“Are you okay?” Runa asks.
“Yes,” I say, feeling dizzy, my head pounding at such a rapid rate that my stomach starts to revolt.
Fuck, not right now.
Please not right now.
But it’s no use. The pain catches up to me, and before I know it, I’m turning to the side, my hands on the asphalt, and throwing up.
In the distance, Lara calls for help again as my stomach convulses, and I throw up once more.
In seconds, I’m lifted from the ground and gently placed on a gurney while Lara speaks to someone about my head and gives them a quick rundown of what I’ve been through.
“Lilly,” I say, my voice sounding garbled to me. “I need to be with Lilly.”
But as I’m wheeled away, I just feel like I’m being pulled farther and farther away from her.
* * *
“How is he?”a female voice says.
“Good, we reduced the pressure on his brain during surgery. We feel positive about the outcome.”
“Thank you,” the voice says.
When the door clicks shut, I tell myself to open my eyes, but my body isn’t listening for some reason.
“Oh Keller,” the voice says as they take my hand. “What you’ve been through, it . . . it makes me so sick to my stomach. You don’t deserve this. You didn’t deserve any of this.” My hand is lifted to their mouth, and a light kiss is pressed against my knuckles. “You need to pull through for us, okay? We need one of you to pull through.”
One of you?
What does that mean?
Who is one of . . .
Lilly.
Fuck, Lilly.
Is she okay?
Did she not pull through?
My mind screams for my mouth to talk, for my voice to come through, but nothing happens.Fuck.
“We need you now more than ever,” the voice says just as they rest their head against my chest and wrap their arm over me.
Why me . . . what about Lilly?
* * *
“There was a fresh snow today,”someone says next to me. “It’s covered the rolling hills, and when it’s sunny out, it almost looks like a layer of glitter. It’s beautiful.”
My head lolls to the side, and the person next to me shifts.
“Keller, can you hear me?”
“Mmm,” I mumble, my brain feeling like fog.
