They’re staring at the monitors with horror. Dylan’s fist is pressed against his mouth, and the only Halston I see is Vivian, who has her face buried against Gia’s shoulder.
I haul myself up and climb onto the pit wall. I rush over, completely out of breath. “How bad is it?”
Dylan meets my eye but doesn’t speak.
When I turn to the monitor, vomit hits the back of my throat.
Fuck.
Chapter Forty-Five
TESSA
Everything happens within a few seconds,but the winding of Noah’s car seems to go on for ages.
A gasp leaves me, and there’s a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
I rip the headset from my head and rush off the pit wall. Someone shouts my name, but I keep running.
I don’t stop until my dad pulls up beside me on a golf cart with Beck and Van inside. Graham, who stays in the garage most of the race, is already standing near the wreckage when we pull up to the horror.
I glance to the starry sky from the sound of the whirring of the helicopter. My body grows cold, despite the fire yards away. Orange and red flames lick against the spilled gasoline with fury. Beau’s car is unrecognizable, not much left of it besides the rubber. Yet, he stands off to the side on his own two legs with a couple of paramedics tending to him.
Noah, however, is not standing.
I grab a hold of Beck and dig my fingers into his arm to steady myself. He moves closer to me but says nothing.
Our dad ignores the fire and everyone who tells him to stay back. He makes it over to my brother on a stretcher, and I watchthe color drain from his face before letting myself get a good look at Noah.
Droplets of blood dot his face with a wide-open gash on his forehead. He’s unconscious, and I’m stunned into a panic. I can’t move. I can’t speak. I can’t do anything other than stare as my dad climbs into the helicopter with the EMTs and Noah on a gurney.
Then they’re off.
“Tess!” Beck’s wide eyes appear in front of my face, and everything comes whooshing back in.
Van is on the phone with our mom, who’s already on her way to the hospital.
Graham is bent down to the ground with his head hung low, his hand pulling on the strands of his unruly hair.
A thousand worries rush me, and the last few minutes swarm in like tiny shards of glass, cutting me with every little detail.
I shift my attention to Beau. With furrowed brows and reddened cheeks, he stares at his car, as if it’s to blame. Then he slowly shifts to Noah’s, which is completely torn in half with only one tire remaining.
Pushing past Beck, I walk out onto the track.
The fire is under control now, but nothing about the situation is.
“What did you do?!” I shout.
Beau snaps out of his trance and looks down at me. He blinks several times with his usual arrogance muted. “I…I…my…”
“You what?!” I shout. “I saw the way you were taking those corners!”
“Tessa!” Van calls for me, but I keep my back to him.
Remorse falls to Beau’s face, and he shakes his head. “Rome was right.”
Anger flies to my fingers. With my palm open, I’m ready to slap him, but someone tugs me backward. Rome’s arm iswrapped around my belly, and he hauls me into Beck’s arms. “Get her out of here.”
