Page 47 of Committed to You

“Stop. I don’t want to hear your excuses anymore. I’m over all your excuses and rationalizations,” I cry out as tears fall down my face.

“I’m telling the truth. And I’ve never lied to you,” Chase quietly says.

I snap my head toward him. “No, you’ve never lied to me. You’re right. I apologize for that. But I’m done with you and all your friends. What did you all do, get together and decide that it would be awesome to fuck with the four of us?”

Chase jerks back. “What are you talking about?”

“Noah putting Piper in danger. Xander pining all these months over Billie and then kissing her. Jamison and Quinn are in some sort of mess. She’s not telling me what, but something is going on. And you…” I shake my head, laughing, and look back out the window.

“I what? Go ahead, say it,” he quietly says.

The car pulls up to the hospital. Fresh tears are in my eyes, and I open the door and look back at him. “You’re a user. You take what you need and feed everyone scraps, seeing who will fight for them the most. Then, when someone wins that scrap, you throw out another piece, but you put it within arm’s reach so that no one can have it but you, and you can keep everyone desperate.”

He reels back.

I get out of the car. “I’m done. I’m worth more than your scraps.” I slam the door and walk away from the vehicle.

Everything over the last seven months becomes clear. Chase isn’t capable of giving me what I deserve, and I’m not going to hold onto hope anymore.

When I get into the hospital, I walk into the emergency room and see Noah, Piper, Jamison, and Quinn. Xander is sitting with his hands over his face and his leg bouncing up and down, and I no longer feel any anger. What I said to Chase about Noah, Jamison, and Xander wasn’t fair. And I know Xander loves Charlotte.

I put my hand on his shoulder, chastened by the tears in his eyes. “They kicked me out,” he says.

I’m assuming he means he isn’t allowed wherever they took Charlotte.

I’m not sure what to say.

“I’m a doctor, and they kicked me out.”

I sit down next to him.

Several minutes pass, and Chase walks in. I avoid looking at him but feel his gaze on me. He sits several seats away from me, and I’m relieved.

“Don’t go there.” Noah snaps me out of my thoughts, but I realize he’s talking to Xander. “Don’t,” he repeats. “She’s going to be okay.”

Xander stands up. “This is ridiculous. I’m a surgeon in this hospital.” He starts to leave.

“Where are you going?” Chase asks.

“To override this bullshit policy.”

Noah follows him out of the room.

Piper, who was sitting on the other side of Xander, gets up and moves next to me.

“When are they going to tell us what’s wrong with Charlotte?”

Piper’s face crumples. “I’m so sorry! I thought you knew. They came in right before you arrived. Charlotte has a concussion, possible internal bleeding, and bad bruising. Her wrist is sprained, and she came down on her shoulder hard.”

“What about her foot?”

“They said her foot is fine.”

A breath of relief comes out. Charlotte’s had extensive reconstructive foot surgery after the accident she was in with Xander.

“Why can’t we see her?”

Piper takes a deep breath. “She’s in and out of consciousness right now.”

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