Brice (Raven Family)

Chapter Two

"Hey Bro, good game today. I caught the end, when I got out of class." Sayer told me, over my speaker phone, as I drove toward the Kappa house.

I snorted, "If you caught the end, then you saw my flubbed pass."

Sayer sighed, "I saw it, but it wasn't a flubbed pass. What's up with you and Gage? You two break up, because there was definitely a lack of communication or something on the field today?"

I laughed. Sayer always made jokes about Gage and I dating, because we were such close friends. "No, we didn't break up. I think Gage is just on the rag or something."

"Right, so uh..."

I straightened, "What? I know that tone. What happened?"

Sayer sighed again, "Vienna has a new boyfriend."

I cursed, "Damn it, I can't afford to fly home and check it out, right now. What about you?"

"No, I have a big exam coming up and I can't afford to miss any classes." Sayer said, regretfully.

"Son-of-a-bitch. Now I'm going to be constantly worrying that this little asshole is just like me and he's dating my sister!"

"You're not that bad, Brice." Sayer was always defending me. If only he knew.

"Oh yes I am and trust me, if Vienna's boyfriend is like me, then we definitely have something to worry about." I say adamantly.

"I'm starting to think that there are things that you don't tell me about yourself." Sayer accused.

"There are definitely things that you don't know about me, but I keep it from you to protect you."

"Well, there are things you don't know about me too. So we're even." Sayer said, testily.

I barely registered his words though, because I just so happened to glance over to my left, to see a group of thugs yank some poor kid off his bicycle. I was usually too engrossed in my own life to notice the things happening around me, but I couldn't just turn my back on this kid, so I circled back around and shined my headlights on the thugs. Most of them looked up and some instantly scattered. Others were too busy holding the kid down and doing only God knew what to him. I spoke absently before disconnecting the call, "Sayer, I'm going to have to call you back." I then exited my car, "The police are on their way!"

Thankfully, that lie was enough to make the rest of them run, because I hadn't been in the mood to kick some ass. The number of them hadn't worried me. Thugs like that were dumb and I knew I could have taken them, but I hadn't wanted the hassle. I was already far more involved than I normally got. It kind of made me stop and wonder how many other times I might have missed out on something important. How many other times had I unknowingly ignored a person in trouble? Was I really that self-absorbed?

I hurried over to the prone figure and sucked in a breath, upon realizing this wasn't a kid at all. A young woman lay, curled into a protective ball. Her pants had been yanked down and ripped. The growing darkness made it hard for me to tell if her underwear was still intact or if her attackers had managed to succeed in what they were obviously trying to do.

Rage, like I'd never felt before, settled over me and I glanced around, hoping that any of those assholes had lingered, but didn't see anyone. I wanted to kill them. In that moment, I seriously wanted to commit murder. Not knowing what else to do, I knelt beside the girl and whispered, "I'm going to lift you up and carry you to my car. Then I'm going to drive you to the hospital, so that they can look you over. I'm a friend. You don't have to be afraid of me. I won't let them hurt you."

She didn't respond, but she didn't freak out as I carried her to my car, so that was good. I gently placed her in the passenger seat and hurried around, to get behind the wheel. I broke a few speed limits getting her to the hospital, but didn't run into any cops, so that was a plus. When I carried her into the emergency room entrance a couple nurses came running at the sight of the girl in my arms and her tattered clothing. They were glaring daggers at me and my eyes widened. I blurted, "I didn't do this to her! I saved her!"

The way the girl was clinging to me, I didn't know how they were supposed to examine her. They directed us into a room, where I tried to set her on the bed. I looked up to find the nurses staring at me, expectantly. I shrugged, not knowing what to do. Luckily one nurse, Barb her name tag said, took pity on me. She stepped forward and coaxed the girl into letting go of me. She explained that I would be right outside the door and I would come back in when they were done examining her. I almost protested. There was no need for me to wait outside the door, because I wouldn't be staying. Seeing the relief that flashed in the poor girl's eyes, had me reconsidering and I found myself leaning against the wall in the hallway, waiting.

What felt like hours later, Barb exited the room and asked, "What's your relationship to the patient?"

I shook my head, "No relationship. I don't even know her name. I saw her getting attacked and stepped in to save her. When I first approached, I had thought she was a young boy getting his ass whooped, but it was almost dark. I only realized that she was a girl after I scared those thugs away. I couldn't describe one of those jerks and I wish I had paid more attention."

Barb nodded, "Ok. They just paged me to tell me that there is a policeman here. He'll need your statement, as well as hers."

"Uh, Barb, did..." I cleared my throat, "Did those guys..."

"They didn't rape her. You got there in time." Barb said with a kind smile and waved at an approaching police officer. I felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my shoulders. I knew it technically hadn't been my weight to bear, but I somehow felt responsible for this unknown girl.

"Hello, I'm Officer Nick Eckert and you are?" The guy introduced himself and I was a bit surprised, coming face-to-face with him. I looked older than he did. This guy didn't look old enough to be a cop.

I cleared my throat, "Brice Raven..."

"I knew that was you!" Barb suddenly exclaimed and then blushed, "Sorry, carry on. I'll just go check on the patient."

Officer Eckert, faced me again, looking a little amused, "I've heard that you're just as fast with the ladies as you are on the field with a football. Now I believe it." Then he forced a blank face, "So tell me what happened."

I repeated everything that I'd just told Barb. I didn't know the girl's identity and I couldn't identify any of her attackers. I had been on my way to a party when I noticed what was happening and stepped in. Speaking of party, my phone vibrated in my pocket for what felt like the millionth time, but I continued to ignore it. Officer Eckert thanked me for my time and then he entered the girl's room. I settled back against the wall and pulled out my phone, when it vibrated yet again. I had two missed calls from Gage, one from Kael, and a load of text messages.

Gage: "Dude, where the fuck are you?"

Kael: "You alright?"

Gage: "I told you that you got first dibs tonight, but that offer is quickly expiring, if you don't get your ass here."

Staci: "I want you...now."

Lola: "You're not here...boo."

Cara: "I'm so horny for you."

Shaking my head, I slipped my phone back in my pocket, not reading the other twenty plus messages I had. I didn't even know who Staci, Lola, or Cara was. Hell, I could know five Cara's for all I knew. Usually seeing all of those messages from girls would get me amped up, but not tonight. After seeing that girl in the room behind me get attacked, I was breathing a little uneasy. I kept picturing something like that happening to Vienna and I didn't like this feeling of discomfort. I was used to being the fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. Happy, go-lucky, and without a worry in the world. Now I felt the weight of the world settle over me and I didn't like it one bit.