The Color of Courage (16 page)

Chapter 14

Those few seconds took an hour to go by. The next few were so fast I couldn’t process them. Trace and I turned as one and started to swim, but neither of us could move very fast. Certainly not as fast as a bomb. I didn’t know what kind of delay there was going to be between detonation and explosion, but I wouldn’t assume we had no chance.

We swam, hard. I saw two splashes ahead of us and thought,
No! Kirby and Summer!
Something pressed against my feet. Water surged and churned around me. Something else pushed down on top of me, pressing me down into the water, deeper. I couldn’t tell which way was up, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see or hear or feel anything.

Except absence.

When I opened my eyes, sunlight glared into them. I coughed. Someone rolled me to the side so I could spit the water that came up. My body was stiff, like it was all one unit. My head wouldn’t move independently of my shoulders, and I realized I was strapped to a backboard.

“Trace?” I could barely hear myself, but someone answered.

“He’s on his way to the hospital already.” The voice was soothing and familiar, but not a voice I should be hearing. I couldn’t turn my head or shift my body to see who it was.

“Summer? Kirby.”

“I’m here, Dale.” Kirby’s head blocked the sun. I couldn’t see her face, but I recognized her mass of curly hair. “We’re okay.”

“What—” I stopped to cough again. “What happened?”

“There was an explosion.”

“I know that. I mean, what the fuck happened afterward!”

“I think she’s okay,” the familiar voice said wryly, but Kirby’s hair danced as she shook her head.

“No, she’s frustrated and pissed, and probably in a helluva lot of pain.”

“Yes, yes, no.” Actually, now that I focused on it, I
was
in pain. A general, high-level ache, but that was all. “I can feel my legs. Get me off this fucking board.”

“Not until the paramedics examine you,” she said.

“Where are they?”

“They’re with Summer.”

I remembered the double splash. “She came into the water.”

“I didn’t think she could move so fast in it. She got under you guys and pushed you away from the blast. But she had less control in the water and lost you. Evan pushed you down, under the blast plane. Some pieces hit you, but you had your suit on . . .”

“Trace didn’t. Is he okay?” I was talking in circles, not getting all the information I wanted, but unable to focus very well. I understood the term “rang my bell” much better now.

“He had some deep lacerations and was knocked unconscious, but he came to before they took him away.”

My brain caught up to Kirby’s description of what happened, and I realized the familiar voice was Evan.

“What are you doing here?” I tried to crane my neck again, and he finally shifted around so I could see him. “Wait. How’s Summer?”

Evan shook his head. “Don’t know yet. She bore the brunt of the shock wave.”

“She’s alive?”

“She’s alive.”

I heard a thunk, like metal doors closing. An engine started, and a siren wailed briefly as the vehicle drove away.

“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

Evan and Kirby backed away as two paramedics took their places, shining lights in my eyes, checking reflexes, running sharp objects along my instep, asking me questions. They wouldn’t answer mine, whether they were about my friends or myself. Finally, they went to get a stretcher, against my protests. They wanted films before they took a chance on damaging my spine.

Kirby joined me in the ambulance, after tasking Evan with finding out where Trace and Summer had been taken and getting their status. The medic started an IV and kept checking my vitals. I ignored him.

“What was Evan doing there?” I asked Kirby.

“I never got a chance to ask him. He arrived right after Trace went in the water. Came out in that other boat that was on shore.”

I hadn’t noticed another boat, but my attention had been on the woman and dog. I wanted to ask more questions, but I couldn’t remember them and was suddenly too tired to try. I drifted, realizing the IV contained sedation as well as saline, and let the rest of the trip and most of my time in the hospital float past me. They took x-rays and CT scans that revealed no broken bones or internal injuries, and stripped me bare to check for lacerations and bruises. My suit had done its job. The only effects of the blast were the muzzy-headedness and muted hearing, raspiness from the little bit of water I inhaled when Evan’s underwater tackle dislodged my flexi-shield, and the overall ache I’d had since I woke. The police interrogated me on the incident, asked me to come to the station when I could to sign my statement, and left without making me feel I was a suspect. Either CASE had failed again, or Trace and Summer were in much worse shape than I was, damaging potential motive.

