“You’re early.” Seth stood up and tossed the towel on the table against the wall.

“I can’t believe your dad sold my bike already. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“He went out to run an errand. Besides, you sold it to my dad first, so you can’t say it’s your bike anymore,” he reminded. “And of course he did. It’s beautiful. I still can’t believe you gave it up. You’re really serious about Alex, aren’t you?”

I shifted my body a little and waited a second to answer. “I am,” I finally said. “I know for sure she’s it. I don’t doubt it at all.”

Seth set some items in the toolbox. “Does this mean you’re backing out of the race?”

“No,” I snapped. I didn’t mean to, but already feeling fired up from the fight with Alex, I was agitated that he was on her side.

Seth threw up his hands as if to surrender. “Whoa. I didn’t know that question was going to upset you.”

“Sorry. It’s just that Alex and I already had a fight about it, and I feel like shit. I’m trying to decide what to do.”

“Good. Think about it while you do me a favor.” Seth threw a set of keys at me.

“What’s this for?”

“Your last ride on your bike.”

Alexandria

It was extremely busy today, which was rare for a Saturday, but I was glad. I didn’t want to think about the fight Elijah and I had. Was I being unreasonable? I didn’t think I was, especially when it came to his safety. I knew for a fact that if the roles were reversed, he would say and think the same as I did.

Regardless, in the end, I knew the choice was his. I never wanted him to bring this up later, wondering what would have happened if only I’d let him go. He might end up resenting me for it. I never wanted to be the controlling girlfriend, so I decided not to call him, though it was killing me inside. Ultimately, it was his decision.

Day had turned to night so fast I didn’t realize that it was closing time. Since I wasn’t closing tonight, I checked out with my boss and said good-bye to my co-workers.

Lexy’s shift had ended earlier, so when I saw her coming toward me with a dreadful look on her face, I knew something was wrong.

“Lexy? What happened?”

Lexy grabbed both of my arms, holding me steady. “It’s Elijah. He’s in the hospital. I’m going to take you there. Seth was with him when it happened. That’s all I know.”

“What do you mean?” It took some time for my brain to register what she was saying. I just stood there in shock. I heard the words, but my mind refused to believe it. I didn’t even know what questions to ask to complete the picture in my mind, this awful picture of Elijah inside his wrecked car. “I told him not to go,” I mumbled. “Oh God!” I covered my mouth, thinking of the awful things I had said to him before I walked out on him.

I didn’t remember getting in her car or how we ended up at the hospital. All I knew was that my heart was beating out of control and my hands were unsteady. I was back at the same hospital where Elijah had taken me the night of our first date.

Lexy looked at the text on her phone as we got into the elevator. We were both quiet on the car ride here and were still quiet now. When the doors opened, Seth was right there waiting for us with tears in his eyes. When a guy has tears in his eyes, that meant it was something serious. Knowing it was bad, I closed my arms around my chest. I tried to hold myself steady as we walked down the hall, but I couldn’t help it, tears escaped.

“He’s in a coma,” Seth explained as he continued to lead us down the hall. “He’s had a head trauma, so the doctors had to induce a coma to help him.”

His words were like a stab to my heart. I felt my body tremble but I didn’t know how much until Lexy placed her arms around my shoulders.

“I tried to convince him not to go,” I cried as tears poured down my cheek. “It’s my fault. I should’ve tried harder.”

Seth halted smack in the middle of the hall and turned to me. “He didn’t go, Alex. He didn’t go to the race. He changed his mind just before we left my dad’s shop. Before he blacked out, he asked me to make sure that you knew he had changed his mind. He did it for you.”

I was beyond relieved that he hadn’t, but guilt punched through me. I had been mad at him for thinking he had gone to the race when he really hadn’t.

Seth continued walking and talking. “My dad bought his bike and fixed it up a bit so he could sell it. Elijah said he didn’t need it anymore, that it was too dangerous to drive you around on it. My dad sold it yesterday. We were on our way to drop it off to the buyer. I was driving behind him so I could bring him back home. Then some stupid ass car ran a red light…and…I’m so sorry, Alex. It—” Seth stopped when he saw how upset I was. He knew I didn’t need to know the gruesome details.

“Can I see him?”

Seth guided Lexy to a chair after we turned left into a waiting area. She looked like a mess, too. “You go in first,” she said.

“This is the visitor’s room. We’ll be right here. He’s in room 512.” Seth gave me a quick, reassuring smile. “He’ll come out of it, Alex. He has to. He loves you too much.”

Chapter 38

Alexandria

I couldn’t do anything but stand there as I tried to grasp the reality of what I was seeing in front of me. A tube had been inserted through his nose and a breathing tube ran down his throat. Next to the bed was a machine that was breathing for him. There was an IV connected to his neck. His left leg was apparently broken and was in a cast. Seeing Elijah helpless and not knowing if he would wake up was shredding my world apart.