Title: Summer Storms, Part 6 of 6
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Author's Notes: This chapter is very long, twice as long as it should be, but I didn't have the heart to cut it in half and keep people waiting. Thanks for all the reviews (ness – I find it very funny but also very flattering that you can actually pick out little bits that are new), and I hope this does not disappoint. I have mixed feelings about finishing -- glad to have it done, but sad because it is probably the last YA fic I will write unless I get fired and find myself with a lot of time on my hands. I have a few unfinished tidbits and ideas, and anyone who wants to adopt them and make them your own, just email me.
Chapter Six: Love and Architecture
"I thought I'd find you kids in here," the tall man in the cowboy hat and brown raincoat said as he stepped through the door. "It was smart of you to build that fire. I wouldn't have come up here if I hadn't seen the smoke."
Hamilton squeezed Jake protectively until he realized who this was.
"I'm Sheriff Grange. You the kids from Rawley Academy?"
"That would be us," Scout replied, relief in his voice. He tossed back the blanket and stood up.
"I got a report that the Dean's son and Senator Calhoun's son were missing. They even sent out a search party for you boys."
Will laughed bitterly. "Nice to know some of us are important enough to rescue."
"And, Bella," the sheriff added, recognizing her instantly, "Your dad's been lookin' everywhere for you. He said he warned you not to go down to the river this morning."
"He did, Sheriff," Bella replied. "I'm so sorry. Is he OK?"
"Oh, he's goin' crazy, but we'll give him a call from the truck. You kids get your clothes on, and we'll get out of here."
Hamilton looked around at all of them, wondering why no one had said what he was thinking. "Um, excuse me, Sheriff? We need to get to a hospital." He pulled back the blanket just enough to reveal Jake's foot wrapped in the blood-soaked bandage.
The sheriff regarded them carefully, with a squint of his eyes in the dim light, then nodded. "Let's go."
Hamilton disentangled himself from Jake and the blanket and threw on his shirt, which hadn't had enough time by the fire to dry and was still thoroughly wet. But his heart was pounding so much he was barely capable of noticing the cold against his skin. They were rescued. Now if Jake could only last until they got to the hospital...
He looked down at her. She was still wrapped in the blanket but no longer sitting up, just curled on her side in a ball on the floor, eyes closed. Hamilton wondered if she even realized they were being rescued. He knelt next to her and wrapped his arms around her, and for the first time when he lifted her, she was incredibly heavy. Fatigue and hunger had set it, and he wasn't sure his arms were strong enough to make this last lap to safety.
"You need some help?" the sheriff asked.
"No, I've got h—" He stopped himself, not even sure anymore which pronoun was right. "I've got it," he sighed between clenched teeth. Jake sank between his arms, and he had to use his knee to push her back up and get his grip, but he was going to carry her out of there if it was the last thing he did.
She took off running so fast, Finn had a hard time catching up to her. Even the thick tread of his hiking boots slipped on the soaked ground, but it didn't seem to affect Kate at all, and she pushed through branches and wove around trees until she was a tiny blur of yellow rainslicker is the distance.
"Kate! Wait! You don't even know where you're going!"
He thought he heard her yell something back to him, but whatever it was was lost to the rain. And now through another dense thicket of trees he lost sight of her altogether, and he knew that this was the worst thing that could happen. He couldn't lose her out here in the woods.
"Kate! Stop!" He picked up his pace, no longer concerned at all for his own safety. And lack of concern led him exactly where one could expect, into a header right over a tangle of tree roots. He hit the wet ground with a thud and a sharp pain in his shoulder. He grimaced and rolled over onto his back, and only then did he hear the sound right next to him.
Sobbing.
He found Kate crumpled in a pile only a few feet away, having encountered the same obstacle in her path and met with the same fate.
"Kate!"
He sat up and crawled to her, lifting her by the shoulders until her tear-and-rain-soaked face looked up at him pleadingly as she gasped, "It's my fault."
"What?"
"It's all my fault. God took Hamilton away from me to punish me."
