19. Luke
CHAPTER 19
Luke
The drive to the hospital was torture.
We were out in the middle of nowhere, so the closest facility was in Echo Creek, about half an hour from home. I was glad Kyle didn’t have to take me straight to Tilikum. There was a hospital there, too, but if I rolled in with broken ribs in the middle of the night, the gossip line would go nuts.
And they’d probably call Garrett. That was the last thing I needed.
As it was, I didn’t think about how I was getting home. The words internal bleeding kept echoing through my mind. I didn’t want to bleed out in the passenger seat of Kyle’s car. That would be a shitty way to go.
I was such an idiot.
“Hang on,” Kyle said.
“What?”
The car started bumping up and down, over and over. It wasn’t the feel of a dirt road, even one that was pitted with potholes. It was steadier, but also worse, like we were driving on a railroad track.
Wait. I glanced out the window. Were we driving on a railroad track ?
Clutching my midsection and gritting my teeth against the pain, I looked at Kyle. “Where the fuck are we?”
“It’s an old railroad bridge. Not in use anymore. It’s faster. I don’t want you bleeding out before I get you to the hospital.”
Faster? Kyle’s so-called shortcut was going to kill me. I looked out the window again, squinting my eyes against the darkness. From what I could see, Kyle’s shortcut didn’t have a wall or guardrail. We were crossing a ravine.
Fuck.
Finally, we made it across the bridge. The dirt road was still uneven, but nothing like the bridge had been. We got to the highway, and I leaned my head back, trying to breathe through the pain.
After what felt like an eternity, Kyle pulled up in front of the emergency entrance to the Echo Creek hospital.
“You can walk, right?” he asked. “You’ll make it inside?”
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He fidgeted, his nervousness clear. He didn’t want to have to answer questions about how I got injured.
It wasn’t like I thought this guy was actually my friend, but damn. He wasn’t even going to park and make sure I got all the way inside. Brutal.
“I got it.”
Wincing, I unfastened the seat belt, opened the door, and eased my way out. I had to stop and take a few breaths before I could straighten enough to walk.
Kyle was already driving away before I made it through the automatic doors. At least someone had been willing to get me to a hospital. I figured I should be grateful for that much.
I staggered to the front desk, and the receptionist raised her eyebrows.
“You need to be seen,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah. I wrecked my car.”
To the hospital’s credit, they didn’t make me stand there to check in or sit in the lobby for an eternity. A nurse brought out a wheelchair and took me back to a curtained-off room. Someone else came in and got my information while the nurse took my vitals.
I didn’t lie, exactly. But I didn’t tell them the truth about the race, either. Just that I’d been driving too fast on some backroads and wrecked. A friend had dropped me off.
Since there was concern about internal bleeding, everyone worked fast. I was in too much pain to track what was going on. Medical staff swarmed around me, and as I lay there, a horrifying thought took root in my mind.
What if I didn’t make it?
I squinted at the harsh lights above me. This wasn’t how I wanted to go. I hadn’t done half the things I’d wanted to do with my life. Sure, I’d built a successful business, and that was great. But lying there, contemplating my own mortality, that sort of thing didn’t seem to matter. Not the money, the stability, the accomplishments, the awards I’d won. Who cared if I could restore an old car?
Instead, I thought about the people in my life—the people I might be about to leave behind. My parents. My brothers. My nieces and nephews. I wanted to watch them grow up.
They were what mattered.
And I thought about Melanie. As they wheeled in an ultrasound machine and discussed whether I needed emergency surgery, I thought about her.
Why? I had no idea, any more than I knew why I’d thought about calling her on the way to the hospital.
But she was there, at the forefront of my mind. What if I died and she married Hank? I couldn’t let that happen. Urgency gripped me. I wanted to jump out of bed and find my phone. Call her and tell her to break up with him. Whatever else she did, she couldn’t stay with Hank.
I’d been wearing my helmet, but I kind of wondered if I had a head injury. Why did I care so much about who Melanie dated?
It’s hard to keep deluding yourself when you think you might be dying. I knew exactly why I cared so much. Because I cared about her.
I always had.
Finally, the flurry of activity around me slowed. One nurse and the doctor remained. I blinked, my attention coming back to the room.
“I have good news and not-so-good news,” the doctor said. “The good news is, there’s no evidence of internal bleeding.”
“What’s the not-so-good news?”
“You probably have bruised ribs. There might be a small fracture or two, but the treatment is the same. Which is to say, you mostly have to wait for them to heal.”
“So I’m not dying?”
“No, you’re not dying. But you’re going to be in a fair amount of pain for a while.”
I closed my eyes in relief. I wasn’t going to die. That was good news.
But it also meant I would have to face the truth about Melanie. I kept trying to hate her, but I didn’t. Not at all.
In fact, it might have been the opposite.
