Page 49 of Fractured Hope
“Oh. He texted me a while ago saying he was done and on his way back. How far away was he testing the truck?” Uneasiness settled over me as I glanced at Seb.
“He just went out to Mitch Habberstock’s farm. It’s about twenty minutes out of town.” He glanced at his watch again. “He should’ve been back by now.” Turning to me, he frowned. “When did he text you?”
Pulling out my phone, I quickly checked the time the text was sent. My stomach dropped. “He sent that fifty minutes ago.” I handed Seb the phone, and he quickly glanced at the screen.
“Let me call him. He might have needed to fix something and got caught up.” Seb handed my phone back, then pulled out his own as he walked back into the workshop to call.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. These vehicles can be very temperamental sometimes.” Kay tried to reassure me, but something didn’t sit right. I checked the messages on my phone, and my gaze caught on theunreadlabel from my last message. Even if he was driving, he would have seen it and pulled over to respond. I knew something had happened.
Something was terribly wrong.
I could feel it.
Seb came back in, looking pale and scared. I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“What is it?” Kay stepped forward and rested his hand on my shoulder.
“There... . There was an accident. Theo a-a-answered Atty’s phone.” Seb paused, taking a deep breath. “He was almost homewhen he saw a wreck on the side of the road. Atty was in the truck. He was unconscious and unresponsive.” Seb fell onto the leather sofa, hands braced on his knees and breathing heavily.
Dread settled over me.
Unconscious.
Unresponsive.
Accident.
Wreck.
The words repeated over and over again in my head as I was pushed into a chair and told to breathe.
“You can’t do this now. We need to get to the hospital.” Kay’s voice sounded distant. “Breathe, Bodhi. Come on, Atty needs you.”
Atty.
Atticus.
Air filled my lungs as I took a deep breath. I needed to see Atticus. Looking around frantically, I spotted Kay on the phone while offering Seb a bottle of water. Shaking off my fear and panic, I stood and went over to Seb. Sitting next to him, I uncapped the bottle of water, then offered it to him.
“Drink. We need to get going.”
He looked at me, his eyes so full of fear and pain. I knew the feeling. And while he was physically the biggest of the brothers, he looked so defeated just then. Like his world had been rocked to its core and he needed his big brother to make everything okay again.
“We need to get to the hospital. Do you know where they took him?”
“Ah, Theo said an ambulance came. He called Mama. He’s with him. Hospital?” He seemed so lost.
“I know where they’d take him.” Kay puffed out a long breath. “Let’s go. Lyric’s out front.”
Kay helped me pull Seb to stand as we all left the garage and made our way outside. Kay quickly locked up and closed the giant, still squeaky, roller door. Lyric hopped out to help me get Seb into the back seat, then followed him in. I hobbled around and got in the passenger seat as Kay took the driver’s seat, and we were off.
The trip to the hospital was a blur. No one said anything, and both Seb and Lyric appeared to be in shock. Thank goodness for Kay and his no-nonsense response.
About fifteen minutes out of town we passed the scene. A Sheriff’s car, firetruck, and tow truck were all still there. We gazed in horror at the totaled truck as it was lifted onto the tow truck’s bed. The driver’s side and top of the truck was crushed all to hell. The spider-web fractures and dark reddish-brown splatters on the front and driver’s side window gave me chills. Everyone was shaken as we drove on.
By the time we arrived at the hospital, Seb and Lyric had shaken off their shock and were ready to jump into action to find their brother. Kay dropped us at the Emergency entrance, then went to park the car before joining us. We all ran through the doors and up to the nurse at the counter. Seb was about to ask for Atticus when a man, who bore a striking resemblance to both Seb and Atticus, rounded the corner looking wrecked.
Lyric ran up and all but tackled the man, who must’ve been Theo. Seb followed more sedately.
