AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I listened as he told me about the hit-and-run that she was in. Her share ride driver died on the scene and she was in surgery. Putting on my shoes while he spoke, I made a beeline for my car as soon as both shoes were tied.
“I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and focused on getting to the hospital while keeping the speedometer under 90 mph.
When I arrived, she was still in surgery. I paced the hall, trying not to think the worst. We’d just had a conversation earlier today about her neediness. We’d argued that her emergencies weren’t real, and that she didn’t value other people’s time.
I loved Tina. She was my best friend and would be there any time I needed her to be. She was more of a bratty little sister that I’d enabled for so many years that I honestly wasn’t shocked by how often she called me. I’d told her she was going to have to get used to hearing me say the word no a lot more often. We needed to set some healthy boundaries and since I was working on that with my therapist; I had to keep myself accountable. Besides, I couldn’t lose Corinne again over this madness. Working on this for the past five months was difficult, but I’d learned to set them everywhere but with Tina.
I’d lost my mother at a young age, and my teenage years were a mess. From being homeless, selling drugs, and robbing people, I’m surprised that I’m alive today. I met Tina when I was nineteen and she showed me that there was another way to live. She liked the outfit that I was wearing, kicks too, and asked who dressed me. When I told her I dressed myself, not understanding that she was asking what stylist handled my look. She paid me to put something together for her boyfriend and that only inspired me to get into fashion. I had an urban clothing line with three locations in the Chicago area. I’ve always felt like I owed her for that.
She’s also my best friend and the first one that I’ve ever had. She never judged me for who I was and stayed with me throughout my entire journey of rediscovering myself. Nobody else has ever believed in me. Until Corinne.
Speaking of…
Fuck!
I’d been at the hospital for over two hours and forgot to call her. Our date was supposed to start an hour ago. I called but I could tell that she was sending me straight to voicemail. After calling five times, I left her a message saying that I’d explain when I saw her. Second-guessing what I’d said on her voicemail, I sent a text hoping that she’d respond. She didn’t and now I had two things stressing me the fuck out.
“Mr. Colburn?”
I looked up to see the doctor. “I wanted to let you know what was going on.”
Tina’s injuries were taken care of, but she wasn’t waking up. He said sometimes that happens when there’s trauma. They were going to give it a bit more time before they did any more tests. Wishing that Corinne was here with me, I called her again and got the same response.
Then she texted me and told me not to contact her anymore. Whatever was so important wouldn’t change what we’d agreed on.
I sighed, wishing she wasn’t so damn stubborn. I’d give her tonight, but tomorrow we were talking about this whether or not she wanted to.
* * *
It was six in the morning when I knocked on Corinne’s door. I knew she was going to be pissed, but right now, I didn’t care.
“What in the world are you–”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. She stiffened, trying to push me away. Not even her pissed-off demeanor was going to win this battle today.
Tina woke up during the night, taking away the scare. We talked, and she apologized for how she has acted and understood that she’d crossed the line many times with me. She admitted it was nice since her piece of shit brother had a gambling problem and was never around. She’d put me in his place and tried to hold on to me as tight as possible.
When I’d told her the real reason Corinne and I’d broken up, it hurt her. I’d lied and told her it wasn’t working out between us. Afterwards, she yelled at me as much as she could. She’d made me promise to go to Corinne and fix the issue. She knew I had a ring for her at my apartment, but I didn’t want to scare Corinne before we could work things out.
She was mine, though. She just didn’t know it yet.
“Let me go, Seven. I told you…”
“I just need five minutes to explain. Then, if you want to, you can kick me out.”
“I don’t need to give you five minutes. It’s early and I’ve already explained to you what would happen if you stood me up.”
“I didn’t mean to. When I got the call from the hospital, I didn’t think about anything but getting there to make sure everything was okay. It wasn’t, and when I was in that waiting room, I wanted you by my side. So I called, and you sent me to voicemail every time. I didn’t think that a text message was appropriate, especially after your response to the first one. However, I knew when I left the hospital this morning that I was coming straight here because there was no other place that I wanted to be.”
“Wait, what happened at the hospital?” Concern furrowed her brows and relaxed in my arms.
“Tina was in an accident.”
“Oh my god, is she okay?”
“She is. Her driver wasn’t as lucky. He passed away in the accident. She got a few broken bones, a concussion, and is recovering from her surgery, but she’ll be fine. It was touch and go for a couple of hours. Everything is stable now, though.”
“Seven, I…”
