“There’s nothing to spill. We went out, we ordered food, we talked about business, and we ate. Oh, and the waitress was in severe lust with him.”
“What? Really?”
“Completely obvious. I was a little embarrassed for her, although Liam was oblivious to the whole thing.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. “So, what do you think about him?”
“He’s smart and a decent human being, but his entire future is already mapped out. Don’t get me wrong, he’s funny, handsome, and intelligent, but I don’t see any serious relationships in his near future.”
Emily stood frozen. I could see the cogs in her mind turning.
“Maybe he needs someone special, who will keep him grounded and—”
“Yes, that would be perfect, and I sincerely hope he finds that special someone one day.”
“You’re impossible,” she huffed, then looked at her watch. Turning her head, she yelled over her shoulder. “Tyler, we’re leaving in five.”
“Where are you taking me today?”
I was gifted with an enormous, toothy smile. “I’ll tell you when we get in the car.”
“You're unreasonable. I should have a copy of the itinerary.”
“Nope, you need some spontaneity in your life. So get your booty upstairs and change into something that’s not white,” she said, referring to my blouse.
“Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you might get dirty? Okay, no more questions. Leave me, and do as I say,” she said stopping any further dispute with the palm of her hand.
When I turned to head up the stairs, she smacked my butt.
“Hey!” I growled, turning to glare at her.
“You love me.”
“You’re lucky I do.”
I quickly changed into a long-sleeved, gray T-shirt, hoping it would keep my arms from getting sunburned. Heading back downstairs, Tyler was setting a few coolers near the door.
“Hey, Lizzy,” he said. “Emily packed lunch for us. We’ve got turkey subs, chips, and drinks.”
“That sounds amazing. I can’t wait,” I said.
Offering to help take out a cooler, Tyler glanced at me. “It wasn’t my idea,” he whispered.
“What wasn’t?” I questioned.
“Shh—” he shushed me, placing a finger to his lips.
“Oh, God. What did she do?” I said under my breath.
As we walked out the door, I got my answer. Liam was standing by the car. He smiled and waved, and it took a moment for me to process what was happening as I waved back. Em was going to get it. She’d promised.
“I told you I’d see you soon,” he said sheepishly. “Emily called me at the restaurant and invited me after a quick interrogation. She wanted to make sure we were getting along. I hope it’s okay. If you don’t want me to come…”
“No, it’ll be fun,” I said with the best smile I could muster.
I felt bad. Liam was a victim of this set-up as well. And after hearing what his future entailed, he needed a bit of fun and spontaneity. We both needed it.
I had five more days to let loose. Liam seemed like a really nice guy, and I didn’t want to be a bitch. So, I decided to be myself, and go with the flow. Whatever direction it took me.
I hated adulting.
When Emily stepped out of the house, she was whistling and had a bounce to her step. I tried to shoot her an angry look without Liam seeing, but she wouldn’t look directly at me.
“Is everyone ready?” she asked. When her eyes finally met mine, she wiggled her brow. “Today, we’re going to see tons of animals, and we’re going to have fun.”
“The zoo?” Liam asked.
“How did you know?” she gasped.
“I think the words tons of animals gave it away,” I noted, rolling my eyes behind her. Liam chuckled, and she turned around.
“You two are certainly jolly this morning.” Her face was bright with hope.
“I can’t speak for Liam, but I’ve been fully caffeinated, which means it’ll be a good day.”
“Awesome. And yes, we are heading to the Santa Barbara Zoo and will be given a behind-the-scenes tour from an experienced guide. They said we’ll be able to meet some of the animals up close and talk to the zookeepers.”
“Fun,” Tyler sang, mockingly.
“Tyler, don’t even play. You love the animals. Remember when you fed the giraffe?”
“You mean when it freaking slobbered all over me? Great times.”
Emily burst into laughter. “That was the best.”
“It was disgusting, and I reeked of giraffe halitosis until we got home.”
