Chapter Thirty-Two

Keiran was gone. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in four days. I visited the hospital frequently, hoping he might be there and to look in on Keenan. After the near fatal shooting, Keenan had pulled through surgery but slipped into a coma due to the trauma of his injuries. After receiving six shots to his body, one near his heart and another causing one of his lungs to collapse, I wasn’t surprised.

Mitch had gotten away while the two men unloaded into Keenan. Keiran managed to shoot both—killing one and wounding the other.

Unfortunately with Keenan being left in a coma and a dead body in the middle of nowhere we couldn’t stop the town from talking. Word spread quickly about what happened Monday night and by Friday, I was more than happy to lock myself away for the next two days.

The only piece of Monday night they were able to keep quiet was my part in the kidnapping/shoot-out. Keiran had called Quentin who was waiting nearby to take me home before the police arrived.

The first night I tried as hard as I could to stay home alone but knowing Mitch was still out there haunted me. My nervousness turned into fear and my fear turned into paranoia. Every sound I heard was Mitch coming for me. He was around every corner. I was afraid of my own shadow before long. Willow knew all about what happened that night and after urging me to call the cops failed she convinced me to stay with her.

As I walked inside the house from school to grab more clothes, my phone rang. I considered ignoring it knowing it wouldn’t be Keiran but since Aunt Carissa wasn’t home I decided to answer just in case.

“Hey, Lake,” Sheldon spoke into the line.

“You sound miserable.” Ever since finding out what happened to Keenan, Sheldon had been living a former shell of herself. She also refused to see him in the hospital.

“Gee thanks.”

“Go see him, Sheldon. It will make you feel better.”

“I can’t,” she said. Her voice crack and she sounded close to tears.

“Why not? He’s your boyfriend, Sheldon. I don’t understand –”

“No, you don’t so drop it, okay?”

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed.

“So, how is he?”

“Jeez, you just told me to drop it!”

“I know what I said, I –” The next second I could hear Sheldon sobbing on the other end of the line.

“Sheldon what’s going on with you?”

“He fucked her.” I didn’t immediately react because we all knew Keenan strayed often but Sheldon always forgave him.

“Who?”

“Ms. Felders.”

“The new chemistry teacher?” I shrieked.

She sniffled and said, “uh huh.”

“How…when?”

“Oh you know the traditional way,” she said with sarcasm. “I don’t know when it started but I have an idea. I knew something was fishy between the two of them when she started paying extra attention to him. I caught her, one day, with her hand on his chest when I went to ask her about my failing grade on a project.”

“What did they say?”

“She laughed it off and said she was smoothing out a wrinkle in his shirt. Do you know how close I came to head butting the fuck out of her? I thanked her and told her that from now on I would be the one fixing his wrinkles.”

“When did you find out? I mean…how do you know he really had sex with her? That’s a little far-fetched even for Keenan.”

“Apparently not. I saw the text messages between the two of them spanning about two weeks and confronted him about it after we left laser tag. We argued and I kicked him out of my house. He must have gotten snatched right after,” her voice finally broke on the last and I knew she must have felt guilty.

“Sheldon, I know you’re thinking it’s your fault but it’s not.”

“I just can’t help but think that if I had given into his bullshit just one more time he wouldn’t be fighting for his life right now.”

“Sheldon…”

“I left him, Lake. I told him I hated him and wished he would die. Do you know how horrible I feel?  I went to see him, you know.”

That caught me by surprise. “When?”

“The next morning. Dash and I weren’t told until then. I rushed straight there, I swear I did, but then I saw her. She was there, Lake. She went to see my man. Can you believe that bitch?”

“So what did you do?” I asked, picking up on her claim of Keenan. I knew she still loved him but was hurting too much to see it now.

“I left. It was the final nail in the coffin and now we will never be able to forgive each other.”

* * *

Monday morning came all too quickly and I still haven’t heard word of Keiran. I don’t know if he is even alive…

Did Mitch find him again?

At this moment, Keiran could be dead…

My mind brought forth an image of a broken and lifeless Keiran and I would have collapsed if I weren’t already seated. Don’t think about that.

But I couldn't help but worry. His absence was driving me mad and everyone seemed to be caught up in his or her own thing so I couldn’t distract myself. How dare he put my life in danger and then just disappear like that? I could have lost my life…I could have lost him. It felt like I have already lost him. Mitch was still out there and knowing what he planned to do with his son was nerve wracking.

Lost in my thoughts, I turned into the school parking lot a little too quickly. There was a gang of students still in the parking lot even though the first bell would ring soon. As I parked my car I noticed a crowd of students in one spot. When I got closer I could see through the slight opening and I could see a familiar black muscle car and Keiran leaning against it. Quentin and Dash were blocking him from the crowd. I couldn’t tell what was going on because everyone was talking at once. I walked closer to the circle and could just barely make out the various ‘are you okay’, ‘how is Keenan’, and ‘what happened.’