Empty Bargains ~Jason McCann~

~10.26...2~

   Jason was discharged from the hospital at about ten that morning with instructions to drink water and eat.  Leo drove us back to the house with Jason in the passenger seat and me in the back.  The ride was mostly silent, spare for the radio playing quietly in the background.  I stared blankly out the window, watching downtown Oakland gradually dissipate into suburbs.  The front yard was dotted with a few empty beer cans, evidence of last night’s party.  Jason’s heavy sigh came from the front seat as Leo pulled into the large garage and we stepped into the house.

    Xander and Carter stood across the island from each other in the kitchen, talking quietly before turning to face us.  The main room between where they stood and us was fairly clear, spare for a beer stain on one of the giant bean bags and a notch in the end of the table.  They must’ve cleaned while we were gone.  I could hear two voices coming in from the cracked back door, probably Tyler and Blondie.

    “How’re you feeling?” Carter asked, pointed toward Jason.

    “Hungry,” he replied automatically, having rejected the hospital’s food that morning.  Jason hadn’t had anything since before the party last night, and having his stomach emptied by a machine had most likely heightened his appetite.

    “I can probably make something really quick,” I mumbled, moving forward into the kitchen.  I sent a glare in Carter’s direction, letting him know I hadn’t forgotten him trying to keep me from going to see Jason the night before.  He didn’t acknowledge me, but I knew he’d seen the look I gave him.  I reached into the fridge past Xander and pulled out a carton of eggs, then into the cupboards for a bowl.

    Leo went out the back door and Xander and Carter moved to the main area, conversing with Jason while slumping into the bean bags.  They were giving him a recap of the night after Xander had rushed him to the hospital, but Carter failed to mention his holding of me in the study.  My grip tightened in anger and the egg I was holding cracked, spilling both shell and yolk into the bowl and on my hand.  I shook the slime off, cursing under my breath as I reached for a dish rag.  The guys hadn’t looked up, were too involved in recounting events to notice.

    “Uriah disappeared with the crowd before we could find him,” Carter told Jason as I dumped the crushed mess of egg and started with a new one, throwing the shell into the trash.  “We threatened to call the cops if people didn’t leave, so that may have scared him off.”

    “Uriah doesn’t get scared,” Jason said automatically.  “Even the police don’t have power over him.  They’d give anything to lock him up, but they can’t get their hands on him long enough to press any charges.  He’s good about covering his tracks, even though everyone knows what kind of shit he does.”  There was a long pause.  “Dammit.  You should’ve kept the party going.  No one would’ve thought twice about someone knocked out cold.  Not enough people know my face yet to associate a name.  Most probably aren’t even smart enough to make a connection, but I’m sure a few noticed the party shut down just after I left.  I don’t want to be seen as weak.”

    “They won’t make a connection,” Xander tried to reassure him.  “And even if word gets around you went to the hospital, you get to tell them you made it through a poison that would’ve killed anyone else.  Eventually it’ll come back that you took it in and didn’t even bat an eye.”