Sirens are wailing in the distance. They get louder and louder, intensifying the pain in my head. My vision darkens. My last thought is of Sassy, my Sassy. Her stubbornness, her smile, the way she looks at me when she doesn’t think I’m noticing. This is going to hurt her. And then everything goes black.
CHAPTER 20
SAMANTHA
Eli should have been home by now.
I’ve checked the clock three times in the last ten minutes. He said he wouldn’t be late. An hour max, and now it’s been hours since he’s been gone. Something doesn’t feel right.
I’m about to pick up my phone when the front door of Eli’s house comes crashing open.
Kane stops in front of me, hands on my shoulders. He’s breathing heavily, chest rising and falling as if he’s been running.
“Kane, what’s wrong? Where’s Eli?”
I look over his shoulder, and when I don’t see Eli, I know that something happened. I repeat, “Where’s Eli?”
“He’s fine,” Kane says quickly.
I shake my head. “No, don’t do that. Where is he?”
I shove past Kane and go to the front door and slide my shoes on. Kane follows behind me. “Sis, he doesn’t want you upset. He’s worried about you and the baby.”
I grab my purse with shaky hands. “Let’s go.”
He sighs and ushers me down the front porch and to his truck.
He backs out of the driveway, and soon we’re on the highway that takes us to Jasper. “Where is he?” I ask again, this time almost frantically. “What happened?”
“There was an accident at the jobsite. The fuckin inspector thought he would test if our safety button was working and went through five fuckin’ steps and unlatched the?—”
He stops suddenly and catches his breath. He looks over at me. “Eli saved me. The pipes would have taken me out, and he shoved me out of the way. Hell, he saved us both.”
I put a hand to my belly. “Is he okay? That’s all I need to know, Kane. Is Elijah okay?”
He nods. “He’s going to be. They were running tests on him when I left. He’s in and out of consciousness. I wanted to stay with him, but he told me to come tell you because he didn’t want you to hear it from someone else.”
I blow out a breath. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
He presses the gas, and we go faster. “It could have been so much worse.”
My stomach sinks. I could have lost him today. And he wouldn’t have known how I felt. Regret fills me. I’m such a fool.
The whole way to Jasper, I pray that Eli is okay. I don’t know how I’ll survive it if he isn’t. Why have I been so stupid? Thiswhole week, I’ve held back, trying to not get too attached when I know all I want is to be with him.
I stare out the front window of the truck. “Is he by himself?”
“Yeah.”
I shake my head. “Drive faster.”
It’s pointless for me to say because he’s already speeding down the highway. We get to the hospital in record time, and we are able to go straight to Elijah’s room.
As soon as I walk in, he opens his eyes, and the smile he gives me settles me in a way nothing else could. “Hey, baby,” he says.
I walk over to him, holding in my tears and looking him up and down. “What are the doctors saying?”
He rolls his eyes. “No brain bleeds. I’m fine. Just a concussion, but they won’t let me leave.”
