Chapter 24
Hadley
Ilay in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. Brady sits in the chair to the side, playing some mind-numbing game on his phone. Mine sits on the side tray by the bed. I know because I haven’t taken my eyes off it since Brady brought it in.
After Willow called the medics and I was carted off to the emergency room like a dying casualty, I realized my phone was still in my gear bag. Luckily, Brady was all over it.
I sent him straight back to the rodeo to check in on Maggie. And from what he could gather, she was in her van. Just not talking. The look of fear mixed with devastation when I floated past her on the gurney will never leave my mind. I wish I knew what was behind her expression. What it was that seemed like her heart was breaking right in front of me.
Pretty sure it wasn’t me, exactly.
After going through the motions with scans and pain meds for a dislocated knee, not broken as they initially thought, and mild tendon damage, I finally had the chance to call. She didn’t answer.
So I texted.
A few times.
Okay, like twelve times in twenty-four hours, but in my defense, I’m worried about her. Then Levi said she?—
The phone vibrates, sliding across the plastic table.
I grab it up and slide the bar across.
“Sunshine? Tell me you’re okay.”
“Hello, cowboy.” She sounds meek and so defeated.
No.
I push to sit up, and the pain in my leg spurs back to life. I grind my jaw shut, holding back the groan.
“Maggie, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. I?—”
“It’s alright, I don’t expect anything.”
Brady rises from the chair, pointing to the door before creeping outside.
The door closes behind him, and I tap the video call feature. I need to see her. She accepts, and I find her sitting in the doorway of the van, her hand sunk into her curls, her face red and puffy.
My heart tumbles from my chest.
“Sunshine. Tell me you haven’t been crying over me.”
She huffs a tangled sound before she says, “No... Maybe a little.”
“Talk to me.” The words are almost gravel as emotion flares at seeing her like this.
“I ca—” She looks away, her breaths snapping in and out too quickly. “I don’t know what happened, but seeing you on that gurney brought back up a whole lot of stuff I thought I’d moved past.”
“The PTSD stuff?”
“Yeah, in part.” She looks directly at me and her head tilts, her eyes tightening with emotion. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
“Yeah, friends are supposed to do that. I’m writing you off, Gallagher.”
She chuckles, then sniffs back a breath. “I think we wandered out of the friend zone, Jones.”
