Page 90 of Almost

“I appreciate it, and I know he does too. I’m just glad Owen didn’t get ejected as well, because I’m pretty sure he started that brawl today by running his mouth.”

“It was bound to happen at some point today,” I say, spotting Thalia and Owen up ahead. I open my mouth to call after them as they walk through the parking lot, but before I can, the sound of tires squealing catch all of our attention belonging to a car going way too fast in a parking lot.

Owen’s catlike reflexes are the only reason he has enough time to shove Thalia out of the way just before the car hits his body, the awful crunch of glass shattering as the force sends him rolling over the top of the vehicle, landing on the concrete motionless. Screaming starts and the car swerves again, continuing through the parking lot as if it didn’t just run over my best friend.

I run like my life depends on it, pushing every ounce of exhaustion from my body to cover the distance between us.

It doesn’t feel fast enough as I watch in horror how Lia tries to push herself up before collapsing, her head bouncing off the concrete again. This time, she doesn’t move. “Thalia!” I cry out her name, my body making the unconscious decision to help the woman I need to breathe over my best friend.

She’s still, so fucking still.

A stranger crouches down next to her moments before I drop to my knees at her side, the impact feeling like nothing compared to my heart being ripped out of my chest.Please be okay.

Blood covers the side of her face that hit the ground, and my hands are shaking as I hesitate. I shouldn’t move her. Thalia could have hurt something when she fell, and I don’t want to make things worse.

“That car…the driver sped up to hit them,” the woman next to me says in horror, and my vision blurs.

“Je t’aime. Je t’aime plus que tout,” I whisper in the language Thalia taught me to love, the words nearly sticking in my throat.

I love you. I love you more than anything.

The sound of Blake screaming breaks through the noise in my head, and I’m torn between staying by Thalia’s side or going to Owen’s.

My stomach rolls, but the stranger next to me rests her hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got her. I won’t let anyone move her until the paramedics get here,” she promises gently. “I’m a nurse, and she’s breathing with a strong pulse.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, my heart breaking as I look at Thalia, but I don’t know how to leave her like this. It goes against every fiber of my being.

She doesn’t answer before a sound of pure agony comes from the direction Owen’s in. The sight of Blake kneeling at Owen’s side as another woman performs chest compressions on him, propels me into moving. Chest compressions mean he’s not breathing.

No, this can’t be happening.“Baby, please, open your eyes,” she begs, her words nearly incoherent from how hysterical she is. “I can’t do this without you.”

I try not to stare at his leg, but even without being a trained medical professional, even I know it’s not meant to bend at that angle. Fuck the leg, he’s not fucking breathing.

Despite the traffic, two ambulances make their way through the lot in record time escorted by police. I look around, finally aware of the crowd of horrified people, but the thing that infuriates me the most is the number of phones out taking pictures of this. One paramedic takes over chest compressions as the other readies the AED machine, cutting through the front of his suit to place the pads into place.

“Ma’am, you need to let go of his hand,” one says to Blake, and she freezes.

“Over my dead body am I letting go of him,” she hisses at the man, and I know she’s going to hate me for his, but I pull her away. I’m okay with her hating me if it means Owen lives. “No! Let me go!” Blake shrieks, and I do my best not to fall apart.

“Blake, it’s me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but you and I both know you have to let go if they’re going to try to savehim,” I reason, holding her tightly as Thalia is loaded up into the other ambulance.

“He has to live. I can’t…” Blake falls apart in my arms, choking on her sobs.

~

The last thing the paramedics said before moving Owen into the ambulance was that they regained his pulse, and they told us the name of the hospital they were being taken to.

I learned after speaking with a nurse at the hospital that Thalia regained consciousness on the way there. Owen was taken into emergency surgery while Thalia was getting a scan to rule out anything more serious than a concussion, but it was determined she only passed out due to the combination of shock and pain coursing through her body.

Thalia has a grade three concussion, and her left arm is fractured. It’s being assumed that she broke it when Owen pushed her out of the way, and she landed on it wrong. She also had a few stitches placed along her temple where her head had cracked open. Thalia is going to be kept overnight for observation, but I haven’t been allowed back to see her. On the other hand, an update we got an hour ago told us that Owen’s lung collapsed, he had internal bleeding in his stomach, and they are stabilizing his leg to let his body rest until they can go back in tomorrow to repair the leg. At that point, I stopped listening. I understood enough of what they said to know Owen’s lucky to be alive.

They both are.

If he hadn’t pushed her out of the way…

I blink rapidly, pushing the thought to the back of my head. I need to get up and move, just do anything but sit here and wait, but exhaustion caught up with Blake fifteenminutes ago, and she fell asleep on my shoulder in the private waiting area we’re in. Penelope brought coffee and clothes since she’s the only one who can make it in undetected with the circus outside.

My phone hasn’t stopped going off, but I was glad I was able to get ahold of Thalia and Owen’s parents before the news started circulating the internet. They were at a winery for the weekend, but it’ll be a few hours before they get here. I didn’t tell them much because I didn’t have much information at the time, but them knowing how serious it is doesn’t change how fast they can get here. The team has also been asking for updates, but I don’t know what to say.

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