“And that’s why I love you,” she said, kissing his cheek. “You humor me.”
We slid into the car and buckled in.
“Have you been to the zoo?” I asked Liam.
“Actually, no. I’ve never been.”
“Not even on a school field trip?” Emily questioned, looking at him through the rearview mirror.
“Nope.”
“Isn’t that a coincidence?” Emily sighed. “Lizzy hasn’t been to one either.”
“I have too. We went to the Alaska Zoo, together,” I noted.
“Yes, but it was cold, and we left after twenty minutes. We saw like ten animals before we turned around and headed for the car, and seven of them were zebras,” she told Liam. “It was negative degrees, and we all thought our fingers and noses were going to fall off.”
“Ouch.” He chuckled, scrunching his nose. His eyes found mine. “I guess we’ll be zoo newbies together.”
“Dude, you have to watch out for the monkeys,” Tyler blurted. “They throw their freaking shit at people.”
“What?” I inhaled a sickened breath. “Are you serious?”
“Not all the time,” Emily scolded, smacking Tyler’s arm.
“With my luck, it would be today,” he said.
I shook my head. “I think we should skip the monkeys.”
“I second that,” Liam added. “I have enough shit in my life to deal with.”
We high fived.
“Friends?” he asked.
“Friends,” I nodded in agreement.
At the zoo, we were having the best time. The guide was hilarious, and we got up close to some of the larger animals and had the chance to feed a few of them. Tyler refused to engage in the feeding of the giraffes, but Liam and I participated without getting slobbered on, and it seemed to make him sour.
We neared the monkey exhibits, and the guide insisted their monkeys hadn’t thrown feces, yet. So after his no-monkey-business briefing, we continued the tour.
It was feeding time, and three monkeys inside one of the cages were given a bunch of fruit. We watched an older monkey pick up a banana and peel it back slowly. Another sifted through the fruit, picked up an orange, then headed toward the back of the cage to eat it.
Emily walked closer to the fence. “They’re so human-like.”
“They’re your ancestors,” Tyler teased, nudging her back. She turned and growled at him.
A curious, younger monkey came and sat on a branch right next to the cage.
“He’s cute,” Liam noted.
“Would you like to give him a banana?” the guide asked, holding one out to him.
“Sure.” Liam took it and held it out to the monkey. It stretched its hand out of the bars, grabbed the banana, and peeled it, watching us intently.
“It is cute,” Tyler said, stepping closer, wiggling his fingers at it. “Hey, monkey.”
“Not too close,” the guide said, but it was too late.
In a split second, the monkey grabbed Tyler’s wrist and yanked while screeching.
Tyler flew forward, his head whacking the bars.
“Tyler!” Emily screamed, running over and yanking his other arm.
It was a tug of war.
The two larger monkeys became agitated, running around, screeching. Within seconds, the fruit was being hurled at us. The guide pushed tow
ard Tyler, prying the young monkey’s fingers off of his wrist. Once freed, he pulled him away, both falling backward, Tyler landing on the guide.
The monkeys were going crazy. Fruit was flying everywhere; an apple chunk missed my head by inches. Liam stepped in front of me, taking an orange slice to the chest. He then batted away a piece of pineapple and half a banana.
“Run!” he urged, grabbing my arm, tugging me with him.
Gathering outside the monkey exhibit, Emily walked over to Tyler. “Babe, you okay?”
“Holy crap.” He bent over, resting his hands on his knees.
“I’m so sorry,” the guide apologized. Papaya chunks fell from his hair.
“Don’t be. It was my fault,” Tyler said. “You told us not to get too close.” He then turned to Emily with his finger pointed at her. “Don’t you ever bring me to the damn zoo again.” His shirt was spotted with orange, and there was banana smeared on his sleeve.
Nodding, Emily bit back a smile, her eyes wide.
There was a moment of silence as we glanced around at each other, everyone had some kind of fruit stain or remains on them.