I was prescribed pain meds and released to Evan, who had switched places with Kirby. She’d gone to the med center where Trace and Summer had been taken.

“Where to?” Evan took my hand to help me out of the wheelchair outside the hospital’s main entrance, where he’d parked a dark sedan with a rental company sticker in the window. “Your apartment?”

I hadn’t been on my own two feet in hours. I steadied myself against the car with one hand while he opened the passenger door for me.

“Tell me about Trace and Summer.”

“Get in first.”

I swayed, feeling like I was standing in the surf, buffeted by waves, and knew he’d win any battle of wills. I climbed into the car and sighed, resting my head against the headrest. Evan closed the door, jogged around the car, and got in. He turned the key and pulled out before I said anything, but since there’d been a line of cars behind us, I didn’t protest. He drove a couple of blocks until he found a space, parked, and shut off the car.

“Okay, here’s what I know. Trace had some deep lacs—lacerations—on his back and a moderate concussion. He’s stitched up and admitted. Summer had her suit on, but she went into respiratory arrest.”

“At the river?”

“Yeah. They did CPR and she was breathing when they took her away. It was probably the concussion from the blast. She’ll be okay.”

“Did she have her flexi-shield on?”

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t think she did. So she probably dragged in water, too, more than I did. And once someone arrested, they were at additional risk. She probably would stay in the hospital a while.

“Same med center?”

Evan nodded.

“Then take me there. Please.”

He nodded again and pulled back into traffic. I appreciated that he didn’t argue. I watched traffic and pedestrians, letting the fresh air through the open window help clear my head for a while. Disconnected images and thoughts swooped around in my head. I let them float, knowing I wasn’t ready to start analyzing and dissecting.

“Do you need anything before we get to the med center? A drink, snack, clothes?”

My jeans and T-shirt had been dry under my suit, so I shook my head. “I’m fine.” Even if I was the only one. “Did they get the dog out of the water?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at me, as if to assess how I’d take his information. “It was dead.”

I’d figured as much, judging by the way he’d jerked and fallen and then not surfaced. “Drugged?”

“That’s the expectation. Won’t know for a few days.” He signaled and cut off a cab. The driver laid on his horn. Evan didn’t flinch. “The woman didn’t make it, either.”

“I wasn’t even going to ask.”

He must have heard the bitterness in my voice. “She set off the explosion?”

“With prejudice.” I told him what I’d seen. “I think she’s CASE.”

I noted that Evan didn’t ask who CASE was. That provided a puzzle piece placed well enough to make the big picture a whole lot clearer. I held my tongue. Trace and Summer were my first priority. I’d confront Evan later, when I had backup and my full faculties.

Evan dropped me at the entrance so I wouldn’t have to walk from the parking garage, and caught up to me at the information desk. I got their room numbers and went to Summer first. She was alone in a double room, the other bed tightly made with clean sheets. A monitor beeped softly at her side, but she was breathing on her own and smiled wanly when I entered the room.

“I have the perfect solution,” she murmured. Her eyes fluttered at half-mast. “We need one apartment for the five of us.” She held up five fingers, blinked long and slow, and drew a deep breath. “The rest of us’ll take turns bein’ here.” She rolled her head away, looked at the other bed, then rolled it back. “Ssss Kirby’s turn, y-no.”

I smiled at her and put my hand on her arm. “Funny. How are you doing?”

“A-OK.” She tried to make the OK sign and missed her thumb. “Kirby went to meet Adam at HQ and brief him. De-brief him?” She frowned. “Does he wear boxers or briefs?” Giggling, she lifted her head to look past me. “Who’s with you?”

