Page 58 of Full Throttle 2

Lila gave her a reassuring smile, then turned and left.

Liam walked over to the dresser, lifted the tray, and brought it back to Colby, placing it on the bed next to her. He picked up a piece of turkey bacon and bit into it. “Hmm...always preferred real bacon to turkey, but this is surprisingly good. You sure you don’t want a piece?”

Exasperation evident in her voice, Colby said, “Not right now.” She tried to change the subject. “I hope the press doesn’t get wind of the accident. Crazy rumors will be all over the news.”

Liam went along with the topic change for now, but he wasn’t leaving until Colby had eaten every bit of food on her plate. “Brian and I are doing our best to keep things quiet, but you never know who might get paid off for a hundred-dollar tip.”

Colby asked, “Mark, what are we doing about it? Do you have a plan in place? We should probably get ahead of the story and put out a press release before that happens.”

Colby had no idea that Lila had done the heavy lifting during this crisis.

Mark was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. “I think we have bigger fish to fry.”

“Than my accident?” Colby couldn’t imagine what.

Mark didn’t get to fully explain what he meant because he was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing. “One second. I’ve got to take this call.” He stepped out of the room and into the hallway.

Liam switched gears. “I’m sure Mark is handling it, so you probably shouldn’t get worked up. In the meantime, I’m going to eat all of this bacon. Here, have a piece.”

Something was off, and everyone was trying to force-feed her. If anything, that was going to make Colby’s blood pressure skyrocket. “I said I’m not hungry.”

Liam ignored Colby’s rising irritation. “When was the last time you ate?”

Colby couldn’t remember. “I’m sure I had something yesterday before the accident.”

“You’re sure? But you don’t know?” Liam sat down on her side of the bed. Concern clouded his eyes. “Colby, what’s going on?”

She was genuinely confused. “What do you mean? As far as me...nothing. But y’all are keeping something from me.”

Liam knew this was a necessary conversation and was dreading having it, but unfortunately, now was the time. “I’m concerned.”

Frustrated, Colby released a loud sigh. “Tell me something I don’t know. I told you I’m fine. I got a slight concussion. I’ll be good to go by race day.”

“Not about the accident.”

“Then what?”

“You’re not eating and have been having trouble sleeping. You’ve lost a considerable amount of weight in a short time. I’m not going to sugarcoat it?—”

“Please don’t.” Colby couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “I’d love to hear your unvarnished thoughts.”

Liam ignored her. “Based on the practice video recording and the digital readouts of your car, there weren’t any signs of malfunction.” He paused. “It looks like you just passed out behind the wheel. My guess is because you are not eating enough.”

Colby was both freaked out and stunned. “How would you know that?”

“Your doctor. You were dehydrated and malnourished. He pumped your IV full of nutrients and vitamins.”

“Whatever happened to HIPPA laws?”

Liam’s eyes were full of fear. “I was in the room when he was talking to your dad. You passed out while driving a car at almost 151 mph.”

Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. “You saw the video?”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

Her embarrassment came out as anger. “Before me?”

“You were literally knocked out. So, yeah. I saw it before you.”

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