I run toward his tent, slowing down the closer I get so I don’t spook the guy. As I step up to his tent, I notice Lexi’s board and beach bag are lying next to it. My heart goes erratic. I’ve seen her stop here and talk to him, but I’ve never seen her actually go in his tent. And the thing is small, would barely hold the two of them.
“Aiden,” I call out.
There’s some shuffling and then the material is being unzipped. Aiden pops his head out and puts his glasses on. “Lexi’s boyfriend,” he says. “Lexi is hurt. She’s bleeding and won’t wake up.”
That’s all I need to hear to sprint into action. Quickly unzipping the tent the rest of the way down, I gently push Aiden out of the way so I can get to Lexi, but stop when I see my fiancée laid out in front of me. Because of the lantern that’s lighting up the area, I am able to see every feature of her, and the sight in front of me almost brings me to my knees.
She’s lying on her back and her eyes are closed. Her hair is soaking wet and all tangled. And on her head is a giant gash with blood pouring down the side of her face.
“Lexi is hurt. She’s bleeding and won’t wake up,” Aiden repeats.
“What—”
“Alec!” Chase screams before I can finish my sentence. “What the fuck is going on?” he yells, his eyes bouncing between Aiden and me.
Aiden falls backward. “I don’t know him. This is my home. You can’t be here.” He shakes his head and backs into a corner of his tent. “Lexi’s boyfriend, I don’t know him,” he repeats.
“What happened to Lexi?” Chase asks.
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “It looks like she hit her head. We need to get her to the hospital.” My shock from seeing her like this is wearing off and my EMT training is kicking in. “Call the ambulance. I don’t want to move her in case she’s injured anywhere else.” Chase pulls out his phone and steps away to make the call.
“Aiden, can you tell me what happened?” I ask, dropping down next to Lexi and checking for a pulse. It’s there, and she’s breathing. Since she’s not awake and has a huge gash on her head, this can be brain related.
“The man hurt her,” Aiden says. “He wasn’t loving her.”
“Who?” If it was Jason, so help me God, I’ll fucking kill him.
“The mean sur—”
“They’re on their way,” Chase says, cutting off Aiden. “I don’t know what the fuck you did to Lexi, but I’m calling the police.”
“I didn’t do that,” Aiden says, shaking his head. “I didn’t do that.”
“Then who did?” Chase yells.
“I didn’t do that,” Aiden repeats. “I didn’t do that.”
“Chase, stop,” I bark. “He’s autistic.”
As I check out the gash on Lexi’s forehead, Aiden rocks in the corner repeating the same thing over and over again. Any chance I had of him telling me what happened has been thrown out the door, but right now all that matters is getting Lexi to the hospital. The fact she hasn’t woken up yet isn’t a good sign. I lift her lids and her pupils are dilated, concurrent with a head injury.
I run my hands down her body, checking to see if she’s injured anywhere else. Her knees are torn up, both of them covered with fragments of rock and blood, but aside from that she looks okay. She’s wearing her bathing suit, so she must’ve been surfing.
“EMTs are here,” Chase calls inside. He had run up to meet them so he could show them where we are.
“Aiden, I need you to step out so they can get in here to help Lexi. Can you do that?”
“Lexi is hurt,” he says. “They’ll help her?”
“Yes, they’ll help her.”
“I didn’t do it,” he repeats.
“I believe you.” And I do, but I still don’t know what happened. Right now, though, I just have to focus on getting Lexi help.
Aiden steps outside and I explain to the EMTs what I know, which isn’t much. After they carefully move her onto a gurney, they bring her up the beach and roll her into the ambulance. Aiden asks if she’s going to be okay and I tell him I’ll let him know before jogging to my truck so I can follow them to the hospital.
“Let me drive,” Chase says. “You need to call her family.”
“Thanks.”
I call Tristan first, since he’s her dad, and tell him I found Lexi passed out and we don’t know anything else. He says he and Charlie are on their way to the hospital now and he’ll call Georgia, Max, and my parents, so I don’t have to.
“Who the fuck was that guy?” Chase asks when I end the call.
“Aiden. He’s a friend of Lexi’s. He’s homeless and lives in that tent.”