The Sophomore (College Years #2) - Monica Murphy Page 0,111
was sitting with her right now. Holding her close and telling her I love her, right before I kiss her.
Fuck. I’m such a sap. But only for her.
My phone starts buzzing again and I pull it out of my pocket to see I have a call from Hayden. I answer it, my voice low.
“Thank God you answered. Where are you?” she asks, sounding frantic.
“I’m about to go into a meeting,” I tell her, turning away from the reception desk. “Can I call you back after it’s done?”
She ignores my question. “Are you on campus right now?”
“No, I’m in L.A.” I hesitate for only a moment, my heart sinking as I hear noises in the background. The quickened sounds of her breathing. None of this feels right.
It doesn’t feel good either.
“Jackson, you need to come home. Ellie—she’s been hurt.”
“What?” I practically yell, leaping to my feet. “What do you mean?”
“She’s in the hospital. She’s okay,” Hayden rushes to say before I can interrupt her. “They kept her overnight for observation, but she’s fine.”
“Wait a minute, she was in the hospital overnight? Are you saying something happened to her yesterday? What the hell? And why the fuck didn’t someone call me sooner?” I glance over at the receptionist, who’s watching me with wide eyes. I send her a pleading look and point toward the door, letting her know where I’m going before I exit the offices completely, standing out in the corridor.
Jesus, I’m probably fucking this up with Evergreen, but I don’t really give a damn.
“It all happened so quickly,” Hayden says, and I realize she sounds exhausted. Worried out of her mind. “I got a text from her, asking me to pick her up, and I went there. To the restaurant. I brought Gracie with me, and we found Ellie in her car.”
“What do you mean? Was she in a car accident?”
“Someone—a guy—” She goes silent for a moment and fear seizes my throat. I stop breathing, waiting for her answer. “She was attacked, Jackson.”
“What? Is she okay? Did he—” I close my eyes, pressing my forehead against the wall. My knees are weak. Like, I feel as if I could collapse to the floor. My mind can barely wrap itself around the terrible things that might’ve happened to her.
I can’t even say the words out loud.
“No, no. He didn’t rape her or anything like that. He was really drunk. A pissed-off customer, I guess? That’s what her boss told me. Everything happened so fast, and it became chaotic, really quick, especially after Gracie called 9-1-1. We’ve been sitting in the hospital all night, and I didn’t even think to call you until now. I didn’t even call Tony until an hour ago,” Hayden says. “I’m so sorry.”
My mind is racing. I need to get out of here. Go home. Go to Ellie.
I turn to look through the window, spotting Rick standing next to the reception desk, watching, waiting for me with a frown on his face. I hold up a finger at him, hoping he’ll give me a minute, before I turn away.
“Is Tony with you?”
“Yes. Well, he’s coming to the hospital right now. Gracie’s still here with me too. The hospital was able to call Ellie’s parents and they’re coming to get her. It was so crazy, Jackson. Everything happening all at once,” Hayden says.
“Is she going to be okay?” My voice is hoarse and I swallow hard. I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“Yes. He broke her nose when he knocked his head into hers. That’s why they kept her overnight. She took a pretty hard hit to the head,” Hayden says.
“I’ll be right there. I’m leaving now.” I don’t even have to consider where I need to be. I’m going home to Ellie.
“She’s woken up once, but only for a few minutes. She was groggy. I think they’re keeping her sedated.” Hayden’s voice lowers. “It was so scary, Jackson. I feel so terrible, but I didn’t see her text until I got out of the shower, and that was like fifteen minutes later. I think about if I’d been any later, what would’ve happened? When we got there, I found him on top of her in the car. He was crying, saying he didn’t mean to—to kill her. She was passed out, but I didn’t know, and I became hysterical. God.”
Hayden chokes on the last word and starts to cry. I close my eyes, hating this. Hating that I’m not there.