This was so far from what Finn was expecting, he just stared at her, trying to make sense of it. He watched as her eyes closed and she shook with another sob.
"Kate, nothing's your fault. It's my fault. We've established that. All of it, my fault."
She shook her head and mouthed, "No." Her eyes opened but she didn't look at him. She looked past him, her eyes darting around, endlessly searching, as if her son might appear magically in the trees.
Finn pulled Kate to her feet. "Listen to me. It's my fault," he reiterated. "I know it now. And to prove it to you, you know what I've been doing for the last ten minutes? Writing my resignation speech in my head. You want to hear it? 'Dear Dean Fleming and Esteemed Members of the Board—'"
"Stop!" Kate screamed. She pulled away from him and started walking again. "We have to keep moving."
"We're going to find them, Kate. I swear to you, we will. And when we do, Hamilton will be fine."
Kate froze in her tracks right in front of him, but she didn't turn around. He reached out for her arm.
"Listen to me, Kate. I get it now. I get what's important to you, and I'm ready to back off." He waited for her to turn and look at him, but she continued to stare through the trees as if transfixed. He continued, "I'll let you go. I get it."
"It's Steven!" she cried.
Finn thought this was a reply, and it cut like a knife to his heart, until he realized that she had spotted something ahead of them. She broke into a run again, slipping her arm from his grasp before he could process what was happening. He took off after her, and suddenly they were free of the trees and were crossing a meadow that swept uphill to the road.
Flashing orange lights on the Emergency Services truck told him that they had reached the rendezvous point. And there by the truck was parked Steven's Mercedes. The Dean stood beneath a black umbrella, which he tossed aside as he saw his wife come running toward him. He wrapped her up as she threw herself into his arms.
Finn slowed his pace now, giving them their moment. He heard Kate ask, "What are you doing here? I thought you had to stay at school."
"I had to come out, make sure you're OK."
"Something's wrong. Something happened..."
"No, honey..." Steven kissed her head softly. "They found the boys. They're OK."
Kate nearly collapsed into her husband's arms. "Oh, thank God. Thank God. Where are they?"
"They're at the hospital. One of them was hurt, but it didn't sound bad."
"Was it Hamilton?"
"The sheriff didn't say, but I don't think it was."
"I have to get to the hospital."
"I know. You and Finn can take my car, and the deputy will give me a ride back to campus."
"Come with me," she begged.
"I can't. But you bring our boy home, and we're going to have a nice, warm family dinner tonight."
Kate nodded, tears still running down her face. She grasped her husband's hands and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too."
The storm had reached full force, and torrents of water splashed the windows and windshield of the sheriff's Bronco as they sped toward the hospital. Jake, still wearing only her underwear and a blanket, lay in Hamilton's lap in the front seat.
Hamilton punched several buttons on the dashboard. "Why isn't there any heat coming out?" he demanded.
"Lay off there, son," replied the sheriff patiently. "It takes a minute to warm up."
Hamilton looked down at Jake and decided maybe he shouldn't turn the heat on after all. He had hoped that going back out into the cold wind and rain would wake her up, but he saw her eyes drift closed again. "Jake, don't go to sleep." When she didn't respond, he gently slapped her cheek again, then grabbed her chin and shook her head.
"Hamilton..." she moaned softly.
"Come on, baby. Stay with me."
Sheriff Grange looked down at Jake, then at Hamilton and said, "Don't worry. The little lady will be just fine."
It took a moment for Hamilton to realize what was wrong with that comment. He looked at the sheriff and opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't know what to say. Instead, he looked in the rearview mirror, where he met Will's eyes. And then he decided to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the trip.
Even with the lights flashing, and the siren blaring when they reached an intersection, it still seemed to take forever to reach the hospital. But finally the Bronco pulled up in front of the emergency room entrance, and Sheriff Grange jumped out and came around to open the passenger-side door. He scooped Jake up from Hamilton's lap. Jake didn't like this and wouldn't let go of Hamilton's hand.
"Wait, let me take her," Hamilton begged.
