Page 14 of Yolo

I awkwardly patted her back, and Ruben shot me a small smile, acknowledging my discomfort yet doing nothing to change it.

Only when Lea let me go did he offer me his hand. “You got a number? I’d love to update you on her health when we hear more.”

I quickly rattled it off, but he made no move to write it down.

After one last glance at the woman in the bed, I headed out, thankful that all I had to do now was head to the airport.

My flight was in two hours.

My brothers had taken my luggage home with them, leaving me plenty of time to get there on time.

But as I buckled in and the plane’s engines started up, I had a sinking feeling that I was doing the wrong thing.

I ignored it, though.

But the feeling never left.

Not for six whole months.

I may be blind but I can still hear you.

—Bindi’s secret thoughts

BINDI

“Gee?” I croaked. The first person that popped into my head was the man who saved my life.

What kind of romance novel was I living in? It sounded like the beginning of a romcom.

“Oh, baby.” My mother’s voice broke through the quiet. “I’m here. Daddy’s here, too.”

“Is Gee?”

“No, he’s gone, honey,” she apologized. “He had a flight to catch. Daddy exchanged numbers with him, though. We’ve been giving him updates on you for a couple of days now.”

A couple of days?

What?

My heart started to pound. “My job!”

“Honey.” My mother patted my hand. “Your job is the least of your worries right now.”

A sinking feeling started in my belly, reminding me what had happened to get me here.

“My eyes,” I whispered.

My mother’s hand squeezed mine. “Honey.”

“Am I blind?” I asked.

There was a pause and then my dad took my other hand.

I hadn’t even heard him move.

“You had severe damage to your optic nerves. When that rock fell and hit you on the head, it caused brain bleeding in your skull. The bleeding put pressure on your optic nerve, and the blood flow was lost to them,” he explained. “There was nothing they could do. Not to mention, when they got in there, they were worried about other things, and not that. The bleeding was controlled, but they had to induce a coma to help reduce the brain swelling. Over the last couple of days, your eyes have gone from the greenish blue that you’ve had since birth to the same color, but with a whitish tint to it. I’m sorry, baby girl, but you’re never going to see again.”

I swallowed hard past the lump of emotion that welled up at his words.

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