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I walked into Catch to start my shift and was nearly knocked down by a frantic Annette.
“Hey, Annette, what’s wrong,” I asked as she nearly fell into my arms, sobbing.
“Accident. He’s in the hospital. I have to go.” She hiccupped as tears streamed down her face.
“Wait, who is in the hospital?” I forced her face to meet my eyes as she tried to move past me to the door.
“My son.” My blood instantly ran cold.
“Come on, you are in no condition to drive.” I followed Annette out to her car and got in the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking lot. She directed me to the island’s small hospital and my body felt numb the entire time. Was Fox the one in the accident? I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I didn’t know if I could handle it if it were true.
As soon as we walked into the hospital, Annette was on her way to the information desk when Fox stood from one of the chairs.
“Mama,” he called out as he walked forward. An unexpected wave of gratitude washed over me, and my legs felt weak at discovering that he was okay. He shot a confused glance at me before he reached his mother.
“Drew,” Annette cried as she placed a hand over her mouth. “How is he?” Fox folded her into a tight hug.
“Fine. He’s just fine. I’ll take you back to his room.”
Because I wasn’t family, I turned to go find a seat in the waiting room, but I felt a tug on my hand. I looked up to see that Fox’s hand was in mine as he pulled me along with them.
Woody stirred at the sound of us entering his room.
“Mama?” he croaked as he turned his head toward us.
“Hi, honey. How are ya?” Annette crooned softly as she reached his bedside. He looked pretty bad and she seemed afraid to touch him. There were cuts and scratches on his face and arms, but his injuries no doubt extended to other places not visible underneath the hospital gown.
“Pfff. I’m good,” he replied as he tried to sit up while wincing. His sharp intake of air indicating that he’d probably sustained injuries to his ribs also.
“What the hell happened?” Annette asked as her voice grew a bit stronger and a little angrier. “Were you racin’?” She glared at him and put a signature hand on her hip.
“Mama…”
“You’d better answer me, Atwood Fox.”
“Yes,” Fox was the one who answered, and I hadn’t realized until that moment that he was still holding my hand. He released me and walked to the other side of the bed. “He was out hustling for money and racing out on County Road. The guy he was racing against lost control of his car, which caused Woody to spin out, hit a tree and he was thrown about twenty feet away.”
Annette and I gasped in unison at the horrible image.
“Stupid,” Fox grumbled.
“I’m alright.” Woody grimaced as he put a hand to his ribs.
“Yeah, but you’re still stupid. Damn it, Woody. I told you it was a bad idea. You’re out there racing inexperienced people. Was two hundred bucks worth you sitting here in the hospital?”
“What was I supposed to do? A Mustang pulls up alongside me doing about ninety. The guy races ahead of me then slows down to get alongside me so that means he wants to race, right? I’ve got a reputation, you know.” Fox rolled his eyes to the ceiling as Woody continued. “We both drop down and gun it, the Mustang is pulling pretty hard and I get beside him. Suddenly the guy is swerving everywhere, so I try to back off. We reach a stretch in the road that is pretty slick and by the time I realize that, it’s too late. I spin out and that’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the ambulance.”
“Oh, Woody,” Annette whispered as she continued to clutch her chest. “That’s awful.” Woody didn’t respond as he looked away dejectedly.
A few minutes later Hal came charging in and immediately started in with questions. The room started to feel crowded, so I messaged Blake and asked him to pick me up. I eased myself to the door and slipped into the hallway. I was waiting by the front door for my ride when I heard someone speaking to me.
“Harley?” Fox’s voice startled me, and I turned around. “Where are you going?”
“Home. You guys don’t need me here.”
To the right I saw the flash of two headlights turning into the tiny parking lot and I recognized Blake’s car. Fox noticed the car also and his relaxed expression hardened instantly.
“That’s just Blake. He’s my roommate.” I waved a hand in the direction of the car.
