They kept me in the hospital overnight, and now with my second meal of hospital food looming, I wonder when I’m getting out of here.
All this concerns me, but I trust the hospital staff to take care of me. But there’s one other thing that I can’t get my head around.
“Ashton Carringtoncarriedme,” I tell Stella when I finally get her on the phone later that morning.
“Where andwhy?” Stella demands. She’s never been a fan of the Carrington twins, although I think Fenella might be growing on her. My sister doesn’t like a lot of people actually, but when she first got together with Prince Gunnar, she was smiling at the world.
The honeymoon phase has worn off, and Stella is back to scowling.
“Into the hospital. And into the car.” There’s a pause, and I hear Stella’s quick intake before she blows. “He did hit me with his car,” I quickly add. “Or, Fenella’s car.”
“Ashton Carrington hit you? He ran you over with his sister’s car?” Stella’s screech can be heard straight in the hospital hallway.
“He didn’t do it on purpose,” I protest. “It was an accident.”
Ashton carried me into the hospital like some romcom hero, with Basher running ahead to gather the troops. They gotme into triage right away, and waited with me, muttering between themselves but never speaking to me, until the doctor arrived.
Then they were asked to leave, and I haven’t seen either one of them since.
“If he did do it on purpose, he should be in jail,” Stella snaps. “Was he arrested?”
“No! Why would they—I don’t think so.” Surprisingly, the thought of Ashton Carrington and his eyes and cheekbones, along with his grouchiness, stuck behind bars, alarms me. “Do you think they arrested him?”
I told the police it had been an accident, and that’s all it was. I was crossing the road; Ashton hit a patch of ice. It was an accident.
I know that, but the fact still remains that I am here in the hospital with a broken foot. Two broken toes, and serious bruising.
It doesn’t hurt that much.
Maybe a little.
I don’t actually remember much of what happened, either before it happened or directly after.
“Does Dad know about this?” Stella asks darkly.
“I haven’t told him yet,” I admit. There’s another pause, and I hope it’s a delay because of the distance between Laandia and Australia, but I have a feeling it’s Stella preparing to unload on me again.
Or maybe not. Things between us and Dad are still… awkward? Not exactly, but it’s not as comfortable as I’d like. Stella is prickly with most people, so I’m sure she hasn’t noticed, but the gap where our father hadn’t been part of our lives hasn’t filled in yet.
“Mom was here last night for a while, but I told her to go home,” I say defensively in case Stella gets offended on my behalf that I was in the hospital without either parent.
“Really?”
“Really that I told her to go home?”
Stella scoffs. “Really that she showed up.”
Our mother is a selfish woman, plain and simple. While she does have some admirable qualities, her maternal instincts have been… shall we say,failing… lately.
Or always.
“You should call … Dad.” There’s always a pause before Stella says the word. “If he doesn’t already know, he’s going to soon, so he should hear it from you. If you’re all right enough to call?”
“I’m fine,” I say automatically. And I do feel fine—for the most part.
“You were hit by a car, Sophie. You are not fine, and the sooner you get that through your stubborn, people pleasing head, the better you’ll be.”
I really wish I could argue with Sophie’s opinion of me. “I’ll call Dad.”
