Where We Left Off - Romeo Alexander Page 0,45

life, Nathaniel tried to reach up and rub his face. A dull ache radiated from his shoulder, forcing him to hesitate. His eyes flashed open, his mind lurching into gear with the sudden remembrance of what had happened. Nathaniel sat up, ignoring the pull in his back, looking around frantically.

Confused, he took in the softly lit room. It was incredibly familiar and yet strange all the same. His eyes fell on the bookcase littered with books, most of them comics or action novels. The desk beside it had an empty backpack thrown on it, along with what looked like a few school books. A few plush animals, a pig in the corner, a tipped over octopus, lay on what looked like the barely used surface of the desk.

His eyes drifted around the room, catching the posters from low-grade action movies on the wall. An overflowing hamper sat against one of the two doors in the room. A dresser in one corner, a couple of the drawers half-hanging open, and the top littered with what looked like bracelets, jewelry, deodorant, and a few other odds and ends.

He knew this room, or rather, he knew the decorations. The octopus had been won at a small fair that he and Tyler had stumbled across when they’d been leaving school one day. It had been Nathaniel who had won the beanbag tossing game after Tyler had repeatedly tried and failed, burning through his money. Tyler had been over the moon when Nathaniel had handed over the goofy octopus, with its dangly limbs and googly eyes.

One of the doors opened, revealing a bright shaft of light from the hallway and then Tyler appeared. The man jerked to a stop when he found Nathaniel upright and staring at him.

“You’re awake,” Tyler said softly, closing the door behind him.

Nathaniel took the opportunity to look Tyler over. He had changed out of the outfit he’d been wearing at the hotel. His arm still had a bandage on it, though it was fresh and clean. There were a few scrapes on the left side of his head, though they appeared minor. And as Tyler approached the bed, Nathaniel saw him favoring his right side.

“You were hurt,” Nathaniel said, voice coming out cracked and scratchy.

Tyler pulled the chair out from under the desk and set it beside the bed. He bent down to open the small fridge under the desk that Nathaniel hadn’t seen earlier. From it, he drew a bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to him.

“Well, driving like an idiot across several miles to get to you was bound to cause some bumps and bruises,” Tyler told him easily.

“Thank you,” Nathaniel said, taking the bottle of water.

“I figured you were thirsty,” Tyler said with a shrug.

Nathaniel tipped the bottle back, almost groaning as the water slid down his parched throat. “That as well, but I meant…”

Tyler raised a brow. “If you’re about to thank me for coming after you, don’t.”

“I think, after what I said, you deserve every bit of thanks I can heap on you,” Nathaniel said softly.

“Even if you were being an ass, that doesn’t mean you deserved to be dragged off by a bunch of assholes,” Tyler told him. “Honestly, I’m a little surprised you remember anything.”

Nathaniel screwed up his features. “I remember...some things. I remember seeing the truck at the last second. Trying to warn the driver.”

Not that it had done much good. The truck had careened into the other side of the car from them and sent them flying. Nathaniel didn’t remember much of it, just the sensation of being thrown around, of direction making no sense and the feel of the seatbelt repeatedly cutting into his shoulder.

Nathaniel looked up. “The driver?”

Tyler sighed. “Banged up apparently, but like you, he was buckled up and had airbags. From what we can tell, his arm was broken but he’ll be okay. I had Clay look into it, just to be sure.”

“Well, that at least is good news,” Nathaniel said softly.

And he remembered hanging there, dangling helplessly as he fought to stay conscious and losing the battle. Everything he remembered after the crash was scattered and fragmented. The sound of a vehicle roaring close by and a crashing sound. Voices he didn’t recognize clearly but felt a faint ping of fear at all the same. Grunting and fast movement beside him.

Then the only good part of it all, he remembered Tyler’s voice, his face.

Nathaniel looked at the side Tyler had been favoring. “What happened