"I got her," the sheriff replied, striding away and pulling Jake's hand away with him.
They passed though the automatic double doors and into the hospital with Bella, Will, and Scout right behind them. A nurse came up to meet them.
"Hey, Sheriff," the nurse greeted him cheerfully.
"Hey, Janeane. This is the one I called in. Got her foot caught in a trap."
The nurse pulled up a wheelchair and said to Jake, "Here, honey, have a seat." She then laughed to the sheriff, "I didn't even know prep school kids were in season."
The sheriff set Jake down in the wheelchair. The bright fluorescent lights of the corridor finally brought her back to total consciousness, and she looked around for Hamilton. He stepped up beside her and took her hand.
"Jake, listen to me," he whispered. "They know you're a girl."
"They have to know, Hamilton. It's a hospital. They've all studied anatomy."
"What do I do?"
Jake looked up at Will and Scout, then back to Hamilton. "Damage control."
The nurse wheeled Jake into the emergency room, and Hamilton tried to follow.
"You kids wait out here," the nurse ordered.
"No, I want to stay with - "
"Waiting room," she barked.
"But... I'm his-- her -- brother."
The nurse eyed Hamilton, then Jake. They did kind of look alike.
"OK. If you're family."
Hamilton followed them into the emergency room and over to a row of gurneys separated by curtains. Another nurse and an orderly lifted Jake out of her blanket and laid her onto a gurney. Jake rubbed her arms, obviously very cold again. She lay there in her bra and underwear as Nurse Janeane started unwrapping her foot and the other nurse wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her upper arm. Hamilton stood grasping the metal frame at the end of the gurney. He tried to keep eye contact with Jake the entire time.
A doctor walked in. He immediately noticed Hamilton at the end of the bed and stopped. "Hamilton!"
Hamilton turned, and his stomach sank. He mumbled under his breath, "Oh, God," and then said aloud, "Hi, Doctor Savaar."
"What are you doing here?" the doctor asked. "Are you OK?"
"We got caught in the storm..."
"So, you know this kid?" Nurse Janeane asked the doctor.
"This is Hamilton Fleming. His father is the Dean of Rawley Academy."
"Well, aren't we honored?" she commented. "And this is the dean's daughter?"
Doctor Savaar looked at Jake, then back at Hamilton. "You don't have a sister, do you?"
Hamilton glared at the nurse, who cocked her head toward the door. He looked back at Jake, blew her a kiss, and said, "I'm going to go wait outside." Jake gave him a weak smile that told him she appreciated the effort.
Hamilton ran his hands over his head and searched his brain for what to say as he walked back out to the waiting room and found Scout, Will, and Bella all looking at him expectantly. "Guys, listen..." he began.
He was interrupted by a female voice crying, "Hamilton!" He spun around to see his mother come rushing into the waiting room, followed by Finn.
"Mom?!"
Kate ran to him and grabbed him in a suffocating hug. "Oh, Munchie, thank God you're OK!" For several seconds she stood squeezing him, and the small part of him that wasn't mortified actually found comfort in her arms. He realized he was hugging her back. When he finally grew too self-conscious to keep holding on, he extricated himself from his mother's embrace and was surprised to see tears running down her face. With a pang of guilt, he realized how worried she must have been. Here was one more person who suffered because of his stupid decisions. Hamilton looked over his mother's shoulder at Finn, who awkwardly looked away, his face contorted with a strangely-pained look of his own.
His mother cupped his face with her hands and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he replied. "What are you doing here?"
Finn answered for her. "The police said they found you guys and took you to the hospital."
Kate shook her head as if the very memory of it stung. "I didn't know what to think."
"Where's Jake?" asked Finn.
Will answered, "He hurt his foot. The doctor's looking at him right now."
"I'll go see how he's doing." Finn started toward the emergency room.
"No, don't!" Hamilton called after him.
Finn stopped. "Why not?"
"They said he's fine, but they don't want anyone in there."
Kate frowned. "But I want to know that he's OK when I call his parents. No use in worrying them more than necessary."
