Page 52 of Chance
“Rory Reid would kill you before she’d let you drug her son.”Sammy’s voice was eerily calm.It was terrifying, yet oddly comforting.“I’ll let her do just that.But first, we need to get Chance to a hospital.All that beer mixed with Oxy is a bad recipe.”
Evie
I paced outsidethe emergency room trauma bay, trying to breathe through my anxiety while Chance was tended to inside.They hadn’t made me go into the waiting room when the EMTs pulled him out of the back of the ambulance.He was stable, but the doctor didn’t want me inside while they got a report from the paramedics and the medical team did their assessment.
Sammy and Abi had followed behind the ambulance and were with me now, but I couldn’t stand still.Too many what-if scenarios played through my head.I wasn’t sure what had happened to Casey.Sammy had disappeared with her when the EMTs first showed up and then returned right when we were leaving.That crazy bitch was the least of my worries.
Because Rory Reid had just run in, her eyes darting around the ER and landing on me.“What did you do to my son, you stupid cunt?”
Sammy stepped forward before she could reach me, stopping Rory in her tracks.“That question should be saved for your bestie, Casey.If it weren’t for Evie, your precious son would have gone to bed and never woken up.Because Casey fucking slipped Oxy into his drink.”
Horror filled her face.“No, Sammy.No.Tell me he’s okay!”
She didn’t question it, didn’t deny that her friend would do such a terrible thing.Did that mean she knew Casey was capable of something so horrendous?
Probably.
“He’s alive, but only because of Evie.”
Rory stumbled forward, her shaking hands grabbing me and jerking me forward into a bone-crushing hug.“Thank you, Evie.Thank you.Oh God.I’m sorry.So sorry.Thank you,” she sobbed.
Bewildered, I hugged her back.“But I didn’t do anything.”
Sammy was the one who had figured out what was wrong.She’d made Casey tell us what she’d done.Without her, I wasn’t sure what would have happened.The man I loved might have died.
That realization was still making my legs quake.
“You did more than you’ll understand,” Abi said quietly from beside me.“Sammy wasn’t trying to be considerate.He probably would have done exactly what she said.”
Shuddering, I hugged Rory a little tighter, holding her up when her knees buckled.Sammy helped me get her to a chair that a nurse rolled over to us just as the doctor came out of the trauma bay.“Evie, he’s asking for you.”
I barely made sure Rory was able to sit on her own before I was running.Chance was too big for the small hospital bed.His face had lost some of that sickly gray color, thanks to the IV of fluids and the oxygen tubes in his nose.He squinted up at me.“Don’t cry, peaches.”
“I was so scared,” I sobbed, falling on top of him.
“Sorry, baby.I didn’t mean to scare you.”He rubbed my back with his cold hands, soothing me even though he was the one who’d nearly died.
Footsteps behind me were followed by Rory’s frantic cry when she saw Chance.“Honey, how are you feeling?”
“Gotta real bad headache, Ma,” he told her, shifting me so I was lying on one side of him.Lifting his arm, he waved her over.“Come ’ere.”
Sniffling, she rushed over and climbed in with us.“Can you two get along for a few minutes?I’m still all fuzzy, and I can’t take any yelling.”He gave his mom a hard look.“I’m mostly talking to you, Ma.You start running your mouth, Imma make the doctor get you outta here.”
“Chance, she just saved your life.Your peaches is now my fucking peaches.Close your eyes and don’t worry about your girl.”
He cocked a brow at her before shifting those blue-on-blue eyes to me.“You okay with her being here, baby?”
“She doesn’t have to leave,” I whispered.Any animosity between his mother and me didn’t matter right then.Nothing freaking mattered to me but the fact that he was okay.
Chance stared at me for another moment before pressing a kiss to my forehead.Closing his eyes, he was back to sleep in no time.I pressed my ear to his chest, letting the steady beat of his heart reassure me that he was alive.
“This was not on my bingo card today.”I lifted my head, finding Raven Reid at the end of the bed.I’d met her once, very briefly, the week before.Evy had told me she was more important in Creswell Springs than the mayor, which I completely believed.
Chance jolted awake, groaning when he saw her there.“Can’t catch a break today.”
“Hey, buddy.How ya feeling?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”Chance snarked.“I’m in a fucking hospital bed, Rave.”