Emily burst into laughter. In seconds, we all joined in…except for Tyler, who was trying to scrape fruit off of his sleeve. “If this was monkey shit, someone’s head would be rolling.”
For the first time in three years, I felt a bit of normalcy. I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time, and momentarily forgot about my and was having fun. Real fun.
As soon as the thought entered my mind, guilt started to seep in.
How could I be having so much fun, laughing with another guy, when Michael should’ve been here with me? It wasn’t fair.
I knew those feelings were wrong. This was exactly what Michael wanted. He wanted me to live. To laugh and have fun.
Besides, Liam was a complete gentleman, and our relationship was based only on friendship.
When we finished our tour and left the zoo, Tyler drove us to a park where we could eat. There was a beautiful area, with bench-style tables under the shade of a group of trees.
“Look for the one with the least amount of bird poop,” Emily said, examining each of them as she walked by. “Ooh, I found one,” she said, setting her cooler on the bench. Reaching into her bag, she brought out a tablecloth, spreading it over the top. Next were the plates, drinks, chips, and the sub sandwich, all cut up into small servings.
“This is relaxing,” I said, “Thanks, guys. It’s been a good day with some pretty awesome people.”
“Yes, thanks for inviting me, Emily. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much,” Liam said, raising his bottle of water. “Cheers to a fantastic day.”
“Cheers,” we all repeated, clunking our plastic bottles together.
“Hey, Lizzy. Aren’t you glad you aren’t wearing that pretty white blouse?”
“Yes,” I huffed. “You saved its life.”
Liam’s cell rang. When he looked at it, his face went blank.
“Who is it?” Emily asked.
“That’s none of your business, babe,” Tyler whispered.
“It’s my mother,” Liam supplied. He pressed the mute button, but a few seconds later, it rang again.
“Maybe you should get that,” I said. “Usually consecutive calls mean they really need you.”
Liam sighed and hit the talk button. “Hello?” he said before standing up and walking away.
I watched him as he pressed his back against a tree stump, head down, his face pulled tight. I hoped everything was okay.
“What do you think it is?” Emily asked.
“Your guess is as good as ours,” Tyler answered.
The silence on Liam’s end stretched, and whatever his mom said visibly pulled him apart.
“Where is he now?” he finally said aloud, voice cracking. “I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“What’s wrong?” Tyler asked as he hung up the phone.
“My brother is in critical care. The doctors are saying it’s from a drug overdose.”
“Oh my God.” I inhaled and held my breath.
“That’s not the worst of it. I guess he was with one of his friends, Billy Campbell, who was pronounced dead on arrival.”
My heart was racing, and I barely knew Logan. I couldn’t imagine what Liam was going through.
Emily sprang into action and put the food back into the cooler. I hurried to help her, looking back at Liam. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said, running his fingers through his hair, pacing. “I can only think someone sold them bad drugs. We’ll find out more once the results come back from the lab.”
Tyler slammed the cooler lid shut and picked it up. “Let’s go.”
Once in the car, Em asked, “Do you know which hospital?”
Liam gave her the name and she mapped out our route. Tyler drove us as quickly as he could, and we were there in under thirty minutes.
“Would you like me to come with you?” I asked.
“If you want to,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to go into the room, but if you’re willing to wait, I’d love the company.”
“Sure,” I said. I wanted to be there for him.
“Hey, man,” Tyler turned in his seat to make eye contact, “let us know if there is anything we can do to help.”
“I will. Thank you,” Liam said, shaking his hand.
Emily grabbed my hand. “Tyler and I are going to head home. Call me when you need a ride, or for anything else.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, giving her a hug around the back of her seat.
We hopped out.
“You sure you want to come?” Liam asked over the top of the car. “I would hate for you to be stuck here.”
“I’m fine,” I replied, shutting the door. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
As we walked into the hospital, Liam took hold of my hand. I could feel his growing anxiety. His brother was hanging onto life, and his mother was here.
