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He shook his head. “No. No hospitals.”
“What are you, insane? Yes. I’m calling you a--”
My hands slid into my back pockets, but I didn’t feel my phone. I checked my bra, my front pockets, even the jacket pockets of the leather I hadn’t taken off yet. But, my phone was nowhere to be found.
Shit. It’s still on my desk.
“I said no hospitals.”
I shook my head. “Max, you probably have broken bones, I’m almost positive you’re--”
He growled. “No. Benji will be here any minute. He’ll know what to do. How long was I out for?”
I looked around to see if I could find the lanky boy. But he was nowhere to be found. Even the people snapping pictures and taking videos had all darted off. You know, after they got what they needed for their social media feeds. Idiots. I hated social media with a passion. It was nothing but a distraction. A way for us to feel--
“Bambi!”
His gruff voice jolted me from my trance. “Uh, sorry. Yeah, uh, a couple of minutes? You were out before I got to you, though. So, easily double that?”
He grunted, but he didn’t say anything.
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek as I looked around, searching for anyone that might’ve been watching. That might know where in the world Benji was. But, the longer I knelt there, the more I wondered if anyone was coming at all.
“Max, I don’t think he’s coming. It’s just us out here. We’re all--”
“He’ll show. I promise you that.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
I gazed into Max’s eyes just before he closed them. And the icy electricity that shot through my veins made me swallow. Hard. He was angry. I’d never seen that kind of anger in anyone’s eyes before. I wiped at the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and brushed my fingertip over his bruised nose, watching as he winced.
Lord knows that’s broken.
“Max, I don’t--”
He snarled. “Shut up so I can think.”
I nodded, but I didn’t say anything.
I waited there with him. At his side. Kneeling there, trying to figure out what in the world to do. My heart raced, fluttering so hard I thought it might be enough to pull me from the ground and fly me into the clouds. I was hyper-aware of everything. The lights on campus. The lack of protection we had around us. The fact that we were right by one of the main roads that outlined campus. Out there, for anyone passing by to see. I felt exposed, like a raw nerve. I wanted, more than ever, to get Max into the shadows. Out of harm’s way.
But how in the world was I supposed to accomplish that?
“Okay, executive decision time,” I said.
“No. He’ll be--”
“Come on, Max. We’re in the middle of lights. Help me get you up. Come on, big boy.”
I grabbed his wrists and slowly tugged him upright. I was almost certain that bruise on his head meant he had a concussion. I helped him up to his feet and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Then, together, we stumbled over to the dorm door. I swiped my card and it opened, but it was hard as hell trying to get that massive, stumbling man through it.
“We’ll take the elevator up to my room,” I said breathlessly.
I knew Hannah might not appreciate it, but at least there I could clean him up. Again.
And possibly get him out of harm’s way in the process.
40
