Page 98 of On the Double

“She’s at home. She was released this morning.”

I hung up without another word and hit the brakes, doing a U-turn in the middle of the road. The car behind me slammed on the horn, and I waved, making a mental note not to cause a fucking accident.

Sweat broke out on my forehead as I raced to her house. I didn’t know why I was so fucking worried right now, but my heart wouldn’t stop slamming in my chest. I doubted it would until I knew for certain that she would be okay. It wasn’t like she was my girlfriend or anything, but I had just bought all those books, and I hadn’t even had the chance to try anything out on her yet.

That had to be the reason I felt like I was going to puke.

I squealed to a stop in front of her house and ran up the steps, pounding on the door. When it jerked open, Oliver glared at me.

“You wanna keep it down?”

I shoved past him into the house. “Where is she?” I snapped as I headed down the hall.

“She’s sleeping,” he said, his feet pounding right behind mine. “I swear to God, if you wake her up, I’ll fucking kill you.”

But I didn’t listen. I needed to see her with my own eyes. I flung thedoor to her bedroom open and sucked in a harsh breath at the sight of her. She was sleeping, just like Oliver had said, but that was the only thing peaceful about any of it.

Her arm was in a cast, being held upright by pillows. She was wearing a neck brace that held her head at an awkward angle, making it look uncomfortable as fuck to sleep. And then there was her beautiful face, marred by angry red cuts that had only begun to heal.

Sucking in a breath, I dropped my gaze, trying to gain my composure. “How is she?”

“Fucked up,” he muttered. “Though you wouldn’t have known it when it happened. I still have to get her a fucking goldfish.”

I finally turned and faced him. “What?”

He jerked his head for me to follow him down the hall. I wasn’t ready to leave her yet, but if I wanted to know how bad it was, I needed to talk to him. I closed the door quietly and followed him to the living room where I stood with my arms crossed over my chest as he sank down into a chair. He looked exhausted, and I wondered if he was the only one who was at the hospital with her all this time.

It sure as hell wasn’t me. I had my head stuck up my ass and ignored all the phone calls I’d been getting. As I recalled, Red had called me three times in a row the other morning. I figured it couldn’t be that important since we weren’t on the same team. Now, I was beginning to think he had been the first to find out about the accident.

“Tell me what happened.”

“A drunk T-boned her. The car is totaled. She was lucky she didn’t get more than a piece of metal shoved through her arm.”

I swallowed down bile at the visual I got. “Through?”

“Yeah. The bone is broken, but she’s lucky. It could have pierced her side, but since her hands were on the steering wheel, it never came close.”

Okay, that covered the cast on her arm. “What about her neck? She has a collar on.”

“Whiplash,” he grunted. “She’s in a lot of pain. The doctor said she’ll need the brace for at least two weeks, and then we’ll reassess.”

I nodded. “And the rest?”

“All minor.”

It might be minor, but it didn’t fucking feel minor. Every cut on her body made me feel like I was being sliced open. I hated the feeling and didn’t really understand why I had this ache in my chest. She was just someone I was fucking, after all. And it hadn’t even been that long. So, why did it feel like I could hardly breathe?

“She’ll be fine.”

I looked up and caught him staring at me. “Yeah.”

“You weren’t there.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know. Did she ask for me?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Does she ever ask for anyone?”

“Other than you?”