Page 61 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

She’ll probably just randomly remember and then hate me even more.

“But I’m not dying, right? I know you said there are all these possibilities of what caused this and you’re still waitin’ on some of my test results, but overall, I won’t die probably?”

The doctor’s mouth curves into an amused grin. “No, not on my watch anyway.”

Ellie exhales sharply. “That’s halfway reassuring.”

Dr. Murray checks the time. “I’ll be back to discharge you tomorrow afternoon, assuming you don’t experience any worsening side effects like more vomiting or having another seizure—so don’t do that if you wanna go home.” He smirks. “The nurse will go over your recovery, restrictions, and scheduling your follow-up before you go.”

“Sounds great. Thank you.” Ellie grins.

Once he leaves, Noah sits on the bed next to her. “What’d I tell you about not being allowed to die on me?”

“At least not tonight.” Ellie snorts. “Did I fall gracefully at least? Oh wait, who won?”

“Uh, no. It was terrifying. I never want to witness that again. And honestly, I dunno. We left right away and none of my family stayed.”

Ellie leans back against the pillow as if she’s fighting to keep her eyes open. “I swear to God, if Marcia Grayson won, I’ll never hear the end of her gloatin’.”

Noah snickers. “Unfortunately, she may win now that you’re gonna be out the rest of the season.”

“What? Why?” The panic in Ellie’s voice makes me sad for her because I know how much she loves racing.

“Recovering from a concussion can take weeks, sometimes months. Plus, you have a huge bump on your skull.” Noahpoints to her bandage. “It’d be irresponsible to let you compete in this condition.”

The corners of Ellie’s eyes fill with tears, and I wish more than anything that I could scoop her up in my arms and comfort her.

“Are my parents coming?” Ellie asks.

“Yeah, they should be here in a couple hours. They were tryna get ahold of someone to come sit with your aunt.”

Her brows furrow, but I’m not sure which part confused her. I’m quickly realizing I don’t know much about Ellie at all. Like where she lives or who her aunt is.

“I should get back to the campsite to check on Poppy and let you get some rest,” Noah says, but I’m tempted to argue because I don’t want to leave her.

“Okay.” Ellie meets my stare. “Would you be able to stay? At least until my parents get here?”

I’m so taken off guard that my brain freezes for a solid ten seconds.

“Oh, um…yeah. I could do that.”

Noah narrows her eyes at me, secretly telling me this is a bad idea, but I don’t care. Spending quality alone time with Ellie? I can’t pass this up. Plus, if I told her no I’d hurt her feelings.

“I can grab an Uber back,” I tell her.

Ellie smiles wide, and it feels wrong to enjoy it because in normal circumstances, she’d never smile at me like that. But I can’t help the way my stomach does that stupid flutter thing at seeing her reaction to me.

“I’m just gonna use the restroom quickly and then I’ll walk you out,” I tell Noah before closing the bathroom door behind me.

There’s no way I’m letting her go through a dark parking lot alone at midnight.

My head spins at the unexpected situation I’m in and although I should feel guilty about stealing this time with Ellie, I can’t. If she has no memory of hating me, maybe she’ll realize she likes me more now than when she hated me before.

After drying my hands, I reach for the door handle but then hear Noah say my name and pause.

“Why’d you ask Landen to stay?” she asks.

Kind of a rude question, but I want the answer, too.

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