Beautiful Disaster (The Bet) (28 page)

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney during interrogation; if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you." The police officer above him loudly huffed as he hoisted Tony to his feet.

While all this took place, Nicholas and an unconscious Matt were being lifted onto stretchers. Medical jargon passed between the emergency medical technicians as they hastened to stabilize the grievously wounded dark haired teen.

"I need to go with him!" Maddie pleaded once both patients had been loaded into the humming ambulance. Not having a moment to waste
,
the woman she spoke to nodded and stepped aside to allow her access. Once the doors closed, the blaring sirens pierced the quiet suburban air. Curious neighbors peeked through curtains, while others, the bolder ones, came out of their homes to watch the pageantry of ambulance, fire trucks and police cars drive into the night.

Nicholas has
been shot.

The conversation replayed in Ellie's mind like a scratched CD, over and over and over again. A repetition of words Ellie had never wanted strung
together. Never with Nicholas'
name. Christ!

When Maddie had called, Ellie had been with her family, including Ronnie. They'd been watching a movie and the second the phone rang
,
a chill had worked its way down Ellie's spine. She'd blamed it on the weather.

She'd rushed to the kitchen to answer it. The call had been unexpected but not at all unwelcomed as Ellie babbled on about her relief in finally hearing from the estranged red-head. Maddie had interrupted her then, tactlessly delivering the news in that overused voice of hers and Ellie had nearly dropped the phone. But she’d hung on to Maddie’s every word, wishing like hell that she was being tricked.

Maddie had told Ellie the
name of the
hospital where they were keeping Nicholas and had hung up soon after, with the excuse of needing to grab something to drink.

That had been twenty minutes ago and now Ellie was on her way to St. Elizabeth
’s
, the nearest hospital in Cedar Falls. Having coaxed the keys from Ellie's nerveless fingers after she'd
told
him the
news, Gabe took the wheel. The way she'd looked after that phone call told him that she wasn't in any mind to drive. He'd done it for purely selfish reasons; the last thing Gabe wanted was to see her in a hospital bed
,
too.

Ronnie had agreed to stay with Sophie until they returned. Gabe adored that woman a little more each day.

"Ellie?" She'd remained in this withdrawn, pensive state since they had entered the car and Gabe was plagued with concern.

"He's going to be okay." Ellie stated firmly, listlessly staring out the window. The cold, dreary night a perfect reflection to how she felt.

"Of course he is." The answer was the predictable watered down version of what any caring parent would tell his aching child, Gabe was no different.

Ellie did not respond, choosing to remain silent until they arrived at the impressive three winged, and four story high hospital located downtown of the small town. Gabe had to lengthen his strides to keep up with the fast pace Ellie set. At the front desk they were directed to the third floor, left wing, intensive care unit. The elevator ride was torturous in its steady ascension to the desired floor and once it opened, Ellie couldn't have shot out fast enough. She was speed walking, practically running as
she searched for the Nicholas’
room.

"Ellie!"

Maddie's voice instantly pulled Ellie to her and before Maddie could be the wiser, Ellie enveloped her in a fierce hug that was so welcoming that Maddie couldn't help but reciprocate. They held each other, taking whatever comfort they could reap and giving what they could in turn. Gabe stood at a distance, allowing them their moment until they parted, then he
made
his introductions. He excused himself soon after to grab them something to drink.

"How is he? Any word?" Ellie asked hesitantly.

Maddie sighed, running a hand threw her dirty hair. "I don't know. He's still in surgery and no one wants to tell me anything!"

"What happened?" Ellie took in the splotches of dried blood on Maddie's shirt and jeans. Her eyes roving across sallow skin, she frowned at the sight of dark bruises that formed a path from her face to her exposed arms. Ellie's frown only deepened as she reached out and took hold of Maddie's arm.

There
was
a myriad of protruding greenish purple bruises on the inner portion of her elbow. It continued down her forearm, stopping at her inner wrist. The reason for the discoloration Ellie found were the three collapsed veins that appeared as though someone had repeatedly stabbed into them. Ellie's fears were well-founded as realization struck her hard.

"You've been mainlining, Maddie?" Ellie's hold remained firm on her friend's arm when she
began
to pull away.

"It's nothing." She said defensively
,
managing to snatch her arm back.

"Like hell, Maddie!" Ellie yelled and had the good grace to look abashed when a few nurses turned to glare at her. "You've been doing heroin." Ellie accused
her,
taking a step towards Maddie.  "Why? How? Where'd you get it?"

There's no time like the present, Maddie inwardly thought. Steeling herself she took a deep breath and dove in. "From Tony Carlyle."

The answer was far from what Ellie had expected and she took a momentary step back, her stomach clenching like fists.

"What?"

"Tony? You know,
your  ex-boyfriend? Sophie's father."

Ellie blinked owlishly. "You know Tony?"

Maddie nodded
,
pulling Ellie inside an empty room behind them. "Yeah
, I know Tony," w
as her bitter reply. "I know Tony on the same levels you know him."

"And you know that he's bad news? Do you know that he almost killed me and his daughter for some drugs?"

Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like you were any different, Ellie, you would've killed your daughter too
,
if you kept on using."

"
If
I kept on using! And I haven't used for a very long time. I stopped
because
of my daughter!"

