Page 96 of Crave Me

“I’m her boyfriend.”

My brother looks at me and nods but doesn’t say anything else.

“I’m going to get straight to it, she was in a major accident. It was a hit-and-run. She took damage to the tail end of her car that forced her to spin out of control. Her car flipped three times before it hit a tree.”

Nausea rolls through me in heavy waves, my gut churning acid around on a spin cycle, and I’m forced to bend over and brace my hands on my knees.

“Lucky for her, an off-duty police officer was not far behind, saw the smoke, and was able to call in help quickly. She’s still in surgery and not out of the woods yet. She has major abdominal damage from her seat belt, but that’s what saved her life. There are some things I feel like Blaire should hear first and share with whom she’s comfortable with, but I will tell you that because of the complexity of the damage across her lower abdomen, she’s going to need support to face what’s ahead of her. Otherwise, we’re optimistic she’ll make a full recovery.”

“Thank you, doctor,” my brother says.

“Hang tight. Someone will be out to get you as soon as she’s out of surgery and stable.”

Sawyer grabs my arm and pulls me to stand, but the bile rises with me. I run to the nearest trashcan and flip the lid off, purging the contents of my stomach.

“She’s going to be okay, brother. We’ve got you,” Sawyer’s voice rushes through the buzzing in my head. My mom joins us, handing me some tissues. I stand slowly, taking them to wipe my mouth when I see Liam, Carter, and Kinsey walking into the waiting room, eyes sweeping the area, looking for us. My mom ushers us over to join them in a section of the room that has enough seating for everyone. I’m met with hugs from each of them, Kinsey holding on to me the longest.

“I need her to be okay. She has to be.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Blaire

The first thing I register is incessant beeping noises.

The second is how heavy my eyes are.

The third is pain. Everywhere.

I work hard to open my eyes, but they feel glued shut. A dim, blurry light is all I see as I move my head to the side and groan.

“Baby? Thank god. It’s Dallas, baby girl. I’m right here.”

His warm hand touches my cheek gently as the tears slip free of my eyes. There’s shuffling around the room, but my eyes are still only partially open. They feel so heavy. My entire body aches and I’m so tired.

“She just woke up. She hasn’t spoken yet.” Dallas is talking to someone, but I don’t register the other voice. The large, warm hand encompassing mine feels so good, so comforting. I try to open my eyes further, blinking a few times while I adjust to the light.

“Hi, Blaire. I’m Doctor West. You’re in the hospital. You were in a car accident. Are you in any pain?”

Car accident. I remember the white car, the noise of my tires skidding across the pavement, the crushing of metal as my car flipped. The tears flow freely now and I try to blink through them, my eyelids heavy.

“Ye-yes,” my voice croaks out, followed by a cough. My throat feels like I swallowed crushed glass.

“Can she have water?”

“Of course. Here’s the button for her pain meds. She can press it whenever she needs, we want her to be comfortable.”

Dallas rubs his hand over my forehead gently and holds a straw to my mouth. I eagerly drink from it, the cold fluid coating my sore throat like a soothing balm.

“Am I okay?”

“You are. We have some things to discuss, but I’d like for you to get some rest,” the doctor tells me, and I feel the ominous weight press down on me. I don’t like the unknown, I need to know what’s wrong now.

“No, thank you. I’d like to know now, please.”

The doctor looks from me to Dallas before speaking, “I think it would be best if we spoke privately.”

Dallas tenses next to me and a low growl works its way up his throat.

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