Page 43 of Persuaded

“They’re here,” he said, touching Finn’s shoulder to rouse him.

Then he heard a shout from behind them and Sean and Ali came running across the sand. Sean had blankets in his arms.

“Oh my God, Finn!” He looked stricken when he saw Liz, but by then the paramedics were spilling out of the ambulance and taking control. Lexa was with them.

Someone pulled Joshua to his feet and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. “You’re freezing, man,” Sean said, keeping a hand on Joshua’s arm.

He just nodded because his teeth were chattering so hard, and watched the paramedics wrap Liz in foil blankets and check her eyes and head, calling out words he didn’t understand. Once they got her onto a backboard, Finn followed as they lifted her into the ambulance. “Can I go with her?” he said, voice shivery with cold.

“Are you family, sir?”

“I—”

“He’s her boyfriend,” Ali called out.

Lexa added, “They’re practically engaged.”

“Okay.” The paramedic eyed Finn, wrapped a foil blanket around him too and said, “In you get, Romeo.” She glanced at Sean. “We’re taking her to St. Theresa’s.”

“Thank you,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Finn—we’ll be right behind you.”

From the back of the ambulance, Finn nodded but said nothing. For an instant his gaze lingered on Joshua, and then the doors shut and the ambulance crawled its way back along the beach.

“Shit,” Sean breathed into the night.

* * *

Chaos broke out once they reached Sean’s house. Ali crumpled into tears, blaming herself, while Dee tried to console her even as she swore them all off alcohol forever—much to Lexa’s distress. Sean and Tejana were mortified that this had happened at their party, and everyone wanted to go to the hospital.

But Joshua was the only one sober enough to drive, even if he couldn’t stop shaking, and they couldn’t all fit into his car—plus, Matt was asleep upstairs. The dilemma was resolved when Finn called. Joshua could only hear one end of the conversation, but it was clear that Liz was stable, but not conscious, and that Finn needed to come home and change his wet clothes.

Sean said, “I can’t, man, I’m way over the limit.” He looked at Joshua. “Yeah, he’s still here. Hang on, I’ll ask.”

“Of course,” Joshua said, before Sean could speak. “I’ll get him.” He felt an inappropriate pulse of pleasure that Finn had asked him for the favor. But his shoes were sodden, his jeans soaked right up past the knees. “I’ll just stop home and change first, if that’s okay?”

Sean relayed the message and then said, “Finn wants you to take my car. He says the roads are slick”—he rolled his eyes—“and you have crappy tires.”

There was a fifty-fifty chance Joshua’s car wouldn’t start anyway, and this was no time for false pride. He took Sean’s keys.

An hour later, he was pulling into the snowy parking lot of St. Theresa’s and gingerly parking Sean’s expensive car. He crunched over the snow to the sliding doors that swooshed open and welcomed him in with a blast of warm, clinical air.

On Christmas night, the small ER was almost empty and he spotted Finn immediately, sitting with elbows on knees and a foil blanket scrunched up on the chair next to him. Under the harsh fluorescent light, Finn’s face showed every one of the years that stood between them. He was pale beneath his tan, fine lines creasing the corners of his eyes and his knuckles blanched where his fingers clenched together.

The doors slid shut and Finn looked up. Across the empty room their eyes met and Finn lurched to his feet like a puppet having its strings jerked. “Hey,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Of course. How’s Liz? Any news?”

Finn shook his head. “It’s a subdural... I can’t remember the name. She hit her head—must have been a rock under the water—and there’s swelling on the brain. They’re gonna have to—” His voice cracked and he stopped talking.

“I’m sorry.” Torn between wanting to go to him and wanting to look away so he couldn’t see how much Finn cared for someone else, Joshua did neither. “But she’s in the right place.”

Finn nodded and kept his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Are you...?” Joshua glanced around, but there were no staff. “Are you ready to go? I can wait, if you need to stay.”

“No, I’m good. Her folks are with her and they’ll only let family back there.” Finn cleared his throat. “Better get it over with, anyway.”

What that meant, Joshua wasn’t sure—the drive home together? “I brought Sean’s car,” he said, in case Finn was worrying about his crappy tires in the snow. “But the roads aren’t so bad.”

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