I try to open my eyes, but they just won’t cooperate. My side hurts. It feels hard to breathe. And fuck, my leg is on fire.
I can hear Isabelle again. She’s calling my name.
I try to open my mouth and tell her I’m here, but I don’t know how.
There are more muffled voices, and then it feels like someone’s pulling on my body. On my arms. My back.
What’s going on?
“Just hold still, we’ve got you.”
I don’t know whose voice that is. I try opening my eyes again and get flashes of stars. The outline of a figure above. Who the fuck is that?
“Not yet, man,”a voice echoes.August?
“You’re not finished.They need you.”
My eyes finally open, and I can see him. His light brown eyes are staring straight at me. The slash through his right eyebrow. His dark hair hangs over one side. He looks just how I remember.
I close my eyes, trying to make sense of it. But, Jesus, why does everything hurt? When I look again, August is gone. There’s some guy I don’t recognise standing above me instead. He looks down at me. Dark brown eyes, the colour of cocoa instead of syrup. Short blond hair, not long, messy strands.
“We’ve got you, mate.”
I feel my body being jostled side to side, and then I’m squeezing my eyes shut as they’re assaulted by bright white lights.
I try to ask what’s happening, but my jaw feels locked in place. There’s a mask over my mouth.
I can feel my heart thrashing inside my chest, panic setting in. What the fuck’s going on? Where’s Isabelle? Is she okay?
I will myself to stand up. Search for her.
A hand pushes against my chest. “You’re not going anywhere, mate.”
“I-Is—” I grit my teeth and yell when I feel pressure on my leg.
“We may have a tibia fracture here. We’ve already got some heavy swelling. Closed break. I need a splint.”
I can feel people working around me. I try to open my eyes again, just peeking through my lashes, but the bright lights make them hurt.
It feels like I’m spinning. There’s a weight on my chest. My foot is tingling. I can’t hear Isabelle anymore.
I try to ask for her again, but the pressure increases on my leg, then it shoots up, spreading through my body to the point where I feel nauseous. Before I can even think, everything goes dark.
Chapter twenty-eight
“We’ll get you set up in a private room. The doctor should be along shortly to fit your cast. How’s your pain?” the nurse asks, walking beside my hospital bed as we travel down the corridor.
As soon as the ambulance pulled in, I came to. They took me straight to the trauma ward for a full check-up. My ribs weren’t broken, like they suspected, just banged up, but I have a tibia fracture in my leg. My calf bone is busted, but it didn’t break the skin. I’m gonna be stuck in a cast and on crutches for a few weeks. It could have been worse. A fair few cuts and bruises, but I know first-hand just how bad a car accident can turn out.
“It’s fine,” I say, clenching my jaw.
I don’t want to take my frustration out on the nurse, but I’ve asked three times if a woman came in with me, and no one could give me an answer. I don’t know where my phone ended up, and I don’t even know if my family has been called. For as shit as my body feels, my head and my heart make me feel like I’m dying.
The three nurses assisting me line the bed up in the room, then double-check my vitals. I’m only waiting a few minutes before my parents burst into the room, my mother’s eyes red-rimmed and puffy, making my gut plummet.
The second Mum’s head lands on my chest, she bursts into tears.
“I was so worried.” She sniffles.
