The Thoughtful Detective

Chapter 3 - The Aftermath

Flashback to 2008 - Part 2

Words with *stars* around them are other people's thoughts that Colton has extracted.

Character List:

Colton Dawson - protagonist/narrator

Ethan Laurier - Colton's friend (the football player)

Eva Vasquez - the girl Colton met at the party

Oscar Esposito - Eva's older cousin

Jessica Helmer - Colton's crush from STATS200

***

I awoke to the sound of voices yelling around me. My body felt weak, and my head was throbbing immensely.

"Colton, you're awake! HE'S AWAKE!" a familiar voice cried out.

I garnered up all my energy to force my eyes to open partially. I was relieved to see Ethan crouching down beside me. "Colton, you had an accident. Help is on the way. In the meantime, don't move, okay? Are you feeling any pain?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice came out weak. "My...h-head...hurts," I responded. My voice was just above a whisper.

Just then, I felt a light touch on the palm of my hand. I turned my head slowly to the direction of the touch. I winced at the pain in my head and gazed up at the figure kneeling on the other side of me.

It was Eva. She had a look of extreme distress on her face. She squeezed my hand gently.

"Colton, hold still, okay? You might have fractured or broken some bones," said Ethan.

I gazed up at Eva, and we stared at each other for a moment before she spoke.

*I shouldn't have left him by himself. He was tipsy. This is all my fault.*

My brows furrowed slightly, as I tried to register what was happening. I recognized Eva's voice, but her mouth had been closed when the words had been spoken. How was it possible for her to speak without moving her mouth?

*Please, please, please be okay, Colton.*

Once again, the words were spoken in Eva's voice, but her mouth remained closed. I was so confused. I must have hit my head really hard.

"Are you okay, Colton?" Eva asked. This time, her mouth moved, so I knew she had actually spoken.

"We'll...play...flip cup...another...time," I said slowly.

Eva smiled down at me. "You promise?" she asked.

I responded by lightly squeezing her fingers. They were still resting on the palm of my hand.

"We checked you for lacerations, but we didn't find anything. You need to stay still until the paramedics arrive, okay?" She looked at Ethan. "They should be here soon, right?"

"Yes, any minute now," he responded.

My eyelids felt heavy, and I closed them to rest for a moment. "I'm coming to the hospital with you," said Eva. I was too tired and weak to respond. But I was glad to hear that she was coming. Despite the pain in my head, I felt safer with Eva by my side.

A moment later, I awoke to the sound of blaring sirens. It stopped abruptly, and then I heard a bunch of muffled voices. I was only able to catch a few snippets of the conversations.

"How's he doing?" asked a female voice. It sounded familiar, but it wasn't Eva's.

"He was talking a bit, but he's pretty out of it. I'm going to the hospital with him," said Ethan.

"Can I come too?" asked the female voice.

"Yeah, of course," Ethan replied.

Suddenly, I felt a figure looming over me, but I was too tired to open my eyes. "Colton, if you can hear me, this is Jessica Helmer from your statistics class. Ethan and I are coming with you to the hospital, okay? Is there anyone else you would like us to call?"

Jess. She was the reason I came to the party to begin with. She must have arrived late, as I hadn't seen her all night...and now she was taking me to a hospital. I felt ashamed and embarrassed.

A moment later, a male voice chimed in. "Eva, it's really late. Your mom has called me three times already. I have to take you home."

"It's fine, Oscar. You can go home. I'll take an Uber when I leave the hospital."

"No, you have to come with me right now! I am responsible for you," Oscar asserted.

"Just go. I'll be fine," Eva insisted.

"Your mom is going to kill me. I promised that I'd get you home by ten thirty, and it's past eleven already. We need to leave this instant."

Some yelling ensued in Spanish for the next thirty seconds or so, until Ethan broke up the argument. "Guys, can you please take your family drama elsewhere? Colton is not doing so well right now. Eva, if you need to leave with Oscar, just put your number into my phone. I'll text you with updates."

A few minutes later, I felt my body being hoisted onto a stretcher. Surprisingly, I didn't feel much pain anywhere, other than my head. I felt a reassuring touch on my arm. It must have been Eva.

I opened my eyes to see Jess sitting beside me in the ambulance; her aqua-blue eyes emanating with concern. "Hey Colton, how are you feeling?" she asked softly. 

Yesterday, I would have been ecstatic to have Jessica Helmer fussing over me. But today was a new day. I was surprised at how disappointed I was that Eva wasn't with me in the vehicle. Even though I was grateful for Jess' support, I couldn't help but miss Eva's presence.

"I'm...better. Thank you...for coming...Jess."

Her eyes widened. "You sound more alert now!" She smiled at me, and then reached into her purse and pulled out a Twix bar. "I'll save one for you." 

She took a bite of her chocolate bar and tucked her light auburn hair behind her ear. "Guess what, Colton?"

"What?"

"This time next week, we'll be done our finals. That means we'll be officially halfway done college. Can you believe that?"

"Time really does fly," I agreed. I closed my eyes, and pictured myself standing next to Eva at the police academy. I smiled, as I drifted off into a deep sleep.