“Evan—” I looked over my shoulder, but he wasn’t in the room. “. . . is. Was.” I shook my head. “I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Pshaw.” She waved me off languidly. “You’da done the same. Tell Adam we gotta . . . we gotta . . .” She yawned, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. The monitor’s tone and frequency didn’t change, so I figured she was either exhausted or sedated or both. I hoped it was a good sign that they risked sedating her. Her breathing sounded normal, so I left her to rest and found Evan leaning against the wall outside her door. His face was pale.

“You okay?”

He nodded, his expression unchanging. I couldn’t see his emotions, and realized I hadn’t seen anyone’s since I left the water.
Just the drugs
, I told myself.
You’re tired. You’ll be fine
. Distracted by my realization, I forgot about Evan’s wan-ness and led the way to the floor Trace was on.

He was in much better shape. Clear-eyed and flirting with the nurse who was checking the dressings on his back, he laid on his stomach, his arms and head propped on pillows. A bandage was taped above his left temple.

“Daley!”

I detected a haze of blue around him when he saw me, and felt my own relief at the sight. My ability was coming back.

“You’re okay?”

“Yeah, thanks to Summer.”

“And Evan,” he added, looking behind me.

“And Evan.” I felt his heat against my back and started to lean into him before catching myself. There was so much I still didn’t know.

“You see Summer yet?” Trace asked me.

“Yeah, she’s a little loopy. You look pretty good, though.”

He sucked water out of a pitcher through a clear straw and nodded. “Doin’ okay. I’ll be outta here tomorrow, soon as I prove my head’s not broken.”

“I can tell them you’re always like this,” I offered.

“I think we figured that out already.” The nurse smiled, arranged Trace’s hospital gown over his bandaged back, and adjusted his sheet and blanket. “That okay, hon?”

“Yes, Velma, thanks.”

“I’ll be back to check on you, then.” She patted his tush and left us.

I rolled my eyes. “No ripping out your stitches so you can be here longer. Geez, the attention you get.”

Trace grinned unabashedly, but it disappeared quickly. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I know. It’ll have to wait a couple of days, though.”

He nodded. “You’ll fix it with Adam?”

I wasn’t sure if he meant that we’d done the op without him, that we’d all almost gotten killed, or that we’d meet once we were all back on our feet. Not that it mattered. “Of course.”

“Then get out of here, get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I kissed his cheek and left, reluctantly. I had to let Evan take me home now, which meant dealing with the questions I’d been putting off forcing him to answer. I stewed in the car, wondering which to tackle first, but when he’d helped me up the stairs and watched me open the door, he cupped my elbow to keep me from going in.

“Let me check it over, make sure it’s safe.”

I waited on the tiny landing for the short time it took him to do so. He offered to make me something to eat or drink, or run a bath, but I declined it all.

“What were you doing there today, Evan?”

He stood by the door, bouncing his keys in his palm. I couldn’t read him and wasn’t sure if it was my diminished ability or my influence on his emotions.

“I heard about the accident on the news. It was logical you’d be there.”

“So?”

“So . . .” His head swiveled, his eyes scanning every surface, as if he was seeking the answers I sought.

“So what if we were there? Why would you be there?”

“I wanted to help you.”

I tried to laugh, but my throat was still raw, and it hurt. “Help us? The superheroes? You have a talent I’m not aware of?”

“No.” His head came up, his eyes hot. They locked on mine and didn’t blink. “I’m just a regular guy, Daley.”

And Adam wasn’t. I got the implication, even if he didn’t mean it. My head started to swim. I closed my eyes a second to clear it, but didn’t open them quickly enough. Evan was suddenly there beside me, his arm around my waist, and even though I hadn’t been about to fall over, his heat against me, his strength holding me up, felt good.

He guided me to the sofa and sat next to me, back in the positions we’d been in last time he was here. I remembered the kiss, and the words that had ended it. One of those was more important than the other. I knew which one it should be. But I was too worn out and too alone to care. I didn’t even care about what Ian had revealed, and my fear of unintentionally projecting my emotions. What harm would it do for Evan to know how I felt?