Chapter 4: You Saved my Neck, if You Know What I Mean
"Let Robbie tell you. I – I think he would... he could... can I... I need to talk to him. Please?" Lily asked, her voice shaking.
Travis didn't say good-bye, for some reason. He had a throbbing pain in his head, and his neck was stiffer than it had ever been before. He handed Robbie the phone, then turned over and laid on his side. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep almost instantly.
"Robbie, I really am scared." Lily had told Robbie.
"Lil, the doctor said he'd be just fine. Stop worrying."
"No, Robbie. I'm not worried about his neck..."
"Well, I'll make sure Ray doesn't have any outbursts that hurt Travis in anyway. And I'll try to keep Travis under better control next time."
"No, no, it's not Ray either..."
"Then what IS it, Lily? You and I are the only ones left here."
"That's just it, Robbie. I'm worried about us." Lily answered slowly.
Robbie was silent for a while. "Because we're both caught in the middle of this whole thing?"
"Well, sort of, yes. But also because I--,"
Robbie cut her off, and finished the sentence, "...because you love Travis."
Lily was sitting on her hotel bed in her pajamas and slippers. Her hair was pulled back in two braids. In one hand, she was holding her cell phone to her ear. In her other hand, she was cradling a framed picture she had brought, that no one – not Ray, Travis, or Robbie – knew that she had.
It was a picture of her friends at Mickey's. The group had just met Travis, and they were showing him around town. Ray had spilled his milkshake all over his brand new shirt – Lily had actually bought it for him for his birthday. He was staring down at the stain, and Robbie was pointing, laughing. Robbie's hair was pulled back in short – very short – pigtails that Lily had done herself. Travis was the only one looking at the camera, but he didn't know she actually saw him. He figured she was looking at her other, older, lifetime friends. But, no, she was aiming at him.
Lily took a deep breath before answering. "Yes... Yes I do." She told Robbie quietly before hanging up the phone. She sat on the bed for a while before going outside. The entrances to the hotel rooms were all if outside, because, of course, she was in Florida, the Sunshine State. Florida has rainstorms almost every day. It was raining severely at the time, but Lily didn't seem to care. She went down to the ground floor and sat on one of the benches outside, letting herself get soaked. She stared up at the dark clouds, and she didn't go back inside until they parted.
Robbie sighed and put his phone in his pocket. He turned around to wake Travis up and tell him what Ray had done. Travis, already awake, looked Robbie in the eye. "I love her, too. Now can you just tell me what happened to me? Please?"
"Alright," Robbie said, pulling up a chair. Travis sat up and leaned forward, eager to know, yet frightened if it was something extremely bad, that he really didn't want to know.
"After you told Ray about... you know..."
'But I don't care anymore! I love Lily!'
Ray had a pure hatred in his eyes that Robbie had never seen before. He glared at Travis and picked up a CD case from off the floor. "I know you do, Strong. But why do you have to keep repeating it?!" he yelled. Trying to cover up his sadness, Ray began angrily throwing things around. Robbie reached out his hand, blocking a CD case from going into Travis's booth. Ray had thrown it pretty hard, because when the corner of the case hit Robbie's palm, it punctured his skin. 'Ah!' he moaned, putting pressure on the cut to make it stop bleeding. As he was doing that, Ray picked up his water bottle, still half-full, and threw it towards the open door of Travis's studio. Travis grabbed the handle, but couldn't pull the door shut in time. The bottom of the water bottle hit him in the head, right above his eye. A hand flew to the aching spot and tried to rub the pain away. Ray walked up to Travis. Travis opened his eyes just in time to see Ray push his chair backwards. The back of his neck hit the edge of the desk behind him. This caused him to lose consciousness. Even after hitting the floor, the chair flipped over one last time, trapping Travis underneath it.
'Ray!' Robbie yelled. 'What the hell was that for? He might die if his neck was hit in the wrong spot! How would you feel if that happened, Ray? How to you feel now?"
Ray didn't answer. His eyes were wide and his palms were sweaty. He exhaled heavily, "Oh, God. Travis... I..." Ray said. Robbie hung his head. "He can't hear you, Ray." Ray looked at Robbie, then quickly ran out the door.
Robbie dialed Lily's phone number on his cell phone. 'Lily? Oh, thank God,' Robbie said as he heard Lily's voice on the other line.
'Robbie... what's wrong? Or do I not want to know?' Lily asked.
'You don't want to know... but I think I should still tell you anyway..."
Travis touched the back of his neck. He felt a long line of rough, clotted blood right below his hairline... where he had hit the desk.
"The doctor said your neck might be a little stiff over the next few days, but nothing severely threatening," Robbie informed him. "You can still go to school, Mickey's, RFR, whatever. You're just fine."
Travis nodded. Robbie saw how troubled he looked. "Hey, how about you go home. I'll lock up today."
Travis quickly got up, and though it stung his neck, he turned and smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Robbie. That really means a lot."
Robbie looked up from his CD's. "It's really no problem, Trav. I've locked up before. I just want you to get home and Ice that neck. Maybe even a heat wrap or something. You know, a neck massage would feel real—. "
Travis laughed. "No, not that. I mean, for taking care of me. For calling the doctor and saving my neck, if you know what I mean." He said, placing a hand on Robbie's shoulder. Robbie laughed. "I had to, man. The hospital was full. Thank God the doctors make house calls here."
Smiling, Travis turned around and left.