"Whoa. Why do you have to call his parents?"
"I think they'd want to know that their son is in the hospital."
"But it's nothing - it's just a scratch," Hamilton insisted. "And Jake doesn't have a dad, and his mother's touring a stage play in Europe so she's, like, impossible to get a hold of anyway."
"I have to let her know, Hamilton. It's school policy."
"Ham, relax," said Finn. "It's not like you guys are in trouble."
"Maybe I could call his mother," Hamilton suggested. "We hung out a lot Parents' Weekend, so I know her pretty well."
Kate shook her head. "Right now I just want to get you home, sweetie."
"No, I want to stay, wait for Jake."
"You're soaking wet, you're cold..."
Scout piped up. "Mrs. Fleming, they said they'd get us some dry clothes."
Kate turned to him as if seeing him for the first time. "Oh, hello, Scout. I'm sorry, I barely noticed you. Hi, Will."
"Hi, Mrs. Fleming," Will replied.
"And this is Bella," Scout added, bowing his hand before her in introduction.
"Nice to meet you, Bella." Kate turned back to her son. "Hamilton, I'm not leaving you here."
"Please, Mom. I feel totally responsible for this. The shortcut through the woods was my idea."
"Mrs. Fleming, my dad's coming to get me in a little bit," Bella offered. "We can give these guys a ride back to school."
Kate considered this. Hamilton saw an opportunity and turned on his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
Kate thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you eaten?"
"Mom..." he groaned.
"Here, let me give you some money." She opened her purse and pulled out several bills and coins.
"So that means I can stay?" Hamilton asked hopefully.
"Yes. You're so sweet to want to make sure that Jake's all right. Get a ride back with your friends, or you can wait until the hospital calls us to come pick Jake up. But in the meantime, I am calling his mother."
Hamilton nodded. He didn't know what else to say.
Finn turned to Scout and Will. "You guys check in with me when you get back, and then get some rest. Tomorrow we're going to talk about what happened."
Kate gave Hamilton one more hug and a kiss, and he tried not to reveal how desperate he was to have her gone. Then she finally and reluctantly left with Finn.
Hamilton watched them go and then stood awkwardly for a moment in the silent waiting room before looking at Will, Scout, and Bella. He grabbed the top of his head with one hand and began, "I know this all looks really weird..."
With a glance at Bella, Scout replied, "Lucky for you, we have a high threshold for weird."
"We figured out that Jake's a girl," said Will. "Figured it out before the sheriff showed up."
"Bella knew right away," Scout added.
Bella shrugged. "Takes one to know one, I guess."
"But what we're not clear on is why she's doing this," Scout said.
Hamilton sighed. "It's a long story. All I can say is she... came out... to me a month ago, and we've been together ever since. And now she has to keep up the charade because if the school finds out she's been lying, she's in violation of the honor code and God knows what else, and they'll kick her out. And I'm really not ready for that to happen."
"Don't worry, man," Will assured him. "We won't say a word."
Hamilton shook his head. "It's probably too late anyway. Once my mom calls her mom..."
Will looked at Scout, then Bella. None of them knew what to say.
"I'm sorry," was all Will could offer.
"My dad should be here soon," Bella said. "How long do you think it will be until you get to see Jake?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna wait. I'll get a taxi back."
"We can stay, wait with you," Scout volunteered.
"No, I'll be OK." Hamilton looked away, wanting to be alone with his brooding.
Scout reached out and tapped his arm. "I'm sure he's -- she's -- Jake's -- going to be fine."
"Yeah." Hamilton held up the money his mother gave him. "You guys want anything?"
They all declined, and Hamilton left them and walked over to a vending machine that had a picture of hot chocolate on it that reminded him how desperately he wanted to get warm. He was shaking so much he had to steady his hand to slip the coins into the slot. And the shaking wasn't just from cold. His whole body ached with tension, and the ordeal wasn't over yet. They had been rescued, but he might still lose Jake after all...
