Page 45 of Last Chance Love

But that would mean Reed leaving everything behind, and he had worked so hard. He was in med school, and the demands on him were…beyond anything I could understand. If he left now, even for a week, he would fall behind and probably be unable to recover. His life was looking up. He didn’t need to be around to watch mine implode, which it was steadily doing.

It felt like I had nothing left to tie me to reality anymore. Ian was gone, Ray was slipping away, and I had been slowly letting Reed float away from me as he moved on to a better future. There was nothing left, and the only hold I had left was on the phone right now, almost begging me to talk to him.

“Just work,” I lied through my teeth. “Stuff like that.”

“Stuff like that,” he repeated, not believing me.

“Yeah, I was on break when I called,” I said, staring at my apartment wall. “So I should probably get back before I get my ass reamed again for taking too long.”

“Sure,” he said, pain in his voice, but even then, all I could hear was the roar of agony inside me. “Call me back later?”

“If I can, I might just come home and crash, working a double again.”

“Okay, then tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk soon.”

I didn’t know it then, but it would be years before we spoke again.

* * *

“I’m sorry,”someone whispered, and I only had a moment to realize it was my voice I heard. The realization paled in comparison to the ache that rocked through me, making me grit my teeth as I groaned.

“Hey,” a warm voice said gently next to my ear. “Don’t get up, Leon. Stay right where you are, okay?”

I finally remembered I had eyes and cracked them open. My vision was blurred, but I could still make out the familiar welcome shape of Reed standing over me. There was a faint light from somewhere in the room, but it was the sound of soft beeping that made my throat and chest tighten.

“Where am I?” I asked, trying to sit up again, only to be pushed back by a firm but gentle hand. It was a hospital room from the antiseptic smell and beeping machines.

“You’re in one of the exam rooms on the ranch,” Reed said quickly. “You’re not in the hospital.”

I trusted he wouldn’t lie to me, and I took a moment to look around and make sense of what I was seeing now my vision was clearing. It definitely looked like one of the exam rooms, but there were a couple of machines that hadn’t been there before. The overhead lights had been turned off. Considering the ache in my head, I was grateful.

“Didn’t…mean to say that out loud,” I said, my heart slowing down as I confirmed this wasn’t a hospital room.

“Say what?”

“About…this being…in the hospital, I guess. I’m not sure.”

“You didn’t,” he said, and I watched him pull up a seat next to the bed and sit down. “This isn’t the first time you’ve been awake.”

“It’s not?” I asked, having no memory of having been awake before.

Though now I thought about it, I didn’t remember much. I remembered talking to Reed about my brothers. There was so much I’d left out when I told him about Ray and Ian, but it was still more than I’d told anyone else. Truth was, I should have told him all those years ago when I was trapped in a cycle of complete misery and hopelessness. Then again, it would have probably resulted in his life’s ambitions being put on pause like I’d feared back then, and even if his life had ended up with him in the same spot as me, it had been the best choice.

Funny how good choices didn’t always feel that good.

But after that conversation, I didn’t…we had been walking back to where we’d been working. There had been…something had happened, but I couldn’t recall what. All I could remember was someone shouting and the sudden jolt of fear ripping through me and…nothing.

“What happened?” I asked softly, rubbing my aching head. “It feels like I got into a boxing match with a gorilla.”

“You lost a fight with a retaining wall that wasn’t…retaining very well,” he told me with a heavy sigh. “Idiot.”

“Christ, did I try to catch it?” I asked, trying to assess what hurt. The problem was, it felt like my entire body was hurting, but I had to admit, my right shoulder and my head hurt the most. Well, my back wasn’t feeling stellar, either.

“No,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You decided to play hero.”

“What?”

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