Survive the Night by Riley Sager
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM—DAY
Charlie’s final stop is another hospital room, just a few doors down the hall from Marge’s. Unlike her, Josh is sound asleep and lightly snoring.
No, not Josh.
Jake.
True to her word, Marge had indeed moved him someplace safe, dragging him out of the lobby and putting him in the back seat of the Cadillac. When the portico fell with the rest of lodge, the roof of the Caddy bent but didn’t break. A couple of firefighters found him inside and unconscious as they were loading Charlie into the ambulance. Josh was loaded in right along with her. Charlie held his hand the entire way to the hospital.
Now she sits by his bed, watching him sleep. When he wakes, his eyes flutter open in a way that Charlie can only describe as cinematic. And even though she shoved a knife into his side, he still smiles when he sees her. Not even pain can dim that megawatt grin.
“You stabbed me,” he says.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I also tried to save you.”
Charlie gives a nod of thanks. “You did.”
Josh tries to sit up, groaning with effort. Most of his body has been wrapped in bandages. Some are for the stab wound. Others are for the gunshot wound. And still others might be from when Charlie accidentally rear-ended the Cadillac while he was inside.
“The Mummy,” she says. “Nineteen thirty-two. Boris Karloff.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Josh says. “Some film nerd told me he was in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
Charlie grins. “That film nerd must be a very smart girl.”
“She is,” Josh says. “Although she must not be too smart to be sticking around this place.”
“I just came by to thank you for saving me.” A lump forms in Charlie’s throat. She swallows it down. “I-I’m not sure I deserved it.”
“You did,” Josh tells her. “You need to stop being so hard on yourself.”
“I know.” Charlie pauses. “And you need to find a different job.”
Josh laughs until it starts to hurt. Clutching his side, he says, “That I do. I think I’d make a great chauffeur. Maybe I should move to Hollywood. Be a driver to the stars.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.”
“Speaking of driving.” Josh gestures to his clothes, neatly folded on the nightstand beside the bed, almost as if they’d just come from a cleaner who’d forgotten to tackle the bloodstains. “Reach into the front right pocket of my jeans. There’s something inside I want you to have.”
Charlie does, dipping her hand into the pocket and finding a set of car keys. She pulls them out by the plastic fob, the keys jingling together below it.
“It’s yours,” Josh says.
“I can’t take your car.”
“You need to get to Ohio somehow. Besides, you’re only borrowing it. Go home, spend some time with your grandmother, bring it back to me. I’ll probably still be here.” Josh touches his side. “And when you do, maybe we can, I don’t know, go see a movie or something.”
Charlie curls her fingers around the keys, a sign she’s considering it. Not just borrowing Josh’s car, but all of it. For one, she feels indebted to him. He came to her rescue, in spite of what she’d done to him. That needs to be acknowledged and appreciated.
Then there’s the fact that she likes this version of Josh. It’s the one she got brief glimpses of during the long, strange trip of the previous night. Now that all suspicion is gone, she thinks it might be nice to meet the real him.
But the bedrock truth is that surviving the night has left Charlie feeling lonelier than ever.
Maddy’s gone.
Robbie, too.
Now more than ever, Charlie’s in need of a new friend.
“Maybe,” she says as she stuffs the keys into her coat pocket. “As long as I get to pick the movie.”
