Under Her Skin Read online

  As darkness fell, Marlo put her book away. It was getting too hard to see, even with the overhead lights turned on. The four of them were talking and joking around, slowly bringing Marlo out of her bad mood. The only thing still annoying Marlo was the way that Pierce wouldn't leave her side. Even worse, as he sat there, he kept stroking her hair, as if he were petting a puppy.

  She'd finally had enough of all the petting and got up to make some dinner. She knew that she should be grateful that he cared about her so much, but instead found it completely repulsive. Her attention was all focused on the chicken that she was cutting up, trying to be extra careful with the knife since the road was becoming increasingly bumpy.

  Before she knew what was happening, there was a loud thud, and a sharp screeching sound. She felt the bus skidding, as if in slow motion, then felt herself being thrown across the bus. As her head sharply hit the back of the bench at the kitchen table, Marlo blacked out. She didn't feel the force of her head hitting the wood, nor did she feel her body slam into the floor. She was out cold and didn't know that AJ had also been thrown and landed on Dusty's leg.

  The bus was tilted, still swaying. It all happened so fast, no one knew what had happened. AJ was the first to get to his senses and crawled to the other side of the bus, the side that was up in the air, and pushed out the emergency window.

  He reached his hand out to help Dusty up, seeing that he was in pain. Dusty stood slowly, not able to put any weight on his right leg. Once Dusty was on the right side of the bus, AJ jumped up and out of the window and pulled Dusty out. The driver of the bus had crawled out of his window and helped to catch Dusty on the ground.

  "Come on, you guys need to get out of there." AJ yelled back into the bus.

  Pierce looked down to where Marlo lay on the floor. "Marlo, come on we need to get out of here." Marlo didn't answer him, and she didn't move. "Marlo!" Pierce looked to the back of the bus and saw Sammy and Tobias slowly crawling to the front of the bus, trying not to make any sudden movements. Without any hesitation, Pierce carefully moved to the other side of the bus and jumped up into the window.

  Tobias shook his head, the blood pouring from the gash on his forehead. The bus shifted again, teetering even further on its side. He saw Marlo's lifeless body slide across the linoleum floor and slam into the other wall. "Sam, we need to get out of here now. Crawl up to the window and get out. Don't make any sudden movements. I'm going to get Marlo and lift her up to you. Then I'll crawl out. Got it?"

  Sammy could hear the fear in Tobias's voice, and he understood exactly how Tobias felt. One false move and the three of them could instantly lose their lives. He crawled as quickly and as safely as he could to the window, then pulled himself up and out of the window.

  Once he was out, Tobias crawled to Marlo. He used every last ounce of strength that he had, and ignored the pain, as he picked Marlo's limp body up from the floor and made a mad dash to the window. AJ grabbed Marlo, and Sammy grabbed Tobias. Just as soon as they got through the window and jumped down to the ground, the bus teetered again, and the tree that was holding it up finally cracked. Both the tree and the bus crashed down into the ravine, a good 500 feet below.

  Tobias dropped to the ground, holding Marlo against his chest. He felt for her pulse, and nearly cried when he found it. She was alive, and at that point, it was better than nothing. People from the other bus poured out and helped in whatever way they could. Someone had already called an ambulance, and help was on its way.

  "What the hell happened?" AJ yelled at the bus driver.

  "I don't know. There were so many potholes in the road, and I don't know if we were getting bumped around too much, or if we blew a tire. But when we got to the bend in the road, we just couldn't make the turn. If that tree hadn't been there, we'd have tumbled right down the ravine. None of us would have even had a chance." The driver was in near hysterics. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before.

  The EMTs finally arrived and went to Marlo first. She seemed to be the worst off of everyone. They got her on the gurney and took her vitals as other EMTs spread out and looked at everyone else. One was examining the gash on Tobias's forehead, not even paying attention to the bone nearly sticking out of Tobias' arm. Tobias looked over and saw Marlo being rolled into the back of the ambulance. He pushed the EMT away and ran over to the unit that held Marlo. He jumped in just before the doors were closed and held her hand the whole way to the hospital.

