Love, Lies, and Deception(28)
When we were in the clear, Alec pulled back and laughed. “You are a life saver, Marissa.”
“I aim to please, Mr. Holden. How about we finish our drinks and get out of here before I have to fight all these girls off?”
He chuckled and finished his beer while I gulped my rum and Coke in three swallows. When we got to the parking lot, I had momentarily forgotten that he would’ve ridden in on his bike. Thankfully, he had an extra helmet strapped onto his bike. He pushed it down over my head and buckled the strap underneath my chin. After helping me onto the back of his bike, he wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Hold on tight, sunshine.”
The bike roared to life and we were off. I held on tightly and probably hindered his breathing because of my grip around his body, but I was nervous and extremely scared. I shouldn’t have drunk the rum and Coke so fast, but I didn’t want to waste it and I could tell he wanted to leave. Alec patted my knee for reassurance, but at that moment I felt anything except that.
Once we pulled into the complex parking lot, I breathed a sigh of relief. The bike came to a halt and Alec helped me off, steadying me as I got to my feet. My world began to spin and dizziness overtook me, blurring my vision. I was losing control of my body, and it took me a while to realize I had fallen.
The brunt force of the hard, biting surface of the pavement beneath momentarily woke me up from my trance. Everything was losing focus, even Alec’s face as he hovered over me, frantically trying to understand what was wrong with me. I felt the threads linking me to reality slowly tearing away, and sending me into a void.
Alec was frantic and screaming at me. “How much did you drink, Marissa?” he yelled, shaking me by the shoulders. “Tell me how much you drank!” Something was wrong, I could feel it. My eyes started to feel heavy and I could barely keep them open. “Don’t close your eyes, Marissa! Stay with me dammit!”
“I can’t,” I sputtered slowly.
I tried to speak more, but couldn’t. My body was numb, even the cold asphalt below me didn’t register, nor did the feel of Alec’s arms shaking me keep me awake. I was floating away, the blackness taking over, and then I was … gone.
Everything was bright … so bright. Why did it have to be morning already? Groaning, I rolled over in my bed and reached for my favorite pillow that I liked to hold when I slept, but instead of finding it I found a set of bars. My hand recoiled and I forced my eyes open, unable to focus at first, but when they cleared, I gasped.
I was in a hospital with no recollection of how I got there; my mind was blank, and as I tried to remember I was left with a huge gaping hole in my memory. The door to my room opened, and the one person who I didn’t expect to see strolled in quietly, holding a cup of coffee. Her long auburn hair was in a messy ponytail, and her T-shirt and jeans were wrinkled; no doubt from the drive up here. She sat her coffee on the little table beside the recliner, and slowly lowered herself into the chair, trying not to wake me with the noise.
“I’m awake, so you can stop creeping around,” I croaked, my voice all raspy and dry.
My sister jumped and flew to the side of the bed, crying hysterically. Fetching a glass of water, she held it to my dry lips; I drank it down greedily. She looked tired and worn out, and I felt bad for all the pain I must’ve caused her with getting drunk and landing myself in the hospital. How long had I been here? I wondered. And what was I in for?
Hesitantly, I looked around the room and asked, “What am I doing here?”
Sighing, she sat down in the chair beside my bed and took my hand, tears streaking her cheeks. “How much do you remember?”
Closing my eyes, I tried to think as far back as I could and the last thing I remembered was the girls at the bar and riding home with Alec on his bike. “The last thing I remember is being with Alec. Why?” I asked.
Tears welled in her eyes. “You were drugged, Marissa. Someone put Rohypnol in your drink.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed in disbelief. The bile rose in the back of my throat and I couldn’t stop the trembling of shock in my body. My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I felt sick … angry and upset that someone would do that to me. It couldn’t have been Alec, could it? He had no reason to use it, but he was the one who ordered my drink.
My voice was hoarse when I spoke, “Does anyone know who did it? How long have I been out?”
She looked at the clock on the wall and furrowed her brows. “Let’s see … Emily called me about six hours ago, and told me you were in the hospital. So probably around seven hours. The police are investigating the situation, and asking your friends some questions. They’re all out in the waiting room.”
“Who’s everyone?” I asked curiously. I really wanted to know if Alec was out there.
She pursed her lips. “Emily, Justin, and Kristian are out there, as well as the guy who brought you in. He rode in the ambulance with you.
“Ambulance?”
“Yes, since you were unconscious, he called 911. Besides, it's not like he could bring you in on a motorcycle. Speaking of, what are you doing riding on a motorcycle, you know how dangerous they are?”
Rolling my eyes, I smiled. My sister was worse than my parents when it came to my safety. “Trust me, I didn’t want to, but that’s what Alec rode to the bar on. Do they think he was the one who drugged me?”