Page 3 of Love Me Steadfast
The medics arrive just as we’re carrying her down the stairs. They meet us at the door, and I’m relieved one of them is Ryan Hutchins, a former Air Force pararescueman and the absolute best guy in a crisis. I give him the pass-down as we rush Morgan to the back of the medic rig idling in the gravel turnaround. There are two Finn River Sheriff’s SUVs parked in front of the engine, and Troy Robinson and my brother Zach are walking toward us.
Zach and I lock eyes for an instant. He’s the only one here who knows how I feel about Charlotte. He also probably knows that I’m going to break every privacy law in place to call her with the news of what went down here tonight regarding her sister. Zach will offer to do it, but it’s me Charlotte needs to hear from.
I’m going to have to tell Theo, too. Fuck.
A thought tickles the back of my mind. Theo’s off tonight. Did Morgan plan this so her brother wouldn’t be in the ER to see it?
“Any idea what she took?” Hutch asks, snapping me back to the task of loading Morgan into the medic rig.
“Negative,” I say.
“We’ll have a look,” Burton says.
“Good,” Hutch says, climbing in with Morgan. He and I lock the gurney in place and he whips out a warmed blanket. He and I tuck it in around her, then Hutch starts gathering supplies for another IV. Before I go, I find Morgan’s hand underneath the blanket. I tell her with my touch that she’s safe now. I will her to fight her way back from this.
“You did good,” Hutch says, shooting me a serious glance. “These wounds…”
I force down the lump clogging my throat. “Take good care of her.”
“You know it.”
I let go of Morgan’s hand, then jump down and shut the ambulance doors. The rig rumbles off, lights flashing in the darkness.
Chapter Two
CHARLOTTE (NOW)
The turnofffor Finn River blinks into view, making my stomach pitch.
Even after fourteen hours of driving, I’m not ready to come home.
“It’s Morgan,” William said on the phone, his voice breaking. “I think you need to be here.”
My sigh turns shaky as I flip on my signal, the tick, tick, tick like a scolding.
This is my fault. For leaving them behind. For thinking I had everything fixed.
At the end of the ramp, I give my reflection a glance, then wish I hadn’t. Red-rimmed eyes stare back at me, and my messy bun looks more like a pincushion. I’m so pale my freckles practically pop off my face.
Like it matters. I’m not trying to impress anyone.
Onward.
I take the overpass and descend to the outskirts of Finn River. Past the 76 Station, the strip mall with the barber shop and the pizzaplace and the liquor store while nostalgia claws at the edges of my thoughts. Not all the memories are bad. But the precious ones are buried, tucked away.
Safe.
At the four-way stop, I turn right, away from town. Hospital visiting hours are over for the day, and I’m too tired to face the rest.
When I roll down my window, the heady scent of dry pine and granite warmed by the late September sun hits me like a freight train, drawing more memories to the surface. Long summer afternoons at the swimming hole. Riding my bike to Glory Holes with my friends on Saturdays. Making music with Morgan, the little creek in our backyard singing backup. Blackberry milkshakes in William’s old truck, followed by the kind of desperate, stolen kisses we couldn’t get enough of.
I slow my racing pulse with a measured inhale, but it just makes the emotions sharpen behind my eyes.
Though I try to brush past memories of William, my mind is already cartwheeling through those slivers of time. That first day of high school when I noticed him seconds before Theo introduced us. Friday night football games, me playing my lungs dry in the band section while William dominated the field. The tutoring sessions that brought us together. His terrible fights when he felt trapped. Our friendship that started off rocky, then turned into something genuine…something unstoppable, and real. A kind of love I’ll never experience again.
When I left Finn River, I swore I’d never watch another football game. But I did. When I missed him most, I always knew where to find him.
Just thinking William’s name rocks my heart to a dead stop inside my chest.
