Page 119 of Rent Free

She was fine.

Then what had…

A familiar figure was in the doorway of the exhibit center looking around.

I knew as soon as my gaze locked with Quincy’s across the room that something was very, very wrong.

He headed right for me, and I had to force myself to keep conversing with the excited little boy.

“Hey,” I said to the kid as Quincy’s face got clearer the closer he got. “You can jump up there and check out the back all you want. I’ll be right back.”

The moment he was in the back, I all but charged toward Quincy.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

Quincy looked at me, his face just... blank.

“There was an accident.”

“She didn’t remember who I was,” Shayne said as she paced. “One second, she was talking to me, the next she was lost. Like the memories were never there.”

“What happened?” I asked, sounding much calmer than I felt.

“I saw her walking across the parking lot toward us,” Quaid said. “I had Forest in my arms. I had just turned him and pointed her out when the car—Emory’s car—came out of the side street that runs along the west side of the building. The car struck her going at least thirty miles an hour.”

I closed my eyes as I imagined what happened.

“She was hit on the left side,” Dad said quietly. “She was thrown about fifteen feet in the air and landed on the curb. Her body bent unnaturally when she hit.”

“She started crawling toward Forest,” Shayne whispered. “When he started crying.”

“And then she stopped moving. Like something switched off,” Auden murmured. “Her legs stopped moving. She was like deathly still on her lower half.”

“That’s because she broke her spine.” A doctor’s voice filled the room.

We all turned toward the male’s voice.

Hollis, who I hadn’t seen until now, was hovering behind us, clenching and unclenching her hands, tears in her eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“Her spine,” Hollis repeated. “Atlas,” she looked stricken. “It’s very, very bad.”

I closed my eyes as my heart skipped a beat.

“Will she live?” I asked, voice monotone.

“She’s in surgery now,” the doctor admitted.

I noticed he didn’t answer.

“We have the best surgeon in the world at this hospital who specializes in spinal injuries,” the doctor continued. “He came in from New York last week for a conference. He stayed because he was asked to assist in another case. He’s agreed to take your fiancée’s case.”

I nodded, throat thick.

“What about her head injury?” Shayne asked.

“Concussion,” he answered. “She also has several other broken bones. A right femur. Left hip. A left ulna. Cheekbone. Orbital bone…”

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