There is no sign of Serena or any of the guys from the team. That’s who he was with tonight, so what could have possibly happened?
Every instinct in me screams.
I cross the room before I know I’m moving. My fingers barely graze his arm. I’m afraid I’ll hurt him, and I’m too scared that I might wake him.
“What happened?” The whisper rips out of me, shredded. My voice is shaking, muffled. I feel pain in my chest like I’m crumbling from the inside out.
The nurse who brought us in here steps beside me, flipping through his chart. “You’re his girlfriend?”
I nod, throat tight.
She glances at me with that careful expression medical staff wear when they’re about to say something they know will land like a blow. “He was brought in by a good Samaritan. We don’t know the details. He was found near the edge of campus, unconscious.” Her eyes drift over his body, jaw tightening.
I think about Serena. Did she call me on the way to the hospital? Did she call me after? I glance at his phone, questions of what happened swirling in my head.
“Was it an accident?” I look at Cody. He doesn’t look like he was in an accident. This looks intentional, too many injuries across his body. They’re all too random.
“We’re not sure yet.” Her tone softens. “We’ve been trying to reach his father. We need consent to run scans. There’s concern about internal bleeding.”
Internal bleeding.
The words slam into my chest, knocking air out of me.
Maeve presses closer, her shoulder touching mine.
“His dad’s a judge,” she tells the nurse. “It’s a weekday. He’s definitely awake before the sun and will be here in no time. I’ll call the office.”
I force my voice to work as Maeve grips her phone, taking a few steps back. “Is he going to be okay?”
The nurse lifts her eyes, and something in them makes my stomach bottom out. “We’re doing everything we can.”
Everything we can.
Not he’ll be fine.
“When will he wake up?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.
My eyes meet hers just then. She hesitates, reminding me that she’s just human too. Suddenly, I feel like that question is unanswerable.
“The doctor will talk to his father when he comes in.”
I watch her walk out of the room, and my skin crawls as it dawns on me.
My eyes dart to Cody’s still body.
He might not wake up.
Thirty minutes pass in a haze.
The sun starts to rise in the sky, and I damn the world for continuing to spin and move on while I’m watching my boyfriend lie still. He hasn’t woken up or made a single movement.
I’m not sure if he’ll ever be okay.
When Judge Ravenshaw finally arrives, he looks ten years older than he did at my birthday dinner last night.
His eyes meet mine when he enters the waiting room.
“Adela, talk to me.”
