Chapter Seven: Surprise
"I don't need to be here," Nick Ramie shouted. Lindsey frantically surveyed the room, dazed and confused due to the blinding white walls. Her eyes finally landed on a door that Nick was pounding his fists against.
"Hello," he shouted, "I think you're just ignoring me now!"
"Shut up, man," a melancholy voice echoed. Lindsey noticed Ian sitting on a white couch. She knitted her brow in confusion. The couch hadn't been there before.
"Ah, you," Nick pointed over his shoulder at Ian, still keeping his front side against the door, "Are a douchebag."
"And you are a dumbass," Ian retorted, not moving from his spot on the couch, "Nobody can hear you."
Instead of responding with some snide remark as Lindsey fully expected him to, Nick started singing, or rather chanting.
"I just gotta get out of my prison cell," he pounded the door once again before the next verse, "One day I'm gonna be free, Lord! Find me somebody to love!" Instead of his fist, he beat his head into the door but stopped singing, "Anything? Come on, are you made of stone? I don't need to be here!"
"I said shut up," Ian roared in a very inhuman voice, causing Lindsey to yelp and jolt herself awake.
Now sitting up straight, Lindsey observed the new foreign room. She whimpered at the same white wall, white couch, and white door, but soon relaxed at the friendlier more colorful décor. A speaker hooked onto the wall in the corner by the door was playing music. Ironically, the same Queen song Nick had started singing in Lindsey's dream was playing, "Somebody to Love."
A nurse opened the door and a girl Lindsey's age walked in.
"Monica?"
"Hey," she responded, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, facing Lindsey near her stomach, "How you feeling?"
"My head hurts like hell, but other than that I guess I can't complain," Lindsey answered cynically. Monica snorted, "Hasn't been a fun night for any of us. I ran into John on the way here. He was bitching and moaning about how he'll be next in line since the Joker skipped you last night. The way they were throwing their tantrums I'm now convinced we're filming Final Destination."
Lindsey almost laughed, but the Joker's words kept playing in her mind. She went through a silent debate on whether or not to tell Monica. She would definitely tell Gordon, but should she tell anybody else?
Monica apparently was going to answer the question for her.
"What did he say to you?" She added at Lindsey's blank stare, "Well he didn't kill you obviously-"
With that, Lindsey had a sudden epiphany, "Abby! Where is she? Is she ok?"
"Yeah, she's fine. She's with Bruce and that Victor guy. I don't know his name, but he's old, kind of gray and looked like a Vic to me. Back on subject, what did Joker say to you?"
Typical Monica, Lindsey thought. "It's Alfred, just so you know. Well…he said he's saving us for last. Actually, he said he's saving me and my mouthy little friend for last."
Monica snickered with a somewhat daunted look on her face, "Mouthy little friend. Anything else?"
"He said that by then we'll be begging for it, and to tell the police he wasn't done yet."
Monica rolled her eyes, "If he wanted you to tell them that why the hell did he knock you out? God, that ego-masturbatory asshole is really not as genius as he makes himself out to be. Crafty, yes, but still quite dumb."
Lindsey couldn't stifle a chuckle before continuing, "Why is he saving us for last?"
"Probably because we were the only ones he contacted directly at the party and survived. Or maybe because you were personally saved by Batsy. Or because we were on the news."
"Or maybe because you called him a shitwad on him and kicked him in the balls," Lindsey added casually, as if they were talking about the weather.
"Could be. All I know now is that we need to stick together. I'm not just going to stand in line like a piggy at a slaughterhouse."
"So…did Houser call your home?" Lindsey asked quietly. Monica nodded, looking angrier each second, "The nerve of that 'looks pregnant, needs to wear a bra' asshole! Expelling us! I can't believe he's just leaving it at that!"
Lindsey cringed, "Is he really?"
"Well no, but if he hadn't gotten angry phone calls he would have. He's having us all meet in his office tomorrow to discuss the alternatives he's going to pull out of his ass."
Before Lindsey could respond, a nurse poked her head inside the room, "Miss DuPriest, visiting hours are over."
Monica nodded in response and the nurse left. She stood up off the bed and grabbed her purse and jacket.
