Page 134 of Surfer's Paradise

Isaac groaned. “Where the fuck—”

“On our way to the hospital,” Dom cut in. “They got you right off the beach. Wasn’t about to haul your heavy ass back to Coronado.”

Isaac exhaled sharply, every inch of his ribs protesting. “Jesus. You bring me flowers, too?”

Dom didn’t blink. “Nah, figured saving your life was enough.”

Isaac rolled his eyes, regretting it immediately when a fresh wave of pain seared through his side.

“How bad?”

“Couple cracked ribs, bad bruising. No lung puncture, though, so congratulations, you got lucky.”

Isaac grunted. “Wouldn’t call this lucky.”

Dom shrugged. “Could be worse. Could be dead.”

Isaac huffed out a breath. “Would’ve been easier.”

Dom snorted. “Oh, yeah. Fucking delightful. ‘Hey, Vero, Zach, Jesse, I let Rayleigh drown today. Let’s go grab a beer.’”

Isaac smirked despite himself.

The paramedic leaned over. “We’re five minutes out. You still good?”

Isaac gave a thumbs-up, though it was mostly for show. He felt like shit.

Dom just shook his head. “Gonna be real entertaining watching you sit still for the next few weeks.”

Isaac froze slightly. “Weeks?”

Dom smirked. “Yeah, buddy. Three to four weeks of ‘take it easy’ orders.”

The words landed like a sucker punch.

Three to four weeks.

No training. No diving.

No distractions.

Isaac clenched his jaw. “Fucking hell.”

Dom just chuckled, leaning back against the wall of the ambulance.

“Better start getting real comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

* * * * *

Later that night, the lights in the hospital room were dimmed, a distant monitor beeping somewhere behind him as Isaac sat half-upright in the hospital bed.

The meds had dulled the worst of the pain, but every movement still felt like hell.

A bunch of cracked ribs were a bitch like that.

Zach and Shay were parked in the corner, bullshitting about something, while Jesse was scrolling through his phone, looking unimpressed.

Dom was leaned up against the wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

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