She grabbed her bag and was half way across the room before her sister’s voice penetrated the fog in her brain. “Piper! Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Mason’s been in an accident. He’s in hospital. I have to go see him.”
Peyton stared at her as though she didn’t understand. “But why did they call you?”
She paused, scarf in hand. “What?”
“Why didn’t they call his parents? They must be his next of kin, right?”
She’d been so frozen with fear, and then relief, that point had completely bypassed her. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered except for the fact Mason was in hospital and she needed to see him.
*
Mason couldn’t feelhis body. It felt good. Like he was high on some shit, but it’d been years since he’d got stoned. From someplace far away a voice called his name.Piper?
Sure sounded like her. Someone held his hand, anchoring him in the moment. He tried to tighten his grip but his fingers were strangely uncoordinated.
Where the fuck am I…
“Oh God, Mason.” Her warm breath teased his jaw, and he caught the faint scent of her perfume. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault…”
He tried to open his eyes. It was like trying to shift a couple of mountains, but finally through a misty haze her face came into focus. She was so close, as though she was about to kiss him, but she didn’t. She just stared at him and her beautiful blue eyes were all glassy.
What’s the matter, baby?
She sniffed and blinked but didn’t answer him.Did I even speak out loud?
For the first time formless unease threaded through him and he struggled to sit up, but nothing worked. White hot pain seared through his chest and the sound of splintering metal and the smell of burning rubber and blood filled his head.
Shit, no…
“I’m going to collect some stuff from your place. I won’t be long.” She squeezed his fingers again, but he still couldn’t respond. Still couldn’t quite grasp where he was, why she was crying or…
*
Everything was black.Disembodied noise swirled in the far reaches of his mind. Christ, his body was one huge thumping mass of pain. With a grimace he forced open his eyes. Hospital curtains were pulled around two sides of the bed and a nurse stood by his side, hooking him up to another bag of fluid.
When she noticed him glowering up at her, she smiled. “How are we feeling, Mason?”
He ignored her question and licked his dry lips. He’d had a crazy dream that Piper had come to see him, or maybe it was a drug induced hallucination. He knew it wasn’t real. After the way things had gone last night he didn’t even know if they’d see each other again.
“Piper.” Well shit. Fucking drugs were messing with more than his dreams. He tried to form a proper question, anything to stop him thinking abouther, but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
“Your fiancée was in here earlier,” the nurse said, and a shiver crawled along his spine.His fiancée?Was he still dreaming? He thought he was awake.Did the accident damage my brain?
He gave an unintelligible grunt. It appeared to satisfy the nurse.
“She wouldn’t leave until you opened your eyes and looked at her.”
Damn, his head hurt. None of this made sense, because how the hell was Piper involved in this to begin with?
“How’d she know I was here?” Was that really his voice?
The nurse checked his vitals. “Her name was the only thing you kept saying when you were brought in.”
He hoped they hadn’t told Piper that. It was bad enough she’d been dragged into this without her knowing how crazy he was about her.
“When can I leave?”