  When they got to the emergency room, they wheeled Marlo into the trauma room, and pushed Tobias out when he tried to follow them. Another doctor took him into a different room where his arm was x-rayed and set. They stitched the wound in his head, then told him he could wait in the waiting room.

  Tobias felt like a year had passed, and he still hadn't seen any of his band mates or any of the doctors that could answer his questions about Marlo. He had never felt so alone or afraid as he did at that moment.

  He thought he was seeing things when Dusty hobbled out of an exam room on crutches. A large white cast adorned his right leg, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. "Have you heard anything yet?" He asked of his sister.

  "No. No one will tell me anything. She was still alive on the way here though." Tobias told him. He needed to cling to the hope that she would be ok, because hope was all he had.

  A few minutes later AJ, Sammy, and Pierce came running in, along with Pete and Kevin. Red flashed through Tobias's eyes when he saw Pierce. He ran over and pushed Pierce against the wall, holding his cast against his throat, ignoring the throbbing pain shooting through his broken arm. "Some man you are." Tobias said through clenched teeth. "Whenever she needs you, all you do is run away with your tail between your legs. What if I hadn't gotten to her in time? We could have lost her, all because you're a fucking pussy. Right now, she's in that room over there, possibly fighting for her life." Tears pooled in Tobias's eyes. "But all that matters is that you got out ok, right?" Pierce looked at Tobias in defiance. "You make me sick. I want you to get your shit off the bus and get out of here. You are no longer welcome on our tour. Stay away from me, stay away from the guys, and definitely stay the fuck away from Marlo. She could have died! Do you understand me? She could have died!" Pete pulled Tobias off Pierce as he completely broke down into tears. Kevin turned to Pierce, who stood there like a statue, with no emotion on his face. He jerked his head to the door, giving Pierce a sign that it was time for him to go. He left again, like a beaten man, with his tail between his legs.

  The doctor walked out of the trauma room, and was immediately swarmed by the group in the waiting room. "Is she ok?" Dusty asked. Tobias looked up, his eyes pleading for good news.

  "Ms. LaPointe has some serious head trauma, a broken shoulder, and a couple of deep lacerations. At this time, she's stable, but we aren't sure if there is any permanent damage done. We won't know anything for sure until she wakes up. The next 48 hours are very crucial." The doctor explained. "She's being moved to a private room right now, you'll be able to see her soon."

  Tobias let out the breath that he had been holding. All he wanted was for her to be ok. If she wanted to hate him for the rest of her life, then he could handle that. Just as long as she was alive.

  Dusty and Tobias stayed in the hospital overnight, keeping vigil at Marlo's bedside, while the rest of the guys found hotel rooms. Neither one thought they would be able to sleep if they left, so they stayed to be there in case she woke up.

  "So tell me, what's the deal?" Dusty asked Tobias. "What's up with you and my sister?"

  "I don't know. She's great, and I care for her a lot, but nothing will ever happen." Tobias admitted, almost sadly.

  "Why not? Not that I'm pushing you two together, just curious."

  "She's too good for me. She's so sweet and innocent, I don't want to corrupt her." Tobias laughed lightly. "She's an amazing woman, and she makes me feel all these things. But I'm afraid that I'd end up hurting her, and that's the last thing I want to do. I don't think I c
ould handle a commitment, and she deserves nothing less than that." He didn't know why he was suddenly pouring his heart out to Dusty and coming clean about his feelings…maybe it was because he had come so close to losing Marlo.

  Dusty smiled. He knew that Tobias was developing feelings for his sister, but he didn't realize how deep they ran until that moment. "Don't give up man." Then he laughed. "Whoa! Did I just tell the biggest male slut not to give up on my innocent little sister?"

  Tobias laughed and laid his head against Marlo's bed. They talked throughout the night, Dusty telling Tobias about different things that happened when he and his sister were growing up, getting to know each other better than either had ever imagined.

  In the morning, Tobias went to the cafeteria to get some coffee, leaving Dusty in the room alone with his sister. Just as Dusty started to doze off, he heard a soft voice.

