Page 4 of Risk

I couldn’t keep my eyes off the yellow car or the driver as I passed by.

Once they were no longer in my vision, everything turned into some sort of tunnel vision. I shook my head as the voice in my ear sounded garbled, and my heart rate picked up. A sheen of sweat coated my body as I heated internally. My mouth became dry, and I tried to lick my lips to help alleviate even a fraction of the dryness. When that didn’t work, I hit the drink button on my steering wheel. I knew I was in trouble when I could barely do that one simple function.

“Crew, Crew, can you hear me?”

I could, but I couldn’t answer. I could barely breathe, and with each passing second, I thought my heart was going to explode in my chest.

“Callum, talk to me, buddy. It’s all clear. You can speed back up now.” Kaspar’s voice was the only thing keeping me from slipping away entirely.

“I can’t breathe,” I finally grunted out. The amount of effort it took for me to get those three words out had sweat pouring down my face.

“Alright, take a deep breath in with me.” I listened as Kaspar took an exaggerated breath in and followed his breathing, but it wasn’t enough.

Udo rubbed his tires against mine, making the car jerk to the side. I had control of the car, but not of myself.

“Only five more laps.”

Five more laps and I would be dead—or at least it felt like it.

“Kaspar,” I croaked out, “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

There was a beat of silence before a familiar, yet unfamiliar voice came on over the headset. “Callum, I think you’re having a panic attack. Have you ever had one before?” Rylee’s soft voice drifted through my head.

I couldn’t be having a panic attack. Panic attacks were for pussies. I’d seen plenty of wrecks in my days and been a part of quite a few of them as well. There was no way that’s what this was.

“The medic, Rylee. I’m…” My breath got caught in my chest, and I wheezed.

“Pull into the pit, Callum,” she demanded.

If I didn’t finish, I wouldn’t qualify.

“I know what you’re thinking, and it doesn’t matter. Your safety and health are more important than anything else at this moment.” If it had been anyone else who’d said those words, I wouldn’t have listened. Maybe I only listened because I knew if I didn’t, I was going to wreck and very well might not make it back.

When the pit lane came into view, I slowed down even more and made my way to our slot. The moment I stopped, someone ripped off my helmet, and our team medics were by my side, checking me out.

“Can you get out?” he asked from beside me.

There were too many hands all around me as they tried to unbuckle me and remove the steering wheel so I could get out. The rest was a blur. It was as if I’d blacked out. The only thing I remembered was our team doctor saying I was fine, but I’d had a panic attack. Colton and Rylee were in the room, but I wasn’t sure when they had arrived because they hadn’t been there when we first went in.

Rylee gave me a sympathetic look while Colton remained stoic. I hated to disappoint him, but I was more disappointed in myself. How could I have lost control so easily from witnessing a wreck I’d seen hundreds of times before?

There was no simple explanation.

Aspen

Barcelona

“Mr. Crew is hereto see you, Dr. Belle,” my secretary, Maria, called through from the intercom.

I looked at the clock and saw that he was over twenty minutes early. Not something I was used to in Barcelona.

“Let me finish up these notes. Give me five minutes, and then you can send him in,” I replied, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. They were constantly sliding, and I was endlessly pushing them up all because I couldn’t touch my eyeball to put in my contacts.

Five minutes later, Maria knocked on my door before she opened it and let my next client in.

Standing, I smoothed down my black skirt and moved around my desk to meet him. Today hadn’t gotten off to a great start with my ex-boyfriend showing up out of the blue at the ass crack of dawn to ask me to take him back after he dumped me for another woman four months ago. I was finally moving on after he broke my heart, and the last thing I needed or wanted was to see him again.

The whole thing with Alejandro had left me out of sorts all morning long, and I didn’t want my new client to pick up on it. The first impression was always important, especially with a patient. It factored in with how soon they opened up.

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