AllFreeNovel
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Barely a week back home and I am already involved in some kind of mess. Mom would laugh so hard. She always said I couldn’t stay out of trouble no matter how hard I tried. I wonder what she’d make of this merry band of misfits I seem to have attached myself to for the day.
For the split second that I held her small, trembling body in my arms and looked into her eyes, I felt an instant connection, or possibly recognition. The world paused, and even though I know it was only fractions of a second, I can recall the exact shape and color of her eyes as though I had been staring into them for a lifetime.
Of course, then she started spouting some crazy nonsense and collapsed on me. Still, I can’t shake this feeling. And even if it’s nothing, I should get this bag back to her, right?
The atmosphere in the car is tense. I look around at the men surrounding me and I think of how you could not find five more different dudes, yet here we all are, thrown together and chasing after a stranger.
Bennet seems like a high-class, corporate kind of guy. He’s “tall, dark, and handsome” personified, with deep green eyes and dark, perfectly coiffed hair. He somehow manages not to look at all disheveled. Dude looks sharp, even after kneeling on the ground performing CPR on a woman covered in gore. I feel like he’s been staring at me ever since I introduced myself, and I’m trying to pretend I don’t notice because… awkward.
Micah is obviously athletic, his muscular arms exposed by his cut-off shirt, his rich brown skin glistening with sweat. He must have been working out, judging by his attire. His sharp fade haircut gives him a clean cut, all-American type look and I get the impression he probably gets along with everyone he meets - although I am sensing tension rolling off both him and Lukas in the back. I caught Lukas trying to make eye contact a time or two and wanted to ask if they knew each other, but I figured it wasn’t my business.
I’m trying not to look back at Lukas at all, ignoring the daggers he’s shooting at Micah. He’s another good-looking guy though. When I stood next to him at the park, I noticed how insanely tall he is. I’m not a short guy at six feet tall, but he towers over me. His outfit and glasses give off a very academic vibe. He has tired eyes behind his thick-rimmed glasses, pale skin, and messy dark blonde hair.
The last guy, Luis, sits quietly lost in thought, observing each of us like he’s waiting for someone to jump out at him. As quiet and sullen as his manner seems, his overall aesthetic is anything but. Colorful tattoos cover most of his olive skin, from his fingers all the way up his arms. More ink peeks up from his black V-neck t-shirt, a black rose and a tattered Puerto Rican flag climbing up his neck. His jaw is covered in a light shadow and his brown hair is closely cropped. When he runs his hands over his hair, I notice he has the word IZZY across his knuckles.
Overall, we’re all pretty different as can be. Yet here we are.
I might be the only working-class guy in the bunch, although I’m not entirely sure about Luis. The two guys in the front have the air of money and are wearing expensive brand stuff. Lukas in the back may or may not have money, but he’s probably not a laborer. He’s wearing a sweater vest for fuck’s sake.
I’m definitely the only one with calloused hands and dirt under my fingernails, but it’s a chosen lifestyle. Instead of running a once lucrative family business, I’ve been living the life of a wanderer, traveling all around the world, picking up odd jobs as I move along. I’m only back in town to catch up with close family friends and make some hard decisions.
My mind wanders, remembering the reason I left Barnaby Falls in the first place. Shortly after my mother passed away, I needed to escape the heaviness left behind by her death. She hadn’t been well for a long time, and after she was gone, I couldn’t bear to return to everything she had left behind, choosing to run away rather than sift through the ruins of her wasted life.
The day she died, I rode with her to the very same hospital we are pulling into now.
“Hey, you good?” Micah asks me.
We’ve parked and the other guys are already climbing out of the vehicle.
“Yeah, sorry, spacing off I guess. This place doesn’t exactly hold a lot of great memories for me,” I try to explain without details.
None of them say anything as we climb out of the black SUV. Luis nods understandingly, and Lukas gives me a quick pat on the shoulder.
A strange group of guys indeed, but they all seem pretty alright so far.
We all enter the automatic doors into the emergency room reception area and walk up to a huge, curved desk. Bennet speaks to a young woman who types some things into her computer as he is talking.
“I can see they’ve brought in a Jane Doe, but it’s too soon to have any updates on her condition. Are you friends or family? It would be helpful to have her name and any personal information.” She looks at us expectantly, batting her eyelashes at Bennet.
“We’re just bystanders who assisted her in the park where she collapsed, but we wanted to make sure she is okay and possibly talk to her when she wakes up?” He lays on the charm, and she picks up the phone again.
A few minutes later, a polished-looking woman in a grey pencil skirt and soft pink blouse emerges from the office behind the desk.
“Micah?”
The woman walks straight to Micah, picking invisible lint off his arm as she greets him. Micah kisses her on the cheek stiffly, murmuring about not knowing she was working today as he leads her toward our group. Her eyes are calculating as she looks around at each of us, focusing first on Bennet.
“Mr. Adley, what a surprise. I didn’t realize you two knew each other.” Bennet responds by reaching out his hand to shake hers, throwing her a charming smile.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you…” He looks to Micah to make the introduction.
“This is my mother, Lilah Williams. She is the volunteer coordinator for the hospital, and my father is a surgeon here.” He quickly introduces all of us - except for Lukas - before explaining why we’re here. “A young woman collapsed in the park. We revived her and took care of her until emergency services came, but she was incredibly scared and disoriented. We wanted to make sure she’s going to be okay. I didn’t realize you were on your way to work when I saw you this morning, otherwise I would have asked for you directly.”
Mrs. Williams purses her lips together. “I know which patient you are referring to. As far as I am aware she is stable, but that is all the information I have, not that I could tell you more if I did know.”
Lukas rakes a hand through his hair as I catch her cutting a disapproving look his way. The tension between them is palpable. I raise an eyebrow to Lukas. He gives me a small scowl and shakes his head, readjusting his glasses nervously.
“Mr. Adley?” The receptionist calls Bennet back to the large, curved desk.
