Page 74 of The Heartbreak Blitz

There it is. My girl.“Oh, it existed. I just didn’t tell anyone else about it before I ran it.”

The rest of the guys laugh. I tickle Charley, and she squeals, kicking away from me. It’s music to my ears to hear her like this. Unrestrained. Not worried about anyone judging her. I can’t wait until she meets the rest of my friends. They’re going to love her, and I think they’ll love the me I am when I’m with her, too.

“Oop.” Charley leans forward, digging through her bag while her ringtone goes off. Last week, I changed it to theWalker, Texas Rangertheme song, and she laughed so hard she nearly peed herself.

“What the hell is that?” Bailey asks.

Charley narrows her gaze at the screen, and I spy a local number before she answers it. “Hello?”

I trail my hand absently down her spine.

“Yes, this is Charlotte Heywood.” She sits up straighter. I catch the side of her face, recognizing when it pales. Her eyes meet mine, and the fear in them makes me sit forward. “Yes, I’ll be right there.” She ends the call. At this point, everyone is looking at her. “It’s my dad,” she whispers. “He’s on the way to the emergency room.”

I hop to my feet, dragging her up with me. “Come on, I’ll take you.”

“We gotta go,” Charley says. “Bye.”

“Go,” Kenna waves us away. “Keep us updated.”

I place my arm around Charley, keeping her upright as we move toward the parking lot. Unfortunately, it’s nearly on the other side of campus.

“What did they say?”

“They said they got a 911 call from him. They couldn’t tell me anything other than he was being transported to the hospital.”

“Is it his sickness? Has he been bad lately?”

Charley rubs her arms. “He was fine this morning.”

“Well, we don’t know what’s happening. Maybe he’s fine. Maybe he fell or something.” Then again, maybe he’s prone to falls. My assurances would be easier to make if I knew what was wrong with her dad.

We get to the car quicker than I imagined and then we’re cruising through downtown, my foot heavy on the gas.

Next to me, Charley bites her nails, knee bobbing up and down. “This is so bad.”

She checks her phone, turning the screen off almost immediately.

“Did he text you?”

She shakes her head. “He would’ve texted me if it was no big deal, right?”

I shrug, not knowing what to say.

“This is what I feared,” she says, rocking back and forth now. “He was never going to be able to keep going how he was going. He should’ve seen more doctors, but he would never listen to me, you know? Never.”

I rub her arm. “It’s not your fault.”

No matter what I say, she doesn’t acknowledge it. It’s like she’s checked out, and I get it. I don’t know what I’d do if I got a call right now that my father was heading to the hospital.

“Deep breaths.”

She does what I ask, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly.

I hook the right into the emergency room parking lot and slide in the first space I see. Charley jumps out of the car and runs toward the automatic doors. An ambulance is pulled up to them, and she peers inside before maneuvering around it. I have to sprint to keep up with her, and even then, she’s out of reach.

“H-Heywood,” she says to the woman at the desk, but then a man moans in the corner, and Charley turns. “Dad!”

I peer over, catching a glimpse of Charley’s father for the first time. I’m stuck in place. He’s almost the exact opposite of what I’d pictured. I had in mind a frail man who could barely get around, eaten up by a sickness I wasn’t sure he had. But Charley’s dad? He’s the biggest human being I’ve ever seen in my life. The oxygen mask attached to his face is cutting intohis cheekbones. Angry red marks slice there while he pulls at it, moving the straps.

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