The rain had let up slightly as Bella waited with Will and Scout for her father to arrive. Her heart broke at what Jake and Hamilton were going through, so much so that the sadness overwhelmed the worry she felt over what Charlie was going to say when he showed up.
The boys were still talking about the big revelation, a subject they'd probably get much mileage out of over the weeks and months to come.
Scout remarked, "Wow. He must be really crazy about her."
"It's kinda sweet, in a freaky way," said Will. "I mean, I thought I was a romantic, but I couldn't imagine letting everyone think I was gay just so I could be with some girl."
"I guess you've never been in love," said Scout.
"I guess not."
"It overcomes a lot of obstacles," Scout added pointedly.
Bella knew this was directed at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Scout, do you still not get it? This is more than a social stigma with us. There's no overcoming here. And there never will be."
Before Scout could respond to this outburst, Bella saw Charlie's truck pull up. "Let's go," she snapped. She pushed open the glass door and headed back out into the rain, silently praying that someone would be able to pull a happy ending out of this day.
How long had he been sitting there? An hour? Two? Hamilton couldn't remember anymore. A nurse had given him some dry clothes to change into, and now, dressed in a white T-shirt and blue scrub pants, he sat in the waiting room reading a magazine. Architectural Digest. He was way too stressed to actually read, so he just thumbed through the glossy pictures, trying to find anything that would take his mind off of Jake. His eyes settled on a photo spread of a palazzo in Florence. Sun glinted off the warm hues of the arched doors and ornate pediments. He recalled his trip to Italy with his parents years ago, and also remembered a very similar picture in the first architecture book his mother gave him. But eventually what formed in his mind was the deepest wish to share those Florentine arches with Jake, to hold her hand as they strolled past that palazzo in the warm sunlight, to photograph her in front of that fountain...
"Hamilton?"
Doctor Savaar's deep voice startled Hamilton back to reality. He stood up.
"Doctor Savaar, how's she doing?"
"She's fine. She made me promise I'd come out here and tell you that personally. She does have a few bruised bones in her foot and some torn fascia, but nothing broken. We're going to keep her here over night, make sure her foot doesn't get infected, but she should be able to go home tomorrow."
Hamilton exhaled deeply. "Thank you. I was really... She lost so much blood, and it was so cold..."
"She held up remarkably well considering. We gave her a transfusion of plasma and she perked right up. She's a spunky girl."
"Yeah. You've no idea."
The doctor smiled at this. "So... We've established that she's not your sister...?"
"No, she's my girlfriend." Wow. Hamilton savored that moment. It felt so good to say the word, to acknowledge it. Girlfriend. "But my parents don't really know, so maybe if you could - I mean, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention..."
"Don't worry, Hamilton. We follow strict rules of confidentiality to protect our patient's privacy."
"Thanks. So, can I see her?"
"No, I'm afraid not. We gave her something to help her sleep. I'm sorry, but you'll probably have to come back tomorrow."
Hamilton's heart sank. "Can I just peek in on her? I just want to see with my own eyes that she's OK."
"I really shouldn't let you do that."
Hamilton sighed. He was tired. He didn't know if he could muster another puppy-dog face. He wasn't even sure if it could work on a guy. But he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try.
"Doctor Savaar... Please?"
Hamilton stepped out of the fluorescent light of the hallway and into the darkened hospital room. Once his eyes had adjusted he could make out Jake's still form curled in the bed. He closed the door behind him and tiptoed over to her.
Jake was sound asleep. The fading light from the gray sky outside the window cast the entire room in a faint glow, but it was light enough to see that the color had returned to her cheeks. Her hair fell softly in wisps around her closed eyes and dark lashes, and Hamilton thought she looked even more beautiful than he had ever seen her. He reached out and lightly ran his fingers over her cheek and along the line of her jaw. He felt her arm that lay on top of the blanket. She was warm - but not warm enough, he said to himself. He ran his fingers down her arm to her hand.
