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Rather than listen further, I disconnected the call. I tried for a pulse one more time, and I still couldn’t tell if I felt one or not through the shaking of my hands. I did a quick check of his mouth to make sure his airway was clear, and then I began chest compressions.
I did them quickly, counting all the way to thirty. Then I gave two breaths of air into the man’s mouth.
As I surfaced, Stacy grabbed onto my arm. I glanced at her briefly, but then got back to the compressions.
“I can’t get caught behind the wheel, Brody,” Stacy said.
My head snapped sideways to look at her. “What?”
“I can’t get arrested. I’ve been drinking, and my dad’s in an election year. I can’t get caught for this. ”
I continued pumping the man’s chest, mentally counting, but I managed to say, “What are you saying?”
“Say you were driving. Tell the cops you were driving. ”
Not even responding to that craziness, I just leaned over for two more breaths. I checked his pulse again and I actually think I felt one, which made me feel immensely relieved.
As I started compressions again, Stacy started crying. “Please Brody… please say it was you. You probably don’t have as much alcohol in your system. My father will help you… I swear. He’ll be so grateful. I bet he can even get you out of it. But he can’t have his daughter getting arrested. It’s public record. ”
I didn’t even look at her, but I considered what she was saying. I had three beers… I was probably fine. The guy was in the middle of the street… it’s not like we ran of the road and hit him. I felt a pulse on this guy. Hopefully, he would survive. All things that were in my favor right now. I finished the compressions and gave two more breaths.
“Brody… please,” Stacy implored in between sobs. “If you love me…”
My head turned to her, and my heart broke when I saw the misery on her face. I loved her so much, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms at that moment and assure her it would be okay.
Blue lights flashed across her pale visage, and I realized a police car was pulling up. I resumed my compressions, because I couldn’t let up on those until the paramedics got there. Stacy lurched to her feet and walked over to the cop’s car, and then I was rewarded with sounds of a siren in the distance getting closer. I could finally see an ambulance flying up West Franklin, straight at us.
I gave two more breaths of air, and then started pumping the man’s chest again. Was it my imagination, or did his skin seem to be getting colder? I reached down quickly to check for his pulse, and once again… maybe I felt a flutter.
Two paramedics came jogging up to me. One clasped me on the shoulder. “Go ahead and step back, sir. Let us take over. ”
I fell backward on my butt and crab walked back a few feet to get out of their way. Glancing over, I saw Stacy talking to the cop. He looked up at me, his face grim.
The one paramedic said, “I’m not getting a pulse. Let’s…”
“Mr. Markham,” I heard, turning to see the police officer standing there. “Can you step over here and talk to me?”
I pushed up off the ground, my legs still feeling as shaky as ever. Now that some of the adrenaline was waning, I noticed both of my knees were hurting. A quick glance down revealed blood pouring from cuts to each one. I guess the dashboard got me.
Following the police officer who led me back toward his car, I saw Stacy standing there, wringing her hands in worry. I gave her a tentative smile, which she tried to return, but failed dismally.
When he reached his car, the cop gave a nod in Stacy’s direction. “Miss Hutchens informed me you were driving the car, is that correct?”
I looked at Stacy, and her eyes were pleading. Glancing back to the cop, I watched as he pointedly looked over at Stacy’s car with the driver’s door still wide open, the air bag hanging limp and deflated from the steering wheel. He stared at it a moment, and then looked back to me.
“Were you driving?”
I was still staring at Stacy’s car, and it hit me hard. Her seat was pulled all the way up as Stacy tops out at just a little over five feet, a good foot shorter than I am. There’s no way my body was sitting in that seat. Looking back at Stacy, I saw fresh tears running down her face. While I was so conflicted over what to do, one thing still rang true… I loved her more than anything in my life.
Turning to the police officer, I said, “Yeah… I was driving. ”
He only stared at me a moment… but in that intense scrutiny, I knew he doubted me. Disbelief was written all over his face, yet he was going to accept my word on that. It clicked then—that Stacy must have told him who her father was—and I knew this cop was going to close his eyes to what was really going on. “Have you been drinking, sir?”
“Yes,” I answered him truthfully. “I had three beers tonight. ”
“Alright,” he said with a sigh. “Will you consent to taking a Breathalyzer test?”
Oh shit. Would I? Should I? Three beers. What would that mean for me? I’m a pretty big guy, and I didn’t feel drunk. Another quick glance at Stacy showed her brows drawn inward with worry. It made me hesitate.
“Sir, if you don’t take this test, it’s an automatic loss of your license for a year. ”
My head started spinning. How did everything get so out of control, so fast? I looked over at the paramedics, and they were loading the man Stacy hit onto the stretcher. I asked God to look over him and to not let him die. If God could grant me just one request in this entire f**ked-up scenario… it would be to not let that man die.
“But he died,” Alyssa says softly, and it’s just now that I notice her fingers are interlaced with mine as we walk across the cool sand. Lights from one of the fishing piers twinkle in the distance, and the moon hangs low, giving us plenty of light.
