Page 109 of Rear View
My lungs seized, my world crashing down. Bile kissed the back of my throat.No!
“Holy shit,” Miles said, low.
The camera switched to inside the car. The roof was caved in, snow packed high. The thing had imploded on Alec and Xavier, who didn’t move.
Why wasn’t he moving? My eyes were wide when they found Miles.“Why isn’t he moving?”
My brother’s body was coiled. He swallowed hard, then shifted to put an arm around me.
The team radio blared static over the airways before Earl’s voice cut in. “Medics are inbound, boys. Hold on. Medics are inbound.”
The camera cut away.
I couldn’t breathe.I can’t breathe!Medics. Oh, God. He was hurt. Oh, God! No. No.Nonononono!
Tears blurred my vision, then poured free. My handscurled over my fracturing heart as I collapsed forward, landing on the floor in a heap before my soul cracked to pieces and I screamed.
* * *
My fingers shook as I dialed Xavier again. A sob racked my chest, my eyes so thick with tears, I could hardly see. It’d been six hours since the crash. Six hours of silence. Six hours of torture. Six hours of regret. He had to be okay. I couldn’t live with anything else.
Please, God, just answer!
Miles and I sat on Xavier’s step, watching the distant road for a familiar Jeep. We’d sped to the raceway as soon as the accident happened, but he’d already been transported out. From there, we’d gone to all three of Edgewater’s hospitals but each cited patient confidentiality and refused to tell us if he was there. I’d screamed at the last nurse until Miles spotted security coming and dragged me out.
After that, I’d messaged Sheila, desperate for news, but like me, she was in the dark. So, I’d asked for Xavier’s address, praying he’d make his way home.
I tried his number again. Nothing.
“Why isn’t he answering?” I said, the words a plea.
Miles rubbed slow circles around my back. “He’ll be alright, Ry. Those cars are built for impact.” It was the twentieth time he’d said it, and each successive version got weaker and weaker.
I dropped my face into my hands as a sob broke free. My chest hurt. My heart hurt. Everythinghurt.
He had to be okay.He has to be!
The hum of an approaching vehicle had my head snapping up. A painfully familiar Jeep came into view, itstires crunching on the snow-covered asphalt as it moved. My pulse kicked up speed, thrashing violently in my ears.
Behind the wheel sat Xavier.
Miles stood and closed in. I tried to follow but my legs refused to work.
Xavier pulled in slowly, then rolled to a stop. He climbed from his vehicle, those arctic eyes on me. He twisted the key chain I’d given him in his grasp before he shoved it in his pocket. Several cuts and fresh bruises lined his forehead, cheek and neck. Dark circles of sheer exhaustion shadowed beneath his eyes. His hands flexed at his sides, tendons cording under the skin.
My brother stepped up to him. “That was quite the tumble, dude.”
Xavier’s stare held mine as he turned, only releasing it at the last second. He gave Miles a tight smile. “I’ve had worse.”
“You alright?”
He lifted a tense shoulder. “Fair to middlin’.”
Miles clapped him on the back and tipped his head my way, then spoke too low for me to hear. X gave a slow nod and found me again, answering in that same low tone.
My brother aimed for his car and leaned against its side, giving us privacy.
Xavier stalked toward me, his movements steady, but forced. There was a crease around his eyes and whether it’d been put there by the accident or me, I had no clue.
