Greek (Palm South University)

“Mind if I take this?” I ask Candice.

She waves me on, picking up her own phone and tapping away on the screen as I slide a thumb across mine and answer the call.

“Hey, babe. Everything okay?”

There’s a long pause of silence before she sniffs. And then, a whispered, “No.”

My heart stops in my chest before kicking back to life, and I swivel in my leather seat, turning away from Candice altogether. “What’s going on? Where are you? Are you hurt?”

That breaks Ashlei into full-on sobs, and I curse, grabbing my things off the table.

I cover the phone with my hand to mute it. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll call you,” I tell Candice.

She nods, questions and concern in her eyes, but I don’t have time to assure her things are fine — mostly because I don’t know that they are.

“Where are you?” I repeat when I’m out of the room and dashing through the firm for the elevator.

“Palm Medical.”

I stop short. “The hospital?”

“I was at the pole studio yesterday and…” She sniffs, another long pause breaking between us. “There was an accident.”

I close my eyes, saying a silent prayer before I punch the down button to signal the elevator. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Alright? You hear me? I’m going to pick up the girls and we’ll be right there.”

“Hurry,” is all Ashlei says, and then the line goes dead.

The girls are still in a tizzy when we blow through the doors of Palm Medical. It doesn’t matter that I spent the entire drive here reminding them that we needed to be calm for Ashlei, that we don’t even know what’s happened yet. There is no calm when it comes to one of us being in trouble or hurt, hence the literal tornado of us entering the hospital, papers flying in our wake.

The poor nurse at the front desk doesn’t know who to listen to as Cassie, Skyler, and mostly Jess talk over each other to try to get information. Finally, I hold up a hand to stop them all mid-sentence, and calmly explain to the woman who we’re looking for.

As soon as we get the floor and room number, along with the clearance for visitation rights — which wasn’t easy, considering there are four of us and our lame attempt at convincing her we were Ashlei’s real sisters went over about as well as a lead balloon — we were in the elevator and on our way to the surgery wing.

“I’m going to remind you all one more time — calm,” I say on our ride up, and though I know it’s hard, the girls all nod in agreement. And true to their word, we stroll at a softer pace in the surgery wing, speaking to the nurse at the desk there before being led back to Ashlei’s room.

When we see her, we all stop dead.

She’s laid up in the hospital bed in a gown that she somehow still makes look pretty, her hair greasy and piled on top of her head, dark circles under her eyes, and her arm in a massive sling that covers her entire shoulder and most of her chest. Brandon is in a chair beside her bed, his eyes glazed as he pretends to watch the TV.

“Well,” Ashlei says when she sees us, attempting a smile. “Am I a beauty queen, or what?”

Cassie covers her mouth at the same time Jess curses, and Skyler and I just deflate, shoulders slumping.

“Oh, Lei,” I say softly, and then wish I hadn’t, because those words immediately bring tears to her eyes, her bottom lip quivering like a child.

We rush her in an instant, enveloping her in a group hug and holding on for dear life as she sobs. Cassie cries softly, too, but Sky, Jess, and I exchange understanding looks that say we need to hold our shit together.

“I’m going to get some coffee,” Brandon says when we pull back, and he leans down to kiss Ashlei’s forehead before leaving us alone.

“What happened?” Jess asks as soon as he’s gone, taking his seat and pulling it close to the bed.

Ashlei wipes her nose on the back of her wrist. “I was doing a complicated leg hang move, and I just… I lost grip. I fell, landed awkwardly on my arm, banged my head pretty hard.” She pauses, rolling her lips together. “Shredded my rotator cuff, broke my collarbone, gave myself a nasty concussion.”

“Fuck,” Jess says, shaking her head and instantly reaching for Ashlei’s hand.

“When did this happen?” Skyler asks next.

“Day before yesterday.”

“And you’re just now telling us?” Cassie squeaks. It earns her a glare from me and Jess alike, but she just shrugs like what, she should have told us sooner!

“I was in and out of consciousness for a while,” Ashlei admits. “And then after some X-rays and tests, monitoring me overnight, and measuring my pain… they decided I needed surgery. So I couldn’t really call yesterday, either.”