"Call me if you're still here for the evening visiting hours, ok? And make sure you tell Gordon what Joker told you."
Lindsey smirked at Monica's orders, "Yes, ma'am."
"Mom, I'm fine now. Don't go Joan-zilla the airport to try to get home and protect me."
Lindsey's mother had called her soon after Monica left. Bruce had kept in touch with her, but Joan hadn't quite gotten a grasp of deciphering the time difference between England and the US. With her work schedule, she would have only been ale to call Lindsey during school or ridiculously early or late.
"Even if I wanted to I couldn't!" Joan shouted, but not in any anger toward Lindsey, "The one and only flight to the states today has been canceled for God and Jesus know why and the flights for tomorrow and Thursday are completely booked. If I stay that long, there's no way I can get out of the Friday meetings and tea party."
"Dump the tea," Lindsey offered, "I remember some history. The Boston Tea Party?"
"Not cute," Joan snapped, "I should've come home earlier. No, I shouldn't have let Shawn talk me into going at all after that second news incident."
Lindsey rolled her eyes and restrained a groan. She'd nearly forgotten about the article incident until then. She listened as another British non-Shawn voice uttered a few words to her mother.
"Do you need to go?" she asked. Joan sighed, "They're asking for me. I don't have to…"
"Yeah you do," Lindsey interrupted softly, "Bye Mom. Love you."
"As soon as I can catch a flight out I will call you back."
"Bye Mom."
The nurse said she'd be able to leave in the morning. Her doctor said she'd be able to leave in the morning. Alfred said she could leave in the morning. Lindsey herself said she would leave in the morning.
Why was Bruce being the difficult oddball out and making her stay until the next evening?
"I can't stay here. If I do, I really will give you a reason to think there's something wrong with me," she said with a glare as Bruce gave her his news.
"If we take you back in the morning," he tried to calmly explain, but he too was a bit agitated, "There's no guarantee you'll be safe during the times the others have been attacked. If you stay here during the day and you come back home when Alfred and I are with you, I know we'd all feel a hell a lot better."
"I could still be killed here. What if one of the nurses or doctors are actually one of the Joker's men and decides to euthanize me?"
"Won't happen."
Lindsey laughed scathingly, "You once told me nothing would happen to me and look where I am now!"
Bruce stared down at her, seeming to bite back any equally contemptuous retort. "You're staying," he spoke with resolve.
"No I'm not," she spat back.
"You don't have a say in that. You need a parent or guardian to sign you out since you're still under eighteen."
"I'm sure my mother will just love the fact that you're making me stay here," Lindsey drawled as she reached for her phone, "Why don't we check?"
Bruce grabbed the phone from her hands before she could dial, "You won't always be able to run to your mom when you're not getting your way."
"You would know, wouldn't you?" she snapped, and immediately cringed at how harsh the question and she herself sounded.
"I didn't mean it like that," she said quietly and remorsefully.
"You did," Bruce replied simply, though not angrily, "That's ok. You understand as well."
She hardly had to contemplate that he was insinuating to her late father as she had his parents. They were silent for a few tense seconds before Bruce decided to leave.
"See you tomorrow."
The next day during the noon visiting hours, Monica was unsurprisingly the first to drop by.
"Michael Carey and Elvira Benedetti chewed Houser a new one, so he's allowing us to continue online," she explained the meeting with Principal Houser over the students' expulsion, "So you should have emails from your teachers about your lessons and assignments by the time you get home."
Lindsey nodded absentmindedly. She couldn't have cared less about certain school subjects other than one.
"Did you by any chance find out what Mr. Riley wanted me to do?"
Monica nodded, "He and Houser want you to come in tomorrow during fourth period. I'm not sure why?"
Lindsey sighed, sending Monica a grateful smile but all the while feeling a knot of dread at the pit of her stomach. She would have to pick out a new editor in chief.
A nurse opened the door and Angela walked inside. She took a seat on the foot of the bed next to Monica and held a bottle out for Lindsey to take.
"Hair dye?" Lindsey asked with a smile. Monica was far from amused. She stared at Angela like a smashed bug on the bottom of her shoe.
