Page 186 of Fixation
“That motherfucker.”Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.He’s hitting the steering wheel. “I’m almost there, Harper. Put your seatbelt on.”
I run my hand over the tattered material. My seatbelt is a joke.
“Hang up the fucking phone!” My driver swings an arm at me, accelerating the car while he’s at it.
No time to move to the other side of the bench. I won’t make it. Won’t be able to put the better seatbelt on me.
But since I need Anderson to save me, I won’t waste precious minutes on arguing with him.
“I have it on,” I lie.
“Good girl.” We’re out of the alley and back on the street. Anderson’s engine roars behind us. “Good girl. Hold on tight.”
I do.
Bam.
The car swerves into the wall in slow motion. My body lifts, untethered.
Would you look at that.
I’m flying.
32
ANDERSON
My heart is going to rip itself out of my chest. Break the ribs. Leave me raw and open until I bleed out.
The thunderous beating is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
It’s a painful thing. A torture, to be in this body. To be in this car when Harper is there.
My heart wants to be with her.
I need to save her.
Her red hair is a fiery ocean in the taxi I just crashed into.
Her body flies forward. Head banging against the headrest of the passenger seat.
I’m dying. That’s what it is. I’m fucking dead.
She said she had her seatbelt on.
What the hell is this?
You were late. You are late. A weeping, grateful family member held you up after surgery, and you let them. You remembered her interview would soon be over. You failed to surprise her. You failed to protect her. Motherfucker, you even changed out of your scrubs and into jeans and a T-shirt, took your sweet time instead of getting to her.
I thought I’d make it. I didn’t, but I wasn’t that late. I was there to watch her get into that taxi, and I figured—idiot—I could stalk her home. Surprise her when she least expects it.
Everything was going according to plan. Until the driver started driving in the wrong direction. He didn’t take her anywhere near her home.
That was when I failed Harper for the second time. I thought he was taking a shortcut for a few minutes.
And yet again, when I was focused on getting to her instead of calling her.
When I did, it was too late.
