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I’m still trying to think of the answer when I pass by a car in a ditch on the other side of the road.
Whoa.
I quickly turn the car around, park it near the one I saw, and run out to check what happened.
As soon as I peer into the driver’s seat, my heart stops. Claire is the one behind the wheel. Her eyes are closed and I notice a gaping cut on her forehead.
No!
“Claire!”
Panicking, I open the door and check her pulse. I feel a sense of relief when I feel it, even more so when she opens her eyes.
“Ryker?”
I stroke her cheek. “Claire.”
“Is that really you?” she asks. “I’m not dead, am I?”
“No,” I tell her. “But you do have quite a cut on your forehead.”
“Hmm. No wonder my head hurts.”
I frown. She probably has a concussion. But at least it doesn’t seem like she has any other injuries.
“Does it hurt anywhere else?” I ask to be sure.
“I don’t think so.”
“Good.”
I pull Claire gently out of her car and carry her to mine. I strap her into the passenger seat.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
I start the engine. “To the hospital.”
~
“What happened to Claire?” Joel asks as soon as he arrives at the hospital with Natalie. I’m waiting for Claire to be done with her stitches, which fortunately are all she needs.
I called the resort from the hospital to let them know about the accident.
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I tell him clearly. “I was driving back to the resort when I saw her car in a ditch by the side of the road.”
Natalie covers her mouth as she gasps, “A ditch?”
“On the way here, she told me that she was trying to avoid a swerving car.”
“So she’s alright?” Joel asks.
I can see the worry written all over his face.
“Yes,” I tell him. “She’s just getting stitches now.”
“Stitches?” Natalie looks just as concerned.
“For the cut on her forehead. It’s deep, but the doctor said it’s not bad. The stitches should help the wound heal.”
“Thank goodness,” Natalie expresses relief. “The whole time we were headed here, we were so worried about her. Joel was imagining the worst.”
He nods. “We didn’t even know that she had left the resort. When the receptionist told us she was in a hospital and then I saw that she had taken the car, I thought that she…”
His voice falters. His lips quiver as he touches his forehead.
“You thought that she had met the same fate as your parents,” I finish the sentence for him as I manage to read his thoughts.
Of course he would. It’s always been one of his greatest fears.
“But she didn’t.” Natalie rubs Joel’s shoulders. “Claire is fine, thanks to Ryker.”
“Thanks to her,” I correct Natalie’s statement. “Claire could have collided with that swerving car on the slippery road, but she managed to avoid it because of her own quick thinking and reflexes.”
“But you brought her here,” she points out. “You found her and made sure she was alright. If you hadn’t, she might have spent the whole night out there bleeding. Worse, another car might have hit her, what with the slippery road and the rains and all.”
I look at her with furrowed eyebrows. Why is she so insistent on the fact that I saved Claire’s life?
Then I realize from the look in her eyes that she’s saying the words for Joel’s benefit. She wants him to think I saved Claire’s life, probably so he’ll forget about our fight.
I’ve already forgotten about it.
“Thank you,” Natalie tells me as she takes both my hands in hers.
“I’m just glad I found her,” I reply.
“It’s a good thing you decided to come back to the resort,” she adds. “Although I told Claire that you would come back for her.”
I’m glad I did, too. But that’s not why I went back.
“Actually, I went back to the resort because I forgot something,” I say. “A watch.”
Joel’s eyebrows arch. Then he snorts.
“You came back for a stupid watch?”
“It’s not a stupid watch,” I tell him. “And it’s not just any watch. It was given to me by my best friend, the best friend anyone could ask for.”
Joel says nothing.
“I know he hates me right now. That’s why I had to go back for the watch. I wanted to be reminded of the good times we shared.”
Natalie touches my shoulder. “I’m sure there were many good times.”
“There were,” I confirm. “From when we were children playing in the backyard to when we were in middle school playing video games and riding our bikes to high school when we were on the quiz bowl team and then college when we’d go drinking one night and cramming for a report the next. Good times.”
“Good times,” Joel mutters at nearly the same time.
Natalie grins. “They do sound like it.”
