Page 112 of Spring Tide

“Like a guy, maybe. Someone who could help me walk.” The pain in his voice grates inside my head. “I don’t know if you girls will be able to get me into a car.”

“Oh, I could try and give Fletcher a call?”Shit, shit, shit. I highly doubt Fletcher would do me any favors right now, but I’m kind of running short on male friendships these days. “I don’t know that he’d actually come, considering he and Eden are on the outs right now.”

“No, not Fletcher.” He groans, a frustrated sigh slipping out. “And please don’t involve Eden, either. I don’t want this to get back to Coach.”

I rack my brain for a solution. “What about some of the guys on the baseball team?”

“No, sorry.” He swears under his breath, mumbling something I can’t quite understand. “I don’t trust those guys. I guess, just—”

“I have access to the DME trailer,” I say, suddenly hopeful. “I could grab some crutches for you, but it’s gonna take some extra time to get there.”

“Okay, that’s perfect.”

With my fingers anxiously tapping against my phone, I walk back out to the kitchen. Stella and Lai’Lani are sitting at the table together, blissfully unaware, chatting and kissing in between bites of pumpkin pie. Muting the call, I give them a quick rundown of the situation.

Unfortunately, it’s going to take us at least fifteen minutes to run to campus for the crutches, then another thirty to make it over to Luca.

In one last-ditch effort, I unmute the call and ask, “Are you sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance?”

“That’ll probably take just as long,” he says, exhaustion filtering through his words. “It’s also way too fucking expensive.”

“I could pay for—”

He huffs, cutting me off. “Please don’t start that right now.”

“Okay, okay.” I grab my keys off the entryway table, tossing them to Stella. “We’re on our way, alright? Just hang tight.”

* * *

When we arriveon the scene, Luca’s sitting by himself on the pavement. He’s perched up with both arms behind him, legs stretched out. There’s a pile of vomit to his right and a wide rip in the knee of his jeans. At least there doesn’t seem to be a lot of blood, but I brought a first aid kit just in case.

As soon as Stella cuts the engine, I dart out of my passenger seat, crouching down beside him.

“Oh my God,” I murmur, quickly scanning his body from head to toe. “Why are you out here all alone? How’d this even happen?”

“I got into it with my brother.” He glances behind me, cheeks flushing, tensing as he takes note of Stella’s presence. “I think it was partially an accident on his part, but then he left me here to rot.”

“Oh, Luca.” I lean down, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll be fine.” He closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose, shakes his head. “I just need to get off this cold ground.”

I wave Stella over to bring us the crutches. As a ragtag team, we carefully hoist Luca up off the ground, one of us tucked underneath either side of him. It’s difficult due to his size, but we manage to make it work.

Once the crutches are in place, he’s able to hold himself up well enough to slide into my car. I hop in the back seat, while Stella drives us the few blocks over to his Outback.

As I help him maneuver back out, he tosses a bashful “thank you” over his shoulder to my roommate.

“I’m gonna take him to the ER,” I tell her quietly, one hand poised on the small of Luca’s back. “I’ll see you at the apartment tomorrow.”

“I hope everything goes okay,” she says, her smile filled with sympathy.

“Me too,” I murmur. “Thanks for your help.”

Luca’s car is a bit smaller than mine, so it takes some extra finagling to get him situated. He adjusts the passenger seat as far back as it’ll go, attempting to stretch his leg out while I switch the car into drive.

As we pull out of the neighborhood, there’s a tense, awkward silence that fills the air. I don’t want to be the first to break it because I’m not so sure Luca can even hear himself think.

“I’m sorry, Harper,” he eventually says, pure anguish marring his handsome face.

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