Page 124 of Crushed By Love

Tears stream down my face, mixing with my own blood. Cooper and salt. I can only stare at Ethan and Cooper in shock because I think . . . I think Cooper might be dead.

Not only is he not breathing, but his right leg is completely decimated.

From the wreck? From a shark?

Oh God, I don’t know.

There’s not much of it left besides some bone and sinew. It’s the goriest thing I’ve ever witnessed. Like something out of a horror film. And he’s losing way too much blood. The coppery scent of it overwhelms everything else.

Sybil falls to her knees next to Ethan. She’s got a rope in her hand and she’s tying it tightly around Coop’s upper thigh. That’s smart. I’ve seen that in movies. She’s trying to keep him from bleeding out.

She’s at least being useful. I think Chandler and I might be in shock.

Ethan practically pounds on Cooper’s chest, then swoops down again to blow oxygen into his brother’s slack mouth. He does this over and over again until Cooper coughs up water and foam, his entire body seeming to rise and fall with the action.

Coop blinks and gazes down at his leg, and then the obscenities start flying. He’s not the only one yelling. Where is Uncle Gregory? Where are the authorities? Is our boat going to sink? It’s all too much, and my gaze fixates on Cooper’s bloody shredded leg even though I know I should look away if I want to calm down. But I can’t. My vision narrows even further. I reach for a breath, but I can’t find it, there’s nothing there, I may as well be on the bottom of that ocean for all the oxygen I can manage.

That’s when arms are thrown around me. It’s Chandler. He’s crying. I’ve never seen him cry before. I gaze up into his eyes and force myself to breathe, to focus on him instead of everything else going on around us.

“It’s going to be okay.” I squeeze his hand and pray to God I’m not lying, even though deep down, I know I am.

Fifty-Five

“Can you tell me your name?” The paramedic asks.

“A-Arden Dav-Davis,” I try not to stutter but it’s impossible. Now that everything is over, my body is in even more shock. “Actually, I-I changed my name last year,” I manage. “It’s Arden La-Laurence.”

“Okay, Arden, you’re injured and experiencing shock. We’re going to take you by ambulance to the hospital.”

I blink at her. We’re back at the boat dock. The police arrived shortly after they got Cooper awake. They rushed him and his brother away immediately on a speed boat and took us back on a second boat. The authorities stayed behind to search for my uncle.

“Where are Cooper and Ethan? Are they already at the hospital?”

“Not locally,” she says. “They were taken by helicopter to Boston. Cooper is going to need surgery and will be admitted to the ICU.”

“His brother Ethan went with him?”

She nods and I let out a sob. I’m glad he’s with Cooper. “Did you assess Ethan for injuries too?”

“Quickly. He looked okay but they’ll check him out in Boston to make sure.”

Ethan will live but Cooper can’t die. There’s no way someone so full of life could just be here one second and gone the next.

Except I know that’s not true. That’s not how life works.

And if Coop dies, Ethan might as well too because it will absolutely destroy him.

Another paramedic joins the woman standing over me and they help me into the back of the waiting ambulance. There is another ambulance here too that Sybil has already been loaded into for her broken arm. I wonder if the break is bad enough that she’ll need surgery too. Amelia, Hayes, and Chandler insisted on staying back. Their injuries aren’t as bad and they want to stay on the docks for when they find my uncle.

Because he never came out of that water.

“No word on Gregory Laurence yet?” I’m almost scared to ask.

The paramedics exchange quick glances and then shake their heads.

That’s it. All the confirmation I need. My uncle is gone.

“We’re very sorry. He hasn’t been recovered. The search and rescue team are still out there though. They won’t stop for a while yet.”

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