I said my goodbyes to my boys and swanned through the club to wait for the valet to bring my car around. As much as I knew I should’ve stayed to continue celebrating with my team, Cassidy had more of a hold over me than she thought. Something inside me craved her energy, no matter which way she was coming with it, and I had to see her. My body slid behind the seat of the Mercedes I’d rented to get around for the few days I was in the city, and I headed to see her. With five minutes left until I arrived at her hotel, I stopped at a red light where traffic was a little backed up. I glanced down at my phone for a second and then up in time to see a black and orange Kawasaki motorcycle crash into the back of me, and then everything went black.
eleven
. . .
Hendrix
I woke up to the dim overhead light softly bouncing off the four pale walls around me. My cold hand gripped the side rail as I slowly sat myself up to look around the private hospital room I’d ended up in. My thoughts were foggy. The last thing I remembered was seeing the motorcycle getting closer and closer before impact and then, nothing. The blood pressure cuff around my right arm started to hum and squeeze my arm until it went numb. My eyes continued to scan the dimly lit room until they landed on Cassidy. She was curled up and sleeping in the recliner chair right next to the metal IV stand I was connected to.
“Cass?” I mumbled as I ran my tongue over my chapped lips.
She stirred instantly at the sound of my voice and quickly popped her eyes open. “Hendrix? You’re awake!”
“What happened?” I asked, licking my lips again.
“Oh, here,” she said, shooting up to put a straw up to my lips so I could take a sip of water.
My eyes oscillated around as I sipped. The blinds were closed to keep out shots of the press and paparazzi trying to get their next scoop. “Thank you.”
“Do you remember anything from the accident?”
“Some, but not everything. I must’ve blacked out when the airbags deployed. I remember seeing a black and orange motorcycle coming up behind me and not stopping. Then, I woke up here.”
“Yeah, you were in an accident. The police said that the motorist lost control of the motorcycle trying to avoid the backed-up traffic and crashed right into you. They transported you to a local hospital to run some tests, do some X-rays, and ensure you didn’t have a concussion or reinjure your knee.”
“My knee?” I said, instantly reaching down to rub it.
“Don’t worry. Your X-rays came back fine. Your knee is fine. They just want to keep you overnight for observation, so they gave you some medicine to help you rest and help with some of the soreness from the accident.”
“What about the guy on the bike?”
She lowered her head. “He died at the scene.”
My mouth hung open for a brief second. I didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, a life had been lost, but on the other, I was relieved to know someone else’s carelessness hadn’t shattered my career. I pushed the stiff white starched bleach white sheets off me and slowly threw my feet over the edge of the bed. My muscles were definitely sore, but I was happy to hear that I hadn’t reinjured my knee.
“How’d you know I was here?” I inquired.
“It’s all over the news.”
“Then, how’d you manage to get back here with all the coverage?”
“One of the nurses spotted my face from those pictures on those damn blogs and let me back.”
I chuckled. “Dare I say the paparazzi can be useful sometimes?”
She smirked. “Barely. But how are you feeling? Are you in any pain? Do you need anything?”
“I’m good. To be honest, I’m shocked to see you here. Happy, but shocked.”
“If I’ve learned anything over the past twenty-four hours, it’s that life is way too short,” she admitted.
“Yeah, it is.”
“I uh, I found out my mom has stage three breast cancer,” she confessed.
My eyebrows jutted in shock. “Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. How you dealin’ with that? You aight?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what I am, honestly. We talked and she actually apologized for all her years of criticism, and it was just…a lot. It just sucks that it took something tragic to happen to force her to have the conversation I’ve been trying to have for years.”