"I'm going darker too," Angela explained, "I figured you might want to. It might throw them off. They'll be looking for a girl with golden blonde hair – me – and a girl with mousy kind of dusty looking brown hair – you. So if you go to a dark brown almost Monica black, they'll be so confused…"
"We get it," Monica snapped, "You and Lindsey change hair color, the clowns get confused, you're always confused, you're annoying, goodbye!"
"Monica!" Lindsey laughed, "Thanks Angela. That's really…considerate of you."
Angela sent one last glare to Monica before getting up to leave, "Don't mention it. I gotta go now. John's waiting."
Lindsey snorted, "Tell him I said hi."
"Tell him I said go jump in a lake," Monica mumbled as Angela shut the door behind her.
Lindsey laughed again and kicked Monica off the bed.
By that evening, Lindsey was feeling very irate. She'd been awake in her depressing hospital room way too long for any healthy person, Angela kept showing up throughout the day with even more conspiracy theories about how to throw the clowns off their tracks, the nurses who decided to keep her company would just form little circles and gossip about the hot doctors and slutty interns, and Bruce managed to sign her out but didn't bother to actually come into the room to pick her up. Instead he sent Alfred.
"Did he really have to work or did he not want to see me?" she asked Alfred bluntly as he drove her back to the penthouse.
"He is working, Miss Brooks. I can guarantee that," he answered. Lindsey shrugged, not caring enough to interrogate the older man over the subject.
"Alfred, what time is it?" She felt too drowsy/lazy to search for the clock in the car.
"Five o clock, miss."
'Mr. Riley should still be in his office,' she thought before telling Alfred, "Can you drive me to the school?"
Alfred cast her a confused sideways glance, but answered positive nonetheless.
Needless to say, Mr. Riley was surprised to see Lindsey walk into his office as he was packing up.
"Sorry," she offered as she sat down, "I just didn't know if I'd be able to tomorrow."
Mr. Riley smiled and nodded in understanding, "Made your decision and it's not popular?"
Lindsey cringed, "Mm-hmm. I mean I'll still plan on coming tomorrow, but just in case I don't…"
"It's alright."
She took a deep breath, not quite understanding why she was so nervous to just tell Mr. Riley, "I chose Corey."
He chuckled, "And the girls will be pretty infuriated with you, huh? One in particular?"
"Kelsey," she sighed, "I know."
"I'll let them know tomorrow," Mr. Riley assured her, "I don't think you need that after you've just been released."
"Thank you."
"So why exactly did you want to do this again?" Monica asked as she opened the bottle of hair dye Angela had given Lindsey. The latter had asked her to come over and help her. Monica's mother was a hair stylist.
"I don't really know," Lindsey answered, "Because I want a fresh start?"
"Not gonna happen."
"Stop being such a killjoy. I've never colored my hair at all. Does it hurt?"
Monica shook her head, "Nah, only if you bleach it. Then it can burn like a bitch. Sometimes it'll turn out an orange color especially if your scalp is burnt. Oh don't look so doe eyed Bambi. You're going darker."
Lindsey kicked her lightly, "Let's just get it done."
Monica began combing through Lindsey wet hair, "I take it this is going to be a surprise to your superiors?"
"You could say that."
"And it's not going to be a very pleasant surprise? As in Bruce is going to tattle and your mom is going to stink eye and scream at you from Indonesia or wherever the hell she is?"
"You could say that too."
"Well then hey," Monica laughed, "Let's do this."
"I like it, actually," Lindsey commented as she was finally able to see her new dark brown almost Monica black hair as Angela would put it. Monica snorted, "Good. Someone will. I did a good job though."
"Bruce is home!" Abby shouted from the kitchen. Lindsey winced and laughed at the same time, "You should probably go."
Monica nodded and pat her on the shoulder, "You might not be able to see the sunlight for a while."
Lindsey waved her off with one hand as they walked back into her room. She heard her greet Bruce as they walked past each other.
"Lindsey, do you still need a ride to…" Bruce trailed off as he stood in her doorway. Lindsey slowly looked to the side to see his shocked expression. She smiled sheepishly.
"Surprise?"
For those of you who never saw/don't remember my pun for this part: Nobody died in this chapter, just dyed! Hahahahaha I should be shot...