Chapter Nineteen
Mason skidded around the corner and came to a stop. He parked the Escalade over two spots in front of the public hospital. His heart was beating erratically and he had kept glancing at Kelley on the back seat the entire time. Lee parked Mason's truck next to the Escalade just as Mason opened the back door. Blood had smeared over Kelley’s face and Mason pressed two fingers against the pulse in his neck.
Lee opened the other door and grabbed Kelley’s shoulders and pulled him out of the car slowly. He kept his head in one hand as Mason came around the side and grabbed Kelley’s legs. “My mom’s working tonight.”
Lee nodded as they headed towards the electronic doors and walked inside the reception area of the hospital. “Help us!”
“Mason? Oh, dear Lord, what happened to this boy?” Carey James grabbed a gurney and quickly placed the stethoscope on Kelley’s chest the moment Mason and Lee put him on the gurney.
“Kids from Private attacked him in the parking lot after the game. He took a baseball bat to the head.”
“Dr Ingwe!” Carey was now pushing the gurney as two other nurses joined her into a trauma bay and another nurse blocked Mason and Lee from going with him.
Mason and Lee sat in the waiting room, a few nurses and doctors greeting Mason as they walked past. They’d been waiting for two hours, dried blood on both of them. Lee had grabbed Kelley’s bag, the one Mason had dropped when he ran outside. Even Lee's usually stoic expression held worry and Mason cursed himself for not seeing the attack coming.
Kelley was Public now, of course, his old Private friends would have a problem with it. He should've known that they'd target Kelley sooner or later. He hadn't thought of it because he hadn't really regarded Kelley as a possible friend until earlier in the locker rooms when Kelley had spilt the truth about his life.
“Is there someone we should call?” Lee looked questioningly at Mason.
“I doubt it, he lives over at Motel Six. He’s always alone except when …”
“Except when what?”
Mason stood up and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and called Jesse Owens. They waited another fifteen minutes before Jesse Owens strode into the waiting room. “Mason … what happened to Kelley?”
“He got beaten with a baseball bat by his so-called Elite friends. He took a hard hit to his head.”
“Three on one.” Lee’s eyes were cold and Jesse recognized the dead look, he’d had it too.
Carey James walked through the double glass doors and stopped short when she saw Jesse Owens. “Jesse … why are you here?”
“I know Kelley. Is he okay?”
Carey shifted slightly. “I really need to speak to a next of kin about his condition.”
Mason stood up angrily. “Just tell us if he’s okay, Mom. Kelley’s our … friend. His dad kicked him out of the house. He lives at Motel Six. There are no next of kin interested enough to take care of him. He’s got us though and we’re not leaving.”
“Alright, Mason. Keep it together. He’s stable but the next twenty-four hours are critical because his brain is swelling. They’ve drilled burr holes to relieve the pressure but we won’t know if there’s any lasting damage until he wakes up.”
Mason’s eyes widened. “He’s in a coma?”
“For now that’s a good thing, his body needs to heal. He has a few cracked ribs and his right wrist is broken, they’re waiting for the brain swelling to go down before they operate on his wrist. We’re going to need permission for that.”
Jesse rubbed a hand over his face. “Give me the paperwork, I’ll get permission.”
Carey looked at Jesse and her eyes softened. “How do you know Kelley?”
“I found him the night his father kicked him out of the house, stitched up the wound around his left eye, got him the room at the motel and ever since then he’s been training with me.”
“Man, you just can’t resist taking in strays.” Mason's chuckle was meant to lighten the mood.
Jesse smiled sadly as he looked at Mason. “You were never a stray, Mason, and neither is Kelley, he’s just lost.”
Carey cleared her throat. “I’ll get you that paperwork. Have whichever parent call me so I have verbal confirmation about the permission given. I feel sorry for the boy too but I’m not putting my job in jeopardy.”
Jesse looked offended at that statement. “Like I’d ever do that to you.”
“Do you know why his dad kicked him out?” Mason suddenly wanted to know everything about Kelley.
He never regarded Kelley as a friend even though Mason never specifically hated him either. But after what he heard and saw from Kelley, he knew that Kelley needed a friend, possibly two. Kelley was a stand-up guy, honest and direct and he’d given his all for Public and their win against Private.
“Not my story to tell, Mason. If you’re serious about being friends with Kelley, then be his friend, no matter what.”
Carey returned then with a slim folder and handed it to Jesse who took it from her and then left the hospital. Mason returned to his seat and rubbed both hands over his face. His phone kept beeping with texts from the guys, all asking about Kelley. It didn't surprise him much, Kelley had proven his worth.
“Go home, Mason, there’s nothing you can do here. I’ll call you if anything changes.”
Lee stood up and Mason knew this was his queue to follow. “Okay, I’m taking his car back to the house, it’ll be safer there than at the motel. I’ve got his bag with me too.”
Mason and Lee drove towards Mason’s house in the two cars and Mason then took Lee back to the school to get his own car. Mason was exhausted by the time he got back to his house and he parked his truck on the street since Kelley’s Escalade was parked in his spot in the garage.
He answered the texts as best he could and then he was added to a group called Public Revenge. The guys were angry and Mason told them they’d wait until Kelley woke up. It was his revenge to act upon and they’d be his backup.
Jesse drove through Yorkdare Bay and up to the house on the hill. He’d been there a few times but it had been at least five years since he’d been there the last time. He didn’t relish going back there now but Kelley needed surgery.
