AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What? You can’t say that and expect me to be calm!” I grip the phone tightly in my hands.Theo is still in his room, and I’m thankfully shut in the bathroom.
“Grey’s been in an accident.”
My lungs stall, a block of air lodges in my chest, suffocating me from the inside out.I sink to the side of the tub and curl my fingers tight around the porcelain rim.“No, no. Preston, oh my God, is he okay?Where is he?”
I shoot to my feet and my panic-stricken face stares back at me in the mirror—wide blue eyes swimming with desperation and flushed cheeks against summer-tinted skin.Yanking open the bathroom door, I suck in deep breaths, the razor-sharp talons of hopelessness stripping me of my rationality.No, this can’t be happening.
“Scarlett! Did you hear me?He’s at Westside Memorial. Bring Theo here—I’ll be waiting for you.”
He hears my desperate pants.“He’s going to be okay. I promise. This is not how it ends for you two.Just hurry.”
* * *
In the car,the short drive to Preston and Savy’s is thick and heavy with fear, filling the tiny space with unanswered questions.
Theo holds his hands in his lap as tight as mine are on the steering wheel. “Mom, is he going to be okay?” The distress coating his voice spears my chest, shattering my heart.
Grabbing his cold, clammy fingers, I dredge up every ounce of bravery and calmness I possess.“Baby, listen to me. Your dad is so strong—so tough.You got that from him, so I’m gonna need you to hold onto that strength, okay?He’s going to be fine. You know him—he’s practically steel.Indestructible.” The words are for me as much as for Theo.
Bile burns my stomach and my throat aches from the tears I vow not to let loose in front of Theo.I have to be strong for him as well as me and what I might find at the hospital.
Savy runs from their front door and opens Theo’s once I’ve parked.She pulls him out and wraps her arms across his shoulders.“Your dad is going to be just fine, bub.Come on, we got a movie ready, and we’ll distract ourselves until we hear from everyone, okay?”
I dart around the front of my car to snag him and kiss his familiar, soap scented hair, squeezing him tight before releasing him back to Savy.“I’ll call as soon as I know anything.”
He nods and leans his head onto Savy’s shoulder as she guides him up the stairs to theirporch.Preston flies out the door, kisses Savy quickly before jogging to histruck.Hands trembling, I slide into the passenger seat and blow out a shaky breath as he clicks his seatbelt in and starts theengine.
“Look at me,” he orders and I obey, all my strength bleeding out onto thefloorboards.
“He’s alive. I know it.” Despite the panic sweating off his body and his clenched jaw, the unshakeable confidence in his blazing blue eyes sustainsme.
Nodding, I force my rigid torso back into the leather seat and pray with every molecule I possess that Preston’s right.Life without Greyson is unimaginable. That devilish smirk, his loud and animated laugh, his huge heart—no, I can’t live without the pieces that make him my entire world.
I squeeze my eyes shut and will my lungs to breathe. I can’t lose the man I love before I’ve even hadhim.
