Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Finally, in the distance, I hear the wail of the sirens. Then I see the lights.
Soon, two paramedics come rushing toward us.
The first one, a younger man, assesses her.
“Female, mid-twenties, head trauma, unconscious,” he calls out to his partner.
His partner, a woman about the same age, nods and prepares her for transport.
Words ring out in the air, but it’s hard to grasp them all. Low blood pressure. Loss of blood. Possible concussion.
Together, a second after securing her neck, they load her onto a stretcher.
“Is she—”
“We’re doing everything we can.”
They lift her into the ambulance. The doors are shut, and they speed away.
I’m still on the ground, my breathing still erratic, and the ambulance is no longer in sight. The red flashing lights are a distant memory.
My head drops, and when it does, a glint of something catches my eye.
What is that?
I reach my hand out and pick it up.
Josephine’s bracelet.
My heart squeezes in my chest.
She needs to be okay. I don’t know what I’ll do if she’s not.
Grabbing my phone, I dial.
“What’s up, Sinclair? You ready to tell me why you were playing—”
“Robert.” My voice sounds raw and gritty.
“What’s wrong, Dane?”
“Josephine—”
“What about my daughter?”
“She had an accident in the parking lot. She hit her head.”
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. I called an ambulance. They’ve taken her to the hospital. I-I just thought you should know.”
There’s a second of silence. “What hospital?”
“Redville Health.”
“Thank you, son.”
His words feel like a gunshot in my heart. I hang up, but I want to tell him he shouldn’t call me son.
I let him down.
But most importantly, I let down the one person who I truly ever felt peace with.
My hellfire.
65
DANE
Hudson: What happened to Josie?
Hudson: Never seen coach take off like that.
Hudson: Hello?
Hudson: Anyone?
Hudson: Am I the only one who’s here?
Aiden: I’ll find out.
Hudson: Oh thank fuck, I thought you all left me.
66
DANE
The fluorescent lights of the waiting room flicker a harsh glow above me.
I squint my eyes, a headache brewing behind my lids.
Who knows how long I’ve been sitting here, and I still haven’t heard anything. Robert went back to see if he could find someone to give us news on Josephine.
The door swings open, and my heart lurches in my chest but then drops when an elderly man walks toward the exit.
Not him.
I wonder how much longer it will take for someone to come out here. My back hunches forward, and I lift my arm to knead the muscles tightened by my neck.
This chair is not the most comfortable.
I can’t believe she fell.
I can’t believe I failed her.
No matter how hard I try, her scream plays on repeat in my mind.
Over and over again, I hear the sound.
Over and over again, I see her fall.
Every time I replay it in my mind, I can still feel the skin on her arm slip across my fingertips when I finally reached out for her.
None of this would have happened if I had only reached out when she first asked me.
I close my eyes, and there it is again.
The sound of the thud.
The blood.
All the blood.
My breathing feels choppy, and I pull in large gulps of air.
“You okay, man?” someone says beside me. “Sin?”
I open my eyes. Mason is there, and Hudson is barreling over in my direction.
Behind him is Aiden, Cassidy in tow.
Hudson’s face looks red with rage. “What happened to our girl?”
“She fell.”
“How the fuck did she fall in a parking lot, Sin?” he practically growls.
“She lost her balance. She was walking on the ledge. It wasn’t that high, only about two feet off the ground, but she hit her head on a loose piece of concrete.” Guilt makes my tongue heavy, but what else can I say? It’s the truth; she lost her balance. She did something stupid and lost her balance.
You let her fall. It’s all your fault.
It’s always your fault.
Molly is the next to enter the room. Her eyes look red-rimmed like she might have been crying. She throws her arms around my neck when she sees me. “Is she okay?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
Molly is the closest thing to a friend as Hellfire has.
She had you.
I had no choice. With my uncle blackmailing me, I can’t be with her. If I had reached out when she asked, she would have thought there was hope for us, but between my uncle and her father, we were over before we even started.
“There’s no news at all?” Hudson asks.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
I sit back down in the cold metal chair. I’m happy to have my friends here, but they don’t even know the half of my relationship with her.
“Why were you with Josie?” Hudson finally asks. “Alone in the parking lot?”
He eyes me in a way that makes me uncomfortable. Hudson is usually the playful one out of the bunch, but right now, his demeanor is anything but playful.