Page 21 of The Grand Rise

“He was taken to trauma… now on ward twelve E.”

Ortho.

I take off through the hospital, taking stairwell after stairwell until I reach the correct floor. I pull open the double doors and look left toward Orthopaedics.

“Scarlet.”

I immediately turn at the sound of my friend’s voice. “Annie.” I meet her at the double doors leading to the next ward. “It’s Lance.”

“I know.”

“Have you seen him?”

She nods, looking over my tear-streaked face. “Come with me.”

I follow her through the doors, glancing back to see Mason behind me. “Annie, please,” I beg.

“He’s okay,” she tells me, face solemn. “Not great. Broken bones mostly, but he’s okay.”

My feet seem to slow, knees swaying, and then I stop, tipping my head back. “Oh my god.”

“Keep walking with me,” she urges.

Mason wraps an arm around my waist and guides me, directing me down the corridor.

He’s okay.

He’s okay.

“I need to see him.” We reach the waiting room, and Annie turns on me, an apologetic look on her face. I shake my head, disbelieving, desperate. “I’m going in, Annie.”

“You’re on the other side of the line now. We have rules for a reason.”

I shake my head as panic claws at my throat. “No. No, I need to be in there with him.”

Her eyes blaze, letting me see more than she’d normally allow whilst at work. “Mia is chasing results, and I’m going in now. We won’t leave his side. I promise.” She nods at Mason, then turns and walks away.

“Come on, Scar,” Mason tries.

“Annie?” My voice cracks. “Annie, please.”

She doesn’t look back.

Lance

The first thing I feel as I come around is a deep throbbing ache in my right leg. It takes seconds more, my head inching to the left, before I feel the ache spread throughout my entire body. I tense as it passes through muscles I’ve never felt before, turning my stomach and making it hard to breathe.

I grit my teeth and groan, willing it to stop.

“Lance?” I hear someone shift at my side and crack open my eyes, forcing them open despite the blinding lights. Mason sits in the chair beside me, his body braced on the very edge of the leather, knee bouncing. “What do you need?”

I remember then.

All of it.

The letters.

I look away, unable to hold his stare. Unable to ask for a single thing.

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