“I owe you shit.”

“Tessa!”

Luke and I both turn toward Ben’s frantic voice. The nurse who is working on him grabs his shoulder and pushes him back so he’s reclining on the bed. He’s still covering Nolan’s ears, which is a good thing. “Sir, you’re going to have to keep still so I can finish this. If you yell like that again, I’m likely to stick this needle straight into your arm.”

“Sorry,” he says to her before looking back at me. “Where is she? Nothing else comes out of your mouth until you tell me where she is.”

I ignore Luke’s closeness and feel my stomach drop at the thought of my best friend. “Her mom was dying. She went out to get pancake mix for Nolan and got a call from her aunt. She’s in Fulton.”

The words come out like rapid fire and as soon as I finish talking, Ben tries to get up. The nurse firmly pushes against his shoulder again. “Sir, I’m not finished.”

He shrugs her off and shifts Nolan in his lap. “I don’t care. I need to go.”

“Mr. Kelly, you can’t leave with an open wound. You’re likely to get an infection. A nasty one at that. Let me finish stitching you up and we’ll see if the doctor will release you.”

He grunts and leans back, both fists clenching on his sheet. “Hurry. Up,” he firmly directs her. His eyes pierce into mine. “Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t she? She shouldn’t be there going through this without me. One of us should be with her.”

“I know that. I haven’t been able to get a hold of her all day. She left me a message and asked me to try and get a hold of you because she couldn’t reach you. And then I couldn’t reach you. Where the hell is your phone?”

He looks at the vest on the bed and reaches for it, pulling out a barely held together phone. “Shit,” he whispers, looking quickly at Nolan who is now playing with the TV remote at the foot of the bed. He winces while the nurse continues to stitch him up. “Call her. Find out where she is and tell her I’m coming to get her.”

I pull my phone out and notice the nonexistent reception I’m currently getting. “I have to step outside. Do you want me to take Nolan?”

“No. But I’ll need you to watch him when I leave. I’m getting to Fulton in under four hours.” He turns and watches the nurse, undoubtedly willing her to hurry the fuck up.

I nod and exit the room, hearing footsteps behind me. I turn and Luke runs straight into me, grabbing me before I topple over. “Christ! What? I don’t have time for this. I need to call Mia.”

He keeps his grip on my arms. “Tell me why you broke up with me.”

I’m sick of this. And I know Luke. He won’t let this go until he gets what he wants. Persistent little bastard. Just like when he has to get another orgasm out of me.

The nerve.

I pull my arms out of his grasp and grit my teeth. “I thought I was pregnant, you prick.”

He leans back as if I’ve just slapped him across the face. “What? You did? When? Are you?” His voice is softer, the heat that was in it moments ago completely vanished.

I feel my body remembering that day and the pain I felt when I delivered the blow that broke us. The agony burns like acid in my mouth, coating my words. “No, I’m not. But I thought I was.”

He holds his hands out in front of him, still seemingly clueless to why I ended things.

“I asked you if you ever saw yourself having kids someday and you said no. You said you never wanted what Ben had. And I want that.” I bite my tongue to distract me from the pain of the memory.

His nostrils flare and he steps closer to me. “You broke up with me thinking you were pregnant? And you didn’t think I should know about it? Do you know how fucked up that is?”

“You wouldn’t have wanted it. You said…”

He steps into me and brings his face so close to mine, his breath tickles my eyelashes. “Don’t tell me what I would’ve wanted,” he growls. “Was there a chance it wasn’t mine? Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

His words are like venom coming out of his mouth. I gasp, stepping back and putting some distance between us. “No, there wasn’t a chance it wouldn’t have been yours. But since you’re bringing it up, how many other girls were you sleeping with besides me? I should probably go get myself tested while I’m here.”

He shakes his head and comes up beside me, stopping when his arm brushes against mine. “You should’ve told me,” he snarls down at me. He’s never looked at me like this before. I can practically feel the revulsion coming off him. And then he’s gone, moving down the hallway in the direction I was originally heading. He chose not to satiate me with an answer to my question, but I suppose his silence answers for him.

I walk outside and quickly dial my parents’ number after my phone beeps with a voicemail alert. My mother’s casual voice throws me off, until she informs me that she hasn’t read my text message due to the fact that they’ve both been asleep. However, that doesn’t prevent the earful she gives me about not feeling the need to call her with that kind of information. She calms down eventually after I tell her Ben’s okay and only keeps me on the phone for a few minutes. After hanging up with her, I dial Mia’s number. She picks up on the second ring.

“Oh my God. Is he okay? Please tell me he’s okay.”

Her panicky tone makes my heart shudder in my chest cavity. It’s my fault she’s so worried. “Sweetie, he’s fine. He’s not really hurt at all. Just a minor cut on his arm.”

She cries through the phone, her whimpers mixed with the noise of traffic. “Tessa, I thought… I thought I’d never see him again. I never got to tell him…” Her voice breaks apart in sobs and it kills me.

“Shhh, Mia, it’s okay. He’s okay, I swear. He’s fucking pissed as hell about not being there with you. And so am I. Are you okay?”

She pauses, taking in a few deep breaths. “I’m okay I guess. She wasn’t in any pain when she died. It was very peaceful and I got to say goodbye. My last memories of her are of when she was healthy, so I have those to hold on to.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. And Ben’s tore up about you going through this alone.”

“I actually thought that maybe he didn’t care about me. That he didn’t care enough to call me when I needed him. And then when I got your message telling me he had been shot, God, Tessa, I almost died right there. I’ve never been that scared before.”

I wipe the tear that had worked its way down my cheek. “Oh, sweetie. How could you think he doesn’t care? He loves you. Hasn’t he told you that?”

“No, not yet. It doesn’t matter. I’m telling him as soon as I see him. I can’t wait another second.” Her voice sounds steady now, full of determination. When my best friend wants something, she goes for it. “I better get off here though before I get pulled over. I’m about two hours out so tell Ben I’ll be there soon.”

“He’s coming to you, Mia. I’m telling you right now, as soon as he’s discharged, he’s leaving here.”

She sighs heavily. “Well tell him to stay put.”