FicWad

“Laura, what the fuck happened?” Alicia asked as soon as she spotted Jenny and I in the restaurant. We had just arrived minutes before and I was on my way to the restroom.
I looked down at the hole in the knee of my jeans and sighed, “I need to go wash up.” I was still shaking from what had just happened. The truck had been barreling down on me and I froze. If Jenny hadn’t yanked me out of the way…. I couldn’t let myself think what would have happened.
Reaching the restroom I looked at myself in the mirror over the sinks. My eyes were wide and I looked scared shitless. Well, I was still scared shitless. I turned on the tap and started to wash my hands. I saw the painful red scrapes on each palm. When Jenny had pulled me out of the path of the truck I had fallen hard on my hands and knees. I finished running the cold water on my hands then went into a stall to look at my knees. Gently I lowered my jeans and saw that both knees were bleeding. I dabbed them with toilet paper and sat down willing myself not to cry.
“Hon, are you okay?” Alicia knocked gently on the stall door.
“Not really.” I answered honestly. “Can you wet a paper towel and hand it to me? My knees are bleeding.”
“Fuck, Laura. Jenny told me what happened. Should we just go home?” Alicia asked. I could hear her running water to wet the paper towels.
“No, I’m okay.” I said not wanting to ruin our outing. I saw her hand come under the door and I took the towels. “Think you can find me some band aids?”
“I have some in my bag.” I could hear her rummaging around for them. “Here.”
Once more I took them from her hand. I dabbed at my knees then placed two band aides on each knee. Hopefully the bleeding would stop. When I came out of the stall Alicia was leaning against the wall waiting for me. “Jenny said you were almost run down by a truck. What the hell happened?"
I took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what happened. It was all so quick. One minute we were waiting to cross the road and then suddenly there was a truck headed straight for me."
"Didn't you see it?"
"The light changed and...." God, I hated reliving that moment.
“Shit, Laura. You could have been killed.”
Leave it to Alicia to always be painfully truthful. “I don’t know what would have happened if Jenny hadn’t pulled me out of the way.” I looked down at the hole in the knee of my jeans. “Nice.”
Alicia laughed, “Hey, people pay a lot of money for jeans like that. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just eat lunch then see how you feel. If you’re still not up to it we’ll head home.”
Oh crap, it hit me that there was no way I was gonna be able to hide what had happened from Gerard. I wished I didn’t have to tell him. It would just worry him and at this point I was trying to convince myself it had just been an accident. But my throbbing knees reminded me that I couldn’t hide this from him. When we returned to the front of the restaurant our table had just become available. We sat down and ordered then Jenny questioned me again about what had happened.
“Do you remember who was standing behind you when the light changed? I can’t remember.”
I shook my head, “No, I just remember the light changing and starting across the street.” I knew in my heart someone had pushed me but I wanted to downplay this.
Jenny looked at me closely, "Laura, it did happen so fast but it looked like you were shoved."
Alicia gasped, "Someone pushed her out in front of the truck?"
I had hoped Jenny wouldn't bring this up again. I knew she believed I'd been pushed too. I looked down not able to meet her questioning look.
“I wish I hadn’t had to pull you so hard that you fell but I just reacted.” Jenny said picking up her glass of water.
"Did someone really push you?" It was obvious Alicia was very upset. "Did they?"
"It could have just been an accident." I said softly, "Maybe whoever it was, was just in a hurry."
"Shit, did anyone say anything after it happened?" Alicia asked.
Jenny snorted, "Everyone just walked on like nothing had happened."
I picked up my glass. The cold felt good on my scraped hands. “Hey, I’d rather have scrapped hands and knees from hitting the sidewalk then being squished by a truck.” I tried to tease. “Oh and by the way. I’m gonna tell Gee what happened but I don’t want to tell him I think I was pushed, okay?”
Both women stared at me.
“Look.” I explained, “He’ll just freak out. I’m gonna tell him we were crossing the road and a truck ran the light. I’ll tell him you pulled me to safety and I fell.”
Alicia shook her head, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. The Way brothers seem to have a way of finding out things. I never can keep a secret from Mikey.”
“Is it because of what happened to me?” Jenny asked softly.
I nodded, “Yeah, he’s still freaked about that.” I sighed, “I am too. But we’re getting ready to leave on tour and he needs to concentrate on that not worry about me 24 hours a day.”
“The police showed me the video tape of the woman they can’t identify.” Jenny said. “Did they show you guys?”
I nodded,
“What tape? What woman?” Alicia asked.
Jenny and I both explained it to her.
“I told them I’d never seen her before.” Jenny said. “Think she was visiting someone in the building? Had Gerard seen her before?”
Shit, my stomach felt sick. Yeah, I thought Gee and I have both seen her before. Me just from photos and Gee…. “We didn’t recognize her.” I lied.
