8. Phenomenon Part 2

Ivory's Pov

"Ivory? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.

"Be careful," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.

"Ow," I said, surprised.

"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. "How did you get over here so fast?"

"I was walking right next to you, Ivory," he said his tone serious again.

I turned to sit up, and this time he let me. Releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-colored eyes.

What was I asking him?

And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.

"Don't move," someone instructed.

"Get Mike out of the van!" someone else shouted.

There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Vald's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.

"Just stay put for now."

"But it's cold," I complained.

It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.

"You were over there," I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."

His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."

"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene.

But I obstinately held on to our argument. I was right, and he was going to admit it.

"Ivory, I was walking with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating

power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.

"No." I set my jaw.

His gray- silver eyes looked murderous. "Please, Ivory."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.

I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"

"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.

"Fine," I repeated angrily.

The EMT brought two stretchers to us but Vald vehemently refused his. And I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion.

I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Vald got to ride in the front. It was maddening.

Then there was his siblings, looking on from the distance. With curious expression but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety.

I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen. A solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.

Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they

were unloading me. What made it worse was that Vald simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I gritt my teeth together.

To make matters worse mom arrived. "Ivory!" She yelled in panic when she recognized me on the stretcher.

"I'm completely fine, mom," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

She turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned her out to consider the jumble of inexplicable  images churning chaotically in my head.

They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains.

A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore.

When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.

There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Mike Rodney from my History class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around his head.

Mike looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.

"Ivory, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine, Miker. You look awful, are you all right?" As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.

He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong…" He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.

"Don't worry about it; you missed me."

"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone…"

"Umm… Vald pulled me out of the way."

He looked confused. "Who?"

"Vald Evans, he was walking beside me." I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all.

"Evans? I didn't see him… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"

"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."

I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.

They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right.

Not even a concussion. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Mike's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me.

No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.

"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open.

Vald was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy — it would have been more natural to ogle.

"Hey, I'm really sorry —" Mike began.

Vald lifted a hand to stop him.

"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Mike's bed, facing me. He smirked again.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't

strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

But he only smirked.

Soon after a doctor walked towards me with a clipboard. She had had ginger red hair and tan skin. She was beautiful.

"So, Miss Quinn," She said. "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." I said for the last time, I hoped.

She walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on.

"Your X-rays look good," she said. "Does your head hurt? I heard you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Vald.

The doctor's fingers probed lightly along my skull. She noticed when I winced.

"Tender?" She asked.

"Not really." I'd had worse.

I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Vald's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed.

"Well, your mother is in the waiting room, you can go home with her now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Can't I go back to school?" I asked.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

I glanced at Vald. "Does he get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Vald said smugly.

"Actually, most of the school seems to be in the waiting room." The doctor corrected.

"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with my hands.

"Do you want to stay?" Dr. Palmer asked.

"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly, I  staggered and Dr. Palmer caught me. She looked concerned.

"I'm fine," I assured her again.

No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," She suggested as she steadied me.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Palmer said, smiling as she signed my chart with a flourish.

"Lucky Vald happened to be standing next to me." I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.

"Oh, well, yes." Dr. Palmer agreed.

Suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him. Then he looked away at Mike, and walked to the next bed.

My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer." She said to Mike, and began checking his cuts.

As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Vald side.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.

"Your mother is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.

I glanced at Dr. Palmer and Mike.

"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I pressed.

He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As

soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway. He spun around to face me.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.

His unfriendliness intimidated me. My words came out with less severity than I'd intended.

"You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.

"I saved your life. I don't owe you anything."

I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."

"You hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting.

My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "There's nothing wrong with my head."

He glared back. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm I lying for you."

"What do you think happened?" he snapped.

It came out in a rush.

"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me. Mike didn't see you either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard!"

He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive.

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"No."

"In that case… I hope you enjoy disappointment."

We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.

"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.

He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.

"I don't know," he whispered.

And then he turned his back on me and walked away.

I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway.

The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face in Aberdeen was there, staring at me. Mom rushed to my side and pulled me in a bear hug.

"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured her sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Dr. Palmer saw me, and she said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed.

Mom pulled me in a hug and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore.

We drove in silence. Both of us wrapped up in our thoughts.

When we arrived home I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Mom continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves.

I grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep.

That was the first night I dreamed of Vald Evans.