Page 103 of The Keeper
I hear someone shouting.
Then others talking around me in hushed conversations.
And then I hear whispers right by my ear, so close I’m surprised it wasn’t the first thing I heard.
“You have to be okay,” the whisper says. “Please, please be okay.”
And then I feel soft lips on my forehead and fingers holding tight to mine.
I groan and instinctively try to curl up on my side.
“Oh, thank god,” the whisper says on an exhale. “RJ. RJ it’s Mack. Just stay still for me okay?”
I open my eyes then, and find his beautiful chocolate ones peering down at me.
“Hi,” I say.
He smiles.
“Hi pretty girl,” he responds, lifting my hand and kissing my knuckles, holding my hand to his chest while he reaches over and places his other hand on the top of my head.
I smile back, although weakly.
“I think I’m okay,” I whisper. “I don’t think anything’s broken.”
He nods, still smiling at me.
“I think you’re right. But I want you to stay still until someone with a lot more knowledge can take a look and tell you for sure, okay?”
“Okay.”
We stay staring at each other as the siren gets louder. Mack kneeling on the asphalt next to where I’m lying on my back, holding my hand, stroking his thumb along the back. When the responders finally pull into the lot, and their lights pass over his face, I can see that Mack’s eyes are glistening, and there are a few tear tracks down his face.
I lift the hand he holds and place it against his face.
“I’m okay,” I whisper.
He nods and turns his face in my hand, kissing my palm.
The next hour goes by fast and slow at the same time.
The police arrive first, and they arrest my dad for driving while intoxicated, along with a few other things. You know, because he hit a person, then crashed into a parked car, then got out of his car and tried to stumble down the road.
The paramedics arrive next and look me over. They clean up my few cuts and decide it’s best for me to go to the hospital to get checked out, since I’m feeling a decent amount of pain in my right thigh and hip. But they tell me I don’t have to be transported by the ambulance, which is great because:expensive.
Mack and Jeremy nearly get into a fight. Apparently, Jeremy told Mack he needed to go back to the bus and make sure the rest of the team was okay. Needless to say, Mack was not pleased. But eventually, he kissed my forehead while I sat in the back of the ambulance, and sauntered off through the parking lot.
Jeremy then never left my side, his presence soothing and irritating at the same time. But I don’t let on about the irritation. He already feels shitty enough for leaving his keys in the car on accident.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital, though,” I say to Jeremy as he helps me into a cab. “I’m sure I’m totally fine.”
He gives me a look that makes me laugh because he looks so much like an exasperated older brother. But then I clutch my side in pain from jolting my body with laughter.
“You just got hit by a car. I’m taking you to the fucking hospital.”
I laugh again as he closes the door and goes around to climb in the other side.
“Why is everything about us so dysfunctional?” I ask him, only slightly seriously, once we are en route.
