Leave No Trace

Chapter 23

Nolan

“You want me to wear what?” Ally asked, sitting up in her hospital bed.

“Honey, a dress would be perfect.” Her mother tried.

Nolan was standing in the corner of the room. They were holding a press conference at the station, and Allison was supposed to be saying something there. There were going to be a lot of reporters present. And currently, Nolan was listening to Ally’s mother argue with Ally about if Ally would wear a dress or not.

“Over my dead body” Ally declared.

Her mother promptly burst into tears, and Ally only looked slightly guilty, burying her face in her pillow.

“Mrs. Perry.” Nolan tried. “Can you leave us for a minute?”

Ally’s mother, still sobbing, left the room. Ally kept her face buried in her pillow.

“Ally?” Nolan asked gently.

“I don’t want to wear it” Ally replied gently, removing the pillow. Her eyes were red. Her glasses were on the bedside table, so she clearly couldn’t see that well.

Nolan sat down on the edge of the bed. “You made her cry.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time” Ally said, looking down. “I just blurted it out, I wasn’t thinking.”

“I know, sweetheart. I’m not saying you have to consider anyone else when you’re talking like that. Because I know you don’t mean anything by it.” She noticed Ally’s wince. “Is something wrong, Ally?”

“My head. The concussion… I have a wicked headache!” She replied, holding her head in her hands.

Distract her Nolan thought. “So what are you going to wear, Ally?”

“I’ll wear a button up shirt and nice pants. But I’m not and I mean never putting that dress on.”

“It’s not that bad.” Nolan frowned.

“It is. I don’t want my legs showing. They’re all bandaged and awful-looking, plus I haven’t shaved them in at least a week. Maybe more. I’m a little fuzzy on the date.” She frowned.

Nolan pulled a newspaper off the bedside table. “You’re famous.” She joked, pointing at the headline.

LOCAL GIRL FOUND AFTER ABDUCTION

Ally made a face at it, at her smiling school photo. “Did you talk to Dean?”

“No…” Nolan lied. She didn’t want to talk about what Dean had said.

“If you did, thank you. I don’t ever want to see him again.”

“Ally… I’m sorry honey, but you are going to have to see him again. You’re going to need to testify at the trial.”

Ally turned a nasty shade of gray when she heard that. “There’s going to be a trial?”

“If he pleads not guilty. His parents haven’t hired him a lawyer yet. So he’ll get some greenie lawyer who doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Nolan shook her head at the prospect. “We’re uh… we’re inviting everyone to my apartment for dinner after the press conference. Pizza or Chinese.”

“Who all is invited?” Ally asked, looking slightly better. She still looked sickly though. Lots of blood lost when she’d been shot was a direct contributor.

“We were going to invite-.”

“I’m guessing by we, you mean you and Sergeant McKay?”