“The big SUV merged into my lane. They must not have seen me. I honked and then avoided them by pulling left and jumping the curb.”
“You could’ve been killed,” he snaps.
Why isheangry? I’m the one who’s hurt. “Yeah.” I wince as he tears the new hole in my jeans until it’s wide enough to see the leg wound. From here, it looks to be about the same as my arm.
“You shouldn’t be out driving this thing at night.”
“I had to work.”
“Then take the bus. It’s too dangerous.”
When he places his hand on my face to look there, he scowls. That’s when I get mad. It’s also when I swat at his hand, not hard, just enough to get it away from me. “You know what?” I say, doing my best to stand up. It’s not working. I’m having a hard time since my left side is fucked up.
“What, Quinn?” he asks softly.
I roll over to my right side and use the scooter to help me up. I wince when I put pressure on me left foot. Something doesn’t feel right there either, but I do my best to appear fine. “I’m just not cut out for this.”
“For what?”
“Anything,” I say, swinging my right hand in the air. I also start blubbering. Great. “Life.”
“Quinn—”
“No matter what I do, life just shits on me, Gage.” Yep, feeling sorry for myself. “I ruined Bluebelle.” I point to my scooter. “I know I have to go to the ER, because I’m pretty sure I broke my foot, and I don’t have the money for a hospital bill. I’ll have to spend the money from Mr. Becker, and that sucks because I was going to use that to move into a new place because there’s no room for me at the Beedle house because I no longer need it to fly to England since Cooke dumped me. Oh, and I told Luke Green to kiss my Kardashian ass, so I don’t have a job with which to pay the bills I’m going to have from the ER.” Just then, an ambulance pulls up with sirens blaring. “Great. Now I’ll have an ambulance bill because why. The fuck. Not?”
After all that, the only thing Gage asks is “You broke up with Cooke?”
I blink away tears as I stare into his eyes. It makes me laugh, but not in a good way. No, it’s more in the hysterical ‘I belong in a loony bin’ kind of way.
“Miss?” I look up to see two paramedics with very concerned expressions on their faces. “You okay?” asks the one closest. I feel my shoulders slump, because I don’t think I can handle being around another hot guy. Now there are three of them right here.
“No.” I’m not okay. I’m injured. My left side is a mess, and I’m pretty sure my foot is broken.
“Let us take a look. Can you walk over to the truck?”
“Yes.” I take a step and nearly fall on my face.
I feel an arm wrap around me, and I know it’s Gage. “Let me help.”
I do let him help. I hop on my good leg over the small section of grass, then do the same off the curb until I’m at the back of the ambulance, or truck as the paramedic says.
“What’s wrong with your foot?” the second guy asks.
I look at the badge on his chest and see his name. “Well, Bill, I think it’s broken. Or maybe just sprained.”
I peek over at the other guy. “Chip?”
“Yeah?” He’s busy getting gear out of a box. It looks like swabs, ointments, and a syringe. I hate shots.
“Your name is Chip, or is that a nickname?” If I distract him, maybe he’ll forget about using that needle.
“Charles. Chip for short.”
I feel warmth on my left and look over at Gage. “Thanks for helping me, Gage. Again. You’re always coming to my rescue.” I roll my eyes and it hurts. Not only that, but I see Chip and Bill look at each other. No matter. The truth is, my left side hurts—my face especially. I reach up to touch it and wince. “Did I lose part of my face?” Because if I did, that would suck. It’s probably my only good feature.
“Looks like it’s just scraped up. I’m going to clean that up for you. I’ll know more once I do that,” Chip says softly. “It’s gonna sting.”
“Great.” This day just gets better and better.
