Once I reemerged from a few weeks of being attached at the hip to Karla, the boys were quick to give me a hard time about my missed basketball appointments.
“Someone falls in love and forgets how to hoop,” Shawn said, tossing the ball my way as I sat my duffel bag down.
“That’s how Shawn says he misses you,” Luke joked. “He just struggles with self-expression.”
“I don’t struggle with that. I miss you so much, buddy,” Chase said as he walked over and pulled me into a bear hug.
“We worked four days this week together,” I replied.
Chase pouted and picked up the ball that I never grabbed from Shawn’s toss. “Five days would’ve been better.”
I rolled my eyes. Bunch of drama queens.
“I for one am happy for you, buddy,” Adrian said, sipping on his water bottle. “It’s about time one of us got laid on a regular schedule.”
“Aren’t you in a committed relationship?” I asked, speaking of him and Hallie.
“Yeah, she’s committed to driving me up a wall, that’s what she’s committed to,” he groaned with a heavy sigh. “But you’re in the honeymoon stage. Bask in that, brother. Because women can rip that away from you in a heartbeat, and the next thing you know, you’re spending every week at her grandparents’ house reorganizing their garage while old man Reggie tells you about the good ole days.”
“That sounds a little too specific,” Luke laughed as he snatched the ball from Chase and shot it.
Before I could reply, Karla’s name flashed on my screen. A wave of relief hit me when I saw her name. I’d been texting herall morning and I hadn’t heard from her, which wasn’t common. Though, she was working at her shop, so I figured I’d swing by after our game to make sure all was good to go. Seeing her name eased my worry a little bit.
Chase looked at the phone and cooed. “Oooh, we better get a game in quick before Mr.Love Machine ditches us for his lady.”
“Hang up the phone! Hang up the phone!” the guys started chanting. “Dicks before chicks! Dicks before chicks!”
I chuckled at their ridiculous teasing and still answered the phone and said, “Just so you know, the guys are up my ass about us and—”
“Ash? This is Lorelai, Karla’s sister. I saw she had a few missed calls from you this morning.”
I stood straighter as my eyes narrowed. “Uh, hi, Lorelai. Everything OK?”
“Not exactly. There was an accident with Karla at the bookshop and—”
My heart stopped beating the moment I heard those words leave Lorelai’s mouth. I couldn’t fully come to grasp what they meant. An accident? What happened? How bad? The panic that filled my heart from Lorelai’s words felt like the heaviest weight sitting against my chest.
“Ash? What is it?” Luke asked as he stopped bouncing the basketball and looked at me. He must’ve noticed the color draining from my face as I turned to face him.
I couldn’t form words. Lorelai kept talking, and I did my best to process what she was saying.
There was an accident.
Karla fell off a ladder in the bookshop.
She was knocked unconscious.
She was at the hospital.
“Karla was in an accident. She’s at the hospital,” I said as Ibegan to gather my duffel bag. “I’m sorry, guys, I gotta cut it short.” Before I could even get all the words out of my mouth, the guys were already gathering their stuff to come with me. “You don’t gotta do that,” I said as I tried to think of the fastest way to get to the hospital.
“My car is around the corner. We’ll take you to the hospital.” I didn’t argue with them. I could hardly think straight.
Once we arrived, the five of us hurried into the hospital, where we were ushered to the waiting room. There, I found Greyson, Lorelai, Ellie, and a few others waiting.
I cleared my throat and walked over to Greyson.
“Hey, Greyson. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Ash Banks. Karla and I used to be friends when we were younger and—”
