Neither of us answers him.
I've already gathered her up, as carefully as I can, one arm under her shoulders and one under her knees, keeping her leg as still as possible, my jacket pressed against the wound. She makes asound when I lift her — small and involuntary — and it moves through me like hope.
"Just drive," Theo says. He has the back door open. I get in with her across my lap, her head against my chest, and I maintain the pressure on her leg with one hand and hold her steady with the other. Theo gets in beside me. Cody gets behind the wheel and turns the car around in one hard motion.
"What the fuck happened!"
"Why the fuck would you leave her out here alone?" Theo's voice is flat and very quiet.
"Who hit her—"
"Hit and run."
"And where did you two come from—"
"Nessa."
The car goes silent.
I watch it move across Cody's face in the rearview mirror. The pieces are assembling. Nessa, the road, the hit and run, the two of us appearing out of the dark. I watch him arrive at the answer of his own mistake, and I watch what the answer does to him. And then I watch him close it off, close all of it off.
He turns on his hazards and drives fast.
I keep the pressure on her leg.
I keep my eyes on her face.
I keep talking to her, telling her she is going to be okay.
Just a little longer.
Chapter 53
Theo
Thewaitingroomisthe color of nothing –– beige walls, beige chairs, fluorescent light that makes everyone look like they're already sick.
Cody looks at me.
I look at Cody.
The space between us is maybe four feet, and approximately everything that has happened in the last few months.
"If she dies, I will fucking kill you."
I think about Adela on that road, the blood, the way I had just kissed her earlier that day.
"I'll save you the trouble," I say. "I'll hang myself."
Neither of us looks away.
Beckett rounds the corner.
Cody's eyes move to him and then back to me.
Beckett stops in front of us. His shirt has her blood on it. He looks at both of us, then says, "I think Adela's in surgery."
We sit down.
