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She’s way too pale. Way too stiff in my arms.
“Probably, babe. I’m so fucking sorry.” I press my forehead to hers and rub the pads of my thumbs across her cheeks. Gentle and steady, I hold her head in my hands and soothe as much as I can in the confines of a car while her erratic breath bathes over my face.
I’m still not convinced she’s unscathed from this. I’m not. I’ve got a throbbing knee and a leaking head to show for it.
She begins sobbing, the sounds breaking my heart into a thousand little shards, and I hold her as she crumbles in my grasp. I pull her into my lap, wrap her up in my arms and rock her gently.
“Fuck,” Aria weeps into my chest, her fists clenched between us.
“Shhh …” I cradle her hand, massaging the base of her skull. “You’re safe now, baby. I’ve got you.”
Eventually, the tears stop and she returns my soothing rubs on her back with ones on my neck. I know that the cops are going to need to speak with us about what happened, even though I don’t fucking know, but they’re going to have to fucking wait. I didn’t see a damn thing anyway.
“Rex, we almost died tonight.”
“I know babe.” I stroke her hair and push loose strands out of her face as she sits back and looks me in the eye. “But we didn’t.” I try to smile for her but the desperation that meets me is debilitating.
“You need a hospital.” She wears her worry on her tense shoulders and in her eyes as they shift from mine to the cut in my head. I shake my head, but the movement has spots filling my vision.
My damn knee is throbbing, and my head is pounding inside my skull.
She’s right. I’m fucked up.
“I can’t do that either, babe.” I stroke her hair and focus my weary gaze on her. Aria’s irritated with my comment, but she doesn’t push anymore. “Did you see what happened?”
“Here comes a cop, now.” She nods to the side of the car and slides off of my lap. He raps his knuckles on the window of the driver’s seat despite it being empty. Before I can make a move to answer him, Aria is already climbing over the center console and rolling the window down. “Sir,” she greets, earning her a smile from the officer that’s probably about my age and wears his uniform well.
I see how this is gonna go.
“Want to fill me in on what happened, ma’am?” His voice is deeper now, like somehow that’s going to make him more attractive. I roll my eyes but keep my ass in the seat.
I’m pretty sure rolling your eyes is not supposed to make you nauseous …
I try to listen as Aria fills him in on the details of what happened. She reports where we were hit, the color and make of the car. Even the license plate number of the perpetrator and the fact that they ran the second our car stopped spinning. But the longer they talk, the more I start to fade in and out.
Definitely a concussion.
Shit.
I pull out my phone, but the screen is a blur.
Double shit.
“Aria,” I catch her eyes in the rearview mirror. She’s quick to dismiss the cop with a window roll-up and climbs back to me.
“Rex …” she tries, but I hand her my unlocked phone.
“Call Ian. Concussion.” My words slur like I’ve been pounding the old-fashions and the world fades out.
9
ARIA
Istare at the device in my hand that feels like I’ve been handed the keys to the castle.
Castle de la Rex … Not the time, Ari!I chastise myself and hit the phone icon on his home screen. He bobs for apples beside me in the seat, I shake him back awake gently as I call the contact named Ian in his phone.
“Gotta stay awake, Rex.” Ring, ring, a voice connects before I recognize the ringing has stopped.
