Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
ROME
Panic travels to the tips of my fingers as I squeeze the wheel.
“Fuck, I’m pulling into the pits,” I say.
A noise leaves her, filling every single empty space in my brain. Then comes her refusal, only it’s slow. “N–n–no.”
I bite down on my tongue to keep myself focused.
My heartrate is all over the place.
There’s a shuffle through my headphones, and I blurt, “What the fuck is going on?”
No one answers.
“Tessa!”
One more corner and the pits will be in view.
“Stand by, Rome–medical on the pit wall. Dylan is taking over.”
“No, the fuck he isn’t.”
Static cuts through the radio, mixing with Beck’s voice.
“Tess! Did you take something?”
There’s a pain in my chest, and worry like I’ve never felt before gnaws at me.
“I’m pitting.”
“Gia, get medical. She just passed out.” Beck sounds far away, and I think it’s because my heartbeat is too loud inside my ears.
Dylan’s voice cuts in. “Rome, stay on course. Finish or you’ll be DQ’ed.”
Getting disqualified is the least of my worries right now. Does he really think I’ll be able to continue on after what I just heard through the radio?
“Call me to the pits now,” I snap.
“Rome–”
I growl. “Don't make me regret trusting you, Dylan.”
“For fuck’s sake. Fine.”
A second later, he calls out a feigned strategy check. “Box, box.”
I head right for the pits and come to a sudden halt. I’m out of the car within five seconds.
“Goddamnit, Rome.” Dylan’s hair sticks up in different directions beneath Tessa’s headset, his face red and sweaty.
I search around the pit wall. “Where is she?”
If I just get eyes on her, make sure she’s okay, I’ll be fine.
Dylan tracks my jerky movements as I unzip my race suit. “Are you not finishing the race?”
“That depends,” I answer.
I spot an EMT and push past Dylan.
Beck stands above her with his arms crossed and a mirror of the worry I carry on his face.
I’m out of breath when I step in line with him. “What’s going on?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Beck looks past me and sees the race still commencing. “Bro, the race!”
Having visual confirmation of her was supposed to make me feel better, but it did the opposite. My stomach tenses, and my heart continues to bang off the inside of my ribs.
It’s the exact feeling I had as a young boy when I watched my mom being taken by an ambulance. Only, she never came back.
I shake away the uncomfortable thought and lock onto Tessa.
She’s lying there on a stretcher, her rich brown hair a halo around her head. The color is gone from her face, the adorable pink always evident on her cheeks now white. Her head flops to the other side, a line of pain in between her eyebrows.
I step forward when the EMTs head for the ambulance, but Beck puts a hand on my chest and blocks my way toward her.
I bare my teeth, and he lifts an eyebrow.
“I’m going with her,” I announce. “Move.”
A second of tense silence passes between us. An entire race is happening at our backs, but neither one of us seems to notice.
“Gia,” Beck calls out.
She appears out of thin air like a witch.
“Stay and smooth things over with the media. Inform my brothers as soon as you can. Tell them we have it under control and to finish the race.”
He looks at me, and we take off into a full-on jog past the rest of the pit walls and their teams.
Pierce Racing is four down from us, my attention snagged by the red and yellow colors that I grew up wearing.
My dad glances at me briefly in between making calls to Beau on the track.
Time slows.
I recognize the look.
His smirk lacks remorse, and he remains unrepentant, already taking advantage of there being one less driver on the track–and a good one at that.
Anything to win, right, Dad?
Beck calls for a taxi, and I leave my father and Pierce Racing behind.
Once we’re settled, I stare after the ambulance in front of us as Beck texts his parents.
I’m certain, by now, the commentators have mentioned that there was a medical emergency on the pit call, and given the fact that I’m no longer racing, they’ll know it has something to do with our team.
“What exactly happened?” I ask, my gaze trained on the ambulance.
The lights aren’t on, and there is no siren, so that’s a good sign. Right?
He sighs. “I don’t know. Dylan waved me over, and when I got to her, she was disoriented.”
My hands begin to sweat.
“Did she say she was going to be sick? Is it food poisoning or something?” My mind is racing, my body filled with more adrenaline than when I was in my car, traveling over two hundred miles per hour.
Beck shakes his head, and for once, he remains quiet.
“Has this happened before?” I ask.
Does she have a medical condition that I’m unaware of? Is this a common thing? Was it nerves?
I clearly don’t know everything about her.
Sure, I know the noises she makes when she’s turned on, and the way her eyes flutter closed when she’s falling over the edge with pleasure. I know the exact shade of her eyes and the way her soft hair feels in between my fingers, but that’s all physical.
Now, I find myself wanting to know everything.
I want all the in-betweens.
What is she afraid of? Aside from Vanstone, what else does she want in life? Marriage? Kids? Me?
“Rome, come on.” Beck is standing outside of the car with the door open.
Thoughts of Tessa’s deepest wants and desires scatter when my foot lands on the pavement. I spot her on the stretcher, already hooked up to an IV.
Her eyes open and close, her thick eyelashes drifting up and down. She glances around in confusion, her lips parted and chest moving quicker than it should.
I step into view, and we lock onto one another.
My heart skids to a complete stop.
Tess.
Her tiny shoulders relax, the fear lessening the longer I keep her attention.
I’m here.