  "Man, what's a girl got to do to get something to drink?"

  "Marlo?" Dusty's head shot up.

  "I hope so. What happened?" She looked around the room, groaning in pain as she moved her head.

  Dusty told Marlo everything that happened, including how Pierce had left her and Tobias saved her, along with how Tobias kicked Pierce off the tour. Marlo wasn't really surprised that Pierce had left her again, she never had a doubt that he was always in it for himself.

  Tobias came back a few minutes later, surprised to see Marlo awake. "Marlo! God, I was so worried about you!" His face was pale, and there were pools of dark circles under his eyes.

  "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?" Marlo asked, her face masked in confusion.

  Tobias looked over to Dusty, with such a worried and pained expression. Dusty tried to keep a straight face, but he just couldn't keep up with Marlo's ruse. Instead, he busted out laughing.

  "Nice Marlo! Here I was worried about you, and you fuck with me." He said, feeling a mixture of hurt and anger.

  "Sorry, I had to do it. You looked too serious. Someone needed to lighten the mood." Marlo smiled and looked at her brother. "Can we have a minute?"

  Dusty nodded and hobbled out of the room on his crutches, leaving the two of them alone. Tobias took the seat that Dusty had just vacated.

  "He told me what happened." Marlo said softly.

  "Why is it that I always have to save your stupid ass?" Tobias said, smiling the whole time.

  "Thank you. Again and again, thank you a million times over." She said softly, and took his good hand in her good hand and brought it to her lips, softly kissing it.

  "You know how many times I've come close to losing you?" He asked sincerely.

  "I'm sure not enough for your liking." They both laughed.

  "I kicked him off the tour." He told her, looking down at the floor.

  "I know. Thanks. It's for the best, and probably should have been done a while ago." She looked down and realized that they were still holding hands. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, it felt good.

  Chapter 11

  "So when do I get sprung from this joint? I can't wait to have some real food again!" Marlo asked her brother after her third day in the hospital. He had just gotten back from talking to herdoctor in the hallway.

  "Doctor said you can go home tomorrow. Only one problem." Dusty dreaded giving her the news. "You're going to have to go home instead of finishing the tour with us."

  "What? Why?" Marlo protested. "There's only two weeks left, why can't I just finish it out with you guys?"

  "The doctor feels that you need your rest since you had some major head trauma. If you don't go home, then you'll have to stay here for a few more days." He explained. "Besides, you're in a big shoulder cast. Do you really think that the bunks on the bus are big enough to fit that monster in?"

  "Come on Dusty! Don't make me go home. I won't have anything to do, I'll be all alone." Marlo whined.

  "Marlo, it's only for two weeks. Don't make this any harder than it has to be." He pleaded. "I'll call Annie to come stay with you so that you won't be all alone. I'm sure it will be nice to have her help until you're healed anyways."

  Marlo thought about it for a few minutes. It would be great to spend some time with Annie again. She had been their nanny when they were growing up, and she was more of a mother to Dusty and Marlo than their own mother was. "Fine. But I don't have to like it."

  "I know. I'll miss you too." Dusty smiled, knowing that was one of the biggest problems.

  "Well, don't even think of turning off your cell phone. I'm going to be calling all the time to find out what's happening and making sure that you know what your schedule is." She warned.

  "You can reach me any time you need to." He leaned over the bed and gave his sister a hug. "So when we leave on the bus tomorrow, you'll head back home. We hired a car for you so that you since we're only about six hours from home. Better than trying to get you on a plane with all that damn plaster on your arm."

  Marlo sighed. She knew it was all for the better, but she didn't have to like it. Honestly, she didn't know how she would have gotten along on the bus in the shape that she was in, but it was a bitch to admit it.

  A soft knock was heard in the room and Tobias peeked his head in the door slowly, making sure it was okay to go in. "Hey." He spoke softly.

  Marlo smiled. "Hey, come on in." She looked over to her brother, giving him a look that asked for a few minutes alone.

