Free Between Now & Never by Laura Johnston Page B

a YouTube clip starts. It’s a video taken at night, the lights of Phoenix dotting the screen. A huge cloud piles up along the horizon, dust that grows higher and higher and then sweeps over the entire valley.
    “Holy—” I stop there, speechless.
    “Yeah,” Rachel says and takes her seat on a chair, curling her legs under her. “You were in that. Dust all over you.”
    “Your lungs took in quite a bit,” Mom says, her face drawing into a frown.
    “I called Vic,” Dad butts in.
    My ears perk up. “You did?”
    “Mm-hm. Called your coach and got his number. I spoke to him on the phone about an hour ago.”
    “What did he say?”
    “I told him about the accident and your concussion, how you spent most of the night repeating the same questions.”
    “And?”
    Dad watches me, reading my every expression. I force myself to relax.
    “To his credit,” Dad says, “he sounded genuinely concerned.”
    “Of course he did,” Mom says and throws my dad a sharp glance.
    A light knock pulls our attention to the open doorway, where a police officer stands.
    He extends an encouraging grin in my direction. “Detective Ferguson.”
    Dad shakes his hand. Detective Ferguson requests a moment to ask me a few questions. I assure him I’m with it now. I hope I’m right.
    His balding head reflects the bright lights of the hospital room. He asks questions, most of which I can’t answer. Still, he manages to jot plenty down on his report.
    “His friend, Vic, will be here any moment,” Dad says.
    “He’s the one you were with last night?” Detective Ferguson asks me.
    I shrug. “I guess so.”
    Vic arrives as promised, his hands jammed in his pockets. He wears a careful smile and a small cut lines his bottom lip, spiking my curiosity. Seeing him is a relief for some reason, a sort of reassurance that the pieces of the puzzle will come together in time.
    Vic shakes Mom’s hand and offers a wave to Rachel and Lizzy.
    When Vic extends his hand to my dad, I watch for any crack in his friendly front, a clue that he might know who my dad is. I see nothing.
    Vic smiles and introduces himself to my dad. “Thanks for calling me,” he says before turning to me. “Hey, Cody. You—ah—you’ve looked better.”
    I laugh, and it hurts everywhere. “It’s weird, man, I can’t remember a thing about last night.”
    “Yeah?” he asks.
    “I need to ask you a few questions,” Detective Ferguson intervenes, pulling Vic aside. They stand outside the doorway, out of earshot. Almost. I listen in as Vic relays the story of how we stopped for something to eat on our way to Connor’s house.
    “We both wanted different fast food,” Vic says.
    Dad stands at the door, listening in as well. He nods once, like he’s heard this all before. Vic must have told him over the phone.
    Vic tells the detective how I wanted Wendy’s but he wanted El Pollo Loco. Sounds like Vic, I guess. Vic tells the detective he dropped me off at Wendy’s and when he came back for me, I was nowhere in sight.
    None of this sounds familiar, but then again, nothing from last night does.
    “And that cut there on your lip,” Detective Ferguson says. “How did you get that?”
    Rachel snaps her gum and Dad shushes her.
    “Got an elbow playing basketball,” Vic replies.
    Detective Ferguson jots it all down. “Who elbowed you?”
    Vic rubs his chin. “It was pickup ball. At the park. Don’t know his name.”
    Fergusson nods. Finishes up.
    “Hey, Vic,” I ask when the detective is gone, “do you remember if I had my cell phone on me last night?”
    “Nah, man. I called—you know, after we got split up—but you never answered.”
    Vic tells me he would have called my parents but didn’t know their number. Couldn’t remember where my house was either. Said he’d deleted the text with my address. He figured my phone had run out of battery and I’d found another way home.
    I nod, letting it all process and hoping it sticks.
    “We were headed to