Page 119 of Lessons in Heartbreak

I was off the bed before I’d made a conscious decision to move, sprinting through the house, my purse and keys in my hand before I’d registered a single rational thought. Fear tangled cold around my limbs, and I had a moment where I pictured ice hanging heavy from my legs and arms and hands. I paused, wondering if it was safe to drive.

There was a sharp pounding on the door, and I yanked it open to find Kenny—red-faced and panting. His car was running in the driveway, the door left open, and behind him was a cop car with the lights on.

“Kenny, what on earth—”

“It’s ... it’s Griffin,” he panted. “Lauren called me while I was at my family reunion.”

“I know! I just saw her text and I ... I have to get down to Denver.” I tilted my head. “Did you get pulled over in my driveway?”

He shook his head frantically. “It’s my brother. He said he’d take you.”

“Really?” I grabbed his face and laid a smacking kiss on his cheek, sprinting past him toward the cop car.

“Ruby!” Kenny yelled.

“I don’t have time, Kenny!”

“You’re not wearing shoes.”

I froze, glancing down at my bare feet. “Oh.”

He darted into my house—where I’d left the door open—and threw me some flip-flops. I stepped into them and blew him a kiss before disappearing into the passenger seat of his brother’s patrol vehicle.

“Thank you,” I told Kenny’s brother once I was buckled in. He wasn’t in uniform, but he was wearing a Denver jersey, too, and for a second, the sight of it almost had me losing the tenuous grip on my emotions.

“Where to?” he asked, flipping the display screen to enter in an address.

I brushed at the tears under my eyes, trying to scrub at the mess of mascara left on my skin. “Centennial Hospital.” I shot off a text to Lauren, letting her know I was on my way. The car took off, and I stared down at my screen, at the sight of his name on my missed-call list. Slowly, like the words on the screen might bite me if I moved too quickly, I touched the voicemail notification and brought the phone up to my ear.

When his deep voice filled my ears, my eyes pinched shut, squeezing hot tears down my cheeks.

“Please, don’t shut me out because you’re scared, sweetheart. I’m scared too. Just talk to me.”

I laid a trembling hand over my mouth, crying quietly after the voice message was done.

“Just talk to me.”

This wouldn’t pass.

It would never, ever pass. And more importantly, I didn’t want it to.

The waiting room down the hallway from Griffin’s room was full of very big, very somber-looking men. Lauren saw me get off the elevator and extricated herself from Marcus’s lap, tugging me into a tight hug.

The door to his room was slightly ajar, and I stared at it over her shoulder.

“Can I go in?” I asked. “Is he awake?”

“He was for a little bit. He’s sleeping now,” Marcus said, sliding a hand up Lauren’s back when we separated. He was as serious as I’d ever seen him. “You’re the only one he asked for.”

“Really?” I whispered.

Lauren nodded. “None of us have been in there yet. They had to take him down for X-rays on his arm and ribs, but when they wheeled him from the ER to his room, he asked if you were here.”

My chin trembled, guilt gnawing mercilessly at my insides. “What happened?”

Marcus cleared his throat. “He got T-boned. Right outside the facility parking lot—that’s how we all knew so fast. One of the security guards saw it happen and ran in to tell us after he called nine-one-one. We got here right behind the ambulance.” I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the big man just lifted his chin toward the door. “Go. Maybe his stubborn ass will wake up, knowing you’re here.”

The walk from the waiting area to his room felt like it would never end, only the pounding of my heart to keep me moving forward.

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