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“Maybe,” he muttered. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Travis was actually getting defensive. “I want you to be mine, Ash, not everyone else’s.” Mine. Like he could claim me as his forevermore.
I glared at him. “You will never own me, Travis. I make my own decisions, and I choose who to get close to—”
“And that’s why I left them alone,” Travis said, shooting me a look as we pulled into the turnaround to our dorm building. “Including that one,” he added.
I turned my head, seeing Declan standing at the base of the small, rounded drive. I opened the door for him, gestured for him to get in, and scooted in the middle seat, tossing Travis an annoyed look. “This isn’t over,” I muttered under my breath as Declan climbed in.
Declan glared around me. “Travis.”
“Declan,” the other man muttered as he drove us off campus and to the hospital.
The tension in the car was high; I was nestled between two guys who didn’t like each other anymore. Two childhood friends who were more like enemies now. Declan did a lot of glaring, while Travis did a lot of driving with quick, fast glowers.
I was tired when I was at Sawyer’s house, but now? Now I was wide awake, anxiety bubbling in my gut.
If something happened to Will, it would devastate Declan.
And me.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Ash
“Do we know what happened?” I asked, breaking the silence of the car. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know just how bad it was, what was going to happen once we got to the hospital. If Will was critical…we had to call the dean, if he hadn’t already been called.
“No,” Declan said.
“If he was awake enough to tell them to contact you,” Travis spoke, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I knew the underlying message of what Travis said: if the attacker wanted Will dead, he’d be dead.
Declan gave Travis a death glare.
We arrived at the hospital after a drive that seemed to drag on forever. Declan hurried in, but I lingered near the car long enough to meet Travis’s azure stare. “Thank you for driving,” I told him.
“No problem,” he said. “I guess I’ll go back to Sawyer’s, make sure he wakes up all right. He isn’t going to be happy to wake up and see me.” He was leaning over the empty leather seats Declan and I had taken up, his gaze dropping to my mouth. “If you need anything…”
Now was so not the time to be staring at my lips. All I could do was nod, hurrying into the hospital after Declan as Travis drove off. It was still dark out, and yet I was no longer tired. I was wide-awake, completely alert, as lucid and clear as a person could be with next to no sleep. I might’ve gotten a half-hour at Sawyer’s place, but that’s it.
I ran past the doors to the ER, feeling a weird sense of deja vu. Not too long ago, Will and I had ridden in the back of an ambulance with Declan’s life hanging in the balance. Now it was Will’s life in danger, and I had no idea why.
If someone was coming after them…why? What did Will or Declan do? They were two of the nicest people I knew. Who could ever want to hurt them?
I rushed past the receptionist’s desk, ignoring the woman as she called out to me. I moved to the nearest hall, spotting Declan further down talking to some doctor. I was about to run to him, but the intake nurse stepped between us. “No one’s allowed down there,” she said. “Doctors and nurses only.” She had her hands on her hips, as if she was scolding a child and not me.
Me.
Ash Bonds. Ashley fucking Bonds. Did this bitch not know everything I’d gone through to get to this point? Did she not know who Will was to me?
I bit back any bitchy remarks, pointing to Declan. “I’m with him,” I said, swallowing my urge to say more. What I really wanted to do was swear at this bitch, make her regret stopping me, but I didn’t want to be thrown out of here.
She turned her head. “If you’re with the knife victim, you’ll have to wait out here until he’s stabilized.” The nurse pointed to the seating area behind us.
Knife victim?
My heart nearly stopped, my breath coming up short. “Knife victim?” I echoed. “He was attacked with a knife?” The news shouldn’t surprise me, because a knife was used on Declan, too. But now…now I couldn’t help but wonder if…
Declan came down the hall, grabbing me by the hand and leading us to the seating area. It was mostly empty. The intake nurse was slow to return to her desk, eyeing us up.
“Any news?” I had trouble speaking. It was like every time I swallowed, something blocked it. Like something was lodged in my throat, refusing to move.
“He was stabbed,” Declan whispered. Though the words were whispered, they fell on my ears like a ton of bricks, a voice blasted from the loudest speakers on earth. He moved a hand to his left side, hovering it near where a bunch of important organs were inside. Namely, a kidney. “Right here. Just once, like whoever did it didn’t want to kill him.”
