Page 103 of Hooked
Tayla called Emmie back immediately. “What’s going on?”
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call for an hour—”
“What is going on, Emmie?”
Tayla’s stomach dropped as Emmie told her what had happened. “Where is he?” She swallowed hard. Her heart was in her throat. “I’m coming.”
“Tayla, what’s wrong?” Bianca rose to her feet.
She ended the call and turned to her father. “I need to borrow your Porsche, and I really don’t have time to argue.”
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tayla burstinto the waiting room. “Where is he?”
“He’s still in surgery.” Cary rose to his feet. “Calm down. Crap, how fast did you drive? Emmie said you were in San Francisco.”
“I was.” She looked around the waiting room of Metlin Regional Hospital. Then back at Cary. There was blood all over his shirt. “Emmie said it was a broken arm? Why are you covered in blood?”
“It was a compound fracture.” Cary put a hand on her shoulder when her knees went weak. “He had two bones sticking out, so it bled a lot, but there were no arteries broken. And Ashley’s an EMT, so she got him stabilized before we lowered him down the cliff. He was mostly able to walk out on his own.”
“Mostly? Who’s Ashley?”
“One of our climbing partners.” Cary pointed to a smiling couple sitting on the far side of the waiting room.
“Hey.” They waved.
“Hi. Thank you for stabilizing my boyfriend and making his bleeding stop.” Tayla felt her stomach go queasy just thinking about the pain. “Oh my God.”
“Dave and I had to carry him a little toward the end. Two miles is a lot when you’ve got a bone on the outside.”
Tayla felt like she was going to be sick. “But he’s going to be okay?” She looked around. “Where is everyone? Where’s Emmie?”
“She went to the house to stay with Gus. His parents are back with the doctors. I’m sure they’ll be coming out soon, so why don’t you just—”
The doors opened in a rush.
“Where is he?” Melissa Rhodes swept into the waiting room. “Where’s Cary?”
“Missy?”
She locked panicked eyes on him. “Cary?” Her cheeks were red. “Ox said there was a climbing accident.” She looked him up and down. “Why are you covered inblood? What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”
He stepped toward her, hands raised. “Jeremy is the one who got hurt. He has a compound fracture in his right arm, that’s why there’s blood. Ashley, Dave, and I got him down the hill. We’re fine.”
“You’re fine?” She was still in panic mode. “The blood…?”
“Not mine.”
“Oh my God.” She covered her face and burst into tears.
Cary’s eyes went wide. “Missy?”
Without another word, she turned and raced out of the waiting room.
Cary turned baffled eyes to Tayla. “What the hell was that?”
