Eye of the Storm

Chapter 29

People talk about the joy of waking up next to the person you love. The joy of opening your eyes and finding yourself wrapped up in their arms and engulfed in their scent. A feeling of warmth and closure washing over you, filling you up to the point where you feel as if you may burst. A feeling I didn’t get to experience, as I’m ripped away from my sleep as the door flies wide open.
“Nic, what the f*ck?” Leo moans, throwing a pillow at the door. It takes me a good moment to take everything in, especially with the sunlight glaring into my eyes.
“Calm down you little shit,” Nic says as he grabs the pillow and throws it back. “I’m here to speak to her,” he looks at me with eyes that I’ve never seen before. They’re dark, serious. Why does he want to speak to me?
“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say it to both of us.” Leo’s tone deepens.
“Listen here you prick, I’m not playing around, it’s about Lorenzo,”. Immediately I’m on my feet.
“What is it? What happened?” my voice is shaking and panicky, but I can’t help it. I’m trying to be as coherent as I can but it’s hard when it comes to the people you love being in potential danger. Nic grabs me by the wrist and hauls me out of Leo’s room and down the hall. I guess in my bounty of emotions and hurry I forgot about Leo.

Nic leads me to a small blue car parked down next to the building, hurrying me in. The summer sky is filled with grey clouds, shadowing my mind with doubt. I get in the seat next to Nic.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I ask, as he pulls out and begins driving along the sandy path towards what I assume is the hospital. His eyes dart from the road to me.
“I don’t think it’s really my place, Ez. Just try and relax,” I don’t know how he expects me to relax right now, but I figure it’s better than worrying so I slowly try and sink into the seat of the car. I reach around to my pocket to try and find my phone, before quickly realising I left everything in Leo’s room.
“Will you go back for him once you drop me off?” I ask, starting to feel kind of guilty about the whole thing. Nic quickly glances at me with a look of shock.
“Why? This isn’t his business, he should respect that you have a duty of care over Lorenzo,” he turns his face back to the road, his jaw rigid. I’m not sure I want to believe the harshness of his words, but I guess he’s right.

It feels like time is going both faster and slower at the same time, my head spinning with possibilities. The more I study Nic’s expression the more my worry grows. He drives with a steady focus on the road but with his jaw clenched and if you look carefully you can see how quickly his eyes dart across the road with impatience. It’s a short drive, but right now it’s never felt so long. Now that I’m in the car and not rushing, obvious questions that I should’ve asked earlier finally surface.
“Why’d they send you?” I ask. Lorenzo isn’t remotely close with Nic, I’d expect Clare or Alexia, but not Nic.
“Because someone decided to stay the night away from home and I was the only one around with a car and access to where you were,” his tone is still uncharacteristically sharp. I nod slowly. Finally, he turns his head towards me for a moment, before turning back to the road. “What did you two do last night, Esme?” he asks, almost accusingly. I sit there a little taken aback and honestly I’m not sure whether or not to tell him, he isn’t the kind of person I’d trust to keep it to himself and if mum heard about it I’d never hear the end of it so I decide to just raise an eyebrow, trying to keep my cool as best as I can.
“I don’t think that’s really appropriate right now, is it?” I look at him, slowly watching as he nods and the corner of his lips curl into a slight smile that disappears almost as soon as it came.

The hospital finally comes into view and Nic parks on the furthest side of the car park. Instantly, I go to jump out of my seat and run inside but Nic grabs my arm and stops me.
“Maybe put this on,” he says, reaching behind him and grabbing a red hoodie from the backseat. “I don’t think the nurses would appreciate your boyfriends old t-shirt and whatever those little booty shorts are,” his eyes have a strange look and I don’t really want anything to do with it, but I also know he’s doing a kind gesture so I snatch the hoodie and shove it on over the t-shirt. Nic gets out of the car and before I get out, I make a conscious effort to pull my bike shorts down a little bit further on my thighs. We walk up to the hospital in silence and the sudden rush of anxiety I felt earlier manifests itself in my stomach, tying it up in knots, preparing me for the worst.