Mia’s chest lifts up and down as she pulls back and looks up at me. I watch her lick her lips and at this moment, I want nothing more than to just kiss her. To take what I want and hope like hell it’s what she wants too. Something in the way she’sstaring at me tells me she might let me. But we’re interrupted by my sister as she comes up next to Mia and then whisks her away. Mia turns back and glances at me and I just stare at her, watching her move further away as if she’s the only damn woman in this bar. And at this point, she might as well be. Mia is all I see.
Walking back to the table, I pinch the bridge of my nose. I need to collect my fucking thoughts before I do something impulsive like kiss my best friend. Because every instinct in my body is telling me to, but I tried this once with her. I thought she wanted it back then too and when I leaned in, she pulled away.
God, the fucking temptation these past few days is killing me, though.
A good night’s sleep is needed. I just need to sleep this off right now so I can wake up feeling refreshed, and get the image of my best friend’s legs out of my head.
I can feel myself drifting as I lie in bed once we’re back at the cabin. Mia passed out in the truck—no surprise there—so I carried her into the bedroom and she’s still fast asleep. My mind is racing and my palms are sweating.
One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…
“Hi, is this Nathaniel Campbell?” I don’t recognize this phone number or the person’s voice on the other end, but it’s a Wisconsin area code. “Yes, speaking.”
“Hi, this is Doctor Westfield, at Great Lakes Memorial Hospital… you are listed here as the emergency contact for Mia Clark.”
“What’s the matter? What happened?” Nothing but sheer panic floods my voice.
“She was in a car accident. She will be going in for surgery shortly if you would like to come up here. The nurse’s station can fill you in and direct you to her room.”
“A car accident? When? Is she okay? Surgery for what?” I can’t get my questions out fast enough. I had called her earlier today and she didn’t answer, but I figured maybe she was studying. She has that fucking final tomorrow so I decided not to keep bugging her. I figured she’d see my missed call and just call me back when she could.
“Sir, like I said, you are welcome to come to the hospital. Do you live nearby?”
I lie. “Yes. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I called Coach Aarons immediately after hanging up with the hospital. I tried to calmly explain what was going on, but who the hell knows if I even made sense. All I know is I told him I had a family emergency and needed to fly back home. I have no idea how he still kept me on the team, but I couldn’t let Mia wake up in a room with no one.
Between getting to and from the airport and the flight alone, four hours have already passed since I spoke with the doctor. I’m running on no goddamn sleep, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. I’m standing at the nurse’s desk at Great Lakes Memorial Hospital, begging someone to tell me what’s going on with my best friend.
“Ma’am, all I know is that Dr. Westfield called and said Mia Clark was going in for surgery… please, please, tell me where I can find her?” My voice pleads with the woman sitting at this desk. My eyes feel heavy and on top of being sleep deprived, I’m fucking starving, but I’m not doing a single thing before I know Mia is okay.
“Yes, I’m so sorry, she’s out of surgery, but she is still asleep. You are welcome to wait in her room, follow me.”
I trail closely behind a small red-headed woman as she leads me to a hospital room. A giant lump forms in my throat at the sight of Mia laying in this bed. Her right arm is in a cast. Her perfect satin skin is all scraped and bruised. And what the fuck is going on with her leg? They have it lifted in some goddamn contraption and it’s all bandaged, all the way up to her thigh. I move backwards and bump into one of the chairs, trying to maintain my breathing, but I can feel it getting out of control. Fuck, Mia… What happened? My eyes sting and my body feels tense and yet it feels weak at the same time. A nurse walks in and places her hand on my shoulder.
“She will be okay, dear, try to calm down. Can I get you anything?”
I look at her, but I don’t think I’m actually even seeing her. My vision becomes blurred and all I’m thinking is how did this happen? I’ve been gone only a few months and now my best friend is bandaged practically from head to toe, asleep in a hospital bed. I don’t answer the nurse, but she comes back in with a cup of water for me and a blanket.
“Have a seat. She should be up soon. Her surgery went well.”
I take a few deep breaths, trying to regain my composure and my sense of awareness. The nurse pulls up a chair right beside me and takes my hand in hers and just holds it. She doesn’t say anything, but the presence of someone else right now is calming me down. My eyes focus on Mia. I stare at her lying there, and tears well up in my eyes. She’s okay. Or at least she’s going to be. This could have gone so differently.
A knock is at the door and I turn to see a face I recognize, but can’t quite pinpoint, standing in the doorway with a bandage on his shoulder, but that looks to be about it.
“Campbell?” the guy asks, and I stare at him with a fucking fire burning inside of me.
“Is she okay?” he asks.
“What the fuck does it look like?” I ask, standing from my seat.
The nurse gets up and excuses herself, but not before saying, “Don’t wake her, boys. If you need to talk, step outside of the room.”
I follow the nurse out and he turns around to face me in the hallway. Mia’s door isn’t closed all the way and I don’t take my eyes off her, even as I’m standing outside of the room.
“Hey, look I’m sorry…”
“Were you drinking?”
