Chapter 10
Voices filtered in and out of her head, but she was too far-gone to comprehend what was going on. All she could feel was pain. The pain was everywhere. Her head hurt, her neck hurt, even her heart hurt. Before she could realize where she was or what she was doing there her mind would give in to the desire to slip back into blackness where everything was all right and nothing was complicated.
- - -
Mary Coelson cursed under her breath as a blue minivan cut her off while changing lanes. "I’m on a mission here!" she screamed before banging the steering wheel. She licked her lips and slowly began to laugh. It was always like her to talk to herself. She leaned her head back and sighed. She was happy that she was going to see Madison again; she had missed her the past two years. She wished that she would have visited Madison but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Madison reminded her too much of Sadie and it hurt too much. But now…now she was ready. She hoped that she wasn’t too late, that Madison wasn’t gone…
- - -
Taylor groaned and leaned far back into soft sofa cushions. Mr. Australian himself was filling the living room with the sounds of crocodiles and excited squeals from his wife. Not that he minded the Croc hunter, but after being forced to watch it for a straight month…it was just too much. If Zac were here he’d be glued to the screen amazed with the fearlessness of the Aussie. Zac definitely needed to get a life. That reminded him, where was Zac? Probably sleeping. That’s all he had done the past two days since Madison…left. Taylor looked up at the clock above the television and saw that it was time for the news. He flipped the channel to the local station and set the controller on the stand beside the sofa.
"Mind if I join you, Monsieur?"
Taylor looked up to see Isaac smiling in the doorway. "Practicing your French, I see."
"You never know when we’ll be heading to France."
"Right. I seem to remember the last time we were there…you were trying to hit on this beautiful French model and you accidentally told her she had horsehair. She really loved that one, huh Ike?"
"Oh, uh huh. And I remember when you were trying to hit on the waitress at that fancy restaurant we decided to dine at that night…"
"Shh…" Taylor abruptly cut him off and turned the volume up on the television. Isaac took a seat beside him and turned his attention to the screen where a News anchor was telling about the day’s events.
"…Crawford was taken to the local hospital last night after her father said she fell down the stairs, however, there were handprints around her neck area. As of right now, she is still unconscious and is listed in serious condition." Taylor glanced over at Ike and sighed.
"Oh my God…"
"My thoughts exactly."
"What should we do?" Taylor’s eyes were wide and his face mirrored concern.
"Tell Zac."
"Right."
"Uh huh."
"Right."
‘Uh huh."
"So go tell him, Ike."
"Uh…no. I believe that is your job."
"No way, you are not dragging me into this one. This is your job."
"Nope. Sorry buddy. I believe you would do a better job."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"We should both do it."
"Yes."
"Ha! Gotcha!"
"No…see, when I said yes, I really meant no…"
"Right. C’mon. We better go do it." Taylor rose and stretched his arms above his head. He yawned and began his way to Zac’s room.
- - -
"Two hundred and three…two hundred and four…" Zac sighed and rubbed his eyes. Counting the dots on the ceiling was not fun or educational…nor helping him forget about Madison. "Man, I am so stupid. I’ve only known her for what? A few weeks at best…and I’m this upset? And yes…I’m talking to myself. Mom always told me I’d someday realize I was more like her than I realized." He stretched his arms above his head and groaned. His muscles hurt. He had slept wrong. He rubbed his head and resumed counting the dots on the ceiling. "Two hundred and five…two hundred and six…"
"Zac, can we talk?" he turned his head and saw his brother standing in the doorway.
Zac nodded and Taylor stepped into his room. "What are you counting?"
"The dots on the ceiling."
"Ah, I used to do that when we were grounded back at home. One time, I finished counting the whole room."
‘Wow. How long were you grounded for? And how the hell did you manage to do that?"
"A month. And I sectioned off the ceiling. See, I counted a certain area in one day, wrote down the number and resumed counting the next day…pretty impressive, huh?"
"Definitely. Now that’s a real conversation starter with your date. ‘Hey, nice to meet you. I one time managed to count all the dots on my ceiling!’ That would get you far."
"I know."
"What did you do?"
"I…ha. You’re gonna love this. I locked Ike in the pantry. You know how he hates being confined in small spaces? Well, when he was in there getting Mom something I locked it and wouldn’t let him out. I left him in there for…oh…about five hours before Mom finally realized he had never returned." Taylor smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. Zac laughed and shook his head.
"Hey…I remember that. That was not fun!" Ike emerged into view and Zac began to laugh hysterically.
"I can just imagine you… ‘Tay, please let me out. I can’t breathe. The walls are closing in…’ An hour later ‘Taylor Hanson, get your butt over here and let me out…’ three hours later… ‘JORDAN TAYLOR HANSON! I CAN’T BREATHE! PLEASE LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!’" Zac grabbed his stomach and leaned forward. His laughs subsided and he looked back up at Ike. Isaac was staring at him with a look to kill.
"It’s not funny."
"Yes, yes it is." Zac giggled.
"Yeah, I have to agree with Zac on this one, Ike." Taylor smiled sweetly and took a seat beside Zac on the bed.
"Um…right. I’ll remember that…"
"Uh huh. I’m scared."
"You should be."
"So why exactly are you guys here?" Zac asked curiously.
"Uh…Zac, there’s some bad news." Taylor began.
"Yeah, see, Madison is in the hospital." Ike finished.
"Wh…what?"
"She’s in serious condition. And the News suggested that…well…"
"Her father did it." Taylor whispered.
"I…I gotta go see her!" Zac bolted out of the bed and began pulling his hair back. When he was done he grabbed his car keys and began running down the stairs.
"Zac! Wait…you can’t just leave!" Isaac called after him.
"Yes I can!" was the reply before the front door was slammed and he made his way to his car. He turned the ignition and peeled out of the driveway. Isaac glanced over at Taylor who was nodding.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking."
"Well, there’s a first. About what?"
"About how I wish I was like Zac."
"What? He just left to go visit a girl who’s being physically abused by her father."
"So?"
"So…"
"He’s in love, Ike. I wanna be in love." Taylor smiled dreamily and laid back on Zac’s bed, closing his eyes, a warm smile still plastered on his face.
Chapter Eleven
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