“How did this even happen?”
“It wasn’t my fault. Someone was impatient and went when they shouldn’t have. Both of our cars are totaled. Hers is worse than mine.” My rambling explanation wasn’t helping anything. The more I talked, the more stressed David looked.
“God, I—I can’t believe…” His eyes slammed closed as he processed what he was trying to say.
“Are you okay?”
“No. No, I’m not okay. Jesus, Malcolm. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this yet, but I don’t attach myself to anyone. Somehow, I’ve latched onto you. You tried and tried to push me away, and I wouldn’t let you. The second I recognized your car—”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you panic.” As much as I wanted to climb out of bed and pull him into a hug, I couldn’t. There were too many wires attached to me, not to mention the annoying-as-hell IV in my arm. Everything made me itchy, like I wanted to pull it all off me and make a run for it. It all served a purpose, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I’d watched my brother in this position for far too long to be in it myself. It was more than enough to have me on the verge of a panic attack.
That was when David’s eyes widened, like he realized what he’d been saying. “No, no. Gorgeous, never apologize for something like that. It was an accident, and not even one you caused. I’m more panicked that I had just been talking to…”
He trailed off again before he sat next to me on the bed. When his large, warm hand wrapped around mine, my heart rate spiked. “What is it, David?” The question felt a little stupid, if I was being honest. He had something profound he was trying to tell me, and I was interrupting the moment with inane conversation.
He shook his head. “I’d just been telling my sister about how different you were. How special. So yeah, this scared the shit out of me.”
Butterflies kicked up in my gut when I realized what he was saying. I’d been shoving him away at every turn. Now, more than ever, I was thankful that I’d finally given in and given him a chance. He deserved all the nice things, especially with the way he was so worried about me. I’d never had anyone worry about me like that. Hell, I’d even called Angela to let Mr. Thomas know about the accident, my supposed best friend, and she hadn’t rushed down here to see me like the man who’d seen the report on the damn news.
Which was another thing. How had David found out through the news? Sure, we were only clients, but we were still technically working on the account. We hadn’t completely finished things yet. Had Angela not told Mr. Thomas?
A new sort of panic suddenly gripped me—my boss hadn’t received the message. I scrambled for my phone, which had taken a beating in the accident as well. The screen was pretty cracked, and that was why I’d only made the one call. I’d sliced my finger open just getting toAngelain my contact list.
Sure enough, I was displaying several missed calls. I cursed under my breath, squeezing my eyes closed as I tried to think of how to fix all of this. It wasn’t like my friend to let me down in such a way.
But then the curtain pulled back once more with another exasperated nurse in tow. Angela stood there with the biggest bouquet I’d ever seen. Her eyes were wide as they landed on me lying in the hospital bed. She shoved past David, dropping the flowers on the little meal tray before dropping on top of me and giving me a giant hug.
“Jesus, Malcolm. You’re not allowed to scare me like that. You said accident. I didn’t think anything of it, and then they were showing the wreckage on the news…”
Good lord, I hadn’t thought it was all that bad, but maybe it was worse than I remembered. Or maybe the media was makingit out to be more than it was. We had blocked off a good portion of Michigan Avenue.
I patted her back before looking up at David. An amused smile spread over his lips as he watched her. But I had things I needed to discuss with my friend.
“Angela?”
She sniffled, lifting her head. Her pretty hazel eyes were red rimmed, and she wiped snot from her nose. “Yeah?”
“Did you happen to tell Mr. Thomas about what was happening?”
Her eyes widened again.
“Fucking shit!” She bolted off me, reaching into her purse to pull out her phone. Leave it to her to forget something so important. Then again, she’d been my friend for so long, and she’d been with me through the worst of it, with Marcus as well. It was still impressive that David had made it to the hospital before she had.
Angela spoke quietly, but quickly, her eyes darting around the small room before giving me a tight smile and a thumbs up. “Of course, Mr. Thomas. You want to talk to him?”
She held out the phone, and I took it from her. My hands shook a little because there was no telling how the man would handle the situation.
“Mr. Thomas?” I asked as soon as I pressed the device to my ear.
“Mr. Fisher, so you are still alive, after all?”
It was hard not to laugh at the response. “Uh, yes, sir. My car? Not so lucky.”
“And you didn’t think to call?”
I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. Most employers were understanding in emergencies, but after the last few weeks, I’d been walking on eggshells withmy boss. It was foolish to think that his good mood from the day before had changed anything.
“My apologies, sir. Things have been a little hectic, and my phone is pretty damaged. I was able to get a hold of Angela, and I guess she forgot to pass on the message.”
