“Abri and I were close to graduating high school. It was a Thursday night, and I picked Abri up from her house. We were going to go to a movie, but we never made it past my car. We parked in the parking lot of the movie theater and made out in the back of my old Crown Vic.
“It was an ordinary night. We were making out, and whenever we came up for air, we talked about skipping college and running away. Traveling the world and starting our own life together.”
His eyes meet mine again as he traces the lines on my palm with this thumb.
“Then Abri got a phone call. Her mother would sometimes call and demand she come home early, but it wasn’t her mother. It was Ren.”
I suck in a breath, both from his words and the way his fingers feel on my palm.
“Ren said it was an emergency. She needed Abri to come to the hospital.
“I’d never met any of Abri’s friends before. She was afraid if I did, I would like them better than her. She was the jealous type back then.”
“Still is,” I mumble.
Knight pauses before continuing. “We got to the hospital, and it was chaos. Nurses and doctors were running around frantically. Ren and Henry were there with tears and fear in their eyes. Their bodies frozen with shock.
“Abri tried to comfort Ren. And soon I was lost to the shadows. No one even remembered I was in the waiting room. No one talked to me or looked at me. Everyone was too occupied with trying to save the three lives that stood on the edge between life and death.”
“My parents,” I whisper.
He touches my chin. “And you.”
I nod, needing more.
“I needed an escape. I had never faced death before. And it felt wrong to take part in someone else’s worst moment when they had no clue who I was. So I made some excuse about getting them coffee, and then I slunk away. I walked down the hallway aimlessly just trying to find a place to cry like a baby in the corner.
“I found what I thought was an empty room. No nurses were hovering around it, and when I knocked no one answered. So I opened the door and pushed inside, but the room wasn’t empty.”
“I was there…”
“Please, Nicole, I’m not ready to face Henry or Ren yet. Please, just tell them I’m still unconscious, and I can’t have any visitors yet. At least until I find out how my parents are doing,” I say.
Nicole looks at me with sad eyes. “Rest Mila, don’t worry about your siblings. Just try to rest. We will give you an update as soon as there is one.”
“Thank you,” I whisper as she leaves.
My body is riddled with pain. My head is on the brink of explosion. My chest feels too tight. But my core and legs hurt the most.
I feel tears, boiling up inside me, but I won’t let them out. I won’t cry for myself. I won’t cry until I know the outcome of my parents’ surgeries.
The door opens before I even have a chance to close my eyes. And a man walks in. He’s tall, muscular, and sad. A few tattoos are scattered along his arms and the way his chiseled jaw moves and his five o’clock shadow seems to grow as the seconds pass seem to indicate that he is a few years older than me.
I grab the covers harshly and pull them up to my chest.
“Did Nasser send you?” I ask nervously.
The man’s eyes flicker to me slowly as if he didn’t realize I was here. “Who is Nasser?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m sorry I should go.”
“No, stay. I could use the company.”
“Don’t you have family waiting for you?”
I nod. “I do. I’m sure my family is in the waiting room frantic to talk to me.”
He stares at me longer, then says, “You’re Mila Burns.”
I nod.
“I’m Ace Knight. I should talk to your brother and sister and let them know you are awake. They are worried sick.”
“No, please don’t. I can’t face them yet.”
He frowns. “Why?”
“Because this was all my fault.”
His frown deepens until he’s red with fury. “I don’t know what happened, but I can assure you, it’s not your fault.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but you don’t know the whole story.”
He sits down in a chair next to my bed. “Tell me what happened then.”