1
Willa
Moving away from home for college had been a big step for me. My dad tended to be overprotective and hadn’t been thrilled to have me so far away. He’d called to check in every night my first semester, but after earning straight As and not getting into any trouble, he had promised over the holiday that he’d loosen up the reins quite a bit. And then my mom had talked him even further down to the point where we were only going to talk on Sundays as long as I texted several times throughout the week.
Even though I’d only gotten back on campus on Saturday—and I’d called to let them know how the trip had gone last night—he’d still held me to my promise yesterday. And I’d texted them again earlier today about the textbook order I’d just picked up. I figured that would tide him over for a couple of days at least.
I was laughing softly as I neared my car, wondering what the odds were that my dad would last another six days before he called. If I’d been paying closer attention to my surroundings, maybe I wouldn’t have been caught by surprise when a man came rushing up behind me. Before I even realized the guy was there, he shoved me to the ground. I knew better than to stop my fall with my hands because it was a sure-fire way to break something. I tried to twist to the side so my face wouldn’t take the brunt of my fall. I managed that, but my head bounced off the pavement instead, leaving me seeing stars.
When he ripped my purse out of my hands, I cried, “Hey! Stop!”
“Shut up, bitch,” he hissed, kicking me in the side. “And be glad this is all you’re gonna get.”
I squinted up at him, but all I saw was a blurry figure in a black hoodie. The most I’d be able to tell the cops about the guy was that he was white. Maybe they’d get lucky and be able to track him through my cell phone, which was in my purse.
Everything was a blur after that. My brain remained fuzzy as another student found me maybe a minute or so after the mugger took off and called 911. I answered the cop’s questions as best as I could before being rushed off to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. I hadn’t even realized one of the paramedics who’d helped me was my neighbor—my dad hadn’t wanted me living on campus and had gotten me a one-bedroom apartment across the street—until the ambulance was pulling up at the hospital. He leaned close to ask, “You want me to call my boss and ask him to get someone to take my place on the bus?”
“Huh?” My brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders, so I couldn’t figure out why he’d want to do that.
“You have a concussion, Willa.” He reached out and squeezed my hand. “I hate the thought of you alone in the emergency room for who knows how long until a doctor can see you. Even with me pulling some strings, it’ll probably take a while. I can’t just leave you here. I’m going to get someone to cover the rest of my shift so I can stay with you.”
His offer was sweet, but I barely knew Vincent except to say hello in passing. It would be way more awkward to make small talk with someone who was basically a stranger than to wait by myself. “Oh, no. Please, that’s not necessary. I’ll be fine.”
Vincent looked ready to argue, but his partner saved the day when he flung the back door open and said, “Move it, Vincent. We need to get her in there.”
My neighbor heaved a deep sigh and moved to the head of the stretcher to help carry me off the ambulance. As they rolled me through the hospital doors, I tried to come up with the perfect way to get him to leave without hurting his feelings.
I didn’t expect any of my school friends to be hanging out in the emergency room a week before the spring semester began, but I still scanned the waiting area, hoping to spot a familiar face. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, but the world felt as though it stood still when I locked gazes with a pair of intense dark-brown eyes.
The man who caught and held my attention was tall and muscular, with hair just as dark as his eyes. It was a little longer on top, and he had a mustache with kind of an extended goatee. He was wearing a white lab coat, so I assumed he was a doctor. Though he was talking to a patient, his gaze followed me as a nurse directed the paramedics to bring me over to an exam table.