Page 75 of Inked Obsession

“You haven’t slept all night, and it’s well into the morning. Let me take you home.” My father kissed Mom’s temple then leaned down to grip my hand over my mother’s. “I love you. I’m glad you’re okay. There’s a very loud room waiting for you.”

“Is Eliza out there? Is she okay?” I asked, my chest tightening.

“Yes, she’s there. She’ll be here for you soon, son.”

My chest was still tight, but relief speared me slightly. After I had woken up in the hospital, everyone had explained to me what’d happened. A woman had had her first seizure, one she hadn’t realized she would ever have while behind the wheel. She had passed out after. Everything had scared her so much that she was currently sedated in the room next to mine. Thankfully, she was fine. As was everyone else. I had been the most hurt.

Her car had hopped the curb, gone through the guardrail, and smashed into where we were seated. Benjamin had pulled Brenna to safety, and though they had a few cuts and scrapes from the flying glass, they were fine. Eliza had a few scrapes on her palms from when I had shoved her down to the ground and out of the way, but she would be okay. I had been bumped from the table as the car hit me, but it had been going slow enough that I didn’t have any internal injuries or broken bones. Just some lacerations and abrasions—the worst on my side.

I felt like a very big bruise. They gave me eight stitches and I had bled enough that I’d scared everybody, but I would make it out of the hospital soon. Maybe even tomorrow morning.

I didn’t have a concussion, but I had passed out for a little bit—mostly from the shock, they had said.

All I could think of as I fell was about Eliza. I had seen Brian’s face instead of hers for just an instant. As if he were the one next to me, bleeding out. Not Eliza, reaching for me, trying to stop the bleeding in my side.

I had hurt my back again, too, and would need rehab—after the stitches were out, of course. I would be fine, though, and I kept telling everybody that. My family didn’t care. They kept telling me that they needed to make sure that I was alive and okay.

I was. Only I needed to see Eliza.

“We’re going to let the next horde in,” Mom said. “We love you.”

“I love you, too.”

My dad gave me a look, and I nodded.

We had been scared enough times recently that there were no more hard feelings. We weren’t the same people we were before. the Montgomery family feud was over. It had to be. And we were finding our place.

I just needed to see Eliza. Only she wasn’t the person who walked in next. Benjamin and Lee walked in, a scowl on my twin’s face.

He leaned forward. “You’re okay?”

“I didn’t hurt this pretty face, and I’m glad your pretty face is just as good.”

“Scared the shit out of me,” Benjamin growled.

“This is the loudest he’s been the entire time,” Lee said, shaking his head. “It took forever to get your twin out of the waiting room. He kept pacing, and I was afraid he was going to growl at somebody and hurt them.”

Benjamin scowled. “My twin was hurt.”

“You didn’t feel it?” I asked, only joking.

My twin must have been beyond jokes because he just shook his head. “You know we don’t have twin phantom pain, you asshole. Don’t do that again.”

“Thank you for pulling Brenna out of the way,” I said softly.

Benjamin sighed. “You pulled Eliza out of the way. I just wish I could have pulledyouout of the way.”

“I see you chose Brenna over me.”

My twin scowled, true emotion in his gaze. “Asshole. She was closer. And you were moving out of the way yourself. I don’t know, I guess we both thought to save the women. Don’t tell them that.”

“Dear God, don’t tell them that,” Lee said with a sigh. “We’re just here to check on you. You’re fine. Now I’m going to go tuck Benjamin in and make sure he’s safe.”

“You are an adorable couple,” I said.

Lee flipped me off. “Hey, Benjamin couldn’t do better than me.”

“Thanks for that,” Benjamin drawled and gave me a tight nod as they left.

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