“You don’t have to come up here, you know? I can keep you updated on Mia.”
I roll my eyes. “What about Travis?”
“I figured you probably didn’t care.”
“Drew!” I scold. “I’m not a robot. Of course I care.”
“Well, you two are at each other’s throats most days.”
“That doesn’t mean I want him to be hurt...or worse.” I rest my head against the headrest of the Jeep and inhale, trying to focus on the white line on the side of the road.Maybe I should just tell him...“Listen, Drew. There’s something—”
“Oh hey, the doctor is coming out. I’ll call you right back.” He hangs up before I can respond.
“Well, that has to be a sign,” I mutter to myself.
“What?” Courtney asks, driving onto the highway. It’s about an hour drive, which means my mind has fifty-nine minutes to overthink everything.
“I was going to tell him, and he cut me off as soon as he saw the doctor.”
“What exactly were you going to say?”
I shrug, knowing I hadn’t thought it through. “I don’t know. That Travis and I hate-fucked all over the house, so I have a reason to be worried, although now I’m wondering if he screwed Mia and if I should go back to hating his fucking guts again.”
She widens her eyes and grips the steering wheel tighter. “Perhaps it’s a good thing he hung up then. No matter what, everything is going to be okay. Got it?” She gives me a hopeful smile, and we ride in silence the rest of the way.
When we finally arrive at the hospital, anxious butterflies swarm my belly, and I have no idea what to expect. Courtney grabs my hand as we walk through the entrance and find Drew waiting for us.
She leans in and whispers, “Would this be a bad time to mention how hot your brother looks right now?”
I look at her and scowl.
“You guys made it,” Drew says as he walks toward us. He wraps an arm around my shoulder and squeezes. He notices Courtney and flashes her a small smile. Of course, she melts, and I nudge her.
“The nurse said we could go in and see them soon,” Drew continues.
“Do you know what happened yet? Or how bad they’re hurt?” I search his face for a reaction, but he’s calm and calculated with his words and movements. Drew is worried shitless right now.
“Mia didn’t have her seat belt on, so she’s banged up pretty badly. Her lung collapsed, and she slammed her head pretty hard. They’re keeping her overnight for observation, so I’m not sure when she’ll be released.”
“Glad to hear she’ll survive,” I say dryly between gritted teeth, but it’s lost on him.
“What about Travis?” Courtney fills the silence, and I’m so grateful she asks.
“The airbags deployed, causing some burns, and he smacked his head on the driver’s side window during impact. He had his seat belt on, but the force of the impact broke a few ribs. He’s bruised, but he’ll survive.”
I’m finally able to exhale the breath I’ve been holding since I received the call. To say I’m relieved to hear he’s going to be okay is an understatement.
“He’ll stay in ICU for observation to make sure there’s no swelling in his brain, but knowing Travis, his head was already swelled up as big as his ego,” he cracks, getting a small smile out of me.
“So, what happened exactly? Do they know?” I’m impatient as I ask, but I try to stay calm.
“The sheriff told me bits and pieces, but until they do a full accident reconstruction, they only know from what the witnesses told them. Basically, he was driving down the ramp and a semi in the right lane wasn’t moving over, so he slowed down to get behind it. However, the car behind them wasn’t paying attention and rammed right into the back of them at full speed, pushing them forward into traffic. Luckily, there weren’t many cars on the highway at two in the morning.”
Jesus.
My heart hammers in my chest as I picture Travis going through something like that. He could’ve been hurt a lot worse had there been more traffic or the semi driver suddenly slowed down or the car that hit him was going faster or...
“Viola,” Drew’s voice breaks me out of my thoughts that were pulling me away. “He’ll be okay.”
