Page 187 of Skate the Line

My throat tightens with emotion.

“See,” she says.

I put my attention back on Sunny, and a line of pain appears in between her eyebrows while her eyes remain closed. Her cheek, caked with dry blood, scrunches. There’s a thin slice beneath her eye that needs bandaged at the very least. For fuck’s sake, there’s a piece of glass in her hair too.

My heart beats hard, and I bend at the knees. I place my hand on the side of her thigh and gently tap her awake. When her eyelashes begin to flutter, I stare up at her and pray that she’s actually okay.

I’m not, though.

I’m far from it.

The thought of losing her makes everything seem so fucking bleak.

“Sunshine,” I whisper, rubbing my thumb against her jean-clad leg.

It takes her a second to come to. She flinches when she picks her head up. I ache in a way I never have before to take her pain away.

“Hey,” I whisper quietly, careful not to wake Ellie. “Look at me, Sunshine.”

“Rhodes?” She blinks through the haze, and as soon as she latches onto me, her eyes widen, and she gasps.

My palm falls to her leg, and I shush her. “You’re okay.”

The beating of my heart is so thunderous it hurts. My blood pressure climbs, and the need to grab onto her face and press my lips to hers is almost too much.

I’m relieved to see them both sitting here, but there’s so much emotion laced to this moment that I can’t think straight. There’s pressure in my chest that can’t be ignored.

“You’re here?” She swallows and winces again.

She needs to get checked out.

“I’m here.” I check out her face again, eyeing the cut.

“Ellie is okay,” she adds, glancing at my sleeping daughter.

I gently reach forward and brush her hair out of her face. I rub the pad of my thumb beneath the cut. “But you’re not,” I remind her. “How did you get here with the car like that?”

“I drove us.”

What?

Sunny’s bottom lip starts to shake, and I could die from the sight.She’s crying?Why does this hurt me so much? It’s like salt being rubbed in a wound.

“I am so sorry, Rhodes.”

My jaw flexes. She’s apologizing to me?

“I didn’t know what to do.”

She’s getting worked up. This is a version of her that I have never seen before, and I have to admit, I don’t fucking like it.

“I lost my phone in the accident, and Marco was hurt. I made sure Ellie was okay, but since there was no way to callan ambulance and the other car had left, I didn’t have a choice. I had to drive us here. I was afraid to waste time and wait for help.” She gasps for air, and I’m frozen with shock.

Did she just say that the other car left?

Once I find out who hit them, they’re dead.

“Sunny.”

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