I’m nauseated as I hit the cracked pavement outside St. Mark’s Hospital.
Dax never went in.
Did he ever arrive? Did he black out somewhere? Is that’s why I haven’t heard from him?
Oh my gosh, he was meeting up with his brother. What if he got an even worse beating and couldn’t make it here?
If only I weren’t stuck in that stupid meeting with my mother. If I’d been here, I could’ve known he was in trouble earlier. I could’ve found him and gotten help.
I pull out my phone and call him again. Every time it rings out, I hit redial. With the phone fixed to my ear, I pace from the hospital and in the direction of the clubhouse.
My fingers vibrate around the phone.
Sweat builds in my palm.
I hug my free arm around my middle.
I could hurl right here on the sidewalk, but I suppress it. I need to get to Dax. I won’t forgive myself if something’s happened to him.
Finally, he answers. “Yeah?”
“Dax, thank goodness. Where are you?”
“Why?”
“I’m at the hospital, and they said you never went in.” Panic courses through my veins. “I’ve started walking toward the clubhouse to find you.”
“What? Stop.”
“But I…”
He huffs into the phone. “Where are you now?”
“I’m not very far away from the hospital.”
“Just stay there. Don’t go any closer to the clubhouse.”
I reply with, “Okay,” as the phone line goes dead.
It feels like an eternity as I shiver on the footpath, waiting for Dax to appear. He stops a few feet ahead, and I’m breathless as I race toward him. “Oh my gosh, what happened to you?”
Dax pulls off his helmet, and his face is stony.
I skid to a stop, my heart pulsing in my throat. “Dax? Are you okay?”
He shrugs. “I’m fine.”
I point behind me, and my chest heaves from an oversupply of adrenaline. “You didn’t go inside? You didn’t see Dr. Harris?”
He rests his helmet on his thigh, tapping his fingers on the hard plastic. “I was waiting for you.”
Sweat dampens my hairline. “But you left?”
“You didn’t show up.”
“I tried. I mean, I got here as soon as I could.”
“You told me you’d be here with me. I knew you’d come to your senses.”
