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My heart begins to beat rapidly.
There’s a snuffling sound behind me and I turn my head the slightest bit, spotting a mama black bear with two cubs right behind me. They seem oblivious to the four of us, focused on wherever they’re going, but they’re so fucking close. If I took two steps backwards and reached out I could touch the mama bear’s thick charcoal fur.
Nothing much has ever scared me, but in this moment I have to admit I’m absolutely terrified. Especially when I look down, seeing the mama’s claws. They could rip me to shreds in a heartbeat.
“We’re so dead,” I mutter under my breath.
At least, if we’re going to die, this is one hell of a way to go.
CHAPTER9
MIA
“What do you mean you’re in the hospital?” My dad shrieks into the phone. I look up in worried surprise at his words. More conversation is exchanged, my dad’s lips parting in surprise. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t leave.”
He hangs up the phone pinching the bridge of his nose. “What is it, Dad? It’s not Grandma is it?”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s Hollis. Apparently, he was attacked by a bear.”
My jaw drops. “What?” I gasp. Worry zips through my veins, suffocating me. “Wait, abear?”
This sounds like a joke.
“Yeah,” he says, searching his pockets for his keys.
“Dad, calm down,” I say seeing he’s becoming flustered. “Do you want me to come with you?” I offer partly out of selfish reasons, wanting to see Hollis with my own two eyes, but it’s also clear that this news has shaken my dad and he’s in no state to be driving.
“Yes, please,” he breathes a sigh of relief.
Once we locate his keys we pile in the car and head for the hospital. It’s over an hour drive, but with my speeding, we make it in forty-five minutes. I can tell my dad is flustered or he would tell me to slow down.
We head into the emergency room. At first they won’t let us back, saying there are too many people in the room, but for once my dad pulls the, “Do you know who I am?” card and we’re let back immediately.
It’s a card he doesn’t like to use, but I think in this case it’s worth it.
As we stroll through the halls searching for his room number I know when we’re getting close because I hear him complaining.
“It’s ascratch, this is ridiculous. Let me go already.”
We round the corner and find Cannon, Rush, Fox, and a doctor huddled around Hollis sitting on a stretcher with a blood pressure cuff strapped to his arm. They’ve made him put on one of those ridiculous gowns. It’s quite comical seeing the normally put-together guy have to wear one of those silly things. Nobody looks good in a hospital gown, but Hollis somehow manages to carry it off.
“You could have rabies,” Fox hisses. “Don’t people die from that?” He looks around for confirmation.
“Seriously, it was a cub and it was only playing.”
“You’re lucky the mom didn’t attack you,” Cannon growls. “You fucking idiot.”
“It’s not like Iaskedthe cub to play with me, it just did. Stop getting your granny panties in a twist.”
Cannon huffs and crosses his muscular arms over his chest. Out of all the guys, he’s the biggest. Massive, like some impenetrable wall.
“What’s going on here?” My dad voices. “Someone start explaining.Now.” He pinches the bridge of his nose like he’s beginning to get a headache.
The guys launch into a story about how they went on a hike to see the mountain views and on their way back a mama bear and two cubs happened to walk up. One of the cubs ran up to Hollis and nipped at his ankle, leaving behind several small punctures, not one of them deep enough for stitches.
“It’s not a big deal,” Hollis says. “I didn’t even want to come here, but Dad insisted on it.” He points an accusing finger at Cannon.
Cannon raises his hands in surrender. “Excusemefor being worried about my friend. A fucking bear bit you.”
