Page 65 of Out of the Blue

We all watch Raine for a moment. Dwight mumbles, “His aunt will be a match. She has to be.” The others murmur their agreement.

But what if she’s not?

There is someone with a closer relationship to him than her. And besides his aunt, I’m the only other person on earth who knows this.

I need to ask Braxton.

Chapter 20 - trent

Iopen my eyes to an unfamiliar sound. Beeping. Where am I?

Turning my head, I see Cordelia sitting next to me. She’s stroking my hand. My throat feels like sandpaper. I manage to croak, “Cordy?”

Huge, mocha orbs zero in on me. “Trent? You’re awake?”

“Was I run over by a truck?”

She giggles, and my heart expands. Then contracts into my body as pain lances throughout. “Ow!” I rub my free hand over my heart. Wires are attached to my body. “Where am I?”

My girlfriend licks her lips. “What do you remember?”

I think back, remembering talking with my aunt backstage. And her pushing me to tell Braxton he’s my father. Cordy, separately, piling onto the bandwagon. I also remember needing to get away and grabbing Dwight’s keys. Taking his bike out.

Speeding along the road.

Hitting black ice and going sideways.

Things get hazy from there.

“An accident. I skidded.”

She nods and whispers, “Yeah. Dwight’s bike went one way, and your body went another. You ended up in a ditch. A truck driver came across the accident scene and called it in. Raine’s tracking him down to send a gift.”

I glance around. “Am I in a hospital?”

“Yes, and you’ve given us all quite the scare. Your doctors all thought you’d wake up sooner than this, but I’m so happy you’re awake now.”

“How long have I been out?”

“About a day.”

“Wow.” I send a desperate message throughout my body. Pain and heaviness are all that respond. My leg feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. Oh my God, am I paralyzed? “What happened to my body? Can I walk?”

She smiles, and my spirits lift. I know the answer before she says another word. “Yes, you’re pretty banged up and you have a broken leg.”

No wonder everything feels heavy. “Oh, well, that’s not too terrible. I can play on a chair.” I try to offer her a grin, but fear it looks more like a snarl.

A frown mars her face. “There’s something more.”

Before she can tell me what else is wrong, a team of doctors and nurses floods the room and kicks her out, no matter how much I protest. Finally, when I’m alone in the room except for one tiny woman wearing a white coat, I demand, “What’s going on?”

The woman wraps a stethoscope around her neck. “I’m Doctor Patel, and I’ve been your attending physician. You have a broken leg, some severe road burns and bruises. You’ll heal from all of these things, with time.”

“Good news.”

She nods. “Yes. That’s the good news. The bad news is you damaged your kidney in your fall off the motorcycle.”

This doesn’t seem like too big of a deal. “Well, I can use the other one. I don’t need two, right?”

---