With effort, she managed to pry her heavy lids apart. When she did, she recognized the face hovering above her. It was a niceface. A handsome face. It was an AJ face. He was staring at her. And he was mad.
Why was he staring down at her?
Why was he saying her name over and over?
Had she overslept?
Her thoughts were all jumbling together.
Panic rose inside of her.
“Can you hear me? Poppy, can you hear me?”
She managed to croak, “You’re yelling, of course I can hear you.” It sounded more like a frog than a human, but at least it shut him up for a millisecond.
AJ breathed out a sigh of relief, and the scope of her vision expanded. Instead of a coned tunnel with his face in the center, she saw the dark inky sky dotted with bright shining stars behind one side of his head and the copper patina of her porch’s overhang on the other.
It was then she realized she was splayed on the ground outside her ADU, cold seeping into her back, the night air sharp with pine and the faint musk of woodfire smoke. Memories returned all at once, the ride home, the splitting headache, the dizziness, and then…nothing except this, AJ calling her name.
She tried to sit up, almost made it, but a wave of nausea swelled and slammed her back down.
“No, don’t move,” AJ commanded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.
Who carries handkerchiefs?
He pressed it to her forehead as delicately as if she were made of spun glass. “Can you hold it there?”
She knew he was asking if she felt well enough to hold it, but for some reason she wanted to snap back at him, “I’m not three.” Instead, she placed her hand over the cloth and applied pressure. As she did, she noticed his hands moving. He was holding his phone.
“What are you doing?!”
“Calling an ambulance. Your head is bleeding.”
“Donotcall an ambulance. I’m fine.”
She sat up despite his warning to prove her point. When she did, she felt the side of her face get wet. She lifted her hand and pressed it to her forehead. When she pulled it back, her fingers were covered in blood. She looked down and saw that she must have hit her head on the corner of the cement planter box. She shifted the handkerchief and applied more pressure.
“I’m calling,” he stated defiantly.
“No.” She swatted the phone out of his hand, and it landed on the grass.
His eyes met hers, and he looked at her as if to say,Are you three?AJ reached over and picked up his phone.
“I’m so sorry,” she immediately apologized. “Just help me up.” Using his arm as leverage, she pushed herself to a standing position. As soon as she was on her feet, she saw the blood pooled on the ground. It was a significant amount.
“If you won’t let me call an ambulance, I’m taking you to urgent care.”
“Hope Falls doesn’t have urgent care,” she explained. “Well, it does, but it’s my brother, and since it’s his wedding night, I’m not going to bother him.”
“Where’s the nearest emergency room?”
She tried to remember. The answer was somewhere in the back of her brain, but her thoughts kept getting stuck on the sensation of blood pooling at her temple. “It’s Pine Ridge ER, but I’m fine.”
AJ’s lips flattened into a thin, uncompromising line. “Either I drive you or I call an ambulance.”
Poppy could see that he wasn’t going to let this go.
“Fine, you can drive, but I have to change out of this dress.”
