Page 44 of Ride the Sky

Blinking, I groan and touch a hand to my temple.

I see the sky. The exasperated faces of my brothers as they lean over me.

“He’s awake,” Charlie announces.

“What the hell, man?” I ask as I’m grabbed roughly under the arms and sat up. I’m in the bed of Charlie’s truck.

“Hell, I’m sorry, kid,” Ford says, eyes wild. “You wouldn’t stop.”

“You were gonna go into the snake pit,” Charlie says. “Couldn’t let you do that.”

I rub my jaw. “So you cold cocked me?”

Charlie loops his fingers through his belt loops and shakes his head. “You don’t listen.”

Davis sighs. By his weary and resigned expression, I know he’s the one who swung the fist. It feels like I took a wrecking ball to the face. “Look at me,” he orders. “Let me see your pupils.”

As he tilts my chin, reality slams into me like a bucking bull.Fallon.

Panic sets in, and I jerk. “Fallon. Where is she?”

I try to climb out of the truck, but Charlie presses me back with a firm hand.

The grim look Ford and Davis share makes my stomach roil.

“Is she alive?” The question has me doubled over and gasping. When no one answers, I clench my fist. Squeeze my eyes shut. “Goddamn it. Tell me.”

If she’s dead, put me out of my fucking misery.

Charlie clasps my shoulder. “Take a breath, Wy.”

“Shut up and listen to me.” Davis steps forward. His brown eyes bore into mine. Pleading. “It’s bad, Wyatt. Okay? It’s real fucking bad.” The tremble in Davis’s voice sends me over the edge. My older brother’s a rock. When he isn’t, it means—

“Fuck.” I swallow, try to breathe normally. But I can’t. Not until this weight is off my chest. Not until I see her. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Davis continues. “She’s in emergency surgery. She’s bleeding inside. And her leg…”

My throat constricts. “What about her leg?” I echo, my voice is rough like grit and dust.

“They don’t know yet,” Davis says. “They’re doing their best.”

I sway where I sit, and vomit crawls up my throat. “Doing their best? What the fuck does that mean?”

Davis grips the back of his neck. “It means we don’t know a goddamn thing yet.”

My vision goes blurry. Fear curls in my stomach. Fear that I could lose her. This woman who means everything to me. Regret rolls through me like a tidal wave. She’s hurt. Bad. And I never got to tell her—

“You ready, kid?” Ford’s soft voice sideswipes my thoughts.

Tears gather in my eyes. I nod. With a sinking heart, I slide out of the bed of the truck, but I don’t get far.

I fall to my knees and throw up all over Charlie’s boots.

There are too many sobs to count.

Dakota sniffles. Ruby and Reese, their eyes rimmed red, hover over her, rubbing her back and making soothing noises of concern.

Charlie and Ford pass a bottle of gas station scotch. Davis paces. For once, he can’t boss and order his way through this. He looks as helpless as everyone else. My brothers are strung as tight as rubber bands, ready to snap at any moment.

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