Vicious Circles - By Leann Andrews Page 0,2

my chest. She had my bus ticket and without her, I was stuck in Philadelphia.

I paced the room for the remainder of day, watching the daylight grow into night. There was one more night paid for at the motel; if I checked out early the money would feed me, buy me a ticket to the show and I could talk to Mason. He was my last hope; he would know where Jill was.

It wasn’t hard to blend into the crowd at the bar that night. Women were crammed into every inch, talking and laughing…being genuinely happy. I didn’t have the groupie mentality that my friend did, so finding Mason proved difficult. I didn’t know anybody who knew somebody. I wasn’t even sure what the names of his band mates were. I didn’t see him until he stepped on stage.

The crowd around me hummed with excitement, dancing and singing along. I stood almost completely still, feeling very out of place. My ears slowly adjusted to the volume and picked up a very important detail in the process. According to the girls closest to me in the sea of people, Mason would be exiting the back door. I don’t remember everything after that moment. I know for sure I ended up behind the building, in an alley. There was a few girls gathered by the rear exit, waiting for a glimpse or a chance to blow someone.

There was a rush of people from the door and some very unnecessary screaming from the wannabes. I missed my chance. I lit my last cigarette, muttering obscenities the whole time. That’s when everything went black.

When my eyes parted, the light burned and I realized I was conscious but with no idea where I was or how long I was out. A soft drip sounded to the left of me, almost drowned out by the whir of some sort of machine. A moment of mixed up thought led me to believe I was in the hospital.

“Morning sunshine,” a female voice greeted me.

I forced my eyes open the entire way, wincing at the pain in my right eyelid. “Shit, what happened?” My voice sounded rough. What the hell was going on?

A short, mousy haired woman approached me. Rita, was the name on her badge. “You’re in the hospital. I’m not sure what happened to you; maybe you could shed some light on that for us?”

She looked so hopeful. I hated to tell her I wasn’t sure myself. “I have no clue. How long have I been here?”

“I might be able to fill in the blanks.”

I knew that voice. Boring nurse Rita moved aside to get a better look at my visitor while I made no attempt to hide the fact that I was almost falling off the bed to get a look myself. Yep, it was him all right.

He smiled at me tentatively. “How are you?”

“I would be better if I knew why I was here and why it feels like I’ve been run over.” Nurse Rita patted my leg, I was beginning to like her.

Mason’s eyes flew back and forth between my face and the nurse’s. She finally got the hint and hurried off. “Some guy jumped you in the alley. I couldn’t get a good look at him and he took off with your money but you’re still breathing so I guess I accomplished something.”

His uneasiness made me want to giggle. “Well, thanks for being there I guess. I’m not gonna run out and tell everyone how big of a hero you are, if that’s what you think.”

“Is that why you think I helped you out?” I could hear a slight tone of annoyance in his voice.

I forced a laugh. “Please, you did what you did out of first reaction and because you feel bad about…what day is it anyway?”

“It’s Sunday.” He came a little closer. “You’re wrong about me you know. I’m a good person if you don’t believe all the shit people say about me. If you took the time to know me, you would see.”

This guy was seriously trying to explain himself to me. He was so worried what I, a complete stranger, thought about him that he was defending his character. I could see why Jill was so enthralled with him. He had a nice smile, when he smiled.

“Look, you don’t have to prove yourself to me. Thanks for making sure I was okay.”

Mason half-turned as if he were about to leave but stopped. “What were you doing out there anyway?”

“I