And that was when he found the piece of paper. It was underneath Jake's fingers, as if she had been clutching it when she fell asleep. Hamilton slid it out from her hand and noticed that it was a sheet from the pad of paper next to the bed. He could see her handwriting on it, but it was in pencil, and he had to go over to the window to read it. The first thing he saw was his name.
Hamilton,
If you find your way in here, please
please please please please wake me up!
-Jake
A wave of love washed over him. She wanted to see him as badly as he wanted to see her. He walked back over to the bed. He knew he wasn't supposed to wake her. But he didn't care.
"Jake," he whispered. He bent over her and shook her shoulder. She was really knocked out. "Jake!" he said louder.
Her eyelids slowly lifted as if she were struggling to come to life.
"Hey baby," Hamilton said, taking her hand and placing soft kisses on her fingers.
She looked up at him, and as soon as her eyes could focus on his face, she grinned.
"Hamilton!" she cried. As he leaned down to kiss her, she sat up and wrapped her arms around him, and they met halfway in a tight embrace.
"Careful!" he said, grabbing her arm that had an IV line running into it. "Don't hurt yourself." He sat down facing her on the bed and propped up her pillows so that she could lean back.
She laid her hand on his thigh, noticing the scrub pants. "Nice outfit."
"Ditto," he replied, checking out her hospital gown. "So is it true you don't wear anything underneath that?"
She just smiled a loving but drowsy smile.
Hamilton looked around and commented, "You always manage to get a single room."
"I like my privacy."
He looked at her carefully and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"They gave me some great painkillers, but then they made me take something to make me sleep and that really pissed me off but they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I swore to them that they're going to hear from my mother's lawyer about this." She paused. "I just wanted to see you." She reached out her fingers and touched his lips as a smile curved her own. "And now you're here."
"I'm here." He kissed her fingers. "What about your foot?"
"Twenty-two stitches." Her eyes scanned his face. She could read him like a book and saw the deeper worry that he was trying to hide. "What else is the matter? Will and Scout...?"
"No, Will and Scout are cool. It's just... my parents. They don't know you're a girl, but..."
"What?"
He knew he had to tell her. "My mom's gonna call your mother. I tried to talk her out of it."
"Hamilton, is that what you're so worried about? You think I'd have lasted this long if I didn't know how to dial into my mom's voice mail and erase messages?" Jake gazed at him for a moment, then grinned.
Hamilton exhaled a huge sigh of relief, which made her grin even wider, until she remembered to add, "But tomorrow I need you to bring me my laptop. I may need to hack into the hospital's database and fix my medical records before they call the school. They gave me a hard time when I kept telling them my name was Jake."
Hamilton nodded. "First thing in the morning."
Jake's smile slowly faded. She looked down and bit her lip. "Listen, Hamilton... There are some things that I said that I want to apologize for."
"No, come on, Jake -"
"No, really, I never should've suggested that you got off on me bleeding to death."
"Jake, don't apologize. It was my fault we ended up in those stupid woods."
"But it was my fault we lost the boat."
Hamilton just smiled. "See? We make a great couple."
Jake closed her eyes and exhaled.
Hamilton could tell she was really drowsy. "Hey, I should get out of here so you can go back to sleep."
"I didn't want to sleep because you weren't here." She looked up at him earnestly. "Hamilton... just for a minute..."
She scooted over and pulled back the covers. Without another word Hamilton climbed in bed with her, sliding one arm around her and placing his other hand on her face, and they lay back against the pillows together. Hamilton's fingers on Jake's back found their way underneath her hospital gown to caress her skin. He kissed her, gently pulling her upper lip between his own moist lips. She slid a hand around his neck as her jaw relaxed and her mouth opened up to him.
But just as his tongue reached the tip of her teeth, Hamilton jerked his head away. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her shoulder. He pulled her toward him with both arms more forcefully than he ever had before, no longer trying to be gentle, just squeezing her with everything he had. A small moan was trapped in his throat, and Jake knew he was trying not to let it escape as a sob.
She held him right back, then put a hand on his head and ran her fingers through his hair.
She whispered, "I know, Hamilton. I love you, too."
THE END