"Well, we
all
can't be as good and courageous as you." She said with just a hint of malice.

With the initial shock wearing off, Ellie approached Maddie. "Look Maddie, I'm not going to stand here and tell you how to live your life, but Tony is bad news. Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from him before things get really bad."

Maddie scoffed. "Too late for that."

"What do you mean? Maddie, talk to me, please!"

"He made everything so perfect and easy. The first couple of times I saw him, he had the compliments coming. He made me feel better about the stupid little stuff I hated about myself." She turned away from Ellie, her folded arms tightening a little bit more across her chest.

"Maddie…"

"Tony was there for me after Nicholas rejected m
e. He offered me understanding and
companionship. He told me Nicholas was a loser and that if he didn't know what a great catch I was
,
then he didn't deserve me." She gave a humorless laugh. "Tony's really great with words," Maddie looked over her shoulder at Ellie. "As you're probably well aware."

"He's a sick man."

"I don't exactly remember when the drugs came into the picture...everything is still so fuzzy
,
but I know t
hat we started a relationship, o
ne that in the beginning was
clearly not healthy. I was pin
ing for a man who slept with me f
or a stupid b
et and he was still very much fixated on you and your daughter. I was so jealous of you, Ellie, so envious o
f everything you had. Nicholas'
love, his admiration, his lust. I wanted to be you.

I wanted to hate you and I prayed he'd find out some dirty little secret about you so that he'd see you weren't good enough for him. So I went to Tony and asked for his help to try
to
break you up. He wanted the same thing, so our objective became to separate you and Nicholas. We came up with this plan to accuse Nicholas of …" she trailed off, nearly chocking on her words, the tears made it impossible to continue.

"Of what?"

"Of rape.  We came up with the idea that if I cried rape and said I got pregnant because of it, Nicholas's father would force him to marry me. We threatened to go to the press with allegations. Nicholas's father hates the press and would do almost anything to keep his name out of them. It all sounds so stupid and childish now
,
but at the time, under the influence of the drugs I was so desperate and raw with jealousy that I would've done anything! I believed that Nicholas was meant to be with me and our baby." Maddie set her hand on her lower abdomen and met Ellie's gaze. "I'm pregnant Ellie, and Nicholas…Nicholas is the father."

Shocked couldn’t even begin to describe the way Ellie felt in that current moment. This dreary, cold and horrible day was hands down the worse day of her life.

"How do I even begin to respond to that?” she asked incredulously. “I...I can't even stand to look at you right now."

"Ellie, please, please I'm sorry---"

"Shut up!"

The emotions were running too high. Ellie wanted nothing more than to walk over to the girl she once believed
to be
her best friend and smack her. She wanted to have Nicholas here so that she could kick him a few times for being such a dumb ass. Ellie wanted to lay blame on both their doorsteps
,
but she knew that would accomplish nothing. She couldn't stand the sight of Maddie in her current state, but that would pass. This hurt, anger and sadness at her core would eventually subside and then maybe,
maybe
, she could muster enough self-control to listen to Maddie's apology.

"Ellie…"

"Just stay away from me for a while."

Ellie was out
of
the room before anymore words could be exchanged.

The hours ticked away as they sat in the OR waiting room. They ha
d yet to hear news on Nicholas'
condition and Maddie's earlier confession only added
to
the tension crackling in the air. Once or twi
ce Maddie had made the attempt
to get Ellie's attention, but was blatantly ignored. Ellie instead chose to give her undivided attention to Gabe,
in
who she had yet to confide. After a while
,
Maddie stopped trying and
sat a few chairs away from them. S
leep did not come easy. It wasn't for another three hours before someone came in to talk to them

"Excuse me are you all here for Nicholas Grayson?" Ellie was
the first on her feet when the d
octor entered the waiting room.

"How is he?"

"My name is Dr. Thomas and I was one of the surgeons who operated on Nicholas. I'm here to let you all know that he made it out of surgery successfully and is in recovery right now. He’s lost a lot of blood so he’ll be very weak and will remain so for a few days."

Ellie's body sagged with re
lief. That's all that mattered. A
s long as Nicholas was healthy and breathing
,
everything else seemed inconsequential.

"When can we see him?"

"Not ever if I have anything to say on the matter." The hard edged voice caused the four occupants of the room to turn around and look at the newest arrival.

It was as if Ellie was getting a glimpse of Nicholas years into the future and she didn't know whether she liked what she saw. Perfectly stoic, painfully rigid and impossibly formidable, the Grayson patriarch took in his surroundings with critical eyes. He was a self-possessed man with salt and pepper hair, cut stylishly short to his head. The suit he wore, undoubtedly tailored cost more than what the average person earned in a year, Ellie was sure.

He had sharp features, angular, that gave him the appearance of cruelty. The aureate topped mahogany cane at his side seemed more out of fashion than necessity as he ambled into the room. Remembering the stories Nicholas had told her about this man, Ellie fully understood Nicholas's hatred for his father.

"I expect, Dr. Thomas that you are not divulging what should be personal medical information to people who hold no kin to my son. Because I assure you that if you are your job will immediately be forfeited and given to someone who can keep their mouth shut."

It wasn't so difficult to hate this man, Ellie was discovering.