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I backed up again. “We need to get in there.”
“She just needs some space,” Ford said, and I glanced over at him. I tried to tell him silently she didn’t need space because I couldn’t tell them what had been going on. I couldn’t break her trust and reveal her secret.
“No.” I ran at it again, causing the hinges to shake a little. “We need in that room right now.”
“What’s going on, Cade?” Lola asked, her hand gripping at her T-shirt. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, but…” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t say my gut was telling me she’d done something she shouldn’t have, so instead, I ran at the door again, and finally, it opened. The wood splintered, and I managed to catch myself at the last second so I didn’t go tumbling to the floor.
My gaze flicked around the room, but it only took a fraction of a second for me to spot Aria. Her body was half on the bed and half off the bed, and I scanned it, looking for any signs she’d hurt herself. Her face was pale, but her stomach and thighs were clear of any—
“Fuck!”
Blood was trickling out of her ankle, but it was the pool on the carpet that had my pulse skyrocketing.
Lola’s gasp sounded behind me, but I didn’t have time to turn around and explain anything to her. I wrapped my hands around her ankle, trying to stem the flow, but it was no use. The red liquid seeped through my fingers, unstoppable on its path out of her body.
“Jesus,” Ford gritted out, coming to kneel next to me. He whipped his head around and grabbed one of my T-shirts off the floor. I had no idea what it was doing there, but the white material turned red as soon as he started to wrap it around my hand and her ankle. “Let go,” he told me, and I did as he said then pressed my hands back onto it as he tied it to her. “She needs a hospital, now!”
His words had me moving, and I didn’t think twice about lifting her up off the bed and cradling her against my chest. Ford held on to her ankle, but the blood was already staining his hands, and we hadn’t even made it out of the room.
Dad’s eyes were wide, watching the scene from the hallway with horror, his arms wrapped around Lola. I didn’t have time to stop and explain things to him, so we ran past them, and Ford let go of her leg as we darted down the stairs and out the front door. We didn’t close it behind us as we headed to Ford’s car parked at the bottom of the driveway.
Ford yanked open the back door, and I slid inside with Aria’s lifeless body on my lap. Her chest was still moving—barely—and it gave me hope she would be okay. But the blood…there was too much blood.
The sound of the engine starting had my head snapping up, and I took one last glance at the house where Dad and Lola were running to Dad’s Mustang.
“There’s too much blood,” I told Ford, staring at it as it started to stain his back seats.
“Fuck!” He drove the car faster at my words, and within seconds we were out of the neighborhood. “We’ll be there in four minutes. Hang in there, Tyson.”
I pressed my hand to her cool, pale face, the blood on my fingers staining her cheeks. “Please, baby, please, wake up.” My throat burned, a lump forming that I’d never be able to swallow past. “I can’t lose you. Not now, not after everything.”
“I got your message,” Ford blurted out, taking a corner too fast but managing to keep all four tires on the road. I hadn’t seen him since before I’d sent him the message, and I knew I’d told him I would explain what it meant. Only now I didn’t have to, he was witnessing it firsthand. “Is this what you were talking about?”
“Yeah,” I gritted out, placing my fingers underneath Aria’s nose, thankful when I could feel her light breaths on them.
“And Dr. Bay? She knows—”
“Shit!” I yanked my cell out of my pocket at his words and held Aria tighter as I found the number and dialed it, balancing it on the seat next to me and willing someone to pick up.
“Dr. Bay’s office—”
“Dr. Bay. Emergency three,” I reeled off, remembering the code she’d given me when we first talked. I never thought I’d have to use it, not with Aria, but as I looked down at her lifeless face, I understood she hadn’t hit rock bottom when she first met with Doctor Bay. This was her lowest point, and I hoped and prayed it wouldn’t be her end point.
The line clicked, and then Dr. Bay’s voice came over the line. “Hello?”
“It’s Cade Easton,” I blurted out. “We’re on our way to the hospital with Aria.”
“Okay, Cade. Tell me which hospital.” There was some shuffling over the line as I told her. “We’re one minute out.
She’s cut her ankle and is losing loads of blood. Today is the anniversary of her dad’s death.”
“Shit,” Dr. Bay whispered. “I didn’t know.”
“Neither did I.” I saw the signs for the emergency room. “We’re at the hospital.”
“I’ll meet you there,” she said, and I left my cell on the seat as Ford squealed to a stop and opened the back door. We rushed into the emergency room, not stopping until I was in the center and was shouting for help.
