck, Dom. That's not happening."
Dominic stood up and flashed a brilliant smile as he extended his hand, "Hi, I'm Dominic."
"Cindy," she responded shyly. "I thought I'd pop over and say hi."
"Cin, you don't want to be over here, honey. We're getting high," Piper pointed out.
Awkwardly, Cindy responded, "Who said I wasn't interested in weed, Piper?"
"Are you? Sit down and join us then," Piper smiled.
Dominic, sensing his opportunity lay in smothering Cindy in sweetness, interjected, "You're welcome to hang out with us whether or not you want to smoke. I think Piper wanted to make sure you knew we were smoking before you sat down. You know, in case you didn't want to be around it."
"I'm all good," Cindy flirted. The two chatted, virtually ignoring Piper. Piper watched Dom's efforts, both disgusted and impressed with him. She predicted to herself that, at the very least, the couple would kiss before the end of the night.
As Piper anticipated the evening's activities, Linnea came over to her sister pouting. Piper read her face immediately. "What's wrong, Lin?"
Reaching for the joint, Linnea helped herself and whined about her interaction with Lissa.
"Cindy," Linnea huffed. "you need to try this." Linnea handed her the joint and Cindy looked down at it with confusion. Dominic, still trying to woo her, gently walked her through the process step by step with the utmost respect.
"What's up with him?" Linnea mumbled to Piper.
"He's hoping for a miracle," Piper giggled.
Before the night was over, the patio became a dance floor. Monica, Piper, Chase, and John danced as a group. Nolan began dirty dancing with Lissa, who giggled with each touch. Dominic assisted Cindy in becoming increasingly stoned. He wound his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. Linnea and Chris made their way into Lissa's bedroom, consummating their relationship.
Ryder's party settled down fairly early since his friends had relatively early curfews. Strutting back up to the house alone after his last guest had left, Ryder stopped as he rounded the trail to the back patio. Taking a swig of his beer, Ryder observed his drunk brother dancing around and laughing. Usually, Nolan was sedate, serious, and respectful. Nearly every moment of his life, Nolan was responsible. Seeing his brother make a total fool out of himself made Ryder proudly smile.