  "I'm just going to go call Annie and let her know the plan. I'll be back in a few." Dusty said, squeezing his sister's hand. As he walked by his band mate, he clapped him on the back.

  "So, I suppose you know that I'm not coming back on the tour?" Marlo asked.

  "Yeah, I heard Dusty talking to the doctor earlier. I didn't come in then because I didn't want to get hit by any flying object." He teased, knowing how much it meant to Marlo to be with the group.

  "Nothing I can do about it." She said, defeated. "But, at least you'll finally have me out of your hair." She searched his eyes to find his reaction. She was kind of testing the waters, still not sure what was happening between them. She had all these feelings jumbled up inside of her, finally understanding what they meant when they said, 'There's a fine line between love and hate'.

  For so long, she had all these passionate feelings towards Tobias, which she truly thought was hate. But now she thought that maybe it was something else. Maybe her 'hatred' was just her own way to protect herself from getting hurt and exposing her true feelings.

  And as for Pierce, was he just a pawn, someone she used to try to make Tobias jealous? Or was he just another shield used to mask her feelings for the man in question? Marlo didn't think she was the kind of person to intentionally use someone, so maybe she was doing it on some sub-conscious level?

  "Are you listening to me?" Tobias asked, waving a hand in front of Marlo's face.

  "Huh?" Marlo had been so focused on her thoughts in her quest to find out how she truly felt, that she ignored every word that was coming out of Tobias' mouth.

  "I said I was going to miss you. I got kind of used to you on the bus with us." He smirked. "Besides, I'm going to miss all the drama. I was kind of getting used to being the knight in shining armor." He teased.

  "Ha-ha. Like I intended for all that to happen." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the pain that shot through her head when she did it.

  "It's all good though. Anyways, I think I can handle two weeks without having someone to fight with constantly." He laughed. He ran his good hand across his chin, feeling the stubble scratch against his fingers. He was hoping that he wasn't letting on just how much he was going to miss Marlo. He felt like he was turning into a girl, all these emotions that he'd been showing lately. Time to make an exit, and quick, before he completely spilled his guts to her. "Well, rest up while we're gone. You need to save what little brain you have left." He stood and kissed Marlo on the forehead, then the nose, then lightly and quickly touched her lips with his.

  Before Marlo even realized what was happening, Tobias was gone
, leaving her even more frustrated.

  *****

  The next morning, Marlo and Dusty met with the doctor and went over her release paperwork. Much to her dismay, she was forced into a wheelchair instead of letting her walk out of the hospital on her own. What really mattered though, was that she was finally free of their watchful eyes.

  As much as she hated not finishing the tour out with the guys, she was a little excited to be able to sleep in her own bed again. She was also looking forward to spending some time with Annie.

  Dusty rolled Marlo out of the hospital to where the hired car and the bus were waiting. As soon as she was through the doors, she saw the rest of the members of the band waiting outside for her, next to their tour bus. Dusty stopped the chair and Marlo stood up slowly, trying to get balanced from the weight of the cast.

  AJ came to hug her first. "You gaining weight?" He asked. "I can barely get my arms around you."

  "Well, I'm sure the million pounds of plaster doesn't have anything to do with that." She laughed. Leave it to AJ to bring out the humor of the situation.

  Sammy was next. "Going to miss you." He told her as he embraced her. He was going to miss all the time they spent talking and playing cards. He had so much fun with Marlo during the boring stretches on the tour bus. She always knew how to make the slow times fun.

  Marlo nodded, unable to speak with the lump forming in her throat.

  Tobias was next, and Marlo was dreading it. She was already over-emotional, and saying good bye to Tobias was bound to make it worse. He opened his mouth to say something, but Marlo raised her hand and put her fingers on his lips before he could get anything out. She shook her head at him, effectively stopping what he had been planning to say.

  Instead, Tobias pulled her into his arms, careful not to get smacked by the large mass of plaster being used to heal her bones. Tears slowly trickled down her face, unable to stop them. She felt stupid for getting so emotional. After all, it was only a couple of weeks that she would be spending without them. The band had just become such a huge part of her life that she felt empty without them.