“Thanks for being here for me,” he said. Pain and sadness etched in his eyes, causing deep lines to crease his brow.
“Of course.”
I gave his hand a squeeze to let him know I was here for him. It was the only thing I could do, as I had no words of comfort. Logan was somewhere upstairs, barely holding onto life. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose a sibling. A twin. Someone who shared a birthday, looks, friendship, hardships, and whatever else they’d gone through together.
Inside, he asked the woman at the desk where his brother was.
“Logan Pierce,” she repeated as her fingers flew across her keyboard. “He’s on the third floor, room eleven,” she said, pointing us to the elevator. “It’s the critical care wing, so only immediate family will be able to see him.”
“All right, thank you,” he said, then held his hand out to me again. I took hold of it, and he led me to the elevator.
Inside, when the doors shut and we were the only two inside, he shook his head and wiped a tear from his cheek.
“Liam, I’m—”
“I was supposed to watch over him—protect him…but I failed. While he was shooting up drugs, I was out laughing and having a good time. Now, he’s in a hospital, fighting for his life,” he said, wiping another stray tear. Letting out a long, shaky breath, he shook his head and laughed. “Know what the sad thing is?”
“What?” I breathed, my heart aching.
“That he thinks he’s better off dead than living in a world where he has no say. Logan has always been a free spirit. Free and very reckless, but it was the only way he knew how to let go of the barred life we lived.”
“I’m so sorry, Liam.”
“Don’t be,” he said, looking at his feet, then the elevator door—anywhere but at me. “If he dies…if he—I will never forgive myself.”
“Don’t. Don’t do that, Liam. You can’t blame yourself,” I whispered as the door slid open to the third floor.
I knew my words
were insignificant and probably worthless at a time like this, but he couldn’t blame himself for his brother’s wrongdoings. He wasn’t his brother’s keeper. Logan was an adult and would do as he saw fit.
The closer he was to seeing his brother, the more disconnected he became with everything else around him.
And when the man in blue scrubs ushered him to the door, Liam turned back to look at me standing by the waiting room. I gave him a reassuring smile and a wave. He nodded, then proceeded through the door.
I walked into the tiny waiting room and sat down on a chair. There were a few people peppered throughout the area—a woman with a little girl asleep on her lap, and an older gentleman reading a newspaper. I couldn’t help but wonder why they were here, but I knew it wasn’t for anything good. Nothing good waited on the other side of the ICU doors.
Another side effect of my gift was strong empathy—being able to absorb the emotions of others around me. The room was open, but I slowly became suffocated by the grief and sorrow filling the room. If I didn’t figure out how to put boundaries up soon, I would go insane with over the top emotions.
Restless, I decided to take a walk. I wouldn’t go far in case Liam returned, but needed to get out of this room. Maybe it would help calm the stress and sadness growing inside of me. As I stood, the eyes of the woman and man glanced at me.
“I’ll be right back,” I mentioned, in case Liam returned and I was gone. Hopefully one of them would say something.
As I walked down the hall, I felt my body relax a bit. I could breathe better, and the air felt lighter.
My phone buzzed, and it was Emily.
Em: How are you? Is Logan ok? What about Liam?
Me: I’m good. Liam went into the ICU to see Logan. I don’t have answers yet.
Em: Lmk if you want Tyler to get you. Is Mrs. Pierce there?
Me: Ok and idk. She could be in the room.
Em: Ok. Keep us updated.
I felt a cold chill around me, and my insides knotted tight.
As I glanced down the hallway, I spotted a guy wearing a hospital gown. He was average height, medium build, and had blond hair that went to his shoulders.
His head snapped toward me, and I gasped. It was a spirit.
He traveled twenty yards in a split second and stood at arm’s length in front of me. His eyes were wide and bloodshot; his mouth had white foam on the sides.