“Are you ok?” I asked. That must have been the twentieth time in the last five minutes she’d been asked that question.
She didn’t answer right away. She blinked her eyes quickly and shook her head.
I reached out to touch her arm, but she stepped past me into the garage. She walked straight ahead almost like she was in a trance. Travis and I followed a few steps behind. She veered right and stopped in front of a dark-blue sedan. “This is it,” she said. “This is his car.”
Travis unlocked and opened the door for her. She picked her phone up off the floor then quickly headed back to the stairwell from which we’d come.
Travis and I started back up the stairs.
“I don’t want to go back there,” she said.
I nodded. “It’s OK. We don’t have to.”
“Do you want to go outside?” Travis asked.
“I need to call Holly.”
She stood at the bottom of the stairwell in the corner and dialed. Travis took a seat on the steps. I couldn’t stand still. I paced and turned in circles but out of sight of Gwen. I didn’t want her to see how anxious I was.
Gwen’s voice filled the stairwell. “Holly. I’m OK. I’m fine.” “I know. I was stupid. I just needed to get away.”
There was a long pause. I walked back to where Gwen was calling from. She sat cross-legged in the corner, her phone to her ear, listening. Occasionally she’d cut in with a “Yes” or “No” then “His sister. Oh, my.”
When she ended the call, she let her hand drop to her lap, and she rested her head back against the wall.
I took a seat beside Travis.
Nobody said anything. She surely had a lot to process. We gave her time; we gave her space.
Finally, she lifted her head off the wall and laughed lightly. “All this over a stupid misunderstanding.”
Travis took her cue and chuckled, too. “We need to do a better job communicating, don’t we?”
She chuckled again, smiled and reached out her hand. “Help me up, please.”
We walked back to Michael’s apartment.
“I don’t want to go back in there,” she said.
“Of course not,” said Travis. “You don’t have to. I’ll stay here with you.”
“I’m going inside,” I said.
I knocked, and Axel opened the door for me. “Is she OK?” he asked.
I nodded. He slipped out of the apartment to see for himself. I slipped back in.
Michael hadn’t moved from his curled up position on the floor. Taylor had a phone in his hand, and the guys were debating about what they would say to the police.
“You guys take the SUV,” he said. “Go park around the block and wait for me.”
“What?” said Nolan. “We’re not doing that.”
“Listen,” said Taylor. “Someone needs to tell the cops what happened. Someone needs to explain this.” He motioned to Michael. “We don’t all need to take the fall.”
“What fall?” said Santiago. “He came at me with a knife.”
Taylor nodded and motioned for calm with hand, open palm out. “I know. I know. But if we’re all here, we’re all going in the police report. That will get back to the base, then we’re all going to face trouble. There’s no need for that. I’ll stay here. You guys take the SUV and go around the block.”
“We’re not doing that,” said Tristan.
“We’re definitely not doing that,” seconded Nolan.
“If anyone’s getting in trouble for this,” said Tristan, “we’re all getting in trouble for this. We’re a team; we don’t split up.”
Taylor called the police. While he was on the phone, I pulled Santiago to the side. “We should at least move the car, you know, park it somewhere else besides the front lawn.”
Gwen was doing much better. She, Travis and Axel were talking and even laughing. When she saw Santiago, she asked if he was OK.
“I need to move the car,” he said.
“I’ll go with you,” she said.
Travis went back in the apartment, and Axel and I went with Gwen and Santiago.
I felt much better once we were outside. I didn’t realize just how claustrophobic I’d felt earlier. I let out a long, slow breath.
“Tough day?” said Gwen.
I chuckled. “I’ve had less stressful days.”
She saw the SUV, parked at an angle, half on the lawn half on the sidewalk. “Interesting parking job,” she said to Santiago.
He unlocked the doors then glanced over his shoulder at her. “At the time, parking wasn’t the priority.”
There was a space on the street right in front of the building. Maybe it had been there when we arrived, maybe not. It was kind of funny, though, since all Santiago had to do was pull the SUV off the lawn and back up slightly to park it correctly.
“The police should be on the way,” I said to Gwen.
“I want to wait here,” she said from the back seat.
Santiago retrieved a blanket from the trunk