We ate our lunch then I had to admit to them I wanted to go back home. Both of my knees were throbbing. I just wanted to talk a nice bath and soak them. Jenny gave me a hug when we got back to the front of my building.
“Hey, I’ll probably see you tomorrow.” She said with a laugh. Tomorrow was just a traveling day for the band; the first concert wasn’t until the following day.
“Thanks for saving my life.” I said softly.
She looked surprised, “I’m just glad I was there.”
“Me too.” I said giving her another hug.
Alicia said she’d walk me up to my apartment. When we were in the elevator she spoke. “Are you sure you shouldn’t tell Gee?”
“He’s got too much on his mind right now.” I answered.
Alicia sighed, “You know you’re my best friend and I love you but sometimes I just don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
We reached my floor and got off the elevator before she explained, “Mikey and I both know there are things that go on with you and Gee that we don’t understand.”
“Shit, Alicia. I love you like a sister but there are some things I can’t tell you.” It really bothered me she felt this way.
“Yeah and Gee is really Mikey’s brother and I know he keeps stuff from him. It’s just kinda hard sometimes you know?”
I reached over and hugged her tightly. “Hey, I got something to share with you.” I said impulsively deciding to share my wonderful news with her. In my heart she was my sister. I unlocked the door and she followed me inside. We sat down on the sofa. “Gee and I decided not to tell anyone yet but I really want to share this with you.” I took a deep breath, “I’m gonna have a baby.”
Alicia was shocked. “A baby? But you said you couldn’t get pregnant.”
I laughed, “Well that’s what I always thought but never say never. I couldn’t believe it when the doctor told me.”
“Holy shit.” Alicia leaned over and hugged me tight, “That’s wonderful. God, I bet Gee is thrilled.”
I remembered his first response but pushed that memory out of my head. “He is and now you can kinda understand why he’s really being protective of me.”
Alicia sat back, “Oh fuck. Thank God you didn’t get hurt today.”
“I know.” I sobered quickly. “I just want him to think it was an accident. If he thinks someone shoved me his mind will go into overdrive with worry.”


I was in the bathtub when Gerard got home. Unfortunately I didn’t hear him come in and screeched when he walked into the bathroom.
“Well that’s a nice greeting.” He laughed.
I sat up in the tub, “Shit, what time is it?”
“A little after five. How long have you been in the tub?”
The water around me was cool. “About an hour, I think.”
He frowned, “You shouldn’t fall asleep in the tub. That’s dangerous.”
I nodded, “I didn’t mean to.” I noticed that he was suddenly staring at my legs.
“What the fuck happened to you?”
Well shit, I thought. “I fell.” I answered slowly preparing to stand.
At once he was beside the tub on his knees. He gently pushed me back down. Slowly he lifted my leg to look closely at my wounded knee. He lowered it back into the water and lifted the other leg. His breath caught when he saw that knee. It was worse. “You fell? Today while I was gone? How?”
“I went to lunch with Alicia and Jenny. We we’re crossing the street and I fell and hit the sidewalk.” I held up my hands to show him my palms. Might as well get it over with.
“You left the apartment?” He sputtered. “You said you were gonna stay and finish packing.”
Just as I’d feared, he was angry. “I was but Alicia called and asked it I wanted to go shopping with her. Then Jenny called and we invited her to go with us.”
He shook his head, “How did you manage to fall that hard?
Taking a deep breath I knew I had to explain. "Jenny and I were standing on the corner waiting for the light to change. As soon as it did I started across by a truck ran the light.” I saw the look on his face and quickly explained, “Jenny pulled me out of the way but when she did I lost my balance and hit the pavement.”
“You could have been fucking killed.” He said standing up. “What the hell were you thinking leaving the apartment?”
I understood he was upset but his words irritated me. “Gee, I’m not a child. I don’t have to ask permission to leave and go out with my friends.”
“You said you were going to stay here and pack. Fuck, Laura. I thought I could leave for a few hours without having to worry about you.”
“I’m fine.” I said standing up in the tub. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me. Suddenly I felt his arm encircle my body.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I didn’t mean to sound like I did.”
“I know.” I said softly.
He had me sit on the toilet while he dried my knees and applied antibiotic cream to the wounds. I tried not to flinch but it hurt. When he was done he grabbed my robe from the back of the door and helped me put it on. “I brought dinner. Let’s eat.”
He led me to the kitchen table. I took a seat and watched him remove Chinese Take Out boxes from a bag. We had just started to eat when our doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it.” Gee said standing.
I picked at my Beef and Vegetables waiting for him to return.
“This was left for you downstairs.” He said walking back into the kitchen and handing me a while envelope.
I turned it over in my hands noticing that my name was typed on the front. A bad feeling came over me. I didn’t want to open it but I knew Gerard was watching closely. I used my chopstick to slit open the envelope. Inside was a single piece of paper. The typed words caused me to catch my breath. – NEXT TIME YOU WON’T BE SAVED.