J.M.J.
Chapter III
Rescue
Joe shivered and pulled the blanket up farther. His dad and Frank were taking longer than they should have. They must have run into trouble. Hopefully, they hadn't had the same misfortune Tyler had.
Even as Joe was thinking that, Tyler stirred again and woke up with a groan. "What happened?" he asked groggily.
"You were in an accident," Joe told him. "I think you're going to be okay, though."
Tyler sat up straighter and looked around him in confusion. "What are you doing here? Where are the firemen and paramedics? Why hasn't somebody gotten me out yet?"
"Hey, relax," Joe told him. "My dad and brother and I found you. With the storm, we can't call for help, so they went to go get some. It will take a while, though, since the snow is making the roads hard to travel."
"Why didn't you call someone?" Tyler asked, his voice rising with panic.
"There's no reception," Joe explained again, even though he had just told Tyler that. He decided against telling Tyler about his concerns for his dad and brother. "What hurts? Your back, neck?"
"Mostly just my head," Tyler replied, calming down a little. "I must have hit it when I crashed. Probably have a concussion."
"It's pretty likely," Joe agreed. "But if that's all, they'll be able to fix you up at the hospital no problem."
"If you get me there." Concern was evident in Tyler's voice again. "Can't you die of a concussion if you don't get it treated?"
"You're not going to die," Joe told him, purposely speaking a little flippantly in hope that that would help calm Tyler's fears. "You're awake and talking, and as long as you stay that way, you'll be fine. I've had enough concussions to know. What were doing out here tonight, anyway?" He thought the best thing to do was to take Tyler's mind off his injuries.
"I was up visiting Iola today," Tyler said. "I had to get back up to Northport for work tomorrow. Thought this way would be safer than Shore Road."
"Yeah, we thought the same thing, too. It probably is, though. I mean, after all, it would have been a lot worse if you had slid right off the cliff."
"I guess I'm about the last person you'd want to have to sit around in a stranded car in a blizzard with," Tyler commented after a few moments.
Joe shrugged. "I don't particularly want to be stranded at all, I guess. What makes you say that?"
"You know as well as I do," Tyler replied. "Iola. You know, we never had that talk. Now seems like as good a time as ever."
"I don't know," Joe said. "I think it might be better sometime when you're feeling better. It might not be an easy talk for either of us."
Tyler shook his head. "No. I need to know now. Are you still in love with her?"
Joe hesitated. "What difference does it make whether I am or not?"
"I need to know, because she doesn't want you out of her life entirely, and if you're still in love with her, then maybe…"
"I'm not," Joe told him abruptly. "I was in love with her, but not now. I still care about her, though, and I want her to be happy, so the only trouble I'll cause for you is if you hurt her somehow."
"She's been hurt enough," Tyler said. "You're not really one to talk when it comes to that." He paused in embarrassment as he realized that this was probably not the most grateful thing to say to someone who was trying to save his life.
Joe nodded understandingly. "I know. I know what you probably think of me. I'm not going to make any excuses. I was in the wrong, and I needed a wake-up call to see that. When I finally realized it, it was too late."
"And now that you realize it?" Tyler prodded.
"I asked Iola not that long ago if she'd come back to me," Joe admitted after a short pause. "She wouldn't. She said she wanted to stay with you. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about from me."
"That's good to know," Tyler said. "But if you even asked her to come back…"
"I won't ask her again. Something happened after that. It's a little hard to explain, but really, I see now that it's a good thing the way things turned out. I mean it."
"Well, I'm not so sure I'd say so if I was in your place," Tyler replied. "There aren't any other girls like Iola."
"No," Joe agreed. "You're very lucky. Don't ever take it for granted."
"I won't." Tyler leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.
"That's probably enough talking about serious things for the moment," Joe said, "although we probably ought to keep talking. Like I said, I don't think you have anything to worry about, but if you do have a concussion, you don't want to fall asleep."
"Yeah, I guess not."
"So, how do you like your job? Whatever it is, that is," Joe asked.
Tyler smiled slightly. "I'm a computer programmer."
"Oh, yeah. I remember Iola mentioning that now," Joe said. "How do you like it?"
"The work itself is great," Tyler said, "but the place I work for is less so. I've applying all over in the city, trying to get something better, but no luck so far. I have a standing offer of a job with my uncle's company, but it's in San Diego."
"That's a long ways away," Joe agreed. "If you're working with family, though, that helps, probably."
"Most of my family is in San Diego," Tyler replied. "I just came back east for college and, well, decided it was worth staying here. I wouldn't mind going back, but only if Iola is willing."
Joe nodded, though it was a little reluctantly. "That would be really different for her."
"I haven't asked her yet," Tyler admitted. "I mean, she knows about the standing offer and that I'm thinking about taking it, but I haven't asked her if she would be willing to come with me yet. She's not really a city girl, is she?"
"Not really."
"If she doesn't want to go, I'll just have to find something else around here," Tyler said with resolution. "How about you? Like your job?"
"Most of the time," Joe replied. "I'm not crazy about getting kidnapped or stabbed or beaten up or almost shot or stuff like that, but otherwise, it's great."
"Does that sort of thing happen often?" Tyler looked incredulous.
"All of those happened on my last case." Even as he said it, another thought came into Joe's mind, and he was quiet for several seconds before he realized he hadn't given a very complete answer to Tyler's question. "Oh, but it doesn't typically happen. Mostly, it's just routine stuff, like stakeouts, research, boring stuff like that, and then doing tons of paperwork on the boring stuff. Dad insists that we keep a log, just like he did when he was with the police. It's still fun, though."
"But?"
"But it's not quite like it was back when my brother and I were amateur detectives," Joe admitted. "And now Frank's not going to work as many active cases, if he works any at all, and things will be even more different again. I guess changes never stop happening, huh?"
"But that's a good thing," Tyler said. "Even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. I mean, take me for example. I was going to go to college at UCLA and stay with my older sister who lives near there. But then her husband got a new job and they had to move, so staying with them wasn't an option anymore, and I couldn't afford to pay the tuition and find a place to live in LA or stay in the dorms. Then I got offered a scholarship to a college over here, and I can't say I've regretted coming here."
"I'd know you had a concussion then," Joe teased him.
"Well, you do have to admit the weather here leaves something to be desired compared to San Diego," Tyler continued the banter. "Especially at the moment."
"For every good thing, there's a price." Then Joe said more seriously, "You're right, though. I think sometimes things change in ways we don't like to make it easier to make hard decisions." Then he paused. "Do you hear that?"
Tyler listened for a moment. "It sounds like a car."
"It could be Dad and Frank coming back," Joe said hopefully. "I'll get out and wave them down, just in case they somehow miss the car."
The wind was beginning to die down, and so Joe wasn't met with quite the icy blast he had prepared himself for. He could see the headlights of a car approaching from the opposite direction that his dad and brother had taken; clearly, it wasn't them. Nevertheless, he limped out behind Tyler's car and waved. The approaching vehicle stopped. Joe realized with relief that it was a police car.
"What happened?" the officer asked, jumping out of his car. "Were you in an accident?"
"Not me," Joe replied. "My dad and brother and me came across this wreck about half an hour ago. We couldn't get a call out for help from here, so they went back up the road to see if they could find reception. I'm starting to worry that they might have gotten stuck, too, though. They've been gone a long time."
"I'll call for backup," the officer said. "The radio should work from here at any rate. How bad off is the driver?"
"He hit his head, but otherwise he seems fine," Joe replied. "He should go to the hospital, though."
