Five Hundred Miles From Friona by Kellye Hefner

Author:Kellye Hefner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2024-09-24T17:52:58+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

Leanne

I’m shaking too hard to comprehend fully what Jake is telling me. He’s crying, Rachel is sobbing, and I can vaguely hear Dani murmuring somewhere in the background. Their sounds run together. I hear nothing but white noise. My head is starting to spin. Vomit suddenly burns the back of my throat. I crawl over to the curb and empty my lunch into the gutter. It just keeps coming until I can’t heave anymore, then I curl myself into a ball on the sidewalk. I seem to have lost all sense of time and space. “Rach?” I think I hear my voice call out to her, but I’m detached from it.

Somebody’s arms are around me. There’s Rach, crouching beside me, petting my hair like Brandon does… Oh my God, oh my God… Brandon…

Rachel is holding me, helping me walk, but I don’t know where we’re going. My head is swimming with white noise and fog. For some reason I think I’m supposed to be crying, but I’m not. Dani gives Rachel a wet towel and she holds it against my face. The coldness stuns me, and as my eyes briefly refocus, I see Dani run down the street and disappear around the corner.

“He’ll be okay, Leelee,” Rachel says, speaking in baby-talk between sniffles. “We’re going to see him, okay?”

I nod, or at least I mean to.

Dani drives up next to the curb. Rachel helps me into the backseat then climbs in behind me. She puts on her seat belt, pulls mine around me, clicks it, and tries to give me a bottle of water. “See if you can drink some of this,” she says as Dani pulls into the traffic.

“Don’t want it,” I mumble, shoving her hand away. “Jake said… where?”

Dani says, “Dean is driving Mark and Jake to Austin, Leanne. I’ll get us there as fast as I can.”

I catch a glimpse of my distorted face in the rearview mirror. Weirdly, it reminds me of a Picasso. Jerking around to Rachel, I screech, “Austin?” I claw frantically at her jacket. “No! Let me out; I hafta see Brandon!”

She grasps my hands tightly in hers and twists around to face me. “We’re going to Austin because that’s where Brandon is. They flew him to the hospital in a helicopter. Jake told you that, remember?”

“No,” I whimper. I don’t remember anything except that there was an accident and Brandon was hurt.

“Leelee, listen to me!” Rachel says, patting my cheek. “We have to get our shit together for Brandon’s sake.” Her arms circle me and she talks in my ear. “You don’t want him to see you like this; you’ve gotta to be strong for him.”

I want to be strong for Brandon, but I’m in shock, terrified I’m going to lose him. I don’t even know what happened. Jake might’ve told me but I don’t remember.

By the time we get to Johnson City, the rational part of my mind has snapped back into place. I reach into my purse for my phone.

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