Page 185 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

Holy shit.

“In the car?” I shriek.

Dia nods. “Don’t worry, they made it to the hospital, but I haven’t heard anything else in a few hours.”

A whirlwind of confusing emotions pulls me in every direction imaginable.

On one hand, I’m so happy for them. They’ve waited so long for this, and I can’t believe they’re finally going to get to meettheir baby boy, but, on the other, I feel awful that she went into labor in the car because we pulled her out of bed in the middle of the night. But then again, she would’ve had to go to the hospital either way.

God, I can’t believe how quickly everything went to shit.

One second we were kissing good night, and the next, TJ was bleeding out on the floor.

The doctor’s words return to me.

“We’ll have to take him into surgery immediately.”

If that CT scan shows internal damage, they’re going to have to open him up.

What if he does need surgery and something bad happens?

What if I lose him the same way I lost my dad?

It’s as though Dia can read my mind because she grips my hand, that’s resting on my lap, and flashes a warm, comforting smile, bringing my spiraling to a close.

“Breathe,” she whispers.

And she’s right.

Panicking’s not going to fix anything.

Right now, all we can do is wait.

TJ

My mouth is so fucking dry.

Out of all the thoughts I could be having right now, this is the one occupying my mind. That and why the hell is the room spinning?

My eyes crack open, shivers scampering down my spine when I’m hit in the face by the brightest light I’ve ever seen. I groan, overwhelmed by how shitty I feel, and squeeze my eyes shut to make sure the bright-ass light doesn’t fry my retinas.

Fuck, why does everything hurt?

“TJ? Oh my God, Kelsea, I think he’s coming to,” a voice I’d recognize anywhere says.

That voice is Vera’s, but I’m still so dizzy I couldn’t tell you which direction it came from if you put a gun to my head.

“TJ? TJ, can you hear us?” my sister asks, her voice thick with concern.

I inhale a painful breath and peel my eyes open, blinking the blurry seal polluting my sight away. Only then do I take in my surroundings.

I’m in a small white room, lying on what I can only assume to be a hospital bed, with my aunt and my sister practically perched over me.

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so glad you’re awake. We’ve been worried sick.” Vera reaches for my hand and squeezes gently, but eventhat’s enough to make me wince in pain. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?”

Breathinghurts, but I don’t bother telling her that, seeing as she’s probably all maxed out on pity.

“What the hell happened?” I try to sit up in bed but immediately get slammed with brutal nausea.

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