I don’t feel safe. My jaw’s locked so tightly that pain shoots up the side of my head. My chest burns as if someone’s driving a fist through my ribs. My hands curl into fists I can’t unclench, nails digging into palms I can’t feel.
Catalina, her voice cuts through everything. “You promised me, remember? You promised me you’d always be there. That no matter what happened, I’d never be alone again. Well, I’m calling in that promise, asshole. So wake up, I need you, Amelia needs you.”
Her name detonates inside me, pulling me through the fog. My mind floods with her face—green eyes sharpand soft all at once, black ink swirling down her arms, that ring I placed on her finger catching the light when she wasn’t looking. The way she tastes when she lets me kiss her, the sound of her laughter when she finally drops her walls.
I can’t lose her.
Iwon’t.
My chest jerks, my vision whites out again, the static screaming louder. My body bucks against the hands pinning me, against the straps someone’s buckling across my legs. My tongue feels thick, useless, a weight in my mouth.
Hands grab at me—gloves, cold and clinical. A sting in my arm, liquid fire rushing up my vein.
“Medication’s in—hold him until it takes.”
My heart stutters and slows. The violent jerks ease, leaving me trembling with every muscle screaming. My chest inhales air, sharp and shallow. Sweat soaks the back of my neck, sticking my hair to my forehead.
“Coming down,” the doctor mutters, clipped. “Seizure activity decreasing.”
I sink back against the mattress, weak and exhausted. My eyelids feel like heavy bricks, and my body trembles with aftershocks.
Carter’s voice breaks, hoarse and unsteady. “You fight, Maverick. You hear me? You don’t get to give up. Not like this.”
Reed’s hand squeezes my arm, firm. “We’ve got you. Just breathe.”
Catalina now walks closer, her palm pressed hot against mine, her words broken with tears. “Amelia needs you, idiot. Don’t make her realize it too late.”
My throat tightens, but inside my head the words burst out, desperate and gutted.
I don’t want to quit. I don’t want to leave. Not you. Not her.
But the white wave crashes again, cold and heavy, engulfing me entirely.
And for the first time, the man who always gets back up isn’t sure if he can.
amelia
. . .
The image won’t leave me.
Maverick sprawled on the turf, with number seven swallowed by a silent stadium, teammates kneeling beside him. The announcer’s grim voice echoing.
“Maverick Hayes has sustained a serious injury and will not return for the remainder of the game.”
I’ve been trembling ever since, trying to keep my hands steady over a tattoo while my vision blurred with tears. I told myself he’d be okay, hehadto be okay.
Maverick always gets back up.
My phone buzzes, over and over, pulling me out of my spiral.
I snatch it up with shaking hands.
Catalina
Where the fuck are you?
Catalina
