patients over, treated their wounds, decided the next and best course of action.
Triage, she thought after a minute. That was the word, the way they decided who was examined first. The one who bled the most got the bandages. But what about injuries that went below the skin? What if you couldn’t see how badly you’d broken your heart until it was too late?
“Are you Ashton?” It was a woman’s voice, quiet and shaky.
She looked up and saw Eddie’s blue eyes. Her heart lurched. “Mrs. West?”
“Irene.” The graying brunette sat in the chair beside Ash. She balanced on the edge as if she might jump up again at any moment.
“How is he?”
“They’re not sure. He was thrown…” Her last word broke on a sob. A man approached them, and as Ash stood to shake the hand he offered, she saw an older version of Eddie, with the same strong jaw and the same solid stature.
“Malcolm West. Thanks for coming.”
She nodded, not sure what she was supposed to say. I live upstairs from your son? I think I might have fallen in love with him? I’ve lied to him about everything important since the day we met?
“They’re doing some more tests,” Eddie’s father said after a minute. He sank into the seat beside his wife and took her hand. “They want to make sure there wasn’t any damage to…ah…his brain.”
Irene burst into tears and fell against her husband’s shoulder.
Ash looked away from them, down at her lap. Black spots circled in front of her eyes, and the room grew hot. Had they turned off the AC? She had to pinch the skin on her arm to keep from passing out.
I shouldn’t be here. It’s too private, too fragile, too awkward. I don’t even know them. I barely know Eddie. She shifted in the chair, meaning to get up, go outside, find some fresh air, when something poked her in the leg. She looked down and saw the bulge in her pocket. The ring. Colin’s ring. Colin’s offer.
For a minute or two, Ash sat perfectly still. This is it, the moment I have to choose. Life with someone she knew, or life with someone she’d only just met. A life that was predictable, that followed rules she knew, or a life with twists and turns she couldn’t begin to predict. She ran her fingers across the lump in her pocket and felt the edges of the ring, the smooth circle of the band.
Choosing Colin means I get the marriage I always wanted. I get the comfortable life in Boston. I get the partner my family approves of.
Choosing Eddie means no guarantees. It means taking a chance, holding my breath, and jumping into the deep end. It means starting all over again with someone brand new.
She stole another glance at Eddie’s parents. If she said no to Colin, there was no promise Eddie would even know her face when he woke up. Ash stood. “I’m…I’ll…would you excuse me?” She reached for her cell phone. “I have to make a phone call.”
Irene sniffled and looked at her hands, folded like a broken bird in her lap. Malcolm nodded and tried to smile, but the expression slipped away before it reached his eyes.
Five thirty, the clock now read. Ash found a spot beneath the overhang outside where a weak signal came in. She scrolled down the saved numbers. For a minute she thought about calling Jen, but what good would that do? She couldn’t ask her best friend to hop into her car and drive a hundred miles, not on a night like tonight. And not to save Ash from something she needed to figure out by herself.
She stopped halfway down her list and stared at the digits she knew by heart. It’s the right choice. The only choice. She dialed and waited for Colin to answer.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Cal?” Eddie lurched up from unconsciousness. He looked at the door, the last place he’d seen his kid brother. Nothing. No one. Not even a flesh-and-blood doctor or nurse.
His head swam. Everything hurt, tenfold. He rolled his head on the pillow. The bike. The rain. And he'd forgotten the damn helmet. He ran one hand over his thigh and touched gauze. After a minute, he realized his right arm was bounded tightly to his chest. It ached like hell. His hair felt matted against his forehead. Did I break an arm? Hit face first? He had no recollection of the accident, no idea how hard he’d hit or