Page 112 of Save Me

Ivy wasn’t interested in why the fight happened. No doubt it was over something stupid. The only thing she was concerned with was catching a glimpse of the boy who had once been her entire world.

Not a boy anymore, she reminded herself. Connor was a man now.

And it was ridiculous how much she wanted to see him.

The brothers were laughing, and for some reason, it made Ivy snap.

“Where is Connor?” she yelled, and all joking immediately stopped.

“Uh…”

“He was right beside me a minute ago,” Jamie said as he turned to look around. “Oh, shit!” He took off running and Ivy followed.

Across the street was a small park, and it took her less than a minute to realize someone was lying on the ground.

Connor.

Her heart kicked hard in her chest as she stopped at his side and instantly dropped to her knees beside him to assess his injuries. There was blood all over the right side of his face and she forced herself to go into paramedic mode. “Ry? Call 9-1-1!”

“I’m on it!”

She checked his pulse and looked for outward signs of where the blood was coming from.

“Connor?” she asked. “Connor, can you hear me?”

He groaned.

Ivy gently felt around his head and noticed the bleeding was coming from a gash above his right eye. There was a lump on the back of his head and she wondered if it happened when he fell. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be other wounds.

“Connor,” she said firmly, hoping to get him to open his eyes so she could look at them and see if his pupils were dilated. In the meantime, she took in his appearance as she checked his pulse. His sandy-brown hair was cropped much shorter than she’d ever seen it and his body was all broad and muscled. The boy she remembered was gone, and yeah…he was a grown man now. “Can you tell me what happened?”

After another groan that sounded more like a growl, he slowly opened his eyes.

“Oh, shit,” he moaned as he opened his crystal blue eyes. “Am I dead?”

Ivy was too stunned for a moment to answer, but Jamie chimed in. “No way, dude. Why would you think you were dead?”

“Because my head feels like it’s about to explode and I’m looking at an angel,” he said.

Jamie laughed. “Not an angel, dummy. It’s just Ivy.”

She wanted to kick him for putting it like that, but…maybe later.

There wasn’t time to say anything because the ambulance arrived and the paramedics ran toward them. Ivy stepped aside and gave his stats to Devin Lawson, her supervisor.

“Thanks, Ivy,” he said as he examined Connor. “We’ve got it from here.”

“Um…sure,” she murmured, but then she caught the look of utter panic on Connor’s face and was immediately back at his side. He reached for her hand and held it so tightly that she wanted to grimace. “Do you want me to go with you?”

He nodded.

“Okay, then.” Looking up at Devin, she said, “Prepare for an extra passenger.”

Two

Ivy was sitting up front with the driver while Connor had to answer dozens of questions from the big paramedic who was treating him.

“You look familiar,” Connor commented.

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