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After she finished her checkup and left again, I returned my attention to the goodies people had brought me. I wished I could get up and walk over to inspect them closer, butapparently, I had to wait until my team arrived to help me. If I tried again on my own, they were going to restrain me to the bed. That was the last thing I wanted.
Huffing out my impatience, I slapped my hands down onto the sheets beside me, only to get distracted by some of the stuffed animals over there. There really were some cute ones, like a yellow and black bee with tentacles and wings, and oh… That horse was just precious. I was going to name him Stetson. If Foster had picked him out, he had some damn fine taste.
Kinsey always made fun of my continued love of stuffed animals, but?—
But nothing. Kins was gone. She wouldn’t be making fun of anything ever again.
Swallowing hard, I turned my attention to the ceiling as tears clogged my lashes.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Kinsey was gone, and Foster Union washere.
Maybe I was still in a coma. God, I hoped so. And when I woke up, Kinsey would be okay and?—
Well, I might not mind dating Foster, but I’d at least like tomeethim first. I mean, meet him when I wasn’t just coming out of a hazy, two-week sleep where everything was scary and confusing. I really wished he hadn’t been present for that part. I’d rather be all dolled up and looking my best like I had the last night Kinsey and I had?—
Holy shit.
Flashes of taking shots with her in my apartment and spraying her down with my perfume filled my head.
My temples pulsed with pain as I recalled the ride we’d taken to Oaklynn’s house and then the drinking and my sister leaving me to hook up with some guy. And then—thenI’dmet a guy. Except he’d agreed to send me to where Foster was. And Kinsey and I had gotten into the back of a car together.
But after that, I couldn’t remember anything else.
Covering my mouth with both hands, I started to cry.
This was allmyfault, wasn’t it? My obsession with some boy I didn’t even know had gotten so far out of hand that I’d driven my sister straight into her grave. My beautiful, vivacious, outgoing Kinsey.
Oh God. What had I done?
I was breathing heavily and about to hyperventilate when the captain walked into the room, letting me know visiting hours must’ve begun.
“Pookie?” he greeted in alarm, hurrying to my side so he could take my fingers and squeeze while simultaneously pressing a hand to my brow. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s my fault,” I wept, shaking my head as I looked up at him with desperation that begged for forgiveness. “It’s all my fault that she died. I remember it now. I remembereverything.”
“No,” he assured me in a kind but stern voice. “None of this was your fault. Do you hear me, Ray-Ray? Look into my eyes.”
I did, but as soon as I met his watery but understanding gaze, my lashes flooded even more. “Captain…”
“Listen to me.” Squeezing my fingers even harder, he leaned down to meet my gaze. “You didnotcause this.”
“But you don’t know,” I insisted, shaking my head. “You don’t know what I did.”
“What did you do?” he asked. “You wanted to meet a boy, so you dragged Kinsey into the back of a rideshare that wrecked on the way there? Is that what you were going to say?”
“Y-yes.” I pulled my face back and blinked at him in confusion before rasping, “But—how did you…?”
He sighed and smoothed a hand over my hair. “Foster told me everything.”
“Foster?” I shook my head.
The captain nodded. “He was here at the hospital when I arrived the first time, just after your accident. And that kid... Man.” Shaking his head, he blew out a long breath. “I don’t know how I would’ve made it through that day without him being there, guiding me along.”
I blinked at him one more time before repeating, “FosterUnion?”
The captain only chuckled and gave me another nod to confirm it. “The football star, yes. His friends told him about the accident and how you’d been on your way to meet him, so I think he was hanging around out of guilt and felt responsible for what happened to you, so…”
