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I have no idea how I’m even still holding it.
The searing pain in my head is now eclipsed by the tsunami of suffering I’m experiencing in my arm. I hear voices approaching and I cry out with everything I have. “Help me!”
And then everything goes black.
CHAPTER18
KAIDEN
Rori always textsme when she arrives at work and when she’s in her car about to leave. I like knowing she’s safe, so I don’t have to worry about her. But it’s now well after three a.m. and she never texted me when she was leaving work. She’s not answering my calls either. This isn’t like her, and my stomach is sick from worrying. I’ve run through every scenario I can think of for why she didn’t call. Even if she has a dead phone battery, it wouldn’t affect her being home by now.
I could drive to the bar and make sure she’s not broken down or she didn’t get in an accident, but then I won’t be here if she arrives.
I try calling her once more, and when her voicemail picks up, I leave a message. “Baby, where are you? You should be home by now and I can’t get in touch with you. I’m so fucking worried. Please call me as soon as you get this.”
I drop my phone on the coffee table and put my head in my hands.Please be okay. Please be okay.Maybe if I keep repeating those words to myself, everything will be okay.
“Fuck,” I yell. I feel helpless and it sucks. All I can do is sit here and wait—at least for a little while longer. If she’s not home in the next thirty minutes, I’m going to go looking for her. There’s no way she would come home after four in the morning.
My phone rings out in the silence, startling me. I grab for it and don’t bother looking at the screen before I answer as fast as possible. “Rori, where are you?” I sound completely panicked. There’s no way to pretend I’m not.
“Kaiden, this is Stella, Rori’s sister.”
Why is she calling me?
“Where’s Rori?”
“Are you sitting down?”
Those words are only used to precede unbelievably good news or bad news and good news is never delivered at this time of the morning.
“Where the fuck is she?” I grit out, jumping to my feet.
“She’s at the hospital, but she’s okay.”
My keys are already in my hand and I’m on the way out to my truck. “What happened?” I’m imagining she was in a car accident.
“She was mugged walking to her car after work.”
“Son of a bitch. Who was it? I’ll fucking kill them.”
“The police are already handling it.”
“Not like I would,” I say. Setting my cell to the speakerphone, I set it in the holder and start my truck. “What’s wrong with her?” I ask, afraid of what she’ll say. Pulling out of the driveway, I start on my journey to her.
“They’re checking her out now. I think her arm’s broken and the back of her head is split open, but she’s okay. She’s conscious and asking for you.”
“Tell her I love her and I’m on my way.” I end the call so I can concentrate on getting there safely and as quickly as possible.
When I arrive at the hospital, I realize I don’t remember most of the drive. My thoughts have been a worry-filled jumble since I ended the call with her sister. I find a space to park and run to the emergency room entrance.
Stella is the first person I see when I enter through the double doors. I nod my head at her, then step up and dump my phone in the bucket before passing through the metal detector. I grab my phone and move toward Stella.
Her eyes scroll over me. “You look good.”
“Thanks. You too.” She was only a teenager the last time I saw her, but she still bears a strong resemblance to the girl I used to know.
She leads me to an elevator and we head up to the third floor. Once we step off, she speed walks toward a set of double doors. She hits the button on the wall to open them and we continue down a long hallway. She turns into a room near the end and I follow. Rori lies in the only bed in the room, looking tiny and overwhelmed. My long legs eat up the distance between us and her eyes light up when she sees me.
