Page 56 of The Billionaire and the Runaway

“Cross my heart and hope to…never mind. Yes, I promise,” he says gruffly.

“It’s ‘cross my heart and hope to die,’” I state, this time managing to say it without trembling.

“Yes, it is. See, you’re already feeling better if you can remember that,” he says.

“Oh God! You think I might die, don’t you?” I ask suddenly scared shitless. Is this it? I go out on a farm under a tractor. Katia will never let me live this down, even in death.

“Stop it. You aren’t dying,” he reiterates.

I hear lots of noise. Eric’s head pops out of view and then leans back down. “The ambulance and fire truck are here. We’re going to get you out. I’ll be right back,” he says, and before I can beg him not to leave, he’s standing, but I can still see his feet.

“Yeah. Under here. Her leg is pinned,” he says to someone.

A young man’s face appears. “Hey, Ariana?”

I nod.

“I’m Carson. I’m a local EMT. I’m going to assess you real quick and then we’ll get you out from under this tractor, OK?” he says with a smile as if it’s no big deal I’m pinned under here.

“OK,” I whisper.

I suddenly have a blood pressure cuff on my arm and he’s holding a finger to my pulse on my wrist. Then he leans up and yells, “Gonna need the bird. Yep. Call them.”

His face is back down in my vantage point. “Hey. So, I just like to air on the side of caution. We’re going to send you on a little helicopter ride to City General once we get you out of here, OK? Just to be cautious. And that way if you need surgery, you’ll have the best surgeons waiting and ready. Hopefully, you won’t, and you’ll be back here later today, but let’s just make sure. Alright?”

“A helicopter?” I say, my nerves starting to fray. I feel sheer horror take over. Iamdying. I’m such an idiot. Why did I think I could do this?

I hear Eric and Carson talking but only hear a few words. “Trauma center.” “Amputation.” “Blood loss.” “Blood type.”

And then everything begins to fade into a fuzzy blackness. The last thing I hear is Eric’s voice. “Ariana! Stay with me, baby! Don’t leave me!”

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

Eric

I’m pacing back and forth. I feel like I’ve been here for days. I’m surprised I haven’t worn a permanent hole in the floor. I hear a commotion and Joy, Earl, and Buck come running into the emergency room waiting area.

“Oh, God! How is she?” Joy says as she throws her arms around me. I stop moving and slowly return her hug, realizing she needs comforting just like I do. Her arms tighten around me, making me even more aware that the woman I want in my arms isn’t there.

“She’s in surgery. They had to set her femur with some screws and a plate. It nicked a vein when it broke. She lost a lot of blood, but they think she’ll be alright,” I say quietly, repeating what the doctor just told me five minutes ago.

“Thank God!” Joy cries out as Earl peels her off me and she clings to him.

“She’s a stubborn one. She’ll be just fine,” Buck assures me as he claps me on the back, but I can see the worried look on his face. He’s worried about her.

I swallow and nod as I sit and put my head in my hands. Being here, in the hospital, the helicopter ride, all of it is too much. It’s like Tori all over again. In the moment, I didn’t process anything. I was too fixated on getting Ariana out from under the tractor. And then I was focused on making sure we got here as soon as possible. I remember with Tori a doctor had mentioned this concept of the Golden Hour, that if emergency patients can get to them within an hour of their injury, then they tend to do better or get better results. Tori had not been able to get there that quickly. Now that the initial shock has worn off, all I can do is remember the worst day of my life. The feelings of hopelessness. The pain of knowing that was the last time I would be able to talk to the love of my life. The universe can’t possibly be this cruel. It can’t give me a second chance at love with Ariana and then just rip it away, can it?

I feel the seat next to me sink as someone sits. It’s Kingsley. He must have just arrived.

“She’s going to be fine,” he states as he looks at me. “It’s not like Tori.” He looks so sad. This has to be hard for him. He wasn’t there when Tori fell. It was just Tori and I hiking. And hell, he was just a kid, but I remember his face when I got back home. I remember how sad he was, how devasted he was.

She had said so many things in those last few minutes I saw her alive. She made me make so many promises. Watching over him was just one of those promises.

I breathe in deeply and the antiseptic hospital smell fills my nostrils. I don’t know if I can be here. I couldn’t protect her today. I couldn’t stop the tractor. I saw it tipping and then…it was horrible to watch.

My thoughts are interrupted by a bellowing voice coming from the reception desk.

“I want to see my daughter now!” the man yells, and before he turns, I know two things for sure, that is Ariana’s father, and he is James Titan.

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