The doctor had more to say, but it was hard to focus. They wanted to keep me there for a few hours for observation. Then they’d release me to go home.
The nurse gave me something for the pain and helped get me into a position that was relatively comfortable. I spent the next several hours in and out of sleep, dimly aware of the nurses coming in to check on me. Eventually, they decided I could be released.
Which brought up another problem. How was I going to get home ?
It was five in the morning, and whoever I called, I was going to have to tell them the truth.
The stupid thing was, I wanted to call Mel. She’d hate me for it. I’d probably never hear the end of it if I woke her up at the ass crack of dawn to come get me after I wrecked my car in an illegal race. She’d be worse than my dad. Or Garrett.
Besides, I couldn’t call her. What if she wasn’t alone?
I didn’t want to think about that, so I made a snap decision. I’d call Theo. He wasn’t going to be happy with me either, but at least he didn’t have a wife I’d wake up.
He picked up on the third ring, his voice gravelly with sleep. “Yeah?”
“It’s Luke. I’m okay, but I’m at the hospital down in Echo Creek.”
“What?” He sounded much more awake. “What happened?”
“I wrecked my car.”
“Holy shit. Are you hurt?”
“Nothing serious. I’m banged up, and I have bruised ribs. They’re releasing me, and I know it’s early as fuck, so I’m sorry about that. But I need a ride.”
“What the hell happened?” he asked, and it sounded like he was up and moving around. “Never mind, you can tell me when I get there. The hospital in Echo Creek?”
“Yeah, do you know where it is?”
“I think so. I’ll find it.”
“Thanks, man.”
“I’ll be there in about thirty.”
“Thank you.” I let out a relieved breath. “Seriously, thank you.”
“Yeah. I got you.”
I really didn’t deserve my family.
The nurse came back and helped me get dressed. Even with the pain meds, it hurt like hell. I was starting to feel other bruises as well, pretty much everywhere. Still, I’d gotten lucky. It could have been a lot worse.
Before Theo arrived, I was released with a bunch of paperwork telling me what to expect and when to see my regular doctor. I didn’t remember all the instructions the nurse had given me, but one thing stood out. I couldn’t drive for two weeks.
No driving. How the hell was I going to get around? And I didn’t want to think about what I was going to do about my wrecked car at the track.
Problems for later. I just wanted to get home so I could get a few hours of sleep.
Theo showed up, and I’d never been so happy to see him. He had a serious case of bedhead, and his eyes still looked tired.
“Thank you,” I said as soon as he walked in. Clutching my ribs, I groaned as I eased myself off the bed.
“Do you need help?”
I slowly straightened. “I got it. Just hurts.”
He didn’t ask me any questions as we left. I waited by the doors while he brought his truck around. He got out and opened the passenger door, and I wasn’t too proud to take the hand he offered to help me get in. Putting on the seat belt took several deep breaths and gritted teeth, but I managed.
When I was finally settled, Theo pulled out of the hospital parking lot and headed toward Tilikum.
“So what happened?” he asked. “Where’s your car?”
“You know the old racetrack?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s there.”
He shot a glance at me. “You were racing?”
“Yeah.”
“What the fuck?” There was no missing the surprise and frustration in his voice. “I thought you quit doing that years ago. ”
“I did. For a while.”
He just shook his head.
I waited, but he didn’t say anything else. “What, no lecture about how dangerous it is? How I should know better?”
“Sounds like you already gave yourself the lecture. You just need to start listening.”
“True.”
“Besides, if this doesn’t convince you to quit, nothing I say is going to make a difference.”
I shifted slightly, trying to ease the feeling of pressure in my chest. It didn’t help. “Good point.”
We lapsed into silence as we drove. I was still drowsy, and it was hard to keep my eyes open. I kept almost drifting off then jerking awake with a jolt of pain.
Finally, we got to my house. I lived in what was essentially a big garage with an apartment above, and I struggled to walk up the stairs. Theo followed and went in with me. He looked over my discharge paperwork while I eased myself onto the couch with a groan.
“Ice packs?” he asked.
“Freezer. Hopefully.”
Thankfully, I had one shoved in the back. It was bunched up, and he had to massage it a bit to get it to flatten, but at least it was cold. I put it where the worst of the pain was and let my eyes close.
“I have a ton of those,” Theo said. “I’ll bring more so you can rotate them.”
“Thanks.”
“Need anything else?”
“I don’t think so.” I opened my eyes. “Thank you. Really.”
He nodded. “Of course. You know I’ve always got your back. Even when you’re being stupid.”
“So stupid.”
“You have your phone?” he asked .
“It’s in my pocket.”
“Okay. Rest up.”
I nodded, my eyes drifting closed again.
Theo left, and I settled into a restless sleep, filled with dreams of car wrecks and Melanie’s voice asking me if I was okay.