I rolled my eyes, or more accurately, the one that wasn't swollen shut.
"You folks evacuating for the storm?" Tank asked as he and Karen stood up to head for the front door.
"We plan on helping out at the beach patrol station," Butch answered. "Rain was doing some work there, and we've been helping out with storm prep all week."
"We could use more civilians like you," Tank said, clapping Butch on the back so hard it caused him to stumble. I smiled, forgetting that my face resembled a boxer's who'd gone ten rounds. Gulping back my pain, I tentatively touched my swollen cheek.
"Lots of ice," Karen said, seeing the flicker of pain cross my face. She turned to address Butch and Buttercup. "We'll be checking up, but if you need anything else, you can call us. You all stay safe. This storm's going to be a doozy," she said as they headed out the door. "We'll let you know when we talk to Evan Walker," she said, glancing back at her notebook before closing the door.
I ran their words through my head, especially the part where they referred to Evan as a perp. I could tell they hadn't bought my entire story, but I didn't know what else to say to convince them. Considering my short but detrimental history with Evan, I could see how it might be hard to understand why I would attempt to help him. Still, that should be for me to decide. I was sure if they checked Evan's head the evidence to back up my story would be glaringly obvious.
Butch yawned heavily. "Now that Rain is done with her drama, I'm going to hit the sack."
"Hardy-har. You're so funny. I need to shower first," I said, heading toward my room.
"Um, Rain? Where do you think you're going?" Buttercup asked.
"To my room, no?" I asked. I should have known. Truthfully, with the hurricane picking up, I had expected them to insist that I sleep in the house anyway.
"You can shower in here while I set you up in the spare room," Buttercup said, leaving no room for argument.
Butch followed me to my room and helped me gather my favorite blanket and pillow while I grabbed a pair of PJs, my toothbrush, and a change of clothes for the morning. When we returned, Buttercup had already laid out a fresh towel in the bathroom for my shower.
I couldn't help swearing over my reflection in the mirror. My face was a complete and utter mess. My left eye was already a brilliant shade of deep purple and black and had swollen completely shut. My cheekbone, on the other hand, was bright red and sported a small cut under my eye. Seriously, Evan's head was lethal. Considering how my parents and the two officers had reacted, I had no idea how I would explain it to Josh without him losing it.
I woke the next morning to the wind whipping with gusto against the plywood boarded over the bedroom window. Sitting up in bed, I could barely see out of my swollen eye, and my face felt like an elephant had spent the night standing on my head. I would need an entire bottle of ibuprofen to make it through the day, but I wanted to go to the patrol office. I managed to drag myself out of bed and detoured into the bathroom to survey the damage. I wouldn't say that my eye and cheek looked worse than the night before, but they definitely didn't look any better. I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back into a ponytail before going back to my room to get dressed.
"I hope his head is as sore as your face looks," Butch said as I walked into the kitchen.
"Right back at you," I said, noting the sour expression on his face. I tried laughing with him, but my face protested the movement. "Please don't make me laugh. Who knew facial expressions could be so painful?"
He walked over and carefully slung his arm around my neck, giving me a gentle sideways hug. "That's what you get for rolling around with boys in your room."
I elbowed him in the gut, making him grunt. "Zip it." The last thing I wanted was for him to say something to that effect when we saw Josh.
Buttercup joined us before Butch could tease me any further. "Ouch, that looks painful," she said, cautiously probing my face. I winced in pain. "I hope he didn't break anything. Maybe we really should go to the hospital, just in case."
"I think it's your run-of-the-mill black eye," Butch assured her. "If it was broken, Rainbow wouldn't be able to tolerate even the slightest touch. She's just going to have a shiner for a couple weeks."
"A couple weeks?" I gasped. "You're telling me I'm going to look like a hideous monster for two weeks?"
"At least," Butch said. "You want something to eat before we head out?"
"No, thanks. I'll just take some coffee to go," I answered.
I grabbed an insulated cup with a lid for my wake-up juice while Butch shouldered the duffle bags we'd packed the night before. We didn't know what to expect from the storm, but we figured we should be ready in case we needed to evacuate.
Climbing into the van, I glanced down the block toward Evan's house, hoping he had made it home, or at the very least was somewhere safe. A menacing wall of clouds from the east bore down on Turtle Bay, hinting at the impending storm. Butch remained unusually quiet as he maneuvered our van slowly down the road. Palm fronds and dead tree branches already littered the street thanks to the whipping gusts of wind that pushed against the side of our van.
Looking out the window with my one good eye, I felt hypnotized watching even the largest and tallest trees sway back and forth. At any moment, I expected them to snap in half.
"Look at that," Buttercup said, commenting on the way the traffic lights bobbed up and down on the wires they hung from.
As we turned down Beachside Drive, we got a clear look at the ocean. The waves looked angry and imposing, like they were daring anyone brave enough to take their chances to enter the water. I saw no one that stupid, but there were people standing on the beach who seemed to be taking in the sights.
I could only remember Butch being this stressed one other time, and that was when Buttercup got pneumonia. Initially, she had refused to see a doctor, relying instead on the homemade remedies she claimed had never let her down before. Eventually, Butch intervened. He loaded her up in the van in the middle of the night and drove to a doctor's house. How Butch had the doctor's address, or why he even allowed Butch to show up with Buttercup in the middle of the night, I never learned. Logic told me Butch had to know him somehow or maybe the doctor sensed his desperation, but I never asked.
It took us twice as long to get there even though the roads were eerily empty, but just as Josh had predicted, the station was bursting with activity. In my anticipation to see Josh, I forgot about my face until Vanessa gasped when she saw me. Coming around from her desk like her feet were on fire, she stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, demanding to know what had happened.