Page 14 of Stalked

“Your doctor will be right in,” the nurse assured me.

I shot Shannon a weak smile, then shifted my body back to Riley again. “Hey, you,” I said to him. His fingers lightly touched my arm, running along my forearm.

“God, the moment Lily called me—” he said, placing his hand higher on my arm but dropping it to move away, but only slightly.

“I know, Riley,” I said, seeing the fear in his eyes. “But I’m okay.”

After a few seconds, I turned from Riley to face Lily on my other side. “I hate to ask,” I said. “But I may need to borrow your truck. If that thing is still alive.” I snickered at my joke, despite the situation I was in.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Oh please, it’s notthatbad. Plus, I need someone to drive it every now and then anyway, so that helps me out.” She folded her arms across her chest. “But only when you’re healed, alright.” Lily leaned back against her chair and crossed her legs, running her hands down her light brown hair. “What can you remember from the accident?”

My thoughts raced through the images swirling in my mind.What did I see?

I bit my bottom lip. “An animal ran across the street, but I didn’t have time to avoid it. The car spun out after I swerved, landing in a ditch on the side of the road. I—” I hesitated again because what had happened after that seemed impossible.

I’ll leave out the part about some guy having superhuman strength as he ripped off my door and tossed it into the forest like it was made of air.

“This guy found me and pulled me from the car,” I said. “He … then he just left me there like a fucking asshole.” My face paled at the realization. He left me there. As tender as he was with me, and the fact he saved me from lying dead in a trapped car, heleftme. Abandoning me in the hopes that I would survive on my own from my injuries. Who the hell does that? I could have died … alone.

“What? No, Mercy.” Confusion crossed over Lily’s face. “The person who called 911 said they didn’t see anyone else at the scene.”

As I tried to make sense of everything—tried to figure out what was real and what wasn’t—a doctor entered the room.

“Mercy, glad to see you’re awake,” the doctor said as he walked in. “Sorry for the long wait; the hospital is pretty busy tonight.” He reached out to shake my hand. “I’m Doctor Reid. How’s your head feeling now?”

It wasn’t my head I was worried about.

I looked down at my ankle again. “Well, my head feels fine, but I would have sworn I had broken my ankle. I—” I stopped, confusion clouding my thoughts. “Did you guys take an x-ray to make sure I didn’t break anything?”

“I examined you myself. There’s a minor wound on your calf and your forehead. Aside from that, you’re fine,” the doctor explained.

That’s impossible.

“Please check my ankle.” I looked at him nervously. “I broke it. I know I did.”

Was I losing my goddamn mind?

Doctor Reid sucked in a breath as if he were humoring me at that point and pulled a chair to the end of the bed. He lifted the blanket, gently placing his hands on my ankle, and moved it slightly right.

“Alright. How’s that? Any pain?” I shook my head. He turned it to the left. “And that?” I shook my head again. There was no pain, not even a tiny bit. “Is it possible you dreamed you broke it when you passed out?” he asked.

My eyes dropped to the foot of the bed, moving my ankle from side to side on my own. “I guess it’s possible.” A ghost of a smile touched my lips, thinking about how ridiculous I must have sounded to everyone in the room. Dreaming of the injuries was more realistic than a broken ankle healing itself within an hour.

The doctor crossed his arms and leaned back into his swivel chair. “My only real concern is that you passed out at the scene, so I’d like to keep you here for twenty-four hours to monitor you. After you head home tomorrow, just take it easy. If you pass out again or get headaches, call my office, and I’ll refer you to a neurologist,” he instructed.

“Maybe you fell asleep at the wheel?” Shannon, sitting quietly in the back of the room, suggested. “You lost a lot of sleep this week between finals and the party.”

Her theory made sense, too. I remembered zoning out and feeling insanely tired. Maybe there hadn’t been an animal. Perhaps I fell asleep, crashed my car, and dreamed about everything after that.

“Mercy, I’ll stay here for as long as you need. I can keep the café closed for the rest of the day,” Lily told me.

I shook my head. “No way, please don’t do that. As the doctor said, I’m fine. It’s just routine monitoring.” I looked up at Shannon and Riley. “God, I love you guys. I appreciate you being here. Really.”

Doctor Reid excused himself, informing Lily that the nurse would be in shortly to check on me.

Shannon opened her mouth to say something, but then Cami barged through the door. “Oh my God, Mercy!” she yelled.

I giggled at her dramatic response. “It’s not that serious, Cami, really. I’m fine. They want to keep me here overnight, though.”

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