“He died, and I got arrested for Felony Death by Vehicle because I was legally drunk. ”
“And you took the fall,” she says bitterly, giving my hand a squeeze. It’s a nice sensation… warm, comforting, and peaceful. Completely the opposite of the rage I was experiencing toward Stacy last week.
“I wasn’t angry about it… not at first,” I admit to her. “I believed Stacy when she told me her dad could get me out of it. And then when he couldn’t get me out of it, I believed her when she said he could get my sentence reduced. I loved her so much that I was willing to go to jail for her. ”
Even I understand how f**ked up that sounds at this very moment. How young, stupid, and idealized I was back then. Life kicked me in the balls, and I know that there isn’t another woman on this planet that could get me to make a sacrifice like that again. I wouldn’t trust anyone enough to ever make that sacrifice again.
“I feel like there’s more to the Stacy part of the story,” Alyssa murmurs softly, but I can still hear her over the waves that are rolling onto the shore.
I shrug my shoulders. “She never intended to stay with me, and her father never intended to help me. ”
“How do you know?” she asks, and I know that Alyssa is the type that will always give someone the benefit of the doubt.
“Because they told me. Threw it in my face as soon as the judge handed down my sentence. ”
“What?” Alyssa practically screeches, and she squeezes my fingers so hard I’m afraid she may break them. She stops dead in her tracks, and I turn to look at her as she releases me from her death grip. “They flat out told you that?”
“Yeah… both of them came to see me in the holding room at the courthouse before I got transported to the prison processing facility in Raleigh. Her dad taunted and then threatened me. Told me that he could never let his daughter be with someone with a record, so there was no sense in him wasting favors that he would have to call in to help me out. Stacy was at least apologetic about it. Said she was sorry but that she just couldn’t go against her father, and that his political career was too
important. She asked me not to contact her again. ”
“Oh, Brody… what did you do?”
“I threatened to tell the truth… that Stacy was the one driving. But her dad just laughed at me. He dared me to do it. Said no one would believe me, and that nothing would overturn the conviction, but that he would find it amusing to watch me do so. Then he told me, if I was foolish enough to do it, he’d ruin my family. ”
“Fucking bastard,” Alyssa growls, and I couldn’t agree with her more.
“I talked to my attorney about it. Told him the cop had seen the seat pulled all the way up, and my blood from the cuts on my knees would have been assuredly on the dashboard. After he cursed me up and down for keeping the truth from him, he sadly told me it was just too late. That there just wasn’t anything that could be done since I admitted to the crime. We’d have to show I had been treated unfairly by the court in some way, and we just couldn’t do it since I admitted to it. ”
“She strung you along the entire time, didn’t she? So you wouldn’t change your story. ”
“Yeah… right up until the few minutes before sentencing, she assured me that her dad had it all handled and not to worry. She even kissed me and told me she loved me. ” I grimace as I remember that moment, and bile gurgles at the base of my throat. “Stacy had even told me to expect something like six months in the county jail. I mean, I chose to plead guilty based on her promise that I’d only get six months. When I got sentenced to the seventy-four months in state prison, the first person I looked at was her dad. He was in the courtroom, standing near the back door. He just smirked at me and walked out. ”
Alyssa takes my hand again and turns back so we start walking toward her cottage. “Why won’t you tell your family?”
“They already suffered so much with their son in prison. It will devastate them to know I was innocent. It’s just easier this way. ”
“It’s not fair,” Alyssa grumbles. “It’s injustice at its finest. ”
“Maybe so,” I tell her. “But promise me you won’t tell anyone. It’s done. ”
“Of course I won’t,” she quickly assures me. “Whatever you want. ”
Whatever I want?
There are too many things to list, but none of them are very viable. I’m not a man that gets what he wants, whether it’s from bad luck or the fates.
I know better than to even wish for anything good.
Chapter 14
Alyssa
Everything has changed with Brody. I know his secret and while he didn’t let me in at first, last night our walk on the beach cemented a new bond with us. Brody purged his memories and gave me part ownership of them, and now I carry some of the weight.
We parted ways last night by me giving him a hug, which he tentatively returned, and we said goodnight. Long after he had gone, I lay in bed and thought about him. We’ve bridged a gap that was between us, but I still don’t know where we stand. I’m clearly his friend, because he entrusted me with the details of his secret. But I think I’m more, because oh holy hell, the kisses we’ve shared have been catastrophically phenomenal. They surpass just great kissing, and I know that there is so much more for us to discover in each other. I just don’t know if Brody wants that.
I know I do, but I’m not sure if Brody even wants to go there. He’s so far successfully pushed me away twice after we let our passion get the best of us. He seems to think it’s for the best, but I’m not sure if it’s his interest or mine he’s really looking out for.
He was waiting at The Haven for me this morning at six AM and we got to work, easily settling into a more lighthearted relationship. He’s a little easier to smile, and his shoulders don’t sag quite as much in loneliness. It’s amazing what can happen when you unburden your demons.